� Vol-I8 � Issue-6 � August 2009 � 510-677-4488� www.fijisun-usa.com

18Bollywood

Inside

P-30Sports

P-11LocalNews

President Iloilo stepsdown due to ill-health

Scarlett to playMarilyn monroe?

RAMAZANUL MUBARAK TO ALL OUR READERS !

Sharmas submit concerns at FANA meeting

Miss Fiji USA shrouded in controversy

Fiji Sun-USA in keeping with thefreedom of press ethics gave a frontpage coverage as we saw and heardabout the event with pictures of thethree top placements whereas oth-ers published picture of one contes-

tant only. Fiji Sun readers wereshocked to know the inside story. Wevalue justice and truth and we can-not compromise them and give ourreaders just the one side of the story.That is bad journalism.

Fiji Sun USA is proud to havebeen the founder of the Miss Fiji-USA and to have taken lead in host-ing the first beauty pageant in theUSA for the Fiji Americans in 1993 atthe Cupatino High School, SanBruno. Miss Hssain extreme me right) won the first Fiji USA beauty queentitle. The Fiji Sun has set a commit-tee to review the pageant withan action plan to be announcedsoon. Miss Shikshaa Sharmaannounced soon.

Keeping With The Freedom of press

HAYWARD – Parents of 2009 Miss Fiji USA beauty contestant Miss Shikshaa Sharma were invited to express theirconcerns at the July 9the FANA committee meeting. Hirdey Sharma Said, “Mr. President and members presenttonight. Before I begin my comments, I would like to clarify that my statements do not direct to Miss Charity/Miss FijiUSA 2009 or her parents and families in any way but FANA...” ( See full story page 10)

First Miss Fiji-USA byFiji Sun USA in 1993

Fiji Sun readers wereshocked to know theinside story. We value

justice and truth and wecannot compromise themand give our readers justthe one side of the story.That is bad journalism.

New Delhi : Pakistan’s interpretation of the Shram-elSheikh joint statement could make the government’s tasktougher in Parliament where Prime Minister ManmohanSingh would face an aggressive opposition when he inter-venes in a debate on the contentious issue.

Pakistan’s security czar Rehman Malik punctured the twomain defence lines taken by New Delhi following the furoreon the Indo-Pak joint statement issued after Singh’s meetingwith his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani in Egypt onJuly 16. In separate interviews, Malik ruled out the possibilityof the arrest of Jamaat-ud-Dawah head Hafiz MohammedSaeed’s for his involvement in the 26/11 attacks and allegedthat New Delhi was supplying weapons to terrorists andextremists in Balochistan.

Interior minister Malik’s statement would have come as ashocker for New Delhi as the government has repeatedlyclaimed that Islamabad had promised strong action againstperpetrators of the Mumbai carnage.

In its defence for including Balochistan in the joint-state-ment, government had said it was ready to discuss any-thing with Pakistan if it wants to bring up its “internal issue” inbilateral talks. “We do not have any proof against HafizSaeed,” Malik said in an interview to Pakistan’s Geo News.“We have demanded and we are demanding from India thatif you have proof, give (it to) us, but do not do propaganda. Iassure we will take action. But just on hearsay we cannotarrest our citizen,” he said. “If New Delhi wants some credibleaction, it needs to provide substantiated evidence,” he added.

Pakistan’s stand putsManmohan in a quandary

The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recentvisit to India has been meaningful in many ways but it hasleft behind a trail of some debates as well. From day oneHillary Clinton consistently spoke about “broadening anddeepening” of good relationship between our two coun-tries. And this, certainly, was accomplished in a largemeasure. She spoke of cooperation not only between thetwo governments but between the private sector, thebusinesses and the people at large. This cooperation,she said, is intended to become the “driver of progress inthe 21st century”.

By staying in Mumbai at Hotel Taj, which was thefocus of 26/11terrorist attacks, she sent a clear signal tothe terrorists that the United States is committed to fight-ing back terror with all its might and shall not allow themto keep killing the innocent people. She also sent a clearmessage to Pakistan that t will have to dismantle theentire edifice of terror structure. “Terrorism anywhere is athreat everywhere,” she said.

The issue of terrorism has been of top most concernto both India and the US. This time there was a markedchange in the US approach to the problem. For the firsttime Clinton talked of a criminal “syndicate” that ishoused in Pakistan. It was a clear indication that the USwants Pakistan to act against not only the Taliban and AlQaida but the LeT and Jaish as well- the terrorist outfitstargeted against India. Some consolation to India.

Despite this plain speaking Hillary Clinton did leavean impression that the US was supporting Pakistan more

than what is necessary, in spite of all the damage it hasdone as much to the peace and stability of the rest of theworld as to itself. But that perhaps could be her politicalcompulsion. One tends to believe that the US under-stands the gravity of the situation in Pakistan and istreading a delicate path to carry Pakistan along in thefight against the terror outfits operating from that country.

As expected, Clinton made it clear that US had nointension to force India to enter into a dialogue with

( See full story page 6)

The upshot of Hillary’s visit

Kenyans celebratetheir win against Fiji

P-29People ProfileSharmas strike ameeting Fiji’s AG...

P-10Local News30, 000 at UK MuslimConvention

2 �� August 2009

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FIJI SUN STAFFwww.fijisun-usa.com

M H Koya (PhD)

Editor-Publisherfijisun@gmail.com510-677-4488

G D Nairradiorimjhmn@gmail.comOverseas Bureau Chief

Sydney, Australia

Faizal AliFaizal.ali2008@yahoo.com

Manisha SamyFreelance Writers

Runn Veer SinghContributor

Tom WaliaChief Photographer

510-414-7456

Sanjay Sensensahab@yahoo.com

Host Desi TV510-708-4583

FIJI SUN-USAPO Box 265

Mt. Eden, CA 94557

3�� August 2009

O ver the years, wehave maintained our

independence to ensurefree and fair reporting with-out external control.Reporting on issues of

public concern is not acrime nor is it intended tobring any disrepute to any-one. We do not succumbto any group pressure,individual influence or con-trol by our sponsors. Wedo not allow sponsors tobuy us out with threats ofboycott. We can do withoutthem. You can see wheredo they advertise and howfair and accurate thereporting is. We do our

best to give both sides ofthe story even though wemay not agree hundred percent with both sides.We have a moral and

ethical responsibility topresent the facts not fic-tions. Readers like controver-

sies and it takes a lot ofcourage to write on a con-troversial issue to keep thepublic informed of anythingthat goes wrong in ourcommunity so that thewrong is not repeated.Controversies are the main sustenance of mediaand therefore cannot beavoided. It is important to under-

stand that in the US, we donot just sweep issuesunder the carpet. We takeownership, admit our mis-takes, offer apologies andmake mends to satisfy anaggrieved party no matterhow minor the issue.

Maintaining independencefor freedom of press

James Prasad, Bob Naidu and relatives with Ms Harjot Walia Esq.,

Readers like contro-versies and it takes a lotof courage to write on a

controversial issue tokeep the public informed

of anything that goeswrong in our communityso that the wrong is not

repeated.

The chairperson of theCultural Committee

of FANA Sanjay Sen hassent out a $200 check toparents of Ms ShikshaaSharma the first runner upan the tie to Miss Fiji -USAbeauty queen’s title. Mr.Hirday Sharma, MsShikshaa’s dad is unhappywith the offer and plans to

return the check in personat the next committeemeeting as that is not whathe stressed for in the lettertwo weeks ago. Mr.Sharma said that he askedto resolve the issue of theentitlement to the Miss FijiUSA crown as the pageantcommittee violated its ownrules. He insists that public

judging should not havebeen allowed as it is notpart of the contract. Mr.Sharma also contests thatparent’s signature was notobtained.In the meantime Mohini

Kumar, one of the keyjudges, has denied the USFIJI TIMES report abouther interview.

FANA sends $200 check to firstrunner of Miss Fiji-USA

4 �� August 2009

Hayward, CA - FANA’s Youth and EducationCommittee is excited to host their 2nd Annual“Fiji Youth and Education Summit, 2009.”This year’s theme is “Empowering our

Youths.” The goal is toinspire students, who aredescendents of FijiIslands, to pursue highereducation.The summit will

include panel discus-sions. The panelists’,who are also descen-dents of Fiji, will aspireand mentor our youthtowards a career of theirchoice. The panel andspeakers have estab-

lished their careers as doctors, lawyers, phar-macists, law enforcement officers, military offi-cers, current students, entrepreneurs, and manymore.It is anticipated that 300 plus parents and stu-

dents will attend. Scholarship applications willbe handed at the event and only to students whoregister at the beginning of the summit.The vision of the summit is not only to make

a difference for the future generation of FijiCommunity residing locally in the San FranciscoBay Area but also at the national level.Events like this have proven to be very effec-

tive in “empowering our youths.” What makesan event successful is when people get to seeand meet the real people who have taken theirtime out to reach out guide the students. Theprogram, including the panelist’s and/ or speak-ers’ names will be released as we get closer tothe summit. We are accepting donations for thescholarship fund. Given the current economicconditions and drastic budget cuts in Californiaand other parts of the country, students are feel-ing the pinch. However, we do not want thesestudents to drop-out because the can no longerpay for college. Your generous donation willmean a lot. FANA maintains a separate bankaccount ???for scholarship fund and a hundredpercent of your donation will be given out asscholarships.The committee thanks the follow-ing members for selfless act to work on this pro-ject, Runnveer Singh, Sophia Hanif, SadhanaNarayan, Esq., Ben Venktash, Arvind Mani,Hanif Koya, Shimon Kanhai, Davendra Kumarand Faizal Ali. We are also looking for volun-teers.The date and details of the Fiji Youth and

Education Summit are as follows:Saturday, September 19, 2009 - 11 am to

3pmValley Business & Technology Center, Room

124California State University East Bay, 25800

Carlos Bee Blvd, Hayward, CAClosest Parking Lot: F, G, and HFree Lunch and ParkingFor more information about the summit,

scholarship program, to donate or to volunteer,please contact: Runnveer Singh, Director ofYouth and Education Committee at 510-363-7875.

YOUTH FORUM 5�� August 2009

Fiji Unity DayAN FCC EVENT

Coming up soon !fijisun@gmail.com

Want to know more about FCCCall: M H Koya –510-677-4488

Youth participate at the FijiFestival show Cal State Ground,Hayward. Young Fiji student taketo State performance at the FijiEmbassy Gala Fundraiser for FijiFlood victims April this year.

Fiji Education Summitdue Sept 19

It is anticipated that 300 plus parents and students will attend. Scholarship applications will be handed at the event and only to students

who register at the beginning of the summit.

NEWS6 �� August 2009

Attorney at LawAttorney at Law

All misdemeanors and felonies California State and Federal Crimes

thDeportation Defense Appeals (9 Cir. & BIA)

Auto Accidents Wrongful Death

(510) 887-5910(510) 887-5910

US journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee with Bill Clinton and Al Gore after arriving in California.

Karachi : When someone in Balochistansays he is going to see the Nani, he may notmean his maternal grandmother.

Hindus and Muslims alike refer to theHinglaj Mata Ka Mandir as Nani Ka Mandir.Located about four hours from Karachi, theNani Mandir is venerated by all communitiesof Balochistan and testifies to the secularnature of Baloch culture. A small temple set inthe middle of a gorge, the Nani Mandir is vis-ited by thousands each year, including manyMuslims. The pilgrimage, usually done onfoot, starts with a visit to Baba Chandrakup, amud-filled volcano. The pilgrims then go to theNani Ka Mandir, located several kilometersaway on the other side of the CoastalHighway. A few hours down the road is theKoh-e-Murad, where members of the Zikricommunity come to do ‘hajj’. The terrain isrugged and beautiful. The gorge in which the

temple is located overlooks the Hingol River,which cuts across the Balochistan province.Near to the Mandir, the river has crocodiles.The area around the river, crocodiles includ-ed, is protected as it comes under the HingolNational Park. The cave entrance is around50 feet in height. At the end of the cave is thesanctum sanctorum, which houses the holyrelic, covered by red clothes and vermilion.One has to crawl into the sanctum, take dar-shan and leave through the only other open-ing. Baloch tribal culture, with its emphasis onhospitality, protects minority communities. TheBugti clan has Hindu and Sikh members. Onesuch member, Arjun Das Bugti, even becamea member of the Balochistan Assembly.“Baloch have a very secular outlook,” saidRahim Buksh Azad, a Baloch of Zikri origin.That is why the secular Jamhoori Watan Partyand Left parties do well in the polls in Karachi.

Hingol temple symbolises Baloch secularism

Pakistan though it is supportive of bringing the twocountries closer. She pointed out that the Joint state-ment issued at Shermal Sheikh was the outcome ofthe decisions taken by the two sovereign nations. Thiswas however diluted by the US Assistant Secretary ofstate for Public Affairs Phillip.J Crowly, who describedthe meeting as the sort of engagement the US hasbeen advising the two nations to engage in. Ordinarilywhat Clinton said should be the case, though Indiansseem to be sceptical.

The agreements signed in the fields of scienceand technology, defence and space indicate the keen-ness of the two countries to enter into a strategic part-nership for the welfare of the people of the two coun-tries and the world at large. Perhaps the most impor-tant agreement, deals with starting a strategic dia-logue process which will rest on five pillars of educa-tion, health, agriculture, medicine, science and tech-nology, development and a whole range of otherissues.

New Delhi agreed to identify two sites where theUS companies can set up nuclear power plants. Thiswill however have to wait for India passing therequired liability legislation as required under the USlaw. What has led to a controversy is the conclusion ofthe End-use Monitoring agreement under which theUS will be allowed to inspect individual items obtainedfrom the US for defence purposes, to ensure thatthese are used for the purpose they are provided for.The government has however been maintaining thatthe inspection will not be at the site but at a place andtime to be decided by India. The US has such agree-ments with 83 countries.

After the recent G-8 resolution prohibiting passingon nuclear technology to countries that are not a sig-natory to the NPT, a doubt has been cast on whetherthe Indo- US nuclear deal can mean much for India.But Clinton made it clear that the deal is here to stayand the US will go in for “full nuclear cooperation” withIndia. She said the US is committed to completingremaining elements to make the deal fully operational.

What is important is that she left it on New Delhi totake a position on Signing the NPT.

Certain irritants, however, remain. On top is theissue of climate change. India has been resisting,along with China and other developing nations anycap on greenhouse gas emissions that can be detri-mental to its economic growth. Environment MinisterJai Ram Ramesh made it clear that though Indiawants the Copenhagen conference on climate changeto succeed, a legally binding cap on emissions wouldnot be acceptable to it. He denied any understandinghad been arrived at the recent Major EconomiesForum to limit the rise in temperature to 2 degreesCelsius for the developing countries by 2050. Indiacontinues to maintain that the developed countrieshave a historic responsibility of controlling greenhouse gas emissions. It says while India contributesless than 2 tons of emissions per head per year, in thecase of the US it is 20 tons, already. Happily India andthe US have decided to take a “pragmatic approach”on the issue, with Clinton assuring India that it doesnot want to do anything that can affect it’s develop-ment. Despite that assurance India will have to tacklethe subject carefully.

