voice of asia sept 26 2014

VOICE OF ASIA 1 FRIDAY, September 26, 2014

Vol. 27 No. 39 Friday, September 26, 2014 • Published Weekly from Houston • 713-774-5140 24Pages ( 2 sections) 50 cents E-mail: [email protected]

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Staff from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bangalore celebrate after the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft successfully entered the planet’s orbit, on September 24, 2014 (AFP Photo/Manjunath Kiran)

India creates history, wins Asia’s race to Mars as spacecraft enters orbit

India is on course on Wednesday (Sep 24) to become the first nation to reach Mars on its maiden attempt, a historic feat that aims to showcase the country’s home-grown and low-cost space technology.BANGALORE, Sep-

tember 24, 2014 (AFP) - India won

Asia’s race to Mars on Wednes-day when its unmanned Man-galyaan spacecraft successfully entered the Red Planet’s orbit after a 10-month journey on a tiny budget.

Scientists at mission control let out wild cheers and ap-plause after the gold-coloured craft fired its main engine and slipped into the planet’s orbit following a 660-million kilo-metre (410-million mile) voy-age.

“History has been created. We have dared to reach out into the unknown and have achieved the near impossible,” a jubilant Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the Indian Space Re-search Organisation’s (ISRO) base near Bangalore.

“The success of our space programme is a shining symbol of what we are capable of as a nation,” Modi said, grinning broadly and embracing the IS-RO’s chairman.

The success of the mission, which is designed to search for evidence of life on the Red Planet, is a huge source of na-tional pride for India as it com-

PM Modi to get rock star reception in New York

by Daniel Bases NEW YORK Tue Sep 23,

2014 (Reuters) - It is a rock ‘n’ roller’s dream to “sell out The Garden,” but for a for-eign politician to pack New York City’s most famous sports and entertainment are-na is another thing entirely.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on his first trip to New York as leader of the world’s most populous democracy, will draw perhaps the larg-est crowd ever by a foreign leader on U.S. soil when he takes the stage on Sunday in Madison Square Garden be-fore a crowd forecast to total more than 18,000 people.

Thousands more are expect-ed to pack New York’s Times Square to watch his address in Hindi on big screens as well as smaller viewing par-ties around the country and on TV in India.

The Indian diaspora hopes this visit by a leader who was until recently barred from the United States will signify In-dia’s importance not only on these shores but in the wider world too.

The event is being emceed by prominent members of the Indian American community, Nina Davuluri, who has just relinquished her crown as Miss America 2014, and TV journalist Hari Sreenivasan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures after giving a speech at his lecture meeting hosted by Nikkei Inc. and Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in Tokyo September 2, 2014.CREDIT: REUTERS/TORU HANAI

petes with its Asian rivals for success in space.

Indians from ministers to stu-dents and office workers took to Twitter to express pride, with the Hindi slogan “JaiHind” or “Hail India” trending on the microblogging site.

India has been trying to keep up with neighbouring giant China, which has poured bil-lions of dollars into its pro-gramme and plans to build a manned space station by the end of the decade.

At just $74 million, the mis-sion cost is less than the estimat-ed $100 million budget of the sci-fi blockbuster “Gravity”.

It also represents just a frac-tion of the cost of NASA’s $671 million MAVEN space-craft, which successfully began orbiting the fourth planet from the sun on Sunday.

India now joins an elite club of the United States, Russia and Europe who can boast of reach-ing Mars. More than half of all missions to the planet have end-ed in failure, including China’s in 2011 and Japan’s in 2003.

“Indian citizens and diaspora over the world are hopeful that this (Modi) administration will cut bureaucracy and focus on people,” said Dr. Dinesh Patel, chief of arthroscopic surgery at Massachusetts General Hospi-tal in Boston, who arrived in the United States more than 50 years ago.

Patel, who says he was given an award for work in education by Modi, a fellow Gujarati, added: “People are passionate to see the new leader. Another Narendra is coming to this country to let the USA know what India is about.”

The first Narendra was Swa-mi Vivekananda, a 19th-centu-ry philosopher and monk who propagated the Hindu faith in

the United States. Modi of-ten cites a speech by Viveka-nanda, born Narendra Nath Datta, to the Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893, as a source of inspiration.

“Let us remember the words of Swami Vivekananda and dedicate ourselves to further-ing the cause of unity, broth-erhood and world peace,” Modi wrote Sept. 11 to his 6.5 million followers on Twitter.

India’s economy, the third largest in Asia, has struggled to recover from sub-par growth, shackled by layers of bureaucracy anathema to the diaspora. Modi’s general election triumph in May was driven in large part by his en-trepreneurial mantra.

Continued on page 11

Shah Rukh Khan Delivers King Size Show With ‘SLAM - The Tour’

Houstonians had a rollicking time at the recent Shah Rukh Khan show, SLAM –The Tour presented by Star

Promotions at the Toyota Center on Friday, September 19. The show was a blast of Bol-lywood bonanza with top notch stars led by Shah Rukh Khan and included Abhishek Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Farah Khan, Boman Irani, Malaika, Arora Khan, Sonu Sood, new comer Vivaan Shah.

Houston was the first stop for their world tour and it was a smashing hit!

Read complete report on page 16, Sec. II

VOICE OF ASIA 2 FRIDAY, September 26, 2014OP-ED/COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS

Publisher: Koshy ThomasAssociate Publisher: Sherly PhilipEditor-in-Chief: Shobana MurateeAustin Correspondent: Sherine ThomasPrint & Media Marketing: Jacob DavidMarketing: Susan Pothanikat Production: AR VadlamaniOffice Manager: Priyan Mathew Columnists:Legal: Richard M. AldermanLegal: Sharlene Sharmila RichardsMedical: Kesavan Shan, MDResearch: Prof. Meenakshi BhattacharjeeHealth Insurance: Sudhir MathuriaAstrology: Hardik Vyas

VoiceofAsiaOnline.com

Editor: Online & Newsletter : Shobana Muratee

All rights reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be published without the consent of the publisher. Voice of Asia assumes no liability resulting from action taken based on the information included herein. Pub-lished weekly by Free Press LLC, 8303 SW Freeway, Suite # 325, Houston, TX 77074. Tel: 713-774-5140. Fax: 713-774-5143. Email for editorial submissions: [email protected]; Email for advertising inquiries and submissions: [email protected]

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It is the policy of Voice of Asia to publish letters to the editor which evidence a variety of viewpoints. The opinions expressed in any particular letter to the editor are not necessarily those of the management. Voice of Asia welcomes letters in reply to issues raised in letters to editor. In as much letters to the editor are not articles written or researched by members of Voice of Asia, it is not the policy of the Voice of Asia to perform any investigation or confirmation of any facts or allegations contained in letters to the editor. Moreover, Voice of Asia reserves the right to edit letters to the editor as necessary to correct errors of fact, punctuation, spelling and to comply with space constraints.

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by DANIEL TWININGSept. 22, 2014 WSJ/Opin-

ion

India’s Narendra Modi was once subject to a U.S. visa ban for failing to halt

communal violence while chief minister of Gujarat. He meets President Obama at the White House on Sept. 29 as an hon-ored guest. Prime minister of the world’s second-most popu-lous country, with the biggest electoral mandate of any Indian leader in decades, he can af-ford to be magnanimous about former slights. The two leaders should embrace an agenda that strengthens their role as demo-cratic and economic counter-weights to growing global dis-order.

Obama might envy what Mr. Modi has already accom-plished: India’s stock market is up 30%, growth has surged to nearly 6%, and the defeated Congress Party is so feeble it cannot even lead India’s frac-tured opposition. Mr. Modi makes the political weather in his country, whereas Obama seems a bystander in his own. But their countries’ common interests compel cooperation.

