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London/Washington, DC:

President Obama was still prepared

to move ahead with a limited mili-

tary strike on Syria, administration

officials said Thursday, despite a

stinging rejection of such action on

Thursday by ally Britain and

mounting questions from

Congressmen.

But fears of imminent turmoil

eased as the diplomatic process

was seen playing out into the next

week, and the White House empha-

sized that any action would be

"very discrete and limited" and in

no way comparable to the Iraq war.

The British Parliament narrowly

voted against military action in

Syria, clearly mindful of the

shameful episode a decade ago

when Prime Minister Tony Blair

backed US invasion of Iraq over

WMDs which were never found in

Saddam Husseins lair. Prime

Minister David Cameron said hell

act according to the Parliament

decision.

The vote came on a day that the

Obama administration postponed

disclosure of the intelligence that

led it to conclude the regime of

Bashar Assad was to blame for the

Aug. 21 chemical attack that killed

hundreds of people near Damascus.

The British government released

its intelligence findings Thursday.

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

Health 26 Spiritual Awareness 30Lens Eye 15 excellence in journalismFashion 18

By Parveen Chopra

Hicksville, NY: Calling the

Manmohan Singh government

deceitful for not bringing the Jan

Lok Pal (ombudsman) bill despitecommitting to him to pass it two

years ago, the world renowned

anti-corruption crusader Anna

Hazare said here Tuesday that he

has restarted his campaign earlier

this year, to build solidarity for

which he is traversing the length

and breadth of India.

Anna Hazare was speaking at a

reception given in his honor at

Antuns by Minar by the Indian

community of Nassau County in

Long Island the day before he

New Delhi: Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh Thursday said

India is passing through a difficult

economic situation due to a com-

bination of domestic and external

factors such as the US monetary

stance and the conflict in Syria

which the country has to "reckon"

with.

"It cannot be denied that thecountry is faced with a difficult

economic situation, and there are

several causes, the prime minis-

ter said in the upper house of par-

liament.

"I do not deny that there are

some domestic factors but there

are also international factors aris-

ing out of the changes in the US

monetary stance, Singh said in

response to repeated demands

from the opposition for a state-

ment on the state of the economy.

"There are also problems creat-

ed by the new tensions that

are on the horizon inSyria and they have

inevitable conse-

quences for oil prices.

So we have to reck-

on with all those

Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano is joined by the hostcommittee members as he presents a citation to Anna Hazare.

(Photo: Yagnesha Shah/Freelance US Media)

Protests started in Washington DC (pictured) and in Londonagainst military action in Syria.

Vol.6 No. 19 August 31-September 6, 2013 60 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info

The Mahatma Gandhi of Modern India mesmerizes with his simplicityat a grand reception to welcome him to Nassau County, Long Island.

My anti-corruption crusadecontinues: Anna Hazare

Domestic, global factors behindeconomic turmoil: PM

Continued on page 2

Continued on page 4

Britain willnot join US in

strikeonSyria

Limited US actionalso delayed as

officials concedeno smoking gunlinking Assad to

poison gas attack.

Prime MinisterManmohan

Singh

Continued on page 4

7/30/2019 19 Vol 6 Epaper

2/32

By Parveen Chopra

Continued from page 1

returned to India from a two-week

visit to the US.

We started from Jallianwala

Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, and we

have already covered six states and

after I return to India, we move to

Bihar, Jharkhand and so on to raise

pub lic sen tim ent suppor tin g ourdemand to the UPA government:

Implement Jan Lok Pal or quit ,

he told over 250 prominent mem-

bers and leaders of the Indian com-

munity. Alluding to his fast unto

death in Delhi that galvanized the

nation in 2011, Anna Hazare said, I

will again bring together crores of

people in solidarity and again hoist

the tricolor at Ramlila Maidan in

Delhi and push for Right to reject

and Right to recall (corrupt or

incompetent legislators). The

spellbound audience burst into

applause in admiration and encour-

agement. Nassau County Executive

Ed Mangano was thrilled to rub

shoulders with the Indian hero of

anti-corruption movement and a

selfless humanitarian. Before felici-

tating him, Mangano welcomed him

to the county with these words,

Anna Hazare has shown the

strength and wisdom to represent

his people. It is difficult to force

change, which is subjected to criti-

cism and mistruths. But it is com-

forting to know that there are peo-

ple in the world who stand up for

the common man, for all good peo-

ple. And I learn that Anna Hazare is

referred to as modern day Mahatma

Gandhi. And that is so powerful

when somebody has taken that

responsibility upon themselves tohelp others.

Mangano was introduced as the

best friend of the Indian community

in Nassau County by Harendra

Singh, who was a member of the

host committee, others on the com-

mittee being Kamlesh Mehta,

Nagendra Gupta, Jagdish Sewhani,

Sushil Goyal, Jerry Kohli, Nitu

Singh, and Raja Amar.

Kamlesh Mehta, the overall coor-

dinator of the event, welcomed

Anna Hazare with these moving

words, We have not known

Mahatma Gandhi, but we see him inyou and implore you to guide our

peo ple on the rig ht and tru thf ul

path. People like you are incarnated

but rarely. May God give you long

life and may you be successful in

your endeavors.

Listening to the living legend and

meeting him in person is a revela-

tion. Even when Anna Hazare visit-

ed Capitol Hill in Washington DC,

he was attired in his customary

dhoti-kurta-Nehru jacket and

Gandhi cap. There are no oratoricalflourishes in his speech, no high

flown concepts or jargon. On

Tuesday particularly, he mesmer-

ized all by his simplicity.

Speaking in Hindi, the

Maharashtra born recounted his per-

sonal transformation that inspired

him to take a vow to devote his

entire life in the service of the

nation.

Anna said that around the age of

26 he was struck by the mundane

nature of everyday life and contem-plated suicide. Just then he chanced

upon an inspiring book by Swami

Vivekananda and the meaning of

life dawned upon him: You are

given this life to serve others, and

that service is worship of God. The

rest is history. He never married,

has no bank balance, and lives in a

small room in a temple in his vil-

lage. But I am always in bliss and

the entire mankind is my family,

he said.

Tracing his journey, Anna said,Heeding Mahatma Gandhis

advice, I first transformed my own

village, Ralegan Siddhi, hitherto

good for nothing, starting with

increasing irrigation through water

conservation, etc. In the next stage,

beg inn ing in 199 1, he sta red an

anti-corruption organization, which

forced the sack of half a dozen min-

isters and 400 officials involved in

scams and corrupt deals. The non

pol iti cal , non -re lig iou s eve nt in

Annas honor was invitation only,

historical banquet, rare and first of

its kind in Long Island. It was

attended by a spectrum of commu-

nity leaders, the most elite and pow-erful gathering a rarity to see such

diverse groups together at one

place. Missing, however, were lead-

ers from INOC (I) and NCP, who

perhaps didnt want to be seen near

an anti-establishmentarian like

Anna. The event was well organ-

ized with an immaculate flow

except for the throng of people

wanting to get themselves pho-

tographed with the main guest after

his speech.

It was a house full event in a

beau tifu lly decorated grand ball -

room in the newly renovated cater-

ing facility now managed by Nitu

Singh of Minar Group. Emcee

Nagendra Gupta was very precise

and eloquent; he was also the key

person who put together the whole

affair. Indian national anthem was

led by Jagdish Sewhani, who also

introduced Anna ji as an epitome of

courage committed to eradicating

corruption in India.

Vande Matram was sung by Jerry

Kohli, who also supervised the

sumptuous vegetarian delicacies.

Sushil Goyal recognized the digni-

taries in attendance.

Nitu Singh presented the Vote of

Thanks on behalf of the host com-

mittee.

Raja Amar was also a sponsor but

could not attend.A beautifulbrochure was produced to mark the

event, worked on, in the service of

the community, by Parveen Chopra,

Roopsi Narula, Nishant Arora,

Subin Varghese, Donnie Superville

and Jay Mandal.

Renowned photographer Jay

Mandal accompanied Anna.

Antun's by Minar was catering

sponsor. Decoration was sponsored

by Fern n Dcor. Among the promi-

nent attendees were Bobby Kumar,

Zahid Syed, Haridas Kotahwala,

Jack Poola and Dr Narinder Kukar.

Leading media was in attendance

too. The world famous Hotel Oheka

Castle in Huntington was reservedfor Anna and his team by the host

committee, but he left for New

Jersey the same night to catch his

flight home the next day.