The Hillary visit has certainly opened new doorsfor cooperation between the oldest and the largestdemocracies of the world which, together, are home toone out of every four human beings on the planet. Butthe question that remains is how India suddenly hasbecome an important country in the US scheme ofthings. Is it because India is fast emerging as a globalpower the world would like to do business with orbecause India has been flexing its muscles by con-fronting the US in many fields? It has, for instance,become the spokesman of the developing countrieson issues like climate change, and Doha round oftrade talks. It has also opposed the monopoly of theUS dollar continuing as the single international cur-rency. Perhaps, the answer lies in a mix of all theseconsiderations.

By Sarla Handoo

Continue from Page-1

The upshot of Hillary’s visit

An influential American Senator, knownas the best friend of India in the US Senate,on Sunday apologised for “mistakenly” call-ing India instead of China a security threat tothe United States.

While defending the need to continue withF-22 programme, now being closed down byObama Administration, Senator John Cornynsaid in an interview that the US needs thesefighter jets for protecting itself from increas-ing national security threats from countrieslike North Korea, Iran and India.

Cornyn is founder and Co-Chair of theSenate India Caucus and had played a keyrole in the passage of the Indo-US civiliannuclear deal. He has been one of the primesupporter of deepening of strategic tiesbetween India and the US.

“It’s important to our national securitybecause we’re not just fighting wars inAfghanistan and Iraq... we have graverthreats and greater threats than that, from arising India, with increased exercise of theirmilitary power; Russia, Iran, that’s threaten-ing to build a nuclear weapon; with NorthKorea, shooting intercontinental ballistic mis-siles, capable of hitting American soil,” hesaid.“Senator Cornyn regrets the mistake

and apologises for any misunderstandingthis may have caused,” Kevin McLaughlin,spokesperson for Cornyn, said in a state-ment after the issue was brought to thenotice of the media by an Indian American.

“Senator Cornyn misspoke saying ‘India’when he meant to say ‘China.’ As Founderand Co-chairman of the Senate IndiaCaucus, no Senator has greater respect oradmiration for India or values our relation-ship with them more,” McLaughlin said.

“I know senator Cornyn. He is a friend ofIndia and Indian American community. Heconsiders India a strong ally of United States.There is no other senator in US senate whosupports India more than senator Cornyndoes,” said Ashok Mago, chairman of USIndia Forum. “He is the Senator who initiatedand successfully established friends of Indiacaucus in the senate. He spear headed thesupport for the civil nuclear and was first tobe co-sponsor of the bill,” Mago said.

As Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus,Cornyn is hosting a reception for new IndianAmbassador to the US Meera Shankar at theCapitol Hill next week. This is for the firsttime that Senators are giving reception to anIndian Ambassador.

US Senator apologisesfor calling India asecurity threat

“It’s important to our national security because we’re not just fighting wars inAfghanistan and Iraq... we have graver threats and greater threats than that, from arising India, with increased exercise of their military power; Russia, Iran, that’s

threatening to build a nuclear weapon; with North Korea, shooting intercontinentalballistic missiles, capable of hitting American soil,” he said.

COOKING 7�� August 2009

MMeetthhooddBoil cauliflower along with channa dal with very little

amount of water & salt, till the flowerets are just soft. Drain water if any, separate cauliflower from channa dal. Mash channa dal till soft and make coarse powder of

channa dal in mixr. Keep aside. Peel and grate the potato finely (grate just before using). Heat 2tsp of oil, add chopped onion & green chilli fry for

2min. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry till the raw smell disap-

pears. Add grated potatoes (sprinkle few drops of water if neces-

sary) let it cook with lid for 2 to 3 min Now add cauliflower mash, mix well, add red chilli pow-

der, haldi, salt, garam masala & chopped coriander & mintleaves.Mix & cook till the curry becomes a bit dry. Remove from fire & add channa dal powder & mix

throughly with hand. Make small round tikkis,dip them in thin corn flour batter. Shallow fry on a flat tawa till golden brown on both sides.

CCaatteeggoorryy :: Cookies, Chocolate,Butter, Almond, Milk

SSeerrvviinnggss :: 2TTiimmee TTaakkeenn :: 15-30 mins

IInnggrreeddiieennttss::2 cups - flour1/2 cup - butter1/2 cup - castor sugar1/2 cup - condensed milk1/2 cup - chocolate powder1/2 cup - almonds

1 tsp - baking powderSift flour and baking powder. Add chocolate powder and butter

to the sifted ingredients and rub withfingertips. Add castor sugar and chopped

almonds. Gently fold in the condensed milk

and roll into small balls. Space and place on a greased

baking tray and bake in a moderateoven at 190oC for 20 mins.

Cauliflower tikkiCCaatteeggoorryySouth indian, Healthy cutlets, Cauliflower,Snacks and refreshments

SSeerrvviinnggss :: 5TTiimmee TTaakkeenn :: 15-30 minsIInnggrreeddiieennttss1 - cauliflower (approx 300g), separate flowerets1 - potato, big (100g, approx)2 tbsp - chenna dal, soaked in water for 1/2hr1 - big onion, chopped fine1/4tsp - amchur4 - green chilli, chopped fine1 tsp - red chilli powder1/8 tsp - haldi1 tsp - ginger garlic paste

ssaalltt1/2 tbsp - chopped coriander 1tsp - chopped pudina1/2tsp - garam masala2 tbsp - oil

Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients (Serves: 6)250 gm: Paneer (cottage cheese) 1/4 cup: Beaten curd 1/2 cup: Milk 1 1/2 cup: Tomatoes (chopped fine) 1/2 cup: Onion (chopped into strips) 1/2” piece: Ginger chopped fine 2-3: Green chillies chopped fine 2-3: Cardamoms (crushed) 1/2 tsp: Garam masala

1/2 tsp: Red chilli powder 2 tsp: Tomato sauce 3 tsp: Ghee or butter

SSaalltt ttoo ttaasstteeFor Garnish 2 tsp: Grated paneer 1 tsp: Chopped coriander

MethodChop paneer into 2” fingers. Heat half the ghee. Add onion, gin-

ger, green chilli and cardamom. Fry for

3-4 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook for7-8 minutes, covered. Add curd andcook for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup waterand cool. Blend in a mixer till smooth. Heat remaining ghee, add gravy and

other ingredients except milk andpaneer. Boil to get a very thick gravy. Just before serving, heat gravy, add

milk and paneer fingers and boil for 3-4minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander and

grated paneer.

Shahi Paneer is considered to be amainstay dish especially in theNorthern parts of India. Shahi whichmeans ‘Royal’ and Paneer when trans-lated is ‘ Cottage Cheese’ gives ShahiPaneer a royal feel to it. However,Shahi Paneer is a famous dish liked bymany and is available in almost all thehotels, restaurants and roadside eater-ies. ‘Shahi Paneer’ is undoubtedly oneof the most popular dishes originatingfrom India. Presented below is thecooking method to prepare the famousIndian dish of Shahi Paneer along withthe ingredients required.

Shahi Paneer

IInnggrreeddiieennttssChutney Sweet mango pickle, mixed pickleand mint chutney in equal quantities Potato stuffing (All to taste) Grated compressed cheese Cashew nut Raisin Coriander leaves Turmeric powder Salt Main preparation Potatoes 2 tsp: Yoghurt, 2 tbsp: Chutney, 4tbsp: Sliced onions, 1 tsp: Gingergarlic paste, 2 tbsp: Clarified butter,¼ tsp: Cumin seeds , ¼ tsp:Turmeric powder, ¼ tsp: Red chillipowder, 1 tsp: Coriander powder, 2tbsp: Tomato puree , Salt to taste ,Water.

MMeetthhooddFor the Chutney Mix sweet mango pickle, mixed pick-le and mint chutney together. Thechutney is ready. For the Potato Stuffing Mix grated cheese, cashew nut,raisin, salt, coriander leaves andturmeric powder together. Thenlightly sauté them in a pan. The stuff-ing is ready. Now carve the potatoes in a barrelshape and deep-fry them in clarifiedbutter. Then scoop out the potatoesand fill them with the prepared stuff-ing and keep them aside. For the Gravy Heat clarified butter in pan. Addcumin seeds, sliced onions, gingergarlic paste. Sauté the onions tillthey turn light brown. Then add turmeric powder, red chillipowder, coriander powder, salt,tomato puree, yoghurt, chutney andwater. Mix it well. The gravy is ready. Now mix the fried potatoes andgravy together. Aloo chutney wala is ready to eat.Serve hot with rice or naan.

AAlloooo CChhuuttnneeyy WWaallaa

INTERFAITH8 �� August 2009

People from all faiths and allwalks of life were uplifted,inspired, and merged into

harmonious oneness at theInterfaith [America] CommunityBreakfast on Saturday, July 18th atthe Bay Area Family Church.Interfaith America was founded

in Dec. 2008, and since Januaryhas held quarterly breakfast pro-grams designed to make real the“Beloved Community” of whichMartin Luther King, Jr. dreamedand spoke. Interfaith Americaseeks to build heart-to-heart con-nections between people beyondall the barriers which have dividedus in the past. Reverend Cotter and his wife

welcomed over 70 people to thebreakfast program sponsored byInterfaith America, and introduceda video clip of Rev. In Jin Moon,the new President and CEO ofFFWPU, USA. In the video In Jinshared these words which set thetone for the program:“Let us raise up a Generation of

Peace, a generation of young peo-ple ... to usher in a new Millenniumof World Peace ... let’s concentrateon ... what we can do in raising ouryouth ... to give a reason for livingfor the sake of others. Once weget this giving and receivingdynamic going, there’ll be no stop-ping us.”Tesia Bobrycki captivated the

audience with her heartfelt descrip-tion of her experience in Africa,and then departed from her pre-pared speech about the activitiesof the Next Generation Academy,to demonstrate vividly the incredi-ble potential we, and especially ouryouth, have to make a difference inthe world. Theodore Timpson also inspired

us to make the world a betterplace. Drawing on his experienceas an educator, he shared hisvision of a High School that edu-cates not only the minds of ouryouth, but helps them to discoverall the dimensions of who they are. The three founders of Interfaith

America shared words from WorldScripture in preparation for theenlightening and engaging tablediscussions. The attendance and participa-

tion of young people was veryhigh, thanks in large part to theefforts of Eiko Tsukamoto, whodesigned the eye-catching flier,Sueja Goldhahn, our newestInterfaith America board member,and Kayo Sato, who passed outfliers and welcomed folks at theregistration table. The youth wasjust as diverse and enthusiastic asthe rest of us, as evidenced by thepictures below.Old friends of Interfaith America

[shown below], as well as newcom-ers such as Katya Beebe andMahum Jamal were among those

who presented the summaries ofwhat was discussed in the smallgroups. The small group discus-sions, a hallmark of InterfaithAmerica events, are designedbased on the principles ofAppreciative Inquiry to invite partic-ipants to relate to the topic andeach other based on their highestideals and deepest values.Mr. Chetan Saghvi Rev.

Stephen Brown Imam RashidPatch Rev. D. KillePastor Rene SoteroAt the close, we were graced

with a beautiful prayer offered byImam Rashid Patch.All in all, it was a very success-

ful event. We received many posi-tive survey results, and are lookingforward to the next program onOctober 24th at the Sant NarinkariMission, on 7th St. in Tracy, CA.More information can be found

at the Interfaith America websiteand the new Interfaith Americafacebook group.Photos courtesy of Shinghi

Detlefsen. Story by Mark Denni.Photo of Rev. In Jin Moon byJonathan Denni.Interfaith Community Breakfast“Youth in Service to Our

Community and Our World” July18, 2009People from all faiths and all

walks of life were uplifted, inspired,and merged into harmonious one-ness at the Interfaith [America]Community Breakfast on Saturday,July 18th at the Bay Area FamilyChurch.Interfaith America was founded

in Dec. 2008, and since Januaryhas held quarterly breakfast pro-grams designed to make real the“Beloved Community” of whichMartin Luther King, Jr. dreamedand spoke. Interfaith Americaseeks to build heart-to-heart con-nections between people beyondall the barriers which have dividedus in the past. Reverend Cotterand his wife welcomed over 70

people to the breakfast programsponsored by Interfaith America,and introduced a video clip of Rev.In Jin Moon, the new Presidentand CEO of FFWPU, USA. In thevideo In Jin shared these wordswhich set the tone for the program:“Let us raise up a Generation of

Peace, a generation of young peo-ple ... to usher in a new Millenniumof World Peace ... let’s concentrateon ... what we can do in raising ouryouth ... to give a reason for livingfor the sake of others. Once weget this giving and receivingdynamic going, there’ll be no stop-ping us.”

Interfaith Community Breakfast

“Youth in Service to OurCommunity and Our World”

INTERFAITH 9�� August 2009

Tesia Bobrycki captivated theaudience with her heartfelt descrip-tion of her experience in Africa, andthen departed from her preparedspeech about the activities of theNext Generation Academy, todemonstrate vividly the incrediblepotential we, and especially ouryouth, have to make a difference inthe world.

Theodore Timpson also inspiredus to make the world a better place.Drawing on his experience as aneducator, he shared his vision of aHigh School that educates not onlythe minds of our youth, but helpsthem to discover all the dimensionsof who they are.

The three founders of InterfaithAmerica shared words from WorldScripture in preparation for theenlightening and engaging tablediscussions.

The attendance and participationof young people was very high,thanks in large part to the efforts ofEiko Tsukamoto, who designed theeye-catching flier, Sueja Goldhahn,

our newest Interfaith America boardmember, and Kayo Sato, whopassed out fliers and welcomedfolks at the registration table. Theyouth was just as diverse andenthusiastic as the rest of us, asevidenced by the pictures below.

Old friends of Interfaith America[shown below], as well as newcom-ers such as Katya Beebe andMahum Jamal were among thosewho presented the summaries ofwhat was discussed in the smallgroups. The small group discus-

sions, a hallmark of InterfaithAmerica events, are designedbased on the principles ofAppreciative Inquiry to invite partic-ipants to relate to the topic andeach other based on their highestideals and deepest values.

Mr. Chetan Saghvi Rev.Stephen Brown Imam RashidPatch Rev. D. Kille PastorRene Sotero

At the close, we were gracedwith a beautiful prayer offered byImam Rashid Patch.

All in all, it was a very successfulevent. We received many positivesurvey results, and are looking for-ward to the next program onOctober 24th at the Sant NarinkariMission, on 7th St. in Tracy, CA.

More information can be foundat the Interfaith America websiteand the new Interfaith Americafacebook group.

Photos courtesy of ShinghiDetlefsen. Story by Mark Denni.Photo of Rev. In Jin Moon byJonathan Denni.

The directorsof InterfaithAmerica, RevMark Denni.Rev. DavidRosenblumand Dr. H.

Koya recentlyvisited theTracy

NirankariMission thevenue for

October inter-faith breakfast

meeting.

Dr. Koya ably took on the role of MC, here introducing Rev. and Mrs. Cotter.

Rev. Stephen Brown

Mr. Chetan Saghvi Imam Rashid Patch Rev. D. Kille

Pastor Rene Sotero

FIJI NEWS10 �� August 2009

Mr. President and members presenttonight. Before I begin my comments, Iwould like to clarify that my statements donot direct to Miss Charity/Miss Fiji USA 2009or her parents and families in any way butFANA.

FANA, I would like to commend yourwork in organizing the Fiji Festival. You dida great job.

Someone once said to me…..to not toaddress your concerns of a wrong doing isto condone it and that is not one of my plea-sures.

