TheSouthAsianTimes.infoVol. 3 | No.50 | April 2-8, 2011 | 60 Cents

The South Asian TimesUS Affairs 9 Travel 18 Spiritual Awareness 30Bollywood 27

NEW YORK EDITION Excellence In Journalism

Managing hypertension, a silent killer

Health, page 26

Poonam Alaigh quits as NY health chief

Tristate Community, Page 5

Harvard India Conference Opens Minds

India Conference Special, page 16

India Business Conference at Columbia

India Business Conference 2011, page 10

US bats for India-Pakistan cricket diplomacy

Washington: The United States has wel-comed Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani’s “promising” cricket diplomacy during Wednesday’s Cricket World Cup match between their teams.

“The expansion of dialogue between In-dia and Pakistan is a welcome and encour-aging development for both countries, for the region, and for the world,” State depart-ment spokesman Mark Toner said in a press statement Thursday.

“The United States congratulates the people of Pakistan and India on the cricket match between the two nations’ teams, and

their respective Prime Ministers on their promising ‘cricket di-plomacy,’” he said. “The match show-cased world-class cricket, sportsmanship, and statesmanship. The expansion of dialogue between India and Pakistan is a welcome and encouraging devel-opment for both coun-tries, for the region,

and for the world.”“It builds on the substantial progress

achieved by the Interior and Home Sec-retaries earlier this week,” Toner said.

“The United States welcomes the on-going engagement between India and Pakistan. We continue to believe that talks should continue at a pace, time, and scope of the two governments’ choosing.”

“We applaud both leaders and their citizens for the creative initiative, warm spirit and friendly competition on dis-play during the match,” he said.More cricket diplomacy stories on page 12.

India favorites to lift World Cup

Tension mounts in Libya, also confusion

High stakes final versus Sri Lanka has attracted Rs.50,000 crore in bets

Mumbai: The underground bet-ting syndicate was in a frenzy over the India-Sri Lan-ka cricket World Cup final here Saturday. A mind-boggling sum of Rs.50,000 crore (over $11 billion) is at stake on the final showdown, sources said. If the punters are to be believed, India are a clear fa-vorites at 46 paise against Sri Lanka’s Rs. 1.38.

In simple parlance, if one bets Re.1 on India and it wins, the better gets his rupee back plus 46 paise. For a rupee bet on Sri Lanka, and it wins, the return would be a whopping Rs.2.38.

Reliable sources said that betting reached a feverish pitch when India beat Pakistan in the semifinal at Mohali Wednesday to book seat in the finals.

The amount could go up substan-tially depending on who wins the toss and elects to bat or bowl, sources said.

The bookies have also bet on players hitting a century at the final. The chance that an In-dian player hits a ton has been pegged at 78 paise. Among the players, Sachin Tendulkar is

Tripoli: A senior aide to one of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s sons has held secret talks in London with British authorities, a friend of the aide said on Friday, adding to the confusion and anxiety swirling around the Tripoli regime after the defection of a high-ranking minister and the departure of

considered the best bet for hitting a half century at 90 paise, but a whopping Rs. 5 for a century.

Virender Sehwag is next on the list for scoring a century at Rs.5.50 and Rs.1.05 for a half century. Similarly, Gautam Gambhir’s chances of hitting a century are pegged at Rs.6.00, but Rs.1.10 for a half century. Next on the punters’ list is Yuvraj Singh who stands at Rs.6.20 for a century and Rs.1.25 for a half century. The sources said that this time, all betting is done through Goa and Gu-jarat using high-end laptops and mobiles.

“This time, Mumbai and rest of Maharashtra is out of the circuit for operating the business because of so many VVIPs, foreign dignitaries and multi-agencies security on land, in the air and at sea,” a source said.

More cricket stories on page 22-23.

Indian skipper MS Dhoni and his Sri Lankan counterpart Kumar Sangakkara posing with the coveted Cricket World Cup.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani just before the start of the Cricket World Cup India-Pak semifinal in Mohali on

Wednesday. Indian stars Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag look on.

Despite the tense Indo-Pak semifinal, Sachin Tendulkar and Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi had a moment of bonhomie.

another senior figure to Cairo. Mohammed Ismail, a senior aide to Seif al-Islam, one of Colonel Qaddafi’s sons, traveled to London for talks with British officials in recent days, the friend said in London on Friday.

In Benghazi on Friday the rebel leadership issued a set of demands for a cease-fire in its battle with the Qaddafi government.

Libya continued on page 4

Tristate Community 3

TheSouthAsianTimes.info April 2-8, 2011

Cricket frenzy grips South Asian fans

Nassau county drops suitagainst fiscal watchdog

New York: One of the most hyped

cricket matches of all time, the In-

dia-Pakistan clash in the semi fi-

nals of the ICC Cricket World Cup

at Mohali, India found its huge

share of fanbase rooting as far as in

Jackson Heights, Queens.Dozens

of cabs were parked, end to end,

along the curbs in front of several

cafes, restaurants and shops in the

neighborhood, the heart of New

York’s South Asian diaspora. In-

side, the cabbies — and scores of

their countrymen — had gathered

with jittery anticipation in front of

wide-screen televisions at the crack

of dawn Wednesday. The passion

seized immigrants from India and

Pakistan equally.

, too, while most of the New York

region was still asleep, South

Asians gathered in groups small

and large, in private homes and

public spaces, to watch the one-day

and cheer—and sulk when the

chips were down. Finally, India

held its cool and won the tense

match.

The Jackson Heights Cinema

showed the game live on its big

screen, for $30 a ticket. The modest

turnouts did not appear to dampen

enthusiasm there. Many people had

stayed home to watch online.

Many Indians and Pakistani said

on radio shows that they made it a

point to watch the Indian innings at

home, and then made it to office

where they watched it on their

comps.

Mineola, NY: Nassau County has decided

not to pursue a lawsuit against a state panel

overseeing its finances.

According to a press release from the

County office, Nassau attorney John

Ciampoli said the county hopes to work to-

gether with the Nassau Interim Finance Au-

thority (NIFA) "to correct the errors of the

past and to meet the challenges ahead."

A judge earlier in March dismissed the

county's claims that the takeover was un-

constitutional and that NIFA's authority to

impose financial controls had expired.

Ciampoli defended the county's reasons

for challenging the takeover, but told the

court earlier this week that it would not pur-

sue further litigation in the case. NIFA took

control of county finances after concluding

that the county had a $176 million deficit in

its 2011 budget.

“The County Executive (Ed Mangano)

and I have had conversations with (NIFA)

Chairman Stack which we hope portend a

productive and mutually cooperative effort

on behalf of Nassau County. Earlier today I

had a very promising discussion with NIFA’s

counsel regarding review and administration

of contracts. We have already begun to mo-

bilize staff to get the job done,” Ciampoli

was quoted as saying in the March 29 re-

lease. “The County Executive is aggressive-

ly and tirelessly working to address the

problems of Nassau County under the cir-

cumstances that exist as a result of the

Court’s decision, and the problems that he

inherited,” he added.

Intellectuals oppose banningAmerican’s book on Gandhi

New Delhi: Intellectuals

and Gandhi kin have criti-

cized the clamor for banning

a controversial book on Ma-

hatma Gandhi. The Gujarat

government has already

banned the book "Great

Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and

His Struggle With India" by

Pulitzer Prize-winning au-

thor Joseph Lelyveld while

Maharashtra is contemplat-

ing such an action. Union

Law Minister M Veerappa

Moily had also hinted at

such a possibility earlier.

The reviews of the book in

the US and England had

claimed that the book says

Gandhi was a bisexual and

had a German-Jewish body-

builder lover in Hermann

Kallenbach. Condemning

the ban, Lelyveld said, "in a

country (India) that calls it-

self a democracy, it is

shameful to ban a book that

no one has read, including

the people who are doing the

banning. "

Gandhi's great grandson

Tushar Gandhi said banning

will be a "greater insult" to

Bapu than what the book or

the author might have in-

tended.

"I will challenge the ban,"

he tweeted. He said he was

against the culture of ban-

ning books and added "how

does it matter if the Mahat-

ma was straight, gay or bi-

sexual? He would still be the

man who led India to free-

dom".

Writer Namita Gokhale

noted that "every time a

book is banned, it saddens

me because you simply can-

not ban ideas, you cannot

ban thoughts."

"Great Soul: MahatmaGandhi and His Struggle

With India": the newbook’s reviews claimedthat that the book saysGandhi was a bisexual.

Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos was the featured speaker at a meeting Thursday of the Rotary Club-Hicksville South in Copper Wok restaurant. He is using his years of experience in the financial sector to watch over

the county’s $2.6 billion budget. He spoke about the state of the county’s finances, and efforts led by County ExecutiveEd Mangano to fix problems. He is seen with the club members and is flanked by Vikas Dhall Singh, President ofHicksville South club, and Kamlesh Mehta, Founding President of the Club and Deputy Director, Nassau County

Office of Economic Development.

Ashok Varshney, President of Vintage Vision Inc, was honoredby Amb. Prabhu Dayal, Consulate General of India, New York,

at ‘Fabrics to Fashion 2011 Gala’ event last Thursday at theConsulate for his contribution to Indo-US fashion industry.

Libya continued from page 1Mustapha Abdul Jalil, the head of the rebel

National Council, said in a news conference that any cease-fire would have to entail the lifting of the sieges of rebel-held cities like Misurata and Zintan, the removal from those cities of Colonel Qaddafi’s mercenaries and “snipers on the roofs of buildings” and a guar-antee of the right to “peaceful protests” for Libyans in the western half of the country.

“At that point, we’ll see how all the Libyan people want freedom,” he said.

The Qaddafi government dismissed the rebel offer as a ploy.

The rumors surrounding likely defections became ever murkier when another senior official, Ali Abdussalam el-Treki, who had been reported to have defected, denied doing so. In an interview in Cairo on Friday, Mr. Treki said that while his visit to the Egyptian capital was not an authorized mission, he had not turned against the Qaddafi government.

“There are people who do not want to de-fect to one side or the other — they just don’t want to be part of this situation continuing,” Mr. Treki said. “A lot of Libyans think like me. They think our country should be saved, we have to stop this killing and fighting. All fighting should be stopped.”

An official familiar with the talks with Mr.

Ismail was emphatic that the British gov-ernment had not offered any deals, either over the terms for a cease-fire or over pos-sible sanctuary for further defections from the governing elite in Tripoli.

“Our people are not in the game of making deals,” the official said. “We tell them quite forcefully that Qaddafi has to go, and that there is a need for regime change.”

The official said Britain was a natural des-tination for top Libyan officials, since close contacts between the two governments had developed in recent years as powerful Libyan officials negotiated the rapprochement with the West over the past decade that hinged on Mr. Qaddafi’s agreement to abandon Libya’s secret programs to develop unconventional weapons, including a nuclear arsenal. The Libyans involved in those negotiations in-cluded Mr. Ismail and Moussa Koussa, the former foreign minister, who flew to Britain on a British government jet on Wednesday after saying he could no longer represent the Qaddafi government. He remained seques-tered on Friday at a safe house outside Lon-don where he was being debriefed by officials from the Foreign Office and MI6, Britain’s secret intelligence agency. Mr. Ismail, who was in Britain for several days, has returned to Libya, officials in London said.

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TheSouthAsianTimes.info April 2-8, 2011

New York: ‘I have no interest in Indian

politics,’ said Indian American hotelier

Sant Singh Chatwal as he again denied a

purported WikiLeaks report suggesting that

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was try-

ing to win Akali Dal support during the

2008 trust vote through him.

‘I have no interest in Indian politics

because I live in this country and spend

most of my time here,’ said Chatwal.

The purported WikiLeaks cable from the

US embassy said that Captain Satish

Sharma ‘considered to be a very close fam-

ily friend of Sonia Gandhi’ told the US

political counsellor that the Congress party

was working hard to ensure that the UPA

government wins the July 22 confidence

vote on the India-US nuclear deal.

‘Sharma said that PM Singh and others

were trying to work on the Akali Dal (8

votes) through financier Sant Chatwal and

others, but unfortunately it did not work

out,’ according to the leaked cable.

Chatwal said he worked day and night to

get the landmark India-US nuclear deal

approved by the US Congress, but played

no role for its passage in India.

‘India is my passion. My heart is there’

and ‘this deal is fantastic for India and fan-

tastic for America’, Chatwal, who is known

to be close to the Clintons said.

‘So I had to work hard. I had to be in

Washington every week and put up my day

and night’ on the job, he said.

Because he knew members of the US

Congress, Manmohan Singh asked him to

work on that with planning and a proper

strategy to get the deal done in the face of

lobbying by China, Pakistan and ‘our ene-

mies’ against the pact, Chatwal said.

Initially ‘Hillary Clinton was not helping

as she thought it could be a political issue

as she was planning a presidential run,’ he

said.

‘But when I put the whole package

together, she also came on board.’

I have no interest in Indian politics: Chatwal

New York: New Jersey’s

Indian American

Commissioner of Health and

Senior Services has resigned

from the cabinet level post

after 14 months in office, cit-

ing personal reasons.

Alaigh was the second

Indian-American to be

appointed to a cabinet post in

New Jersey after Kris

Kolluri, former CEO of the

state’s Schools Development

Authority and former

Commissioner of New

Jersey’s Department of

Transportation.

Appointed by Republican

Governor Chris Christie in

January last year, Alaigh

announced she will step

down April 1 because of a

“family emergency.”

Alaigh was serving as

executive medical director of

Horizon Blue Cross Blue

Shield when Christie nomi-

nated her to the commission-

er’s post.

South Asians are part of the

state’s fastest-growing Asian-

American community which

comprises 8.2 per cent of

New Jersey’s nearly nine mil-

lion population.

“I am passionate about the

work and accomplishments

we have been able to deliver

for the families of New

Jersey during this time of

unprecedented budget chal-

lenges,” Alaigh said in a

statement. “So, it is with both

pride and difficulty that I

announce my resignation

from the department.”

Praising Alaigh’s service to

the state, Christie said: “Her

commitment and passion for

the job has been unprecedent-

ed, and her stewardship of

the department has been

world-class through a period

of economic difficulty and an

increased need among our

citizens for quality health-

care services.”

Poonam Alaigh quits as NewJersey health chief

New York: Sotheby’s March 2011

Indian and South Asian Art sales

have brought a total of

$13,459,625, comfortably within

the $11.2/17 million estimate. The

sales were led by two stunning

masterpieces, both of which

soared above the high estimate.

On 24 March a copper Manjushri

figure from the 11th/12th century

sold for $2,322,500 in the Indian

and South East Asian Works of

Art sale (est. $200/300,000) and

on 25 March Akbar Padamsee’s

Untitled (Reclining Nude) fetched

$1,426,500 in the Modern and

Contemporary South Asian Art

auction (est. $500/700,000).

The Indian and South East

Asian Works of Art sale totaled

$9,431,375 and was 79% sold.

Strong prices were achieved

across every area of the sale with

bronzes, Tibetan sculpture, Indian

miniatures and decorative art all

exceeding pre-sale estimates.

Among strong prices for Tibetan

pieces was a gilt copper alloy

sculpture of Chakrasamvara inlaid

with silver, polychrome and semi-

precious stones which sold for

$578,500 several times the

$60/80,000 estimate. The group of

Indian miniatures in the sale was

led by An Illustration to the Gita

Govinda: Krishna Adorns his

beloved Radha which fetched

$422,500 exceeding the

$150/250,000 estimate. A

Ceremonial dagger, Damascus

steel blade with $158,500. The

sale also included The Pearl

Canopy of Baroda, a bejeweled

masterpiece which sold for

$2,322,500.

The Modern and Contemporary

South Asian Art brought a total of

$4,028,250. The sale was led by

Untitled (Reclining Nude) by

Akbar Padamsee, one of the great

masterpieces of modern Indian

art, which sold for $1,426,500

vastly exceeding the

$500/700,000 estimate and setting

a new record for the artist at auc-

tion. Other highlights included a

1956 Untitled Maqbool Fida

Husain painting that fetched

$602,500, comfortably within the

estimate of $500/700,000.

Sotheby’s Indian and SouthAsian Art sales bring

$13.5 million New York: The Art of Living

Foundation will launch ‘I Meditate

NY,' a movement to help New

Yorkers recharge and do more of the

things they love through the power-

ful benefits of meditation at the at

Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center

on Sunday, April 10.

World-renowned humanitarian

and thought leader on meditation Sri

Sri Ravi Shankar, will kick off the

event, guiding 2,700 participants in

one of the largest meditations ever

to be held in New York City, a press

release from the organizers said.

‘I Meditate NY' is an ambitious

campaign that aims to increase

awareness of the pow- erful benefits

of meditation as a practical way to

recharge and rejuvenate every day,

the release said.

The launch will offer a unique

opportunity to experience medita-

tion in a new and powerful way to

all New Yorkers, whether new or

experienced. It will also feature

music by 2011 Grammy nominee

Chandrika Tandon and world music

band Bhakti.

"Meditation is all the more rele-

vant in modern times as we have

greater responsibilities and ambi-

tions. It not only pro- vides relief

from stress and strain but also

enhances our abilities, strengthens

our nervous systems and soothes our

minds," Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was

quoted as saying in the release.

For more information on the visit

www.artofliving.org

Sri Sri to kick off meditation movement at Lincoln Center

File photo of Poonam Alaigh

Sant Singh Chatwal

An exquisite silver and copperinlaid Pala bronze from easternIndia depicting the bodhisattva

Manjushri, one of the most iconicdeities in Mahayana Buddhism

went for $2.3 million, much higher than the $200/300,000

estimate.

Spiritual guru Sri SriRavi Shankar

New York: New York Times-

owned website About.com

announced the winner of its 2011

Readers’ Choice Award for Best

Hindu Organization: Hindu

Students Council (HSC). The

largest Hindu youth organization in

North America edged out four

other finalists, all of which were

selected by editors from numerous

nominations submitted by hun-

dreds of readers. HSC enjoyed a

near outright majority with 48% of

the votes, and HSC Executive

Board member Arjun Pradeep

acknowledged the achievement,

noting, “Receiving the award is a

great honor in itself, but knowing

that such a great portion of the

readers recognized HSC’s efforts

makes this award even more spe-

cial!”

HSC was founded in 1990 by

three students and has since grown

to over fifty-five chapters in North

America and several inspired chap-

ters around the world, evolving

into a truly international effort. The

non-denominational, non-sectarian

organization’s mission is three-

fold: first, it seeks to provide

opportunities for college students

and young professionals to learn

about Hindu heritage and culture;

second, it strives to foster aware-

ness of issues affecting Hindus;

and third, it provides Seva (ser-

vice) to the community.

New York: South Asian Youth

Action (SAYA) will hold its annual

career fair at its center in Elmhurst,

N.Y., on April 2. Experts in medi-

cine, law, finance, architecture,

entertainment and the arts, including

Councilmember Daniel Dromm,

actors Reshma Shetty and Deep

Katdare and journalists Arun

Venugopal and S.Mitra Kalita, will

interact with youth, a press release

said.

Participants can get information

about internship opportunities and

helpful hints on navigating a career.

