Interfaith leadership For the first time Bay Area’sprominent Muslim interfaith leaders meet to discuss Islam in US and Ahmadiyya persecution.

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it’s christmas time in bay area

the Dayals host their annual Christmas party at their south san FranCisCo home (see photo gallery page-31).

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India Post New celebrates New Years Day at San Jose Airport Garden Hotel

RogeR wins Honda of HaywaRd annual awaRd

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FIJISUN2 STAFF/EDITORIALJanuary-2013 www.fijisun-usa.com

H. Koya (PhD)Editor-Publisher

Robbie Michelson

Contributing writer

Nisha NigarCommunity News editor

PO BOX 54691 Hayward, CA

94544

1-800-757-6619 www.fijisun.org

Email: fijisun@gmail.com

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EDITORIALSTAFF

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NOW ON

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FOR ALL

What is dancing?Is it moving,singing, art

form or what?Since I brought the

subject up, I’d best get tothe point. It is beauty. It isrhythmic movement. It ismoving your body or bodyparts to sounds. Sounds

of all kinds made by tap-ping, singing, strumming,and anything else resem-bling these not so descrip-tive words. Sometimes itis simply heartfelt or mind-felt with no specific move-ment. Now that I have“defined” it and it is totallyclear in your mind, let’sget to the “so what”.Personally my heart andsoul is totally into music“dancing to the stars” isgreat to watch, but whollysmoke, how can I dupli-cate these fantastic bodygyrations? I enjoy dancingjust by moving any part ofmy body or simply “feel-ing” the sound.

Let me site and exam-ple of how I taught some-one how to dance in lessthan five minutes. A manwho observed me dancingin a small bar, night club if

you please, asked me toteach his wife to dance.At first she staunchlyrefused to even stand upbut to please her husbandshe finally edged off herhigh chair and stood infront me. I kindly instruct-ed her to just gently tapher feet to the sound ofmusic we are hearing. Ithen proceeded andasked her to move otherparts of her body to thesound. She did and lo andbehold she began movingmore on her own aswalked and danced untothe floor. Soon her hus-band joined us. Later on,she confided to me that itwas the first time in eight-een years that theydanced. Their smile saideverything.

Dancing lessons in stu-dios are great in many

ways, but nothing beatsthe feelings you get whenyou flow with the sound ofmusic. Cha-cha, waltzes,rumba, etc. are fine butyou don’t need and of the“refined” moves to ENJOYyour body movements. Itis exciting, exhilaratingand just plain to dance.

Dancing is a part of ourentire universe. Every city,state and country has theirown “style” but it all boilsdown to peace and love.As anything else it can be“evilized” and becomeBAD thing even as aprayer can be changedwith an evil heart sendingnegative signals. Peace,freedom and calmnessare still the basic essenceof dancing. We can move,sing, laugh and truly feelhappiness in our heartand soul by letting our

bodies and mind becomeenveloped in the wonder-ful sounds that surroundus. Dancing! Dancing!Dancing! I love it.

Everyone, includinganimals can dance in theirown way. Many times peo-ple say: “I can’t dance,” or“I will look foolish in theeyes of others.” Generallyeveryone is concentratingon their own movementsand don’t even knowyou’re out there and theyNOT looking ar you. Inany case, free yourself toenjoy your life more bypartaking of what is wait-ing for you to bring moreHAPPINESS into yourexistence. We are born tobe happy and help otherto follow likewise.

So Dance up a stormand LIVE IT and LOVE IT.

The Epitome of Dancing

By Dr. Marion Sanchez

growing up as aschool kid mymother thought I

needed some “monitor-ing” that I never under-stood why. She wouldhave me go visit my lateuncle S M Koya at hisresidence downtownLautoka every Saturdaymorning on my way to themarket to buy fresh veg-etables. Most of the time, I founduncle Koya buried in the novels.After quickly greeting him, I wouldlook for the first opportunity tosqueeze out the front gate and off tothe market.Auntie Amina wasalways conscious of my presenceand would often call me to her bed-room where she attended to her firstborn Shenaz Koya who was in thecradles then. She would entrust littleShenaz her to me and get me a cupof tea trying to keep from my uncle.

One day I was in a big hurry andtried to rush out and auntie Aminacaught me in the open carportwhere she was cooking. Sheordered me stay behind for an earlylunch she was doing. I tried all myexcuses. She threatened to report

by obstinate to my motherand succeeded in dissuad-ing me to dash out of thefront gate.I cannot forgetthe most delicious goatliver curry she madetopped with curry leavesand garnished with cilantromy favorite item. I ate likea hungry tiger. When Ireturned home after shop-ping and seeing matinee

that I was not supposed to do, mymom questioned me in detail if I vis-ited uncle Sid and met auntieAmina. When I backed my story withthe fact that how much I enjoyedaunty Amina’s goat curry and roti,my mom beamed with a smile andadded that she knew her sister wasan excellent cook. Some of sistersenjoyed closer affinity with late aun-tie Amina Koya while I drifted awayover the years and minimized myvisited but always relished her kind-ness and attention she gave us dur-ing her visits to our country sidehome. Perhaps I pray more for herkindness than I do for others in thefamily who have left us behind inthis world. May God bless thedeparted soul!

Thank you brother Rafiq Tschannenfor your bold views.

MARRYing MoRe tHAn one WivesWitHin AnD elseWHeRe

In my interactions both with ourJamaat members and the mainstreamMuslims (I am often approached withspousal/domestic issues/some also dis-cuss marrying the daughters away toNon-Muslims)I found a strong resistanceamong our Muslim ladies to the idea oftheir husband having another wife.

They scorn at the thought and regardit as being unfaithful to them. Here dis-cussion cannot be just superficial. Itinvolves a whole range of issues includ-ing, social, cultural and very personalopinions. Many Muslim ladies wouldargue that only Muslim men who are notsatisfied would do such a thing.

The primary objective of the law ofthe Holy Quran ( that I call rule of excep-tion) in relation to polygamy is lost in theheat of arguments and sentiments.

iMPoRtAnt to note

Before going any further, it is impor-tant to note that Allah has not revealed aBook full of codes for every situation. Itstipulates the basics that are central tomany different situations which is whereintelligent reflection and reasoning arerequired and may prompt an Islamic jurydeliberation.

tHe Rule oF AllAH

Like all rules in the Holy Quran whena situation arises where a Muslim manhas to marry more than one wife, the ruleof Allah needs to take effect (understand-ably) without remorse, complaint andresistance with the hope of seekingapproval and pleasure of Allah.

AMeRiCAn lAW

In the USA, polygamy is prohibitedand one has to denounce its practice onbecoming a US citizen which means youcannot legally marry two women at the

same time.This prohibition in US law hasopened back doors to having relation-ship without a legal marriage. And I amsure I am not wrong that there are farmore men in US having multiple wives (in cases many more than up to fourallowed in Islam).

MARRiAge BY CustoMs & niKHA

In several Muslim countries (includ-ing India and Pakistan) the law does notrequire a registration of marriage. Scoresof marriage are done without having toregister a marriage. An Islamic Nikha issufficient and for the most part it is verysuccessful and married couples honorlive by it. Of course (from I see in courts)there are some who take advantage ofthe loophole and for that lack of evidencedo not claim a previous marriagebecause it cannot be substantiated.

Customary practices are not recog-nized by US Family Law Courts not do

they take any judicial notice of them.In a recent case, a judge ruled out

admissibility of evidence of Hindu mar-riage practice for lack of a duly author-ized marriage certificate that in US isgranted by your County Reorders officewhere you do need to have at least twowitnesses ( a requirement directly bor-rowed from the Holy Quran).

MY FinAl WoRDs

Our Muslim sisters need to keep inmind the stipulation in the Holy Quranhas an objective in front (particularly withregards orphans and widows).

How far does the exception extend?It has been held good even where apresent wife is not capable of bearing achild but is happy to allow a second wifeand was some men are overly sexual. Itprevents illegal what may otherwise beunIslamic. I look forward with interesthearing some real legal discussionshere.

Happy new Year! god bless all!love FoR All AnD HAtReD FoR

none

HAYWARD - MarooMabanta owner of Himlayanmet us after a Chapel of theChimes meeting hosted by agroup of Fiji Hindus at a localrestaurant here and expresseda desire to advertise with uswhich he did and also placedan AD in The Muslim News. Allthis was done in an effort topromote his wife ArleneMabanta’s sales career withthe famous Chapel of theChimes of Hayward. At firstMaroo struck like a very honestand business professional tous. We introduced him to ourMuslim community (see FijiSun Blog and my Facebook).The one thing we did not likewhen he said very loud andclear that he was aRepublican. “So what/” ourusual attitude for we do not goaround telling people about ourpolitical affiliation or do we usethat as a pitch to attract people.Into the second month of ourfriendship, Maroo said he

wanted to publish a newspaperfor his Filipino community andclaimed that he has substantialpast experience and promisedto give “a cut” to the FIJI SUNUSA if we helped them with thenewspaper. I attended a fewinitial meetings and providedthe necessary guidance. WhenI realized that I was spending alot of time wit an unlearnedteam of “volunteers” and thingswere moving fast enough Idropped out of the meeting.Maroo – who claimed hadnothing to do with the project-controlled the group from out-side forcing his full authorityand power upon the team. Hehad his most trusted boyDanny secretly register a cor-poration in his name.

A close “no longer friend” ofMaroo told us that no one isbeing paid on the team con-trary to recorded minutes of thebusiness. When Maroodelayed payment for the FIJISUN, we sent him a final

noticed, he got ticked off andsuspended all communicationwith us.

MARoo A Multi-MillionAiRe

At a Lime meeting led andhosted by Maroo, he told usthat he was owner operator ofa Canadian multimillion dollarwomen’s beauty product with amillion dollar revenue permonth.

investing on tHe siDe

Maroo succeeded in con-vincing Dr. Marion Sanchezand a few others to invest sev-eral thousand in his companyon a promise of at least $75 amonth return on interest alonewithout a written contract. Dr.Sanchez is believed to haveinvested over $10,000 inMaroo’s company whichMaroo does not own and sus-pected to be operated byDanny. Dr. Sanchez deservesan immediate refund of hisinvestment.

Polygamy In Islam

My aunt Mrs. Koya my refuge Investing in Maroo’s company –the man behind Flipside Times

FIJISUN 3January-2013www.fijisun-usa.com

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FIJISUN 5BUSSINES NEWS January-2013www.fijisun-usa.com

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FIJISUN6 FIJI NEWSJanuary-2013 www.fijisun-usa.com

In his annual addresson New Year’s Day,Commodore Frank

Bainimarama, the militaryruler, only mentioned“revamping” the flag, butit is widely thought theUnion Flag will bedropped.

The move would bethe latest attempt by Fijito distance itself from itscolonial past, after its mil-itary rulers were suspend-ed from the Comonwealthfollowing a bloodlesscoup in 2006 and its

repeated failure to holdelections. However, he

used his national addressto outline plans for the

adoption of a new consti-tution early this yearahead of elections in2014. “All of this is toreflect a sense of nationalrenewal, to reinforce anew Fijian identity and anew confidence in beingFijian on the globalstage,” he said. “We willsoon begin using newnotes and coins that fea-ture our flora and fauna.And I will be making fur-ther announcements thisyear about revamping ourflag.”

FROM next month theuse of money to pay forbus fares in Fiji will be athing of the past. Work onthe much talked about e-ticketing system is almostover and the LandTransport Authority isworking on its effectiveimplementation.

Under the e-ticketingsystem members of thepublic can get their 'tapand go' cards from any M-

PAiSA outlet in the country.These tickets will be

used with the e-ticketingconsole installed near theentry point of buses to paytheir fares.

And once the systemcomes into effect, mem-bers of the public will haveto top up their 'tap and go'cards at any Vodafone orFoneology outlets nation-wide, show the card to theconsole in the buses and

their appropriate fare willbe deducted.

"This card will enablepassengers to travel inbuses with consolemachines without payingany form of cash and willeventually be issued with areceipt for the journey.Passengers have the liber-ty to use their cards to payfor more than one bus farewhen boarding," LTA chiefexecutive Naisa Tuinaceva

said. He said the installa-tion of the consoles inbuses was almost com-plete.

"There are 1400 busesand more than 500 buseshave been equipped withthe system," he said. TheLTA CEO also called onmembers of the Fiji pubicto bear with the changethat would occur soon andsought their understandingfor any teething problems

the new system wouldencounter before eventual-ly becoming more effectiveand efficient. "Members ofthe public in Fiji will enjoyits quick reliable servicethat will benefit all includ-ing those assisted throughthe social welfare and thedisabled subsidisedscheme." Mr Tuinacevaurged people to come for-ward if they found difficultywith the bus drivers or

those that do not have anymachines ready. "The LTAwill take all necessaryaction to have this projectmove forward without anyunnecessary delay and willstart exercising its regula-tory laws in due coursecharging those who havenot kept up with theprogress and have failedto comply with the require-ments so far," he conclud-ed.

POLICE have issuedwarnings for people toexercise caution on landand water as the countryrecorded its first road fatal-ity of 2013 and last drown-ing fatality of 2012 on con-secutive days.

In separate incidents inthe Western Division, aone-year-old toddlerdrowned in Ra on the lastday of the year while a 21-year student was killed in aroad accident at Lovu,Lautoka, on the first day ofthe year. The road accidentclaimed the life ofUniversity of the SouthPacific student PenasioCerecere while three of hisfellow Vitogo Villagefriends are in serious con-dition at the LautokaHospital. Police spokes-woman Ana Naisoro said itwas the country's first fatalaccident for 2013.

She said the five wereheading towards Ba whenthe Mr Cerecere lost con-trol of his vehicle and itveered off the road hitting aFiji Electricity Authoritypost. They were rushed tothe Lautoka Hospital whereMr Cerecere died at 2200hours at the ICU, MsNaisoro said. "The otherpassenger, a 19-year-old isadmitted with injuries to hisright leg, while another 17-year-old was treated andsent home. "The other twopassengers also 19 and17-year olds are still admit-ted with serious injuries atthe Lautoka Hospital. "Apost mortem examinationwill be conducted soon

while investigations contin-ue." She added the acci-dent was an unfortunateway to start off a new year."We are hoping that allmotorists will take heed ofthe safety advice and exer-cise caution at all times."As for the Ra drowning, MsNaisoro said it hadincreased drowning fatali-ties for 2012 to 75 com-pared to 45 in 2011. Shecalled on people, especial-ly guardians and parents,to be extra careful whilelooking after their children."A one year, nine-month-old baby unfortunatelybecame the country's lastdrowning fatality for 2012,"Ms Naisoro said.

The tragic incidentoccurred at Togovere vil-lage, Ra, where thedeceased was found float-ing in a pit toilet by hermother. "The pit toilet holewas newly dug and leftuncovered and was of adepth of 1.5 metres."

Ms Naisoro said thedeceased was conveyed tothe Ra District Hospital andwas pronounced dead onarrival. Ms Naisoro saidpolice were pleading onceagain with members of thepublic to take extra care."This also applies to thosewho are opting to stayhome and we are thereforerequesting families to bemore aware of their chil-dren's whereabouts. "Weare hoping 2013 will notstart on a tragic note forany family with the loss of aloved one as a result ofdrowning," she added.

RESPONDING to arequest for assistancefrom Yacht Help Fiji,YachtAid Global coordi-nated the delivery ofrelief items worth $74,000for families and communi-ties that were affected byTropical Cyclone Evan.More than 20 tonnes ofclothes, medical supplies,food, groceries, sta-tionery and hardwareitems were unloaded

from mega yacht Big Fishat the Lautoka Port andcollected by officials fromthe National DisasterManagement Office fordistribution. Big Fish'sskipper Winston Joyce-Clark, who was assistedby seven others, packedthe items given by closeto 20 businesses, schoolsand individuals beforedeparting Auckland onDecember 26 and arriv-

ing at Lautoka onMonday.

Carol Dunlop fromYacht Help Fiji coordinat-ed with Captain Joyce-Clark during the collec-tion drive and listedwhich items were imme-diately needed in theaftermath of one of thebiggest cyclones to havehit the country in manyyears.