India urgently needs Ameri-can technology, investment, energy and trade to reform a still-statist economy that sput-tered badly under the previ-ous government and lacks the foundations for Chinese-style growth. India could also use American support to manage a dangerous security envi-ronment featuring a witches’ brew of Pakistani-based ter-rorism, internal insurgency and tensions with a revision-ist China driven by what Mr. Modi calls an “18th century expansionist mindset.” His recent summit with Xi Jin-ping was overshadowed by a military standoff along their border.

America anticipates an In-dian resurgence that could tilt Asia’s power balance in a democratic direction and drive global growth. A thriv-ing India could also uplift the region, including trou-bled Pakistan. As sectarian violence engulfs the Middle East, India and its nearly 200 million Muslims exemplify relative tolerance. The Unit-ed States has a considerable stake in India’s success.

Refreshingly, Mr. Modi has said all things are possible between India and America—even a strategic alliance. But the two countries still have much distance to travel to create one. An agenda for the Obama-Modi summit should encompass five critical areas for cooperation: defense, en-ergy, trade and investment, the future of Afghanistan and the crisis in the Middle East.

Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister. ENLARGE

Narendra Modi, In-dia’s prime minister. BLOOMBERG

India is the world’s largest arms importer. America is its principal supplier of military hardware, and Indians exer-cise more with U.S. armed forces than with anyone else. It is now time to engage in joint planning for contingen-cies that impact both coun-tries. Mr. Modi’s liberaliza-tion of foreign investment in the defense sector and pend-ing renewal of a 10-year U.S.-India defense agreement offer a chance to work together to propel India’s military mod-ernization.

India faces chronic devel-opmental bottlenecks from energy supply constraints. The 2008 Indo-U.S. civilian nuclear deal was designed to help—but Indian liability laws made it impossible to implement. The new team in New Delhi should push through enacting legislation

as part of a pro-growth pack-age of reforms. America could also supply natural gas as In-dia opens its energy market to international investment. This would be a bounty for a coun-try overly reliant on risky Middle Eastern suppliers.

And it is surely time for a U.S.-India investment treaty that opens the way to a broad-er agreement covering trade, technology and knowledge workers; after all, America re-mains India’s largest trading partner in goods and services combined. Messrs. Obama and Modi should clear away the bureaucratic underbrush to make it happen. India’s exclusion from the Trans-Pa-cific Partnership and obstruc-tionism at the World Trade Organization could otherwise marginalize it from the global trading system at a time when almost half India’s GDP is tied to the world economy.

Integration into global supply chains is a developmental im-perative.

India and America have high stakes in preventing Af-ghanistan from spiraling back into warlordism after Western forces withdraw. Indians re-call that the 1999 hijacking of Air India made them—not Americans—the first foreign victims of the Taliban’s alli-ance with Al Qaeda and other extremists. Washington and New Delhi should develop a joint plan to expand train-ing of Afghan security forces and enhance India’s stabiliz-ing economic and diplomatic role.

Even more pressing, the victories of Islamic State compel a closer degree of In-do-U.S. collaboration. India’s Arab allies—and principal energy suppliers—are all part of the U.S.-led anti-IS coali-

tion; even China is consider-ing cooperating. New Delhi opposed action in Libya and Syria at the United Nations and has taken a hands-off ap-proach to the region. But how can India—home to as many Muslims as Iraq, Syria, Lib-ya, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt combined—sit this one out?

Prime Minister Modi re-cently said that modern coun-tries can follow two paths—vistarvad (expansionism) or vikasvad (peaceful develop-ment). India and America are aligned in the second camp. Mr. Modi urgently needs to revitalize India’s economic fortunes and manage pressing security challenges. For both he could use, and deserves, American help.

Mr. Twining is senior fel-low for Asia at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister. BLOOMBERG

The U.S. Bets on Modi America anticipates an Indian resurgence that could tilt Asia’s power balance.

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Friday, September 26, 2014 • www.voiceofasiaonline.com • • Email: [email protected] • Tel: 713-774-5140

IACF Recaps its 27 year legacy of ‘giving back’Raises $150,000 at annual gala for charities in Greater Houston Area

by Shobana Muratee

HOUSTON – “For the past 27 years we are caring the torch and

proposing the same thing, we live here and we want to give here,” said Dr. Ramesh Cherivi-ralla, president, Indo-American Charity Foundation (IACF) in his welcome address at its an-nual gala hosted on Saturday, September 20 at the Hilton Americans. He recognized the attending elected officials, spe-cial guests and the IACF Board of Directors on the occasion.

The IACF is a Houston based, non-profit organization started by Indian Americans with a mission to help charities in the Greater Houston Area that cov-

er the 4-pillars of IACF: Educa-tion, Family Welfare, General Giving and Health Care. Over the years the IACF has support-ed struggling organizations and continues to add to its roster. Nearly 26 organizations ben-efited from IACF last year and over the years the organization has donated over $6m in total for various causes.

Starting on a very sentimental note, Kamal Raghavan, IACF incoming president and Event Chair rekindled the memories of late David Raj, former president of IACF, who she called a great philanthropist, friend and mu-sician and requested his friend Hubert Vaz Nayak to dedicate a song in his memory.

Speaking about the mission of IACF Raghavan said, “Real-izing how important the STEM disciplines are, the IACF start-ed education initiatives with tutors educating students of middle and elementary school.” This education initiative was the brain child of David Raja and Anu Bala, past presidents of IACF she said. Raghavan also mentioned that, 18 scholarships were given to FBISD schools students this year and one of them was given the David Raj Memorial Scholarship, a student who was planning to become a surgeon and who was also a mu-sician. Two emerging organiza-tions: PEACE and PAIR that are concentrating on education were given checks that were presented by the past president Murthy Divakaruni and Dr Do-minique Shrestha physician and friend of late David Raj did the honors of presenting the checks to the Nicole Ellis (Pair) and Padmaja Sarathy (Peace).

Among the dignitaries who at-tended the event were Fort Bend District Attorney, John Hailey, Jay Guerrero, Chief of Staff, Of-fice of U.S. Rep. John Cornyn, Congressman Al Green, Mayor ProTem, City of Stafford, Ken Mathew, KP George, Trustee, FBISD and Robert Sakowitz, President & CEO, Hazak Cor-poration, a leading Manage-ment Consulting company in Houston

Harris County District At-torney Kim Ogg and Sunil Thakar, Houston’s popular RJ and president of Music Masala Radio were the emcees and they together conducted the second half of the program that included the live auction by Nik Nikam, MD (cardiology). Donors gave jewelry and art pieces to be auctioned for fundraising. This year, the IACF raised $150,000 in total.

In a different type of Q & A, honored guests John Hailey, Ken Mathew, Rita Lucido, and

Robert Sakowitz were called by past presidents Anu Bala and Sushma Bhan who questioned them on how they envisioned IACF could help in the 4-pillars that the organization stood for. They spoke on the school drop-out rate, women’s safety and health and how organizations like IACF can help in making the government officials step

up to the plate and take heed of some of these distress situations especially education.

The gala also incorporated a cultural segment with dance per-formances by students of Anjali School of Performing Arts and Kathak dance by Megna Murli. Dinner had Indian specialties both vegetarian and non-vege-tarian catered by Dawat.

IACF president Dr. Ramesh Cherivirala seen receiving a Con-gressional Certificate from Hon. Congressman, Al Green

IACF’s Board of Directors at the annual gala held on Se. 20, 2014. Photos by msanphoto.com

Emcees Sunil Thakar and Kim Ogg


Q. The air conditioning in my apartment has not worked for four days. I have asked the landlord several times to make the repairs and the always says “tomorrow.” I don’t want to move. I know that a landlord has a duty to repair conditions that affect a tenant’s health or safety. What can I do to force him to make the repairs?

A. You are correct that your landlord has an obligation to repair a condition, such as a broken air conditioner, that affects a tenant’s health or safety. Your first step now is to stop calling and give him written notice. You need to send a written notice to trigger your legal rights. I suggest you deliver it in person to the landlord or property manager, and also send a copy by certified mail. That way you have proof you gave notice. The landlord then has a “reasonable time” to make the repairs. The statute says seven days is reasonable, so I would give him a week. If it is not repaired, file a claim with the local justice court. You can go to justice court without an attorney to obtain a repair order and damages.