Admission is free. Resume writing

assistance will also be available.

Hindu Students Councilawarded

South AsianYouth Group to

hold annualcareer fair

6 Tristate Community

April 2-8, 2011 TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Rajat Gupta quits GatesFoundation panel

Washington: Rajat

Gupta, a former Indian

American director of

Goldman Sachs Group

accused of leaking insider

information to Galleon

Group founder Raj

Rajaratnam, has resigned

as an adviser to the Bill &

Melinda Gates

Foundation.

"Rajat Gupta has

stepped down from his

role on our Global

Development advisory

panel until these matters

are resolved," the Seattle

based foundation said in a

statement.

Gupta, 62, who was

chairman of the panel ,

was brought in after criti-

cism that the foundation

was unaccountable

beyond Gates, his wife

Melinda, and Warren

Buffett, their co-trustee,

all of who were travelling

in India last week.

Goldman Sachs CEO

Lloyd Blankfein testified

in the Galleon case

Wednesday that Gupta

had leaked confidential

information including

details of the $5 billion

investment in Goldman

Sachs in October 2008 by

Buffet t 's Berkshire

Hathaway, to

Rajaratnam.Gupta has not

been charged in the

Galleon case, but the US

Securities and Exchange

Commission filed a civil

complaint against him

earlier this month.Gupta,

who was managing direc-

tor of McKinsey for nine

years, resigned from

Procter & Gamble's board

after the SEC

complaint .He also has

quit the board of

American Airlines and its

parent AMR, and

announced he will step

down as head of the

Indian School of

Business.

'Rajaratnam didn't careabout Rajiv Goel's tips'

New York: Former Indian

American Intel executive

Rajiv Goel sparred with the

lawyer of Raj Rajaratnam

over the value of alleged tips

given to the Sri Lankan co-

founder of Galleon hedge

fund.

Testifying in the biggest

insider trading trial in the

US in a Manhattan court

Monday, Goel argued with

defence lawyer Terence

Lynam over a deal between

Sprint and Clearwire, in

which Intel, where Goel was

employed at the time, made

a $1 billion investment.

The prosecution alleges

that Rajaratnam traded on

tips provided by Goel, who

has pleaded guilty in the

case and is a key prosecution

witness.

But Lynam argued that

Rajaratnam was a sophisti-

cated, accomplished

investor, and Goel's tips

were barely worth his time-

he didn't take any of it into

account.

Asked about the specific

details of what he revealed

to Rajaratnam about Intel's

quarterly earnings in 2007,

Goel said: "I didn't recall

exactly what I said to him,

but it was about earnings

information I'd gotten from

Lenke."

P. Alexander Lenke, anoth-

er former Intel executive has

also testified about how he

gave inside information to

Goel.

"You can't remember if the

information was bad or good

information?" Lynam

asked."Yes sir, I don't

remember specifics of num-

bers, I just passed on infor-

mation that I got sir," Goel

replied

Lynam argued that if any-

thing, given the information

on Intel's revenue for the

quarter in question,

Rajaratnam should have sold

or shorted Intel stock.

He also argued that after

earnings news was released

by Intel on April 18, the

stock price moved about 1.5

percent and therefore the

information "didn't signifi-

cantly affect the stock

price."

"You don't know how that

information was perceived

or analysed or processed,"

Lynam said to Goel of the

information he says he pro-

vided to his then-friend.

When he pointed to news

articles and analyst reports

that discussed a potential

deal by Sprint and

Clearwire, and Intel's poten-

tial investment, Goel

stressed that those reports

were merely speculation.

STAR IMA Awards 2011 to air in May New York: Big Star IMA

awards, India’s biggest

music awards, in partner-

ship with the Indian

Music Academy recog-

nized and honored music

maestros across all genres

of music through the ‘BIG

STAR IMA Awards 2011’.

The event wil l air on

STAR Plus India in the

month of May 2011.After

the success of the BIG

STAR Entertainment

Awards, India’s colossal

broadcast media compa-

nies - Reliance Broadcast

Network Limited, through

its Live Entertainment

business arm BIG LIVE

along with Star India Pvt.

Ltd came back with

another innovate and inte-

grated property to launch

India’s biggest music

awards

The ‘BIG STAR IMA

Awards 2011’ is aimed at

recognizing music talent

from all over the country

and across every genre of

India’s rich and diverse

musical landscape.BIG

STAR IMA AWARDS

received an overwhelming

response from the Indian

music fraternity with a

record number of over

3,000 entries.

Stalwarts of the music

industry l ike Sonu

Niigam, Shaan, Mohit

Chauhan, Salim -

Sulaiman, Shankar -

Ehsaan - Loy, Pritam,

Sajid- Wajid, Devaki

Pandit , Dr. Jayanti

Kumaresh, Ashwini

Bhide, Jalabee Cartel,

Vishal Bharadwaj, Pt .

Ronu Majumdar, Rahul

Sharma, Irshad Kamil

with many more who par-

ticipated in full strength.

‘The Archer Tagore’ at Sotheby’sNew York goes for $338,500

New York: Sotheby’s sale of Modern &

Contemporary South Asian Art on 25 March

2011 included Rabindranath Tagore’s Death

Scene, a remarkable painting which was

once in the collection of Mildred and

William Archer (est. $300/500,000). It went

for $ 338,500.The Archer Tagore is the most

widely illustrated and exhibited work by the

artist ever to appear on the auction market

and was included in the artist’s first ever

painting exhibition in India in 1932. The late

William and Mildred Archer were two

remarkable scholars who played a key role

in bringing Indian Art to the fore and raising

its profile on the international stage.

William George Archer (1907-1979) -

more commonly known as Bill Archer - and

his wife Mildred Agnes Bell – more com-

monly known as Tim Archer - (1911-2005)

found inspiration for their life-long studies

in India, where they lived for more than a

decade before Indian Independence in 1947

while William was working for the Indian

Civil Service. They shared a great passion

for the richness of Indian daily life, particu-

larly that in Bihar in central eastern India,

where they spent of most of their time and

where they discovered the hidden folk paint-

ing traditions of Madhubani and also started

to explore and write on the culture and liter-

ature of the Uraon, Santal and other tribal

communities. Together they developed a

love affair with Indian art and they assem-

bled an impressive collection of Pahari

paintings.

Rajat Gupta

The painting was included in Tagore’s firstever painting exhibition in 1932.

National Community 7

TheSouthAsianTimes.info April 2-8, 2011

Washington, DC: US

President Barack Obama has

nominated two Indian

American women to key

posts in his administration,

according to a White House

statement.

Chicagoan Deepa Gupta

was nominated as member

of National Council on the

Arts, while Nisha Desai

Biswal has been named as

member, Congressional-

Executive Commission on

the People's Republic of

China, it said.

Gupta is a Program Officer

for Media, Culture and

Special Initiatives at the

John D and Catherine T

MacArthur Foundation in

Chicago.

In this role, she manages

the Foundation's grant mak-

ing in arts and culture in

Chicago and the MacArthur

Award for Creative and

Effective Institutions. Gupta,

earned her MBA from the

Kellogg School at

Northwestern University and

an MPA from the Kennedy

School of Government at

Harvard University, previ-

ously served as a senior

associate at McKinsey and

Company.

Gupta is a board member

of the National Kidney

Foundation of Illinois and an

advisory board member of

the Cure JM Foundation.

Nisha Desai Biswal cur-

rently serves as Assistant

Administrator for Asia at the

US Agency for International

Development (USAID),

which she would continue to

hold, the statement said.

Prior to this position,

Biswal served as the

Majority Clerk for the State

Department and Foreign

Operations Sub-committee

on the Committee on

Appropriations in the US

House of Representatives

which has jurisdiction over

the State Department,

USAID and other aspects of

the international affairs

budget.

Houston: A Seat t le-based

housing society will pay over $

110,000 to settle a U.S. Justice

Depar tment lawsui t tha t

alleged the society discriminat-

ed against Indians and African-

Americans seeking to rent

apartments in the complex.

According to the lawsuit filed

on July 26, 2010, owners and

operators of Summerhill Place

Apartments, in Renton near

Seattle, "steered Indian tenants

away f rom the Summerhi l l

buildings and treated tenants

from India less favourably than

other tenants."

They a lso d iscouraged

African-Americans, Hispanics

and families with children from

living at Summerhill.

Under the terms of the settle-

ment , apar tment owners

Summerhi l l Place LLC , as

well as a management compa-

ny cal led Gran Inc and the

apar tment manager, Ri ta

Lovejoy , will pay $ 85,000 to

tenants and prospective tenants

who were harmed by the dis-

crimination.

The group wil l also pay $

25,000 to the government as a

civil penalty and enact a num-

ber of changes to the apart-

ments. The set t lement must

still be approved by the U.S.

District Court for the Western

District of Washington.

The lawsuit was filed after

the Fair Housing Council of

Washington conducted investi-

gations at Summerhill, and the

results were reported to the

Department of Housing and

Urban Development (HUD).

After an investigation, the

secretary of HUD determined

that there was reasonable cause

to believe that discriminatory

housing practices had occurred,

issued a charge of discrimina-

tion, and referred the matter to

the Department of Justice.

Under the terms of the settle-

ment, the defendants also have

to provide fair housing training

to their employees, and devel-

op and maintain non-discrimi-

nation policies at Summerhill.

Obama nominates two IndianAmerican women to key posts

Housing society to pay $110,000 for keeping Indians out

Washington: Indian

American Nitin Kotak has

been elected vice president

and chief financial officer of

the Howard Hughes Medical

Institute (HHMI) engaged in

advancing scientific research

and education in the US.

Kotak, 53, joins the Institute

from Bethesda-based

Technest Holdings, where he

was chief financial officer

and treasurer. "Nitin comes

to us with great enthusiasm

for our mission and signifi-

cant experience in financial

analysis, reporting, and com-

pliance," said Cheryl Moore,

HHMI's executive vice pres-

ident and chief operating

officer.

At HHMI, Kotak will

oversee budget and financial

analysis, the controller's

office, treasury, internal

audit, and procurement.

During fiscal 2010, the

Institute made disbursements

of $889 million, including

$738 million for scientific

research and $89 million in

grants to support science

education and international

research. The Institute's

endowment at the close of

fiscal 2010 stood at $14.8

billion.

A senior member of three

major professional institutes

in India - the Institute of

Chartered Accountants, the

Institute of Company

Secretaries and the Institute

of Cost and Works

Accountants, Kotak started

his career in 1981 working

as the assistant company

secretary for a Tata group

enterprise, Tinplate

Company of India. He then

spent more than 17 years

working at ITC Limited

where he held a variety of

finance-related positions. In

1999 he moved to India-

based Mattel Toys, a sub-

sidiary of Mattel, Inc., as its

chief financial officer.

Kotak moved to the US in

2003 to become director of

finance and accounting for

Able Laboratories, Inc., a

publicly traded developer

and manufacturer of generic

pharmaceuticals. A year

later, he became Able's vice

president for finance and

accounting.

Kotak joined Technest in

2005 as vice president for

finance and operations and

became chief financial offi-

cer and treasurer in 2008.

Nitin Kotak elected to a keyresearch post

Washington: A 240-mile walk in the U.S

against corruption in India was organized by

a group of NRIs inspired by the historic

Dandi March led by Mahatma Gandhi culmi-

nated with events across the U.S.

Starting at Martin Luther King Jr.

Memorial Park, San Diego, California

March 12, 'Dandi March II' passed through

Los Angeles and ended March 26 at Gandhi

Statue, San Francisco. The dates coincide

with the dates Gandhi did his historic march

in 1930.

As many as 45 cities in USA, 40 cities in

India and 8 other countries globally joined

the movement by organizing supporting

events March 26, the organisers of the march

led by Jawahar Kambhampati and SrihariAtluri said. 'While Dandi March I was a

campaign of nonviolent protest against the

British salt monopoly in colonial India,

Dandi march II is a campaign against corrup-

tion in India,' they said.

Indians across the globe, as far as from

Nagpur to New Jersey and Sydney to Seattle

shouted in one voice to enact 'Jan Lokpal'

bill and ratify the UN Convention against

Corruption, the group said. Their slogans

included 'corruption ko hatana hai.Bharat ko

bachana hai' or 'we will end corruption to

save India'. The marchers also chanted

'Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram', Gandhiji's

favourite prayer. While volunteers stopped at

the signals/junctions shouting 'Bharat Mata

ki Jai', inspired onlookers in the cars waved

and honked to show support.

In U.S., on the last day, events were con-

ducted in 14 cities with major gatherings in

San Francisco, Seattle, New Jersey, Houston

and Carbondale.

An open letter addressed to Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh was released globally at

every location that they will not be mute

spectators while corruption grows boundless

back in India and as such system changes

should be brought in.

Later Kambhampati, who was the initiator

of Dandi March II, 'submitted a memoran-

dum to Mahatma Gandhi to save the country

from corruption.'

Many of the marchers are planning to con-

tinue the movement by joining Anna

Hazare's fast in Delhi April 5 for the same

cause.

Dandi march II in US against corruption in India

Eevents were conducted in 14 cities withmajor gatherings in San Francisco, Seattle,

New Jersey, Houston and Carbondale.

Deepa Gupta with family

Nisha Desai BiswalNitin Kotak

8 National Community

April 2-8, 2011 TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Indian American bridge player wins North American

championship Kansas: Rajeev Bansal of Overland Park,

KS couldn’t have imagined becoming a US

National bridge champion when he first

started playing bridge at age 13. ”I was at

after school activities at St. Xavier’s in

Patna, India and happened to pass the

recreation room where the Jesuit priests

from Chicago used to play bridge. They

needed a fourth and asked me if I wanted to

play? I hadn’t ever played bridge before but

was eager to learn and said,yes. Over the

next remaining few years of my high

school, I was a regular at the Friday after-

noon games with them,” he says.

Thirty-two years later, Bansal and his

partner Michael Hughes from Jefferson

City won the President’s Cup at the North

American Bridge Championship in

Louisville on Sunday, March 20, 2011.

Qualifying rounds to enter the tournament

began last July at thousands of bridge clubs

across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and

Puerto Rico. Only 72 pairs became eligible

and qualified for the competition in

Kentucky this past weekend.

Saturday’s session reduced the field to 28

pairs to vie for the title the following day

with Hughes and Bansal in sixth place.

After playing 13 rounds on Sunday, the pair

was one-half point behind the Canadian

pair, at the half-way mark. In the second

half, with one round to go, they were one-

quarter point behind the pair from

Maryland, who came from behind to be in

the lead. In the final round Bansal and

Hughes scored 23.5 out of a possible 26

and walked away with it all.

“I really got into the game while I worked

with the Federal Bank in India.

After coming to the United States in 1998

on a work transfer, it wasn’t until 2001

when I arrived in Kansas City, that I got the

opportunity to play bridge at the local

bridge studio,” said Bansal. In the past 7

years, Bansal has made 5 trips to the

Nationals, thrice between 2005-2009 in the

Grand National Teams event and twice in

2010 and 2011 in the North American Open

Pairs event.

Bansal and his teammates have also won

the Governor’s Cup four times in the

annual match-up between St. Louis and

Kansas City also called the I-70

their August Regional Championships.

Washington, DC: Stanford

Medical Centre, an Ivy League

institution in San Francisco, and

Jaslok Hospital and Research

Centre in Mumbai have signed an

MoU to study possibilities of

cooperation in medical services

and training. In the initial phases

Teleconferencing Programs

developed by Stanford will pro-

vide Jaslok doctors with top class

education on “hot topics” to in

turn offer best therapeutic options

to Indian patients.

There would also be opportuni-

ties to participate interactively

with Stanford presenting and

attending faculties. This could be

expanded in later phases with vis-

itations by Jaslok doctors to hos-

pitals and clinics at Stanford and

its affiliate hospitals in the US.

“I firmly believe that Jaslok

Hospital’s multispeciality doctors

will benefit greatly by education-

al engagement with world

renowned faculty from one of US

top Ivy league institutions like

Stanford Medical Centre,” said

Dr. Mukesh Hariawala, Boston

based Indian American Cardiac

Surgeon.

“At Jaslok, we plan to establish

a ‘Centre for Excellence’ in cut-

ting edge medical technologies

like Angiogenesis and Stem Cells

for Cardiovascular Diseases.

Receiving guidance from

Stanford would be key to suc-

cessful execution,” Hariawala

who leads Jaslok’s International

Partnerships Development

Program said.

Leading the Stanford team will

be Dr Yann Meunier, Director of

Business Development, Stanford

International Medical Services,

who will oversee the complete

development of the teleconfer-

encing series of lectures.

Hariawala will be the official

conduit to collate monthly feed-

back from all participants at

Jaslok and convey to Stanford

management for future content

and program development with

suggestions that would be of

greater value to Jaslok doctors.

The initial projects will be

related to cardiovascular medi-

cine and geriatric or age related

medicine and its associated dis-

eases.

The first teleconference session

is planned for May. Initially a

monthly event it may be expand-

ed to bi-monthly in the second

phase at the time of MoU’s

renewal after 18 months.

Stanford announces partnershipwith India’s Jaslok Hospital

Mumbai: The U.S.-India Business

Council (USIBC) launched its third

annual Food & Agriculture

Executive Mission to India, partici-

pating in "Food Forum India", the

country's largest food and agribusi-

ness conference. Mission Leader

Paul Conway, Senior Vice

President of Cargill, Inc., a

Director on USIBC's prestigious

Board of Directors, will present

USIBC's latest publication, entitled

"Advancing India's Evergreen

Revolution", which highlights rec-

ommended policy interventions

that will serve to advance India's

quest for food and agricultural

security.

"India has assumed a greater

importance in the global food mar-

ket. It remains amongst the largest

producers and largest consumers of

most agricultural goods. India and

the U.S. have a lot to share and col-

laborate on in this space, and that

can result in a mutual benefit for

both of these countries," said Mr.

Conway. During a special segment

at Food Forum India featuring

USIBC, speakers will focus on

areas where synergies are abun-

dant: advanced technology collab-

oration, the means to facilitate

investment in the farm-to-market

supply chain, and working together

to identify interventions that will

ensure efficient and sustainable

growth of India's food-to-fork agri-

cultural value chain - an outcome

that aims to benefit all segments of

society.

"As India's population and econ-

omy grow, demand for high-quali-

ty, affordable food will increase

exponentially.

Sharing global best practices and

opening markets will help create an

environment that fosters greater

collaboration, enabling USIBC

member-companies to effectively

contribute technology, technical

skills, products and experience to

help meet India's rising demand for

high quality, affordable food," said

Anku Nath, USIBC's Senior Trade

Policy Director.

India's quest for"Evergreen

Revolution" topsUSIBC's agenda

To provide Jaslok doctos with top class education on “hot topics”

Rajeev Bansal

USA Affairs 9

TheSouthAsianTimes.info April 2-8, 2011

Washington: President

Obama called on Wednesday

for a one-third reduction in oil

imports over the next decade,

for which the effort has to

begin immediately. In a

speech at Georgetown

University here, the president

said that the US cannot go on

consuming one- quarter of the

world’s oil production while

posessing only 2% of global

reserves – so, a long-term plan

has to be begin to reduce its

reliance on imported oil, put-

ting to end decades-long polit-

ical bickering over the issue.