THE Reserve Bank ofFiji (RBF) issued the newcurrency featuring Fiji'sflora and fauna to commer-cial banks yesterday. Thecentral bank's deputy gov-ernor, Inia Naiyaga, saidthe old notes would contin-ue to remain the legal ten-der while the new noteswere being circulated.

"Yes the new currencywill be issued today (yes-terday)," Mr Naiyaga said.He said further announce-ments would be maderegarding the old green $2notes and brown $5 noteswith the introduction of thenew green polymer $5banknotes in April thisyear. "The old notes willcontinue in circulation andwill be gradually replacedwith the new notes."

However, he said the pub-lic were encouraged tostart returning the old

green $2 and brown $5notes to commercial banks

"This is to ensure confu-sion does not arise whenthe new green polymer $5banknotes are issued inApril this year," he added.

Meanwhile, Bank SouthPacific confirmed receivingthe new banknotes yester-day morning. BSP head ofmarketing, Nirdesh Singhsaid the new currency wasbeing issued to theirbranches from yesterdayin line with RBF guidelines.

ANZ said the banksalso started circulating thenew currency yesterdayper instructions from thecentral bank. RBFlaunched Fiji's new floraand fauna design ban-knotes and coins onDecember 12 last year.

Cruiservisits

TOURISTS on boardthe Carnival Spirit cruiseliner were out and about inthe capital city on Tuesdayas the ship berthed for aday at the Suva Wharf.Australian tourists WendyRyan and Vince Denniswere among the visitorson board the liner and toldthis newspaper theyplanned to return with theirgrandchildren. "This is myfirst time to the capital ofFiji, it is really lovely. Butit's a shame that it is apublic holiday because Ihad wanted to go to themarket, but apart from thatFiji is just a perfect placeto come to for a holiday,"Ms Ryan said.

Bus e-ticketing comes into effect next month

Fiji to drop Union Flag in turn to Pacific Fatal start

New currency in

Mega yacht makesaid relief delivery

Staff members of Yacht Help Fiji unload relief items from the Big Fish at the Lautoka Wharf.

FIJISUN 7FIJI NEWS January-2013www.fijisun-usa.com

UPRISING 7s starJasa Veremaluais inspired to

make a name for himselfat the international rugbyscene after watching theachievements of his twoformer Natabua rugbyteammates in MetuiselaTalebula and JojiRagamate.

In an interview with theTimes Sport yesterday,the soft-spoken Korotogo,Nadroga native said hewas honoured to becalled up by the national7s selectors to take partin the Fiji training squadfitness test in preparingfor the Wellington and LA7s.

Veremalua said hisdream to make it big insevens rugby began withthe Natabua rugby teamin Lautoka in 2009. Hesaid his passion for thegame grew after seeinghis two best friendsTalebula and Ragamateplaying for the nationalside and his dream wasto one day join them inthe national team.

The 23-year-old talent-ed forward was latercalled up by master tacti-cian Lote Rasiga to joinhis Red Rock team andwent on to win somemajor 7s local tourna-ments including the CoralCoast 7s held at LawaqaPark last year.

It was at the CoralCoast 7s in Lawaqawhere Veremalua's talentwas identified.

He won the player ofthe tournament awardjoining his formerNatabua teammateRagamate who was therecipient of the award in2011.

He said being selectedinto the training side wasa step closer to his dreamand he was confident ofwearing the national 7sjumper.

"Being selected in thenational 7s training squad

for the fitness test is ahuge achievement forme," Veremalua said.

"I am happy that I amgetting closer to mydream and despite themany big names in thetraining squad I am confi-dent of fulfilling my goal.

"I have been trainingand playing hard for thepast four years and I amready to make it to thenext level.

"Playing for my countryis my ultimate goal."

Veremalua said hewanted to fulfil his rugbygoal and dedicate it to hismother who single-hand-edly raised him after thedeath of his dad in 2005.

"I was in high schoolwhen my father died and Iwas lucky to have a lov-ing mum who supportedme all the way untiltoday," he said. "I don'tdrink grog, alcohol and I

don't smoke because Iwant to fulfil my goal. Ihave been training hardfor this dream and it is nolooking back, I am readyto give my best for mycountry and my mum ifgiven the nod to beselected for Fiji 7s team."

The former SigatokaMethodist School studentalso thanked Red Rockcoach Rasiga for groom-ing him to be the best inhis position.

Rasiga said the RedRock skipper had the tal-ent and the skills neededin the Fiji team. "Jasa isthe next Seremaia Burotuand he is an asset to anyteam he plays for," saidRasiga. Meanwhile,Times Sport has been fol-lowing Veremalua's per-formance since 2009 andhas since identified thisyoung man's skill.

We named him as theskipper of the TimesSport Coral Coast Dreamteam before later beinghand-picked by WaisaleSerevi as the player ofthe tournament.

THE Fiji Police Forcetraffic department recordeda decline in the number ofroad fatalities in the coun-try for the last threemonths of 2012.

During the last threemonths of 2012 and sincethe start of Operation Blitzacross the country therehas been a 65 per centreduction in road fatalitiescompared to the same

priod last year.Police director traffic

Senior SuperintendentMahesh Mishra said duringthe months of October,November and December,seven fatalities wererecorded which was a sig-nificant reduction of 24 percent compared to thesame period last yearwhere 20 lives were lost onthe roads.

"This is also the lowestannual fatality toll recordedover the last 25 years,"SSP Mishra said. He attrib-uted the decline to peo-ple's willingness to gen-uinely take traffic adviceseriously.

In addition, the year2012 also saw the lowestmotor accident recordswith 33 reports. "2012 hasnot been an easy year and

there has been a lot of crit-icism against our opera-tions however we did notlet that deter us from doingour work because our mainaim was to prevent injuryand the loss of life," SSPMishra said. The death tollfor 2012 stands at 41 com-pared to 54 for the sameperiod in 2011. The LandTransport Authority is alsothanking the general public

for working with their roadmarshals and abiding bythe road rules in decreas-ing the road fatality ratelast year. "I am quite elatedwith the achievement. Thedecrease in the number offatalities last year is anachievement in Fiji's histo-ry," LTA chief executive offi-cer Naisa Tuinaceva said."We have been doing a lotof advocating on road

safety through variousmeans such as our educa-tion programs and ourenforcement activities.

"I must thank all thathave been part of thisachievement and althoughthis may not mean a lot tosome, I can definitely saythat it will go down in Fiji'shistory as far as road safe-ty is concerned," MrTuinaceva said.

As Fijians around thecountry continue torebuild their lives follow-ing the devastationcaused by HurricaneEvan, the same can besaid for assistance arriv-ing from around the globefor those affected.

Today, former Fiji resi-dents now living in theUnited States of Americabut have businessesoperating here havecome forward to helptheir countrymen follow-ing the wrath of HurricaneEvan. The BhindiBrothers Partnershipwhich has business oper-ations in the countryhanded over a cheque of$45,000 to the PrimeMinister VoreqeBainimarama which willgo towards those affectedby the category fourcyclone which displacedmany in the western andnorthern divisions earlierthis month. Group man-ager Shashi Dhanji madethe presentation to the

Prime Minister sayingthat the donations fromthe brothers were for theirfellow citizens. “TheBhindi Brothers aregrateful that they are ableto come forward duringthis time of need to helptheir countrymen follow-ing the damages from thecyclone,” he said. PrimeMinister Bainimaramathanked the brothers say-

ing that today’s gesturewas a sign of unityamong Fijians whetherthey live in the country orabroad. “On behalf of thepeople of Fiji, I thank thebrothers for their contri-bution towards rebuildingthe lives of those affectedby the disaster whichdevastated the westernand northern divisions,”PM Bainimarama said.

the red Bull ... jasa Veremalua, right, and a teammate painta fence as the red rock rugby club took time to help clean

up at qauia in lami yesterday.

Run with the wind

65pc drop in road fatality

BHINDI BROTHERS LEND A

HAND TO EVAN VICTIMSFiji's military coup

leader VoreqeBainimarama said thecountry's new constitutionwould be ready withinthree months, paving theway for a return to anelected government nextyear. In his New Year'sDay address to the Pacificisland nation,Bainimarama also said thecountry would get a newflag to "reinforce a newFijian identity".Bainimarama tore up theprevious constitution in2009, three years afterseizing power, and said anew charter protecting acorruption-free state wasessential before democra-cy could be restored. "Thenew, modern and enduringconstitution will be readyby the end of the first quar-ter of 2013," he said,adding this would "set thescene" for the 2014 elec-tions.

"A constitution that mustensure common and equalcitizenry and a constitutionthat must ensure that any

representatives of the peo-ple in the new parliamentmust be elected under theprinciple of one person,one vote and one value,"he said. Bainimaramadrew widespread interna-tional criticism and Fiji wassuspended from thePacific Islands Forumwhen he scrapped the pre-vious constitution andreplaced all judges withhand-picked officials.

He rejected all pressurefor an early return todemocracy, saying thenew constitution must be inplace first. A draft of whatwill be Fiji's fourth charteris currently with President

Epeli Nailatikau beforebeing reviewed by a spe-cial assembly.The formerBritish colony recentlyremoved the image ofBritain's Queen Elizabeth IIfrom its currency andBainimarama said it wouldsoon get a new flag.

"All of this is to reflect asense of national renewal,to reinforce a new Fijianidentity and a new confi-dence in being Fijian onthe global stage," he said.The current flag featuresthe red, white and blueUnion Flag of Britain in thetop left-hand corner withthe shield from the Fiji coatof arms on the right side.

Fiji : New constitution readywithin three months

Fiji's military coup leader Voreqe Bainimarama

FIJISUN8 INTERFAITHJanuary-2013 www.fijisun-usa.com

NEXT YEAR

FIJI AWARDS NIGHTWill Present Next

AIM AWARDS NIGHT EARLY NEXT YEAR.

With select number of Fellows AIM there will be a cap n gown ceremony.

FELLOWS WILL HAVE AN OPTION FOR REGALIA.

E-mail nominations for AIM AWARDS

Aim.edu@gmx.com

AIM AWARDS NIGHT

SOUTH SAN FRAN-CISCO (Sat. Dec 22,2012)– After months of planningand trying to find an idealtime, finally I was able toarrange a luncheon meet-ing with Imam Mubashirand Brother Iftekhar Hai,the president of UnitedMuslims Interfaith at hisApian Way home.

In a more than two –hour discussions – the firstever with a mainstreamMuslim stream Muslimleader in the Bay Area -Maulana Mubashir Ahmadand Iftekhar Hai shared awide range views both onIslam in America and thepersecution of AhmadiMuslims in Pakistan.

The UMA Interfaithpresident Iftekhar Hai saidhe was not in favor of theWahhabi version of Islamand explained he is cur-rently involved in replacingthe Holy Quran that carriestheir translation in whichChristians and Jews havebeen mentioned in a tonenot in accord with the cen-tral theme of the HolyQuran.

He said that it was con-cerning to note thatWahhabi version of Quranhas also gained presencein China and efforts aremade to replace them with

the more moderate YusufAli translations.

Imam Mubashir Ahmadsaid Jamaat Ahmadiyyahas its Chinese translationand would be happy tomake it available to brotherIftekhar for his reference in

his work on the project. An understanding was

reached for everyone towork as a team on keyissues that affect allMuslims in USA leavingbehind the sectarian differ-ences.

The UMA Interfaithpresident Iftekhar Haimade it clear that he wasagainst calling any oneKAFIR and revealed thathe has studied theAhmadiyya views. He saidliked their stand on Jihad

– no war – instead totake to Jihad-e-Akbar.

Koya added that it tooka while for AmericanMuslims to accept the con-cept propounded by thefounder of the AhmadiyyaJamaat more than 100years ago. 911 compelledthe change of Muslim mindset and giving a freshbreath of air for all.

In effort to effort toexplain the Ahmadiyyabeliefs, Imam Mubashirsaid there two types ofnabis or prophets one thatbrings a law and one tha tdoes not bring a law.Ahmadis believe that law-bearing prophets will notcome at all.

The Holy Prophet ofIslam (peace and theblessings of Allah be uponhim) was the last law-bear-ing prophet.

Imam Mubashir furthersubmitted that those whohold the belief that Jesus isalive in heaven and willcome down alive fromheaven also believe thathe will be a prophet andthis coming will be after theHoly Prophet.

He presented a selec-tion of books to UMAInterfaith president IftekharHai who graciously hosteda sumptuous lunch for all.

Meeting of the Bay Area interfaith giants

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(L-R. Fiji Sun Editor Dr. H. Koya chair Interfaith America, Iftekhar Hai president UMA Interfaith and Imam Mubashir Ahmad missionary

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community)

Maha KumbhMela In Allah-bad 2013

Allahabad is located at25°27'N 81°50'E25.45°N81.84°E in the southernpart of the Uttar Pradeshat an elevation of 98meters (322 ft) andstands at the confluenceof two, the Ganges andYamuna.

Allahabad or City ofGod in Persian, alsoknown as Prayag is a cityin the North Indian stateof Uttar Pradesh.Allahabad is one of thefastest growing cities inIndia at present. It islocated 238 kilometerssouth of state capitalLucknow. The ancientname of the city is Prayagand is believed to be thespot where Brahmaoffered his first sacrificeafter creating the world. Itis one of four sites of themass Hindu pilgrimageKumbh Mela. It has aposition of importance inHindu scriptures for it issituated at TriveniSangam, the confluenceof the holy rivers Gangesand Yamuna, and theancient Saraswati River.

In 2013 from 27thJanuary to 25th Februarythe Purna Kumbh Melawill be going held inAllahabad which occursafter every 12th years.

FIJISUn 9AFGHAN VOICE January-2013www.fijisun-usa.com

ContaCt: 650-303-3468

Mullah Nazir'very much anAmerican target'

Rob Crilly says thedeath of Taliban leaderMullah Nazir in a dronestrike leaves US-Pakistanrelations in a potentiallyprecarious position.

Maulvi Nazir Wazir, alsoknown as Mullah Nazir, animportant commander fromthe Wazir tribe, was killedon Wednesday night whenmissiles struck a house inAngoor Adda, near thecapital of Wana, SouthWaziristan, near theAfghan border, seven intel-ligence sources and tworesidents from his tribesaid.

He preferred attackingAmerican forces inAfghanistan rather thanPakistani soldiers inPakistan, a position thatput him at odds with someother Pakistan Talibancommanders.

The Ministry of Defencehas dismissed claims by anAfghan warlord that PrinceHarry kills insurgents while"drunk" as simply absurd.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, aformer Afghan prime minis-ter, told the Daily Telegraphthat Prince Harry, anApache attack helicopterpilot, was intoxicated as hekilled "innocent Afghans".

Officials rejected theallegation and said rulesprohibited troops from con-suming alcohol whiledeployed on operations.

"The suggestion thatany member of the UKarmed forces deployed onoperations operates underthe influence of alcohol issimply absurd - not leastbecause the consumptionof alcohol by UK militarypersonnel is not permittedunder any circumstanceswhile deployed in

Afghanistan." a Ministry ofDefence spokesman said.

"UK troops deployedand remain in Afghanistanto protect our nationalsecurity by removing whatwas a safe haven for inter-national terrorism. Now, itis Afghan forces that nowhave lead security respon-sibility for around 75% ofthe population in the coun-try and lead up to 80% ofconventional partneredoperations.

"It is this sort of progressthat has allowed almost60% of UK bases inHelmand to be shut orhanded over and will allowus to leave a stronger moresecure Afghanistan whencombat operations ceaseby the end of 2014." Theformer Afghan prime minis-ter founder and leader ofthe Hizb-i-Islamia Party inAfghanistan, accused

Britain of being draggedinto the war to please itsAmerican allies and said itsrole in the conflict wouldhave no significance after2014. Hekmatyar, who wasdesignated a terrorist bythe US State Departmentin February 2003, told theDaily Telegraph: "Britaindragged herself into thisunjustified, useless butcruel conflict to please theWhite House. "The British

did not gain anything,instead they lost blood andtreasure.

"They never had a posi-tive role in Afghan affairsand they will not have anysignificance after 2014.

"I don't understand howthe British public accepttheir children being sent tocertain death in order toplease American gener-als." Of Prince Harry, whospent Christmas in

Afghanistan where he iscurrently serving as anApache helicopter co-pilotgunner, he said: "TheBritish prince comes toAfghanistan to kill innocentAfghans while he is drunk.