In justice court, the justice of the peace may: direct the landlord to repair the condition; reduce your rent from the date of your first written repair for the loss of value and use of the rental unit; direct the landlord to pay you one month’s rent plus $500 in penalties; and award you the amount of your actual damages, court costs and attorney’s fees (if you choose to have an attor-ney represent you). The law requires a hearing be scheduled within one week of service of the documents on the landlord.

As you can see, the law gives a tenant substantial rights when a landlord does not repair a seri-ous problem. My guess is that once the landlord receives your written notice and knows you know your legal rights, he will promptly make the necessary repairs.

And talking about knowing your legal rights the next session of the People’s Law School will be held in Houston on Saturday, October 4th. Presented by the Center for Consumer Law at the University of Houston Law Center, this is the oldest and most successful law for the layperson in the nation. More than 50,000 people have attended our classes and learned valuable informa-tion about their legal rights. This is your chance to learn more about the law and get answers to your basic legal questions. We won’t make you a lawyer, but we can help you avoid problems and resolve disputes.

At the People’s Law School, there will be classes in fourteen different areas of law. We will teach classes in everything from consumer law and debt collection, to family law, basic business and landlord-tenant rights. There will be classes in finding the law on the Internet and using small claims court, as well as specialists teaching you about bankruptcy, health insurance, taxes and immigration law. A local volunteer judge, attorney or law professor will teach each class, and everyone receives extensive written material.

The People’s Law School will be held in Krost Hall at the University of Houston Law Center, on the main campus of the University. Everyone may select three courses to attend. As I said, the program is free, but you must register in advance. To register or get more information, go to www.peopleslawyer.net. Class begin promptly at 9am, but arrive early for complimentary coffee and donuts. I look forward to seeing you on Saturday, October 4th.

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Hindi Sabha held at BAPS temple

ICC Board of Directors and Trustees met at the footsteps of the temple

This year’s Hindi Sabha was held jointly by the India Culture Center

(ICC) and International Hindi Association (IHA) on Septem-ber 14 at the at BAPS temple in Stafford, Texas. ICC Board of Directors and Trustees along with the IHA executive team and core committee met at the footsteps of the temple for group picture session with the enchant-ing temple as the back drop.

The team was taken for Dar-shan to the beautiful marble temple by the Public Relations team of BAPS led by Ashvin Dave and Ketan Inamdar. Later they were led into the sabha-graha where the main discourse took place. More than a thou-sand people attended the Hindi Sabha. The Houston Swamiji spoke in chaste Hindi on the topic of strong and vital family

and social relationships.The entire program was con-

ducted in Hindi including the emceeing by the youth who did a commendable job.

BAPS is an institution which is inspired by Bhagwan Swami Narayan and presently led by Pramukhji Swami Maharaj and has millions of followers across the world. Generally, discourses at the temple on every Sunday (Ravisabha) are conducted in Gujarati but it being Interna-tional Hindi Day and in support of IHA Houston’s efforts to pro-mote Hindi language; the Sabha conducted in Hindi which lasted for almost 90 minutes and ev-eryone was in awe listening to Swamiji

IHA Houston President Swa-pan Dhairyawan and Jt Secre-tary Sanjay Sohoni were invited

to the stage for special blessings and felicitation by Swamiji at the end of discourse. They ap-preciated the efforts of IHA for community service in the Great-er Houston area.

After Arti all members got blessings from the Swamiji and the program ended with a special dinner Prasad to the attendees

The hospitality and affection showered by the BAPS volun-teers to the IHA team was in-credible. ICC President Charlie Patel was invited on the stage for special blessings from the Swamiji. The BAPS volunteers lauded the efforts of ICC for being the oldest organization and involved in preservation of culture in Greater Houston area. They also appreciated efforts in humanitarian projects which emerge from time to time in the community.

VOICE OF ASIA 5 FRIDAY, September 26, 2014COMMUNITY

by Sanchali Basu

The Houston Bengali drama scene has come into its own after quite

a few years of successful stag-ings of independent dramas and dramas at the drama festival held annually at the Durga Bari auditorium. So much was the enthusiasm among some of the ardent drama buffs that it led to the creation of the group MIST (Masks, Issues, & Stages Tra-versed). The members decided to kick it up a notch and gradu-ate from the amateur level to a professional level.

Their current production, Badal Sircar’s Baki Itihas was enacted at the Katy Performing and Visual arts Center the past weekend Saturday, Sept 19 and 20 to sold out audiences. The audience was in for a surprise because this was the first of its kind to be ever held in Hous-ton.

Beautiful ladies welcomed

New York City, September 17, 2014: Magic Bus and Ireo joined forces on Wednesday, September 17, 2014 to intro-duce prominent members of New York society to Magic Bus, a very large and professional non-government organization in India focused on behavioral change and leadership devel-opment for children and youth living in the most marginalized communities in India.

Amongst those in attendance was Matthew Spacie, Founder and Executive Chairman of Magic Bus, Anurag Bhargava, Chairman of Ireo, Rahul Brah-mbhatt, Executive Director of Magic Bus USA, and recent graduate of the Magic Bus pro-gram, Parvati Pujari.

Spacie is a young and inno-vative entrepreneur who previ-ously headed Cox & Kings in India and co-founded Cleartrip.com. He founded Magic Bus with the goal of taking chil-dren out of poverty and giving them a purpose in life through sports.

“I can tell you how to get a girl of 14 into school,” says Spacie, “but I’m not going to build that school. The whole premise of Magic Bus is to leverage what’s already there. Our program costs Rs.1,200 ($25 USD) per child per year. It’s nothing. We don’t do the delivery, the youth leader does, we don’t build assets, because they should already be there by law. It’s very complex, but I’m pleased it’s complex. Get-ting people out of poverty isn’t easy.”

Over the past 15 years, Magic Bus has used its unique “sport for development” approach to empower children and youth in making effective life choices in the areas of education, live-lihood and leadership, health, and gender equality.

Magic Bus’ curriculum on sport for development has won national and international rec-ognition, including the 2014 Laureus Sport for Good Award, recognizing the world’s most impactful sport for develop-

ment program, and the 2014 National Sports Promotion Award from the President of India.

Magic Bus takes a holistic approach towards providing an end to end solution for under-privileged children and youth, working with them from age 7 all the way through to adult-hood. Independent impact eval-uations provide strong external validation of Magic Bus’ im-pact: across the program, 98% of adolescent girls are in school and 80% of all Magic Bus graduates enroll in vocational training or go on to further edu-cation. The cost of the program is $25 per child per year.

Parvati Pujari, 24, a gradu-ate of the Magic Bus program, travelled from India to New York to speak to guests about her life changing experience, which began when she was nine years old. She grew up in a Mumbai slum area and saw her eldest sister get married at the age of 12. With the help of Magic Bus, Parvati completed

Ireo hosts benefit for Magic Bus: Changing lives through sport

high school and college, some-thing her older sisters were not allowed to do. While they were married off as child brides, Par-vati today works for Magic Bus as an Assistant Training Man-ager.

Magic Bus partners have in-cluded UNICEF, USAID, The World Bank, UK Sport, Aus-tralian Sports Outreach Pro-gram and the Government of

Indian real estate developer Ireo introduces Magic Bus to New York City to benefit the empowerment of children in India through high-impact sports and mentoring curriculum.

India. Corporate partners have included Nike, TOMS, BMW, Marchesa, Premier League and the NBA. This strong partner-ship network has enabled rapid scale-up since its inception in 1999. Magic Bus now has an outreach of 250,000 children and 8,000 mentors across 18 Indian states and has recently launched pilot studies in Singa-pore and London.