The president repeated his

assertion that, despite the

frightening situation at the

Fukushima Daiichi reactor

complex in Japan, nuclear

power will remain an impor-

tant source of electricity in the

US for decades to come.

Yet, the fact remains, that

over the last over two years he

has been in the White House,

President Obama has seen the

major elements of his energy

and climate-change strategy

demolished by a succession of

economic, political, technical

and natural disasters like the

ones in Japan and Middle

East/North Africa.

With oil supplies from the

Middle East now pinched by

political upheaval with calls

growing in Congress for

expanded domestic oil and gas

production, the president

referred in his speech a simi-

lar runup in energy prices in

2008.

“Now here’s the thing —

we’ve been down this road

before,” Mr. Obama said.

“Remember, it was just three

years ago that gas prices

topped $4 a gallon. I remem-

ber because I was in the mid-

dle of a presidential cam-

paign.”

Saying there were no quick

fixes to the nation’s oil addic-

tion, Mr. Obama went on to

propose a mix of measures,

none of them new, to wean the

nation off the barrel.

He called for a fuel-saving

strategy of producing more

electric cars, converting trucks

to run on natural gas, building

new refineries to brew billions

of gallons of biofuels and set-

ting new fuel-efficiency stan-

dards for vehicles. Congress

has been debating similar

measures for years.

He pointed out that the US

has had a tendency, ever since

the first Arab oil embargo in

1973, to panic when gasoline

prices rise and then fall back

into old fuel-guzzling habits

when prices recede.

Batting for nuclear energy,

he said it is clean as it doesn’t

emit carbon dioxide and he

noted that nuclear power

already provides about one-

fifth of domestic electricity

supplies.

“Those of us concerned

about climate change know

that nuclear power, if it’s safe,

can make a significant contri-

bution to the climate change

question.

And I’m determined to

ensure that it’s safe.” He said

he had directed the Nuclear

Regulatory Commission to

undertake a comprehensive

safety review of the 104 reac-

tors now operating in the

country

Washington: From April

4-5 2011, over 175 mem-

bers of Immigration Voice

from around the nation will

descend onto the nation’s

capital to ask their con-

gressmen and senators for

reforms to the broken

Green-Card process.

“While K-Street, the Hi-

Tech industry and Congress

is distracted once again by

H-1B visas, recycling the

same old talking points one

more time, our laser-like

focus remains on the nearly

500,000 highly skilled

immigrants who remain

backlogged for 10-15 years

waiting for their Green

Cards,” said Aman Kapoor,

president of Immigration

Voice, in a press release.

“There is a huge pool of

talent untapped by

American employers in the

form of highly skilled legal

professionals who have

been living here on tempo-

rary visas as they patiently

wait for their Green Cards.

These law abiding, tax-pay-

ing, highly skilled future

Americans, cannot start

their own companies and

immediately create jobs in

America, change employ-

ers or accept promotions

during the Green Card

application process, which

now spans 10-15 years.

This creates serious quality

of life issues and ultimately

hurts the U.S. economy,”

Kapoor said.,” concluded

Kapoor.

Immigration Voice has

arranged nearly 350 visits

to congressional offices

April 4-5 in both the House

and Senate to insist that

Congress focus on the

Green Card backlog rather

than on H-1B visas.

Founded in December

2005, Immigration Voice is

a national grassroots, non-

profit organization with

57,000 highly-skilled legal

immigrants as members.

Los Angeles: Hollywood

icon Elizabeth Taylor has

left behind a fortune wor-

thy of a legend, a whop-

ping $ 1 billion.

The Oscar-winning star's

fortune makes her one of

just 14 women in the

world to have become self-

made billionaires, reported

The Independent online.

Taylor became famous

for the massive jewels she

wore, valued at worth $

270 million as far back as

2002 and was the first

actress to ever get a 1 mil-

lion pay check in

Hollywood.

She was paid $ 47 mil-

lion in today’s value terms

to star with her fifth hus-

band Richard Burton in

'Cleopatra'.

Her joint fragrance ven-

ture with cosmetics firm

Elizabeth Arden launched

in 1991, including the

famous scent 'White

Diamonds', has since

amassed $ 1 billion.

Taylor passed away last

week at the age of 79 fol-

lowing heart failure.

Obama calls for oil use cuts, bats for nuclear

Pressing Congressto pass Green Card

reforms

Liz Taylor left $ 1 billion fortune

Washington: School authorities across the

nation are warning thousands of teachers that

they could lose their jobs in June, raising the

possibility that America’s public schools may

see the most extensive layoffs of their teach-

ing staffs in decades.

Though many of the warnings may not be

acted upon — school systems, their budget

outlook unclear, routinely overstate likely

layoffs at this time of year — when layoffs

do occur, they cause a chaotic annual reshuf-

fling of staff members.

Thousands of teachers are forced to change

schools, grades or subjects, creating chronic

instability.

“Most districts have not done layoffs for

years, so they have no idea how bad this is

going to be when it hits,” said Timothy Daly,

president of the New Teacher Project, a non-

profit group that has studied the effects of

teacher layoffs.

Much of the public debate over teacher lay-

offs has concerned how they are decided,

with sharp divisions between politicians and

union leaders over the seniority-based layoff

methods stipulated in union contracts.

Many argue that the rules rob schools of

the talented young teachers who are the first

to be let go. Union officials say that without

such protections, more senior teachers would

be let go first to save money.

School districts from Rhode Island to

California have begun notifying teachers of

layoffs. State laws or union contracts require

notifications in the spring to teachers whose

contracts might not be renewed.

In New York, Mayor Michael R.

Bloomberg painted a worst-case outcome of

4,675 teacher layoffs last month. But the city

may avoid many of those.

Looming teacher layoffs to cause turmoil

Indian Point nuclear reactor, that sits on the east bank ofHudson River, 38 nmiles north of New York City. Obama

has asked for a safety review of the 104 operational reactorsin the country.

Taylor’s joint fragrance venture with ElizabethArden, including thefamous scent 'White

Diamonds', has amassed $ 1billion.

10 India Business Conference 2011

April 2-8, 2011 TheSouthAsianTimes.info

The 7th Annual India Business Conference on Friday at Columbia Business School willprovide insight and knowledge about India’s evolving presence in the global economy.

Keynote SpeakersCharles 'Chip' R. Kaye

Co-President, Warburg Pincus(Global)

Charles R. Kaye is Co-President of

Warburg Pincus LLC, which he joined

in 1986. During his 22 years at the

firm, Mr. Kaye has worked across a

variety of industry sector groups and

lived in Hong Kong from 1994 to

1999. During that time he established

Warburg Pincus’ operations in Asia,

where the firm today is recognized as

one of the leading private equity

investors in the region. Mr. Kaye is a

graduate of the University of Texas, a

member of the Trilateral Commission

and the Council on Foreign Relations;

former Chairman of the U.S.-India

Business Council and Chairman of

The Asia Society. Mr. Kaye also sits

on the International Advisory Board of

the Center for The Advanced Study of

India (CASI) at the University of

Pennsylvania and serves on the Board

of Directors for the Partnership for

New York City.

Deven Sharma

President, Standard & Poor’s

Mr. Deven Sharma is President of

Standard & Poor’s, a division of the

McGraw-Hill Companies, and the

world’s foremost source of financial

market intelligence, providing inde-

pendent credit ratings, indices, risk

evaluation, investment research and

data. Mr. Sharma joined S&P in 2007

as executive vice president,

Investment Service and Global Sales.

Prior to joining S&P, Mr. Sharma was

executive vice president, Global

Strategy at The McGraw-Hill

Companies for five years. Deven

joined The McGraw-Hill Companies

in January 2002 from Booz Allen &

Hamilton, a global management con-

sulting company, where he was a part-

ner. Deven holds a bachelor’s degree

from the Birla Institute of Technology

in India, a master’s degree from the

University of Wisconsin and a doctor-

al degree in Business Management

from Ohio State University. Deven has

authored several publications on com-

petitive strategy, customer solutions,

sales and marketing. He is a Board

member of the Asia Society Business

Council.

Ron Somers

President, U.S.-India BusinessCouncil (USIBC)

Ron Somers is president of the U.S.-

India Business Council (USIBC), the

premier business advocacy organiza-

tion committed to strengthening U.S.-

India commercial ties and deepening

two- way trade between these two

dynamic economies. Previously,

Somers was Unocal Corporation’s

chief executive in India, developing

commercial opportunities in India’s

emerging energy market.

Before that, he was managing direc-

tor for India on behalf of Cogentrix

Energy, tasked with setting up a 1000

MW electric power project in the

Indian state of Karnataka. During

Somer’s residency in India, he served

on the board of directors of Hindustan

Oil Exploration Company, India’s first

private sector oil exploration compa-

ny, as well as on the board of the U.S.

Educational Foundation in India,

which oversees the country’s

Fulbright and Humphrey scholarship

programs. He is currently on the

International Leadership Council of

the Monterey Institute of International

Studies, a professional graduate

school preparing students for careers

in cross-cultural, multilingual environ-

ments. He travels to India frequently.

Somers holds an M.A. from the Bread

Loaf School of English, where he

studied at Lincoln College, Oxford

University. He graduated with a B.A.

(Honors) from Middlebury College in

Vermont. Somers and his wife,

Rebecca, live in Washington, D.C.

Bhavdeep Singh

Former CEO, Fortis HealthCare

Mr. Singh served as the Chief

Executive Officer of Fortis Healthcare

Limited since February 2009 until

February 2011. Mr. Singh has over 30

years of diverse experience with the

Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea

Company in the United States, where

he worked for over 20 years in many

different roles including merchandis-

ing, marketing, operations, finance,

supply chain and logistics, human

resources, asset protection, productiv-

ity and other support functions. In

2006, Mr. Singh joined Spencer’s

Retail Limited (RPG Group) in India

as its Chief Executive of Operations

and Food Merchandizing and subse-

quently joined Reliance Retail

Limited as the Chief Executive of

Reliance Fresh.

WELCOME SPEAKER:

Prof. Sudhakar V. Balachandran

Assistant Dean for TeachingExcellence, Samberg Institute forTeaching Excellence

Professor Balachandran is interested

in performance measurement, corpo-

rate governance and valuation. These

three subjects are sometimes referred

to collectively as shareholder value

management. Specifically, he studies

how firms use performance measures

to align the interests of managers and

shareholders and create shareholder

value.

Prof. Balachandran, who has more

than 10 years of business experience,

is a former management consultant at

Ernst & Young and manager at Baxter

Healthcare Corporation. He teaches

the core course on managerial

accounting, for which he was given

the Dean’s Award For Teaching

Excellence in 2006.

Healthcare and pharma: Deconstructing healthcare in India

The Indian healthcare sector

is expected to become a $

280 billion industry by 2020

with spending on health estimated

to grow 14 per cent annually. The

drugs and pharmaceuticals sector

has attracted foreign direct invest-

ment (FDI) worth $ 1.82 billion

between April 2000 and September

2010, while hospitals and diagnos-

tic centers have received FDI

worth $ 955.10 million in the same

period. Discussion will center on

whether Healthcare Industry will

be the next big thing after Indian IT

industry.

MODERATOR: Debjit Ghosh

Managing Director, AnalysisGroup

SPEAKERS

Amit R. Patel

Senior Vice President & Head -North America Generics, Dr.

Reddy’s Laboratories KG Ananthakrishnan

Managing Director, MSD India Dipali Talwar

Former Chief Legal Counsel,Pfizer India

New York: The 7th Annual India Business

Conference at Columbia Business School

here is scheduled for April 1. The theme of

the conference this year is ‘India: An

Honest conversation’ and it is organized by

Columbia Business School and the South

Asia Business Association (SABA).

The day meet packed with speeches, dis-

cussion and networking will provide insight

and knowledge about India’s evolving pres-

ence in the global economy. Each year the

conference strives to create an environment

for Conference participants and attendees

to learn from one another in a professional

and academic setting. This year, the focus

is on the grand opportunities as well as

unseen challenges that business leaders

face as India continues its economic trans-

formation into a global powerhouse.

Over 30 business leaders and 7 academi-

cians will engage the audience in exploring

the numerous opportunities available to

leaders in Media, Entrepreneurship,

Investing, Private Equity/Venture Capital,

Leadership, HealthCare and Corporate

Governance. In attendance will be over

500 business professionals, students, facul-

ty & many others interested in India’s story.

Keynote addresses will be delivered by

Charles Kaye, Co-President Warburg

Pincus (Global), Ron Somers, President,

US-India Business Council, Deven Sharma,

President S&P and Chairman CRISIL,

Bhavdeep Singh, Former CEO, Fortis

Healthcare.

Sponsors of the conference include

Ministry of Tourism, India, US-India

Business Council, Fidelity Investments,

Bihar Society, Deloitte, Etihad, and The

South Asian Times.

India Business Conference 2011 11

TheSouthAsianTimes.info April 2-8, 2011

Media: Setting stage for an honest conversation

Private equity and venture capital: too much capital chasing too few deals?

Agroup of veteran US journalists dis-

cusses how the media views India’s

growth as well as its challenges. What

does the future hold for Incredible India? Has

India’s image changed from the land of naked

sadhus and snake charmers to the lively, gen-

uine and stable parliamentary democracy?

What are the opportunities and pitfalls for

India? This plenary session is also a great

opportunity to ask questions about how the

press chooses what kind of stories to cover

and other critical issues.

MODERATOR: Prof. Sree Sreenivasan

Dean (Student Affairs), School ofJournalism Columbia University

Sree Sreenivasan is a

journalism educator and

freelance journalist. He

is Dean of Student

Affairs at Columbia

University’s journalism

school, where he runs

the new media program.

He also serves as a tech-

nology reporter and

commentator for a variety of news outlets.

Most recently, he spent two years as the tech

reporter for WNBC-TV in NYC and various

NBC News programs (he previously spent six

years as WABC’s Tech Guru). His work

explaining technology has appeared in The

New York Times, BusinessWeek, Rolling

Stone and Popular Science. He is co-founder

of SAJA, the South Asian Journalists

Association, a group of 1,000+ journalists

across the US and Canada. In March 2004,

Newsweek magazine named him one of the 20

most influential South Asians in the nation. In

July 2007, and India Abroad named him one

of the 50 most influential Indians in America

and in 2009.

SPEAKERS

S. Mitra Kalita

C o - f o u n d e r ,LiveMint.com

S. Mitra Kalita is cor-

respondent covering

housing and real estate for the Wall Street

Journal. She is founding deputy editor of

WSJ’s “Greater New York” section and co-

founder of LiveMint.com, a business daily in

Delhi.

Bobby Ghosh

World Editor of TimeAparisim Bobby

Ghosh is TIME’s

deputy international

editor, responsible

for the magazine’s

Asian and European

editions, and for

foreign coverage in

the U.S. edition. He

is also a frequent

writer for the maga-

zine. His previous assignments at TIME have

included stints in Hong Kong, London,

Baghdad and Washington D.C. Ghosh began

in journalism career in India, working in daily

newspapers in Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad and

Kolkata, before switching to magazines in

Mumbai and New Delhi. He then moved to

Hong Kong with the (late and lamented) Far

Eastern Economic Review, before joining

TIME.

Tunku Varadarajan

Editor, Newsweek InternationalHe is the Editor of

N e w s w e e k

International. He is

also Virginia Hobbs

Carpenter Fellow in

Journalism at

Hoover Institution,

Stanford University.

Stephanie Mehta

Executive Editor, FORTUNEStephanie N. Mehta is

executive editor at

Fortune, where she

directs technology and

Washington coverage for

the magazine and

Fortune.com, and con-

tributes to the overall editorial direction of the

magazine. Mehta is a key contributor to the

magazine’s live events, and serves as co-chair

of the annual Fortune Brainstorm:TECH con-

ference. Previously, Mehta was an assistant

managing editor and global editor of the mag-

azine. Prior to this position, she covered the

telecommunications and media industries for

the magazine. Mehta joined Fortune from The

Wall Street Journal.

While significant macro-

economic trends may

position the India as an

attractive destination for private

equity funds, substantial risks

remain. This panel focuses on

exploring the idea of what success

in emerging markets looks like,

both in the short and long term. Is

a different skill set required to

succeed in closing deals in India?

More importantly, what goes into

completing a successful exit? Are

global firms with offices in local

hubs in emerging markets doing

as well (or better or worse) than

local PE firms? This panel will

bring together the foremost

experts from to answer these

questions, in addition to highlight-

ing key success factors and likely

future trends in PE in India.

MODERATOR: Prof. Roger

Leeds

Chairman of Board ofDirectors, Emerging MarketsPrivate Equity Association

(EMPEA) SPEAKERS

Sid Khanna

Chairman & MD, India EquityPartners, ex-CEO Accenture India

Sridar Iyengar

Operating partner in Bessemer’sMenlo Park, California

Ashu Atwal

Partner & Senior investmentteam member, New VernonCapital

Rahul Raisurana

Managing Director, StandardChartered Private Equity, India

Mukul Gulati

Managing Director, ZephyrPeacock India Management

Investing: Finding value in India

In the midst of an inflationary

environment with high volatili-

ty and stretched valuations in

the Indian equity markets, how

does one still find value? Does

value investing work in a growth

economy? How does India com-

pare to other emerging markets in

Asia such as China, Korea and

Indonesia? Using best investment

ideas from the panelist, the panel

would discuss issues facing

investors in India-choosing the

right investment horizon and the

right businesses, currency exposure

and incorporating uncertainty and

volatility in discount rates.

MODERATOR: Prof. Bruce

Greenwald

Author of Value Investing:

Graham to Buffet & Beyond SPEAKERS

Ramdeo Agrawal

Co-Founder and ManagingDirector, Motilal Oswal

Nilesh Shah

Founder, Managing Director &

CEO, Envision Capital Nitin Bajaj

Fund Manager- Fidelity IndiaValue Fund and Fidelity GlobalSpecial Situations Fund

Amitabh Singhi

MD, Surefin Investments

Entrepreneurship: Ideas in action Indians going global: Success beyond boundariesMODERATOR: Prof. Bruce

Kogut

Director, Sanford C. Bernstein &Co. Center for Leadership andEthics

Mukul Somany

Vice Chairman and Managing

Director Hindustan National Glass Sanjay Gupta

President, HealthMedia DigitalHealth Coaching, J&J

Dr. Amol Sarva

Founder and Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Peek Inc

MODERATOR: Prof. Valérie Demont

Partner, Corporate and Securities Practice Group

SPEAKERS

Rajiv Khanna

Partner, K&L Gates LLP

Ravilochan Pola

President & CEO, Kotak Mahindra Inc., US Georges Ugeux

CEO, Galileo Global Advisors Jack Story

Chief Technology Officer – Infrastructure ServicesWipro Technologies

12 India Newswire

April 2-8, 2011 TheSouthAsianTimes.info

New Delhi/Colombo: India's President

Pratibha Patil and her Sri Lankan counter-

part Mahinda Rajapaksa were expected to

watch the cricket World Cup final between

the two countries in Mumbai.