Anna Hazare

mesmerizes withhis simplicity

2 August 31-September 6, 2013 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoEVENT

Grateful to have a glimpse of the great manSunil Jain

Co-CEO, Vass Pipe & Steel, Inc,

Mineola, NY

It was an extraordinary event,

exuberant in a nice way. It was a

once in a lifetime experience to

personally meet a great man l ike

Anna Hazare.

The India Day Parade of Long

Island in Hicksville was alsoexcellent, good that the Indian

community here is now celebrat-

ing 15th August in a big way.

Rajan Nabe

Chairman, Lotus Management

Group, Grand Sponsor of IDP

Parade 2013

Attending the reception for

Anna Hazare here made me feel

proud to be an Indian. We wish

him success and will support him

in his endeavor to throw out cor-

ruption in India.

The Long Island India Day

Parade earlier this month too was

successful, better than last year.There were more floats, and lots

of people, all had a good time. We

hope the momentum will continue

in the years to come.

Kishore Kuncham

President, India Association of

Long Island

It was one of the best things to

happen to me, to be able to have a

glimpse of the inspirational icon

Anna Hazare here, so far away

from India. My compliments to the

organizers of the event.

Anna Hazare is a true warrioragainst social injustices and a

champion of rural India.

Rajesh Shah

President of Jain Center of

America, NY

Anna Hazare is a great leader

and we are fortunate to have such a

leader who we can compare with

Mahatma Gandhi. I was glad to be

at the event to honor him. He is

doing a great job to remove corrup-

tion in India. Every great leader

needs support and hopefully Anna

Hazare will succeed in his goal

with the support of leaders like

Kamlesh Mehta.

Purna Aramalla

Leader of the Telugu community

After Jayprakash Narayan, Anna

Hazare is the purest, cleanest

leader in India. We were honored

to honor him.

Inder Bindra

Founder, Nargis Dutt Memorial

Foundation

The event with Anna Hazare was

well planned and organized, the

credit for which also goes toKamlesh Mehta and I wish he con-

tinues such leadership. It is good

that people get a chance to meet

great individuals like Anna.

The LI India Day Parade went

well too good to see the Indian

community coming together and

younger leaders emerging.

Akshat Kaul

Branch Manager, Indus American

Bank, Hicksville

Anna Hazare is amazingly

charming, and heart-warming in

his simplicity.

He speaks with so much honesty

that he really jump starts yourpatr iot ic engi nes. I jus t wonder

how influential Mahatma Gandhi

must have been if one inspired by

him is like Anna.

A view of the spellbound audience comprising prominentcommunity members.

(left) Host committee members Jagdish Sewhani, KamleshMehta, and Nagendra Gupta, joined by Nassau County ExecutiveEd Mangano, present a bouquet to Anna Hazare welcoming him.

7/30/2019 19 Vol 6 Epaper

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3August 31-September 6, 2013TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY

India not going through 1991-likecrisis: Washington's CFO

New Delhi: Excessive self-criticism is send-

ing wrong signals to foreign investors and the

current economic scenario in India is not com-parable with the 1991 crisis when the country

was forced to pledge its gold to pay import

bills, an Indian-American money manager has

said.

"I don't think India is going through the

1991 like crisis. That situation was different.

It's not comparable," said Natwar Gandhi, 72,

chief financial officer of Washington DC, who

is credited with the fiscal turnaround of the

US capital from near bankruptcy in 2000 to a

surplus budget today.

"Foreign investors are withdrawing money

not because something has suddenly gone

wrong with the Indian economy. This is more

to do with the US central bank's move," the

Gujarat-born Gandhi, on a visit to Delhi for

sharing his experience on urban governance,

said.

An alumnus of the Louisiana State

University, Gandhi was alluding to the US

Federal Reserve's hints at easing the fiscal

stimulus that has been in force since 2008 to

ward off the economic crisis, which experts

say have hit currency markets in a host of

countries, including India.

Foreign funds have pulled out over $12 bil-

lion from Indian debt and equities markets

since the US Federal Reserve hinted at taper-

ing stimulus in late May. This has led to

almost 20 percent slump in the value of Indian

currency against US dollar and a sharp drop in

stock markets. Gandhi said the huge pulling

out of money by foreign funds from the Indian

markets was linked largely to the US Federal

Reserve's comments.

He said excessive self-criticism and political

compulsions were adding to the volatility in

the currency markets. "There are problems,

bu t I se e a gr ea t de al of se lf -c ri ti ci sm .

Excessive self-criticism sends wrong signal to

the foreign investors," he said.

Gandhi said India is passing through verydifficult economic situation, even though the

condition is not as critical as it was in 1990s.

In 1991, India was forced to pledge its gold

in order to pay its bills as the country's foreign

exchange reserve had fallen to $3 billion, not

enough even to cover three weeks of imports.

Today, the foreign exchange reserve is nearly

$280 billion that can cover seven months of

imports. Besides, the central bank has more

tools to manage volatility in the currency mar-

kets.Gandhi pointed out the 1991 crisis had

acted as a trigger for economic liberalization,

and the Indian government must take similar

bold reform measures to emerge stronger out

of the crisis.

"You have to liberalize more. This is the

only long lasting solution to these kind of eco-

nomic problems," he said.

Natwar Gandhi, who turned aroundWashington DC finances as CFO

Freeport, NY: A second debate

has been scheduled between

Democratic candidate for Nassau

County Executive Adam Haber

and his opponent Tom Suozzi.

The debate is set for August 30 at

6:30 p.m. at the Harold Walker

Memorial Park, Lakeview, NY,

and will be moderated by Radio

personality, Bob Slade, Haberscampaign said.

There are challenges in our

communities that must be

addressed and I look forward to

sharing my solutions, said

Haber accepting the invitation.

Many of our communities have

been overlooked for too long and

we must do more to help,

because the corridor counts and

every Nassau residents counts."

The hosting organizations are

Lakeview Council, Inc.,

Democracy Inspiring Voter

Awareness, Blacks in Law

Enforcement of America, L.I.,

and Nostrand Gardens Civic

Association, Uniondale.Inviting the candidates to

debate the sponsoring stated,

This joint invitation is made

with the community at-large in

mind and should be considered

by you as an opportunity to come

face to face with voters and com-

munity issues on the ground

level. It is our hope that you will

accept this invitation and appearpr ep ared to addr es s th os e in

attendance and answer questions

that will be asked in a controlled

forum.

Im looking forward to this

discussion about the issues that

matter most. I will be there early

and stay until the community has

asked all their questions, said

Haber. In case Tom happens tohave a tight schedule, Ill be

there for a while, so there in no

chance we miss out on the

opportunity to deliver the debate

Democratic voters deserve.

On August 1, Democrat Adam

Haber called out Tom Suozzi for

ducking debates.

Gen. VK Singh blames Indian govtfor weakening army

By Ashok Ojha/ SATimes

North Brunswick, NJ: General Vijay

Kumar Singh, former Chief of Indian

Army, who is better known as the first

serving Indian Military chief to take the

Government of India to court and a

leader of social activist Anna Hazares

Jantantra Morcha, didnt surprise many

when he took the stage of Overseas

Friends of BJP, aligned with the main

opposition party of India.

Singh is rumored to have been picked

up by the BJP to contest from Rae

Bareilly Lok Sabha seat against the

Congress President Sonia Gandhi in next

years Lok Sabha election. OFBJP

accorded a warm reception to General

Singh in North Brunswick on August 24where he appealed to NRIs to prevail

upon their family and friends in India to

support non-corrupt persons in the 2014

parliamentary election.

As a patriot of Indian origin, you have

an important role to play in reconstruct-

ing the nation, he told the gathering.

Please impress upon your people in

India to discard such leaders who were

engaged in weakening the nation with

corrupt practices. Alluding to Gujarat

Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Singh

said it was okay to project him as Indias

next prime minister, However, it was

more important to work for making the

nation stronger and united.

He also advised the BJP to field more

youthful leaders in the forthcoming elec-

tion.

The former Indian Army Chief, who

was the mastermind for mobilizing

troops on the border during the standoff

with Pakistan in 2002, asserted that theIndian Army, which was capable of deal-

ing with a possible joint assault by

Pakistan and China, was considerably

weakened by political interference in

decision-making.