Magic Bus established itself as a US 501(c)3 organization in 2011 and is aiming to build support in the US, similar to robust networks in India, UK, and Singapore.

Chairman of Ireo, Anurag Bhargava, said of the endeav-or, “I believe in what Magic Bus and Matthew are trying to achieve, and Ireo is delighted to support this event.”

all at the ticket counter and arrangements were made for wine and cheese in the lobby before the show. Professional ushers guided everyone to their seats and the shows began at scheduled time in pin drop si-lence. The drama is about a couple; the wife, a homemak-er/writer and the husband, a lecturer, who find out about the suicidal death of a chance ac-quaintance in the local obituar-ies. The story spins around the wild imaginative ideas of each as to what could have driven the man to commit suicide.

The two angles of thought gave the audience a chance to reflect on two of the various many possible perspectives, and the twists in the plot kept the audience riveted to their seats. The poignant ending typical of a Badal Sircar play, made one search deeper into the realm of truth eventually taking one back into the history of mankind. It brought out the

Baki Itihas by MIST; quite a pleasant surprise!

stark reality of life and made us ask what do we live for!

The brilliant performances by the stellar cast consisting of the who’s who of the local Ben-gali drama scene left little to be desired. Of special note was Rahul Chakraborty’s charac-terization of the main character Sitanath, who made it very real and believable. The supporting cast of Manas Saha, Santasri Sen, Kousik Bhattacharya, Sampurna Kahali, Aurko Dut-ta, Udipta Mukherjee, Dilip Dutta, and Uddalak Bharadwaj were all very precisely effec-tive in their own right. The rest of the production crew worked tirelessly to get the sound, light and stage to all work in seam-less harmony. Thanks to the excellent teamwork, the pro-duction went off smoothly and ended up being a very fulfilling experience for all. The com-munity will now look for such outstanding productions from MIST in future.

Baki Itihas was staged at the Katy Performing and Visual Arts Center. Photo: Sushanta Bose

VOICE OF ASIA 6 FRIDAY, September 26, 2014COMMUNITY

Sugar Land, TX - Mark your calendars for the ninth annual iFest Live

international festival on Saturday, Nov. 8, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Sugar Land Town Square.

The Fort Bend Education Foundation has passed the torch to the City of Sugar Land after eight years of hosting the event. The City is taking over iFest Live to continue the celebration of diversity of cultures in the community.

The event will feature dozens of local organizations that will showcase their unique and vi-brant heritages from all around the world through performances, art, food and activities. An array of delicious international cuisine will be available for purchase from food vendors.

The first 2,000 children to “travel the world” and gather eight official stamps from any of the various countries being rep-resented will receive a free iFest

Live drawstring backpack.Festival admission and all

activities are free of charge. Complimentary event parking is available in the Lone Star and Texas Parking Garages at Sugar Land Town Center.

Come celebrate the wonder-ful diversity of culture within the community! If interested in participating in this event or for general inquiries, visit www.sugarlandtx.gov/ifest or call 281-275-2236.

iFest Returns to Sugar Land Town Square

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FORT BEND ISD - Twenty-seven (27) Fort Bend ISD teachers

were among those to receive grants from Nalco Champion to support their instructional needs. In keeping with its long-standing tradition of sup-porting public education, Nal-co Champion awarded grants totaling $75,000 to teachers in four Fort Bend County school districts through the Ecolab Foundation’s 2014 Visions for Learning grant program. The grants help support teachers’ efforts in engaging students in the classroom, augmenting basic skills instruction and en-riching the overall classroom experience.

HOUSTON (Sep. 23, 2014) — Memorial Hermann South-west Hospital is proud to an-nounce the certification of its Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program by the American Association of Car-diovascular and Pulmonary Re-habilitation (AACVPR). The hospital was recognized for its commitment to improving the quality of life by enhancing standards of care.

“Having a certified cardio-

vascular program confirms our commitment to maintaining high standards and following established best practice guide-lines, resulting in improved outcomes for our patients,” said Iyad Daher, M.D., Memo-rial Hermann Heart & Vascular Institute-Southwest Noninva-sive Cardiology and Cardiac Rehabilitation medical director. “Our patients often credit their recovery and well-being to our focus on this critical step in the care process.”

Cardiovascular and pulmo-

nary rehabilitation programs

are designed to help people with cardiovascular problems (e.g., heart attacks, coronary artery bypass graft surgery) and pul-monary problems (e.g., chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, respiratory symptoms) recover faster and improve their quality of life. Both programs include exercise, education, counsel-ing, and support for patients and their families.

Memorial Hermann South-

west participated in an appli-cation process that requires extensive documentation of its program’s practices. AACVPR Program Certification is the only peer-review accreditation process designed to review in-dividual programs for adher-ence to standards and guide-lines developed and published by AACVPR and other profes-sional societies. Each program is reviewed by the AACVPR Program Certification Commit-tee and Certification is awarded by the AACVPR Board of Di-rectors.

“This certification from

AACVPR again demonstrates the fact that Memorial Her-mann Southwest Hospital is a recognized leader in the field of pulmonary medicine,” said Victor Salcedo, M.D., Me-morial Hermann Southwest Pulmonary and Respiratory medical director. “An essential part of successful pulmonary treatment and rehabilitation includes monitoring, lifestyle education, exercise, and sup-port to help reduce the risk of future health problems and pro-gression of disease.”

AACVPR-certified programs

are recognized as leaders in the field of cardiovascular and pul-monary rehabilitation because they offer the most advanced practices available. AACVPR Program Certification is valid for three years.

One of only 256 hospitals

recognized nationwide, Me-morial Hermann Southwest recently received the American College of Cardiology’s 2014 NCDR ACTION Registry–GWTG Platinum Performance

Cardiovascular/Pulmonary Rehab Pro-gram at Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital Certified by Industry Leader

Cutline: The Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation Team at Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital was recognized for its commitment to improving the quality of life by enhancing standards of care.Photo: Memorial Hermann

Twenty-seven FBISD Teachers receive Nalco Ecolab Foundation’s 2014 Visions for Learning Grants

Pictured are FBISD grant recipients and District administrators.

Program awarded grants totaling $75,000 to Fort Bend County area teachers

FBISD’s 2014 Visions for Learning grant recipients and the schools they represent in-clude:Dulles High School - Sherrie HicklHightower High School – Ibironke Balogun, Shermett Corbett-Harris, Melvin Do-nahoe, Francis Enih, Judy Joachim, Raziyya Khatoon, Latasha Madison, Mallam Phillips, John Ramon, Renum Saxena, Deborah Scraper, and Joshua Thompson (Also on the original grant team, but no lon-ger at Hightower were teachers Sara Dickenson, Rachel Loo-ney and Stormie Melton.)Kempner High School - Ka-trina Lyons, Dr. Jeff RickenRidge Point High School -

Nikki Reed, Craig SandersM.R. Wood Center for Learn-ing – Trudy Higgins-Edison, Karen PorterFirst Colony Middle School – Tracey RichQuail Valley Middle School – Casey Giannetti, Jeanette Mo-ralesParks Elementary - Kelly De-BoseSienna Crossing Elementary - Kymberly Le

They were recognized at a reception held at the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce, along with grant award recipients representing Lamar Consoli-dated ISD, Needville ISD and Stafford Municipal School District.

VOICE OF ASIA 7 FRIDAY, September 26, 2014DIASPORA

London, Sep 22 (PTI) Inspired by a TV show, a 38-year-old In-dian-origin woman attempted to poison her “controlling and self-ish” mother, a magistrate, who denied her from getting married to a man of her choice.

Kuntal Patel, a graphic designer, had laced her mother’s Diet Coke with the deadly poison Abrin but it failed to take effect as it reacted with the acid in the drink, a court was told here today.

Meena Patel, mother who was given poison by daughter.

LONDON: An Indian-origin British scientist today became the first recipient in the field of dermatology to have been con-ferred with an honorary Profes-sorship by a prestigious French University for the remarkable results of his first beauty tablet.