"He wants to hunt downMujahideen with his heli-copter's rockets, withoutany shame. "During theMujahideen's attack on theAmerican base the princesaw that he was the oneabout to be hunted andwas searching for a hole inwhich to hide himself."

The Taliban issued anend-of-year review thatcompared the impendingwithdrawal of US-led for-eign troops to the 1989Soviet retreat fromAfghanistan and the end ofthe Vietnam war. Theinsurgents' emailed state-ment, entitled a "Quickglance at 2012", said coali-

tion forces had "completelylost their will to fight andpractically began theprocess of withdrawal andretreat". "We can unmistak-ably state that 2012 inAfghanistan for the currentoccupation was exactly as1986 was for the formeroccupation," the Talibansaid. The year 1986 iswidely seen as a turningpoint in the Soviets' ten-year presence inAfghanistan, withmujahideen attacks forcingMoscow on the defensivebefore the military finallyleft in 1989. "WhenAmerica faced utterdestruction in Vietnam,they came up with the for-mula 'Declare victory andrun' and want to utilise theformula of 'Transfer securi-ty and run' here inAfghanistan," the state-ment added.

MoD dismisses allegation Prince Harry hunts Afghans while drunk

Din Mohammad wassentenced to 20 years inprison two years ago forkilling his mother-in-law,and his wife's brother andsister in the northernprovince of Samangan.Mohammad's wife, whosename has not been dis-closed, visited him in jail inthe provincial capitalAybak on Monday and wasfound dead in a small pri-vate room used forinmates to see their wives,

police said. Mohammadconfessed to her murder,Samangan police chiefIkram Nikzad told AFP."Mohammad was told byhis mother that his wifehad affairs," he said, citinga police investigation.

"When she came to visithim in jail he strangled herwith her veil and killed her.They were meeting in a pri-vate prison room," he said.Mohammad's mother hasbeen detained for ques-

tioning, Nikzad added.According to a UN reportlast month, Afghanistanhas made progress in pro-tecting women against vio-lence, but many still sufferhorrific abuse 11 yearsafter a US-led invasionbrought down the Talibanregime.

Afghan women stillendure killings by relativesin the name of family hon-our, forced marriages anddomestic abuses.

Afghan woman killed on conjugal visit to prison

The MoD has released alog of incidents to TheGuardian detailing howmuch was paid out duringthe year to November 19,which totalled £537,684.

Among the events thatled to compensation beingpaid was the killing of sixmembers of a family, includ-ing a mother and her chil-dren, caused by a rocketovershooting its target.

A man lost his family inanother rocket incident,which was detailed on thelog as a “weapons malfunc-tion”. The most paid out forany one incident was£19,111. This year, the MoDhas decided not to releasedetails of how much waspaid for particular incidents,although if this amount per-tained to the killing of thefamily of six, it would meanjust under £3,200 was paid

for each death. The 2012total is slightly higher thanthe £510,728 paid out forincidents in 2011, althoughboth are significantly lowerthan payments from previ-ous years. In 2010, pay-ments totalled £1.3 million.Sarah Holewinski, execu-tive director of theCampaign for InnocentVictims in Conflict (Civic),told The Guardian that eachline of the report “repre-sents some type of loss”.

She said: “Sometimesit’s 15 jerabs of corn, butoften it is the death or seri-

ous injury of a loved one,the lists creating a numeri-cal picture of human strug-gle in war.” An MoDspokesman said: “Any inci-dent involving civilian casu-alties is a matter of deepregret, particularly when theactions of internationalforces may be at fault. Wehave strict proceduresintended to minimise therisk of civilian casualtiesand to investigate any thatoccur. "In contrast, theinsurgents often target civil-ians with their indiscriminateattacks and operate fromdensely populated areas inorder to deliberately drawcivilians into the battle.Payments are made torecognise the circum-stances of each incident;they do not necessarilymean UK forces are legallyliable."

MoD pays £500,000 compensation to Afghan victims

The Afghan defence min-istry said around 1,050Afghan troops died in 2012as the army reached its fullsize and conducted anincreasing number of itsown missions. Police deathshave also risen. The heavycasualties come amiduncertainty over how thehastily-built Afghan forceswill perform once they losethe Nato equipment andfirepower they have reliedon for a decade. The inter-national coalition has said itwill end combat missions bythe end of 2014. Without apeace deal with the Taliban,which many view as a dis-tant prospect, the fighting islikely to continue after a for-eign withdrawal. GenMohammad Zahir Azimi,spokesman for the AfghanMinistry of Defence, saidAfghan forces were now

charged with 80 per cent ofsecurity missions and wereparticularly badly hit byroadside bombs. "Ourforces are out there in thebattlefields and combatareas more than at anyother time in the past," hetold the AP news agency. AnAfghan officer responsiblefor repatriating soldierskilled in southernAfghanistan, told The DailyTelegraph he had beenworking flat out all summerto fly home those killed inaction. "There were manymartyrs each week," hesaid. Heavy attrition ratesfrom casualties and deser-tion remain the biggestweakness of the youngAfghan forces. Accidentsalso contribute to the highcasualty toll. Meanwhile,Nato deaths have continuedto fall.

Afghan soldiers killed fightingTaliban rises for fifth year

FIJISUN10 PAKISTAN NEWSJanuary-2013 www.fijisun-usa.com

LONDON: The fatherof 15-year-old Pakistaniteenaged rights activistMalala Yousafzai, whowas shot in the head bythe Taliban but survived,has been given a diplo-matic job in Britain, a dailysaid on Thursday.Ziauddin Yousafzai hasbeen appointedPakistan's educationattache at the consulatein Birmingham, sourcestold the Daily Mail. Thejob is believed to be for upto three years and virtual-ly guarantees Malala willremain in the country forthat duration for medicaltreatment. Malala was tar-geted by the Taliban forher campaign for girl'seducation in Pakistan. InOctober last year, she

was shot in the head in anassassination attempt.She was later flown toBritain for specialist treat-ment at Birmingham'sQueen ElizabethHospital. While recover-ing in hospital, she wasvisited by PakistanPresident Asif Ali Zardari.Her father thanked well-wishers for their support."She wants me to telleveryone how gratefulshe is and is amazed thatmen, women and childrenfrom across the world areinterested in her well-being," Ziauddin wasquoted as saying.Malala's case drew world-wide attention. She madethe shortlist for Time mag-azine's "Person of theYear" for 2012.

Pro-Pak Talibanwarlord killed inUS drone strike

ISLAMABAD: A US dronestrike killed a top Pakistanimilitant commander MullahNazir along with his two aidesand five fighters in the coun-try's northwestern tribal regionof South Waziristan, securityofficials said on Thursday.According to intelligence offi-cials, two missiles targetedNazir's vehicle onWednesday night at 10.30pmin the Sar Kanda area ofSouth Waziristan Agency. Hewas traveling from Birmaltown to Wana, the agency'sheadquarters, a local intelli-gence official said. "His vehi-cle was hit by missile at SarKanda area. Mullah Nazir andhis two influential deputies,Attaullah and Rafay Khan,were killed in the strike," theofficial confirmed. The deathof Nazir, a pro-Pakistan andanti-US militant commander,was seen by observers as abig blow to Taliban insurgencyacross the border.

Gunmen in fatigueskidnap 7 Pakistanisoldiers from a bus

ISLAMABAD: Gunmenkidnapped seven soldiersfrom a bus in Pakistan onWednesday, military officialssaid, just days after Talibanforces executed 21 pro-gov-ernment paramilitaries theyhad seized. The gunmentook the seven soldiers andlet go a sweeper on the buswith them, one military offi-cial said. The gunmen werewearing military uniforms,other sources said. Themen were travelling betweenarmy headquarters inRawalpindi and their sta-tions in the northernprovince of KhyberPakhtunkhwa when theywere taken off their bus inJand in Punjab province.Taliban commander TariqAfridi, who has forces in thearea, was not available forcomment and no Talibanspokesman returned callsseeking comment. Lastweek the Taliban kidnapped23 paramilitary progovern-ment forces. Twentyone oftheir bodies, bound, blind-folded and shot in the head,were discovered on Sunday.

Benazir Bhutto'sson Bilawal launch-es political careerISLAMABAD: The 24-

year-old son of formerPakistani prime ministerBenazir Bhutto haslaunched his political careerwith a fiery speech on thefifth anniversary of his moth-er's assassination. BilawalBhutto Zardari's speech onThursday comes severalmonths before national elec-tions are expected to beheld. He is too young to par-ticipate in the elections him-self, but is likely to be a keyasset for the ruling PakistanPeople's Party. Zardari wasmade party chairman afterhis mother's death but hasmainly played a backgroundrole as he completed hisstudies in the UnitedKingdom. His father,President Asif Ali Zardari, isco-chairman of the party.Father and son spokebefore thousands of cheer-ing supporters in GarhiKhuda Bakhsh village insouthern Sindh province,site of the Bhutto familymausoleum.

KARACHI: Three per-sons were killed and 50others injured on Tuesdaywhen a bomb planted on amotorcycle went off near apark close to MutthaidaQaumi Movement head-quarters where the partyhad just finished holding amassive rally.

The blast occurred atAyesha Manzil intersec-tion, located a short dis-tance from Jinnah Groundwhere the MuttahidaQaumi Movement hadorganised a rally onTuesday afternoon.People leaving the rallywere hit by the blast atabout 7.15 pm, witnessesand police officials said.

Three persons werekilled by the blast, saidSagheer Ahmed, the

health minister of Sindhprovince. DIG Asif EjazSheikh told the media that50 injured people wereadmitted to several nearbyhospitals. Officials atAbbasi Shaheed Hospitalsaid three of the injuredwere in a serious condi-tion. Women and childrenwere among the injured.The bomb was planted in amotorcycle parked near amaternity home. Manypersons were hit by ballbearings packed into thebomb, which was triggeredby remote control, DIGSheikh said. Three busesand five vehicles standingnear the motorcycle weredamaged by the blast,which was heard from sev-eral kilometres away.

The explosion alsodamaged nearby buildings

and shops. Police cor-doned off the area andlaunched a search opera-tion. Rescue operationswere hampered by a trafficsnarl and the large numberof people who gathered inthe area.

The blast caused panicand fear in the city and ledto massive traffic jams andbottlenecks with shops andpetrol pumps closingdown. Though MQM lead-ers have been killed in tar-get killings in the past, thisis the first time that terror-ists have directly targetedthe MQM in a bomb attack.

MQM, which is the sin-gle largest party inPakistan's biggest city, hasits headquarters close toAisha Manzil and theJinnah Park is used regu-larly for its rallies.

LAHORE: Days after anadulterated cough syrupcaused the death of 40 people,a senior Pakistani official hascontended that an ingredientimported from India to makethe medicine was to blame, aclaim described as "ridiculous"by the drug manufacturingassociation here. Nisar AhmadCheema, the director generalof Health of Punjab province,told reporters that dex-tromethorphan - an activeingredient imported from India -was found to be responsible forthe cough syrup-related deathsin Lahore and Gujranwala dis-tricts. Twenty people, most ofthem drug addicts, died inLahore in November afterdrinking a cough syrup named

Tyno. Another 20 people diedin Gujranwala and Toba TekSingh districts in December.The cough syrups linked to thedeaths were made with dex-tromethorphan, officials said."Samples taken from victims inLahore show a very high con-centration - 4.1 mg/ml to 7.8mg/ml - of dextromethorphan,"Cheema said. A concentrationof 3 mg/ml is considered lethal,he said. PakistanPharmaceutical ManufacturersAssociation vice-chairmanNasir Qureshi, however,described Cheema's claim as"ridiculous", saying over 65local and multinational pharma-ceutical companies were usingdextromethorphan in theircough syrups. Participants of Chehlum procession burn flags of the US and Israel at MA Jinnah Road on Thursday

ISLAMABAD: Pakistanon Monday released anoth-er four Afghan Taliban pris-oners, including former jus-tice minister MullahNooruddin Turabi, as partof a process designed tokickstart peace efforts, agovernment official said."Four Taliban prisonershave been released," thePakistani official told AFPon condition of anonymitybecause he was not autho-rised to speak to themedia.

"They include formerTaliban justice ministerNooruddin Turabi and ex-governor of Helmandprovince, Abdul Bari," theofficial added. Two sourcesclose to the Afghan Talibanin northwestern Pakistanconfirmed that four prison-ers had been released butsaid they did not includePakistan's most high-pro-file Taliban detainee, for-mer deputy leader MullahAbdul Ghani Baradar.Baradar was captured in

2010 and Pakistani officialshave said in the past thatno decision has been takenfor his release.

Turabi is said to be suf-fering from poor health.According to the UN web-site, he was appointed aTaliban military command-er in Afghanistan in mid-2009 and was a deputy toTaliban supreme leaderMullah Omar. Pakistan lastmonth released at leastnine Afghan Taliban, offi-cials said. At follow-up talksbetween Afghanistan andPakistan, Islamabadagreed to release moreTaliban prisoners to facili-tate efforts to end the 11-year conflict between theTaliban and the Afghangovernment. Afghan offi-cials have said seniorTaliban leaders held inPakistan could help bringmilitants to the negotiatingtable, if released from jail,to end the war as US-ledNATO troops prepare towithdraw in 2014.

ISLAMABAD: Twenty-one Pakistani security per-sonnel kidnapped by theTaliban from check postsnear Peshawar weregunned down by the mili-tants on Sunday, police offi-cials said.

The bullet-riddled bodiesof the policemen werefound in Jabai area of fron-tier region Peshawar, locat-ed a short distance from thecapital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province,shortly after midnight.

They were reportedlyshot dead at a cricketground. Two more kid-napped security personnelescaped and one of themwas seriously injured. Oneof these personnel alertedlocal authorities, who foundthe bodies.

The Taliban had kid-napped 23 personnel of theLevies militia after overrun-ning three check postsearly on Thursday.

Over 200 militants

armed with assault riflesand rocket-propelledgrenades had attacked theposts. Two security per-sonnel were killed in theattack. The attackers, whowere wearing uniforms ofsecurity forces, had takenaway weapons and vehi-cles from the check posts.

The political administra-tion had asked tribal eldersof frontier region Peshawarto help recover the 23 kid-napped personnel. TheDarra Adam Khel faction ofthe Tehrik-e-TalibanPakistan had claimedresponsibility for the attackon the check posts.

Police officials had saidon Saturday that the eldershad established contactwith the militants and start-ed negotiations for therelease of the kidnappedpersonnel. The Talibanhave carried out a string ofhigh profile attacks inPeshawar and its surround-ing areas this month.

Three killed, 50 injured in bombblast in Pakistan's Karachi city

Malala's father getsdiplomatic job in Britain

Indian ingredient led to coughsyrup deaths : Pakistan official

Pakistan releases fourmore Taliban prisoners

Taliban kills 21 kidnappedPakistani policemen

Another polioworker shot inPakistan, six killedin attacks

PESHAWAR, Pakistan:Another polio worker was shotand badly injured in Pakistan onWednesday, the latest in a stringof attacks that left 6 femalehealth workers dead in 24 hours.The shooting in the northern cityof Peshawar so soon after theother killings calls into questionwhether the UN-backed cam-paign to eradicate polio inPakistan can continue. It'sunclear who is behind thekillings. The Taliban have repeat-edly issued threats against thepolioeradication campaign andhealth workers said theyreceived calls telling them to stopworking with the "infidels". But aTaliban spokesman said hisgroup was not involved.

FIJISUN 11INDIA January-2013www.fijisun-usa.com

Several charges, includ-ing that of murder whichcarries death penalty, wereon Thursday filed againstall the five adult accused inthe gangrape case in whicha 23-year-old Delhi girl losther life, prompting nation-wide protests recently. Thefive, including the driver ofthe bus in which the gan-grape took place onDecember 16, werecharged with murder, gan-grape, attempt to murder,kidnapping, unnaturaloffences, dacoity, hurting incommitting robbery,destruction of evidence,criminal conspiracy andcommon intention underthe Indian Penal Code. Thecase of the sixth accused, ajuvenile, will be filed beforethe Juvenile Justice Board.