I also would like to disclose to you thatmy family members and friends kept askingme not to have my daughter enter the MissFiji USA Pageant because they were sayingthat my daughter was extremely talented forthis pageant. They continuously remindedme that my daughter’s talents were notimportant to FANA but money. They alsoreminded me that FANA always broughtcontestants at the last minute.These contestants were wealthy and theirparents would either contribute more than$5,000 or covered the expense for the wholeFestival. In return FANA would make theircontestants win Charity and Miss Fiji USApageant without any questions.

My family members also said that byentering the Miss Fiji USA 2009 pageant, Iwas allowing my daughter to become alaughing stock in public. FANA just do notcare about talents.

So, here I am tonight, before you, toaddress the breach of contract of Miss FijiUSA by FANA.

Following are my concerns : 1. FANA allowed a contestant to publicly

mimic the Asian (namely, Vietnameseor Chinese) Nail Salon Lady who didnot speak English very well. This wasan insult on the Asian community,which is considered defamation ofcharacter or making fun of anothernationality. I would like to remind youthat school districts have zero tolerancefor behavior of this type and normallystudents are expelled from school.Again, I do not hold this contestant, herparents, or community membersresponsible but FANA. FANA allowedthis to happen.

Condition #2 in the Miss Fiji USA contractclearly states that “Each contestantwarrants that his/her performancesshall not infringe (disobey) the rights (including copyright) of or defame orembarrass any person, firm or compa-ny”. Please be reminded that this wasa Pageant show and not a comedianshow. When a contestant wins apageant she represents the communityand not makes fun of them. I have alsofound out that a comedian did the exactsame mimicking of the Asian Nail SalonLady on the “YouTube”. So, how canyou treat this as the contestant’s talentwhen it was copied from the“YouTube”? Speaking of talent, thiscontestant was allowed to mimic thenail salon lady and dance at the sametime. I consider that allowing her to dotwo talents when other contestants didonly one. I am questioning FANA howthey will handle this issue.

2. Condition #9 in the Miss Fiji USA Pageantcontract states, “The selection andnumber of Judges at each stage of thecontest shall be at the Organizers’ solediscretion and the Judges’ decision atall stages of the contest is final….” I amquestioning the reason why FANA then

chose Public Judging when the con-tract clearly stated that the Judges’decision would be final. Once again, Iam asking FANA what steps are youtaking to resolve this issue?

3. What is considered a public judging to youis not what I consider. To me publicjudging is held in an open area wherethe whole community gets to participatein judging. Selling tickets for tables at abanquet hall and letting the contestantthat bought more tables and broughtmore families win the Miss Fiji USAPageant is considered family judging.This means if an extremely talented girlis not able to get all her family membersto buy tickets and come to the pageantthen she does not get to win. Insteadthe less talented contestant who couldbe very wealthy and able to buy most ofthe tables and bring all her family mem-bers gets to win. Does it make sense toyou? It doesn’t make sense to me. Also, if a very wealthy parent knowsthat his or her daughter would win Miss Charity and could be one of thetwo contestants, then he or she couldbuy 200 $25.00 tickets and submit thenumber that his or her daughter is. Heor she may not have 200 families butwould have 200 tickets and automati-cally became a winner. Does thissound like buying the votes or does itsound like FANA is indirectly selling thevotes and the judges are only there forformality?????

Could you imagine how hurtful that could beto a very talented not so wealthy con-testant?

4. Again, what I am going to address doesnot direct to Contestant #1, her parents,or her family members. I hold FANAresponsible for allowing Contestant #1enter the Miss Fiji USA contract afterthe deadline of June 10, 2009 hadended. Contestant #1 entered the con-tract on June 17, 2009. This contestantmissed more than 2 training sessions.

Condition #16 on the Miss Fiji USA Pageantcontract states that contestants who failto attend training sessions, rehearsals,photo-shoots, hair and grooming ses-sion, recording session, or other eventsrelated to the contest shall be disquali-fied if the reasons for such absence arefound to be unacceptable by the orga-nizers. Continued absence from two(2) or more sessions or events due toany reason will result in automatic dis-qualification.

5. I noticed that some parents were allowedto submit their charity money around3:00 p.m. when the deadline was 12noon. We were told that one police offi-cer, one security guard, and one officialwould be present in the booth where

the charity money would be submittedand counted. To my surprise, only onemember of FANA was present in thebooth counting and collecting the char-ity money.

FANA, I do understand financing a huge pro-ject like Fiji Festival is hard work and todo that you sometimes have to attractwealthier families or big businesses butPLEASE do not give false hopes of win-ning Miss Charity to the non wealthychildren when you already know thatthe sponsor who pays $5,000 or paysfor the whole Festival functions his/hercontestant automatically wins MissCharity. I would like to remind you thatparents who are not wealthy, their chil-dren go from door to door to sell ticketsin the hopes of winning Miss Charityand scholarship. I am requesting FANAto disclose to the community and on theMiss Fiji USA Pageant application thata contestant only wins charity if some-one pays $5,000.00 upfront or pays forthe whole Festival on the contestant’sbehalf.

I know some of the members have daugh-ters and I can assure you that whenyour daughter hurts, you hurt too. Allthe contestants were more like mydaughters and when they cried, I brokeinto million pieces. I could not sleep fortwo days. It seemed like it was myresponsibility to liven their pride.

I am proud to say that two weeks before thePageant show, my daughter said to me,“if I win Miss Charity, I will automatical-ly give the Miss Fiji USA title to the run-ner up because it is nice to share andgive another person to enjoy this beau-tiful moment. Now, this is what I teachmy children.

Mr. President, I would like to request FANArespond in writing to me as to howFANA would compensate all the con-testants for the breach of Miss Fiji USA2009 contract by FANA.

Before I end my comments for tonight, hereare some points to ponder. I would liketo present some recommendationsbefore the FANA Board and requestthat it be considered for the future con-testants

1. Eliminate the ticket system if your con-cept of whoever contributes $5,000 orcovers for the whole program would bethe winner of the Miss Charity title. Ifyou are not willing to do that please findanother alternative for Charities.Maybe bring a decision making grouptogether and brainstorm how it could bedone.

2. Should a contestant win Miss Charity,this contestant should not be allowed toenter the contest for Miss Fiji USA.

3. Please compensate all the contestantswith money considering their judgmentlevel. I do not believe so, but I know so thatFANA cares about youth in this societyand will never do anything that wouldhurt their feelings, especially the futureMiss Fiji USA contestants. I have read a lot about FANA in thenewspapers and it is funny I amaddressing some of the same issuesbefore you tonight. Mr. President, before I end my com-ments, I would like to request that thisletter be put into motion to be includedin the FANA records. I thank you for listening.

Mr. Hirday Sharma

Sharmas submit concernsat FANA meeting

( Hirday Sharma)

Miss Fiji USA shrouded in controversy. No response: Sharma

By staff writer HAYWARD - Fiji American National

Association (FANA) held its 7th FijiFestival during the July 4th weekend atCal State Hayward grounds featuringsoccer, volleyball, golf, basketball andMiss-Fiji USA beauty pageant.

With more than 13 food booths anddozens of smaller trade booths andmusic and fun whole day, this two-dayFiji Festival attracts over 5000 peopleand an estimated income of $70,000from gate takings, charity and boothrentals.

Besides soccer and golf, the crow-ing of Miss Fiji USA, usually at thefamous Chandni Restaurant in Newarkis the main highlight of the festivity.

For the 2009 Miss Fiji USA pageant,eight young girls competed for MissCharity and the Miss Fiji USA titles aftera weeklong training provided by the cul-tural committee of FANA.

Although the crowd was not as hugeas in previous years due in main for thesagging economic and the job situationaffecting Americans, the spirit amongthe turnouts was high and friendly asevery one enjoyed the music, food andfun.

More than 300 people attended the

crowning night dinner event SaturdayJuly 5th. The eight beauty pageantsappeared on stage as their selectedCDs played in the background to bejudged by a panel of 4 judges for theirtalents and beauty

At the end of 90-minute presenta-tions, the judges handed in their deci-sions which narrowed down to threefinalist two with a tie for the beautyqueen title. The Miss Charity title wentto Miss Rachana Ali. As compared tojudges decision, public casted their votefor the Miss Fiji USA in which under-standably mostly family members domi-nate. The vote counted gave the beautyqueen title also to Miss Rachana Ali.

The parents of one contestants MissShikshaa Sharma who tied with Miss Alifor the queen’s title disputed the publicjudging and in a special meeting withFANA argued their case that the allegedcontract only spoke about “judges deci-sion being final” and that public judgingdoes not form part of the contract. Mr.and Mrs. Hirday Sharma and their manyrelatives hold the view that title shouldhave rightly and legally gone to MissShikshaa Sharma. FANA is yet to makea formal response.

(L-R Miss Rachana Ali, Miss Shikshaa Sharma first runner up and MissJanice Raj second runner up.)

Fiji Festival 2009 heldat Cal State Hayward

Schools close aftertsunami warning

Most schools closed following the tsunami warning, which was cancelled later onagust First week. Suva Grammar School students return home.

Rotuma Day Celebrations 2009

FIJI/OTHER NEWS 11�� August 2009

SRI LANKA PREVAILSUPON COMMONWEALTHNOT TO SUSPEND FIJI

By Walter JayawardhanaSri Lanka opposed the contention that

Fiji should be expelled fromCommonwealth of Nations and prevailedupon the Commonwealth Ministerial ActionGroup (CMAG) with some other nations toreach a consensus decision to give thecountry enough time to revert back to afully fledged democracy at a meeting inLondon. “Sri Lanka took a positionexpressing the declared policy of PresidentMahinda Rajapaksa that no sanctions orexpulsions should be imposed on anynation as such conditions would createimmense difficulties to the innocent peo-ple”, said Sri Lankan Foreign MinisterRohitha Bogollagama talking to this corre-spondent immediately after the CMAGmeeting held at the Marlbourough House ,Pall Mall, London. The CMAG meetingchaired by the Malaysian Foreign MinisterDatuk Anifah Aman,with the participation ofGhana,Namibia,New Zealnad, Papua NewGuinea,Sri Lanka,St. Lucia,Uganda andthe United Kingdom came to a consensusdecision that Fiji should immediately reacti-vate the President’s Political Dialog ForumProcess leading to the credible electionsno later than October 2010.

It said such dialog must be indepen-dent ,inclusive , time bound and withoutany predetermined outcome.

It also said such reactivation should bedone no later than September 2009.Itrequested the Fiji regime that such com-mitment should be conveyed in a report toCMAG to be held on September 26 2009 inNew York. In reaching this decision the FijiHigh Commissioner’s statement and thestatement of the political parties agreeingfor such a process was also taken in toconsideration. The CMAG meeting , in themidst of hot arguments, deliberated thematter at length for eight hours before itcame to the consensus decision of givingtime for Fiji to revert back to a democraticgovernment in a gradual process. MinisterBogollagama at the very beginning pointedout that although some member statessuggested the suspension of Fiji from theCommonwealth of Nations the Sri LankaPresident’s declared policy expressed inthe international fora on sanctions andexpulsions suggested a line of actionopposed to that. The President had clearly

said the imposition of economic or othersanctions created immense difficulties tothe innocent civilians of the country. Citinginternational examples the Sri LankanForeign Minister said one million childrendied in Iraq due to economic sanctionsimposed by the international communityand the Commonwealth should not followsuch extreme measures. He also citedPakistan.He said it is the people of thatcountry that restored democracy. InBangladesh democracy was encouragedby the development of accurate voter reg-isters. He said the Commonwealth shouldcontinue its talks with the interim govern-ment of Fiji to bring about democraticreforms with the participation of stake hold-ers. Fragile democracies , saidBogollagama , should be assisted by theCommonwealth, to consolidate rule of law,good governance, media freedom andhuman rights. He said it is important tohave countries who are getting out of linewith democracy to be engaged by theCommonwealth with a view to encouragethem to revert back to democracy. “This isthe ideal opportunity for theCommonwealth to create this trend andmake it visible that we stand by the countryalthough we do not accept the administra-tion,” he added. “Sri lanka stands for thatprocess rather than for detachmentthrough suspension that will only lead tostrengthening some of the anti-democraticelements,” the Foreign Minister said. TheSri Lankan Foreign Minister stressed afeasible time frame should be allowed forthe interim government to return to democ-racy . He said, the coup culture prevailingin Fiji should be examined carefully androot causes have to be identified in order todevise democratic alternatives base oninclusiveness.Bogollagama told this corre-spondent that Sri Lanka’s stand was main-tained as a matter of principle whichencourages people centric inclusiveness ,development of the political empowermentand economic opportunities for the people.He emphasised that countries are not lim-ited to its soil but also include its people.“People must be connected in the decisionmaking process in the international foraand at the multi lateral platforms. Then onlywe could usher noble ideals of democracyto become a meaningful operation.

The youngest dancer of Noatau District's dancetroupe takes a break. A bevy of gold-clad Rotuman young women. The tempo rises.

Fiji’s military chief Commodore Bainimaramabeing sworn in as interim PM during ceremony inSuva, 11 Apr 2009 Fiji’s military leader FrankBainimarama has announced that thecountry’s president, Ratu Josefa Iloilo, is retiring.

Commodore Bainimarama said VicePresident Ratu Epeli Nailatikau will replace himuntil the Cabinet chooses a new president. Hesaid Mr. Iloilo’s resignation is effective Thursday.

The 88-year-old Mr. Iloilo has been ailing forsome time. He has been president since 2000.Critics have accused him of being influenced byCommodore Bainimarama, who took power in the 2006 coup.Earlier this year, a court in Fiji ruled that CommodoreBainimarama’s military government was illegal. In response,

President Iloilo declared a state of emergency inApril, revoking the constitution and firing the judi-ciary. He reinstated the military administrationwith Commodore Bainimarama as interim primeminister. He also declared a state of emergencythat allows the government to monitor and censormedia reports and broaden the powers of police.

Mr. Nailatikau, once also a military officer, wasappointed vice president under Fiji’s new system.

In May, the government said Fiji’s return todemocracy would be postponed until 2014, fiveyears later than promised. The regional Pacific

Islands Forum later suspended Fiji from the 16-nation bloc,denouncing what it said is the government’s total disregard forbasic human rights, democracy and freedom.

Fiji’s President to Step Down

BY A STAFF REPORTERCHINO HILLS, CA : Several local

Ahmadi Muslim families traveled toLondon to participate in the 43rd AnnualConvention of the UK Ahmadiyya MuslimAssociation. Also on July 29, 2009, in theearly morning, members of the localcommunity gathered at variousmosques, worship centers and in theirown homes, joined with millions of othersthroughout the world, via live satelliteconnection, in the renewal of theirpledge of initiation into the community.This year over 400,000 new membersjoined the community throughout theworld. Prior to renewing their pledgeImam Shamshad reminded the membersof the ten conditions of Initiation into thecommunity.

The 43rd Annual Convention openedwith a sermon delivered by HadhratMirza Masroor Ahmad the world Head ofthe Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at. In hisaddress he spoke of the need for allAhmadis to work towards improving theimpression of Islam within the media andsociety at large. He said ‘so called’Muslims had hijacked the name of Islamfor their own gain and because of this itwas now falsely portrayed as a religionof hatred, rather than a religion of peace.