He alleged the so-called food security

bill brought by the ruling UPA govern-

ment was likely to be another scandal in

the series of many. He added that the

only way to getting rid of the current

mess in India was to elect representatives

who thought beyond political considera-

tions and were committed to uniting

India. Jayesh Patel, president of OFBJP,

introduced General Singh to the audience

as a man of integrity and a crusader

against corruption.

New York: The New York police department

(NYPD) has secretly labeled entire mosques as

terrorism organizations. The designation has

allowed police to use informants to record ser-

mons and spy on imams, often without specific

evidence of criminal wrongdoing. Since the

9/11 attacks, the NYPD has opened at least a

dozen "terrorism enterprise investigations" into

mosques. The TEI is a police tool intended to

help investigate terrorist cells. Designating an

entire mosque as a terrorism enterprise meansthat anyone who attends prayer services is a

potential subject of the investigation and fair

game for surveillance.

Many TEIs stretch for years, allowing surveil-

lance to continue even though the NYPD has

never criminally charged a mosque or Islamic

organization with operating as a terrorism

enterprise. The NYPD declined to comment.

For NYPD all mosques areterrorism organizations

Tom Suozzi (left) and Adam Haber: Democrat candidatesfor Nassau County Executive.

General VK Singh addressingOFBJP meeting

Primary Debate between

Suozzi-Haber on Friday

7/30/2019 19 Vol 6 Epaper

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4 August 31-September 6, 2013 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoTURN PAGE

Britain will not join US...

Continued from page 1

The vote was a setback for

Obama, who has given up hope

of getting UN Security Council

authorization for the strike in

the face of objections by

Russia, Syrias longtime

backer, and is struggling to cob-

ble a coalition of allies against

Syria.Pentagon officials said that

the Navy had now moved a

fifth destroyer into the eastern

Mediterranean Sea. Each ship

carries dozens of Tomahawk

cruise missiles that would prob-

ably be the centerpiece of any

attack on Syria.

Although administration offi-

cials cautioned that Obama had

not made a final decision, a

strike could occur soon after

UN investigators charged with

scrutinizing the Aug. 21 poison

gas attack leave Syria. They are

scheduled to depart Damascus

on Saturday.The White House presented

its case for military action to

Congressional leaders on

Thursday evening, trying to

head off growing pressure from

Democrats and Republicans to

provide more information about

the administrations military

pl an ni ng an d se ek

Congressional approval for any

action.

In a conference call with

Republicans and Democrats,

top officials from the State

Department, the Pentagon and

the nations intelligence agen-

cies asserted that the evidence

was clear that Assads forces

had carried out the poison

attack.

While the intelligence does

not tie Assad directly to the

attack, officials said, the admin-

istration said the US had both

the evidence and legal justifica-

tion to carry out a strike aimed

at deterring the Syrian leader

from using such weapons again.

A critical piece of the intelli-

gence, officials said, is an inter-

cepted phone call between

Syrian military officials, one of

whom seems to suggest that the

chemical weapons attack was

more devastating than was

intended. It sounds like he

thinks this was a small opera-tion that got out of control,

one intelligence official said.

Domestic, global factors...

Continued from page 1

uncertainties, he said.

Oil prices have surged in the

international markets in the

recent weeks on fear of a US-

led attack on Syria that would

disrupt supplies from the

Middle East and India depends

for 80% of its oil on imports.

The prime minister assured

the lawmakers that he would

make a statement on the current

economic situation Friday.Several opposition leaders,

including Leader of Opposition

Arun Jaitley, sought PM state-

ment, saying there was a panic

situation in view of the huge

volatility in currency and equi-

ties markets coupled with slow

growth and persistent high

inflation.

The Indian rupee has lost

almost 20 percent of its value

against the US dollar since the

beginning of the current finan-

cial year, largely due to pulling

out of money by foreign funds

from the Indian markets after

the US central bank hinted that

it would lower fiscal stimulus

as the economy shows sign of

recovery.

Foreign funds have pulled out

nearly $12 billion from Indian

debt and equities markets since

the US Federal Reserve

hinted at tapering stimulus in

late May.

Albany, NY: New YorkAttorney General Eric

Schneiderman suedDonald Trump for $40

million Saturday, sayingthe real estate mogulhelped run a phony

"Trump University" thatpromised to make studentsrich but instead steeredthem into expensive and

mostly useless seminars, andeven failed to deliver promisedapprenticeships. Trump shot backthat the Democrat's lawsuit isfalse and politically motivated.

Schneiderman says many of the5,000 students who paid up to$35,000 thought they would atleast meet Trump but instead allthey got was their picture taken

in front of a life-size picture of

"The Apprentice" TV star."Trump University engaged in

deception at every stage of con-sumers' advancement through

costly programs and caused realfinancial harm," he said. "TrumpUniversity, with Donald Trump'sknowledge and participation,relied on Trump's name recogni-

tion and celebrity status to takeadvantage of consumers who

believed in the Trump brand."But Trump's attorney accused

Schneiderman of trying to extortcampaign contributions from the

real estate mogul through hisinvestigation of Trump. AttorneyMichael D. Cohen told TheAssociated Press on Saturday thatSchneiderman's lawsuit was

filled with falsehoods. Cohensaid Trump and his universitynever defrauded anyone.

He said Trump University pro-vided nearly 11,000 testimonials

to Schneiderman from studentspraising the program and said 98percent of students in a surveytermed the program "excellent."

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha Thursday

passed the much-awaited land acqui-

sition and rehabilitation bill that aims

to provide fair compensation to those

whose land is taken away, brings

transparency to the process of acqui-sition of land to set up factories or

buildings and assures rehabili tation

of those affected. This legislation has

been eagerly sought by both industry

and those who live off the land.

While Congress party termed it a

historic step, most parties supported

it but said fertile land should not be

acquired for industrial development.

Rural Development Minister

Jairam Ramesh said industrial hous-es, political parties and civil society

have been consulted in drafting the

bill. BJP chief Rajnath Singh said:

"Under no circumstances should you

acquire irrigated land and agricultural

land. You should make do with

wasteland,"

Parties like CPI-M, CPI,

Trinamool, JD-U, Biju Janata Dal,

Samajwadi Party and BSP also said

that the consent of the farmer waskey in any land acquisition and sug-

gested that fair compensation should

be paid to him while demanding spe-

cial economic zones to be included in

the law.

Lok Sabha passes land acquisition bill

New York AG sues Trump,'Trump University', claims fraud

Real estate mogul Donal Trump

Fast-food workersnationwide strike

over wagesNew York: Fast-food workers across the

country staged their largest strike to date

Thursday in an almost year-long campaign

to raise wages in the service sector.

Employees of McDonald's, Wendy's,

Burger King and others walked off their

jobs in 50 cities from Boston, Mass., to

Alameda, Calif., organizers say. They were

expected to be joined by retail employees

at stores owned by Macy's Inc, Sears

Holdings Corp and Dollar Tree Inc in

some cities.

The workers want to form unions and

bargain higher wages with their employers

without facing retaliation from franchisees

or their parent companies. They are

demanding $15 an hour, up from $7.25,

which is the current federal minimum

wage. The median wage for front-line fast-food workers is $8.94 per hour, according

to an analysis of government data by the

National Employment Law Project, an

advocacy group for lower-wage workers.

Virtually all private-sector fast-food jobs

are non-union, and organizers say retalia-

tion against workers who try to organize is

common.

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5August 31-September 6, 2013TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY

Washington, DC: Kapil Parakh,

an Indian-origin cardiologist

working in Washington area, is

among a dozen people chosen by

the White House for its prestigious

fellowship program for 2013-14.

A Zambia University graduate,Parakh is the director of heart fail-

ure at the Johns Hopkins Bayview

Medical Centre and assistant pro-

fessor in the Departments of Med-

icine, Epidemiology, and Health

Behavior and Society.

He edged out two other Indian-

Americans among the finalists --

Shilpen Patel, associate professor

of radiation oncology at the Uni-

versity of Washington, and Jay

Bhatt, geriatric medicine fellow at

the University of Michigan Health

System.

Starting with Indian-American

neurosurgeon and CNN's chief

medical correspondent Sanjay

Gupta, who was a 1997-98 fellow,

Parakh is the latest person of Indi-

an origin to join the White House

Fellows Program created in 1964

by then president Lyndon Johnson.