Kartar Lalvani, founder Chairman of the Vitabiotics, Britain’s largest vitamin pro-ducer, was conferred the honor-ary Professorship of the leading French University and Centre

for dermatologic Research, part of a 900-year-old medical insti-tute at Besancon, University of Franche Comte.

“This is only the second time in the history of this renowned University that an honorary Professorship has been awarded to a British scientist,” a spokes-man of the University said.

“It is also the first time ever that such an award has been given to a British scientist in the field of dermatology by the institute which is a global cen-tre of excellence,” he said.

In his acceptance speech Lal-vani said, “I am delighted at the innovative research collabora-tion between Vitabiotics, and leading dermatologist Professor Philippe Humbert’s renowned research centre that has created highly original discoveries on winter skin ageing.”

He said the discovery was followed by Vitabuiotics in-novation in how to prevent the winter skin ageing through the micronutrient speciality of Per-fectil, a beauty supplement for skin, hair and nails.

“Ours is the first British company to bring transforma-tive innovation to dermatology and cosmetics - an area where France has always been and remains predominant - so of course for us a French scientific partner was a natural choice,” Lalvani said.

Richard Rahul Verma would make an excellent US ambassa-dor to India: Congressmen

WASHINTON: Top Ameri-can lawmakers and eminent Indian-Americans have hailed President Barack Obama’s decision to nominate Richard

Rahul Verma as his next envoy to India, noting that he would make an excellent ambassador.

“With over two decades of se-nior foreign policy experience, Rich Verma is a skilled and ac-complished professional who will make an excellent ambas-sador to India,” Congressman Joe Crowley, Co-Chair of the Congressional India Caucus, said.

Obama yesterday announced his decision to nominate Verma as his next Ambassador to In-dia.

If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the first Indian- American to head the US dip-lomatic mission in New Delhi.

He would replace Nancy Powell, who resigned from the position early this year.

Obama formally sent Verma’s nomination to the United States Senate yesterday, where more than 50 ambassadorial nomi-nees are pending for confirma-tion.

A former Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Af-fairs, Verma currently serves as Senior Counsellor at Steptoe & Johnson LLP and Albright Stonebridge Group.

He is also a Senior National Security Fellow at the Centre for American Progress. “He (Verma) is committed to build-ing the US-India relationship, has access to the highest levels of the White House, and is ex-actly who we need at the helm as we look to further strengthen US-India relations,” Crowley said soon after Obama’s an-nouncement.

At a critical time for growing India-US relations, Congress-man Ami Bera said Verma is an experienced professional who will make “an outstanding am-bassador” at such an important moment.

“He has many years of for-eign policy experience as a high ranking official with the US Department of State, as an adviser in both the US Senate and the US House of Represen-tatives, and during his years in the US Air Force,” he said.

“I know he understands the importance of strengthening the US-India partnership, and I look forward to working with him toward that goal as he takes on this new role,” said Bera, who is the only Indian-Ameri-can in the current Congress and only the third ever.

He was Senior National Se-curity Adviser, Counsel and Foreign Policy Adviser to the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid from 2002 to 2007, and an Associate at Steptoe & Johnson from 1998 to 2002.

Verma served on active duty in the US Air Force from 1994 to 1998 and received, among other decorations, the Merito-rious Service Medal and Air Force Commendation Medal.

Verma currently serves on the boards of Human Rights First, the Clinton Foundation, and the National Democratic Institute. He received a BS from Lehigh University, a JD from Ameri-can University, and an LLM from Georgetown University Law Centre.

MUMBAI: ICI-CI Bank today launched a new

product to serve the Indian diaspora and cater to their non- financial needs.

The top private lender said ‘NRI Advantage’entitles cus-

tomers to avail of exclusive discounts/special offers. It is targeted atNRI Premia, NRI Pro and NRI savings account holders.

Commenting on the offering, ICICI Bank Executive Direc-tor Rajiv Sabharwal said, “the

bank serves 1.5 million NRIs spanning 150 countries and pro-cesses over 5 million inbound transactions annually. With NRI Advantage we are confident that we will be providing our customers with a better value in the market.”

The product delivers a host of discounts for healthcare require-ments, gifting family & friends, assistance for service needs and India-based shopping wants of NRIs, among others.

ICICI Bank launches new prod-uct ‘NRI Advantage’ , for NRIs

Indian scientist awarded with honorary Professorship

Indian woman attempts to poi-son her mother


Photo: Gandhi’s last possessions. c 1948. Photographer unknown

Experiments with Truth: Gandhi and Images of Nonviolence is the first international project to explore the resonance of Gandhi’s ethics of non-violence,

or “satyagraha,” in the visual arts. Circling the globe and spanning centuries, crossing cultures and embracing faiths, drawing on history and shaped by

world events, Experiments with Truth poses a provocative question:

What does peace look like? Exhibition on view October 2, 2014 through February 1, 2015

Join the community conversation inspired by the exhibition

For program information, visit gandhislegacyhouston.org

Open Wednesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–7 p.m. Closed Monday and Tuesday1533 Sul Ross Street

Houston, Texas 77006713-525-9400

menil.org Free Admission. Always

Gandhi’s Legacy: Houston PerspectivesAn exploration of tolerance, diversity, and peace


SOUTH ASIA

VOICE OF ASIA 11 FRIDAY, September 26, 2014WORLD/US/ASIA

No single nation had pre-viously succeeded at its first go, although the European Space Agency, which repre-sents a consortium of coun-tries, pulled off the feat at its first attempt.

- NASA sends congratula-tions -

Scientists announced at 8:02am (0232 GMT) that Mangalyaan had entered the orbit. Now the probe is ex-pected to study the planet’s surface and scan its atmo-sphere for methane, which could provide evidence of some sort of life form.

Mangalyaan is carrying a camera, an imaging spec-trometer, a methane sensor and two other scientific in-struments.

NASA congratulated In-dia’s “Mars arrival”, wel-coming Mangalyaan, which means Mars vehicle in Hindi, in a tweet to “the missions studying the Red Planet”.

The European Space Agen-cy also offered congratula-tions, tweeting “welcome to the club!”

Indian engineers employed an unusual “slingshot” meth-od for Mangalyaan’s voyage, which began when it blasted off from India’s southern spaceport on November 5 last year.

Lacking enough rocket power to blast directly out of Earth’s atmosphere and gravitational pull, it orbited the Earth for several weeks while building up enough velocity to break free.

Critics of the programme say a country that struggles to feed its people adequate-ly and where roughly half have no toilets should not be splurging on space travel.

But supporters say it is the perfect opportunity to show-case India’s technological prowess as well as a chance for some one-upmanship on its rival Asian superpower.

“It’s a low-cost technology demonstration,” said Pal-lava Bagla, who has written a book on India’s space pro-gramme.

“The rivalry between re-gional giants China and In-dia exists in space too and this gives India the opportu-nity to inch ahead of China (and capture more of the market),” Bagla told AFP.

China offered its congratu-lations.

“This is the pride of India, the pride of Asia, and is a landmark of the progress of humankind’s exploration in outer space,” said foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying at a daily briefing.

Former prime minis-

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) congratulates K. Radhakrishnan, head of the state-run Indian Space Research Or-ganisation (ISRO), after India’s Mars Obiter successfully entered the red planet’s orbit, at their Spacecraft Control Center in the southern Indian city of Bangalore September 24, 2014.

India creates history...Continued from Page 1

ter Manmohan Singh an-nounced the mission launch in a speech on Independence Day 2012, shortly after Chi-na’s attempt flopped when it failed to leave Earth’s atmo-sphere.

India has launched 40 sat-ellites for foreign nations since kick-starting its space programme five decades ago. But China launches big-ger satellites.

ISRO scientists said the Mars Orbiter Mission, or MOM, had “proved” India’s “technological capabilities” and showed it was capable of venturing further.