The first full session and wasaddressed by Members of ParliamentTom Brake, Paul Burstow, JustineGreening and Baroness EmmaNicholson.

His Holiness in his various talksspoke on the importance of righteous-ness which he defined as being attainedthrough the worship of God Almighty andthrough service to humanity: the impor-tance of women in Islam and the respectthey were afforded. He said that oneaspect of Islamic faith was the wearing ofHijab which some European countries,notably France, continued to object topointing out that this was not freedom;and the concept.

Southern California MuslimsParticipate In AnnualConvention in London

Iranian police break upmourners’ protestTehran. Iranian police and security

forces broke up a demonstration by mourn-ers remembering those killed in recentpost-election clashes, and prevented MirHussein Moussavi from attending, witness-es said.

Police used batons to break up a crowdof several hundred who had gatheredaround the grave of Neda Agha-Soltan,who died during last month’s protestsagainst the re-election of PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejad. Witnesses saidthere were a number of arrests.

Neda Agha-Soltan was shot on an openstreet in Tehran June 20, and her deathbecame symbolic of the protest movementin Iran and also prompted a wave of inter-national protest after internet images of the27-year-old’s death were shown around theworld.

Witnesses said Moussavi was prevent-ed from getting out of his car when itarrived at the scene of the mourning, whichin the Shiite Muslim tradition went ahead 40days after Agha-Soltan’s death.

Demonstrators began chanting “God isGreat” and “Death to the dictator”, sloganswhich protesters have been using since theelection, as hundreds of police drove theprotesters apart in the Behesht-e Zahracemetery in southern Tehran, witnessessaid.

Official figures have put the numberkilled in recent demonstrations at 20,although an MP later stated that the num-ber was 30.

Authorities last week rejected a requestby Moussavi and another opposition lead-er, Mehdi Karrubi, to hold an official mourn-ing ceremony in Tehran’s Mosalla Square.

FIJI NEWS12 �� August 2009

By Dr. H. Koya, editor Fiji Sun

HAYWARD, CA – Speaking ata dinner gathering organized byParminder Aujla of Singh Realtyand Mortgage at Raja Sweets onWinton Street, high rankingPunjab official Suresh Kumar, sec-retary of power and irrigation tolda band of NRIs that Punjab wasdoing extremely well despitesevere draught and acute short-age of water in some of theremote rural areas. Kumar saidwhen he first took over the posi-

tion of the secretary in 1984 heused to handle at least 25 deadbodies a day in violence-relatedkillings. The number has signifi-cantly dropped over the years. Itis more peaceful now then some20 years ago. On the economicfront, Suresh Kumar said there isincreased supply of electricitythrough nuclear power plants,building of damns and extensiveirrigation work in a progressivePunjab. Overall where in manymajor countries shops and busi-nesses are closing, in Punjab and

all over India there is greater sta-bility and fewer banks and busi-nesses are closing. A peacefulenvironment has been a key fac-tor in providing economic stabilityto Punjab, Mr. Kumar explainedwho sees a continued trend forthe future. The emcee of theevening program, Ajay Pal LahoriRam ( son of late Cal StateCommissioner Lahori Ram) alsoinvited K K Sharma a colleague ofSuresh Kumar to say a fewwords. Sharma, a retired bankerand Punjab civil servant, appealed

to all NRIs to keep the Punjabiculture and language alive wher-ever they live. He was pleased tonote that there is a vibrant Punjabicommunity throughout USA.Distinguished among the NRIswere Pavitar Singh Kullar,Ramesh Singh Junjuwa, JasveerSingh Ram, Kashmir Dugga and,Ahuja Asia TodayUSA publisherTom Walia.The dinner was hostedby Parminder Aujla president ofthe Guru Govind SinghInternational Athletic Association.

Punjab is growing, peaceful and prosperous Bay Area NRIs told

Ten minutes away from the NadiInternational Airport and centrally locatedon the beach in the Nadi bay area,Smugglers Cove Beach Resort and Hotelis part of a success story that looks set tosee even better days ahead.

Owners Mark and Janice Hinton com-menced business in 2000 at nearbyHorizon Backpackers.

Six years later, the success of that ini-tial venture inspired them to buildSmugglers Cove on a beachfront propertyclose by.

Since then, Smugglers Cove hasgained quite a reputation as an affordableand at the same time exciting holiday spot.

Testimony to this is its occupancy rates,staying at around 90 percent through 20072008 & 2009 and bringing in 70 percentreturnees annually.

The average length of stay is 2 ½nights. Their target market is backpackingyouths who are keen travellers and travelregardless of country situations.

Riding on the back of SmugglersCove’s success, the Hintons have moredevelopment plans lined up.

Last month they purchased anotheradjacent lot with plans to put up a studio, 1& 2 bedroom upmarket four-star serviceapartments.

Smugglers Cove is a dual rated AAA3.5 star hotel and 4 star backpacker’s facil-ity, being the only dual rated hotel in Fiji.

Apart from being located right on thebeach and offering reasonable value formoney and upmarket facilities, it hasInternet facilities, a boutique, stunningocean and sunset views from the roomsand a “Ghost Ship Bar & Grill” located righton the beach side and which offers a con-temporary a la carte menu served islandstyle. All that combined with draft beer ontap, daily happy hour sessions and bigscreen TV in the bar make SmugglersCove quite a holiday spot for its target mar-ket. Then there’s the Smugglers Cove“Travel Zone” which offers a completerange of island hopping packages, sailingadventures, outer island accommodationand transfers options. Said Mark andJanice: “We want to upgrade our facility tofour star standards by continuously improv-ing our name and standard. We send ourstaff for training so that they can keep upwith current hospitality and technologystandards which ensures that our guestsget the best service at all times.”

It’s all sun, sea and sand at SmugglersCove.

Smugglers Cove, a growing success!

THE Shortage in supply of lambproducts was as a result of the droughtexperienced by New Zealand farmersover the past three years, says Meatand Wool New Zealand Limited.

Communications coordinatorStephanie Kuttner said Meat & WoolNew Zealand Economic Service hadreported lamb supplies down 20 percent on last year’s figures.

“This decline can be directly attribut-ed to the drought experienced by NZfarmers over the past three years andthe expansion of the dairy herd,” shesaid. Ms Kuttner said the companyanticipated that supply levels wouldstay the same next year.

Competition for the product wastough, she said, with New Zealand lamb

exporters selling to the highest payingmarkets such as the UK, Europe andthe United States. She said that couldexplain the lack of supply available tothe Fijian market.

Ms Kuttner was reacting to warningsby meat importers in Fiji that the price oflamb neck was expected to risebecause of a shortage in supply fromNew Zealand.

Tebara Halal Meats Limited directorMohammed Jannif said there was a riskof all lamb prices increasing.

He was adamant that the price forlamb neck pieces would increase soon.

He said the price of lamb increasedover the years and the company’s lambimports were determined by the price oflamb in New Zealand.

Drought affectslamb supply

AS the Vodafone Hibiscus Festival is just a few weeks away,King contestant Jonathan Autar is excited to be part of a worthycause. The 21-year-old, is sponsored by Lala’s Store for this year’sKing Contest. Being an outdoor person, Jonathan is also part of thenational team for the sport of outrigger canoeing while he joins theTakia Club. “I was influenced by a friend to take part in this contest.“Iknow the week of the festival will be a hectic and enjoyable time forall of us. “We will meet a lot of people and learn a lot and doing com-munity visits and public appearances during the festival week,” hesaid. Jonathan is a second-year student at the University of theSouth Pacific, doing a double major in Accounting and Banking.

“Another reason I want to join the Vodafone Hibiscus Festival isto gain confidence. He also thanked Lala’s Store for sponsoringhim, despite the hard times, businesses are facing.

At this year’s Vodafone Hibiscus Festival, Jonathan will beadvocating for children’s rights and responsibilities.

Autar to campaignfor kids’ rights

697 flu casesin July

THERE were 697 cases of influenza-like ill-ness by the end of last month, and at the end ofJune, there were 336 cases of influenza. Butthe Health Ministry insists the situation is nor-mal due to current weather conditions Ministryspokesman Iliesa Tora said flu cases woulddecrease once the cold weather subsides,adding people must drink lots of fluids and eatvegetables and fruits. and exercise regularly,”he said. Mr Tora said the ministry was alsomonitoring Pandemic H1N1 cases through divi-sional teams. He said although concerns wereraised by school managers about the high rateof absenteeism, the ministry was confident thatH1N1 had been contained and prevented fromspreading. “Our concern now is ensuring thatmembers of the public, especially children, donot get sick from the seasonal flu,” he said.

All about pastaIt’s our commonest notion of Italian food. And justifiably so, for

pasta is at the heart of Italian cooking and eating. And they’vebeen eating the Italians are crazy about pasta and have over theyears, developed an array of sizes and shapes stuff for centuries.One story goes that Marco Polo brought noodles to Italy after histravels to China. But there’s also evidence that Italians were famil-iar with pasta eons before that. Whatever the historical origin,there’s little doubt that Italians are crazy about their pasta andhave, over the years, developed an array of sizes and shapes andsauces to go with pasta. While dried pasta, which is easy to store,is now popular, freshly made and artisanal pastas are held in highregard by gourmets. Pasta shapes have interesting names andmany sauces have a history to them — all of which makes themmuch more interesting. Here’s a quick guide to knowing yourpasta shapes and sizes : Long pasta: These include cappellid’angelo (angel’s hair), spaghetti, spaghettini, linguine, bucatini,fusilli lungi. All suitable for tomato sauces, herb based sauces,carbonara and Bologna sauce. Angel’s hair pasta, for instance,combines beautifully with crabmeat and other seafood.

13�� August 2009

Indian, Pakistani and Islander’s Full line of Groceries !

DVDs, CDs & AUDIO CASSETES Pooja Items and all Kinds of Spices

Religious Books ! Musical Instruments !

( Check out our Arabic-Islamic Section)

Try our Chasers brand Bhuja and snacks from New Zealand Brand

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Presentation ItemsLamb

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Canned FoodsFresh

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14 �� August 2009

Lots of on street and on site parking at the new location.

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We carry full rage ofFiji Foods and

product !Canned items.

Casava ! Kava !Lamb Chops !Curry pieces !

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CD Bhajans !Lok Geet

15�� August 2009

16 �� August 2009

Fiji Day Festival City of Modesto Fiji Sun GalleryPhotos by Fazial Ali

17�� August 2009

Fiji Day Festival City of Modesto

18 �� August 2009 BOLLYWOOD

Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, whose real lifecould resemble a movie potboiler drama,turned 50 on july 29 .

“Sanju baba”, as the macho man of Hindi moviesis fondly called, is in Cape Town, South Africa,shooting for Anil Kapoor’s home production NoProblem directed by Anees Bazmee.

He will have a quiet “working” birthday but asmall get-together on the sets will take place.

The actor’s wife Manyata and close friends fromthe film industry and outside are already in CapeTown to be with him on his special day.

Incidently, younger sisters Priya Dutt andNamrata Kumar have chosen not to be with theirbrother.

Sources close to Priya said she was busy withthe Parliament Session in Delhi.

Life has come a full circle for the actor, who is thefirst child of legendary Nargis and Sunil Dutt.

Born with a silver spoon, Sanjay has faced trialsand tribulations in his personal life including drugaddiction and conviction in the 1993 Mumbai serialbomb blasts besides his controversial marriage withManyata recently, with grit and determination.

He made an unsuccessful debut in politics join-ing the Samajwadi party on the eve of Lok Sabhaelections. The party chose him as candidate for theLucknow parliamentary seat but the Supreme Courtrefused to stay his six year conviction.

He was subsequently made the general secre-tary of Samajwadi party.

After the elections, the actor was back to the stu-dios and went to Goa to complete the shooting of Allthe Best produced by Ajay Devgan and directed byRohit Shetty.

During the election campaign, he openly criti-cised the Congress party accusing it of beingresponsible for his father’s death.

Sanjay also ridiculed sister Priya Dutt, CongressMP for continuing to use her maiden surname after

marriage.Meanwhile, filmmaker Mahesh Bhat, who direct-

ed him in films like Naam and Sadak, said thatSanjay was a “survivor”.

“In this unforgiving business, it is difficult to sur-vive for even five years. But, Sanjay’s career haslasted for nearly three decades. This speaks vol-umes of the kind of metal he is made up of,” Bhatsaid.

He said Sanjay has seen too many lows in hislife and has fought back to stay afloat.

“You can’t count him out even at the age of 50because he will get back in fighting form,” he said.

The filmmaker said Sanjay has had a great lifewith tragic twists...Sanjay’s first wife Richa died ofcancer when daughter Trishala was still a toddler inthe United States. The daughter, now a youngwoman, continues to stay with her maternal relativesin the US.”

“The actor possesses the genetic assets ofNargis and Sunil Dutt. He is obbsessive to his com-mitments. He gives his heart out completely to what-ever he does,” he said.

The actor’s recent film Luck got him appreciationfor his style and stunts. He has played the leadingman since the time he made his debut in Rocky in1981. Only in Mission Kashmir and Kidnap, he hasplayed father to Hrithik Roshan and Minnisha Lambarespectively.

Even though Sanjay has played different kinds ofroles in his eight-year-old career including under-world gangster, his most famous recent portrayalshas been of Munnabhai MBBS and Lage RahoMunnabhai.

Sanjay was arrested under TADA after his namecropped up during investigations of the 1993Mumbai bomb blasts for links with the under world.He remained in jail twice. He was absolved of TADAcharges and was booked under Arms Act for pos-session of illegal weapons.

‘Sanju baba’‘Sanju baba’turns 50

Madonna turns correspondentfor Israeli newspaper

‘Queen of Pop’Madonna has turnedcorrespondent forIsrael’s biggest news-paper.

The 50-year-old popstar’s article on her con-version to the Jewishcult of Kaballah hasbeen displayed promi-nently on the front pageof ‘Yediot Ahronot’ witha byline.

The article titled‘How My Life Changed’was translated intoHebrew by the paperand an excerpt of it waspublished Wednesdaywhile the full article will be published tomorrow.

In her article, the controversial singer describes her reli-gious awakening more than a decade ago.

The singer who was born a Christian had alienated theChurch with her antics including her many sexually explicitstage shows where she had appeared crucified. The ‘MaterialGirl’ is an astute follower of Kaballah and has adopted theHebrew name of Esther and studies Jewish mysticism. Shehad also made a private pilgrimage to Israel in 2004 and willperform two shows in the country in September as part of her‘Sticky & Sweet’ international tour.

Cinema has always been a reflectionof its time. In the 1970s Mr Bachchanprojected the angst of the commonman, which is why most of his filmswere superhits.

The 1960s were about post-Independence. So most films madein the 1960s were set in the hill sta-tions.

Because there was political may-hem, the 1980s was all aboutremakes. However, it was the worstpart of our films. We said nothing. Infact, films of the 1980s are stillhounding us. Even now, we are bear-ing the consequences.

The films of the last decade wereall about mushy love stories. Someof the best films are love stories —be it Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, DilwaleDulhaniya Le Jayenge, RajaHindustani, or Hum Aapke Hai Kaun.

Since we’ve gone in the 2000zone, there have been just three orfour love stories. All the iconic filmshave been on socially relevantthemes — be it Rang De Basanti,Taare Zameen Par, or Chak De!India.