Patil will fly to Mumbai, where Rajapaksa

will reach from Colombo, a Rashtrapati

Bhavan official said. Rajapaksa will arrive

in Mumbai Saturday morning, a Sri Lankan

diplomat said in New Delhi.

"The president's main engagement is the

cricket match. He will be returning to

Colombo Sunday morning," the Sri Lankan

high commission official said.

Rajapaksa will be accompanied by Sports

Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage and

some senior officials. "The composition of

his team will be known by Friday," he

added.

Rajapaksa's spokesman Bandula

Jayasekera said in Colombo that the presi-

dent wants Sri Lanka to win the World Cup

as a tribute to Muttiah Muralitharan, who

retires from international cricket after the

event.

The Sri Lankan president and his three

sons had watched Sri Lanka defeat New

Zealand to earn a place in the Cup final,

while Indian Prime Minister Manmohan

Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf

Raza Gilani, viewed the semifinal between

their countries' teams in Mohali.

Patil, Rajapaksa to watchWorld Cup final

President Pratibha Patil and her Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Mohali: Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh

and Yousuf Raza Gilani chose an explosive

India-Pakistan cricket clash here to discuss

the prospects of healing wounds and restor-

ing peaceful relations between their two

countries.

"Indeed, this meeting today once again

reaffirmed the intention of both governments

to take forward the process of dialogue,"

Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said

after the prime ministers ended their dinner

at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) sta-

dium here.

"It would be appropriate to say that today

there was a Mohali spirit. This is encourag-

ing and positive spirit," Rao told reporters

coming from the dinner meeting venue on

the sidelines of the World Cup cricket semi-

final match.

Explaining that "dialogue is a process with

which you can understand each other better",

Rao revealed to the media what Gilani and

Manmohan Singh really desired: "The goal

is normalization of relations."

Rao did not say what all the two leaders

discussed, underlining that these were not

formal talks but "a wideranging conversation

in which they touched upon a number of

issues of relevance to the relationship".

To a question, Rao asserted that India "had

not forgotten" the 26/11 attacks. "I want to

emphasis that in the course of the dialogue,

prime minister reiterated the need for an

atmosphere free of violence and terror in

order to enable the true normalization of

relations between India and Pakistan. And let

me also add that prime minister Gilani

shared the sentiment," she said.

"Every such meeting between the two

countries generates an extremely positive

momentum.

"This is re-engagement... the understand-

ing generated as a result has a very positive

impact on the relationship.

"It 's about peace, it 's about healing

wounds, it's about reconciliation."

Manmohan Singh, who has made building

friendship with Pakistan a top priority, told

Gilani that it was important to have "such

exchanges" - and suggested meetings

between parliamentarians of both countries.

The foreign secretary made it a point to

describe Pakistan as a democracy, and said it

was important to promote people-to-people

contacts.

The Gilani-Manmohan Singh engagement

followed the Indian leader's dramatic deci-

sion to invite his Pakistani counterpart after

India defeated Australia last week to set up a

semifinal clash against Pakistan.

Manmohan Singh invited both Gilani and

President Asif Ali Zardari to Mohali to watch

the India-Pakistan match. Zardari expressed

his inability to come but Gilani agreed.

Rao said India and Pakistan -- whose rela-

tions touched an all-time low after the terror-

ist attack on Mumbai in November 2008 --

had set in motion the dialogue process after a

certain gap. "We have begun this year with a

very positive agenda of contact and

exchanges between India and Pakistan. It is a

good augury for the future."

Gilani, along with his 45-member

entourage of senior Pakistani politicians, was

greeted by Minister of State for

Communications and Information

Technology Sachin Pilot, and then met

Manmohan Singh at the stadium, which was

packed with thousands of Indian and

Pakistani spectators, as well as the political

and business elite of the country.

After the national anthems rang around the

stadium, both leaders walked down the

green, where they shook hands with all the

players.

They watched the cricket for some hours,

the two leaders went to their bases in

Chandigarh, before meeting again for dinner

at the PCA clubhouse.

The two prime ministers returned to their

box, clapping, as the stadium roared around

them as the last Pakistani wickets began to

fall.

There was no mention of the Kashmir dis-

pute at the briefing, with Rao stating that the

"focus was on development, economic

growth, on trade, on access to technology, on

health on education - all the issues that con-

cern the future of people in both the coun-

tries".With sports being in the air, the

Pakistani prime minister hoped that the

Indian cricket team would also be playing on

Pakistani soil against their Pakistani counter-

part soon.

Among other issues, the two leaders also

spoke about the current unrest sweeping the

Middle-East, where both countries have

large diaspora.

It was their third meeting in three years,

but the first time that the venue is one of

their own countries, rather than in a third

nation on the sidelines of a multilateral sum-

mit. The last time the two prime ministers

met to try and resolve the fraught relation-

ship was in April 2010 in the Bhutanese cap-

ital of Thimphu on the sidelines of the South

Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

(SAARC) summit.

Before that, the two met on July 16, 2009

at the Egyptian resort town of Sharm-el-

Sheikh on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned

Movement summit. This was five months

after the November 2008 Mumbai terror

attack.

With sports being in the air, the Pakistani

prime minister hoped that the Indian cricket

team would also be playing on Pakistani soil

against their Pakistani counterpart soon.

And, a day ahead of both the prime minis-

ters joining their citizens to cheer their teams

in Mohali, the home secretaries met in New

Delhi Tuesday. They agreed to set up a hot-

line for real-time information sharing on ter-

rorist threats, even as Indian investigators

were allowed to quiz the 2008 Mumbai

attack suspects prosecuted in Pakistan.

India-Pak cricket diplomacy at Mohali

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani cheerat the Indo-Pak World Cup semi-final in Mohali on March 30.

It's a win-win situation: GilaniIslamabad: Pakistan has described the

Mohali round of “cricket diplomacy” as a

“win-win” situation for the India-Pakistan

process of engagement and maintained that

third-party intervention was not needed.

Striking a note of guarded optimism over

the bonhomie between the two countries

over the past week, Foreign Office

spokesperson Tehmina Janjua said, “We do

not underestimate the difficulties but have

faith and confidence in a bright future for the

peoples of our region.”

Briefing reporters a day after the Indian

and Pakistan Prime Ministers spent several

hours together in the informal setting of the

Mohali cricket ground, Ms. Janjua said,

“Prime Minister Gilani said both Pakistan

and India, as two important states in South

Asia, must endeavour to take ownership for

their affairs.”

Asked if the U.S. Embassy's congratulato-

ry message to the two countries on

Wednesday night for “cricket diplomacy”

was an indication of a Washington-push for

bilateral talks between the two nations, the

spokesperson drew attention to the Prime

Minister's stress on India and Pakistan taking

ownership of their affairs.

“We do not need a third country for us to

take ownership of our own affairs,” she said.

New Delhi: India's population has risen to

1.21 billion - an increase of over 181 mil-

lion in the last decade - but the gender

imbalance is the worst since independence,

indicating a persisting preference for male

children, according to the latest census

data.

China is the world's most populous coun-

try with 1.341 billion people. Even as

India's population continues to witness a

double digit jump, the growth rate has actu-

ally slowed down, census officials said.

The 17.6-percent increase is down from

21.5 in the 2001 headcount, Registrar

General of India and Census Commissioner

C. Chandramouli told reporters here,

releasing the figures collected during a

year-long exercise done after every 10

years.

"The percentage decadal growth during

2001-2011 has registered the sharpest

decline since independence - a decrease of

3.90 percentage points," Chandramouli

said. In 1981-91, the population growth rate

was 23.87 percent.

These, however, are only preliminary fig-

ures and the final population count will be

released next year. According to the figures,

there has been a decline in the number of

children under the age of 6, down five mil-

lion since 2001 to 158.8 million.

Chandramouli said the child sex ratio in

2001 was 927 females per 1,000 males

born, which has declined to 914 females

per 1,000 males.

This indicates a continued trend of prefer-

ence for male children over females. India

is a country where female infanticide is still

common and the government has banned

doctors from revealing the sex of the

unborn child. "This is a matter of grave

concern," Chandramouli said.

The gender imbalance is there despite a

ban on sex determination tests based on

ultrasound scans and sex selective abortion.

Girl child campaigners say the imbalance

is there because parents continue to view

daughters as financial liabilities and male

children as wage earners. "It (the census

figures) was expected but it is a warning

signal for the nation to wake up," equality

campaigner Ranjana Kumari, director of

Centre for Social Research, said.

Home Secretary G.K. Pillai, who was

present when the data was released, said the

government's policies to curb the declining

child sex ratio needed a "complete review".

"Whatever measures that have been put in

over the last 40 years have not had any

impact on the child sex ratio."

However, the overall sex ratio showed a

marginal improvement, with 940 women

counted for every 1,000 men compared to

933 in the 2001 census. The census 2011

was done in in two phases -- house-listing

and housing census and then population

enumeration.

New Delhi: Against the backdrop of

the Fukushima nuclear power plant

tragedy in Japan due to an earth-

quake and tsunami, India has

embarked upon a technical review

of all safety systems of its nuclear

plants, Prime Minister Manmohan

Singh said.

At a function to present the

Department of Atomic Energy's life-

time achievement award for 2009,

Manmohan Singh said the tragedy at

the Fukushima plant in Japan had

raised worldwide concerns about the

safety of nuclear energy as a source

of power and it was vitally impor-

tant to address these concerns.

"The government will take all the

necessary measures to ensure the

safety of our plants.

I have already directed a technical

review of all safety systems of our

nuclear power plants using the best

expertise available in our country,"

he said.

Noting that the government would

strengthen the Atomic Energy

Regulatory Board and make it a

truly autonomous and independent

regulatory authority of the highest

and the best international standards,

the prime minister said: "The future

reactors that will be built in India

will have to be certified by the

Indian regulatory authority and meet

its safety standards. This will apply

equally to reactors and technologies

that are imported from abroad."

Calling for "accountability and

transparency" in the functioning of

nuclear plants, he said the people of

India would have to be convinced

about the safety and security of the

plants.

India's population at 1.21 bn

N-plants safetytop on agenda: PM

India's population is now bigger than the combined population of the US, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

India Newswire 13

TheSouthAsianTimes.info April 2-8, 2011

Population density has increased by 17.5percent, touching 382 people per sq km from

325 in the 2001 census.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for "accountability and transparency" in the functioning of nuclear plants.

Highlights* Uttar Pradesh is the most populous

state with more people than Brazil -- the

country with the fifth largest population

in the world.

* The female population has risen by

18.12 percent to reach 586.5 million (58

crore).

* The literacy rate has gone up to 74

percent nationwide for people aged 7

and older, from about 65 percent in the

last census.

Kerala has the highest literacy rate of

93.91 and Bihar the lowest at 63.82.

* Population density has increased by

17.5 percent, touching 382 people per

sq km from 325 in the 2001 census.

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK presi-

dent M. Karunanidhi said he was open to forming a

coalition government in the event of a hung house, and

reiterated that his son and Deputy Chief Minister M.K.

Stalin was his political heir. In an interview to a news

channel, he said if there was a change in the voting

pattern making a coalition imperative for political sta-

bility, the DMK will discuss the issue with its allies.

The DMK, which has ruled Tamil Nadu since 2006,

has allied with the Congress, the PMK and a string of

smaller parties in the April 13 assembly elections.

Karunanidhi made it clear that Stalin, his younger son,

would succeed him as the DMK chief and added that

seniors in the party and the rank and file who trusted

him also trusted Stalin.

Karunanidhi said he had no direct links with

Kalaignar TV, which the Central Bureau of

Investigation (CBI) has raided in search of bribe

money linked to the spectrum corruption scandal.

He said his wife M.K. Dayalu and daughter

Kanimozhi held 60 and 20 percent equity stakes

respectively in the channel. "I have no rights or stakes

other than this. I do not own the channel. It is unfair to

link the channel to the 2G scam," he said.

The chief minister also said that until the Supreme

Court decided on the issue, it would be unfair to claim

irregularities in the spectrum saga that has landed for-

mer DMK central minister A. Raja in jail.

The DMK is fielding candidates in 119 of the 234

constituencies, while its ally Congress is contesting 63

seats.

DMK open to coalition: Karunanidhi

The DMK is fielding candidates in 119 of the 234 constituencies, while its ally Congress is

contesting 63 seats.

Mumbai: The leader of the

Opposition in the Maharashtra

assembly, Eknath Khadse, alleged

that agriculture minister and NCP

chief Sharad Pawar traveled with

DB Realty's Shahid Balwa to Dubai

on a plane owned by the latter's

company on February 8, 2010.

Pawar was accompanied by his

wife Pratibha, he charged. The alle-

gations were made in the House dur-

ing a budgetary debate. Khadse said

that the plane used for the flight was

owned by Eon Aviation, a subsidiary

of DB Realty Group. The BJP leader

said he has ATC records to prove his

accusations. He claimed that DB

chairman Vinod Goenka, ICC CEO

Haroon Lorgat, BCCI president

Shashank Manohar and his wife

Varsha, and cricket administrator I S

Bindra were also on the plane.

Khadse claimed he also has evi-

dence of Pawar flying on an Eon

Aviation plane on many other occa-

sions. Adding that there was no

harm in renting out chartered

planes, Khadse sought clarification

on the nature of travel. He also

sought explanation on flights in

which Balwa accompanied other

NCP leaders.

The NCP, however, rubbished the

claims saying the planes were

owned by the firm and not Balwa

alone. The party filed a counter-

charge claiming that BJP leader

Nitin Gadkari and Shiv Sena's

Uddhav Thackeray had also flown

on Eon planes. BJP dared NCP to

produce evidence.

Pawar flew with Balwa: Opposition

DB Realty's Shahid Balwa is injail for his alleged involvement in

the 2G spectrum scam.

14 Diaspora

April 2-8, 2011 TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Punjab man gets life term forkilling wife in Vancouver

For ethnic Indians, Malaysia makes changes to textbook

Vancouver: A Punjab man

who killed his pregnant wife

five years ago here was jailed

for life on Friday.

A former school teacher,

Mukhtiar Singh Panghali, 39,

was convicted in December

for second-degree murder of

his wife, Manjit Panghali, and

then burning her body in the

Vancouver suburb of Surrey

in October 2006.

Manjit Panghali, who mar-

ried Mukhtiar in 1996, was

four-month pregnant with her

second child when she went

missing on October 18, 2006.

The couple were reportedly

having problems in their mar-

ital relationship.

The victim, 30 at the time

of her murder, had gone for

her pre-natal yoga class and

was never seen again, though

her car was found abandoned.

A week later, her charred

body was located at a place

frequented by revelers for

drinking and making bon-

fires.

The suspicion immediately

fell on her husband and

brother-in-law Sukhwinder

who lived with the couple.

During the trial, the prose-

cution established that

Mukhtiar killed his wife

when she returned from her

yoga class, burnt her body at

the said place, and delayed

reporting the murder to police

by as many as 26 hours after

she reportedly went missing.

Calling his crime "repug-

nant", the judge asked

Panghali if he has anything

say about his crime. But the

39-year-old Punjab man said

nothing as he sat motionless

in the prisoner's box.

Panghali was also given

another jail sentence of three

and a half years for "interfer-

ing'' with his wife's body.

This term will run concur-

rently with his life sentence.

He will not be eligible for

parole until 2022.

A teacher at a local school,

Manjit left behind a three-

year-old daughter Maya, now

eight. Her killing is one of

quite a few cases of murders

of their wives by Indo-

Canadian men in recent

years.

Kuala Lumpur: References to

the Hindu caste system have been

removed from a novel prescribed

for school students that offended

sections of Malaysia's ethnic

Indian community, says Deputy

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

Yassin told parliament Thursday

that the government had agreed to

make 19 amendments to the text-

book, "Interlok", replacing phrases

and words deemed sensitive to the

Indian community.

Of particular concern was the

contentious phrase "kasta pariah"

(pariah caste) which would be

replaced with "golongan yang

sama" (the same group).

The term "orang berkulit hitam"

(a dark-skinned race) would be

dropped and the word "tuhan"

(god) would be replaced with

"dewa" (deity).

The amendments were agreed

upon by the independent panel set

up by the cabinet in January to

look into the matter.

The panel included representa-

tives of the Malaysian Indian

Congress (MIC), the country's

largest Indian-based party that is

also a constituent of the ruling

Barisan Nasional (BN).

Yassin, who is also the education

minister, said the other 87 pro-

posed amendments reviewed by

the panel were found to be irrele-

vant to the core issue. This includ-

ed putting the name of the author

on the cover and altering the

spelling of a word.

He said all members of the

panel, including representatives of

the Indian community, had agreed

to insert "errata" in the textbook to

correct or drop phrases that the

Indian community found cultural-

ly or religiously offensive. The

minister also said the panel had

agreed that Dewan Bahasa dan

Pustaka, as the publisher, would

edit the novel accordingly for the

new edition.

At the same time, he said the

ministry would prepare a glossary

to explain phrases and concepts

contained in the novel.

The minister said with the

amendments, the "Interlok" issue

had been resolved. This showed

"the spirit of unity, acceptance and

mutual respect of Malaysians, who

were willing to come to a compro-

mise," he added.

He said "Interlok" was a creative

work which attempted to depict a

harmonious life in multi-racial

Malaya before it gained independ-

ence.

He thanked the novel's author

Abdullah Hussein for allowing

parts of his book to be amended,

the New Straits Times reported.

"Interlok" was written in 1971 in

Bahasa Malaysia, the language of

the majority Malays, and focused

on the challenges faced by three

deprived families - Malay,

Chinese and Indian - in eking out

a living.

Mukhtiar Panghali, and the victim Manjit

Temple attacked in AustraliaSydney: One of Australia's oldest Hindu

temples located here was attacked by two

men in balaclavas who fired eight bullets, a

media report said Wednesday.

Sydney Morning Herald reported that bul-

let holes could be seen on the wall of

Auburn's Sri Mandir temple, which it said is

Australia's first Hindu temple.

CCTV cameras showed that two men in

balaclavas fired the shots on the night of

March 19. There were no worshippers when

the attack took place.

A police spokeswoman said they were

working with the community as part of the

probe.

Yadu Singh, president of the Council of

Indian Australians, said the shooting was a

sign that the attacks on the temple were turn-

ing serious.

'The bottom line is that something needs to

be done, because it is not a one-off,' he was

quoted as saying.

'We have a right to exist; we have a right to

practise our religion.'

Temple priest Jatinkumar Bhatt said:

'Throwing eggs and bottles is an ongoing

process, but this bullet really put us in a

panic.'

India to woo businesses at Torontomini-Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

Toronto: The Confederation of Indian

Industry (CII) and the Associated Chambers

of Commerce and Industry of India

(Assocham) will hold a roundtable on busi-

ness opportunities in India during the mini-

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) here in June.

"To boost India's emerging strategic and

business relationship, we will hold a round-

table in which the CII and ASSOCHAM will

participate.