“MOM is a major step to-wards our future missions in inter-planetary space,” ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan told reporters.

The probe is expected to circle Mars for six months, about 500 kilometres from its surface, and send data back to Earth.

U.S., Arab allies launch more airstrikes in SyriaWASHINGTON --

The U.S. and two Arab allies took

aim Wednesday at a key source of financing for Islamic State militants, bombing 12 of the oil refineries controlled by the terrorist group in Syria, the military said.

Black market oil contributes up to $2 million a day to the militant group, and the attacks targeted the small-scale refin-eries in remote sections of east-ern Syria in an effort to choke off its funding. U.S. Central Command said the refineries produce between 300 barrels and 500 barrels of refined pe-troleum daily.

According to a U.S. official, the strikes by the U.S., Saudi

Arabia and United Arab Emir-ates air forces targeted the in-frastructure surrounding the oil platforms, including barracks and other support structures that are key to the refinery op-erations. Some of the refinery towers may remain standing, the official said, but the attacks went after the systems needed to operate the machinery.

The official said the strikes took out a majority of the group’s oil refineries, and that the two Arab nations conducted a majority of the airstrikes. The U.S. also provided surveillance aircraft. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to dis-cuss the mission.

“The destruction and deg-radation of these targets fur-

ther limits ISIL’s ability to lead, control, project power and conduct operations,” U.S. Central Command said in a news release, using one of the acronyms for the Islamic State group.

The strikes were a continu-ation of the broader military campaign that began Monday against the militant group. Four Arab nations -- Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and United Arab Emirates -- participated in those strikes, and Qatar sup-ported the attacks.

As of Tuesday, according to Central Command, the U.S. had conducted airstrikes that hit at least 20 locations in Syr-ia. Combat aircraft flew 64 sor-ties. (AP).

INCHEON, September 24, 2014 (AFP) - China’s female swimmers added

three gold medals to an already impressive haul at the Asian Games Wednesday, stating they had no intention of giving up their dominance in the pool.

Rising star Shen Duo added the women’s 200 metre freestyle title to her gold in the 100m, while Jiao Liuyang defended her 200m butterfly crown and Fu Yuanhui won the women’s 100m backstroke.

China stretched their gold medal lead over rivals Japan to 15-8, with the female swimmers leading the charge since the first day of competition Sunday at the 17th Asiad.

“This year we’ve had good performances in some big com-petitions around the world,” said Shen, aged only 17.

“The swimmers in our team have a very good relationship with each other and our train-ing camps our excellent -- very powerful,” she added.

Asian Games: China’s girl power set to last

The junior world record hold-er has been in startling form in Incheon, South Korea, build-ing on her success at the recent Youth Olympics in Nanjing.

As well as her two individual titles, the teenager from Jiangsu has collected team gold in the women’s 4x100m freestyle re-lay and the 200m edition.

Zhang Yuhan took the 400m freestyle title while Fu has con-trolled the backstroke events, winning the 50m gold before adding the 100 title on Wednes-day.

Elsewhere, Lu Ying and Chen Xinyi won the 50 and 100 me-tres butterfly respectively while Olympic champion Ye Shiwen crushed the competition in the women’s 400m medley on Tuesday.

In total, China’s women have contributed 12 of their country’s 15 gold medals this week.

They have dominated the pool in recent years -- notably

Ye’s double gold in the 200m and 400m individual medleys at the London Games in 2012 aged just 16.

Shen, after collecting her fourth gold of the week, said the team’s dominance would continue in the future.

“We have many very good swimmers, who are all different ages,” she told reporters.

“I think we will continue to be successful and win medals.”

Asian champion Jiao, 23, agrees.

Jiao said she would have to work hard and keep improving if she is to be sure of making the squad for the 2016 Olympics in Rio because of the number of youngsters snapping at her heels.

“I really want to be there but I must get better because there are more and more young swim-mers coming through,” she said, adding that they can “encourage and help each other”.


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ONLINE.COMvoiceofasiaonline.com LIFESTYLE

by Aditya PHATAK

They were famed for their jet-set lifestyles and

the names of their com-panies were emblazoned on airplanes, Formula One cars and the shirtfronts of cricket teams.

But now the debt-laden empires of three of India’s best-known tycoons -- Vijay Mallya, Subrata Roy and T. Venkattram Reddy -- are crumbling before their eyes, downfalls that ob-servers say stem from a climate of weak regulation and deference to con-spicuous wealth.

“All too often, the banks are dazzled by the halo of personal fortunes,” said Vishwas Utagi, a veteran campaigner for banking regulation.

Some of India’s most successful businesses, such as the family-run Tata and Reliance conglomerates, have been led for years by men with little appetite for publicity and who prefer to operate in the shadows.

Indian United Breweries Group chairman Vijay Mallya attends the launch of the Kingfisher 2014 calendar in Mumbai. Photo: AFP

India’s jet-set tycoons crash to earth

India’s Sahara group’s chairman Subrata Roy (C), surrounded by bodyguards, leaves the Securities and Exchange Board of India head office in Mumbai, on April 10, 2013 (AFP Photo/Punit Paranjpe)

Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India during practice for Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix. Photograph: Hoch Zwei/Action Images

But Kingfisher boss Mallya and Sa-hara supremo Roy came to epitomise a new breed of tycoon, unafraid of trumpeting their achievements when they started making a name for them-selves in the early 2000s.

Mallya -- the self-styled “King of Good Times” -- became something of an icon as he turned the United Brew-eries Group which he inherited from his father into one of the world’s larg-est spirit makers.

As his core business flourished, Mallya branched out by launching the Kingfisher airline, named after his company’s best-known beer. His profile rose further when he acquired a stake in the Force India F1 team and ownership of the Royal Challengers Bangalore cricket team.

- Selling hotels for bail -But as the Indian economy began to

slow sharply at the turn of the decade, with the aviation industry becoming one of the sectors to be worst hit, Mal-

lya’s fortunes nosedived too.After selling the liquor business to

Diageo in a bid to shore up his airline, Mallya looked on helplessly as King-fisher continued to haemorrhage cash. The airline never took to the skies again after a pilots’ strike over unpaid wages in 2012.

Having run out of patience over Mallya’s failure to clear debts said to be in excess of $60 million, the United Bank of India this month declared him a “wilful defaulter”, making it nigh impossible to access fresh loans.

While Mallya is fighting to keep his properties from creditors, Roy is trying to sell his portfolio of luxury hotels -- including New York’s Plaza Hotel and the Grosvenor House in London -- to raise the $1.6 billion he needs to se-cure bail from Delhi’s Tihar Prison.

While he has several media inter-ests, including a Hindi TV channel and newspaper, Roy’s profile was heightened by his co-ownership with

T. Venkattram Reddy, seen during Farnborough Air Show, in England, on July 19, 2006. AFP photo.

Mallya of Force India and involve-ment in cricket.

As well as sponsoring the national side, Sahara set up a Pune-based fran-chise to enter the glitzy Indian Premier League (IPL).

The team’s expulsion from the IPL at the end of last year’s tournament in

a dispute over finances hinted that all was not well.

Things dramatically worsened in March when Roy was detained after failing to meet a demand by regulators to pay back millions of small savers the $3.2 billion that Sahara raised via an illegal bond scheme.

- Palatial splendour -While Roy owns homes modelled

on the White House and Buckingham Palace, Reddy’s penchant is for luxury cars with a fleet which reportedly in-cluded a Rolls Royce Phantom.

He also couldn’t resist the glamour of the IPL, buying the Deccan Char-gers franchise before it went bust in 2012.

While Roy’s fortune was self-made, Reddy and his brother T. Vinayak Ravi Reddy inherited the ownership of the Deccan Chronicle from their father.

The Hyderabad newspaper’s pres-tige enabled them to draw loans for riskier ventures including a chain of bookstores and a chartered jet com-pany.

Even if the cricket team is no lon-ger sucking money, the Reddys are struggling to keep the wolf from the door and lenders have already seized several of their properties.