‘Films from the1980s are stillhounding us’

Scarlett to play Marilyn Monroe?

The 24-year-old actress is apparentlycompeting with the likes of Kate Hudson,Amy Adams and Michelle Williams for therole in the film titled “My Week WithMarilyn”, reports contactmusic.com.

The movie is based on the diary of ColinClark, an employee of notedShakespearean actor Laurence Olivier,who looked after Monroe when she was inLondon to film Olivier’s “The Prince and theShowgirl” in 1957. In the diary, Clark talks

about showing Monroe around QueenElizabeth’s private apartments at WindsorCastle. He published excerpts of his diary in1958, but left the details of that one weekout. These chapters weren’t released untilhe died in 2002, but will now form the basisof the movie.

British film writer Adrian Hodges hasadapted the new chapters into a script andthe film will be directed by Simon Curtis,while David Parfitt will be producing it.

BOLLYWOOD 19�� August 2009

Age is just a numberfor these dudes

Katrina and Akshay One of the hottest couples ofBollywood have 16 years of agedifference. Akshay Kumar is41and Katrina Kaif is 25. Theduo would be next seen in Blue.

Naseeruddin Shah and Vidya BalanVishal Bharadwaj’s Isqiya re-volves around three romanticpersonalities played by Ar-shad, Vidya and Naseer.Vidya and Naseer have anage difference of more than30 years. Naseer is 59,whereas Vidya is 27.

Saif and DeepikaWith 15 years of age-difference,Saif Ali Khan (38) and DeepikaPadukone (23) are all set to siz-zle in Love Aaj Kal next week.

Govinda and SushmitaGovinda (45) was first seenwith Sushmita Sen (34) inKyunki Main Jhooth Nahi Bol-ta. Now the duo would beseen together again in DoKnot Disturb.

Sunny and UditaSunny Deol would be seen opposite30 years younger Udita Goswami inthe film upcoming film Fox.

Aamir and KareenaAamir Khan is 44 and Ka-reena Kapoor is 28. The duoare working together in MainAur Mrs Khanna.

Salman andAyeshaSalman Khan(43) and AyeshaTakia (23) wouldbe seen inWanted.

Kareena and SalmanSalman Khan (43) would ro-mance a much younger KareenaKapoor (28) in the film Main AurMrs Khanna.

Aishwarya and RajinikantThe duo would be seen inEndhiran. Rajnikanth is 58while Aishwarya Rai is 35.

Danny Denzongpa isTamang, who is on thelookout for people with

‘luck’. These lucky people willparticipate in a Fear Factor-likecontest, where they will need alltheir luck to survive; the unluckywill die.

So Tamang delivers reamsand reams of dialogue on luck,people with luck, how luck canchange, how luck can save you,how luck can do this, luck cando that, and so on. If my repeat-ed use of the word is alreadygetting your goat, then you canwell imagine what it would belike to watch this film, called —sigh! — Luck.

Welcome to the new-ageHindi action film. The dialoguesare cheesy, the characterssketchy, the story nonsensical,and the scenes lifted straightfrom foreign films. Sanjay Guptabeware, someone else is tread-ing your path.

Immediately after the open-ing sequence, which introducesthe character of gangster/bettorMousa (Sanjay Dutt, who else!),you know the film would requireyou to suspend disbelief if youare to be able to enjoy it at all.

Ram Mehra (Imran Khan, ourhero) needs to run away toAmerica, away from creditorsleft behind by his late father. Heneeds money and he needs itfast. You are supposed to pinefor the sweet and vulnerablehero, even if he is shown takinghis mother shopping in a mallbarely days after his father’sdeath.So, our hero meetsTamang, who takes him toSouth Africa to be part of a con-test that will require him toexhibit some daredevilry. It doesnot matter that the hero is abanker. He can jump, run, fightatop a moving train — he is thehero, remember? There are oth-ers too — a retired army man (ajaded Mithun Chakraborty), aPakistani (Chitrashi, good) anda serial killer Raghav (RaviKishan, apt).

There is Shruti Haasan too,playing a girl called Ayesha. Itturns out that she is actuallyNatasha, Ayesha’s twin out towreak vengeance on Moussawho, she thinks, was responsi-ble for Ayesha’s death. She

makes one of the most lacklus-tre film debuts in a role that isalmost incidental. She acts like akid performing her first stageshow at her school annual day.It would be surprising if she hasactually done any.

Dialogue writer/directorSoham Shah was probably notsure that audiences wouldunderstand that his film, titledLuck, is all about luck. So hemakes his characters repeat itso many times through the filmthat it almost becomes a dirtyword.

Shah also happily steals dia-logues from action films of the1980s and 1990s, which used tobe a rage among frontbenchers.“Bhaade pe toh tattu bhi miltehain“, “yeh khud khushi nahi,khud ki khushi hai“, and “mainaadmi kharidta nahi, bhaade peleta hoon“ leave you feeling astrange mixture of consternationand amusement. You crack up,however, when Mousa tellsRam, “Tumhe mere saath wahikarna hai jo tumne uss raatTamang ke saath kiya tha.” Talkof innuendo!

The film starts off better thanit ends. The first half hooks youwith some interesting action

sequences and slick cinematog-raphy, but soon your interestbegins to flag. The last 20 min-utes simply leave you bewil-dered. Our hero gets shot in thechest but survives, because his“heart is on the right side”. Thedoctor holds up an X-rayexplaining to our hero what iscalled a “mirror image”. Ourhero looks back, incredulous.Exactly our reaction!

Our hero is Imran Khan. Afterhe charmed you as Jai in hisdebut film Jaane Tu... Ya JaaneNa, which seemed to have beenwritten for him, he has only dis-appointed audiences. In Luck,Khan goes a step further, prov-ing he is anything but heromaterial. Though his acting hasalways been suspect, in Luck hedoes everything a quintessentialHindi film hero should do —dance, fight, emote — and failson all three counts. If he is stillconsidered among the brightnew prospects of Hindi cinematoday, he has been plainly lucky.

That may change after thisfilm. What doesn’t seem tochange, however, is the way ourfilmmakers blow up money,time, and resources, film afterfilm. What luck!

Film Review

Director :

Soham Shah

Cast :

Mithun Chakraborty Sanjay DuttImran KhanShruti HaasanRavi KishanChitrashi RawatDanny Denzongpa

Rating: *½

Luck (U/A)

The film starts off better than it ends. The firsthalf hooks you with some interesting action

sequences and slick cinematography, but soonyour interest begins to flag. The last 20 minutessimply leave you bewildered. Our hero gets shotin the chest but survives, because his “heart ison the right side”. The doctor holds up an X-rayexplaining to our hero what is called a “mirrorimage”. Our hero looks back, incredulous.

Exactly our reaction!

20 �� August 2009

WORLD NEWS 21�� August 2009

Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah (L), one of the 41 contenders in theupcoming election, and Khapera Yusufi (R) of Aina Afghanistan Foundation, whichhas endorsed Abdullah, arrive at a campaign event in Kabul on August 3, 2009.Afghanistan’s people will go to the polls to elect the next president on August 20.

AAffgghhaannss ggeeaarr uupp ffoorr ppoollllss

House of Lords’ law func-tion passes into history

London. The House ofLords will cease to beBritain’s highest court ofappeal as the law lords moveacross the street inWestminster to a newSupreme Court, ending morethan six centuries of tradi-tion.The creation of the

Supreme Court is part ofGordon Brown government’sparliamentary reform, and alaw to create the SupremeCourt was passed in 2005.On Thursday, the House ofLords will hear the last set ofappeals as the law lordspass into history.The 12 law lords, who

constituted the highest courtof appeal, will function asjustices of the SupremeCourt, and move from theHouse of Lords to theMiddlesex Guildhall onParliament Square. Thecourt will start functioningfrom 1 October.After this afternoon, the

law lords will lose their rightto speak and vote in theHouse of Lords until their

retirement as justices of thenew court. The creation ofSupreme Court means thatthe judicial functions willfinally be separated fromParliament, which willbecome a purely legislativebody.The Supreme Court’s pro-

ceedings will be televised,with justices seated at eyelevel with the lawyers andthe visiting public in thecourtrooms. FlashbackWilliam Gladstone proposeda Supreme Court in 1873.The Conservatives opposed

him, and when BenjaminDisraeli was returned asPrime Minister, his govern-ment put through theAppellate Jurisdiction Act of1876, creating the Lords ofAppeal in Ordinary, to givethe law lords their correcttitle.But the House of Lords

has been hearing cases formuch longer than that. Theyacted as a law court in thethe Middle Ages, although, ofcourse, the final court ofappeal back then was theking.

Washington. President BarackObama said the United States waswitnessing the“beginning ofthe end” of itsworst recessionin decades. Speaking at

a townhall-stylegathering inRaleigh, NorthC a r o l i n a ,Obama sound-ed optimistic onthe state of the US economy butwarned that massive job losseswere likely to continue for sometime. “We may be seeing the begin-

ning of the end of the recession.But that’s little comfort for all thefolks who lost their job,” Obamasaid. “We know the tough timesaren’t over.” The US government is set on

Friday to release its first figures forsecond-quarter economic output.Economists are bracing for a con-traction of about 0.7 per cent,which would be much better than a5.5-per cent drop reported in thefirst quarter. Many expect the recession will

come to an end some time in thesecond half of the year. But unem-ployment, which is currently at 9.5per cent, could well rise into doubledigits in the coming months.

Colombo. Having takenover as the chief of the LTTEafter the death of VelupillaiPrabhakaran, alleged armssmuggler SelvarasaPathmanthan has appealedto India to “understand” andhelp the Sri Lankan Tamils inachieving their dream ofTamil Eelam.The new leader of the Liberation

Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which hasbeen fighting for a separate Tamilhomeland in Sri Lanka for the pastthree decades, also said someleaders in Tamil Nadu were “unwill-ing” to accept the truth thatPrabhakaran is no more.“India stood by the marginalised

people in the past and helped themachieve liberation. Eelam Tamils

across the globe believethat India will help themachieve liberation as it didin the past. India shouldunderstand us,” he wasquoted as saying by a pro-LTTE Tamil website.Pathmanathan, who

was last week appointedas the leader of LTTE, said

several countries in the world,including India, have expressedtheir concern to Sri Lanka about thesufferings of Tamils.“They (Vaiko and Nedumaran)

are unwilling to accept the truth.Our leader attained martyrdomalong with other cadres in the lastphase of war at Mullivaikkal,” hetold a newspaper from an undis-closed location in Europe.

The DubaiSat-1, the United ArabEmirates’ (UAE) first earth observa-tion satellite launched last daysfrom Kazakhstan, has reached itsdesired position in the earth’s orbit,WAM news agency reported. The ‘eye in the sky’ satellite has

achieved optimal position in orbitaround the earth and has success-fully connected with the EmiratesInstitution for Advanced Scienceand Technology (EIAST) earthobservation station in Dubai, thereport said, quoting officials.“With the blessing of Allah, the

launch process was completelysuccessful, and DubaiSat-1 is nowcarrying the UAE’s flag into space,”said a jubilant Ahmed Al Mansoori,

director general of EIAST.“DubaiSat-1 is undoubtedly a

sterling addition to the UAE’s strate-gic accomplishments and what wehave achieved so far can beattributed to the hard work and ded-ication of our national engineersand scientists,” he said.Comparing the achievement

with the moon landing, Al Mansoorisaid: “While the moon landing wasa huge leap for humanity, DubaiSat-1 is a huge leap for the UAE’s sci-ence and technology initiatives, andfor our nation’s aspirations.”“The satellite will orbit 680 km

above the earth with an orbitalspeed of 27,000 km per hour,” headded.

The satellite was launched fromKazakhstan’s Baikonour launchingground at 10:40 pm (UAE time) onWednesday under the supervisionof UAE engineers and scientists,who are responsible for more thana third of the project’s implementa-tion.The EIAST confirmed that scien-

tists at the Dubai earth observationstation were able to stabilizeDubaiSat-1 in its desired positionand deployed its solar panels,which will power the satellite for thenext five years.The EIAST will organise a press

conference on August 4 to informthe details of the progress and func-tioning of the satellite.

End of USrecession insight: Obama

UAE launches its first earthobservation satellite

India should help Tamils inachieving Tamil Eelam: LTTE

Mumbai: Anil Dhirubhai AmbaniGroup company RelianceInfrastructure today said it hasbeen awarded the Rs 11,000-croreMumbai Metro-II project on a BOTbasis.The project is for a concession

period of 35 years with an exten-sion clause of another 10 years,the company said in a statement.“We are happy to win Mumbai

Metro-II, which is the third projectthat Reliance Infrastructure haswon in a row. We are confident of

developing this project within 5years from the date of financial clo-sure,” Reliance Infrastructure CEOand Whole-time Director Lalit Jalansaid.The company had earlier been

awarded Mumbai Metro-I(Versova-Andheri-Gatkopar corri-dor) and Delhi Airport ExpressLine.Scheduled to be operational by

2015, Mumbai Metro II would pro-vide a link between Navi Mumbaiand the western suburbs, connect-

ing Charkop in the north to Bandraand to Mankhurd in the east.The length of the project is 32

kilometres and it would have 27stations en-route.The project has been awarded

by Mumbai Metropolitan RegionDevelopment Authority (MMRDA)through an international competi-tive bidding process.Reliance Infrastructure has won

the project in consortium with SNCLavolin Inc, Canada, and RelianceCommunication.

Anil Ambani’s R-Infra winsMumbai Metro-II project

PAKISTAN UPDATES22 �� August 2009

Islamabad : Pakistan’s civiliangovernment reiterated, it had “noevidence” that Al-Qaeda master-mind Osama bin Laden was in thenuclear-armed Muslim country, asWashington has charged.“Al-Qaeda and Taliban have

threatened Pakistan, attacked oursecurity forces, killing innocent civil-ians and targeted our leadership,”said Information Minister QamarZaman Kaira in a statement.“We are therefore combating ter-

rorism in our own interest. We donot want our efforts to be under-mined by hypothetical assump-tions,” he added.The statement from his office

said there “is no evidence thatOsama bin Laden is present inPakistan” and that “those makingclaims of his presence in the coun-try should provide valid proof of it”.Last week, a US counterterror-

ism official told AFP one of binLaden’s sons “may be dead” follow-ing reports he was likely killed by aUS missile strike in Pakistan earlier

this year. It was unclear whetherSaad bin Laden was close to thelocation of his father, who isbelieved to be hiding in the ruggedmountainous tribal belt along theAfghanistan-Pakistan border, whenhe died. The last audio messagesaid to be from Osama bin Ladenand released by Al-Qaeda wasaired in June on Al-Jazeera when

he accused US President BarackObama of following George WBush’s policy in “antagonizingMuslims.” And although Obama hasvowed to hunt down bin Laden, theAl-Qaeda leader has eluded cap-ture. Washington has put Pakistanat the heart of the fight against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban as part of anew war strategy ordering an extra21,000 troops to neighbouringAfghanistan in a bid to stabilise thecountry for August elections.In March, Obama said multiple

intelligence estimates warned Al-Qaeda was actively planningattacks on the US homeland from“its safe-haven in Pakistan.”Since the September 11, 2001

attacks, Al-Qaeda and its alliesmoved into the remote Pakistanifrontier areas, Obama said.“This almost certainly includes

Al-Qaeda’s leadership: Osama binLaden and Ayman al-Zawahiri,” headded, urging Pakistan to becomea stronger partner in flushing themilitants out of their safe havens.