In the 33-pagechargesheet with annex-ures running into severalhundred pages, was filedbefore MetropolitanMagistrate Surya Malik

Grover with the prosecutionurging the court to keep thedocument in a sealed coverto protect the identity of thevictim and that the pro-ceedings be held in-cam-era.

The court has postedthe matter for hearing onJanuary 5 before the areamagistrate who is expectedto commit it to sessions fortrial. The prosecutionalleged that the crime wasexecuted in a "well-planned" manner. "Wehave invoked section 120-B as all the six accusedhave committed the crimein a well-planned manner,"public prosecutor RajivMohan told reporters.

"Each one of them has aspecific role in the commis-sion of the offence. So theyare equally liable for thecrime. We have sufficientevidence against all theaccused including the juve-nile offender," he said.Mohan said the DNA report

has established theinvolvement of all theaccused in the crime.

The five accused areRam Singh, his brotherMukesh and their accom-plices Pawan Gupta, VinaySharma and AkshayThakur. The role of thejuvenile offender is alsoelaborated in the chargesheet.

Apart from the victim'smale friend, who was also

assaulted in the bus, thecharge sheet namesaround 40 people as wit-nesses to support its caseagainst the five accused.The accused have alsobeen charged with attemptto kill the male friend in thebus, whose owner has alsobeen arrested and remand-ed to police custody by aTis Hazari court onThursday. Police also toldthe court it would also place

before it the charge sheetin electronic form andsought more time for thesame saying the annexuresto the charge sheet arebulky.

It sought more time forfiling the e-charge sheetand was allowed to do soby January 5.

As the charge sheet wasfiled, some lawyers andpublic shouted slogans inthe court demanding thatthe accused be handedover to public. They neednot be tried as it is evidentthat they are the culprits,they contended.

They were, however,hushed up by fellowlawyers, who requested thejudge to appoint a"spokesperson" who canduring the trial of the caseinform one and all aboutthe daily developments asthe matter has touchedpublic sentiments.

The judge asked them toput their views before the

area magistrate concernedon the next date of hearing.Before the filing of thecharge sheet, womenlawyers protested in thecourt complex demandingswift justice and strictaction against the perpetra-tors of such crimes. Themale friend's maternaluncle, who is also an advo-cate, told reporters that hewould keep a tab on dailyproceedings and if thepolice fails to take up thecase properly during thetrial, he would move thehigh court for redressal.

He also said he wouldalso move the high courtrequesting "for treating thejuvenile at par with theother co-accused." The fil-ing of the charge sheet inthe jam-packed court didnot go without drama.Before the proceedings,the courtroom was lockedfrom inside and wasopened only after thelawyers protested.

Chargesheet filed in Delhi gangrape against fivePOLICE SAYS CRIME WAS EXECUTED IN A 'WELL-PLANNED' MANNER

A US court on Wednesdayrescheduled the sentencing ofPakistani American LeT terror-ist David Headley , accused ofinvolvement in 26/11 Mumbaiattacks, from January 17 toJanuary 24, while that of hisaccomplice Tahawwur Ranahas been rescheduled for asecond time to January 17.Headley, who conductedreconnaissance of the targetsof the 2008 Mumbai terrorattacks for Lashker-e-Taiba,had entered a plea bargainwith the FBI, saving him from apossible death penalty orextradition to India orDenmark. Rana, on the otherhand, was acquitted ofinvolvement in the Mumbaiattacks but was held guilty on

June 10, 2011 of conspiracy toattack Denmark newspaperJyllands-Posten that had pub-lished controversial cartoonsof Prophet Mohammed, and ofaiding Lashker-e-Taiba. Thesentencing was earlier sched-uled to take place on January15 for Rana and January 17for Headley. "Rana is nowscheduled to be sentenced onThursday Jan 17, 2013, andHeadley is now scheduled tobe sentenced on ThursdayJan 24, 2013," said a state-ment from the Chicago courtspokesperson RandallSamborn. Rana's sentencingwas rescheduled for a secondtime after it was first post-poned from December 4 toJanuary 15. His plea for

acquittal and retrial was dis-missed in June last year afterwhich December four was firstfixed for his sentencing.Samborn said US DistrictJudge Harry Leinenweber willannounce the sentences forthe two men. The statementdid not specify any reason forthe rescheduling. Headley, 52,had pleaded guilty on March18, 2010 to all charges framedby the FBI. He was accused ofplotting against employees ofa newspaper in Copenhagenand later of conspiring to bombtargets in Mumbai, providingmaterial support to terrorgroup LeT and aiding andabetting the murder of US citi-zens in the 2008 Mumbaiattacks.

Woman jumps offrunning train in Bihar to save herselffrom molestation

Trying to save herselffrom a molester , a youngwoman on Thursday jumpedfrom a running train near Ararailway station in Bihar.Thegovernment railway policerecovered her lying besidethe tracks with injuries on herhead and hand near JagjivanHalt in Ara. She was laterbrought to Ara station on atrolley before being admittedto a government hospital atAra. The woman, who was ina state of shock, has beenreferred to the Patna MedicalCollege Hospital in Patna.Police said that the allegedmolester had been identifiedas Ramesh Kumar, an armyjawan from HimachalPradesh.

Delhi shivers in extremecold, capital witnesses low-est maximum temperature in44 years Wondering whyhad you been shivering allday long on Wednesday? It'sbecause you experiencedan unusually cold day - infact, the coldest in the past44 years. Wednesday wasthe coldest day in the Capitalsince 1969 according to theweather department.

The bone-chilling coldwas because of the thickblanket of fog which coveredup the sun even as icy windsblew from the west at aspeed of 22 kmph. Delhiitescovered up in layers of wool-lens while those who couldremain indoors stayed put.Marketplaces across theCapital registered a drop infootfall as people gave shop-ping a miss on Wednesday.

Morning joggers said theyhad been avoiding theirmorning routine for two daysin running now. "I wake up at4.30 am and leave for jog-ging at about 5 in the morn-ing but for the past threedays, the temperature out-side has been extremelylow. Walking or jogging inopen air when the mercurydips to as low as 4° is justinviting trouble," SumanSingh, a resident ofKarkardooma, said.

STAYING INDOORSSome women have also

started avoiding groceryshopping late evenings andwere instead ordering gro-ceries over phone. "Somevegetable vendors in ourarea have started takingorders over phone. Thoughthe price for the vegetables

delivered to homes is higher,going to the vendors aftercoming from office isunbearable owing to thechill," Hemlata Sharma, agovernment employee whoworks at Lajpat Nagar, said.

Brace for more as theweatherman has predicted afurther fall in the mercury.Days are expected to remain

extremely chilly for at leastthe next two days. The max-imum temperature onWednesday was 9.8°Celsius, around 11° belownormal. The lowest maxi-mum temperature beforeWednesday was recordedon January 9, 2010, when ithad dropped to 11°Celsius. The minimum tem-

perature on Wednesday was4.8° Celsius, 2° belownormal. Night-like day OnTuesday, the maximum tem-perature was recorded at15.3° Celsius, 5° belownormal while the minimumwas 4° Celsius, 3° belownormal. "Today's day waslike a night. Generally daytemperatures are higher.However, today's day tem-perature was as cold as win-ter nights' temperatures,"IMD director Dr R.K.Jenamani said. On Tuesdayat 8 pm, the temperaturewas 12° Celsius, higherthan Wednesday's day tem-perature. By 7 pm onWednesday, the tempera-ture had dropped to 7.5°Celsius, which plummetedfurther as the night pro-gressed. Weather scientistssaid Delhi had been experi-

encing colder days since1997 due to continuous fogand icy winds from theHimalayas. "Before 1997,we used to have more dayswith clear skies which keptthe days warm," Jenamanisaid. The thick fog has cutdown the solar radiation andheat reaching the earth. Thereason for the continuousfog is higher levels of pollu-tion, he added.Motoristssaid early morning and late-night driving was getting dif-ficult. "Driving to my work-place is getting dangerous.Apart from the chill, bravingthe fog early morning andlate evenings is becomingtougher each passing day,"said Raja Dass, a graphicdesigner who has to drivefrom his Rohini home to hisworkplace in Noida everyday.

Delhi shivers in extreme cold, lowest maximum temp. in 44 years

LUCKNOW: The UnionMinister of State for HumanResources Shashi Tharoorand his political rivals arebattling over naming thenew anti-rape law after theDelhi Gang rape victim,though the law of the landstates otherwise. Lawexperts, however, insist thatthough the identity of therape victim cannot be dis-closed under the IndianPenal Code (IPC), the pre-rogative rests solely andexclusively with the legalheir of the victim.

As per section 228-A ofthe IPC, anyone publishingthe name of a rape victim isliable to be punished withimprisonment for a termwhich may extend to two

years and also be liable tofine, says senior high courtlawyer Atul Verma. The subsection (1) of section 228-Astates: Whoever prints orpublishes the name or anymatter which may makeknown the identity of anyperson against whom anoffence under section 376,section 376A, section 376B,section 376C, or section376D (all associated withsexual assault) is alleged orfound to have been commit-ted (hereafter in this sectionreferred to as the victim)shall be punished withimprisonment of eitherdescription for a term whichmay extend to two yearsand shall also be liable tofine, says Verma.

26/11 attacks: David Headley, TahawwurRana sentencing rescheduled by US court

2-year jail for disclosing Delhigang rape victim's name

FIJISUN12 WORLD NEWSJanuary-2013 www.fijisun-usa.com

PENDLETON (OREGON): Atour bus careened through aguardrail along an icy Oregonhighway and several hundredfeet (meters) down a steepembankment Sunday, killing ninepeople and injuring more than 20others, authorities said.

The charter bus carryingabout 40 people lost controlaround 10:30am on the snow-and ice-covered lanes ofInterstate 84, according to theOregon State Police.

The bus came to rest at thebottom of a snowy slope. Morethan a dozen rescue workersdescended the hill and usedropes to help retrieve peoplefrom the wreckage in freezingweather. The bus driver wasamong the survivors, but had notyet spoken to police because ofthe severity of the injuries thedriver had suffered.

Lt. Greg Hastings said the bus

crashed along the west end ofthe Blue Mountains, and west ofan area called Deadman Pass.Stretches of highway in the ruraland agricultural area of eastOregon tend to be icy in winter

months.The bus slid down the hill and

landed upright, with little or nodebris visible around the crashsite. St. Anthony Hospital inPendleton treated 26 people

from the accident, includingsome who were treated and thentransported to other medicalfacilities, said hospitalspokesman Larry Blanc.

In addition to the people whowere transferred from St.Anthony to La Grand andHermiston, Oregon, and WallaWalla, Washington, Hastingssaid. Others were taken directlyto hospitals further away, includ-ing Boise, Idaho, and Portland,Oregon. I-84 is a major east-west highway through Oregonthat follows the Columbia RiverGorge.

Umatilla County EmergencyManager Jack Remillard said thebus was owned by Mi Joo travelin Vancouver, B.C., and statepolice said the bus was en routefrom Las Vegas to Vancouver. Awoman who answered the phoneat a listing for the company con-firmed with The Associated

Press that it owned the bus andsaid it was on a tour of theWestern U.S. She declined togive her name. A bus safety web-site run by the US Department ofTransportation said Mi Joo Tour& Travel has six buses, none ofwhich have been involved in anyaccidents in at least the past twoyears.

The bus crash was the sec-ond fatal accident in Oregon onSunday morning. A 69-year-oldman died in a rollover accident. Aspokesman for the American BusAssociation said buses carrymore than 700 million passen-gers a year in the United States.

"The industry as a whole is avery safe industry," said DanRonan of the Washington, D.C.,-based group. "There are only ahandful of accidents every year.Comparatively speaking, we'rethe safest form of surface trans-portation."

Man busy in preparing quilt to earn his livelihood for support his family during win-ter season in Hyderabad on Saturday.

PESHAWAR: Taliban militantshave shot dead 21 Pakistani sol-diers who they had kidnapped inraids on two camps outsidePeshawar in the troubled north-west of the country, officials saidon Sunday.

Around 200 militants, armedwith heavy weapons includingmortars and rocket launchers,stormed the government paramili-tary camps before dawn onThursday, killing two security per-sonnel and kidnapping 23.

Officials said the bodies of 21security personnel had been dis-covered in the wilderness not farfrom the camps, their hands tiedbefore they were shot. Two others-- one wounded and one unhurt --were also found. The camps areoutside Peshawar, the main city ofnorthwest Pakistan, close to therestive tribal areas that border

Afghanistan, which are regardedas havens for Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants. "We found21 bullet riddled bodies of securitypersonnel a short while ago in anuninhabited area," local govern-ment official Naveed Akbar toldAFP. "One was found alive butwounded and admitted to hospitalwhile another managed to escapeunhurt." Gul Shehzad, anothergovernment official, said authori-ties received information justbefore midnight that some bodieswere lying in the wilderness, withinabout four kilometres of thecamps. "The hands of soldierswere tied with rope before theywere shot," Shehzad told AFP. Hesaid Taliban militants had accept-ed the responsibility for the kid-nappings. In August, the PakistaniTaliban released a video showingwhat appeared to be the severed

heads of a dozen soldiers, afterthe military said 15 troops hadgone missing following fightingwith militants in the Bajaur tribaldistrict. There has been a surge inattacks in northwest Pakistan inthe past two weeks, including asuicide bombing on a politicalmeeting in Peshawar on Saturdaythat killed Bashir Bilour, the sec-ond top politician in KhyberPakhtunkhwa province.

The Pakistani Taliban claimedresponsibility for that attack, say-ing Bilour, an outspoken critic ofthe militants, was assassinated inrevenge for the death of one of themovement's "elders". Pakistan haslost more than 3,000 soldiers inthe fight against homegrown insur-gents but has resisted US pres-sure to do more to eliminatehavens used by those fighting theAmericans in Afghanistan.

LONDON: The head of theChurch of England is leavingoffice after a decade as the spir-itual leader of the world's 80 mil-lion-strong AnglicanCommunion. Rowan Williams,the 104th Archbishop ofCanterbury, will be replaced by56-year-old former oil executiveJustin Welby, the Bishop ofDurham. The ten years in whichthe 62-year-old Williams heldoffice saw him struggling tomaintain unity within the

Anglican Communion amid bitterdisagreements over female bish-ops and church teachings on gayrelationships. Williams has beenpraised for engaging with churchcritics and atheists includingRichard Dawkins, but he hasalso raised eyebrows with hisopinions on controversial issuesincluding the war in Iraq andSharia law. Williams will stepdown on Monday to start a newrole as Master of CambridgeUniversity's Magdalene College.

HEHO (MYANMAR): Survivors of acrash-landing in Myanmar on ChristmasDay recounted on Wednesday fleeing theburning plane as smoke filled the cabinafter the aging airliner came down in afield short of the runway. There was nowarning from the pilots or cabin crew thatanything was wrong as the Fokker 100 jetdescended in thick fog towards Heho air-port in eastern Shan state, according topassengers on board. "When I looked out,I saw all of a sudden there was no runway.Then there was an impact," said David

Antoni, 27, from Germany. "It came to astop and within two minutes we all just goton our knees because there was a lot ofsmoke coming through the airplane... Thiswas a very scary moment," he toldreporters while recovering at a nearbyhotel. "Some people jumped through thefire (to get) out because they couldn't gothrough the front due to too much smoke,"he said. "This is a once-in-a-millionchance I guess to crash-land, lucky to sur-vive." Anna Bartsch, a 31-year-oldAustralian on board who had planned to

visit nearby Inle Lake and its vineyardswith her partner for Christmas, describedthe landing as "like a rough roller-coaster"."It got very hot and we knew to get out ofthe plane very quickly. We knew that theback was burning," she said in Yangonafter returning on a special flight organizedby Air Bagan. "It turns out that the wingshad come off but we didn't know that yet...I was thinking the fuel would explode thereat any minute. So that was the scary partof the thing," added Anna Bartsch, whoescaped without serious injury. Seventy of

the 71 people on board miraculously sur-vived the accident, while one Burmesetour guide on board was killed along witha motorcyclist on the ground. Air Bagandescribed the incident as an "emergencylanding" and officials said it was too soonto pinpoint the cause. Duong Bich Hanh,38, from Vietnam was also on board theplane along with her family. "We wereinformed that the plane will be landingsoon... then a few huge bumps... then Iwoke up... I grabbed my son. We rushedout of the airplane.