Tamal Bandyopadhyay, author of a book on Sahara, said a weak regula-tory framework enabled tycoons to

build up debts that should nev-er have been al-lowed.

“Mallya is a case of over-stretching and

over-leveraging, while Roy is the case of exploiting regulatory arbi-trage or the loopholes in regulation,” Bandyopadhyay told AFP.

Utagi, a retired bank worker who is vice president of the All India Bank Employees’ Association, said there were too many “pliable peo-ple” in the industry who face little comeback if money they lend is not repaid.

“When it comes to credit apprais-als for corporates, the rules are more often honoured in the breach than the observance,” he said.

Bandyopadhyay said the ambitions of Indian tycoons were rarely held in check as they were “surrounded by sycophants”.

“That makes it very difficult for them to stay in touch with reality,” he added.

VOICE OF ASIA 14 FRIDAY, September 26, 2014LEISUREHow safe is that tattoo ink?

by Harry MisikoWashington

WASHINGTON - (September 23 2014) - Tattoos

seem more popular than ever, but is that artistic ink danger-ous to your health?

Little attention has been paid to that question, even as rates of skin cancer - the most com-mon cancer - have been steadi-ly growing.

German dermatologists published an article in March about their effort to determine if a tattoo had caused skin cancer in a 48-year-old man. About four months after a tat-tooist had pumped red and black pigments into the skin on the man’s left leg, he was diagnosed with skin cancer at a spot where red ink had been used, and he was sent to the specialists for treatment.

In the article - it appeared in PRS Global Open, a medi-cal journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons - the dermatologists reported finding no direct connection between the tattoo ink and the cancer, but they urged doctors to look for signs of squamous-cell carcinoma in patients who have a reaction to tattoos.

They also pointed out that there are no international stan-dards for tattoo ink mixtures and that inks in some countries may contain carcinogenic sub-stances, giving tattoo-seekers a lot more to think about than whether the needle is sterile and the artist is talented.

An earlier review also found no clear link to cancer, saying, “The number of skin cancers arising in tattoos is seemingly low, and this association has to be considered thus far as coin-cidental.” But the authors also said that tattoo ink may contain possible carcinogens, that it re-mains in the skin for a lifetime and that the long-term effects are unclear.

Many countries regulate the inks as cosmetics. In the United States, the Food and Drug Ad-ministration has the authority to screen the pigments used in inks before they go on the mar-ket, but the agency says it usu-ally does not do so “because of other competing public health priorities and a previous lack of evidence of safety problems specifically associated with these pigments.”

Cosmetics in general do not require approval before they reach the market. Instead, the FDA investigates when it re-ceives complaints about prod-ucts.

“FDA has basically been act-ing once cosmetics reach the market and cause harm,” said Janet Nudelman, director of the California-based Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, who has criti-cised the FDA regarding lead in lipstick and who says tattoo ink should be examined even before complaints are filed.

The FDA urges health-care providers, public health officials, tattoo shop owners, tattooists and consumers to report tattoo-ink-related health complications through the agency’s MedWatch program.

The potential for problems with inks was illustrated in 2012, when the FDA reported an outbreak of skin infections associated with tattoos. It de-termined that ink had prob-ably been contaminated during manufacturing, either because of unsanitary processes or con-taminated ingredients.

The Centres for Disease Con-trol and Prevention reported 22 confirmed infections in the states of New York, Washing-ton, Iowa and Colorado.

The two companies connect-ed to those infections, Catfish Carl’s in Arizona and another that the FDA has not named publicly, voluntarily recalled the inks from the market, ac-cording to Juli Putnam, an FDA spokeswoman.

Over the summer, White and Blue Lion, a California com-pany, recalled its ink after the FDA found that contamination of ink in a home-tattoo kit had led to a skin infection in one person.

“Even if a person receives a tattoo at a tattoo parlour that maintains the highest standards of hygienic practice,” the FDA warns, “there remains a risk of infection from the use of con-taminated ink.”

Medical attention should be sought if a tattoo becomes painful or develops redness, swelling or blemishes, the FDA advises.

The FDA, which says there have been no in-depth studies of the inks, is researching the chemical composition of tat-too ink and its safety at the Na-tional Centre for Toxicological Research in Arkansas.

Almost all inks, dermatolo-gists say, contain chemicals that can cause allergic and other reactions. They also warn that tattoos can cover up signs of skin cancer such as moles and that some colours can be more irritating than others.

“In scientific literature, it is not an unknown phenomenon that red ink causes skin irrita-tion or even worse,” Felix Ju-lian Paprottka, one of the doc-tors involved in the German

case, said.Michi Shinohara, a derma-

tologist and clinical assistant professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, says she has seen patients with tattoo reactions that mimicked skin cancer.

“Sometimes these actually have to be treated as skin can-cer because we can’t tell for sure,” she says.

That leaves doctors looking for answers. “The reported few cases are considered to be mere coincidences, since skin cancer is very common,” says Jorgen Serup, a dermatology professor at Copenhagen’s Bispebjerg University Hospital, which has a clinic that treats tattoo prob-lems and researches safe prac-tices.

“Cancer may easily occur in tattooed skin independent of the ink or pigment... However, we cannot completely deny it may happen,” added Serup, who has published extensively on industrial pigments, skin and tattoo complications.

The Copenhagen clinic warns patients that no tattoo ink should be considered entirely safe. “Inks are industrial prod-ucts with generally unknown content,” the clinic says in a fact sheet.

The clinic also urges those getting a tattoo to keep a record of the ink used, its manufac-turer and other details, in case problems develop.

Lack of international stan-dards, the German doctors say, complicates ensuring safety because problems reported in, for example, Europe may not be picked up elsewhere even though some inks are distrib-uted globally. Every week, the European Commission gath-ers information from its mem-ber countries about dangerous products and sends out warn-ings through its Rapid Alert System for Non-Food Products, or Rapex.

The reports, which are shared among the 28 EU member states and other participating coun-tries, are based on tests carried out by each country’s cosmet-

ics regulatory authorities. Since 2009, EU members have identi-fied more than 20 inks from the United States as dangerous and banned their sale. Those prod-ucts can be found in a search of the Rapex site.

Some of the blacklisted inks, according to Rapex recall re-ports, contained potential car-cinogens, toxic substances and nickel, cadmium and arsenic.

In the United States, regula-tion of tattoo parlours and tat-too artists is left to state and local jurisdictions.

“Because the FDA cannot require a cosmetics company to submit data before market-ing a product or require a com-pany to tell the FDA when they receive a report that one of its products has caused an adverse reaction in a user, the FDA may not know when there are problems,” Putnam, an FDA spokesman, says.

The FDA urges health-care providers, public health offi-cials, tattoo shop owners, tat-tooists and consumers to report tattoo-ink-related health com-plications through the agency’s MedWatch program.

Founded in 1993, MedWatch is a reporting system for ad-verse reactions to cosmetics, drugs, medical devices, dietary supplements, medical foods and infant formulas. The fed-eral agency investigates the complaints and, if they are con-firmed, issues safety alerts and orders product recalls, with-drawals or labelling changes to protect the public health.

Some tattooists shrug off the possibility of problems with ink.

“Most researchers use mouse skin [in experiments], and their findings may not accurately ap-ply to humans,” says Paul Roe, the owner of Britishink Tattoo Studio in Washington.

Tats may be cool, but many questions about them remain unanswered.

Courtesy: Washington Post

Sunday, Oct 12, 2014, 4 p.m. - 7 p.m. Venue: Law Building , 1001 Bissonnet, Houston TX

AboutIntroduced by Josef Helf-

enstein, director, The Menil Collection.