There will also be a smaller session on

cooperation in small and medium industries

between the two countries," said Didar

Singh, secretary in the Ministry of Overseas

Indian Affairs.

Singh, who was here to outline the pro-

gram for the two-day event from June 9, said

the theme of this year's mini-Parvasi

Bharatiya Divas is 'Building Bridges:

Positioning Strategies for the Indian

Diaspora'.

Vayalar Ravi, Minister for Overseas Indian

Affairs, will open the mini-Parvasi Bharatiya

Divas.

"Through this event, we aim to build

bridges between the diaspora and India,

between Canada and India, and between the

diasporas in North America and the

Caribbean," he said.

Singh said it would be the biggest gather-

ing of the diaspora in North America.

"We expect 700 to 1,000 delegates. There

will also be entrepreneurs and business peo-

ple from Canada and India," the Indian offi-

cial said.

Besides the diaspora, he said, the focus of

the Toronto event will be on youth. "There

will be a special session on the diaspora

youth which is of special interest to us in

India.

We want to connect the second- and third-

generation diaspora youth with India."

The government of Ontario province has

agreed to support the event, he added.

4/30/2011

4/30/2011

Tristate Community 15

TheSouthAsianTimes.info April 2-8, 2011

The week that was….

GSNY celebrates Sneh Sammelan

SATimes brings you a pictorial round up of major events in New Jersey

New York:The Gujarati Samaj of New York

Senior Wing celebrated Sneh Sammelan on

March 26th, 2011.It was organized by

Shashikantbhai Patel, president of GSNY's

senior wing. The event was successfully host-

ed by Mrs. Gopi Udeshi and Mitesh Kapadia.

Chief Guest Arvind Dharia, CFO of Steven

Madden Corp., attended the event. Deputy

Consulate of New York, Pramodkumar Bajaj,

and Padmabhushan Mrs. Kamala Laxmi

Narayan also attended the event.

There was a dance performance by the clas-

sically-trained Noopoor Akruwala, current

runner up for Miss India in New York, to the

song "Kahe Chhed Mohe" from the movie

Devdas. Mystic Dance Academy, under the

direction of Mrs. Shilpa Mithaiwala and

Sudha Kapadia, presented various dance per-

formances exhibiting students from age to 5

to 17.Shikshayatan Culture Center, under the

direction of Purnima Desai, presented three

vocal performances along with KamlaPrasad

Mishra and a dance on Lord Shiva and

Parvati by Amrita and Swatika. The choreog-

raphy and the accompanying dancers were

extraordinarily superb. TSAT contributor,

Nupur Joshi, performed a classical dance to

"Aami Je Tomaar" from the movie "Bhool

Bhulaiyaa".

A self-trained dancer, she also performed a

song, "Saiyyan", which was originally sung

by Kailash Kher. Gayatri Pariwar of Deer

Park performed a well-organized garba.

Krishna Parikh, a very talented young man,

sang "Suno Na" from the movie "Chalte

Chalte".

Padma Bhushan Kamala Laxmi Narayan and Parmod Kumar Bajaj, Consul withIndian Consulate of New York, lighting the lamp for the opening ceremony

Gayatri Pariwar of Deer Park presented garba(Photos: Xitij Photography)

3. Dr Sudhansu Prasad with other committee members at the re-election of new council committee forEdison Township in NJ

2. Comedian Raju Srivastav had the audience in splits at the Union County Arts Center in Rahway, NJ

4. SaReGaMaPa Singing Superstars enthralled audiences with a captivating show at Atlantic city, NJ.Seen in the picture: (L to R): Ranjeet Rajwada, Abhilasha Chellum, Rini Chandra, ShreyasiChakraborty, Bishakh Jyoti.

1. TV Asia's Chairman H.R. Shah (left) hosted two receptions in honor of the Chairman of Sahara IndiaPariwar, Subrata Roy Sahara (third from left). Roy, who was in the US to deliver a speech at Harvard India Conference, was felicitated at Nasdaq, and at the TV Asia studios in Edison.

1

4

2 3

(Photos: Gunjesh Desai/masalajunction.com)

TheSouthAsianTimes.infoApril 2-8, 2011

16 India Conference 2011

Ajay Banga, President & CEO, Mastercard, was the most anticipated Keynote speaker at the conference. He was presented in conversation with Nitin Nohria, Dean & Professor of Business Administration,

Harvard Business School. The session concluded with a series of rapid fire questions for Banga.

Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon (right), Minister for Food & Civil Supplies and IT, Punjab, gave a Keynote Speech. In the picture he is seen with Kamlesh Mehta, Chairman of The

South Asian Times, and Amit Kanodia, Managing Partner, Lincoln Ventures.

Anand Giridharadas, Writer and Columnist for The New York Times, has just published his

bestselling book “India Calling: An Intimate Portrait of a Nation’s Remaking.” He said the change in people’s minds in India was more significant than indicators like GDP growth.

Tarun Khanna, Professor, Harvard Business School, who had initiated India Conference at Harvard, said in his Keynote Address that India was high

on innovating--doing things in a cost-effective manner and yet eficiently.

The Future of Management Education in India was discussed by Srikant Datar (Moderator, middle), Professor of Accounting, Harvard University,

Nitin Nohria, Dean & Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School (right), and Sunil Kumar, Dean and Professor of

Operations Management, Chicago Booth Business School.The conference attracted over 500 delegates, including students and

professionals interested in India’s growth story.

Harvard India Conference opens minds

Titled ‘March of a Billion Aspirations’, the conference in Boston March 26-27 attracted eminent business leaders and academics who underscored India’s growth story and

explained the reasons thereof. They also pointed out the challenges--the much vaunted Demographic Dividend if not managed well can also become Demographic Disaster.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info April 2-8, 2011

India Conference 2011 17

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BC ilan_ing 10x2inch.pdf 1 03.03.2011 14:39

Speaking at the India Leadership Forum were (from right) Naveen Jindal, MP and Executive Vice Chairman & Managing

Director, Jindal Steel & Power Limited, Tarun Khanna, Professor, Harvard Business School, Brij Singh, Founder & CEO, Baer Capital,

and Vishal Bali, CEO, Fortis Global Healthcare.

The popular MP and young business leader, Naveen Jindal, posing for a picture with Harry Aurora, New York based

CEO of Wall Street Commercial Capital, New York.

Panelists for ‘US-India Relations: Outlook for the next decade’ included (from right) Manoj Singh, Global Managing Director, Deloitte Operations, Ranjana Khanna (Moderator), Dy. Secretary General, FICCI USA,

Shahana Basu Kanodia, Partner & Chair of the South Asia Practice Group, Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP,

De-Stressing India’s Urban Infrastructure panelists were (from right) K. Venkatesh Chief Executive, L&T Infrastructure Development Projects

Ltd., Arun Nanda, Director, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, Managing Director, Punjab Infrastructure Development

Board, and Shahana Basu Kanodia (Moderator), Partner & Chair of the South Asia Practice Group, Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP.

The final Keynote Address came from Subrata Roy Sahara,

Chairman of the Sahara Group of companies, who talked about

self-motivation and what matters in life the most.

Dan Tennebaum, MD, India Capital Research, who has lived and worked in India since 1999, discussed the pros and cons of

relocating to India. Arjit Mehta, (left) President, The South Asian Times, which was Print Media Partner for the Conference, was felicitated by the organizers.

Lant Pritchett, Professor at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, spoke about his research in two backward districts of central India,

which showed that though unheralded, social churn was taking place in rural areas.

18 Travel

April 2-8, 2011 TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Secret lives of Brok-Pa Aryans in KargilThere are about 1,000 descendants of these pure Aryans, who live scattered around Gilgit,Hunza, Kargil and Leh. They are nature worshippers and believe in Brog-Pa traditions and

celebrate the Bononah (Nature) festival and are strict vegans.By Murli Menon

Ispent one week to study the

secret lives of these pure

Aryans living at Kargil in

October 2004. I maintained a

detailed diary of my visit and

would like to share the experi-

ence I had with one of the most

fascinating tribes of India. My

destinations were the villages of

Dah and Beema (pronounced

Beama) in Leh district and the

villages of Garkun and Darchik

in Kargil district. I planned to

trek and visit the most inaccessi-

ble pockets of these villages and

spend quality time with this his-

toric tribe. Being a strict vegan

and practitioner of ZeNLP medi-

tations, I decided to meditate

and chant regularly during my

uphill sojourn.

We rose early and started our

jeep safari at 7:00 a.m. The jour-

ney was as pleasurable as the

destination. The 130 km drive

along the Indus took us through

the villages of Khalatse (pro-

nounced Khalsi), Dumkhar,

Skurbuchan, Achinathang and

Hanuthang. We crossed several

high peaks before reaching

Beema (14,350 feet). Every

photograph we clicked en route

resembled a picture postcard.

We played soothing music for

relaxation throughout this seven

hour drive over rugged terrain.

The first glimpse of the Indus

from miles away was a divine

and spiritual experience. A

speck of light blue amidst sand

dunes, rocks and stone. It resem-

bled a stream nestling in the

palm of Nature's hand. The clos-

er we got to the river, the more

beautiful it looked. We finally

arrived at Beema. The ice cold

bath on the turbulent waters of

this river steeped in history,

calmed my body, mind and soul.

The tranquility experienced

while meditating on its banks,

on a bed of round pebbles

resembling marbles was inde-

scribable.

There is a self-imposed prohi-

bition in these Brok-Pa (Ladakhi

word for Aryan or white skin)

villages. The sarpanch had

empowered the women to

ensure that no alcohol was

brought from Leh by locals,

tourists or outsiders. After a

thorough frisking of my bag by

three women resembling Greek

goddesses, they let me enter the

PWD guest house. Here I met

my first Aryan, the chowkidar

named Sonam Thondup. He

knew a smattering of Hindi and

through a combination of sign

language, body language, eye

movements and facial expres-

sions, I tried to create rapport

with this hostile Aryan, who told

me that my visit to Dah in

September was not welcome. I

was the only occupant of the

guest house and I handed over

my inner line permit and letter

from the collector Mr. Satish

Nehru to Thondup. After set-

tling in my room, I went out but

found few shops. The view from

my room was picturesque and

the gurgle of the Indus like

music.

The next morning, I was sum-

moned to the sarpanch's house

for a purification ritual. I had to

trek 10 km over mountain

streams, rock and stone to reach

his house in Laisthiang village.

Thondup had sent two tough

looking escorts who accompa-

nied me to the top. It took us

almost two hours to reach. The

landscape began to change and a

canopy of green could be seen.

Walnut and apricot trees

stretched across the horizon and

the fields were full of grain,

ready to be harvested.

I found out later that the staple

food of these Aryans was barley,

grown in these terraced fields

and irrigated by the mountain

streams that rush to meet the

Indus flowing below. The ascent

was rather steep and the altitude

nearly 17,000 feet. I kept replen-

ishing my body fluids by drink-

ing lots of natural mineral water

from the countless streams that

crossed on our way.

Presently there are about 1000

descendants of these pure

Aryans, who live scattered

around Gilgit, Hunza, Kargil

and Leh. They are nature wor-

shippers and believe in Brog- pa

traditions and celebrate the

Bononah (Nature) festival and

are strict vegans. These pure

Aryans observe taboos against

cows and hens and do not eat

their flesh, eggs or consume

milk or milk products. Hens and

cows are not kept.

This minuscule community

bars both their men and women

from marrying non-Aryans and

polygamy and polyandry are

common. Couples who do not

conceive are free to choose

other partners. 80% Aryans

marry in their own villages,

while 20% marry in neighboring

villages. They worship the

Juniper tree (Cilgi Deuha). Two

500 years old Juniper trees

crown the village of Dah, where

the tri-annual Bononah festival

is held on a full moon night dur-

ing October. They symbolically

draw energy from these ancient

Juniper trees by hugging them

after a ceremonial dance. They

also respect the swastika symbol

(clockwise) and Om.

The trek to Dah from Beema

to visit the sacred juniper groves

took us three hours. It was a

dangerous trek, as we crossed

several craggy peaks, holding

on to tiny crevices to haul our-

selves up. We could hear gunfire

across the Indo-POK border. My

inner line permit was checked at

the army post. I hugged the

ancient juniper trees to soak in

their energy.

The energy aura of these trees

was phenomenal giving you a

new vigour in each and every

cell of your body.

I then visited a few of the eld-

erly Aryans. They still observe

their taboos of intoxicating sub-

stances, milk, eggs and meat. I

shared a meal with them consist-

ing of barley rotis, lettuce, roast-

ed potatoes, spring onions,

boiled cauliflower and wild

mint. Women cooked in an open

hearth.

The next week, I trekked to

the other Aryan villages includ-

ing Baldes, Samit, Garkun,

Darchik and Hanu. The popula-

tion of these Brok-pa Aryans

could not be more than a few

thousand. Surprisingly, they

have maintained their racial

purity over 5000 years and con-

tinue to practise nature worship

in one of the most hostile ter-

rains at altitudes above 15000

feet, subsisting on a vegan diet.

Music and dance are a way of

life for these Aryans. Both men

and women wear colorful tradi-

tional costumes, decorating their

hair with colorful flowers and

are full of joie de vivre. They

live in harmony with nature, are

cheerful and stress free in spite

of living in small rock shelters.

Both men and women trek

long distances. Almonds, apri-

cots and walnuts are part of their

diet along with endless cups of

black tea fortified with barley

flour. The weather in September

is pleasantly cold, though tem-

peratures in January can plum-

met to minus 20 degrees C.

There are an unusually large

number of Aryans above the age

of 70. Many of them are active

even at 90. Their most striking

feature is their looks. Their blue

eyes, aristrocratic noses, round

eyes, fair complexion and flaw-

less skin, made them ethnically

distinct from Ladakhis or

Kashmiris. They restrict their

contact with the outside world

and are happy in their isolated

existence. Married women braid

their hair, which makes them

resemble Greeks. Some of the

families I stayed with include

Misken Soman, Shirin

Konshkit, Tsering Dolma,

Sonam Dolma, Sonam Lamo,

Tashi Panma, Tsering Chospel,

Chewen Dolma, Tsering Nurbu

and Tsering Jorphel. One of the

ladies I photographed at Dah

could be mistaken for a German

tourist. She was blonde, had

blonde eyebrows, high cheek

bones, rotund face and unmis-

takable German features.

One of the most fascinating

aspects of the lives of these

Aryans is a belief in prophecies

and the recording of dreams.

Most elderly Aryans, meet in the

morning at the Juniper grove

and discuss their dreams as if

nature was communicating to

them through the language of

dreams.

The fresh mountain air, the

crystal clear water of the moun-

tain streams, the nutritious

vegan diet, trance music, chanti-

ng, dream ceremonies and tree

worship could be responsible for

the survival of this miniscule

community, living in an

Himalayan Shangri-La.

One of the Aryan folk songs

(creation myths) sung at the

Bononah festival is translated as

follows: In the beginning there

was water all over the earth and

some of it froze. Dust settled on

this patch of ice. Later, a small

patch of grass appeared on the

frozen patch and soon, a juniper

tree sprouted from the earth.

The whole universe was created

by Chag (Fire), Ser (Water) and

Yun (Earth).

Murli Menon is a stress man-agement consultant based inAhmedabad. He is the author of"ZeNLP-the power to succeed"published by Sage publications.He can be reached atceo@tips4ceos.com.

The author with one of the Aryans, and his photographs of others.

India Conference 2011 19

TheSouthAsianTimes.info April 2-8, 2011

By Parveen Chopra

Unbeknown to many,

Subrata Roy Sahara,

Chairman and Managing

Worker of the Sahara group, which

famously has been the sponsor of

the Indian cricket team for quite a

few years, is not only a doer but

also a thinker. Speaking at the

Harvard India Conference last

weekend, the Lucknow based

tycoon who is author of a couple

of books in Hindi, said he was fin-

ishing a book in English titled

‘Life is Beautiful: Learn it and

Love it.”

In no need to impress his audi-

ence of the world’s most brilliant

students with outré business strate-

gies, he chose to dwell on simple

but key things in like. Professional

and personal aspects of life need

not be at loggerheads, he pro-

fessed. His view is that “it depends

on you entirely to attain continu-

ous progress in your career and

(yet) to remain continuously happy

in your personal life too.” But that

depends on knowledge of life, of

the psychological and emotional

aspects of life. This knowledge

can also be called spirituality.

Moving on to his success mantra,

Roy said, “We have to understand

that in business the deep study of

Human Management is much more

important than the study of

Business Management.” This is

because in any business, any prod-

uct is devised by, serviced by, and

purchased by human beings. Then

he held out the limits of money or

position as a motivator. Best is the

motivation that a mother feels

while caring for her child. The

Sahara group founder said that in

his organization, he has always

tried to generate self-motivation in

the workers (the number grew

from 2 to almost a million)—shar-

ing in their happiness and sorrows,

teaching them about life and gen-

uinely feeling as their guardian.

He started and has continued the

practice of giving regular lectures

to senior and junior workers—“90

percent talk on human aspect and

only 10 percent on business. Not to

say, it has worked like magic in

our organization.” This is because

when workers are self-motivated

to a very high degree, productivity

multiplies manifold, Roy says

from experience.

He now believes that the chief of

any organization, or of a major

division or department, should be a

good teacher of human life who

can show the right path, never do

injustice, no discrimination at all.

He has also concluded from expe-

rience that 98-99 percent of human

beings want to live with the domi-

nation of positive characteristics of

their nature and they always push

down their negative characteristics

provided they get to live in a posi-

tive human environment

Life Lessons and Success Mantras Global biz whiz,Indian at heart

Subrata Roy Sahara addressing theHarvard India Conference

Ajay Banga, Mastercard CEO, answered some quickfire questions fromDean Nitin Nohria at the Harvard India Conference.

Ajay Banga, President and

CEO of Mastercard, has

given good ‘credit rating’ to

India while speaking at the Harvard

India Conference last weekend. Yet,

he stressed that we need to apply

our mind to improving quality of

life in India and not just stay

focused on rising GDP.

Employment for those entering the

work force has to be created, wages

raised before inflations hits to avoid

social unrest.

Banga said even one person can

change a lot, like Nitish Kumar has

transformed Bihar as chief minister.

Institutions like Pratham are also

doing yeoman service at the grass-

roots level, he said. “India grows

despite its politics,” he said amid

laughter.

During the quickfire QA session,

the top global executive showed

how he remains Indian at heart. He

chose Aishwarya Rai over Angelina

Jolie, gilli-danda over other sports

and India-China rivalry over Coke-

Pepsi rivalry, and batted for Indian

companies like Tata and Infosys

and Indian institutions like IIMs.

20 Art & Culture

April 2 - 8, 2011 TheSouthAsianTimes.info

New York: The Film Society of

Lincoln Center will celebrate

India's greatest filmmaker and one

of cinema's greatest auteurs

Satyajit Ray with "Long

Shadows: The Late Work of

Satyajit Ray."

Unspooling at the Walter Reade

Theater here from April 19

through April 26, the promised

follow-up to the 2009 Satyajit

Ray tribute, Long Shadows

includes all the films made by

Ray in the autumnal years of his

career.