LONDON: Former UK PMMargaret Thatcher was surprisedby the invasion of the FalklandIslands by Argentina in 1982,which she thought was a "stupidthing to do". According to newlyreleased government papers, thethen British prime minister onlysaw it was likely after getting "rawintelligence" two days before theArgentines landed. The papersreleased under the 30-year ruleshow Thatcher was acutely worriedabout retaking the islands, BBCNews reported. In October 1982, afew months after the war ended,Thatcher gave evidence behindclosed doors to the FalklandIslands Review Committee,chaired by Lord Franks. The tran-script of dramatic testimony has

been published for the first time. "Inever, never expected theArgentines to invade the Falklandshead-on. It was such a stupid thingto do, as events happened, such astupid thing even to contemplatedoing", Thatcher told the FranksCommittee. There had been someBritish contingency planning in themonth before the Argentine inva-sion of the Falklands. The thenministry of defence officials cameback to Thatcher on March 261982 with a plan to deter a full-scale invasion. One sentenceshocked her, and she wrote it inher diary: "Moreover, if faced withArgentine occupation on arrivalthere would be no certainty thatsuch a force would be able toretake the dependency."

Huge quantityof ancient coinsfound in ChinaBEIJING: Archaeologists have

excavated about 3,500kg of ancientcoins in China's Inner MongoliaRegion, Xinhua reported onSunday. Most of these coins were inprevalence during the Han dynasty(202 BC-220 AD). According toLian Jilin, a researcher with theregional Institute of Cultural Relicsand Archaeology, the coins werefound in three millennia-old coin pitsin the ancient town ofHuoluochaideng after policecracked three theft cases.

Most of the coins were"Huoquan", the coins commonlyused in the Han dynasty (202 BC-220 AD), said Lian. Archaeologistsalso excavated over 100 castingmoulds from the relics of a coinworkshop. The moulds are believedto date back to the rule of EmperorWudi (156 BC-87 BC) of theWestern Han Dynasty and theshort-lived Xin Dynasty (45 BC-23AD) founded by Wang Mang.Based on its size and cultural relicsuncovered there, Huoluochaidengtown is believed to have been amajor town in northern China duringthe Han Dynasty, said Lian. Thefindings are significant in the studyof the ancient monetary system andcasting technology, he added.

Nine killed in tour bus crash along Oregon highway in US

Taliban kills 21 kidnapped Pakistani soldiers : officialsThatcher felt Argentina's Falklandinvasion was 'stupid thing to do'

Anglican leader RowanWilliams steps down

Myanmar survivors recount brush with death

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ASHA PRASAD'S 2nD BRITHDAY

fiJisUn18 PHOTO GALLERYJanuary-2013 www.fijisun-usa.com

Pakistan association of san francisco observes Qaid-e-azam day on chritsmas PHOTO BY : Abdus Satar Ghazali

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India Post New celebrates New Years Day at San Jose Airport Garden Hotel

FIJISUN20 BOLLYWOODJanuary-2013 www.fijisun-usa.com

Hindi film buffs are in fora treat in 2013 asBollywood filmmakers

gear up to release sequels totheir popular films in a bid toencash their already estab-lished brand value.

Films such as Race 2,Murder 3, Once Upon a Timein Mumbaai 2 (OUATIM 2),Ragini MMS 2, Krrish 3,Dhoom 3, “Filmmakers spendhuge amounts of money to cre-ate a brand, so it makes senseto carry the brand forward withsequels or prequels.Considering that audiencesliked the first film, it is a giventhat an extension in that serieswill bring dedicated footfall andbusiness,” explains trade ana-lyst Atul Mohan. Agrees GirishJohar of Balaji, the makers ofthree of these franchise films.“With a film that does well,

there is a lot of brand aware-ness among people.Therefore, encashing upon it isa commercially viable option.The audience already has anexpectation which helps to cre-ate a lot of hype and bringsgood business.” Indeed, themoney that is being investedinto these films is a whoppingRs. 1000 crore and analystssay that many of these filmswill make Rs. 100 crore eachwith big ticket flicks like Dhoom3 and Krrish 3 likely to makeRs. 200 crore each. “It will be adefining year for Bollywoodboth in terms of sequelsemerging as a big trend andthe business that these filmswill generate. Most of theseare big ticket movies, one cansafely say that Rs. 1000 croreswill be invested,” says tradeanalyst Joginder Tuteja.

2013 : THE YEAR OF

Bollywoodsequels

“It will be a defining year for

Bollywood both interms of sequels

emerging as a bigtrend and the

business that thesefilms will generate.

Most of these arebig ticket movies,one can safely say

that Rs. 1000 croreswill be invested,”says trade analyst

Joginder Tuteja.

Shahid Kapoor is more

of a friend than a son,

says veteran actor

Pankaj Kapoor, who admits

he often takes advice from

him. "I consider Shahid as

my friend and there is lot of

times I take advice from him,

I take suggestions from him

because I think you need to

be addressed with the latest

that is happening," Pankaj

told IANS. "He is a youngster

and a very talented boy and

a very solid balanced head.

So there are lot of time when

he comes up with very good

suggestions and I am proud

of that fact," he added.

Pankaj said he shared a sim-

ilar relationship with his own

father too. "I had my father

as my friend and I feel that

my children, actually all the

three of them, are friends

with me. Obviously, Shahid

being the oldest - there is a

certain maturity in terms of

understanding each other

which naturally exists."

Pankaj is now gearing up for

the release of his new film,

Vishal Bhardwaj's Matru Ki

Bijli Ka Mandola. The actor

says he shares a comfort

level with the director. "If you

get a good script along with

a good director, with whom

you share a comfort level

then that becomes an added

advantage. This is what hap-

pened with me it was great

working with him. There is a

level of trust that exists," he

added.

AKSHAY TO MAKE INDIA’S FIRST

MARTIALARTS FILM

Akshay Kumar, who has been pro-moting martial arts in the countryfor some time now, is set to take

his passion a step further. The actor nowplans to produce a full-fledged moviebased on the arts. It will be the first of itskind in India. However, he is unlikely toact in the film that his company Hari OmEntertainment will produce next year.“In all likelihood, Akshay won’t star in thefilm. But matters are at a nascent stageright now, so it’s too early to say forsure. He wants to make the film asauthentic as possible. That’s all he isconcerned about,” says an insider,adding, “Akshay wants to promote themartial arts as much as he can. He feelshis training in the combat form has con-tributed to his success as an actionhero.” Apparently, the actor is looking torope in newcomers for the film. “Rightnow, the script is being worked on. Oncehe wraps up shooting for the films he iscurrently working on, Akshay will person-

ally do the research and decide thecast of the film as well as who

will direct it. He doesn’twant to leave anything tochance,” reveals the insid-er. In the past, the actorhas launched the AkshayKumar Invitational Kudo(Judo and Karate)Tournament for youngenthusiasts in the country.“Martial arts are not verypopular in India, which is

why he wants to help,” addsthe insider. Akshay himselfremained unavailable for acomment.

“Akshay wants to

promote themartial arts as

much as hecan. He feelshis training in

the combatform has con-tributed to hissuccess as anaction hero.”

RAGEENI PRESSURISES DIRECTOR TO EDIT

KISSINGSCENE

While RageeniNandwani iskicked about her

debut venture, 'DehraadunDiary', the actress was report-edly uncomfortable kissingRohit Bakshi, who plays herlove interest Anushal, onscreen. We hear that thescene was edited by directorMilind Ukey at Rageeni'sbehest. When asked about it,she laughs it off. "I can't talkabout it," she says. In themovie, produced by AnitaDhawan Nandwani and YatinNandwani, Rageeni playsPreeti, the daughter of a localpolitician. She faces a dilem-ma after her lover is killed byher brother, Vishesh (playedby Vishal Bhonsle). Anushal'sbrother Akash, played byAdhyayan Suman, decides tosettle scores with Vishesh.

"Preeti doesn't know whetherto support her family or take astand against them. Playing asmall-town girl, who finallydares to take a stand, wasquite a challenge. I got todepict a gamut of emotions. Icould completely relate to mycharacter," she says. Theactress vouches for issue-based films. "I like to do com-mercially viable films that putacross a message and makepeople think. It is important toraise one's voice. We are liv-ing in a democratic countryand have the right to putacross our views," concludesRageeni.

PANKAJ KAPOOR

I considerShahid my

friend

FIJISUN 21NATIONAL NEWS January-2013www.fijisun-usa.com

Michele Bachmann (R-MN).Photo Credit: Gage

Skidmore/WikimediaCommons

When Muslim-Americanorganizations andactivists concerned

with Islamophobia woke up theday after the election, onNovember 7, they were elated.Key members of what had beendubbed the HouseRepublican“Islamophobia cau-cus”had been voted out ofoffice. These Tea Party-affiliatedRepublicans included JoeWalsh (R-IL), who had warnedin August that Islamists were“trying to kill Americans everyweek” and were lurking in theChicago suburbs, and AllenWest (R-FL), who linked theentire religion of Islam to terror-ism.

These fear-mongers won’t beable to spread their hysteriafrom the bully pulpit of a Houseseat any longer. But that doesn’tmean that the HouseRepublican caucus has ridthemselves of the scourge ofanti-Muslim politicians whostoke that sentiment for politicalgain. On the contrary, the HouseRepublican caucus remains theplace where the ugly head ofIslamophobia rests comfortably.

Here are five HouseRepublicans who spread anti-Muslim sentiment routinely.Activists concerned withIslamophobia should watchthese players in the year tocome. The fight againstIslamophobia in this country isfar from over, and many mem-bers of the Republican Partyremains wedded to that hatefulideology.

1. Michele BachmannThis Minnesota Tea Party

favorite catapulted herself intothe spotlight again by hawking awacky conspiracy theory firstpropagated by a former Reaganadministration official and nowchief Islamophobe. She narrow-ly won re-election in Novemberdespite spending twelve timesas much as her opponent,Democrat Jim Graves.

Last summer, Bachmanngarnered national attentionwhen she and otherRepublicans alleged that theMuslim Brotherhood, anEgyptian-based political move-ment that spread throughout theMiddle East, had “penetrated”the U.S. government.Specifically, Bachmann singledout a prominent Muslim-American aide to Secretary ofState Hillary Clinton namedHuma Abedin as being part ofthe conspiracy. The Minnesotacongresswoman made the alle-gations in letters sent to U.S.government officials.

The letter questionedwhether there was “direct influ-ence” on the intelligence com-munity from “[Muslim]Brotherhood operatives.” Andthe letter also mentioned that

Abedin has “family members”connected to the MuslimBrotherhood.

Needless to say, the allega-tions were bogus, and someRepublican leaders blastedBachmann for going on a witchhunt. “Accusations like thisbeing thrown around are prettydangerous,” said Speaker of theHouse John Boehner (R-OH).But other Republican offi-cials backed up Bachmann.“Her concern was about thesecurity of the country,” saidEric Cantor (R-VA).

Her letter to U.S. governmentofficials made clear thatBachmann got her ideas fromFrank Gaffney, a former Reaganaide and prominent neoconser-vative. Gaffney is a leading anti-Muslim activist in the U.S., andhas produced a 10-partonlineseries about the MuslimBrotherhood’s influence in theU.S. But the idea that theMuslim Brotherhood is plottingfrom within is a McCarthyite the-ory that casts aspersions onMuslim-Americans within theU.S. government. There is alsono evidence to support the the-ory. This summer 2012 episodewas hardly the only iteration ofBachmann’s Islamophobia,though. In 2011, she stoked fearabout sharia law--Islamic law--taking over U.S. courts.

2. Peter KingHe may have lost his chair-

manship of the HomelandSecurity committee due toparty-imposed term-limits, butyou can count on King stokingthe flames of fear towards Islamnext year. King, a Republicanhailing from Long Island, usedhis post as chair of the HouseHomeland Security Committeeto specifically target the problemof terrorism within the Muslimcommunity--and nowhere else,despite right-wing extremismbeing on the rise. After servingfor seven years, King is nolonger the head of the commit-tee, though he will remain amember. King has a penchantfor singling out Muslim-Americans. He held a total offive separate hearings on Islamand terrorism in the UnitedStates, ostensibly to focus onthe threat of “homegrown” ter-rorism from Muslims. But asRep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS),a fellow member of theHomeland SecurityCommittee,pointed out:“According to a polling of statelaw enforcement agencies con-ducted by the Department ofHomeland Security’s STARTCenter of Excellence, there area variety of domestic extremistgroups more prevalent in theUnited States than Islamicextremists, including neo-Nazis,environmental extremists, anti-tax groups, and others.”

His first hearing sparked themost controversy. Titled “TheExtent of Radicalization in theAmerican Muslim Communityand that Community’sResponse,” it was based on

King’s assumption that theMuslim community in the U.S. isprone to breeding extremists. In2004, King claimed that “80%,85% of the mosques in thiscountry are controlled by Islamicfundamentalists." Despite thisclaim becoming a right-wingmeme, there was no evidenceto back it up. In fact, as theLeadership Conference on Civiland Human Rights pointed outin a letter to King before his firsthearing, “experts have conclud-ed that mosque attendance is asignificant factor in the preven-tion of extremism.”

King courted even more con-troversy based on one of hisstar witnesses at the first hear-ing: Zuhdi Jasser, an activistwho has become the right’s dar-ling Muslim. Jasser is the headof a group called the AmericanIslamic Forum for Democracy,which is funded by anti-Muslimfigures like the right-wingChristian Foster Friess. ManyMuslim organizations say thatJasser has little followingamong American Muslims.Jasser narrated anIslamophobic film put out by anIsraeli-settler and neoconserva-tive linked outfit called theClarion Fund. The film, titled“The Third Jihad,” was shown toNew York Police Departmentofficers as training and claimsthat Muslim extremists are plot-ting from within to take over theU.S.

Other statements in King’spast show that his motivation toroot out Muslim extremism inthe U.S. is based on faultyassumptions. He has stuck tohis claim about mosques in theU.S. being run by radicalextremists and has also claimedthat “the Muslim communitydoes not cooperate anywherenear to the extent that it should”on terrorism-related cases. Butthat statement ignores the factthat Muslims are tipped off lawenforcement to break up thesmall number of plots that doexist.

3. Mike McCaulFor the House Homeland

Security Committee, it’s out withone Islamophobe as chief of thepanel, and in with another.McCaul, a Republican hailingfrom Texas, has dutifully servedalongside King on the commit-tee. And now, he’s getting hischance to run it on his own.Since King was forced out of thetop spot due to party-imposedparameters, McCaul has beentapped to lead the HomelandSecurity Committee. McCaul’shistory of Islamophobia showswhy he will likely lead the com-mittee similar to how King did. Infact, McCaul strongly supportedthe King-led hearings focusingon Muslim-Americans. McCaulpraised King’s hearings as away to “end the era of politicalcorrectness.” During the hearingitself, McCaul said: “I am mysti-fied by the controversy that hasfollowed from this.”

After King’s fifth set of hear-

ings, McCaul said that the “U.S.should not overlook the correla-tion between Islam and nationalsecurity.” And McCaul also runsaround with the players behindthe wave of Islamophobia thathas swept the nation since 9/11.McCaul appeared on FrankGaffney’s radio show last year--the same radio show whereGaffney has spread his toxictheories about sharia law andthe Muslim Brotherhood in theU.S. And McCaul didn’t bat aneye, or mutter any response,when Gaffney carried on aboutthe “Muslim Brotherhood’s oper-ations in the United States.”When he got a chance to speak,McCaul indulged in speculationabout the “threat” of Hezbollah,the Lebanese armed group, inthe Western Hemisphere--athreat for which there is little evi-dence for, according toPolitiFact.

4. Louie GohmertThis Texas Republican has

promoted anti-Muslim sentimenttoo many times before. Gohmertwas widely mocked for hisAugust 2010 assertion thatMiddle Eastern terrorists wereplotting new attacks on the U.S.by sending their pregnant wivesto this country whose children“could be raised and coddled asfuture terrorists.” The phrase“terror babies” entered the polit-ical lexicon after Gohmert’s out-landish statements. Yet, asMother Jones noted at the time,there’s not “a morsel of evi-dence to support Gohmert's ter-ror baby tale, which the con-gressman says he learned offrom a woman on a plane whileen route to the Middle East andfrom a retired FBI agent.”