The program is designed to give

promising American leaders "first

hand, high-level experience with

the workings of the federal gov-

ernment, and to increase their

sense of participation in national

affairs," according to the White

House.

Parakh leads heart failure quality

improvements in collaboration

with the Joint Commission's Cen-

tre for Transforming Healthcare,

using entrepreneurial techniques to

cost-effectively improve out-

comes, the White House an-nouncement said.

Parakh's research focuses on un-

derstanding the increased mortali-

ty in patients with depression after

a heart attack.

Passionate about teaching,

Parakh is a clinician-educator and

has mentored trainees in award

winning research.

Parakh is the co-founder of

Health for America, a non-profit

that mobilizes youth to improve

the health of communities through

innovation while shaping the next

generation of leaders.

In recognition of his contribu-

tions to public health, Parakh was

recently inducted into the Delta

Omega Public Health honor

society.

Washington, DC: A

Sikh man working at a

gas-station in New Jersey

was shot dead over the

weekend in an attempted

robbery case.

The local police inNew Jersey has an-

nounced an award of

$8,000 for information

leading to arrest of those

responsible for the mur-

der of Surinder Singh.

A native of India,

Singh,40, worked at a gas

station as an attendant at

Garden State Fuel in Woodbury for

14 years.

A massive manhunt has been

launched in New Jersey for the two

persons allegedly responsible for the

killing of Singh.

The police also released sketch of

one suspect.One of them was de-

scribed as a black male weighing 150

pounds, 5-feet, 7-inches tall, armed

with a small handgun.

They fled scene in a small, silver

vehicle north on Broad Street.

According to the police, Singh was

shot twice, once in upper chest,

which went straight in and a second

time near the right arm pit.

In a statement, North American

Punjabi Association alleged that the

US law enforcement agencies have

failed in protecting the lives and

property of Sikh Community in the

country.

Gas station worker shot dead in NJ

Washington, DC: An Indian Amer-

ican has admitted his role in wide-

spread foreign student visa fraud that

took place in New Jersey, the US De-

partment of Justice said.

Manamadurai Somalingam, 64,

from New York pleaded guilty before

US District Judge Freda Wolfson in

Trenton Federal Court in New Jersey

to information charging him with

one count of conspiring to commit

visa fraud and one count of conspir-

ing to conceal and harbor illegal

aliens for private financial gain.He now faces a maximum penalty

of 10 years in jail and a fine of

$250,000.

The sentencing is scheduled for

December 5. According to court doc-

uments, Somalingam admitted that

from March 2011 through May 2012,

while he was the owner of a school

called PC Tech Learning with cam-

puses in Iselin and Jersey City, he en-

gaged in a conspiracy to obtain stu-

dent visas for foreign citizens who

were not eligible for such visas.

Somalingam admitted that he

falsely certified that a woman he

hired to work for him at the Jersey

City campus of PC Tech was eligible

for a student visa even though he

knew that she would be working full-

time and was not eligible.

Besides, Somalingam admitted he

never terminated a foreign citizen'sstudent status as long as that individ-

ual paid his tuition fees, even though

Somalingam, as the primary desig-

nated school official for PC Tech,

was required to terminate any stu-

dent who failed to make proper

progress in his studies, the Depart-

ment of Justice said.

Indian American admits rolein widespread student visa fraud

Cardiologist Kapil Parakh named White House fellow

Volunteers march for radical social changeNew York: The 33rd annual Indian

Independence Day parade in New

York City saw the convergence of

approximately 150,000 people to

commemorate this important turning

point in the history of the subconti-

nent. In the same spirit of transfor-

mation, the grassroots social move-

ment Overseas Volunteer for a Better

India (OVBI) was represented in thegathering by a group of over hundred

volunteers who surveyed parade par-

ticipants about the state of Indian so-

ciety today and what they envision

for its future.

OVBI had an equally strong pres-

ence at other Independence Day fes-

tivities around the US, organizing

large campus events at the Universi-

ty of Florida, University of Texas,

and Arizona State University. At the

University of Florida, several stu-

dents mobilized to start a campus

chapter dedicated to the OVBI mis-

sion.

Chief architect of OVBIs counter-

part in India, VFABI (Volunteer for a

Better India), Darshak Hathi ad-

dressed students at Arizona State

saying, When we change the atti-

tude of people around us, we can cre-

ate a wave of difference to enrich our

entire society. Today, for the younger

generations, the avenue for structur-

al change can be social media.

Hundreds around the country have

rallied for this cause. Says OVBI

president Suresh Vasu, We are de-

lighted with the enthusiastic respons-

es at each of the OVBI Independence

Day functions and with the interest

people have shown to become OVBI

members in support of ourinitiatives

for India.

In the cities of Ocala and

Gainesville in Florida, events fea-

tured presentations on strategies to

educate the public on democratic

processes, highlight development

initiatives driven by principles of

personal empowerment, and empha-

size the creation of capable future

leadership through a school of good

governance.

In Mercer County New Jersey,

OVBI members took part in a 5K

walkathon to raise funds for relief ef-

forts in the North Indian state of Ut-

tarakhand.

In Northern California, the Festival

of India drew thousands of partici-

pants and onlookers, with the OVBI

contingent marching strong in their

midst. Within the broader framework

of the festivals cultural offerings and

historical exhibits, OVBI raised pub-

lic awareness around the social cli-

mate of present-day India with an

emphasis on how those based in the

US can make relevant contributions

to Indian society.

Launched in May 2013 by members

of the Indian diaspora in the US,

OVBI has gained considerable mo-

mentum as a major cause for the expa-

triate community and its supporters.

For more information, please visit

www.overseasvbi.org

Kapil Parakh

Surinder Singh

Overseas Volunteer for a Better India (OVBI)members during a march

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7August 31-September 6, 2013TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY

Washington, D C: Indians have

emerged as the third-largest immi-

grant group in the US behind

Mexicans and the Chinese with their

number touching nearly 1.9 million

in 2011, according to a US think

tank. The share of Indian immi-

grants among all foreign born in the

US has grown to almost 5 percent of

the country's 40.4 million immi-

grants in 2011, noted an article pub-

lished in the Migration Policy

Institute's online journal, the

Migration Information Source.

Indian population has grown to

over 150 times its size since 1960,

when the slightly more than 12,000

Indian immigrants represented less

than 0.5 percent of the total immi-

grant population of 9.7 million

immigrants.

Indians' share of Asian immi-grants in the United States has been

increasing steadily since 1960, mak-

ing it the third-largest sending coun-

try overall and the second-largest

Asian sending country after China.

As a group, immigrants from

India are better educated, more like-

ly to have strong English language

skills and arrive on employment-

based visas, and are less likely to

live below the federal poverty line

than the overall foreign-born popu-

lation, it says.

They are also more concentrated

in the working ages than immigrants

overall, and Indian-born men out-

number Indian-born women. In

2011, India was the second most

common country of origin for inter-

national students at US institutions

of higher learning, behind China,

MPI noted.

Based on data from various US

government reports, the article

noted that Almost one-third of all

Indian immigrants resided in just

two states:

California (380,700 or 21 percent)

and New Jersey (210,400, or 11 per-cent).

Other states with Indian immi-

grant populations greater than

100,000 were Texas (162,400, or 9

percent); New York (145,400, or 8

percent); and Illinois (127,200, or 7

percent).

Indians are third largest immigrantgroup in US

Washington, DC: A Michigan judge

has ruled that an unusual lawsuit

alleging discrimination against a bank

set up by members of the local Indian

and east Asian business community by

two of its Indian customers can pro-

ceed.Oakland County Circuit Court

Judge Denise Langford Morris

Wednesday ruled that the case against

Novi-based Lotus Banco rp Inc. and

three of its senior officers can pro-

ceed. She, however, denied a motion

to establish it as a class-action lawsuit.

According to crainsdetroit.com,

what makes the lawsuit unusual is that

Lotus Bancorp, the holding company

for Novi-based Lotus Bank, was

founded in 2007 by members of the

local Indian and East Asian business

community. Most of those who invest-

ed in the bank were of Indian descent.

Most of its board members are Indian.

And yet two of the bank's Indian

customers, Jasit Takhar and Anil

Gupta, last March filed the case alleg-

ing discrimination when they fell

behind on payments on a nearly $1.5

million loan from Lotus to buy a

Travelodge motel in Jackson.