Already an acknowledged giant

of world cinema, Ray in these

later works reveals a more medi-

tative side: his brilliant powers of

observation lead him to pare

down his style, allowing his char-

acters and the world to reveal

themselves.

Of special interest is "The Home

and the World", his final, wonder-

ful adaptation of a work by his

mentor, Rabindranath Tagore, as

well as his final, luminous work,

"The Stranger", an extraordinary

summing up of so much of Ray's

worldview graced with a sensa-

tional lead performance by Utpal

Dutt. "Long Shadows: The Late

Work of Satyajit Ray" is present-

ed in collaboration with Columbia

University.

Featured films include: The

Branches of a Tree, The Chess

Players, Deliverance (Sadgati),

Pikoo's Diary, The Inner Eye,

Distant Thunder, The Elephant

God, An Enemy of the People,

The Golden Fortress, The Home

and the World, The Kingdom of

Diamonds, Sikkim, Bala and The

Stranger.

Screenings will be held at the

Film Society of Lincoln Center's

Walter Reade Theatre. Tickets

range from $5 to $12 and are now

on sale both at the box office and

online.

On March 30, 1992, Satyajit

Ray was awarded the Honorary

Oscar for lifetime achievement.

Due to ill health, he could not

attend the ceremony and his

acceptance speech was pre-

recorded in Calcutta. He died on

April 23 that year.

New York film society to celebrate Satyajit Ray's work

Satyajit Ray: One of cinema’s greatest auteur

Urban ecology art comes to town

New Delhi: Beatles, bats and mosquitoes have

suddenly found a place in the realm of public

art in the Indian capital.Opening up points of

intersection between art, ecology, science and

urban landscape is the public art residency

programme, "In Context: Public. Art.Ecology"

with its nerve centre in Saket and fanning out

across the city.

For instance, British artists Heather Ackroyd

and Dan Harvey have turned a sliver of urban

space near Saket - home to three mega shop-

ping malls in south Delhi - into a green

breather.

The project, Khoj Court, uses planted barley

stalks and the plant pigment chlorophyll to

drive home the message that art exists in syn-

ergy with the green ecological cover.

Controlled production of the pigment,

chlorophyll, serve as a colouring and chemical

medium for photographs. "Our project is a

breathing space in this hot and polluted city,"

artist Ackroyd says.

American artist and biologist Brandon

Ballengee is working with the Canada-based

Ecohaven Project to create a micro habitat

installation for insects at the Select City Mall.

The project is called "Econnect + Love

Motel for Insects". During the day, the native

plants of Delhi offer a habitat and food source

for butterflies. And at night, the surface of the

Econnect lotus becomes a "motel attracting

urban insects like beatles, moths and a variety

of anthropods by using ultra-violet light.

"We are at a pivotal moment in human histo-

ry when human habitats are impacting envi-

ronment. I am trying to create works that

hopefully offer solutions. If you can create

micro-habitats to help animals, birds, insects

and plants which are disappearing in the city

and in highrises, it can cool cities, bring more

rain and allow the city to function better,"

Ballengee told IANS.

He has collaborated with Navin Thomas and

Pratik Sagar.

The biologist and Ecohaven have imple-

mented similar urban ecology art projects in

Asia, Europe and America (north and south).

He says, "Insects are one of the least under-

stood and appreciated groups of animals in the

world." This is Ballengee's first project in

India.

Artist Pratik Sagar, a resident of the capital,

is building opinion about the urban avifauna

under siege through his stand-alone public art

intervention, "Unpacking Social Networks", in

different locations around the capital.

"My installation creates a space where

groups of people - across religion and social

mores - can feed birds and create new social

networks between birds and life," Sagar said.

An urban art project, ‘Sprouting Barley inKhoj Court’ that uses sprouting barley tocreate a green tract in Saket by British

artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey

International 21

TheSouthAsianTimes.info April 2-8, 2011

Washington: Two

Republicans in US House of

Representatives have intro-

duced a bill which seeks to

put an end to US military

involvement in Libya unless

explicitly authorized by

Congress.

The bill was sponsored by

Republicans Timothy

Johnson and Justin Amash. It

would cut off all funding

related to the Pentagon inter-

vention in Libya, Xinhua

reported. The Congressmen

contend the administration's

role in the military campaign

in Libya is unconstitutional

without the blessing of the

Congress.

Under the constitution, the

legislative branch has the

exclusive right to declare

war. "Constitutionally, it is

indisputable that Congress

must be consulted prior to an

act of war unless there is an

imminent threat against this

country. The President has

not done so," Johnson said.

Secretary of Defense

Robert Gates conceded in a

Sunday talkshow that Libya

did not pose "an actual or

imminent threat" to the US

before the military campaign

against it began.

President Barack Obama

said Monday in a speech on

Libya that he consulted with

"bipartisan leadership of

Congress" before ordering

military action.

According to the Pentagon,

Libyan intervention has cost

US taxpayers about $550

million to date, and the costs

should hold steady at around

$40 million per month from

here on.

Around 60 percent of the

cost is from munitions, such

as the 192 Tomahawk mis-

siles US military fired at $1

to 1.5 million apiece. The

rest were used to troops

deployment and other com-

bat costs, including addition-

al fuel.

Bill in US to halt USoperation in Libya

According to the Pentagon, Libyan intervention has costUS taxpayers about $550 million to date.

Islamabad: At least 12 peo-

ple were killed in a bombing

in northwest Pakistan that tar-

geted Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-

Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur

Rehman, while six people

died when their car hit a

remote-controlled bomb

planted by the roadside in the

country's southwest, police

said.

Rehman was exposed last

week by whistle-blowing

website WikiLeaks for his

offer to the US to mediate

with the Taliban. It was the

second attack on him in two

days.

At least 30 people were

injured in the first bombing

that took place in Charsadda

district of Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa province when

Rehman was passing through

a busy street in a motor con-

voy. Charsadda is located

some 30 km northeast of

Peshawar, the provincial cap-

ital. The second explosion

took place in Turbet district

in the southwest province of

Balochistan at about 5.30

p.m. when a car hit a remote-

controlled bomb planted by

the roadside, Xinhua reported

citing Urdu TV channel

Samaa.

Rehman was unhurt but

some of his bodyguards were

injured, said Nisar Ali

Marwat, the district police

chief. "Until now 12 people

are confirmed dead while 30

more are injured," DPA quot-

ed Marwat as saying. "Eight

to nine kilograms of explo-

sives were used in the vest

which was packed with ball-

bearings," he said.

Eyewitnesses said a man

blew himself up while the

convoy carrying Rehman

passed by. Rehman's car was

damaged, but he himself

remained unhurt in the attack.

New York: Trace amounts of radiation from

Japan have been detected in New York State,

State health officials were quoted as saying in

a media report.

"There are very small amounts of radioac-

tive material from Japan in the air over the

US," Xinhua quoted New York State Health

Department spokeswoman Claudia Hutton

saying on CBS 6.

"When it rains or snows, the material is

washed to the ground and onto surface waters,

such as lakes, rivers and reservoirs. Water

quality is being monitored, and the drinking

water throughout New York is safe," she

added.

Hutton said the state does not expect the

amounts to be near a level that would pose a

public health concern and there is no need for

New Yorkers to take potassium iodide.

The Environmental Protection Agency

announced that slightly elevated levels of

radiation have been detected in eight US states

including Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho,

Massachusetts, Nevada, Pennsylvania and

Washington.

18 die in Pak blasts,Rehman attacked

Japan radioactive material found in US

Cairo: Egypt's military unveiled an interim

constitution in the wake of the ousting of

President Hosni Mubarak, outlining the gov-

ernment's powers and replacing the country's

1971 constitution.

The declaration from the Supreme Council

of the Armed Forces asserts that Egypt is a

democratic country and ensures freedom of

religion and opinion, spokesperson

Mamdouh Shahin said in a press conference.

Parliamentary elections will be held within

six months of the announcement of the con-

stitutional referendum's results, which took

place March 20, Shahin said. Parliament will

then create an entirely new constitution, he

said.

Egypt army unveils transitional constitution

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazlchief Maulana Fazlur

Rehman.

Japan is mulling over to shut down theFukushima nuclear plant owing to the

radiation scare.

Libaas Xclusif

249-12,Hillside avenue,Bellerose,NY-11426

(Next to Dipali, Ph: 631-873-8298)

Tokyo: The US military

was to dispatch a 140-

member radiation control

team to Japan, a news

report said. The team would

help deal with the ongoing

crisis at Fukushima Daiichi

Nuclear Power Station,

Kyodo News reported cit-

ing Japanese Self-Defense

Forces chief General

Ryoichi Oriki.

The specialists would

travel to Japan "soon", the

general said. Japanese

authorities and the plant's

operator, Tokyo Electric

Power Co (TEPCO), has

been struggling to contain

the plant which was crip-

pled by the March 11 earth-

quake and resulting tsuna-

mi. Its power was knocked

out and the cooling func-

tions failed, leading to fires,

explosions and radiation

leaks.

US to send radiation expertsto Japan

22 ICC Cricket World Cup

April 2-8, 2011 TheSouthAsianTimes.info

ICC Cricket World Cup 23

TheSouthAsianTimes.info April 2-8, 2011

WC final: Sachin, Murali raise the stakesNew Delhi: The World Cup final in Mumbai

was going to be the perfect backdrop for the

greatest batsman and the greatest bowler of

this era to raise the stakes and excel one last

time.

Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan, the high-

est wicket-taker in both Tests and One-day-

ers, has already announced that he is quitting

international cricket after the Mumbai game

and likewise India's batting maestro Sachin

Tendulkar, the highest run-getter in both

forms of the game, may in all likelihood end

his ODI career if not quit international cricket

altogether.

Muralitharan,38, is the lone member of the

present Sri Lankan squad from the 1996

World Cup winning team, apart from veteran

Chaminda Vaas, who was drafted into the

squad as an injury stand-by for the final.

Muralitharan would hope to end his illustri-

ous career with a second World Cup and

Tendulkar his first and India's second to cap

his glittering career.

Tendulkar, who played in only one World

Cup final which India lost to Australia in

2003, would also like to end his exceptional

career of over two decades, adding the elusive

cup to his inumerable trophies, accolades and

records.

Tendulkar looks determined to make this

World Cup his own. He is tournament's sec-

ond leading scorer with 464 runs in eight

matches, three runs behind Sri Lanka's

Tillakaratne Dilshan. He hit centuries against

South Africa and England.

Winning the World Cup and getting his

100th international century in the final will be

the icing on cake. Both the teams are aware of

the magnitude of the occasion for the two

champion players.

"Going back to Mumbai for this event, is

going to be a wonderful occasion. We have

got to be calm and focussed. This has been

memorable, and something I will cherish all

through my life. I am proud to play the final

in Mumbai," said Tendulkar after the victory

against Pakistan.

Sri Lankan players turned emotional when

Muralitharan took the lap of the R.Premadasa

stadium after their semi-final match Tuesday,

the last time the off-spinners was playing on

his home turf.

Muralitharan has endured pain to play

matches. He has battled a series of injuries,

but has emerged as the highest wicket-taker

for his team with 15 scalps.

"What Murali has achieved on the field is

for everyone to see," Mahela Jayawardene

said after the practice session in Wankhede

Stadium..

"Over the years I have seen him as a person.

When I joined the team he was the first per-

son to take us out for a meal. Till then I had

not played with or against him. He has done

that for all young cricketers coming into the

Sri Lanka dressing room. He would always

have a chat with them, he is one of the friend-

liest guys around. And he is very friendly

with the opponents as well. For us at times it

was annoying, but that's what Murali is," he

says. Jayawardene gives a peek into

Muralitharan's "remarkable" personality. "He

is an amazing character. We will be truly

missing him in the dressing room. He keeps

every one laughing and in good humour."

Muralitharan has developed the knack of

scripting fairytale ending. He took a wicket

with the last ball he bowled in Test cricket,

claiming Pragyan Ojha as his 800th victim,

and Tuesday took the wicket of Scott Styris

with the last ball he bowled at home in the

ODIs.

UDRS has to be foolproof: UmpiresPower shift not realyet: Jayawardene Mumbai: Some international cricket umpires feel

that the technology has to be fool-proof if the

Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) is to

inspire confidence among the players.

The umpires, who officiated in the 2011 World

Cup in the subcontinent, say one way to tighten the

system is to use hot-spot cameras to make the sys-

tem near-perfect. The International Cricket Council

(ICC) maintains that the UDRS has helped to

improve the accuracy of the decisions by more than

seven percent in the World Cup.

An ICC Elite Panel umpire, not wanting to be

named, told IANS that the UDRS has to be fool-

proof if the players have to accept its decision with-

out any reservations.

"We are still not convinced about the system. It is

not a foolproof review system. We feel the intro-

duction of hot-spot cameras would make the sys-

tem a lot better," said the umpire.

Some teams, including India, have been at the

receiving end of the review system, but at the same

time, others have benefited. Much depended on the

judicious use of the technology by the teams.

Another umpire agreed with his colleague. "It is

like a lottery. If you are lucky it will go your way,

but if you are not lucky then you are done in by the

system. It is not possible for the UDRS to take the

actual ground factors into consideration and predict

if the ball is going on to hit the stumps in case of an

lbw," said the umpire, also on condition of

anonymity.

MS Dhoni has termed UDRS "adulteration of

technology with human thinking". The comment

came after England batsman Ian Bell survived an

lbw and was declared not out because the distance

between the wicket and point of impact was more

than 2.5 metres. On-field umpire Billy Bowden

stood by his original decision. As per the rule, the

on-field umpire had the final word in the case.

However, there were a couple instances where the

umpires stuck to their decisions even after the

UDRS pointed to the distance factor.

Mumbai: Sri Lanka vice cap-

tain Mahela Jayawardene wants

the sub-continental teams to

wait till the next edition of the

World Cup before claiming that

there is a power shift in cricket.

He said India, Pakistan and

Sri Lanka may have dominated

the 2011 World Cup by entering

the semifinals, but it is too early

to think their dominance is real.

Jayawardene said if the teams

can repeat their performance in

the next World Cup in

Australia-New Zealand, they

can then say the sub-continent

teams have truly taken a quan-

tum leap.

"We are playing in the sub-

continent. I would have been

very disappointed if we had not

done well on familiar condi-

tions. It's true there was a lot of

pressure on the sub-continental

teams, but they did well,"

Jayawardene told mediapersons

here. "Looking ahead, the next

World Cup will be played

somewhere else. If in the next

World Cup we can get two or

three sub-continental teams into

the semifinals, then you might

say power has changed.

"It's good that we are playing

some good cricket, but difficult

to say that when you are playing

at home," he added.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kumara Sangakkara with the ICC Cricket World Cup Trophy at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Sri Lankan captain KumarSangakkara, left, with Mahela

Jayawardene.MS Dhoni has termed UDRS "adulteration

of technology with human thinking".

24 Business

April 2-8, 2011 TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Washington: Quite contrary to the general impression

that India was taking away American jobs through out-

sourcing, Indian businesses which have invested wide-

ly in the US economy in diverse sectors in services

and manufacturing have created thousands of jobs in

this country in recent years, according to a new study.

India-based companies have also continued to hire

locally wherever they have put down roots, said the

study by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII),

"Indian Roots, American Soil: A Look at Indian

Companies in the US Economy" released on Capitol

Hill. The study, based on a survey of 35 CII-India

Business Forum member companies, concluded:

* Since 2005, nearly two-thirds of Indian companies

have added jobs to their US operations;

* Together, these 35 companies employ more than

60,000 people across 40 states and the District of

Columbia;

* More than four-fifths of workers at these compa-

nies are hired locally;

* An overwhelming majority of workers who are

employed at these companies are American citizens;

* India-based companies that have operations in the

US have saved 2,585 jobs from being eliminated due

to their acquisition of US firms;

* The value of these acquisitions since 2005 is $5.9

billion;

The companies represent sectors including pharma-

ceuticals, telecommunications, health care, energy,

iron and steel and information technology.

"Indian businesses have invested widely in the US

economy in diverse sectors in the fields of services

and manufacturing," said Indian ambassador to the US

Meera Shankar said at the CII event highlighting the

jobs and investments created by Indian companies in

the US.

"They have generated and sustained thousands of

direct and indirect jobs in the US economy and have

contributed to the global competitiveness of US com-

panies," she said.

"This is CII's first major attempt in bringing together

Indian companies with operations in the US, as a

group, to interact with members of the US Congress,"

said CII Deputy Director General Kiran Pasricha.

"What we want to do is highlight the range and depth

of the US-India business relationship and to dispel

some of the misconceptions attached to Indian compa-

nies."

"We want the Congress to understand and appreciate

the growing contributions of Indian companies to the

US economy, and to US society," she said.

San Francisco: A record 5.2 million iPhones

were activated in the last quarter by AT&T,

which holds exclusive rights to the hit device

in the US, the telecom giant has said.

The record-setting sales mark beat the pre-

vious record of 3.2 million iPhones that

AT&T sold in the prior quarter, when Apple's

iPhone 4 first hit the market.

Apple announced record revenue and prof-

its thanks largely to the huge demand for its

smartphone, as it sold 14.1 million units

around the world in its third quarter. The

strong iPhone sales helped AT&T achieve

record revenue of $31.58 billion and profit of

$12.34 billion, the company said.

With rumors swirling that Apple could

soon launch the iPhone on the largest US

mobile network Verizon, AT&T appeared to

confirm speculation that its days of iPhone

exclusivity may be numbered as it heavily

promoted competing smartphones in its

financial presentation.

Indian firms creating jobs in US

Record 5.2 mn iPhones activated in US

San Francisco: Google has chosen Kansas

City, Kansas as the location for its experi-

mental citywide high-speed Internet project,

bringing broadband at 1GB a second - 100

times faster than the typical US Internet con-

nection, the company announced.

Google announced plans for the experi-

mental fiber optic last year, prompting a

flood of interest from more than 1,000 locali-

ties keen to be on the cutting edge of US net-

works.

Google said it chose the city of 143,000

because it was a location "where we could

build efficiently, make an impact on the com-

munity and develop relationships with local

government and community organizations".

Kansas City first for high-speed lines

AT&T, T-Mobile mergerto benefit India

Bangalore: The telecom world is

buzzing with the news of AT&T

planning to buy T-Mobile and the

talk of the town is that the deal will

benefit the Indian IT Industry to a

large extent especially the biggies

like Infosys, Cognizant and Tech

Mahindra. With the two telecom

companies coming together they

bring a bag full of goodies which

are hundreds of millions worth

projects. The projects are the future

prospects of the two companies

integrating their systems and to

lower their operational costs.

AT&T is the key client of IT

giants like Tata Consultancy

Services, Infosys, Wipro and Tech

Mahindra and they have high

hopes on bagging projects from the

company whereas Cognizant is

vouching for both AT&T and T-

Mobile.

If the deal clicks between the two

telcos then the outsourcing projects

will demand regulatory approvals

that could include integration of

billing and customer systems apart

from consolidation of other opera-

tional support systems. But the

market for outsourcing projects

from telecom companies have

gradually reduced as they have

trimmed their budgets and have

planned to work with other vendors

at lower rates. BT, which once was

Infosys' top customer contributing

some $300 million every year in

revenues is now down to almost

$100 million a year.