The next year, Gohmertagain made headlines withremarks about Islam andPresident Barack Obama. Hesuggested that Obama’s alle-giances were with Islamic statesinstead of the U.S. “I know thepresident made the mistake oneday of saying he had visited all57 states, and I'm well awarethat there are not 57 states inthis country, although there are57 members of OIC, the Islamicstates in the world,” Gohmertsaid on the House floor.“Perhaps there was some con-fusion whether he'd been to all57 Islamic states as opposed toall 50 U.S. states. But nonethe-less, we have an obligation tothe 50 American states, not the57 Muslim, Islamic states...Thisadministration [has been] com-plicit in helping people whowants [sic] to destroy our coun-try.” Gohmert’s speech playedinto the right-wing conspiracytheory that Obama was a secretMuslim in league with anti-American Islamists. In line withthat theory, Gohmert has alsosuggested that Obama listens toadvisers from the MuslimBrotherhood. And finally,Gohmert was one of four otherRepublicans to sign onto theBachmann letter on MuslimBrotherhood influence within the

U.S. government. When other,more sane Republicans ques-tioned the letter, Gohmertlashed out. “I wish some ofthese numbnuts would go outand read the letter before theymake these horrible allegationsabout the horrible accusationswe’re making,” Gohmert said.

Expect 2013 to see a lotmore of Gohmert’s conspiracy-laden theories about Muslims inthe U.S.

5. Trent FranksIn recent years, Arizona

Republican Trent Franks hastaken to demonizing Muslim-Americans.

In 2009, Franks was one offour Republicans to call for aninvestigation of the Council onAmerican Islamic Relations(CAIR), the nation’s leadingMuslim civil rights group and afavorite target of theIslamophobic right. The GOPmembers claimed an investiga-tion was needed into whetherCAIR was “spying” onCongressional offices in order toinfluence policy. The evidencefor that charge was a 2007CAIR memo that called for plac-ing Muslim interns in keyCongressional offices in order toinfluence policy on issuesimportant to Muslim-Americans--something that every interestgroup does in Washington. AsGlenn Greenwald pointed out atthe time: “They stand accusedof plotting to influence membersof Congress and trying to helpinterns obtain positions inCongress in order to advancetheir political agenda. That’sconsistent with what virtuallyevery political advocacy groupin the nation does; it’s normallycalled activism and democracy.”But for House Republicans,Muslim-Americans working onCapitol Hill is a step down theroad towards sharia law.

The House GOP members’initial source for the entire CAIRdebacle was a book titledMuslim Mafia: Inside the SecretUnderworld That’s Conspiring toIslamize America.

Franks’ anti-Muslim fear-mongering didn’t stop in 2009,though. The next year, heshowed support for FrankGaffney’s theory that sharia lawwas on the march in the U.S.,led by Muslim-American organi-zations with links to the MuslimBrotherhood who were plottingfrom within. Predictably, the lat-est iteration of Franks’Islamophobia was his signatureon Bachmann’s McCarthyite let-ter about Muslim Brotherhoodinfluence in the U.S. govern-ment and Clinton aide HumaAbedin. So while Allen West andJoe Walsh have to take abreather from spreading fearand hysteria about Muslims,they have plenty of colleaguesto pick up the slack. Some of theleading purveyors of anti-Muslim bigotry may have beenbooted out of office, but you canstill expect 2013 to have its fairshare of Islamophobic hate.

Top 5 Islam-Bashing Republicans to Watch in 2013While some prominent haters were booted out of office, there are

still plenty of Islamophobes hanging around American politics.

FIJISUN22 FITNESSJanuary-2013 www.fijisun-usa.com

It's not called thecrowning glory fornothing. Deepika

Padukone's hair in themovie Cocktail was ahead-turner. Now that'swhat you call statementhair. Beautiful, lush thickhair is a symbol of yourbody's well-being. Haircare and maintenancegoes beyond oiling them

with exotic oils and usingyour fancy-schmancyshampoos, conditioners,serums and other prod-ucts from your beautyarsenal. What you eatcan make your tresseseven better or just worsentheir condition. Here's alist of some yummy foodsthat you must add to yourdiet for the model mane.

» Salmon

Fish makes any diethealthy, salmon is thefish for hair. This oily fishis rich in omega-3 fattyacids, Vitamin B12 andiron. Clubbed together,these components canrestore the shine in yourtresses. Omega-3 fattyacids are essential toretain a healthy scalp. Adeficiency of omega-3fatty acids can leave youwith a dry scalp and dull,lifeless hair. Can't getyour hands on salmon?Substitute it withflaxseed instead.

» eggS and chicken

You know dieticians andtrainers always urge youto have eggs and chick-

en to increase your pro-tein intake. Hair andnails are composed ofprotein. Needless to say,consuming chicken andeggs encourages hairgrowth as well as curbshair fall and breakage.Eggs are full of vitaminsfrom the B-group, espe-cially B12 and B7(biotin). Chicken is a richsource of protein andhelps strengthen fragilehair.

» Beef and oySterS:

Beef and oysters are richsources of zinc, which iswhy they are helpful inimproving the appear-ance of hair. Zinc defi-ciency is a cause of hairloss, so do include beefand oysters in your diet.

Zinc also helps combatpremature greying ofhair.

» nutS and almondS

Chomp on nuts like wal-nuts and almonds whichare rich in omega-3 fattyacids (hair regenerator)and zinc (hair loss pre-venter).

» lentilS

Lentils are full of folicacid. Folic acid is neces-sary in restoring thehealth of red blood cellsthat supply skin andscalp with much-neededoxygen. Folic acid is alsoessential for hair growthand cell renewal. If youare serious about havinghealthy hair, lentils aresomething you shouldjust not skip.

carrotS:

Everyone knows carrotsare an excellent sourceof Vitamin A. Vitamin Aencourages the forma-tion of sebum (oil) in thescalp. Sebum is impor-tant to keep the scalpand hair well moisturised

and maintain their health.Just like overactive seba-ceous glands cause con-ditions like acne, lowsecretion of sebum dam-ages hair causes flakyscalp and dandruff.Tips:

Vitamin C

Make sure youinclude Vitamin C inyour diet as it is nec-essary for theabsorption of zinc.

Hydrate

Water helps to main-tain the moisture con-tent as well as keepsthe hair healthy andshiny.

Keep that body moving

Exercise releaseshappy hormones andhelps combat stress,which is a major rea-son for hair fall.

Fad diets

Diets that promisedrastic weight lossshould be avoided atevery cost. You mightbe successful inknocking off thosenasty extra kilos butit adversely affectshair and skin.

Foods to fight immu-nity in winterArefruits a good break-

fast substitute?7 foodsthat healTop 6 salty foodsto watch out for25 nutri-tious 100 calorie foodsCutting down butter andcheese, biscuits, cakesand crisps and going in forlow-fat diet could helpshed pounds, according toa new research. In thisway, people can get slim-mer in six months withoutdieting. The more fat youstop eating, the moreweight is lost, says a newresearch from theUniversity of East Anglia(UEA). The results provefor the first time that weightloss is possible simply bychoosing foods lower in fatdespite a plethora ofrecent publicity extollingthe benefits of low-carbo-hydrate and no-carb diets,the British Medical Journalreported. Lee Hooperfrom UEA's NorwichMedical School, who ledthe study, said the regime

led to consistent lowerweight for at least sevenyears. "The weight reduc-tion that we found whenpeople ate less fat wasremarkably consistent - wesaw it in almost every trial.Those who cut down moreon fat, lost more weight,"she said, according to theDaily Mail. "The effect isn'tdramatic, like going on a

diet. The research specifi-cally looked at people whowere cutting down on fat,but didn't aim to loseweight - so they were con-tinuing to consume a nor-mal amount of food,"added Hooper. The sys-tematic review includedresults from 33 ran-domised controlled trials,lasting six months to eightyears, involving 73,589men, women and childrenwith varying states ofhealth. The effect on BodyMass Index (BMI) - a scoreshowing whether peopleare overweight or obese -and waistline was meas-ured after at least sixmonths. The results show

that eating less fatreduces bodyweight by 1.6 kg.

FOODSFOR YOUR

TO

P6HAIR

Home remedies to cure acneTips to heal chappy lips in winter Your winter bodycare guideBest spas in Sri LankaEgg white potion for spots, blemishes Here'show paying a little more attention to diet can add to the shine of your mane.

Stick to healthy diet

for weight loss

"The weight reductionthat we found whenpeople ate less fat wasremarkably consistent- we saw it in almostevery trial. Those whocut down more onfat, lost moreweight," she said,according to theDaily Mail.

MC Mary Kom

It was a bronzethat shonebrighter thangold. MC MaryKom's feat in theLondon Gameswas the outcomeof years of hardwork, dedication,determinationand single-mind-ed focus. It'seasy to feel con-tended after win-ning as many asfive World Championship gold, besidesseveral international medals and glory.But this was not the case for this motherof two from Manipur. She is, after all, thestuff legends are made of.

Sushil Kumar

Wrestler SushilKumar becamethe first Indian towin back-to-backindividual medalsin the OlympicGames, claiminga silver in the66kg freestylecategory inLondon to gowith the bronzehe had won inBeijing. The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratnarecipient struggled with injuries and disap-pointments in the lead up to the Olympics.He finally qualified by beating BeijingGames bronze medallist Tushishvili Otar3-0 and clinched gold at the World quali-fying tournament in Taiyuan (China) inApril 2012. India's flag-bearer at the open-ing ceremony, Sushil entered the finalbeating Kazakhastan's AkzhurekTanatarov in the semifinal. In the final,though, he proved no match for TatsuhiroYonemitsu of Japan, especially since hewas suffering from a stomach bug.

Vijay Kumar

The armyman'srise to fame is likea fairytale. ASubedar Major inthe DograRegiment (16thBattalion) of theIndian Army, Kumar became thefourth Indian shoot-er to win a medalin Olympics afterRajyavardhan Singh Rathore, AbhinavBindra and Gagan Narang. Written offafter failing to qualify for the men's 10 mair pistol finals after finishing 31st, Kumarcame back spectacularly to claim silver inthe 25m rapid fire pistol event. Followinghis exploits Kumar rose in world rankings,finishing the year at the No. 2 spot behindtop-ranked Pupo Leuris, who won thegold in London.

Yogeshwar Dutt

The unassumingHaryanvi gaveIndia a fifth medalat the LondonGames when heclaimed a bronzein the men'sfreestyle wrestling(60 kg).Yogeshwar's ticketto London camevia a silver pickedup at an Asian qualification tournament inAstana, Kazakhstan. In London,Yogeshwar lost to Russia's B Kudukhovand was knocked out from the pre-quar-terfinals. He got a chance to contest inthe repechage rounds as Kudukhovreached the final.

Saina NehwalThe golden girl of Indian badmintonturned 2012 into a landmark year whenshe won a bronze medal at the LondonOlympics. The ace shuttler also clinchedtwo Grand Prix Gold titles - the SwissOpen and the Thailand Open - and twoSuper Series crowns in Indonesia andDenmark, besides reaching the final ofthe French Open. In spite of a naggingknee injury she ended the year as WorldNo. 3.

Viswanathan Anand

When India's firstGrandmaster mas-tered challengerBoris Gelfand in afour-game tie-breakfollowing a 6-6deadlock in thebest-of-12 finale inMoscow, hebecame a five-timewinner of the WorldChessChampionship. Itwas Gelfand, the underdog, who drewfirst blood, winning Game 7 after six con-secutive draws. The 43-year-old Anandshowed his class and character by hittingright back, claiming Game 8 in only17moves.

Dipika Pallikal

The 2012 ArjunaAward recipientended the yearon a high whenshe became thefirst Indianwoman squashplayer to enterthe top ten inworld rankings inDecember. TheChennai-basedpro started theyear with a bang, entering the title-roundof the Tournament of Champions inJanuary. It was another first by Dipika,who finished second best. In August, the21-year-old again came up with a break-through performance, reaching the semifi-nals of the Australian Open. Dipika alsospearheaded India's challenge at the2012 Women's Team Championship,where her team finished fifth.

Youngsters

to watch out

FiJiSUn 23SPORTS January-2013www.fijisun-usa.com

India's seasoned Stars and Young Truks

Unmukt Chand (Cricket)

Just like MS Dhoni had playeda captain's innings to pilot thesenior Indian team to WorldCup glory in 2011, youngUnmukt led from the front tohelp the Indian colts conquerAustralia in their own den andlift the Under-19 World Cup forthe third time. The Indians werereduced to 97/4 in pursuit of226, before opener Unmukt (111*) and Smit Patel(62*) stitched together an unbeaten 130-run standto guide the team home with 14 balls to spare.

PV Sindhu (Badminton)

Pusarla Venkata Sindhuannounced her arrival at theworld stage by stunning newly-crowned Olympic champion LiXuerui in the quarterfinals of theChina Masters on September14. The 17-year-old fromHyderabad finished runners upat the recently-concluded SyedModi International India GrandPrix Gold meet in Lucknow. In July, the lanky lasscreated history, as she became the first Indian toclinch the girls' singles title in the Asian YouthUnder-19 Championships. She capped a landmarkyear in her fledging career by breaking into thetop-20 in world ranking.

Shiva Thapa (Boxing)

The 19-year old boxer fromGuwahati Thapa - became theyoungest Indian boxer to qualifyfor the Olympics when hesealed his berth for the LondonOlympics. The silver medallistat the 2010 Youth OlympicGames in Singapore achievedthis feat when he won the 2012Asian Olympic Qualifiers inAstana, Kazakhstan, by beatingWessam Salamana of Syria 18-11. Though hebowed out in the first round of the Olympic Gamesin the (56 kg) bantamweight category, his aggres-sive punching was treat to watch.

Deepika Kumari (Archery)

At 18, she remains one of thebrightest prospects in interna-tional archery. She became theworld's No. 1 woman recurvearcher earlier this year afterwinning the gold in the WorldCup in individual recurve inAntalya, Turkey. However, apoor show at the LondonOlympic Games saw her slip tothe No. 2 position. She showedglimpses of her old form at the World Finals inJapan, where she claimed a silver. She was hon-oured with the Arjuna award in August.

SachinTendulkarA tally of 357 runsin 9 Test matches,at an average of23.8, to go with315 runs in 10ODIs @ 31.5 arefigures which areanything butTendulkar-esque.But those are,actually, SachinTendulkar's returnsfrom internationalcricket in 2012.Yet, 2012 willstand out inTendulkar's 23-year careerbecause it was onMarch 16 this yearthat he becamethe first cricketer toscale 'MountHundred' by com-pleting a 'century'of internationalcenturies (51 inTests + 49 inODIs) in an AsiaCup match versusBangladesh at theSher-e-BanglaStadium in Mirpur,Dhaka. Like mostof his other battingrecords, this onetoo may never bematched.

who made a

mark in 2012

FIJISUN24 WORLD NEWSJanuary-2013 www.fijisun-usa.com

TOKYO: Japan's new primeminister Shinzo Abe has voicedhis willingness to build newnuclear reactors, reports said onMonday, despite widespreadpublic opposition to atomic ener-gy in light of the Fukushima cri-sis. During an interview onSunday with television networkTBS, Abe remarked that newreactors would be different tothose at Fukushima which werecrippled by the earthquake-tsunami, according to majornews outlets including the Nikkeibusiness daily and Kyodo News.It was the first time that Abe hasclearly declared his wish to buildnew reactors since he officiallytook office on Wednesday. "Newreactors will be totally differentfrom the ones built 40 years ago-- those at the Fukushima Daiichiplant that caused the crisis," Abesaid in the interview, according tothe Mainichi Shimbun newspa-per. "We will be building them

while earning understanding ofthe public as to how differentthey are," he was quoted by theNikkei as saying. Abe's widelyreported remarks came a dayafter he visited the FukushimaDaiichi plant, operated by TokyoElectric Power (TEPCO), whichsuffered reactor meltdowns afterits emergency cooling systemwas battered by the deadlytsunami of March 11, 2011.During his visit Abe describedthe clean-up at Fukushima as"an unprecedented challenge inhuman history". In the TBS inter-

view Abe stressed that only theFukushima reactors had beendamaged by the 9.0 earthquake-triggered tsunami, while otherregional power plants remainedlargely intact, it was reported.