The lawsuit is based on a series of

emails in 2010 and 2011 by the bank's

president, Neal Searle, and one of its

executive vice presidents, Richard

Bauer, who is also the bank's CFO,

crainsdetroit.com said.

Both are named as defendants, as is

chief lending officer John

Westerheide, the recipient of some of

the emails, which contain highly

derogatory comments about Indians.

One, by Bauer, as cited by the web-site, said that "the only good Indian is

a dead Indian", and another by him,

when asked if he wanted free tickets

for his Indian customers to attend a

concert by an Indian singer, said he

was "only interested if someone is

going to detonate an incendiary

device."

A brief in the lawsuit quotes Searle

as saying, in reference to others asso-

ciated with the bank: "I don't care

what your Indian buddies told you, I

make the decisions. I know how you

Indians operate. You like to deal with

someone you know in upper manage-

ment but this does not work like that.

Do you understand English?"

Takhar and Gupta eventually got

current on their loan after repeatedly

being thr eat ene d wit h for ecl osu re,

crainsdetroit.com reported.

Arguing to have the case dismissed,

the Lotus bank's lawyer Patrick

McCarthy Wednesday agreed that the

emails by Searle and Bauer were

wrong, but said they had nothing to do

with the bank's actions regarding

Takhar and Gupta.

Indian Americans accuse bank of discrimination

Washington, DC: India-born

Satya Nadella, currently heading

Microsoft's Cloud and Enterprise

group, is listed among likely suc-

cessors to the information technol-

ogy giant's CEO Steve Ballmer,

who is set to retire within a year.

As executive vice president,

Nadella "runs a group that contin-

ues to churn out growth and prof-

its", noted Seattle Times in a story

on the start of a guessing game

among Microsoft watchers since

Ballmer's impending departure was

announced.

"There is no single clear succes-

sor to a lightning rod of a leader

who remains one of the most iden-

tifiable CEOs in the country," it

said."What's more, the next CEO may

well have a far different job than

the one Ballmer is vacating", the

Times said as "Once the dominant

force in technology, Microsoft now

finds itself chasing companies in

key businesses such as Google in

Web search and Apple in mobile

devices."Na de ll a, 44 , as he ad of

Microsoft's $19 billion Server and

Tools Business, is credited with the

transformation of the business and

technology from client-server soft-

ware to cloud infrastructure and

services.

Nadella also figures on the New

York Times' list of current

Microsoft executives who could be

contenders besides Tony Bates,

former director of Skype and now

executive vice president of busi-

ness development and strategy.

Speculation by analysts and

executives about external candi-

dates included Sheryl Sandberg,

chief operating officer of

Facebook; Reed Hastings, chief

executive of Netflix and a former

director at Microsoft; Scott

Forstall, who ran iOS at Apple

until last year and John Legere,

chief executive of T-Mobile, it

said.

Na de ll a ho ld s a Mast er of

Science degree in ComputerScience from the University of

Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a Master of

Business Administration from the

University of Chicago, and a

Bachelor of Engineering in

Electrical Engineering from the

Manipal Institute of Technology.

India-born Satya Nadella in runningfor Microsoft top job

Toronto: Less than a week after its

release, the Tamil version of contro-

versial political thriller "Madras

Cafe" was pulled from two theaters

here due to protests and poor rat-

ings.The movie, which was released

across the world Friday, is based on

the Sri Lankan civil war and also

shows the 1991 assassination of for-

mer Indian prime minister Rajiv

Gandhi.

Actor John Abraham, who has co-

produced the film, also features as

an Indian Army intelligence agent

sent to Sri Lanka.

The film sparked protests across

the world even before it got released

as Tamil groups claimed that the

film portrays the Liberation Tigers

of Tamil Eelam in poor light.

In Canada, the movie was released

in six theaters in Surrey, Montrealand Toronto.

Though the company representing

the film claimed that it was being

pulled from theaters in Canada due

to protests, spokeswoman for

Cineplex Entertainment, Pat

Marshall, said that it was being

pulled from only two Toronto the-

aters screening the Tamil version,

the Vancouver Desi reported.

"Its the way that our business

works, its our guests who decidewhat movies stay on the screen and

what movies come off by buying the

ticket, she was quoted as saying.

According to Marshall, the film

was received well in four of the six

theaters screening the Hindi version,

while the two Toronto theaters

screening the Tamil version could

not work. The Hindi version

opened well. The two locations in

the GTA (Greater Toronto Area), in

the Tamil version, did not openwell, Marshall said.

Of those six locations, given the

performance, the two Tamil version

movies will come off but the other

four will continue on because

theyve done well, she added.

A group of around 50 people

protested outside Torontos Eglinton

Town Centre theater.

Tamil version of 'Madras Cafe' pulled from Canadian theaters

Satya Nadella

A poster of Madras Caf

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8 August 31-September 6, 2013 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoNATIONAL COMMUNITY

New York: It's large, it's colorful and

it's attractive. It's the kind of book

that even draws an adult to go

through and, before you realize it,

you've picked up something new.

DareBone's Big Break has been

authored by Gleeson Rebello, MD,

and Jamie Harisiades and published

by SDP Publishing

Its main author, Gleeson Rebello, is

a pediatric orthopedic surgeon born

and brought up in Goa. He is current-

ly a consultant in the department of

orthopedic surgery, Massachusetts

General Hospital, and on the faculty

of the Harvard Medical School.

The book describes itself as "a tale

of trauma, treatment, and recovery in

rhyme". It deals with a story from

everyday life: a child gets injured on

the playground, and ends up in the

emergency room.

Rebello says his attempt is to "edu-

cate without intimidating" and "en-

tertain without underestimating". So

this book packs in poetry, humor and,

importantly, medical accuracy.

DareBone is the boy who suffers

his first major injury - a broken el-

bow. We meet him together with his

"wise-cracking sidekick", the dogWag-A-Bone.

Given the authors' medical back-

grounds, DareBone not surprisingly

meets a number of "medical heroes",

including the orthopedic surgeon, as

he journeys through surgery and re-

covery.

"The book was written with the aim

of raising the bar in terms of explain-

ing the nuts and bolts of everyday

medical practice to a smarter genera-

tion of children without underesti-

mating their ability to pick up com-

plex concepts. A secondary aim of the

book is to make medicine and biolo-

gy 'cool'," Rebello said in an email in-

terview.

He sees the book as "very technical

from an orthopedic standpoint but at

the same time funny and easy to com-

prehend." It is aimed at children of 4-

10 years, as well as their parents and

healthcare professionals or educa-

tionists who deal with children of that

age.

"The response to the book has been

very encouraging both from health-

care- and non-healthcare-related pro-

fessionals. It took two years to write

it once I thought of the idea.... (There

also was) interacting with a lot of

frightened children with broken

bones in the emergency room and my

clinic, who were mostly afraid be-

cause of lack of knowledge of what

was to follow," Rebello said.

Rebello has trained at the Goa

Medical College, Christian Medical

College in Vellore and the KasturbaMedical College, Manipal, before he

joined Massachusetts General Hospi-

tal, Boston, as a research fellow and

on a staff position in 2008. His father,

Francis M. Rebello was closely asso-

ciated with a local Konkani newspa-

per in Goa, founded through public

donations in the 1970s.

Goan doctor's book explains healthissues to children

Washington, DC: Indian American

medical journalist Sanjay Gupta has

had a strain of cannabis named after

him since he suggested a relook at the

use of medical marijuana changing

his previous position on the contro-

versial issue.

A Colorado medical dispensary

named a new type of medical mari-

juana - Gupta Kush - after Gupta,

CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent,

adding him to a list of celebrities in-

cluding President Barack Obama

who have namesake cannabis strains.

"Dr. Gupta's recent reporting on

marijuana puts him at the forefront of

the medical cannabis movement, and

we thought what better way to honor

his efforts than by giving him his own

strain," said Jeff Kless, owner of

Helping Hands Herbals Dispensary

in Boulder, Colorado, in a media re-

lease.

"We'd like to ensure he remains part

of the annals of cannabis culture, and

now he will," he added.

Kless called naming a marijuana

strain after Gupta as "our way of tip-

ping our hat and honoring him for

taking such a firm, science-based

stance on behalf of marijuana as 'real'medicine."