‘No evidence’ bin Ladenin Pakistan: Islamabad

NEW DELHI : India hasbeen asking Pakistan to handover 42 fugitives includingDawood Ibrahim but Islamabadhas refused to cooperate, for-eign minister S M Krishna toldRajya Sabha. Replying to ques-tions, he said a list of 42 fugi-tives both Indian and Pakistaninationals, including onesinvolved in the 1993 Mumbaiseries bomb blasts and the26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai,has been given to Islamabad.Krishna said whatever evidenceand dossier is given, Pakistan’srefrain is that it is not enoughand cannot be proven in courtof law. He said Pakistan hasdenied presence of dreadedcriminals like Dawood Ibrahim,Tiger Memon, Chota Shakeeland Lakhbir Singh who areamong the Indian nationals inthe list. “For Pakistani nationals,

Pakistan has pointed to lack ofextradition treaty and lack of

evidence,” he said. “We havemade 11 futile attempts withPakistan to conclude an extradi-tion treaty,” he said. Pakistanhas not responded “positively toour proposals to conclude anextradition treaty,” he said. “Wehave been impressing uponPakistan that it is in the interestof both countries that we enterinto a treaty of extradition,”Krishna said. “Government isendeavouring to persuadePakistan to develop a coopera-tive relationship with India.”Krishna said India will continueto improve relations withPakistan despite Islamabad’sreluctance. “In spite of Pakistan’s reluc-

tance to help us to improve ourrelations, India’s endeavour willbe to continue to impress uponPakistan that we have to havegood neighbourly relations,” hesaid. “Our hope is that Pakistanwill see sense in such kind ofapproach,” he added.

Pak refuses to hand overDawood, says Krishna

Tiger row embar-rasses Pakistan

politicianIslamabad : The family of

Pakistan’s main oppositionleader has come under fire forimporting a Siberian tiger andhousing the animal expensivelyat a private zoo in the middle ofa sizzling summer. A nephew of former prime

minister Nawaz Sharif and sonof the popular chief minister ofPunjab province ShahbazSharif imported the tiger lastmonth after obtaining a specialpermit. The tiger was housed ina special enclosure on theSharif family farm in Punjab.The cost of the air-conditioningtriggered a media uproarbecause few Pakistanis canafford such luxuries.Sulieman Sharif shipped the

animal from Canada after get-ting the necessary permitsdespite a ban on the privateimport of large cats, officialssaid. The media criticised themove, saying that the com-pound would use the localelectricity supply at a time ofpower shortages, and the fami-ly made arrangements for itsrelocation.“Shahbaz was rightly dis-

pleased with his son for his dis-regard of international lawsand... for purchasing andimporting (a) highly priced andendangered wild animal,” theinfluential Dawn newspapersaid. Sulieman’s private secre-tary Sikandar Pasha said thefamily decided to give the ani-mal to the government of NorthWest Frontier Province(NWFP), where temperaturesin the mountains are signifi-cantly cooler.

Islamabad : Pakistan has said itcannot arrest outlawed Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz MohammadSaeed, linked by India to theMumbai terror attacks, since thereis no proof of his involvement in the26/11 assault.Saeed will not be arrested mere-

ly on the basis of statements linkinghim to the attacks and the Indiangovernment has been asked to pro-vide proof of his involvement in anymisdeeds, Pakistan’s InteriorMinister Rehman Malik has said.“We do not have any proof

against Hafiz Saeed,” Malik toldGeo News channel in an interview.“We have demanded and we are

demanding from India that if youhave proof, give (it to) us, but do notdo propaganda. I assure we willtake action. But just on hearsay wecannot arrest our citizen,” he said.

“If New Delhi wants some credi-ble action, it needs to provide sub-stantiated evidence,” he added.Malik said Pakistan had also

sought information from India aboutIndian citizens who were allegedlyinvolved in the Mumbai attacks. Heclaimed Indians were equallyinvolved in the incident.He said India would have to pro-

vide information on how the attack-ers travelled to Mumbai by boatwithout being detected and whorefuelled their boat at sea.Saeed was placed under house

arrest in December last year afterthe UN Security Council declaredthe JuD a front for the bannedLashker-e-Taiba. Saeed was freedfrom detention on the orders of theLahore High Court on June 2.The federal and Punjab govern-

ments challenged his release in the

Supreme Court earlier this month.However, the Punjab provincialgovernment has said it could with-draw from the appeal as the federalgovernment had not providedsufficient evidence against Saeed.Five LeT operatives, including

operations commander ZakiurRehman Lakhvi, arrested byPakistani security agenciesare currently facing trial in an anti-terror court for alleged involvementin the Mumbai attacks. Referring tothe inclusion of Pakistan’s concernsabout alleged Indian interference inBalochistan in the joint declarationissued after the recent meetingbetween Prime Minister YousufRaza Gilani and his Indian counter-part Manmohan Singh, Malik saidevidence in this regard will be dis-closed at international forums at theappropriate time.

No proof against Hafiz Saeedin 26/11 attacks: Malik

Islamabad : Pakistan ForeignMinister Shah Mehmood Qureshion Saturday welcomed PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh’s state-ment favouring dialogue betweenthe two countries and said itmatched Islamabad’s point ofview. Singh’s statement, madeearlier this week in the Indian par-liament, was a “positive develop-ment”, Qureshi said. “It matches Pakistan’s point of

view and our federal cabinetissued a statement in support ofthis gesture,” he told reporters inhis hometown of Multan.Intervening in a parliamentarydebate on the Indo-Pak joint state-ment issued in Sharm-el-Sheikh,

Singh said on Wednesday it was“in our vital interest to make sin-cere efforts to live in peace withPakistan” and emphasised thatIndia wanted good relations withthe neighbouring country.Responding to questions about

India’s acquisition of sophisticatedweapon systems, Qureshi saidPakistan does not want to indulgein an arms race in the region but is“fully alive” to its defence needs.Pakistan has confidence in its

defence capabilities and nuclearbalance exists in the region, hesaid. Qureshi said he would meethis Indian counterpart on the side-lines of the UN General Assemblysession in New York in September.

Manmohan’s statement matchesPak’s point of view: Qureshi

LeT, JeM supportedTaliban to destablise

Pakistan: MalikIslamabad : Pakistan-based

outlawed groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammedhave supported the Taliban andAl Qaida in destabilising thecountry, Interior MinisterRehman Malik has said. Malik,who made the remark while talk-ing to a Pakistani TV news chan-nel, did not give details of thelinkages between the two outfitsand the Taliban and Al Qaida.Pakistan recently acknowl-

edged that the Mumbai terroristattack was planned and execut-ed by the LeT, which wasbanned in the country in 2002.However, Malik recently ruled

out arresting LeT founder andJamaat-ud-Dawah chief HafizMohammad Saeed, saying therewas no concrete evidence link-ing him to the Mumbai incident.While talking to the TV chan-

nel, Malik also disclosed thatelements in Pakistani intelli-gence agencies who were sym-pathetic to terrorists hadresigned or had been arrested.Some of these persons were

officers of the rank of major andhad wanted to target army gen-erals, he said. There were someelements in intelligence agen-cies who had links with terrorists,including Tehrik-e-TalibanPakistan chief Baitullah Mehsudand commanders Qari Ilyas andQari Hussain. These elementsalso had links with bannedgroups, Malik said. He said theSouth Waziristan tribal regionhad become a “hub of anti-stateactivities” and terrorists fromseveral areas, including Hanguand Bajaur and MohmandAgencies, were operatingagainst the security forces.

Baluch rebels kill fourPakistan police: policeQuetta :Separatist rebels shot deadfour policemen and threatened to exe-cute 21 hostages unless Pakistanwithdraws paramilitary troops and re-leases detainees in the southwest, po-lice said. The bullet-ridden bodies offour policemen were thrown by mis-creants in the Naseerabad area andthey were taken to the nearby town ofDera Murad Jamali,˜ senior police offi-cial Shariq Jamal told AFP in Baluchis-tan province. Insurgents last weektook hostage a group of policemenand labourers. Last Thursday, four po-licemen were killed by the rebels, hesaid. Another 10 policemen and 11labourers remain in captivity in theprovince, which borders Afghanistanand Iran. We are trying to secure therelease of hostages and have request-ed tribal elders to help us in this re-gard,˜ Jamal said.

LIFE STYLE 23�� August 2009

Anupriya and Naina are twinswho have just started working.Anupriya is a copywriter at anadvertising agency while Naina isan investment banker.

Because of the nature of theirjobs, they step out of the houseevery day looking completely dif-ferent. "Naina always wears for-mal clothes. Jeans are whateverybody in my team wears,"says Anupriya. Poonam Vakil, a make-up

artist, says dressing right is notenough. You have to make sureyour make-up complements yourimage and office atmosphere.Here's what she suggests:

��Casual chica If you have a back-end job in

the media, casual is probably thedress code at office. Some tipsthat would add some spunk to acasual you:A media job usually means

long hours. Many people in thesejobs have dark circles under theireyes. Your make-up should con-ceal this," says Vakil. After apply-ing moisturiser, use a translucentpowder to hide your dark circles,suggests Vakil.Next comes eyeliner and mas-

cara. "Don't wear too much of thisif you don't want to look too dolledup. Use a plain gloss or nudecolours on your lips so that youdon't look too loud," she says.

Vakil says you don't have touse nail paint if your office atmo-sphere is casual. "But make surethey are neat. They should not be

chipped. Use a buffer to smoothenand shine your nails," she says.

��Formal façade Women who meet clients on a

regular basis are expected todress formally in suits or saris tomake the right impression. Startwith a moisturiser, says Vakil.

Again, make-up should not betoo loud but needs to be moredefined," she explains. Here'swhat you do for an impressive for-mal you:

Vakil recommends a light foun-dation. "Women who have an oilyskin should use a liquid foundationwhile those with normal or dry skincan use a powder-based founda-tion," she says.

According to Vakil, your lip andnail colour should also be moreobvious. "However, stick to light

colours - pinks, browns, or lightpurples. French manicures lookelegant. Avoid any kind of nail art,"she says. The same rules apply tomake-up for office parties. "Butyou can enhance your make-up alittle since most parties are in theevening," adds Vakil.You can slap on some eye

shadow and a light blush. A high-lighter on your cheekbones, jawand collarbones will make yourface look chiseled," she explains.

Vakil's last piece of advice isthat you should always applymoisturiser before your make-up."This will protect the skin. If youhave oily skin, only use a water-based moisturiser. Oil-basedmoisturisers are only for peoplewith dry skin. Make sure yourmoisturiser has a minimum SPF of25," she concludes.

Make-up rules for office This season, there's a renais-sance of sorts in bridal jewelleryand accessories. Minimalistic bridaldressing is boring and a yawn!Says Roli Malhotra, Manager-

Marketing for SIA Art Jewellery,"This year's look of the seasondraws inspiration from variousinfluences ranging from theMughal era to the contem-porary post -modernistphase."She adds, "This is

reflected in the sim-plicity and intricacy ofour creations inRasrawa art (a com-bination of real goldfinish and emeraldgreen gemstones)with the timelessappeal of AmericanDiamonds and Pearlsand the subtle ele-gance of Kundan."

��Old is goldThe newest trend is still very tra-

ditional at heart. The heavy Kundanand American diamond-studdedMaang Tikkas and a full-head orna-ment like a thin delicate net ofpearls or diamonds, are a big hiteven today. Case in point: the jew-ellery on the exotic carvings atAjanta and Ellora caves. Add touchof seduction to your waist with a sil-ver Kamar Patta (waist belt) withrows of chains.

��Adorn your armsA Haathpanja can be blended

with the rest of bridal jewellery, orthe bride can wear it in contrastingcolours. A set of two for each handlook great with a set of bangles withKundan or diamond kadas.

The Bajubandh is also hailed asa popular piece of bridal jewellerythis season. Designed to be wornwith a slightly short sleeved blouse,it lends royal oomph! Bajubandhscan be a delicate line of pearls or asingle golden kadi to a more ornateKundan design with bead trim-mings.

��Happy feetDecorate your feet with payals

and pagpans - stretching from thecalf to your toes - yup it's ok to gooverboard! You can adorn your toeswith delicate 'bicchiya'- the silvertoe rings usually worn by marriedwomen. Payals may range from amere string to an elaborate piece ofexotic jewellery in itself.

So, let's raise a toast to acces-sories - small things that mattermost! Cheers!

Bridal jewellery trends

Aqua therapy for skinDid you know that even wrinkling is not as damaging for

your skin as dryness could be? Keeping it sufficiently hydrat-ed will ooze an enviable inner charm and he'll think it is love...��Loads of H2O

The best way to keep your skin from drying out is to havegood 10-12 glasses of water a day, at least. This way, yourentire system will remain cool and your skin will remainhealthier and softer. Even if you aren't thirsty, grab a glass.It won't harm to drink in a little extra. ��Aqua punch

The next time you have the coffee urge, resist it!Caffeine based drinks are not very good for hydration. Avoidthese as far as you can. Instead, opt for fresh fruit juices andtender coconut water. Also, binge on fruits and salad veg-etables, especially those with a high content of water likecucumbers, apples, watermelon, grapes, citrus fruits andpomegranate. ��Fruit facials

Include natural fruit facials in your weekend beautyregime. These don't take much time and the effects are fab-ulous. Regular facials using grapes, tomatoes or citrus fruitscan replenish the moisture in your skin, like nothing elsecan. Avoid chocolate facials if your skin is too dry. ��Run from the sun

Protect yourself from heat and direct sunlight wheneveryou are outdoors. Bring out that wide brimmed hat if you arejust chilling with friends or wrap a scarf around while traveling. ��After a shower...

Be sure to use a moisturiser so that your skin is left sup-ple and moisture rich. During the monsoon and winter sea-sons, do not soak yourself for more than 10 minutes in warmwater. Excess warm water can deplete natural oils from yourskin. Splash rose water on your face and neck if your skin ison the oilier side a few minutes after your shower and eachtime you return home from outside.

So, love thy skin and wait for the compliments to flow in!

It's sleek, fashionable, andmore and more women consid-er it an absolute must-have.We are not talking about a lat-est style trend or an advancedhousehold appliance - it'scalled technology. As growing number of

women embrace technology,the world becomes a smallplace - where everyone knowseveryone. Just like everythingelse in this world, even technol-ogy is just another instrumentto share and bond for women.

��The name's bond Communication defines

technology. It's no more a pri-vate island. People are talking;they are sharing even the mostintimate details of their lives onthe Internet. While a man isbusy playing games, the lady ishooked on to a social network-ing website searching for herlong lost friends. For her, theprimary use of any resourcehas to be communicating, shar-ing and reciprocating. Whatbetter place than the Internet todo this!

��Fast forward Women treat gathering

information on the Internet as

an interactive process. Forthem, it includes exchanginginformation with the help ofsupport groups and email for-wards. Studies also prove thatwomen forward more mailsthan men. A man is more likely to read

a mail, enjoy it and then he'sback to the inbox. But she goesstraight to the forward button,and the fun is shared amonghundreds and then thousands.