Tech Mahindra which does huge

amount of business with AT&T is

said to benefit the most as they

have also plans to enter T-Mobile

also. TechM have geared up their

mobile technology area across the

globe and they are racing fast

among others to bag the deals by

leveraging their AT&T relation-

ship. Infosys and Cognizant are the

only other two companies who are

planning an aggressive approach to

gain entry into AT&T.

AT&T is the key client of ITgiants like Tata Consultancy

Services, Infosys, Wipro and TechMahindra.

India-based companies have also continued to hire locally wherever they have put

down roots, said the study by the Confederation ofIndian Industry (CII)..

Media Supporter

India to create 1.6 mn jobs in 2011: Survey

Chennai: For the second

successive year, more than

one million new jobs will

be created in India's organ-

ized sector in 2011, led by

the health care sector, but

there will be no attractive

pay hikes for those in har-

ness, states a survey on

employment opportunities.

Another dampening fac-

tor is that there will not be

any attractive compensa-

tion package for freshers as

the wage bill hike across

sectors for 2011 is pegged

between 8.82 percent and

12 percent, says the Ma Foi

Randstad Employment

Survey

According to the survey,

around 1.6 million new

jobs will be created in 2011

on the back of capacity

expansion by companies.

As per the survey conduct-

ed amongst 650 companies

across 13 industry sectors

in eight major cities, the

health care sector is expect-

ed to create 248,500 new

jobs. Sectors like real

estate, hospitality and man-

ufacturing of non-machin-

ery products together

would create 223,400 new

jobs.

Comment 25

TheSouthAsianTimes.info April 2-8, 2011

By Robert Golomb

Sitting at home reading the

book you have wanted to fin-

ish for a while, the ringing of

the telephone interrupts you. It is

your son, who has just entered his

junior year in the out of state college

that you and your spouse have

devoted much of your working lives

to pay for, calling to inform you that

he wants to be a teacher in the pub-

lic education system, so he will

choose education as his major. A

loving and supportive parent, you

give him your approval, wish him

the best of luck and assure him that

the various checks associated with

paying for his college education will

soon be in the mail. And, because

now you are talking about your kid’s

future, you begin thinking about the

teaching profession and teachers in

a more serious way than you had

ever done before.

Searching back to your childhood

memories, you think of teaching as

being a proud and an honorable pro-

fession. But then you begin to think

of what you have been reading in

the newspapers and hearing on tele-

vision lately. You think about all the

articles and commentaries about

lousy city school teachers who can’t

be fired, and the debate centering

around Last In First Out (LIFO), the

seniority system that, its detractors

argue, protects the jobs of incompe-

tent tenured senior teachers and

thus, in times of layoffs, cost the

jobs of the putatively superior newly

hired teachers, making the children

the real losers in the end.

For the moment, this argument

denouncing teacher tenure, calling

for accountability and ending LIFO

resonates with you. You recall hear-

ing it voiced by both the liberal and

conservative commentators and

argued by an overwhelming consen-

sus of Republican and Democrat

Congressmen, Senators, Governors

and Mayors from within all 50

states. It is an issue about which,

you have learned, both President

Obama and former President George

W. Bush are in fundamental agree-

ment. How can so many important,

powerful and wise people all be

wrong? You ask yourself. More, the

overwhelming majority of American

voters, even those who are members

of union households, are against

LIFO, according to polls.

You begin to conclude all of this

could turn out to benefit your child

when he begins his teaching career

in two years. As a new teacher, he

will benefit from the elimination of

LIFO. Furthermore, new teachers

always seem to have more energy

and enthusiasm than the older ones.

So, you conclude, putting an end to

teacher tenure and the system of

LIFO that is tied to it is good for the

new teachers, who everyone seems

to love nowadays, and good for the

children. A smile comes to your face

as you think of your son receiving

his first paycheck in two years as a

member of the new crop of teachers

that every one seems to be just wait-

ing to hire as replacements for the

older ones.

But first two disturbing facts are

worth considering. The first, a sim-

ple fact of reality, your son will not

be a new beloved and coveted

teacher forever because he will not

be young forever. So, what will pre-

vent the same people who are now

calling for the scalps of those “lazy”

and “incompetent” senior tenured

teachers from clamoring to fire your

son in 20 years? The second, a fact

known within the teaching profes-

sion but essentially unknown to the

general public, new teachers,

despite claims made primarily by

critics of senior tenured teachers and

LIFO to the contrary, are not a

beloved and respected group at all.

Rather, they have been the public

education system’s primary scape-

goats. Doing some research, you

will discover a statistic that is as

startling as it is alarming: 50percent

of teachers leave the profession

within their first five years. While

some have told you that a teacher is

a professional like a doctor, dentist,

lawyer or accountant, you cannot

think of even one friend or child of

any friend who ever left those given

professions, let alone departed with-

in five years.

So what is the true reason behind

this high attrition rate among new

teachers. What could be the reason

that so many young people who had

just invested so much time and

money earning bachelors and mas-

ters degrees, took and passed a

series of licensing examinations and

finally secured a position that was

for many the culmination of their

lifetime dreams to voluntarily flee

the teaching profession?

The sad answer is, for a seeming

majority of new teachers the deci-

sion was often not voluntary at all.

Rather, Principals and Assistant

Principals labeled them as the pri-

mary scapegoats for the ills of their

schools. Using harassment and

intimidation, they drove them out.

Allow me to introduce you to

three former teachers out of that

50percent of newly hired teachers

who met that fate. First, meet

“Emily”, an overachieving honor

student from a prestigious college

whose lifetime dream of being a

first grade teacher turned within the

first six months of the school year

into a nightmare when the Principal

and Assistant Principal started to

build “a paper trail” against her.

This 23-year-old girl had taught

every lesson meticulously following

the school’s mandated curriculum,

arrived at her school by 7:30 a.m.

and stayed up through midnight in

her studio apartment grading papers

and writing lesson plans. Yet, she

was warned by her superiors “to

resign within two weeks or get an

Unsatisfactory rating in June”. After

speaking to former teachers who

had suffered through the same

ordeal, Emily discovered that

regardless of the merits or lack of

merits of the case the principal

would make against her, as a proba-

tionary teacher she stood no chance

in the Department of Education’s

“Appeals Hearing” of beating the

Unsatisfactory rating that would

result in her being fired. She had

started her job in September. By

April, she had resigned.

Now, if you will, meet “Andrea”,

a beautiful 24-year-old young lady

whose dream of becoming a mathe-

matics teacher did not come easily

to her. Without any help from her

family, she paid for her college

tuition by working as a waitress in

the evenings and on weekends and

taking out big government loans.

She earned B.S. in mathematics

with honors, cleared the requisite

licensing exam, and was proud to

secure a position as a middle school

maths teacher. While her profession-

al growth and exemplary work ethic

had been recognized and document-

ed by the mathematics assistant

principal who had been her direct

supervisor during her two years at

the inner city middle school, he was

overruled by the Principal who had

informed her inner circle, “We don’t

need this pretty, spoiled girl teach-

ing our children”. She tendered her

resignation on the final day of

school in late June, putting an end to

her two-year-old career as a teacher.

Finally, meet “Tom”, who, unlike

Emily and Andrea, entered the

teaching profession in his middle

forties as a second career. Tom

belonged to a relatively new catego-

ry of nascent teachers known as

Fellows. Recruited by the depart-

ment of education (DOE), Fellows

come from a variety of professions

(including lawyers, accountants,

business executives) and needed to

have a minimum of B+ college

grade average and never having held

a teaching job. Tom met both those

criterion—and more. In high school

he had been co-captain of the

wrestling and swim teams and an

assistant editor of the school news-

paper. In college and advanced stud-

ies he had achieved the highest hon-

ors in every field. Along the way, he

had also performed thousands of

hours of volunteer work. His 20-

year professional career had been

equally impressive. Working for a

huge organization in inner city com-

munities, he had received stellar

evaluations and reviews.

Tom’s work ethic and commit-

ment in his new career too came

naturally because he loved teaching

and loved the children whom he

taught. Only now the reviews and

evaluations were no longer stellar.

The Principal and the Assistant

Principal were alarmed that Tom

“could not control” three students

who created chaos in his class.

When Tom’s efforts to improve their

behavior by modifying their instruc-

tion did not work, and his phone

calls and letters to their parents

proved to be in vain, his two super-

visors began writing letters of disci-

pline for his file. Warned that these

letters were the paper trail that inex-

orably would lead to his dismissal in

June, Tom quite in March, just

seven months after he started his

second career. Oh, yes, you proba-

bly want to know what he did in his

first career. He was a Roman

Catholic Priest.

Emily, Andrea and Tom are real

people. There are tens of thousands

of beginning teachers across

America who have suffered similar

fates. Now, some readers will think

that I was writing about them, their

friends or their children and may

want to know how I obtained this

information.

So I assume it should now be clear

to you and you will tell your son

that the attacks on LIFO were never

really designed to help new teach-

ers. When do scapegoaters ever help

their scapegoats? Rather the attacks

were designed as a secondary series

of assaults on the 50 percent of

those teachers who somehow sur-

vived and achieved tenure and sen-

iority. Some of them, however, did

not survive as well as others, for

many of these senior tenured teach-

ers are the current prey of principals

and assistant principals who are

developing the ominous “paper

trail” against them. Many of these

principals, a substantial and growing

number of whom incredibly, far

from having ever been master teach-

ers have minimal teaching experi-

ence themselves, will admit, that the

goal of developing these contrived

typically highly subjectively based

paper trails against senior teachers,

who they are aware will be difficult

to fire, is to use harassment to turn

those teachers’ lives into a living

hell.Senior teachers have no safe-

guards against such harassment.

They do, however, possess basic due

process and seniority rights that pro-

vide them with elemental protec-

tions from suffering the identical

ultimate fates of Emily, Andrea,

Tom and the countless thousands of

new teachers who have been unfair-

ly and inhumanely driven out of the

teaching profession. Seeing the

blood of teachers and the teaching

profession, opponents of LIFO seek

to deprive senior teachers of even

that.

Robert Golomb is currently anadjunct professor of graduate writ-ing, education and school adminis-tration. Before his retirement, hehad served 20 years as an assistantprincipal and ten years as anEnglish teacher in New York Citymiddle schools. His published arti-cles have covered a range of educa-tional, political and cultural topics.MrBob347@aol.com

There is a high attrition rate among newteachers. In most cases, the decision to quit is often

not voluntary. Rather,Principals and AssistantPrincipals labeled them as the primary scapegoats for

the ills of their schools. Using harassment and intimidation, they drove them out.

Do You Really Want Your ChildTo Become A Teacher?

26 Health

April 2-8, 2011 TheSouthAsianTimes.info

What is blood pressure, and how is

blood pressure measured?

Blood pressure is the force of

blood pushing against the walls of

the arteries as the heart pumps

blood. Everyone needs some blood

pressure in order to maintain blood

flow to the vital organs. The blood

pressure varies widely, even under

normal conditions. The blood

pressure normally rises during vig-

orous exercise and declines during

sleep.

The blood pressure test measures

the amount of pressure in the

artery. The measurement is made

using a device called a sphygmo-

manometer. A blood pressure cuff

is placed around the upper arm and

inflated with air until the circula-

tion in the artery is temporarily cut

off. A valve in this instrument is

opened and air is gradually

released from the cuff.

The person who is measuring can

determine the blood pressure by

listening for the flow of blood

using a stethoscope. Blood pres-

sure can also be measured using

digital machines that operate under

similar principles. The blood pres-

sure measurement is usually stated

as two numbers measured in mil-

limeters of mercury (mm Hg).

The numbers are usually expressed

as “120 over 80”, which means that

the systolic pressure is 120 mm Hg

and the diastolic pressure is 80 mm

Hg.

So-called normal blood pres-

sure may be as low as 70/50

mm Hg in infants, or as

high as about 120/80 mm Hg in

adults. “Normal” blood pressure

for adults is below 120/80 mm

Hg.

A diastolic (lower number) read-

ing between 80–89 mm Hg is con-

sidered “prehypertension”. A sys-

tolic (upper number) reading of

120–139 mm Hg is also consid-

ered “prehypertension”. If an

adult’s blood pressure is consis-

tently 140/90 mm Hg or higher, he

or she has high blood pressure or

hypertension. In 9 out of 10

cases, there is no specific cause

for high blood pressure—so called

“essential hypertension.”

The risk of heart or blood vessel

problems increases as blood pres-

sure rises above

normal levels, regardless of age.

The higher the pressure, the

greater the risk. Any reading

above the “normal” level requires

follow up and possible treatment.

One or two elevated blood pres-

sure readings, even just to levels

of 140–145/90–95 mm Hg, may

indicate some risk.

These numbers cannot be

ignored. If high blood pressure is

left untreated, even higher levels

of blood pressure may develop

and the risk of kidney failure, a

heart attack, or stroke is increased.

If you are one of those people

with a blood pressure that is

even occasionally high, you

should have it rechecked periodical-

ly. If the measurements remain at or

above 140/90 mm Hg, your doctor

will probably suggest a change in

diet or an exercise program; in

many cases you will have to take

medication. If you have diabetes in

addition to high blood pressure, it is

critically important that you control

your blood pressure to reduce risk

to you heart, eyes, kidneys, and

brain.

The following LifestyleModifications have been shown tosignificantly improve blood pressure.

The goal weight should usually be

Body Mass Index (BMI) 18.5-24.9

kg/m2, but speak to your doctor for

individualized recommendations.

Regular aerobic physical activity

(e.g., brisk walking) at least 30 min-

utes per day (or as directed by your

physician), most days of the week

can help you to reach goal weight,

and can also reduce blood pressure.

Dietary changes are key to achiev-

ing your goal blood pressure.

DASH diet is a diet rich in fruits,

vegetables and low fat dairy prod-

ucts and low content of saturated

and total fat. More information is

available at www.dashdiet.org.

Salt consumed in the diet is also

associated with the development of

hypertension. For people with high

blood pressure, reducing salt in the

diet can reduce blood pressure. For

most individuals with high blood

pressure, fewer than 2,000 mg of

sodium (salt) should be consumed

per day. Beware of prepared or fast

foods, which often have high quan-

tities of hidden sodium. Your doc-

tor can give you specific recom-

mendations about sodium intake.

Frequently, lifestyle modifications

alone do not control the blood pres-

sure adequately, and prescription

medications are needed. Together,

you and your doctor can establish a

treatment plan that incorporated

medications as well as lifestyle

changes. Although generally well-

tolerated, high blood pressure medi-

cines can cause side-effects. Also

keep in mind that some people

respond well to one drug but not to

another.

If you have other medical condi-

tions, particularly diabetes, it is

even more important to control

blood pressure and recommenda-

tions for your best diet and medica-

tions will be different. Keep in

mind that medical studies have

shown that achieving normal blood

pressure has major beneficial

effects on your health. By working

with your doctor you can devise and

stick to a plan to keep your blood

pressure in the healthy range.

Hypertension, a silent killer

Atlantic Dialysis Management Services, LLC (ADMS) pro-vides new dialysis site development, day to day administration

and management of dialysis services and related businessdevelopment activities. Its business strategy is to produceeconomies of scale and maximize individual site resultsthrough consolidated activities. Central to the ADMSapproach is the long term control of clinical services bynephrologists. In 2010, ADMS affiliates provided over

225,000 dialysis treatments to over 2,500 patients in New YorkCity and Long Island.

What Is Normal Blood Pressure?

My blood pressure is higher than normal. What should I do?

Disclaimer: Information provided in this article is only for educational purposes. Please consult your personal physician for specific advice on

these and any other health related matters.

Normal

Prehypertension

Hypertension

Less than 120 mmHg

More than 140 mmHg

80-89 mmHg

More than 90 mmHg

Less than 120 mmHg Less than 80 mmHg

Systolic (“top number”) Diastolic (“bottom number”)

The author of this article, Dr.Premila Bhat is a Board

Certified Nephrologist practic-ing in Brooklyn, NY and acts asDirector of Home Hemodialysis

Services at Atlantic DialysisManagement Services. A noted

author and speaker, she hasrecently focused on examining

the impact of the Medicareprospective payment system onthe clinical and financial end-

points, and on evaluation of newanemia and bone-mineral dis-ease management programs

implemented at ADMS.

High blood pressure,also called hyperten-sion, is a serious

condition that can lead toheart disease, stroke, andkidney failure if left untreat-ed or poorly control led.High blood pressure usuallyhas no symptoms, especially

in the earlier stages. One inthree adults in the UnitedStates has high blood pres-sure. In places like India,the occurrence of high bloodpressure is increasing asWesternizat ion leads toincreasing obesi ty andchanges in the diet.

DASH diet

Weight reduction

Dietary sodium restriction

Aerobic exercise

Reduced alcohol consumption

Ultimate Bollywood 27

TheSouthAsianTimes.info April 2-8, 2011

Big movies are back in business with

"Game". The action thriller, releas-

ing on April 1, is the first big-budg-

et and big starrer to hit the screens after a

dry spell of more than a month, thanks to

the cricket World Cup matches and the

board exams.

If the film is important for actor Abhishek

Bachchan as two of his highly anticipated

films "Raavan" and "Khelein Hum Jee Jaan

Sey" bombed at the box-office, it is an acid

test for first time director Abhiney Deo.

"I don't think there has been a release

since six weeks now. So I would like to

believe that the audience is hungry to get

back to the theater. And it's nice that 'Game'

is going to be the first release after a long

time. I hope they like the film. I enjoyed it.

When I saw the first print, I was very happy

with it. We made what we set out to make.

Now it is upto the audience," said

Abhishek. Another high point of the movie

is that it is launching former beauty queen

Sarah Jane-Dias in Hindi movies.

The drama starts when four strangers Neil

Menon (Abhishek), O.P. Ramsay (BomanIrani), Tisha Khanna (Shahana Goswami)

and Vikram Kapoor (Jimmy Shergill) are

invited by Kabir Malhotra (Anupam Kher)

to his private island in Samos, Greece. The

meeting leads to a thrilling journey of love,

revenge, retribution and a murder, where

everyone is a suspect and every suspect has

a motive behind whatever he or she does.

In the film, Abhishek is a casino owner

from Turkey, who has invested in various

businesses, some legal, some not. His

involvement in crime is likely to threaten

his existence.

Shahana is a crime journalist from

London, with a career that is going

nowhere. But her life turns around when

she is offered a scoop. Boman is a politi-

cian from Thailand and Jimmy has been

cast as a superstar from Bollywood.

The film also stars Kangana Ranaut as

detective Sia Agnihotri from London who

stumbles upon the case of her lifetime.

The slick and edgy crime thriller, co-pro-

duced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh

Sidhwani, will see former Miss India-

World Sarah as Maya, who is the only con-

nection between four strangers.

This is Abhishek's first film with Farhan,

who has penned the dialogues for the film,

and the actor is quite excited himself.

'Game' breaks the dry spell

A still from 'Game'.