"The political and health establish-

ments now realize that cannabis has

genuine medical benefits, which

we've been saying for years," he said.

"Gupta Kush imparts a very relax-

ing state that calms the mind without

compromising clarity. When the

mind is quiet and happy, people allowthemselves to heal. Medical marijua-

na helps that happen," Kless claimed.

Gupta Kush is an indica strain with

its origins in the Hindu Kush moun-

tains of South Asia, the reported

birthplace of some of the world's old-

est and most potent cannabis strains,

according to the release.

It has a rich green color hidden be-

neath a deep layer of trichomes, and a

thick, hashy, floral taste. Onset is im-

mediate and effects are long-lasting,

it said.

Since publicly announcing his

changed views on medical marijuana

earlier this month, Gupta has inspired

a more serious look at weed and evengenerated some pressure on Obama

to re-examine his position on mari-

juana laws.

However, the White House last

week indicated Obama isn't looking

to change current federal laws relat-

ing to marijuana anytime soon in the

light of Gupta's views.

US marijuana streak named afterDr Sanjay Gupta

Washington : The University of

South Carolina launched CarolIndia,

a year-long celebration of India, as it

unveiled the international edition of

the Encyclopaedia of Hinduism at a

conference on one of the world's old-est major religions.

Hundreds of Hindu families trav-

elled to Columbia in South Carolina,

to watch Indian social activist Anna

Hazare, Hindu spiritual leader Swa-

mi Chidanand Saraswati and univer-

sity President Harris Pastides unveil

the 11-volume encyclopedia Mon-

day.

Culmination of a 25-year academ-

ic effort, the definitive guide is

conceived, compiled and produced

by the India Heritage Research

Foundation and published by

Mandala Publishing, according to

the university.

"This is a remarkable work of

scholarship and research. I hope that

many in academia and in everyday

life will turn to it as a resource to bet-ter understand the characters, the

tenets and the impact that Hinduism

has had, and is having in the world,"

said Pastides. Hal French, professor

emeritus of religious studies, who

served as associate editor of the en-

cyclopaedia since its inception in

1987, called the 25-year quest to

document Hinduism a privilege.

The conference also marked the

beginning of CarolIndia, a year-long

celebration of India as part of the

university' expanding international-

ization program that would focus on

a single country every year.

Robert Cox, director of the univer-

sity's Walker Institute for Interna-

tional and Area Studies, said the uni-

versity chose India for its first year

because of the university's and state'sincreasing ties with the country and

for its importance as the world's

largest democracy and rising eco-

nomic power.

Cox said his greatest hope is that

university students come to think of

India as familiar place, not an exotic

one. CarolIndia will feature film fes-

tival, lectures, concerts and exhibits.

Among the many visitors to campus

will be filmmaker Mira Nair. Stu-

dents also will have the opportunity

to engage with faculty with Indian

research and teaching interests.

University of South Carolina launches celebration of India

Official launch of the international Encyclopedia of Hinduisminspired and guided by Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati with

Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati at USC.

Indian American doctorwrites health guide with

twist of humorWashington, DC: An Indian

American doctor has brought out a

book on short-term memory loss or

dementia chalking out positive

steps people should take to prevent

it -- all with a humorous twist.

Sandeep Grewal's 'Dementia Ex-

press: 100 Ways to Lose Your

Memory' makes people aware of

how they are contributing to their

own mental decline, and how to

take positive steps to prevent this,

according to a press statementThursday.

The book, which has captured

the attention of professionals in the

medical field, incorporates humor

while addressing the serious sub-

ject of mental decline.

This mix keeps the reader enter-

tained while still being informative

about mental functions.

The book explains that reducing

mental exercise will accelerate

memory loss and vice versa.

Therefore, Dementia Express is

loaded with brain boosting tips to

retrain the brain to bring back men-

tal acuity to the reader, the state-

ment said.The writer encourages readers to

complete small tasks to stimulate

the brain like changing a daily rou-

tine, and small lifestyle adjust-

ments that delay or eliminate de-

mentia. Grewal practices internal

medicine at Rock Hill in South

Carolina.

Medical journalistSanjay Gupta

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US AFFAIRS

US prepares to bypass UN onSyria response

Washington: The State Department made

clear Wednesday that the Obama administra-

tion plans to bypass the United Nations

Security Council as it prepares for a possible

strike on Syria, after having failed to win

support from Russia.

In blunt terms, department spokeswoman

Marie Harf said last-ditch efforts to win sup-

port for an anti-Assad resolution at the U.N.

were unsuccessful, and the U.S. would pro-

ceed anyway.

"We see no avenue forward given contin-

ued Russian opposition to any meaningful

council action on Syria," she said.

"Therefore, the United States will continue

its consultations and will take appropriate

actions to respond in the days ahead."

Earlier in the day, the U.S. and its allies

tried to advance a resolution from GreatBritain condemning the alleged chemical

attack last week in Syria, and authorizing

"necessary measures to protect civilians."

The Russian delegation, traditional support-

ers of the Assad government, immediately

complained about the resolution during the

discussions at U.N. headquarters in New

York.

Harf said the U.N. Security Council would

not be proceeding with a vote.

Launching a military strike without U.N.

authorization would not be without prece-

dent -- the U.S. acted unilaterally during the

1983 invasion of Grenada, the 1989 invasion

of Panama, and missile strikes on Sudan and

Afghanistan in 1998.

But in this case, the U.N.'s special envoy to

Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, is urging the U.S. to

seek and obtain Security Council approval.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also

urged the U.S. and its allies to wait until

U.N. inspectors currently in Syria finish their

work investigating last week's attack.

Harf and other U.S. officials have argued

that the U.S. is obligated to respond, given

the Assad regime's alleged breach of interna-

tional standards on chemical weapons, in a

grisly attack that reportedly killed hundreds.

The images from that attack, coupled with

other evidence, led Secretary of State John

Kerry to declare earlier this week that theuse of the weapons was "undeniable."

By the end of the week, the U.S. intelli-

gence community is expected to release evi-

dence making the case that the Assad regime

used chemical weapons. British Prime

Minister David Cameron is seeking a vote in

Parliament on Thursday in support of

responding in Syria.

Some members of Congress are now

demanding that Obama seek their approval

as well -- or at least greater consultation --

before proceeding.

50th Anniversary of March on Washington

Obama hails King but says 'dream'requires vigilance

Washington: President Barack Obamahailed Martin Luther King Jr Wednesday

for saving America from oppression but

said "constant vigilance" was needed to

keep the civil rights icon's dream of equality

alive.

Fifty years after the "I have a dream

speech," America's first black president

stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial

in Washington, where King made an

appearance in 1963 which changed

American history.

"He offered a salvation path for oppressed

and oppressors alike. His words belong to

the ages, possessing a power and prophecy

unmatched in our time," Obama said.

Obama also remembered the thousands of

African Americans who joined King's

March on Washington to demand their

rights and to wake their country's "long

slumbering conscience."

The president, who has faced some criti-

cism for not doing more to help the African

American community, which remains

plagued by poverty and barriers to advance-

ment, dismissed arguments that little had

changed for blacks since King spoke.

"To dismiss the magnitude of this

progress, to suggest, as some sometimes do,

that little has changed -- that dishonors the

courage and the sacrifice of those who paid

the price to march in those years," he said.

But he also argued that much work

remained to be done for King's dream to be

fulfilled."We would dishonor those heroes as well

to suggest that the work of this nation is

somehow complete.

"The arc of the moral universe may bend

towards justice, but it doesn't bend on its

own.

"To secure the gains this country has

made requires constant vigilance, not com-

placency," Obama said.

The president was joined at the ceremony

on the National Mall in the center of

Washington by former presidents Jimmy

Carter and Bill Clinton.

Carter bemoaned the "racist bullet" that

claimed King's life in 1968.

Clinton said that it was time to open the

"stubborn gates" barring wider opportunity.

"The choice remains as it was on that dis-

tant summer day 50 years ago. Cooperate

and thrive or fight with each other and fall

behind."

Before Obama addressed the throngs

gathered at the Lincoln Memorial, civil

rights leaders past and present remembered

the decades-long movement to secure equal

treatment and rights for African-Americans.

Celebrities and entertainers at the event

included Forest Whitaker and Oprah

Winfrey, who star as husband and wife in

one of the summer's hottest movies, "Lee

Daniels' The Butler," about life in the White

House through the eyes of the (mostly

black) hired help.