The government and TEPCOexpect to spend more than 30years decommissioning the crip-pled reactors, which spewed outradioactive materials over a widearea, forcing tens of thousandsof people to evacuate. All ofJapan's 50 reactors were shut-tered for inspections in the after-math of the Fukushima disaster.Only two have since beenrestarted. Observers widelyexpect Japan to restart itsnuclear programme under Abe'sconservative Liberal DemocraticParty, despite public concernsthat the party was partiallyresponsible for the extent of thecatastrophe because of a cultureof complicity during its more thanfive-decade rule.

Hillary Clinton admitted to New Yorkhospital with blood clot

WASHINGTON: USSecretary of State Hillary Clintonwas admitted to a New York hos-pital on Monday after doctorsdiscovered a blood clot related toa concussion she suffered earlythis month. "In the course of afollow-up exam today, SecretaryClinton's doctors discovered ablood clot had formed, stemmingfrom the concussion she sus-tained several weeks ago," herspokesperson and the DeputyUS Assistant Secretary of State,Philippe Reines, said in a state-ment. "She is being treated withanti-coagulants and is at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital sothat they can monitor the med-ication over the next 48 hours,"Reines said.

"Her doctors will continue toassess her condition, includingother issues associated with herconcussion. They will determineif any further action is required,"he added. Clinton (65), who suf-fered a stomach infection earlythis month, and was workingfrom home for most part of theDecember, was expected toreturn to work next week.

South Korean K-pop boy group Beast members arrive for the SBS Color of K-popfestival in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday.

Andhra Pradesh manrunning US super-market found dead

KARIMNAGAR: An Indian manhailing from Andhra Pradesh, whoruns a supermarket in the US, wasfound dead at the store under suspi-cious circumstances, according tomedia reports . According to RShyam Sunder Reddy, an advocate inKarimnagar, his brother-in-law GoliVenkat Reddy (48) ran a supermarketat Cincinnati, Ohio, after he left theAndhra Pradesh city for the US 12years ago. He was married to Kavitha,a software engineer, and has a sonnamed Praneeth. Shyam Sunder saidKavita found her husband lying in thestore with a bleeding nose onSaturday night and immediatelyinformed the police, who reached thespot and declared him dead.

DUBAI: The Yemen-based branchof al-Qaida has offered a bounty foranyone who kills the US ambassadorto Yemen or an American soldier inthe impoverished Arab state, a groupthat monitors Islamist websites said.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula(AQAP) said it was offering three kilo-grams of gold for the killing of the USambassador in Sanaa, GeraldFeierstein, the US-based SITEIntelligence Group said, citing anaudio released by militants. AQAPwill also pay 5 million rials ($23,350)to whoever kills any American soldierin Yemen, it said. The offer, valid forsix months, was made "to encourageour Muslim Ummah (nation), and toexpand the circle of the jihad (holywar) by the masses," SITE said, citingthe audio.

AQAP, mostly militants fromYemen and Saudi Arabia, is regardedby the United States as the most dan-gerous branch of the network foundedby Osama bin Laden. In September,AQAP urged Muslims to step upprotests and kill US diplomats inMuslim countries over a film denigrat-

ing the Prophet Mohammad, which itsaid was another chapter in the "cru-sader wars" against Islam. The filmprovoked an outcry among Muslims,who deem any depiction of theProphet as blasphemous and trig-gered violent attacks on embassies incountries in Asia and the Middle East.

Four US officials including theambassador to Libya were killed in theaftermath. The Pentagon said it hadsent a platoon of Marines to Yemenafter demonstrators stormed the USEmbassy in Sanaa. A US ally, Yemenis struggling against challenges onmany fronts since mass protestsforced veteran leader Ali AbdullahSaleh to step down in February afterdecades in power. President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government istrying to re-establish order and unifythe army. Washington, which has pur-sued a campaign of assassination bydrone and missile against suspectedal-Qaida members, backed a militaryoffensive in May to recapture areas ofAbyan province. But militants havestruck back with a series of bombingsand killings.

LONDON: Indian doctors wanting towork in Britain will face a more rigorousassessment in future. This was decided bythe United Kingdom's health authoritiesafter figures showed a high proportion ofdoctors who lose their registration in UK arefrom abroad.

Almost 36% of all doctors practicing inthe UK are from abroad, with the largestsegment coming from India. Without themthe National Health Service (NHS) wouldcollapse. But in the last five years it wasfound that 63% of overseas doctors eitherstruck off from the register or suspended bythe General Medical Council (GMC) arequalified for the profession outside UK.

Dr Vivienne Nathanson, British MedicalAssociation (BMA) director of professionalactivities, said, "It is clear that doctors qual-

ified overseas are more likely to be subjectto disciplinary action. However, moreresearch is needed to understand why thisis the case. The UK is still short of doctorsand so we must ensure that those comingfrom overseas are given adequate supportto be able to practice medicine in the UK."The GMC's new reforms included an induc-tion programme , better checks and a

review of the present testing system. NiallDickson, the chief executive of the GMC,said, "We absolutely acknowledge thatwhen it comes to the serious end of thescale, those from overseas are more likelyto appear, and we have set about a seriesof reforms to address this." A pilot schemeof the new induction programme for allarriving doctors is scheduled to belaunched in early 2013. This will combineonline training in British medical practiceswith a one-day course covering some of theissues facing new entrants.

The Performance and LinguisticAssessments Board test for applying doc-tors will be made more difficult then pres-ent. The doctors will have to demonstratetheir clinical skills and competence beforethey are accepted for practice in the UK.

WASHINGTON: USPresident Barack Obama saidin an interview on Sunday thatthe massacre at a Connecticutelementary school which killed20 children and six adults was"the worst day of my presiden-cy". Obama also expressedscepticism about a proposal bythe gun lobby group 'TheNational Rifle Association' tointroduce armed guards inevery US school. "I am scepti-cal that the only answer is put-ting more guns in schools," hesaid. "The question ...becomes whether we are actu-ally shook up enough by whathappened that it does not justbecome another one of theseroutine episodes where it getsa lot of attention for a couple ofweeks and then it drifts away,"Obama said. "It certainly won'tfeel like that to me," Obamasaid. "This is something thatwas the worst day of my presi-

dency. And it's not somethingthat I want to see repeated."He also pledged to put his "fullweight" behind a legislativepackage next year aimed atcontaining gun violence . In hisboldest terms yet, he vowed torally the American peoplearound an agenda to limit gunviolence. "It's not enough forus to say, 'This is too hard sowe're not going to try'," hesaid. "I'll call all the stakehold-ers together . I'll meet withRepublicans . I'll meet withDemocrats . I'll talk to anybody.

"I think there are a vastmajority of responsible gunowners who recognize that wecan't have a situation in whichsomebody with severe psy-chological problems is able toget the kind of high capacityweapons that this individual inNewtown obtained and gundown our kids. And, it's goingto be hard."

Japan's PM Shinzo Abe wantsnew nuclear reactors : Reports

Want to be a doctor in Britain? Brace for tougher examinations

Al-Qaida in Yemen offersbounty for US ambassador

School shooting was worstday as president : Obama

FIJISUN 25STAR AGE/SPECIAL January-2013www.fijisun-usa.com

aries

March-21to

April-20

taurus

April-21to

May-20

gemiNi

May-21to

June-21

caNcer

June-22to

July-23

leo

July-24to

August-23

virgo

August-24to

September-23

libra

September-24to

October-22

scorpio

October-23to

November-22

sagittarius

November-23to

December-22

capricoN

December-23to

Januar-20

aquaries

January-21to

February-19

February-20to

March-20

This will be an interesting week foryou. Creative ventures should begiven priority in the first half of theweek. Minor arguments at home maybe possible over the issues concern-ing your overtime or hectic schedule.Do not overindulge. You should keepa straight thought when interactingwith influential people during the sec-ond half of the week. Nothingdemanding will take place in theweekend, so do not volunteer to doadditional jobs.

This is a manageable week.Professionally the first half of the weekis a good time if you are involved withforeign affairs, travel or teaching. Yourmind will be extremely active and youwill need plenty of work to give youfood for thought, otherwise your energywill be scattered over a side area andvery little will be accomplished. Duringthe second half of the week going on atrip will lessen problems, but little willbe completed in advancing business.

This is a moderate week. Do not breakthe routine at your work place and youwill finish the assignments in goodtime. Information is reliable only whenit comes straight from your superiors.Family members will be supportivethroughout, but children or otheryoungsters in the family may causesome concern over their freedom. Youcould too easily miss important detailon your own about them. Mix businesswith pleasure in the weekend.

This is an active and busy week foryou. You will be finishing up with thejobs pending for a month ago. Duringthe first half of the week you may haveto cope with moody people. Be pre-pared for unexpected change in plans.Better examine the motives of friendswho are pushing you to do somethingyou feel is financially risky. Take thefinal decisions on your own this week.Any business correspondence shouldbe kept up in the weekend.

This is a mixed week. In the earlydays of the week, change is possiblebut that is not your way of approach-ing life. Matters over the past fewweeks have probably made you real-ize that being too rigid or inflexiblecan mean missing out on worthwhileopportunities. Keep your cool andthink twice before answering to afresh proposal offered to you.Making haste is waste.

This is a quiet week for some ofyou. You are likely to be adoptinga much more serious attitude toyour emotions and also to creativework. The influence of an elderperson or parents can benefit you,as you are likely to be able to gainfrom their experience. You mustlisten to what they have to say.Your positive traits will be on dis-play in the second half of theweek.

This is a brilliant week. Reading andstudying will prove valuable to yourprofessional interests. Do not letmundane thoughts delay your imagi-native powers. During midweekassociates and co-workers will beready to accept some of your moreadvanced views on career matters.Colleagues let you in on a profes-sional secret. Domestic front will beall right.

This will be a fine week. The populari-ty of the bachelors in this sign will beat its peak in the first half of the week.Romance is excitingly highlighted.Upsets in business should beresolved and fall into a lively routine.The second half of the week is favor-able for launching new ventures.Overtime at your place of employmentmay affect your health.New business opportunity or employ-

ment offer is likely in the weekend.

This is a rewarding week for some ofyou. You will be in top form in the earlydays of the week and up to the chal-lenges that are present. You will get anumbers of opportunities. You can leaveunimportant jobs for the later part of theweek. Let the superiors see how youoperate when you are at your best.Confront the problems of the past fewdays. In the second half of the week youmay attend a social gathering that mayinclude a valuable business introduction.

This is a pleasant week for some ofyou. If you have been worried aboutyour health, seek the advice of a doc-tor and put an end to anxieties, asthere is nothing much serious. Duringworkdays, stick to routine at your workplace. If you are approached to makean investment this week, it would bewise to get professional advice. Aquiet evening at home suits you morethan service to others.

This is a delicate week. The early daysmay put you in mind of an upcomingvacation. Job affairs will not bedemanding much to complete work.You will be in a creative mood in thesecond half of the week. Indulge in apastime that lets you express yourselfin any way. Work may offer a relieffrom personal problems. Interestingactivities unfold for some of you.Health will be normal.

This is a manageable week. Theearly days are bright and appropriateto make changes in any investmentsyou possess. Aim for future security.You feel that your money can workbetter for you if you seek advice froma knowledgeable friend or experi-enced elder at your home. The sec-ond half of the week will be stressfulfor some of you, but all depend onyou and your temper that will greatlyreduce the tension.

1) All cab companiesare not created equal– some have newvehicles, some havecleaner vehicles, somehave more “environ-mentally friendly” vehi-cles, some have bettertrained and caringdrivers, some still use'radio phones' whilemost large companiesare now using GPS-based digital dispatchsystems;

2) All cab companiesare regulated by themunicipalities they arelicensed under – thatmeans that there isonly one rate structure(fare basis) for all cabslicensed in SanFrancisco or Berkeley,etc.

3) All drivers have topass a finger printcheck with the localpolice; a drug test withthe licensing munici-pality; and a sensitivity

training session heldby a special “taxi driv-ers school” beforereceiving a taxi driver'spermit. In addition, thevarious taxi companiesall demand an almostspotless DMV drivingrecord.

4) Not all cabs acceptcredit cards. Youshould check with thecompany or the driverwhen making a reser-vation or before get-ting into the cab.

5) When I order a cab,how long will it takebefore it arrives?Youshould expect longerwaits during peaktimes. Those times aretypically during morn-ing and evening rushhours, Thursday,Friday and Saturdaynights, during rain andduring large events.The best idea is foryou to call us and askahead of time what the

wait time might be like.Our experienced staffis glad to answer yourquestion and they willgive you a sincereanswer. Most of thetime we can find a cabfor you within a fewminutes. If your taxidoesn’t arrive within15 minutes you shouldcall back to refreshyour order.

6) When I order a taxiwhy can't the dispatch-er tell me if one iscoming or not?Taxicabdrivers make moneyonly when a person isriding in the back seat.

As an on demandservice drivers usuallywant the fare closestto them. In SanFrancisco the vastmajority of rides fordrivers are street hails.It usually doesn't makea lot of sense finan-cially for a driver topass a fare on thestreet in order to pickup a dispatch order.

7) When You book a cabto the Airport you cansometimes negotiablea set fee. For exam-ple, a Cab fromBerkeley to SFO willgenerally cost between

$75 and $90 dollars.However, when mak-ing the reservation besure to ask if there is a“ flat fee” available.Many Companies willoffer a flat fee of $65plus toll bridge.

8) How much shouldyou tip the driver?

That depends on a num-ber of factors: Was thecab on time? Was thecab clean? Was thedriver courteous andknowledgeable aboutthe route? Were theyany bags involved?Did the driver hold thedoor for you? Was thedriver a “safe” driver?If the answer to thesequestions is yes thena 15% to 20% tip iscustomary.

9) Do most drivers ownthe cabs? Most driv-ers are “self-contrac-tors” and are leasingthe cabs

from “Medallion” hold-ers. In large cities,

such as San Franciscoand even Oakland,most of these“Medallions” are in thehands of a few compa-nies and most of thedrivers are leasing thevehicles, often at veryhigh rates, from these“owners”.

10) Can I tell the driverwhich route to take?You are the customerand you are paying forthe ride. It is your rightto tell the driver whichroute you would preferthe driver take. Inaddition, should yourequire a “round trip”with some “waitingtime” in between it isquite acceptable to tryand negotiate, withinreason, with the driver,regarding shutting themeter off for all or partof that “waiting period”.

Ten Things That You Might Not HaveKnown About The Taxi Business

By Robbie Mchelson

FIJISUN26 ECONOMYJanuary-2013 www.fijisun-usa.com

FIJI AMERICAN IDOL SHOWA unique, exciting and professional FIJI

AMERICAN IDOL SHOW is in the planning processand due to be launched early next year.

TO LOCATE AND PROMOTE NEWAND BUDDING TALENTS FROM THEFIJI AMERICAN COMMUNITY.

THERE WILL BE AN EARLY AUDI-TION WITH $10 DINNER CHARGES.

MISSION

Call: 1-800-757-6619FIJI AMERICAN IDOL SHOW

AUDITIONWILL BY A PANELOF SUPERSTARS !JUDGING

NO PUBLIC JUDGING AT ALL.

This night dedicated tothe memory of the lateHon. S M KOYA is slatedfor early next year.Everyone is welcomeshare their thoughts,comments and memo-ries. If you stories andpictures etc., you wantto share you are mostwel come do so. The

man who fulfilled the journey crafted by one ofthe most learned and seasoned politicians ofFiji the late Hon. Mr. A D Patel. THE KOYAMEMORIAL NIGHT will be dedicated to cele-brate the memories of tails of former leader ofopposition the Late Hon. S M KOYA

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Ratan Tata, an iconiccorporate leader, retired asChairman of Tata Groupafter a 50-year run onFriday but kept away fromoffice on his last day at thehelm of one of country'soldest business empires.Tata, who turned 75 onFriday, is in Pune for hisbirthday, sources atBombay House, headquar-ters of the salt-to-softwareconglomerate, told PTI,adding there was no clarityon whether he would visithis office later in the day.Chairman-designate CyrusMistry, who made a visit toBombay House on Friday,will on Saturday take

charge of the new assign-ment, sources in Tata Sonssaid. Mistry was groomedfor the assignment by Tatafor a year. The group hadearlier announced that hehas been appointed chair-man with effect fromSaturday.