Constant link ups with actresses like Katrina

Kaif, Anushka Sharma and Nargis Fakhri are

irking Ranbir Kapoor. He is no longer

amused at being painted a womanizer and neither are

his parents.

So self-conscious has Ranbir become of his image

of the wild lover-boy that he has decided to now

gravitate to the other end.

"That isn't me that's being written about. I've had

enough. I just want to withdraw from the limelight

completely for sometime," said Ranbir, 28.

The actor is currently busy shooting for Imtiaz

Ali's "Rockstar" with half Czech-half Pakistani

model Nargis Fakhri.

"More than himself Ranbir is embarrassed because

of his parents. He can take any kind of flak or rumor.

But if his parents get affected, he reacts. And now

Ranbir has had enough.

He won't take the Casanova image lying down,"

said Ranbir's friend.

Bollywood superstar Shah

Rukh Khan says his

upcoming sci-fi superhero

film "RA.One" is an attempt to

create something that will change

the genre of Indian films.

"It's an indigenously made film

and it's made in VFX studios in

India and is trying to create some-

thing which will change the genre

of films. If Indian filmmakers

would like to make something

alike, they have the access to the

technology," King Khan told

reporters recently.

He also said that the film would

be his first step in paying back to

the audiences the love and honor

he has received in the last 20

years of his career.

"I have made one promise to

every one in India. I have been

working for 20 years and I have

been given too much; much more

than I deserve as an actor, as a

star, and I think it's time to give

back some," the superstar said.

"RA.One" is scheduled to

release at Diwali time but the star

has already started its marketing

so that the superhero character

sinks into the psyche of his audi-

ence.

I've had enough: Ranbir

'RA.One' to change genre: SRK

Ranbir Kapoor.

Shah Rukh Khan in "RA.One".

'Dum MaroDum' hits Goa

Fi l m m a k e r

Rohan Sippy

denies he

chose Goa to shoot

his forthcoming

"Dum Maro Dum" -

which delves into

the narcotics mafia

and sex trade - to

show the pretty

coastal state in bad

light. Goa is brought

in "as a fictional

character", he says.

"It could have

been any place...It

could have been

Mumbai.

Goa has been

brought in just as a

fictional character.

Goa has not been

chosen to show it in

a bad light," Sippy

said.

When "Dum Maro

Dum" promos hit

the screens two

months ago, Travel

and Tourism

Association of Goa (TTAG) was

unhappy as it felt that the film

could have bad repercussion for

tourism in the state.

Rohan, who has directed two

films in the past, "Kuch Na

Kaho" (2003) and "Bluffmaster"

(2005), says after exploring

Mumbai in his last film he want-

ed to explore a new place.

"The film doesn't imply that

Goa is the worst place to visit or

anything negative; it is just a

character of my film.

"In 'Bluffmaster', I had already

explored Mumbai, so I choose

Goa because I wanted to explore

the scenic beauty of the place

which is world-known. It's the

best place, it's a paradise on

earth and with its beauty, I want-

ed to bring some thrill.

I found scope of creating

drama and it has left a stunning

visual effect on me and will on

my audience too," he said.

Releasing April 22, the film

stars Abhishek Bachchan,

Bipasha Basu, Rana Daggubati

and Prateik Babbar among

others.

A still from 'Dum Maro Dum'.

The annual meeting of the

National Organization for

Men (NOM) is usually held

at Bubba’s Sports Bar in Pineville,

Tennessee, but with almost three

dozen men attending this year, it

had to be moved to a more spacious

location down the road: Earl’s Tire

Emporium.

Luther Bramley, president of

NOM, was about to address the

gathering when a bearded man

wearing a John Deere cap stood up.

“How many women does it take to

change a light bulb?” he asked.

“Four. The first to read the instruc-

tions, the second to hold the step

ladder, the third to screw the light

bulb in, and the fourth to send out

the press release.”

Everyone laughed, except a mid-

dle-aged man with long sideburns.

“What’s a press release?” he asked.

“I’m not sure, Billy Bob,” the

man next to him whispered, “but I

think it’s when those reporters in

the Middle East get freed from cap-

tivity.”

Bramley peered over the large

podium, consisting of four

Goodyear tires. “You’ll be sur-

prised to know, Earl, that my wife

changes light bulbs all by herself,”

he said. “She doesn’t even need a

step ladder –- just wears a pair of

her high-heeled shoes. Women are

learning to do all kinds of things

these days, even parallel park.

That’s why we need this organiza-

tion –- to protect our rights, to

make sure women don’t take over

the world. If they start making all

the laws, the next thing you know,

beer and football will be illegal.

And we’ll be put in prison just for

leaving the toilet seat up. We need

this organization to protect our

rights –- and also our wrongs.

We’re not as big as the National

Organization for Women, but we’re

growing so fast, we may need to

hire someone to handle our public

relations.”

“What’s public relations?” Billy

Bob asked.

“I’m not sure,” the man next to

him whispered, “but I think it’s

when you have relations with the

public.”

“You mean like Tiger Woods?”

“Sort of, but with men too.”

“It may surprise you to know that

a dozen countries around the world

are being ruled by women,”

Bramley continued. “Germany,

Ireland, the Philippines, Argentina,

Bangladesh and Liberia all have

women on top.”

“It’s that darn Cosmopolitan

magazine,” Earl said. “Ever since

my wife started reading it, she

wants to be on top too.”

“We managed to dodge a Hillary

Clinton presidency,” Bramley said,

“but who do you think is second in

line to succeed Obama? Yes, you

guessed it: Nancy Pelosi. She’s

right behind 67-year-old Joe Biden.

What do you guys have to say

about that?”

“Long live Obama! Long live

Obama!” the men chanted.

“Women have been moving up in

the business world too,” Bramley

said. “You wanna know how many

Fortune 1000 companies have

women at the top? Almost 30 of

them. For example, Indra Nooyi is

CEO of PepsiCo.”

“That’s it,” Earl shouted. “I’m not

paying for any more Pepsi.”

“Ilene Gordon is CEO of Corn

Products International.”

“That’s it,” Earl shouted. “I’m not

paying for any more corn prod-

ucts.”

“Laura Sen is CEO of BJ’s

Wholesale Club.”

“That’s it,” Earl shouted. “I’m not

paying for any more ... uh, never

mind.”

“Women are also moving up in

the military,” Bramley said.

“They’ve become generals, admi-

rals and rear admirals.”

“What’s a rear admiral?” Billy

Bob asked.

“I’m not sure,” the man next to

him whispered, “but I think it’s

someone who admires you from the

rear.”

“Women are trying to take over

the world and we just can’t let

them,” Bramley said. “That’s why

this meeting is so important. In a

little while, we’ll be splitting up

into three sessions. The first session

is called ‘How to Assert Your

Manhood.’ The second session is

called ‘How to Show a Woman

Who’s Boss.’ And the third session

is called ‘How to Find a Good

Hiding Place During ‘That Time of

the Month’”

“I’m attending the third session,”

Earl said, “And after that, Billy

Bob and I are going to hit the town.

Beer and wings are half-price at

Bubba’s tonight, and we’re going to

watch some great fights from the

WBF: Women’s Boxing

Federation. Who’s going to join

us?”

“I’d love to join you,” Bramley

said, “but my wife wants me home

by 9.”

SAN FRANCISCO: More than half of US

adults use online social networking service

Facebook, according to an upcoming study.

A report by Edison Research and Arbitron

Inc. to be released on April 5 includes the find-

ing that 51 per cent of US residents age 12 or

older have profiles set up at Facebook.

Facebook terms of service require people to

be at least 13 years old to be members of the

online community, which boasts more than a

half-billion users. "We have been tracking the

growth of Facebook since 2008, and have

watched it go from eight percent usage just

three years ago, to 51 per cent today," New

Jersey-based Edison said in a release. The mar-

ket tracking firms based the findings on a

January survey of 2,020 people. Study findings

presented in a webcast will include the popu-

larity of accessing social networks using

mobile phones, according to Edison.

WASHINGTON: Apple said that it will

unveil the next generation operating systems

for the iPhone and the Macintosh computer at

its Worldwide Developers Conference in San

Francisco in June.

The Cupertino, California-based tech giant

said the annual event will be held June 6-10

at San Francisco's Moscone West.

"At this year's conference we are going to

unveil the future of iOS and Mac OS," Apple

senior vice president of worldwide product

marketing Philip Schiller said in a statement.

"If you are an iOS or Mac OS X software

developer, this is the event that you do not

want to miss," Schiller said.

Originally developed for the iPhone, iOS

also now powers Apple's iPad tablet computer

and the iPod Touch. Apple said its engineers

will host 100 technical sessions during the

conference, which typically draws thousands

of developers of programs for Macintosh

computers, the iPhone, the iPod and the iPad.

28 Humor

April 2 - 8, 2011 TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Fighting for men's rights -- and wrongs

More than half of US adults useFacebook: Study

Apple to unveil new iOS in June

Tech Life

Humor with Melvin Durai

by Mahendra ShahMahendra Shah is an architect by education, entrepreneur by profession,

artist and humorist, cartoonist and writer by hobby. He has been recordingthe plight of the immigrant Indians for the past many years in his cartoons.

Hailing from Gujarat, he lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

Aries: Stabilization in your relationship

with your family members seems certain

if you are willing to compromise on certain

fronts. Professional gains for some bring gains

and prosperity. Your new ideas and technical

knowledge will make a good impression on oth-

ers. Residential moves and renovation during

this period will prove auspicious. Outdoor

sports events and entertainment programme will

help you keep relaxed.

Taurus: This is a period to invest with

extreme precaution and care. Past

investments need another reexamination. If

you're planning on investing in a new venture

then you better take small factors into consider-

ation. Your ability to charm others will put you

in the limelight. Property or vehicle transactions

seem quite likely. Children will cause some dis-

satisfaction but spouse remains quite coopera-

tive.

Gemini: Your optimism will push your

career to new heights. Put some of your

innovative ideas into your work to reap long-term

benefits. The next few days will see pressure on

your work front arise giving you little time for

recreational and other activities. Gifts and pres-

ents will be plenty from visiting guests. Avoid

standing for surety of any one to avoid unneces-

sary complications in the coming period. Family

members will be supportive and caring.

Cancer:This is an excellent time for

professional advancements, promotions

and recognition. At work you will be in the

good books of your seniors and you will also

benefit monetarily. Romance is in the air, so

make the best of it and avoid any arguments

with your lover. Opportunities to go out with

friends will be informative and pleasurable. You

need to do more things that you enjoy in order

to relax. Foreign transaction or overseas jour-

ney will prove to be highly beneficial.

Leo:You will be in a commanding posi-

tion as your confidence and enthusiasm

will be high. Important messages should be

attended to immediately. You will make finan-

cial gains if you get involved in speculation. A

spiritual person’s blessings give comfort and

relief. New relations and attachments will

develop as a result of vacation and other recre-

ational activities. Get involved in activities that

will help you keep in perfect shape.

Virgo: Financial matters demand more

attention. You should cut down your

expenses on entertainment and shopping.

Financial difficulty will even effect your health.

Stay focused on your goals, but take necessary

precautions. For some, a change of residence or

a new construction will prove highly auspi-

cious. Your erratic behaviour will raise emo-

tions at home. Don’t take criticism too serious-

ly. Travel will be highly exciting but expensive.

Libra: Some challenging project will

see you express your skills in a very dif-

ferent way. New approach will give you new

confidence on which you will build future

hopes and dreams. Businessmen and investors

will see past investments reaping profits.

Relations with somebody close might get

strained over petty issues. Good week to call

important people over to your place. Spouse

will be highly supportive and shower you with

love and affection. Legal affairs will create a

state of nervousness.

Scorpio: Your present health condition

will be primarily because of the work

pressure that you carry on your mind. You need

to take time out with your friends will help you

relax and regain your energy. Relationships

with your clients will strengthen and you can

accomplish a lot through smart negotiation and

diplomacy. This week you should meet people

who can further improve your career goals.

Take care while driving, especially during the

nights.

Sagittarius: This week you will focus

on domestic issues and should think

about the immediate needs of your family mem-

bers. Spouse and children will be a source of

immense happiness. Guests and visitors bring

you gifts in cash and kind. Going out with

friends will be exciting and you will learn new

and different skills. A good diet, coupled with

fitness program will make you feel better.

Capricorn: Work will suffer this week

as romance clouds your mind. You will

find it difficult in concentrating on your jobs

and getting favors from others. Keep your focus

clear on your goals to reap professional bene-

fits. Pleasure trips for some will be educating.

Little time for meditation and yoga will be

important for mental as well as physical gains.

Group involvement will entertertaining, but

expensive if you don’t learn to say no.

Aquarius: You will meet interesting

people at social functions that you

attend this week. Your ability to stand out in the

crowd will bring you popularity and recogni-

tion. Your creative ability will surface, bringing

you good ideas to make extra money. Great

period to go out shopping for expensive items

and jewelry. Spend some time with the one you

love. Travel will be highly educating.

Pisces: Money making efforts will be

profitable provided you work on new

ideas and plans. This seems to be an excellent

time for you to do things that will keep you

relaxed and entertained. This period seems

exceptionally good to take time out for hobbies,

or take an adventure trip or go out on a short

vacation. Friends and family members will seek

your advice. Wonderful week to look into new

courses that interest you.

April: 2

Governed by the number 2, you are also governed by

the Moon and dominated by the planet mercury. Full

of imagination, you appear to be dreamy, sometimes.

A perfect executor of plans, your Bosses will rely on

you for completing big projects. In the coming year,

your ability to complete big plans and projects to per-

fect will bring you success in your related fields. Hon-

or and prestige will be yours in the coming year. You

will travel a lot. This will mainly be related to your

work. You are able to draw friends towards you. They

enjoy your warmth and friendly nature. You are sym-

pathetic towards those who need help. They always

look to you for advice and help. You have an inborn

ability to judge the good from the bad. This helps you

to make good friends, and take wise decisions. Abid-

ing by the law is of utmost importance to you. The

months of May, September, December and February

will be result oriented.

April: 3

You are governed by the number 3 and by the planet

Jupiter. You are also dominated by the planet Mercu-

ry. Studious by nature, you are fond of reading and

like to acquire knowledge. Your ambitious nature,

coupled with your confidence, will help you to

achieve success in your professional field, in the year

ahead of you. Philosophy and religion will draw your

attention, in the coming year, but you will maintain an

objective outlook in whatever you undertake. You will

go out of your way to help those who need you.

Friends and relatives will look to you for advice and

comfort. You will leave no stone unturned, to help

your friends. Although, proud by nature you are sym-

pathetic towards your friends and your colleagues at

work. You will be able to charm, those around you,

with your communication skills. In love matters, you

will be hesitant to take the first step, till you are sure

of a positive response. The months of July, October,

September and November would prove to be highly

significant.

April: 4

Governed by the number 4, you are also governed by

the planet Uranus, and dominated by the planet Mer-

cury. You are courageous by nature and can face any

eventuality, which may come your way. The ability to

handle any difficult situation, with ease, comes natu-

rally to you. Your sharp memory and a practical ap-

proach, will make those of you in business achieve

success, in the year ahead of you. You will reach new-

er heights of excellence. Advance planning, coupled

with enthusiasm and dynamism, will bring success to

you from all corners. Travel will also form an impor-

tant part of your career. Travel to distance places, is

foreseen. This will be both, for pleasure as well as for

work. The coming year, will be financially a good one,

for most of you. But you will have to control your ob-

stinate nature. At times you tend to get too obstinate

and impetuous. The month of May, August, Novem-

ber and January will be highly eventful.

April: 5

You are governed by the number 5 and dominated by

the planet Mercury. You are shrewd in your day to day

dealing in life. Your sharp mind and shrewd attitude

will bring success to you in your business field, in the

year ahead of you. You will be able to impress your

clients with your impressing personality and conver-

sations skills. Coupled with your intelligent views and

ideas, you can expect to reach newer heights of excel-

lence, in whatever new venture you undertake in the

coming year. But you will have to keep a little con-

trol on expressing your views. Sometimes you are in

a hurry to share your ideas and thoughts, and this

could lead to your opponents taking away your new

ideas. Social life will be full of fun and happiness, in

the coming year. You can expect to have many friends

around you. Philosophy and religion will interest you.

The months of May, June, September and February

would be highly significant and productive.

April: 6

You are governed by the number 6 and the planet Ve-

nus. You are also dominated by the planet Mercury.

Art and beauty are a part of your life. Any expression

of art fascinates you. You take it to an extent of mak-

ing it your business as well Music, art, love and fun –

all these will surround you in the year ahead of you.

Your personality will draw friends towards you. Your

confidence and communication skills will lead you to

the pivotal of success in your professional front. Your

positive outlook to life will not only bring happiness

to you and your family, but it will also make your

friends around you, happy in your company. You are

a faithful friend, and those in need of help, look to you

for advice and solace. The coming year, will be a good

one financially. You will earn a lot of money, and will

be able to afford to buy the luxuries of life. The month

of April, June, October, February will be eventful

months.

April: 7

You are dominated by the planet Neptune and gov-

erned by the planet Mercury. You are also dominated

by the number 7. High ideals and lofty ambitions, are

traits of your character. Your in depth study of subjects

and your vast knowledge, will bring success to you in

your professional field, in the year ahead of you. You

are reserved by nature and like to spend time alone.

You would rather read books, alone at home, than so-

cialize with friends. Your shrewd nature will allow

you to success in business. You will not follow cus-

toms and traditions, in the coming year. You like to fly

free, and that is just what you are going to do – be free

of customs and orthodox views. Your high ideals and

enthusiasm will be an inspiration for your friends and

relatives, around you. But you will have to keep a

check on your skeptical nature. You tend to become

suspicious about small matters. The months of May,

September, November and January will be very sig-

nificant.

April: 8

You are governed by the number 8 and the planet Sat-

urn. You are also dominated by the planet Mercury.

You are ambitious by nature, and will go to any length

to achieve what you desire. Your methodical approach

to your work, coupled with your sense of duty, will

take you to newer heights of excellence, in the year

ahead of you. The ability to study and judge, both

sides of an issue, will be an added asset to you at

work. You will be full of energy and new ideas, to suc-

cessfully implant new projects and plans, in the year

ahead of you. But you tend to get a little dominating

at times. You are advised to control this dominating

trait in your character. This leads to people misjudg-

ing you on many issues. You will not be able to toler-

ate those who are not regular or punctual in their ap-

proach to work. The months of September, November

and February will be very significant.

Astrology 29

TheSouthAsianTimes.info April 2-8, 2011

By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874; Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898,2648 9899; psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com

Stars Foretell: April 2-8, 2011 Annual Predictions: For those born in this week

i) Accurate Data: Please make sure Date,

Time and Place of birth is accurate.

ii) Careful: Did you check background of the

astrologer before disclosing your secrets.

iii) Fee: Discuss the charges before, don’t feel

shy. It’s his business.

iv) Expectation: Expect the best, if the out-

come is not as desired, never give up.

v) Consult: Take second opinion before

spending thousands on cure/remedies.

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April 2-8, 2011 TheSouthAsianTimes.info