9August 31-September 6, 2013TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Fort Hood, Texas: Nidal Malik

Hasan was sentenced to death

Wednesday for killing 13 people

and wounding 32 others in a 2009

shooting spree at Fort Hood, Tex.,

the worst mass murder at a mili-

tary installation in U.S. history.

Dressed in Army fatigues,

Hasan, 43, listened impassively as

the death penalty was handed

down by a panel of 13 senior mili-

tary officers in a unanimous decision. If

even a single panel member had objected,

Hasan would instead have been sentenced

to life in prison.

The jury deliberated for a little more than

two hours.

Hasan was dismissed from the

Army and stripped of his pay and

other benefits, which he had con-

tinued to receive while awaiting

trial. He will be transferred to a

military prison at Fort

Leavenworth, Kan., on the first

available military flight, officials

said.

Hasan was previously found

guilty on all 13 counts of pre-

meditated murder and 32 of attempted pre-

meditated murder after opening fire Nov. 5,

2009, at Fort Hoods Soldier Readiness

Processing Center, where troops were get-

ting medical checkups before deployments

to Afghanistan.

Nidal Hasan sentenced to death for Fort Hoodshooting rampage

Nidal Hasan

President Obama addresses the crowd gathered on the National Mall inWashington on Wednesday, August 28. Fifty years ago, the Rev. Martin Luther

King Jr. gave his watershed "I Have a Dream" speech during thehistoric March on Washington.

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10 August 31-September 6, 2013 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoUS AFFAIRS

Mesa, AZ: Senator John

McCain still hopes the

Republican controlledHouse will pass real immi-

gration reform, but the

clock is clicking away as

2014 is election year.

Its very important that

we try to act before the end

of this year, McCain said

at a town hall in Mesa,

Arizona, on Tuesday.

Waiting any longer will run

into campaign season. But

given looming battles over

funding the government and

increasing the debt ceiling,

passing immigration legis-

lation before 2014 may be

unrealistic.

I remain guardedly opti-

mistic that our friends in the

House of Representatives

will agree to their legisla-

tive process and then we

can get to conference,

McCain, who was joined by

fellow Arizona Republican

Senator Jeff Flake, told the

audience.

He cited the array of

interests backing reform,

including major business

groups, labor unions, and

evangelical organizations,

as evidence of its momen-

tum.

House leaders are movingforward with a series of

bills on border security and

visa programs, but theyve

yet to decide howand

whetherto offer legal sta-

tus and a path to citizenship

to the estimated 11 million

undocumented immigrants

living in America today.

McCain is still hoping the

House will support a citi-

zenship component in a

final deal.

I dont accept your

premise that the House of

Representatives will

absolutely reject a path to

citizenship, McCain told a

reporter at the forum. I

think well know more in

two or three months.The Senate bill would

require undocumented

immigrants to meet a vari-

ety of requirements, includ-

ing paying a fine and learn-

ing English, in order to

obtain citizenship. The

process would take at least

13 years for most eligible

applicants.

But among House

Republicans, its not clear

that the caucus supports

even limited legal status for

undocumented immigrants.

Rep. Bob Goodlatte, chair

of the House Judiciary

Committee overseeing

immigration legislation,

recently suggested that even

immigrants who werebrought to the country ille-

gally as children should not

get a new path to citizen-

ship.

Wildfire 25% contained but spreadsdeeper into Yosemite

Groveland, CA: The Rim

fire spread deeper

intoYosemite National Parkon Tuesday with flames rac-

ing unimpeded to the east

even as firefighters shored

up defenses for communi-

ties on the western edges of

the blaze.

The fire was 25% con-

tained by Wednesday, with

almost all of the contain-

ment coming on the fire's

southwest edge. On the

east, the fire has a relatively

flat, clear path farther into

Yosemite and the 3,700

firefighters battling the

blaze have fewer options to

control it.

"They're in scouting

mode," Dick Fleishman of

the U.S. Forest Service said

of fire crews. "There's not a

lot of real good areas to get

out in there and do a lot of

work."

The blaze has destroyed

111 buildings, including 31

residences, and is now the

seventh-largest fire in state

history, having spread

across 281 square miles.

"It's burning its way into

the record books," said

Daniel Berlant, a

spokesman for the

California Department ofForestry and Fire

Protection.

On Tuesday, firefighters

bolstered defensive perime-

ters to the south and west

using bulldozers to clear

brush and vegetat ion from

strips of land up to the

Tuolumne River to protect

homes near California 108,

Berlant said.

"We've burned back down

the mountain so that if the

fire makes the river, jumps

the river, that side of the hill

is already burned," he said.

"We're coming around the

corner, catching the western

portion of the fire and we'll

continue to pinch it off as it

goes up to the northern

flank."

Officials consider about

4,500 homes north of the

fire and two groves of giant

sequoias and other historiclandmarks still in danger.

The Stanislaus National

Forest is taking the brunt of

the blaze, with the

Groveland Ranger District

making up most of the

southern flank.

The region has been hit

hard by fires in the past, the

most significant in 1987,

which claimed the life of a

firefighter.

This week's fire has

brought sorrow among the

district's employees, who

not only recall the past dev-

astation but also begrudge

the current damage.

The fire burned though an

area that had a pending $1-

million timber sale, said

Maggie Dowd, district

ranger in the Groveland

Ranger District.

"The economic impacts

are real, but we haven'tbe gu n to es ti ma te th em

yet," Dowd said Tuesday

from her office in a building

shrouded in smoke.

Rim fire air drop

US Senator John McCain speaks to reporters afterattending a Conversation On Immigration during a

town hall event in Mesa, Arizona on August 27.

Higher education shouldn'tbe a luxury: Obama

Washington: US President

Barack Obama Saturday said

that higher education shouldn't

be a lu xu ry, to ut in g hi srevamped education plan to

make college more affordable.

In his weekly radio and inter-

net address, Obama said stu-

dents and families and taxpayers

cannot just keep subsidizing col-

lege costs that keep going up

and up, Xinhua reported.

The US president laid out

steps to ensure that college

remains within reach for all

young Americans including con-

necting financial aid to school

per for mance, suppor ting aca -

demic innovation and competi-

tion, and helping more students

responsibly manage their debt."These reforms won't be popu-

lar with everybody. But the path

we're on now is unsustainable

for our students and our econo-

my," he said.

"Higher education shouldn't be

a luxury, or a roll of the dice; it's

an economic imperative thatevery family in America should

be able to afford."

Obama took a two-day bus

tour this week rolling out new

education reforms for American

families. The White House said

the tour is a part of his broader

initiative to secure a better bar-

gain for middle class families.

The rising cost of college has

increasingly become a burden

for many Americans. According

to Obama administration fig-

ures, average tuition and fees at

a public four-year college have

increased more than 250 percent

over the past three decades,while incomes for typical

American families grew by only

16 percent. Average student loan

debt stands at $26,000.

Miley Cyrus shocks with raunchyVideo Music Awards performance

New York: An organization

backed by Miley Cyrus's dad has

criticized a raunchy MTV Video

Music Awards performance by ...

Miley Cyrus. The Parents

Television Council have accusedMTV of "falsely manipulating the

content rating" for their program,

encouraging children to watch

"adults-only material" such as

Cyrus's twerking routine with

Robyn Thicke.

As the New York Times points

out, conservative outrage is noth-

ing new for MTV's skin-studded

red-letter night. It's not even the

first time that a former child star

writhed in flesh-tone underthings.

But Cyrus isn't just the previously

family-friendly Hannah Montana:

she is also the daughter of country

singer Billy Ray Cyrus, who sits

on the Parents Television

Council's advisory board.

Although the Parents Television

Council's press release did not

mention Billy Ray, it did single

out Miley's tongue-waggling per-

formance: "MTV continues to

sexually exploit young women by

promoting acts that inco rporate

'twerking' in a nude-coloured biki-

ni," it wrote. "How is this image

of former child star Miley Cyrus

appropriate for 14-year-olds?"

However the council also under-

lined that sexually provocative

pop stars aren't the object of its

indignation MTV's parental rat-

ings are.

US soldier gets life term

for Afghan massacreSan Francisco: A US soldier who killed

16 Afghan civilians last year was sen-

tenced to life in prison without the possi-

bility of parole in Washington.

Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales

appeared in blue military dress. He

showed no emotion as the juryannounced its verdict Friday. He was led

away from the court without a chance to

hug his weeping mother, Xinhua report-

ed. The 40-year-old soldier's lawyers

argued that he should one day be eligible

for parole, while prosecutors who

described him as a "man of no moral

compass" pointed to the heinous nature of

the crimes in arguing to keep him in jail

for life.

On March 11, 2012, Bales slipped away

from his military base before dawn and

killed 16 unarmed Afghan civilians,

mostly women and children, in Kandahar

province in southern Afghanistan.

The veteran of four combat tours in

Iraq and Afghanistan apologised

Thursday for the attack.

"I'm truly, truly sorry to those people

whose families got taken away," he said.

Bales, a father of two, pleaded guilty to

the killings in June.

McCain stubbornly believes theHouse can pass immigration reform

Miley Cyrus at MTV VideoMusic awards

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12 August 31-September 6, 2013 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoINDIA

Indian Mujahideenco-founder arrested

New Delhi/Patna: Indian

Mujahideen co-founder Yasin

Bhatkal, wanted for a string of

bombings in India, and another sus-

pected terrorist have been arrestedfrom the India-Nepal border, offi-

cials said.

This is the second big catch for

Indian security agencies after the

arrest of Abdul Karim Tunda, a key

Lashkar-e-Taiba operative and

expert bomb-maker, also from the

India-Nepal border on Aug 16.

Announcing the arrest of Bhatkal,

one of India's most wanted terrorists

who was on the run for five years,

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde

said: "Yasin Bhatkal has been arrest-

ed last (Wednesday) night.

"He is in the custody of Bihar

Police and the interrogation is going

on," Shinde told reporters outside

parliament.

He said Bhatkal, one of the

founders of Indian Mujahideen, was

arrested on the India-Nepal border.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

was briefed by the minister about

the arrest. Hyderabad police chief

Anurag Sharma identified the other

suspected terrorist who was arrested

as Asadullah Akhtar.

He said they will be examined by

the Andhra Pradesh police about

their involvement in Feb 21 blasts at

Dilsukhnagar in Hyderabad that

claimed 18 lives and injured scores.

Bihar Police officials said the

operation to arrest Bhatkal was done

in secrecy.In his mid-30s, Bhatkal, also

known as Mohammed Ahmed

Mohammed Zarrar Siddhibappa,

belongs to Bhatkal district in north

Karnataka.

Police said he was involved in 11

bomb attacks across India including

in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore,

Ahmedabad, Pune and Surat.

Bhatkal co-founded IM in 2008

along with his brothers Riaz and

Iqbal and four others.

Bhatkal is also wanted for the

German Bakery bomb blast in Pune

Feb 13, 2010 that killed 17 people.

The terror group was outlawed by

the US as a Foreign Terrorist

Organisation in 2011. Bhatkal along

with others were also said to be

behind th ree coordina te d bomb

blas ts at Op er a Ho use, Zave ri

Bazaar and Dadar West in Mumbai

July 13, 2011 that killed 27 people/

In 2011, Delhi Police announced a

reward of Rs.15 lakh for informa-

tion leading to the arrest of Bhatkal.

The terrorist, said to be responsi-

ble for IM activiti es across India,

had married before the 2008 Delhi

bomb attack.

Why Zubin Mehta concert a controversy in Kashmir?

Srinagar: It's a bizarre case of a

concert becoming controversial in

a land known for poets, singers

and musicians for ages. But, those

opposing the September 7 concert

here of the Bavarian State

Orchestra conducted by the India-

born and world-renowned Zubin

Mehta believe they have valid

reasons to do so.

German ambassador to India

Michael Steiner announced that

the concert would be held in the

famous Shalimar Garden on the

banks of the Dal Lake. And, for a

concert of this standing, Kashmir

was expected to host a national

and international audience of

music lovers.

Normally, anybody who loves

music or has even a remote sense

of aesthetic appreciation would

like to attend the concert for the

sheer fame of the person conduct-

ing it.

Composes like Beethoven,

Hayden and Tchaikovsky are not

unheard of in Kashmir, although

Western classical music definitely

doesn't have many followers here.

"But, as world-famous sitar

maestro Ravi Shankar once said,

music has no language. It catches

your imagination and holds you

spellbound whether or not you

understand the finer points", said

a local singer/musician who did

not want to be named for obvious

reasons.

Kashmiri separatist leaders as

also the local Grand Mufti and

civil society members have

opposed the Zubin Mehta concert

for political reasons. The first

statement against the concert

came on expected lines from

hardline separatist leader Syed Ali

Geelani, who said an international

event like this would tends to give

legitimacy to Indian rule in

Kashmir.

Geelani also referred to an inter-

national cricket match in Kashmir

between India and West Indies in

1983 when some locals stormed

the field and had dug up the pitch

to stop the match.

Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, the

chairman of the moderate sepa-

ratist Hurriyat group, said in his

statement that instead of spending

huge sums of money on holding

the concert, the German ambassa-

dor would do better by trying to

help education, healthcare and the

other needs of the Kashmiri peo-

ple. Grand Mufti Basher-ud-Din,

who had previously hit the head-

lines for all the wrong reasons for

opposing an all-girls' music band,

said holding the Zubin Mehta

concert in a "disputed land would

convey a wrong signal interna-

tionally...(that) Kashmiris have

enough prosperity and leisure to

attend an event like this".

Interestingly, the Grand Mufti

said he had initially decided not to

comment on the event, but had

been approached by soc ial and

religious groups to speak on the

issue as a religious head.

Zubin Mehta is to perform in the Valley on September 7

Yasin Bhatkal is the second big catch for Indian securityagencies after the arrest of Abdul Karim Tunda

'Hazare ready to endorseModi if he leaves BJP'

Washington: Anti-corruption

crusader Anna Hazare has said

that he would be "happy to

endorse" Gujarat chief minister

Narendra Modi if he left the BJP,

an American media outlet has

reported.

Hazare, who left for India from

New York after a nearly two-week

US trip, made the remarks during

an interaction with the Indian-

American community, academi-

cians and think-tanks at an event

organized by the Hindu temple inDelaware on August 20, the

Huffington Post reported.

"Anna Hazare did not endorse

Narendra Modi . He said he did

not believe in political parties and

since Modi was a member of BJP,

a political party, he could not

endorse him.

"When pressed to endorse Modi

as an individual, he responded by

saying that if Modi left the BJP,

he would be happy to endorse

him," Muqtedar Khan, Associate

Professor at the University of

Delaware and a Fellow at the

Institute for Social Policy and

Understanding, wrote in the

Huffington Post.

Anna was not available for com-

ments when approached by the

over phone through his US person

of contact.

Khan, who moderated the ques-

tion and answer session at the

Delaware event, wrote that for an

ethical activist, it was a very polit-ical answer.

"Anna was trying to get out of

endorsing Modi without offending

Modi's supporters. But I suspect

he offended the Hindu secularists

by not condemning Modi and dis-

appointed Hindu nationalists by

not clearly endorsing him," said

Khan.

According to Khan, Anna's

activism and his stature have put

corruption on the national agenda.

Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare

Blame centre forTN fishermen's

arrest: JayaChennai: Tamil Nadu chief min-

ister J Jayalalithaa has slammed

the Centre for remaining a mute

spectator on the frequent arrests

of the Indian fishermen by the Sri

Lankan navy. As many as 117

fishermen have been arrested by

the Sri Lankan navy since July.

A batch of 35 fishermen from

Pamban in Rameswaram, who

went for fishing on four mecha-

nized boats, were apprehended

by the navy of the island nation

for allegedly entering their

waters. The fishermen were taken

to the Kalpitiya police station for

further action.

Earlier, 82 fishermen from

Na gapa tt in am andRamanathapuram were taken into

custody and their remand period

has been extended since then.

In a letter to the Prime

Minister, Jayalalithaa said the

state failed to see any concerted

action from the Centre to ensure

the early release of the fishermen.

"It leads us to doubt whether the

issue is even taken as seriously

by the Centre as it ought to be,"

she said.

"This very muted response of

the Indian government has

emboldened the Lankan navy to

repeatedly arrest the fishermen,"

she added.

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Jaipur: Rajasthan Police was unlikely to give more

time to spiritual guru Asaram Bapu to appear for ques-