��Networking skills It's no surprise that she's a

better networking agent than a

He. Every other PR person anda consultant is a woman, andshe constitutes almost 60% ofthe profiles on social and pro-fessional networking sites likewww.linkedin.com andwww.facebook.com. The Internet is a vast ocean,

and women are making opti-mum use of it to achieve theirprofessional goals as well.

��Social cause Even as the world claims

she's not interested in comput-ers, she's using it to generateawareness of all kinds.

Remember the Pink Chaddicampaign that took the countryand Ram Sene by storm! Nowthat's the power of Internet thatconnects a thought with othersand makes a statement. A woman started the cam-

paign, while men were busycovering it on news channels orreading about it on the portals.For women associated withNGOs, technology has becomethe biggest boon.

��Daily lives International studies reveal

that women use computingtechnology in their daily lives.They are the driving force in adopting tech-nology today. Women viewtechnology as a catalyst in theirfamily and work lives, extend-ing it to social and romanticoccasions as well. Womenexpect technology to enhancetheir multi-tasking skills,improve organised approachand stay in touch. She probablydoesn't know what a mother-board or a chipset is, but do wereally need to know that? Whilea man is busy showing off hisknowledge about assembling acomputer, she's assembling asmall world of her own.

Technology binds women

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AUTOMOBILE 25�� August 2009

ON SELECTING THEBEST EXTENDED WAR-RANTY

Nowadays, with more amore people deciding, pri-marily for economic rea-sons, to hold on to the notso lightly used vehicles, itis important to understandthe strengths and weak-nesses of the various auto-motive extended warrantiesthat are currently on themarket.

When considering thepurchase of an extendedwarranty the first thing thata savvy consumer shouldconsider is not the warrantybut the vehicle. That is,one can’t possible comparewarranties until you decidefor how long and approxi-mately how many milesyou will be keeping yourpresent vehicle. This infor-mation is crucial becausethe buyer should want totailor the warranty to thevehicle and not the otherway around.

Therefore, the firstthings to decide is for how

long you intend tokeep your vehicleand for how manymiles you antici-pate it will need tobe covered. Thatdecided you willnow know theterm and mileageyou require andthis informationwill prove crucialwhen comparingvarious war-ranties.

The next point to con-sider is just how much ofthe vehicle you want anextended warranty tocover. Bear in mind themore of the vehicle youcover the more expensivethe warranty will end upcosting. The mileage youanticipate driving and thekind of driving the vehiclewill be put through shouldhelp in this calculation. Alot of urban driving, stopand go, etc. will effect moreof the moving parts of avehicle, such as the trans-mission, Inter-city drivingwill be easier on the engine

but will rack upthe miles quick-er. Off-road orcountry roaddriving with dust,etc. is anotherfactor to weighin.

With respectto the coveredcomponents onehas to under-stand the differ-ences between

“covered product failure”and “failure of a manufac-turer’s part”. Ordinary“wear-and-tear” is not usu-ally covered by mostextended warranties.Another warranty quirk isthat often a covered partwill fail due to an uncov-ered part’s failure. A goodexample would be a blownhead gasket as a result ofa broken timing belt. Thebest defense against sucha scenario is to follow themanufacturer’s suggestedmaintenance schedulesand keep a written recordof any repairs / servicework done on your vehicle.

In this manner, you aresure to get, at the veryleast, a reimbursement foryour vehicle’s engine.

The extended warrantycompanies, much like other“insurance” industries,count on most policyhold-ers to fail to maintain theirvehicles as per the manu-facturer’s specifications.This being the case, it ismuch easier for these com-panies to deny claims thatordinarily would have beencovered. It is anotherexample of “buyersbeware”!

Finally, when comparingvarious warranties, thebuyer should take the timeto find out the following:

How long the Companyhas been in business;

How claims are pro-cessed and reimbursed;

Are deductibles, if appli-cable, one time or aggre-gate;

What experiences haveother buyers had with thisWarranty Company?;

(use search engines touncover this information)

Robbie Michaelson

Wash yourcar regularlyI'd recommend to do this at least once a month.Things like bugs, bird's dropping, or limestone drip-ping damage the paint leaving permanent stains if

not washed off in time. When the car is clean, all themoisture dries up quickly, but when it's dirty, themoisture accumulates in dirty areas causing corro-sion. At least once in a while use pressure wash(pressure wash can be found at coin car wash sta-tions) - it removes the dirt from difficult to reachareas. Don't hold the pressure wash jet too close tothe painted surfaces, it can peel off the loose paint.Wash off all the places where the dirt and salt couldbe accumulated; for example, behind moldings,inside wheel arches, under the bumpers, etc. It'sparticularly helpful after winter season - to wash outall the salt accumulations that speed up the corro-sion process. Don't forget to wash all the dirt fromthe windshield. The sand that left out on the wind-shield gets caught by the windshield wipers bladesand scratches the windshield when the wipers are operating.

LIFESTYLE26 �� August 2009

Since beauty care is essentialfor every girl?s survival, weexpected a lot of women to spenda lot on beauty care. However,polls conducted by iDiva.comrevealed unexpected results ?around 44% women spend lessthan Rs500 in a month at the par-lour and a mere 12% claim thatthere is no limit to their parlourexpenses. This made us wonder whether

these women avoid certain beautyessentials or is it some unheard ofparlour package ? threading +waxing + facial + manicure + pedi-cure all under Rs500! Here are our findings about

women?s beauty choices whichdo not necessarily veer towardsskin care:

��Bypassing beauty Dermatologist Dr Dipti Desai

says, ?Every woman?s beautyneeds differ according to her ageand skin concerns. But mostwomen don?t have a proper skincare regimen.? Discussions with several

women and beauty expertsrevealed there is a frighteningpossibility that they are not payingenough attention to their beautyneeds.

��Hair scare Most women would opt for wax-

ing over other beauty treatmentsbecause it?s not just about gettingrid of ugh hair growth, it?s a mat-ter of hygiene. A beauty expertfrom Shai Hair & Beauty Salon,Mumbai says, ?Waxing is morehygiene-related than other beautyservices. The same holds true formanicure and pedicure. So, peo-ple prefer these over a facial orclean-up.? iDiva user Isha Royhas a different take ? ?SinceIndians have darker body hair thatstand out unlike my Brit friends inLondon, I feel the need to removemy facial and body hair as part ofmy grooming regime. And in mylist of beauty needs, hair removaltops the rest.?

��Home v/s parlour Women are also so tuned to

home delivery service (read: milk-walla, newspaperwalla, sabziwal-la) that they refuse to step out and

rather have so-called beauticiansvisit them. Beauty experts indicatethat you need to go to a profes-sional rather than your self-appointed local beautician.

Women are also apprehensiveabout applying products on theirfaces because they feel homeremedies are more effective. Butas experts say, a facial massage

from a professional at a good par-lour boosts blood circulation toyour face and lends it a luminousglow.

��On the go Agnes Chen, owner Butterfly

Pond, Mumbai says, ?Most work-ing women prefer quick hairstyles, and frequent manicuresand pedicures, rather than facialsor massages that require moretime.? So, time-constraint isanother factor that determines aworking woman?s beauty choices.

��Basic beauty Our skin expert Dr Apratim

Goel recommends: For oily and pimple prone skin,

avoid facials. But go for a clean-uponce a month. Those with dry skinshould opt for only facials (notclean-up) once a month and oilmassages once a week. Get dead skin removed with

microdermabrasion once in threemonths. Beauty not only compris-es grooming yourself, skincare isjust as essential. So next time youvisit your parlour, how about con-sulting their skin specialist andpampering yourself to a divinefacial massage?

Not just skin deep

Bethany and George Marc-Aurele, entrepreneurs in Hoboken,N.J., have been married nearly fouryears. She’s got her own all-agesdance school in town, and he runsa technology recruiting firm acrossthe river in New York. Bethany is aspender; George is not. While theywere engaged, Bethany got preg-nant with their first daughter.Without talking about it—or evenasking—George set up separateaccounts for each of them, explain-ing that he wanted to be able tokeep track of their expenses.The arrangement isn’t ideal for

Bethany, who says she feels out ofthe financial loop with separateaccounts. As it is, she uses revenuefrom her dance school to pay week-ly household expenses, likebabysitting for their two daughters,dry cleaning and groceries, and hehandles the mortgage and man-ages their investments. “We’ve haddiscussions about it and I’ve gottenupset with him,” she says. “Hewouldn’t put me on a joint account.He said he was worried that if heput me on, our money would fizzle.”But experts say family finances

don’t have to be a source ofangst—as long as couples can sitdown and discuss things calmly.In Depth: How To Talk About

Money With A Loved OneWedding vows, shared finances:

It used to be that one led to theother. But in the last 20 years, thatformula has been changing, saysOlivia Mellan, a psychotherapistand author of several books onmoney and relationships. Somemarried couples are now opting notto co-mingle accounts, and if theydo, they are rewriting the rulesabout spending and saving.Many people don’t find out until

after their honeymoons that theirmoney styles differ: One is a freethinker (and spender), and theother is a conservative who saves

every ATM receipt. Other couples,especially older ones who are longset in their ways, confront a newdynamic if one partner suddenlybreaks rank and wants more auton-omy—often after inheriting money.Such disputes can doom a rela-

tionship. “Even among couples thatseem to agree on everything, even-tually they find something to dis-agree on,” says Mellan. “Often,that’s money.”The issue of who controls the

bank accounts is often a source ofdiscord, but Mellan and other finan-cial experts emphasize that couplescan pull through with conversation,cool heads and some compromise.An arrangement that works for bothof you will mean greater harmony inthe long run—not to mention morecash if you stick to it.Marriage shouldn’t be a money-

loser, but, as George in Hobokentold his wife, a joint account canactually make budgeting more diffi-cult. “The problem with regular jointaccounts is that it is so easy forpeople to lose [track of] theirmoney,” says Michael McAuliffe,who runs Family CreditManagement Services, a faith-based, not-for-profit debt counsel-ing firm in Chicago. “With two pay-checks coming in, no one reallygives any thought to small expens-es like having lunch out. But theseare the expenses that keep us frommeeting our financial goals.”McAuliffe admits that while he

was advising other couples onrighting their finances, he and hiswife were overspending. He likes toeat out, and she loves shoes. Theirnegotiated solution was to depositboth their paychecks in one accountto cover all fixed expenses—mort-gage, car insurance, utility bills—with each getting an equalallowance out of that accountmonthly that they could spend asthey wish. No more. No less.It’s not the most romantic

arrangement—when McAuliffe askshis wife if she wants to go to dinner,she asks, “Who’s paying?” Butthey’re paying much closer atten-tion to how much is coming out oftheir own pin money.If not addressed, money tiffs can

escalate from tense silence to aslow boil to a mean fighting match.A couple may resent having to askone another’s permission to buy acoat or go out to eat with friends.One spouse may seethe every timethe other comes home with a newgadget. It might sound corny, butlike other relationship issues,finance experts say honesty andcommunication are the keys tomonetary harmony. It’s harder thanit sounds, particularly if the problemhas been building for years. If youcan’t work it out by sitting downtogether when you’re both feelingcalm—some couples use a timelimit to keep emotions in check—itcan help to shell out for the exper-tise of a financial adviser. Often thatperson’s role is as much about lis-tening and problem solving as it isabout number crunching. Bethanyand George aren’t using a planner,but they have taken a first steptoward financial unity. He recentlytold Bethany he wants to walk herthrough their finances. She’s feelingmore hopeful about the situation.“He brought it up,” she says. “I’musually the one who says I need toknow where things are.”

How To Manage Money And Marriage

Whoever said ‘Men are fromMars and women from Venus’ shouldgive a pat on his or her back, for sci-entists have found that sex-typedcharacteristics develop differently ingirls and boys. The new longitudinalstudy of children’s personality traitsand interests, by researchers at ThePennsylvania State University, theUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa, andPurdue University, looked at first- andsecond-born siblings from nearly 200mostly White, middle-class Americanfamilies.Researchers collected information

through home interviews conductedover seven years, activity diaries pro-vided by the children, and saliva sam-ples that measured the children’stestosterone levels.Quite expected, they found that

girls and boys differed in their sex-typed personality qualities and theirsex-typed activity interests in earlyadolescence.While girls showedhigher levels of expressive traits(such as kindness and sensitivity)and interest in “feminine” activities(such as the arts and reading), boysdisplayed higher levels of instrumen-tal traits (such as independence andadventurousness) and interest in“masculine” activities (such as sportsand math).But, the girls’ stereotypically femi-

nine, expressive traits didn’t changeover time. On the other hand, boys’sensitivity and warmth lessened sub-stantially across middle childhood butincreased in later adolescence sothat by about age 19, boys reportedabout the same levels of sensitivityand warmth as girls. For stereotypi-cally masculine traits such as inde-pendence and adventurousness, girlsshowed increases only in middlechildhood, but in boys, these traitsrose across adolescence. Such a pat-

tern meant that by the end of highschool, boys had many more of thesecharacteristics than girls. The studyalso found that changes in girls’ andboys’ personality traits and interestswere related to how they spent theirtime. Generally, girls who spent timewith other females developed femalepersonality characteristics, and boyswho pursued activities with othermales developed male characteris-tics. However, the time spent withfemale peers was the exception-boysand girls who spent time with friends,who were girls, increased in indepen-dence and adventurousness. Theresearch also found that interests andtraits developed differently in first-born children than in children bornsecond, and second-born childrenshowed increases in traits like adven-turousness and independence acrossadolescence, unlike in firstborns.Finally, it was found that children whoshowed faster rates of increase in thehormone testosterone in early ado-lescence weren’t as affected bysocial influences on their personalitydevelopment. The study appears inthe latest issue of the journal ChildDevelopment.

Girls will be girls, boyswill be boys

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ARIES

March-21to

April-20

TAURUS

April-21to

May-20

It’s a rather predictive kindof Moon for you today. If youcan look into the future andsee where life is going to betaking you, then you can putyour energy out more con-structively. Children or lovedones may be landing heav-ier responsibilities on youthan usual.

GEMINI

May-21to

June-21

This isn’t the day to fly solo.You’ve really got to pushyourself to make new agree-ments with close partnerswhere money or emotionalmatters are concerned. Itmay take a compromise allround but will be worth it. Sogive a little bit, take a littlebit, shift ground and meet inthe middle.

CANCER

June-22to

July-23

At times today you may tryto accommodate other peo-ple’s needs to the extentthat you appear not to havestrong opinions of yourown. There could be theodd confrontation throughthe day, not because you’reassertive but you just feel alittle over-emotional.

LEO

July-24to

August-23

Looking after yourself physi-cally is more vital than usual.Don’t do anything that isgoing to put more strain onyour stamina. Just think posi-tively, eat healthily, and learnto relax more. Learning thelessons of generosity maycome hard at the moment butthey will pay off.

VIRGO

August-24to

September-23

At home today you will want tobe in charge. With the Moon inthe dramatic area of your chartyou’re more emotional in theway you connect to people.You want deep relationshipsand meaningful connections.Just don’t get too wrapped upin your own feelings and forgetto ask what others want.

LIBRA

September-24to

October-22

You don’t want any aggravationtoday. You really yearn for apleasant, relaxing time. If you’reon your own for a short whiletake the chance to mull over therecent past, get your headtogether about things. Your self-doubt may be more evident nowwith Saturn passing through thesign before yours.