Mistry chose the groupcompany Tata Motorsentry-level sedan IndigoManza to travel to work onthe important day, markingan end to an era. The nar-row lane leading toBombay House, one of theoldest buildings in the her-itage Fort area of southMumbai, has heavy mediapresence since this morn-

ing in anticipation of Tatavisiting Bombay House.

Ratan Tata, whohelmed the group for 21years after being chosen

successor by his uncle, theiconic JRD Tata, in 1991, iscredited with transformingthe group through bolddecisions including large

global acquisitions, evenas some of its peers strug-gled to stay relevant posteconomic liberalisation.Mistry, who has been withthe group since 2006 invarious capacities hailsfrom the Shapoorji Pallonjifamily, the largest privateshare holder of the group'sholding company TataSons. Born on July 4,1968, Cyrus Mistry com-pleted his graduation inCivil Engineering fromLondon's Imperial Collegeof Science, Technologyand Medicine and followedit up with a masters inManagement from theLondon Business School.

He was chosen by a 5-member panel last year tosucceed Ratan Tata.During Ratan Tata'stenure, the group's rev-enues grew manifold,totalling $100.09 billion(around Rs.475,721 crore)in 2011-12 from a turnoverof a mere Rs.10,000 crorein 1991.

Tata led the group intosome notable acquisitions,starting from Tetley by TataTea for USD 450 million in2000, to steelmaker Corusby Tata Steel in 2007 forGBP 6.2 billion and thelandmark JaguarLandRover in 2008 for $2.3billion by Tata Motors.

Apple CEO Tim Cookgot $4.2 million in pay forthe latest fiscal year, amodest sum comparedwith last year, when thecompany's board set himup with stock now worth$510 million for takingthe reins in 2011.

Cook's pay for fiscal2012, which ended inSeptember, consisted of$1.4 million in salary, abonus of $2.8 million,and $17,000 in companycontributions to his401(k) account and lifeinsurance premiums,according to a filing.Apple Inc.'s board sawno need to give Cookadditional shares in 2012after the sign-on grant of1 million shares in 2011.Half of those shares vestin 2016 and the otherhalf in 2021. A lot couldhappen to the value ofthe shares before Cookcan cash them out, butthe sign-on grant madehim - at least on paper -the highest-paid USCEO in 2011. Cook didvest into shares worth$140 million in 2012.Those shares weregranted earlier, when hewas chief operating offi-cer. He had been actingCEO for a while before

the death of companyco-founder Steve Jobs inOctober of 2011. Appletends to grant shares toexecutives every otheryear. Cook's closestcohorts got big grants in2012, including top hard-ware engineer RobertMansfield, who gotshares worth $83 million.Chief Financial OfficerPeter Oppenheimer andgeneral counsel BruceSewell both got stockgrants worth just over$66 million, more thandouble the value of thegrants they got twoyears ago, reflecting thezooming value of Apple'sstock. The Cupertino,California-based compa-ny's compensation poli-cies are relatively sim-ple. Missing are many ofthe perks that otherCEOs command, likecountry club fees andprivate use of companyaircraft.

Porschebreaks its ownsales record

German sports car makerPorsche AG says it has alreadybroken last year's record salesnumber with one month left in2012. The company, which isnow owned by Volkswagen,said Wednesday it delivered128,978 vehicles throughNovember, more than the totalof 118,868 it sold in all of 2011 -at the time a new record.Though many automakers arestruggling with increased com-petition in the low-end car mar-ket, the luxury market remainsstrong. Porsche, based inStuttgart, says worldwide salesfor the first 11 months were up38.7 percent over the sameperiod in 2011. In Europe,where several countries aremired in recession, sales wereup a modest 6.8 percent butPorsche saw spectacular 71.4percent growth in the U.S. and63.4 percent growth in China.

Shares of Kingfisher Airlines fellby over 2 per cent as its flying permit,which has been suspended by avia-tion regulator DGCA, expired onMonday.

After falling over 3 per cent duringthe day, shares of the company final-ly ended at Rs.14.92, down 2.36 percent from its previous close on theBSE. At NSE, the scrip settled 2.62per cent lower at Rs.14.85. Thebeleaguered carrier has submitted arevival plan to the DirectorateGeneral of Civil Aviation (DGCA),

which has asked for more detailsregarding how it would fund the plan,given the precarious financial situa-tion the company is in. The compa-ny's Scheduled Operator's Permit

(SOP) was suspended on October20, capping three weeks of lockout inthe cash-strapped carrier precededby a strike by its employees demand-ing payment of salaries. Kingfisher issaddled with a loss of Rs.8,000 croreand a debt burden of another overRs.7,524 crore. It was issued an air-line licence on August 26, 2003,which was actually in the name of AirDeccan that was bought over by theliquor baron Vijay Mallya-owned car-rier. This licence is valid till onMonday.

The BSE Sensex onWednesday shot up 133points to hit two-year highand NSE Nifty breached6,000-mark with oil, bank-ing and auto shares jump-ing on buying support fromfunds after the US clearedthe budget bill and India'smanufacturing sector inDecember grew the fastestin 6 months. After openingon a strong note at19,693.30 points, the BSEbenchmark continued itsupward march to touchsession's high of19,756.68. It finally settledwith a gain of 133.43points, or 0.68 per cent, at19,714.24 points, its high-est closing since January6, 2011. Yesterday, Sensexclosed at 20-month high,fuelling expectations thatstocks may breach life-

time high soon. "Marketcan touch an all-time high(21,206.77) before March,"said Motilal OswalFinancial Services CMDMotilal Oswal. A strongupmove in ICICI Bank, SBIand HDFC, supported byrise in RIL and ONGC andauto pack, including BajajAuto, Maruti Suzuki andTata Motors, helpedSensex log gains today.Similarly, the 50-scrip NSEindex Nifty, whichbreached the 6,000 marktoday for the first time intwo years, closed at5,993.25 points -- a rise of42.40 points, or 0.71 percent. It had touched theintra-day high of 6,006.05.

Meanwhile, overcomingRepublican resistance, theUS House ofRepresentatives late yes-

New Year may bringin up to 10 lakh jobs,10-15% pay hikes

The New Year may usher inloads of cheers for job seekers,as companies are likely to hireupto 10 lakh employees anddole out pay hikes in the rangeof 10-15 per cent to high-per-formers, say experts. As per theestimates of human resourceconsultants, hiring will definitelysee an uptrend in 2013, as com-pared to 2012, as mosteconomies are coming out ofslowdown and the demand fromdomestic as well as internationalmarkets would create many jobopportunities. According toindustry estimates, India sawnearly 7 lakh jobs being createdin 2012, despite economicuncertainties, and the projec-tions for the New Year varybetween a minimum of 5-6 lankto more than 10 lakh. "The NewYear would be good for jobseekers with expected 1 millionplus jobs in the country.

Ratan Tata retires on his 75th birthday, Cyrus Mistry to take charge

Apple CEO's Salarydrops 99% from 2011

Nifty breaches 6000-mark, hits a two-year high

Finally grounded: Kingfisher Airlines loses flying permit

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Lionel Messi has brokenGerman great Gerd Mueller's40-year-old record for most

goals in a single year by scoring forthe 86th time in 2012. The Argentinaforward scored twice as Barcelonaled 2-0 against Real Betis by the25th minute of the Spanish league

match on Sunday. His the 16thminute to equal Mueller's record,and he eclipsed the 1972 feat with afamiliar left-footed finish nine min-utes later. Messi has scored 74goals for Barcelona and 12 times forArgentina this year. Mueller scored85 for Bayern Munich and West

Germany. Messi scored 73 times forBarcelona in the 2011-12 season,passing Mueller's milestone of 67goals for Bayern Munich in 1972-73.He also established a Spanishleague record of 50 goals last sea-son. Messi is a finalist for the FIFA'sworld player of the year award.

This combo of two filephotographs shows attop; FC Barcelona'sLionel Messi, fromArgentina, scoring hissecond goal againstZaragoza during aSpanish La Liga soccermatch in Barcelona,Spain, and at bottom; aJune 18, 1972 file photoof Gerd Mueller, left, ofWest Germany, scoringa goal against theSoviet Union in theHeysel Stadium, inBrussels. Messi scoredhis 86th goal during theSpanish league gamewith Betis beating thecurrent record of mostgoals scored withinone calendar year, pre-viously held by formerGerman striker GerdMueller.

Messi breaks 40-year record with 86th goal of 2012

As an individual event this tor-turous Test match will not lingerlong in the memory, but for whatthe end result enabled England toachieve will be chronicled as oneof the team's finest hours.

By batting out the final day withbarely an alarm, largely through a208-run stand between JonathanTrott and Ian Bell, who both scoredhundreds, England secured theirfirst series win in India for 28 years.India have significant weaknessesand problems that need to beaddressed, but it has beenEngland's excellence over the lastthree games that has exposedthose shortcomings. On the lastday in Nagpur it was two batsmenearning redemption for relativelylean years that prevented any latenerves and added to the completeteam nature of the performanceTrott's hundred, his eighth, was hisfirst since March and for Bell, whilealso being his first hundred inIndia, it ended an even longer waitfor three figures going back to TheOval against this opposition in2011 at the end of what had threat-ened to be a low trip for him. Whatwas really extraordinary, though, isthe turnaround, not only from acrushing defeat in Ahmedabad butalso from a year that was on thebrink of being their worst ever inTest cricket. Throw into the mix

controversy surrounding their starbatsman and a change of captainbefore this series and it is one ofEngland's finest achievements.Alastair Cook, who was able towatch contently from the dressingroom during the final day, has laiddown a high marker for his captain-cy career.

India needed a couple of earlywickets to send a few tremorsthrough the England camp but theynever threatened. The new ballwas taken one over into the daywithout making a jot of difference.Barring a couple of sessions, thishas been a Test devoid of excite-ment and low in the watchabilitystakes. England, of course, will notcare in the slightest about that but

pitches like this are far worse thatthe "result" surfaces that get theICC twitchy. If it is not markeddown the game's priorities arewrong. However dead the surface,for Trott and Bell there was a job todo in the first session and they didit expertly. There was good intentfrom the pair in the first half anhour of the day to ensure the leadwas soon in excess of 200 nd get-ting out of sight of India. Trott hasplayed as freely as anyone in thegame and twice drove RavindraJadeja beautifully through mid-on -or, in the second case, under mid-on as R Ashwin dived over the ball.His leg-side play was wonderfullyelegant throughout the innings. Hereached his hundred with two

boundaries in three balls againstPiyush Chawla, a cover drive fol-lowed by a trademark flick wide ofmid-on, and allowed a little bit ofemotion to come through his steelydemeanour. Trott had not reachedthree figures since the secondinnings against Sri Lanka in Galleearlier this year, and it was only hissecond hundred since making 203against Sri Lanka in Cardiff in May2011. However, he has continued tochip in, the average has onlydipped and not plummeted, andonce again England wereimmensely grateful to their rock-solid No. 3 It did not look as thoughhe was going to give away thechance to boost his statistics duringthe afternoon and it came as a sur-prise when he clipped Ashwin to legslip shortly before tea, a few runsshort of setting a new record fourth-wicket stand for England in India.That mark remains held by AndrewStrauss and Paul Collingwood, whoadded 214 in Chennai in 2008.Trott's Warwickshire team-mate,Bell, was equally composed in mak-ing his first major contribution of adifficult series, where his frailties inIndia had been exposed again.Although the situation was comfort-able for England by lunch, that wasnot the case when Bell had come inat 94 for 3 so it was a strong displayof character from him.

England end 28-year wait for win in IndiaNadal says he is unlikely to make Australian Open return

Spanish tennis star RafaelNadal on Tuesday confirmed thathe was unlikely to be fit for the2013 Australian Open. The 26-year-old has not played sinceJune when he partially tore a ten-don in his left knee in a secondround match at Wimbledon andhas been working towards gain-ing fitness. The Mallorcan bornplayer was realistic about his fit-ness prospects and said he didn'texpect to be in condition to com-pete in the first major event of theseason, which is held in January,Xinhua reports. "My recovery isgoing well. This past month Ihave taken an important step. Ifeel happy and the doctors arehappy too," he said.

"Miracles do not exist and I amunlikely to return and compete forthe Australian Open." Speakingon Spanish radio station, OndaCero, Nadal said his main ambi-tion was to be able to compete inthe French Open and to hone hisform in Monte Carlo in April forhis favourite event, which he willtry to win for a record breakingeighth time in May. "I want to be100 percent in Monte Carlo andthen prepare well for RolandGarros," said Nadal. "I will onlycome back when I am fit and Iwon't come back worrying aboutmy knee.

IOC tells federa-tions to examine India situation

The International OlympicCommittee (IOC) has asked interna-tional sports federations (IF) to exam-ine the "complicated" situation in Indiain the wake of the Indian OlympicAssociation's (IOA) suspension andtake appropriate action to "protect theautonomy of national federations" inthe country. "We recommend each IFto carefully examine the situation of itsnational federation in India in the lightof the following criteria, in particular:Whether the national federation isaffected by government interferencein its internal operations (and thepotential implications of the SportsCode and/or any other governmentregulations over the national federa-tion)," the IOC wrote in its letter."Whether the national federation is ina position to exercise its activities inaccordance with its own statutes, theIF regulations and basic principleswhich govern the Olympic move-ment," the letter added.

Pakistan take series as India batting fails againThey lost eight successive

overseas Tests. They lost ahome Test series. And now theODI world champions have lost ahome bilateral series for the firsttime in more than three years.They are in free fall, and contin-ue to touch a newer nadir eachtime. The failure of the batsmenhas been a common factor in allthese reversals, and it was nodifferent at Eden Gardens.Despite the bowlers taking tenwickets for 109 to keep Pakistanto 250, India crumbled withoutany fight, losing their top fivebatsmen before they hadreached 100. The tail had col-lapsed before MS Dhoni couldeven think about improbablessuch as miracles.

Pakistan added to their

record of being the only side,other than Australia, to inflicthome ODI series defeats onIndia in the previous ten years.They also continued theirimpressive record at EdenGardens, and have now won alltheir four ODIs against India atthe ground. Nasir Jamshed, oneof the finest young batsmenaround, made his third succes-sive ODI century against India,whose batsmen carried theirstruggles from Chennai toKolkata.

Junaid Khan bowled his heartout in an opening spell of 7-1-18-2, taking out Gautam Gambhirand Virat Kohli. Umar Gul camein to remove a subdued andedgy Virender Sehwag, and fol-lowed it up with the dismissal of

Yuvraj Singh. Suresh Raina waspeppered with short balls before

falling to Mohammad Hafeez'soffspin. India went from 42 for 0to 95 for 5. Dhoni was left bat-tling alone, and again, he battledtill the very end, refusing severalsingles with the last man IshantSharma and hitting the oddboundary, despite knowing thatall of it was in vain, despiteknowing that he was the onlyman in this line-up prepared tofight.

Sehwag and Gambhir mayhave put on 42, but their partner-ship was full of plays-and-missesand inside edges eluding thestumps. And eight of those 42runs came off two overthrows tothe boundary, courtesy Hafeez.The tall Mohammad Irfan contin-ued to test India with his bounce,but Junaid's was the standout

spell. Displaying superb control,Junaid beat the outside edge onnumerous occasions, and alsohit Sehwag on the pads a fewtimes. It wasn't unusually gooddeliveries that got him his wick-ets, though it could be said hehad persevered enough to earnsome luck. Gambhir tried to drivea widish length ball, whichmoved in slightly for the batsmanto play on. Kohli fell to an out-standing, leaping take byKamran Akmal down the legside. There was nothing fortu-itous about Sehwag's fall, Gulbending one back in sharply tostrike the leaden-footed batsmanin front of middle. The senioropener had had another poorouting, after averaging 21.70 inODIs in 2012.

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It’s ChrIstmas tIme In Bay area

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