SCORPIO

October-23to

November-22

Today your grasshopper mindwon’t let you concentrate onanything for long. It may bedifficult for colleagues to catchyour attention, but you willthrow out entertaining titbitsas you race past. Sometimesyou don’t trust everyone topull together in team situa-tions at work.

SAGITTARIUS

November-23to

December-22

You want more stabilitywhere money and posses-sions are concerned. Solook at the paperwork andget the budget in order.Certain mates may find youa bit of a control freak atthe moment. You are insist-ing on sticking to thestraight and narrow, butwith good reason.

CAPRICOM

December-23to

Januar-20

The Moon in your own signtoday has an ebbing and flow-ing quality, one moment youare outgoing and charming,the next rather withdrawn. Youwon’t know what you want. Soyou do need more practicalpeople around you. You will beworking extra hard to improveyour understanding of theworld.

AQUARIES

January-21to

February-19

You don’t find it at all easy atthe moment to get close inintimate situations since youare holding part of yourselfback in reserve. You are verywary of changing, yet clearlyyou do need to try. Don’t feelmartyred if your efforts arebeing taken for granted. Givegladly but also look after yourown interests.

PISCES

February-20to

March-20

You won’t want too muchtogetherness today. Youmuch prefer to be one ofthe crowd. As far as youare concerned there issafety in numbers. Thoughyou may become jealous ifa friend is off talking tosomeone else when youwant their attention. Don’toverreact.

Today you are likely to findyour feelings more on publicdisplay than usual. At work youwill be rather scattered. Justdon’t over-react, hear slightswhere none exist. You’ve got tostand steady for workmates, bean anchor for them. Luckily youare finding it easier to bepatient about details.

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PEOPLE PROFILE 29�� August 2009

Our 25-year-old son,Aaron Reddy, joined the AirForce some two plus yearsago. Prior to enlisting, Aaronwas a bright young manwho, like so many youth inour society, needed someprodding and direction. Themilitary addresses theseissues.

Once entering the AirForce, and competing a rig-orous basic training in theflatlands of

Texas, Aaron was pre-sented with a choice of 4 dif-ferent “career directions”.Much to his parents surpriseand approval Aaron studiedvery hard and became a“dental assistant”. Shortlythereafter, he and his family,(wife Nicole and daughterXianna) were stationed over-seas at a large air base tothe North of London. Not a

bad posting if you can put upwith the never-ending rainand people speakingEnglish in the tradition of themonarchy. That said, ourson and family have settledin quite nicely and Aaronrecently received a promo-tion to a sergeant. He is talk-ing about taking an officercourse, perhaps as early asnext year.

Terrific we thought, untilwe heard a couple of weeksback that our son is to bedeployed to the Iraq theaterfor a six month period, thiscoming September. In addi-tion, he will not be practicingany dental work, as he is tobe assigned the dangeroustask of “security detail” at abase and place yet to bedetermined.

Now I don’t want thereader to think that we

believe that this imminentdeployment to a still danger-ous war zone is in any wayunfair. Quite the contrary,when you join the Military, beit the Air Force, Navy, Armyor Marines, you abdicate

your rights with respect tothe who, where and when. Itcomes with the territory andour enlisted men andwomen are aware of thisreality prior to their enlist-ment.

Fair enough, but that alsodoesn’t change the realitythat our Son is now going tobe directly in “harm’s way”representing our Country ina very dangerous part of theworld. Any follower of MiddleEast history knows thatthere are a lot of people inthat region that do not partic-ularly like the United Statesand Americans. And this, inspite of the fact that becauseof our actions a brutal dicta-tor (Sadaam Hussein) wasremoved from office and forthe first time in a couple ofgenerations a major ArabCountry was given theopportunity of institutingsome form of democracy.Unfortunately, as Americahas rudely found out, ourcherished ideals of “Liberty,Freedom and Democracy”do not resonate in every part

of the world. We know our Son will do

his job and uphold the honorof his family and his country.Were Aaron to find himself inthe back alleys of Tikrit,Sadar City, or Kirkuk, or,heaven forbid, the corridorsof Abu Grahb, he will con-duct himself with honor anddignity.

Our concern is thatAmerica ensures that whenwe commit our military menand women to CombatZones throughout the world,they have a defined missionand the resources andequipment to see that mis-sion through.

Let us hope that Americaand America’s leaders thinkaccording – especially asAmerica’s presence in Iraqenters the dangerous “draw-down stage”!

On the Meaning of Service to One’s CountryOn the Meaning of Service to One’s Country

aaron receiving srgt stripes.

Abhendra Sharma of Hayward wasin Fiji just last month to celebrate 56thAnniversary of his parents with hisclose relatives in Suva and happenstrike a meeting with Fiji’s attorneyGeneral Aiyaz Sayed Kaiyum andyounger brother Riyaz Sayed Kaiyumand mother are from Daubati 4 milesNasinu. Pt. Jai Narayan Mishra was inhis intrycing business and then workedfor Gas Fiji Gas Company for 20 yearsbefore going full time as Hindu priest.Abhendra’s younger brother Pt.Ramesh Prasad Sharma joined father’sfootsteps after obtaining college educa-tion and having stayed in US for nineyears.

When asked, Abhendra said he wasamazed how Fiji coped with the flood-ing disaster and made a quick come-back. “ Everything looked do normal.Fiji Indians are amazing.”

Sharmas strike a meeting Fiji’s AG at parents’ 56th wedding anniversary Krishn Janmastmi

in Los Angeles, CA Shri Radha Krishan Ramayan Madli.

FFrroomm ::66 ttoo 1133 AAuugguusstt 22000099

The celebration will be held atthe Pt. Lalta Prasad Maharaj.

(From 7.30 PM till midnight)

3306 West 59th Street, L A. CA 90043Call: 32 3-295-4876

30 �� August 2009 FIJI SPORTS

Japan-Samoa Test match

Kenyans celebrate theirwin against Fiji

Fiji bounced back from aloss to Argentina in thepool stages of the World

Games to beat surprise finalistsPortugal 43-10 and successful-ly defend their Rugby Sevenstitle before an enthusiasticcrowd in Kaohsiung, ChineseTaipei.

Over the two days of a high-ly successful Sevens event atthe Kaohsiung Main Stadium,39,000 spectators watched theaction as rugby’s shorter formonce again proved a major hitat a multisport format event.

The Fijians, who also wonthe title in 2001, ran in seventries in the final with experi-enced Sevens stars EmosiVucago and Nasoni Roko bothscoring a brace to beat the for-mer European champions.

Portugal, who had finishedseventh in the EuropeanSevens Championship twoweeks ago, caused the bigshock on day two by beating2005 bronze medallists andRugby World Cup Sevens run-ners-up Argentina 19-12 in thesemi final, with Goncalo Foroscoring two tries.

The other semi final was arepeat of the 2005 final and Fijionce again came out on top ofSouth Africa, the IRB Sevens

World Series champions, with abrace from Seremaia Burutoseeing the islanders to a 21-7victory.

South Africa did bounceback from the disappointmentat missing out on a first ‘major’title to beat Argentina 17-0 inthe bronze medal match in theMain Stadium with captainMpho Mbiyozo among their tryscorers. The Springboks hadbeen one of only two teams -the other Argentina - to startday two unbeaten, but the twoenjoyed contrasting quarterfinals. South Africa over-whelmed Hong Kong 39-0,while the Pumas edged USA ina close affair 19-12. Portugalovercame Japan 17-0 to earntheir meeting with Argentina,while Fiji ended the medalhopes of the host nation - whohad caused the first upset onday one by beating IRB Sevensregulars USA 22-17 - with a 28-5 victory.

In the other positional play-offs Japan finished on a win-ning note to claim seventhplace with a 19-5 defeat ofregional rivals Hong Kong,while a much improved USAteam avenged their day onedefeat by Chinese Taipei with atight 21-19 win to finish fifth.

Fiji Fact Highlights!

Fiji makes a come back after Argentinadefeated the in World Games

WORLD SPORTS 31�� August 2009

NEW DELHI : Match-fixing hasreturned to haunt the game of cricket andthis time it is the Pakistani cricketers whoare facing the heat after a disastrous tourof Sri Lanka.

Former Pakistan chief selector AbdulQadir made startling allegations, sayingPakistani players are linked to Indian book-ies. It came to light during the tour of SriLanka with stories of Pakistani playersbeing approached by suspicious Indians,as reported by manager Saeed Yawar.

Pakistan Cricket Board has taken strictaction in its bid to come clean from thematch-fixing allegations. Sources withinPCB told Times Now that people who arekey suspects had approached the Pakistanplayers during the series in Sri Lanka.These people have been following theteam for the last three tours. It is also indi-cated that strict action would be takenagainst Pakistan team manager in SriLanka, Yawar Saeed.

As contradicting reports emerged dur-ing the tour, the report came to light withICC sources confirming to Times Now thatthey will look into the incident after thePCB had informed the parent governingbody regarding suspicious incidents duringthe tour.

The report gained further prominencewith former Pakistani chief selector AbdulQadir accusing the team of having fixedmatches in Sri Lanka. Qadir also lashedout at the team for its pathetic display dur-ing the tour.

The emerging Indian angle to the inci-dent is the most disturbing. As more andmore Indian bookies’ names have beenrevealed in the match-fixing cases in therecent times. Talking to Times Now, AbdulQadir maintained his statement and con-

firmed the reports. Qadir speaking exclu-sively to Times Now on the match-fixingsaid, “This is a sensitive issue. One has tobe careful. Whatever I said if it is correct ofincorrect, I do it professionally.”

Salman Ahmed, who is an agent whorepresents a few Pakistani players alsoconfirmed the Indian angle to reports.Ahmed told Times Now, he had seenIndian bookies during various tours andalso during the multi-million Indian PremierLeague.

Pakistan players’ agent, SalmanAhmad, speaking exclusively to TimesNow on the entire controversy said, “I canidentify the people who were around whenthere was Indian Premier League. Theywere the same people when South Africawas playing in Pakistan. These are thesame people who were in Sri Lanka whenPakistan was playing its matches. Thesepeople were there when teams likeMumbai, Punjab or any other team wasplaying. These were the same people dur-ing the time of Asia Cup also. From theirfaces, one could identify that they werefrom India. I am on a flight to Colombo andunless I see them tomorrow in Colombo Icannot comment further. When I identify,the relevant authorities will get to know.”

Cricket journalist of Sri Lanka, RexClementine, speaking to Times Now saidthat this is nothing much to worry about.He said, “A few Indians were spotted at theplace where Pakistan players were put up.From that day, these reports were comingout. Once it becomes official, the situationwill be alarming. Right now, it is all uncon-firmed. The security around the players isvery tight. One cannot approach the play-ers easily because they have been guard-ed by special forces.”

Indians involved in match-fixing in Lanka : Report

BOSTON : Rani Devi shone with ahat-trick as India blanked Belarus 6-0to top their pool and qualify for themedal league second round of theJunior Women’s World Cup hockeytournament.

The Indians, who had upsetfavourites Australia in their previousGroup D fixture, now top their poolwith six points followed by the Aussiesand USA.

India will now play USA in their lastpreliminary pool game on Thursday.

Roselin Dung Dung (16th),Poonam Rani (38th), Ritu Rani (51st)scored the first three goals for Indiabefore Rani Devi (53rd, 54th and 58thmin) went on a scoring spree as theIndians scored five times in the sec-ond session for a facile win.

The match began on a cautiousnote with largely midfield play, Indiatook territorial supremacy, pushingaction in the Belarus end, as the firsthalf progressed.

Dung Dung gave India the lead inthe 16th minute off skipper Ranjita

Devi’s set up which she nailed pastBelarus goalkeeper VeranikaMikanovich.

Belarus’ attempts for an equaliserwere thwarted by an alert Indiandefence and a penalty corner wasaborted by goalie Jasdeep Kaur late inthe first half.

India totally dominated the secondhalf as their forwards shed off theirmarkers and tore open the Belarusdefence with consummate ease.

Poonam Rani scored the secondgoal three minutes into the second halfwith a crisp volley past defenderKibkova and Mikanovich.

Ritu Rani then increased India’stally when she converted a penaltycorner in the 51st minute.

The Indian attacks had no answerfrom Belarus as Rani Devi went onplunder mode scoring a hat-trick short-ly after. Belarus substituted their goal-keeper, bringing in Yauheniya Letsko,but Rani Devi was simply unstoppableas she pumped in three goals in aspace of six minutes.

India sink Belarus6-0, reach medalleague round

DUBAI : India have dropped down oneplace to fourth in the ICC TestChampionships table after the annualupdate released, which reflects the perfor-mance of only the last three years with theolder results being discarded. Sri Lanka,riding on its Test series win over Pakistan,leveled India (119) on points but replacedMahendra Singh Dhoni’s team at numberthree after re-calculation upto the nearestdecimal — 0.01 ratings points difference.

(124) clung on to the top above sec-ond-placed South Africa (122) as just fiveratings points separate top four teams.

But Ricky Ponting’s men must win boththe remaining Ashes Tests to stay there.Otherwise, it will be Graeme Smith’s turn tolead the number-one Test team in theworld. Australia has led the Test rankingsever since the current method was intro-duced in May 2003. The progress ofKumar Sangakkara’s team is due to a con-sistently high performance during the peri-od of the rankings. In that time, the teamhas played 10 series, winning six, drawingthree and losing just one (in Australia).

No matter how the Ashes finishes,England (99) will remain in fifth position butif the home side wins the series, Australiawill drop to fourth position in the TestChampionship table. If the series ends in a1-1 draw, South Africa will rise to the top.Australia, Sri Lanka and India will all havethe same rating, but with Australia stillclinging on to second place by a decimal

point. In the batting list, Gautam Gambhirremained on second spot with 847 pointsbehind Sri Lanka captain KumarSangakkara (862). Sachin Tendulkar(15th), VVS Laxman (17th) and VirenderSehwag (19th) are the other Indian bats-men in the top 20. Among bowlers,Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan are intop 10 at sixth and ninth respectively whileIshant Sharma is in 19th in the list headedby South African Dale Steyn.

The annual update is carried out toensure the ICC Test Championship tablecontinues to reflect recent form with olderresults being discarded. The table reflects

all Test series that were completed sinceAugust three years ago. All series playeduntil the start of next August will be addedto this table, so by then the ratings will bebased on four years of results, with seriescompleted within the last two years carry-ing greater weight. Next August the firstyear of results will be dropped and this pat-tern is repeated each August, with the old-est of the four years of results removed tobe gradually replaced with results of seriescompleted over the following 12 months.Thus, once a year, the rankings changeovernight without any new series beingcompleted.

India drop to fourth in ICC Test rankings

Don’t compare cricketwith others: Yuvraj

NEW DELHI : Hitting back at sportsper-sons criticising cricketers for not signing ananti-doping clause, Indian batsman YuvrajSingh said. playing to a cramped calendarmakes it necessary for cricketers to guardtheir privacy in a brief off-season. SeveralOlympians, including Beijing gold medal-winning shooter Abhinav Bindra haveridiculed the cricketers’ privacy and securi-ty apprehensions with regards to the‘Whereabouts Clause’ of the WADA anti-doping code which requires athletes to fur-nish their location three months in advancefor out of competition tests. Yuvraj saidwhile the athletes from other sports wereentitled to their opinions, the cricketers’concerns were not without basis either.

32 �� August 2009