Through a compelling nar-rative, Shyam Benegal tells the story of Gandhi’s journey from a young London lawyer to the symbol of a nation, and his attempts to end discrimi-nation against the Indians in South Africa. During his 20 years in South Africa, Gan-dhi tested and practiced his concept of nonviolent protest through passive resistance, civil disobedience, and dedi-cation to the truth. The film portrays the difficulties and sacrifices that the Gandhi family endured, and presents the man as a human being with real problems as it charts the progress and experiences that would transform him into the figure who later be-came so important in India’s fight for independence.

Josef Helfenstein has served as the director of the

SAN FRAN-C I S C O , (AFP) -

Electronic Arts on Tuesday kicked off the US launch of its “FIFA 15” video game, hyping the latest instalment of its long-running soc-cer franchise as its most realistic yet.

More than 5 .5 million people have taken part in a demo period for the game, which will be re-leased worldwide later this week, according to EA.

“We believe we have built a game in FIFA 15 that delivers the most immersive and re-sponsive game play experience ever in the FIFA franchise,” said EA Sports vice president David Rutter.

“We can’t wait for the mil-lions of fans to start their sea-son and experience all of the innovations.”

EA is letting virtual soccer stars in “FIFA 15” get psyched, or angry, on field just like their real-world inspirations.

The game infuses on-screen players with “emotional intel-ligence” designed to let them show how they feel about missed passes, brutal tack-les, teammates, opponents and more.

“We want our fans to feel the highs and lows of the drama that is football, and experience the emotional rollercoaster that plays out during a match,” Rut-ter said during a glimpse at the title earlier this year.

“We’re now able to immerse you in the game and let the story of the match unfold based on new commentary, crowd activ-ity, and the natural reactions of the players, which make every

EA kicks off “FIFA 15” video game in US

game unique.”

“FIFA 15” on-screen players express ranges of emotions that evolve based on how a game is going, and have attitudes about on-field allies and opponents.

California-based EA said it tapped into the improved power of Xbox One and PS4 to make game play and graphics more realistic.

“Visually, this is the biggest step the FIFA franchise has ever taken,” Rutter said.

“We set out with the goal of creating atmosphere, players, crowds, and pitches that not only look like they do on match day, but also feel like they do when you play or watch football - it’s a level of immersion we’ve never been able to bring to the game before.”

Versions of the game are also tailored for prior generation Xbox and PlayStation consoles, along with personal computers powered by Windows soft-ware.

The new title is priced at $60.

A “FIFA 15 Ultimate Team” version of the game is avail-able for free to play on smart-phones or tablets powered by Apple, Android, or Windows software.

The Making of the Mahatma

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Menil Collection since 2004, managing all aspects of the institution’s operations and development and directing its curatorial program. Born in Lucerne, Switzerland, Helf-enstein earned his master’s degree from the University of Geneva and his PhD from the University of Bern.

Exhibitions that Helfen-stein has curated at the Menil include “Bill Traylor, Wil-

liam Edmondson, and the Modernist Impulse”; “Klee and America”; “Robert Rauschenberg: Cardboards and Related Pieces”; and the current exhibition “Experi-ments with Truth: Gandhi and Images of Nonviolence.” Helfenstein has lectured and published widely on modern and contemporary art. He is also coeditor of “Art and Activism: Projects of John and Dominique de Menil” (2010).


Friday, September 26, 2014 Section 2 Email: [email protected] Tel: 713-774-5140

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by Danny KEMP

BRUSSELS - It gives new meaning to the phrase “European Union”.

The Erasmus student exchange scheme has brought so many couples together from across the continent that it has led to the birth of one million babies, the EU said Monday.

A study of the programme’s impact since its launch in 1987 showed that 27 percent of people who took part had met their cur-rent life partner during their stay abroad.

Thirty-three percent of Eras-mus students hooked up with people of a different nationality than their own, nearly three times (13 percent) the rate of students who had not travelled.

That had created something of an EU baby boom, the bloc said as it released the results of the study.

Androulla Vassiliou, the Euro-pean Commissioner for educa-tion, said that the EU “estimates that around one million babies are likely to have been born to Erasmus couples since 1987”.

European Commission spokes-woman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen said it was a “touching little fig-ure” that showed the scheme “creates a lot of positive things”.

“It is a great encouragement to young people to go and live abroad and open up to all the op-portunities that exist if you are willing,” Hansen added.

- Go forth and multiply -But the EU insisted the pro-

gramme achievements went be-yond spawning dual-nationality babies -- creating jobs as well as population growth.

With unemployment affect-ing one in five young people in

‘One million babies’ spawned by EU student exchanges

a Europe increasingly gripped by economic stagnation, the EU said the Erasmus scheme also played a vital role in increasing the job prospects of students who took part.

“We can see from this impact study that young people who have been part of the Erasmus programme are less likely to experience long-term unemploy-ment,” Hansen said.

Famous names to have gone through the scheme include Ital-ian Foreign Minister and incom-ing EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini, a member of what Prime Minister Matteo Renzi calls the up-and-coming “Eras-mus generation”.

Mogherini did a thesis on Islam and politics while on an Erasmus exchange in Aix-en-Provence,

France.In total, three million students

and 350,000 teachers have taken part in the scheme, the EU said.

A further four million people will get support from Erasmus to train or study abroad over the EU’s next budget period until 2020.

The study surveyed 80,000 stu-dents and organisations, the big-gest ever of its kind.

Erasmus involves the 28 Euro-pean Union states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzer-land and Turkey.

The scheme is named after the Dutch philosopher Desiderius Erasmus (1466 - 1536), who travelled around Europe during the Renaissance to further hu-manist thinking.

AFP (file photo)

With classes, sports, homework and other activities,

weekdays are action packed for kids. Unfortunately, some students deal with an unwel-come addition to their daily routine -- bullying. An esti-mated 13 million students are bullied annually, according to government statistics.

With online social media so widely available to kids today, bullying doesn’t nec-essarily stop after school, and often takes place round-the-clock. The repercussions can be missed days of school, de-pression and even suicide.

Fortunately, kids are get-ting more help these days as bullying prevention efforts are growing nationwide.

Cartoon Network has been a pioneer in this space and its “Stop Bullying: Speak Up” campaign has been empow-ering bystanders to put a stop to bullying since it launched in 2010. On average, more than 100,000 people visit the initiative’s website monthly to learn prevention strate-gies.

“Speaking up to a trusted adult is the safest, most ef-fective way for victims and bystanders to bring an end to a bullying situation,” says Alice Cahn, Cartoon Net-work vice president of social responsibility. “Bystanders in particular can be powerful agents for change when they

report incidents.”

Support for Cartoon Net-work’s award-winning pro-social effort has come from such diverse organizations as Facebook, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, LG Mo-bile, and CNN. President Obama even invited Cartoon Network to the first Bullying Prevention Summit at the White House, and later in-troduced the initiative’s first documentary, “Speak Up.”

This year, Cartoon Net-work’s Speak Up Week (Sept. 29 - Oct. 3) kicks off National Bullying Prevention Month in October and is a great time to review ways that adults and kids can stand up to bullying:

• Cyberbullying: Don’t contribute to the problem by sharing, saving, forwarding or reposting information. If you’re on the receiving end, resist the urge to get back at the person or fix the issue online -- both can make the problem worse. Get offline and deal with it in real life. Parents can help prevent cyberbullying by monitoring kids’ use of computers, mo-bile phones and tablets.

• Don’t stand by: Research has found that when bully-ing occurs and a bystander intervenes by speaking up, more than half of bullying situations stop within just 10 seconds.

• Share your voice: Cartoon Network is recruiting 1MM students, parents, teachers, legislators and anyone con-cerned about bullying preven-tion to submit user-generated videos that feature individu-als declaring the phrase, “I Speak Up!” You can use a smartphone or go online to upload your own video to the www.StopBullyingSpeakUp.com website.

Participants are also en-couraged to use the hashtag, #ISpeakUp to share videos via their own social media platforms to help spread the word and enlist friends to take part in the 1MM chal-lenge. Select videos will appear on-air as part of new campaign spots for Cartoon Network, its digital platforms and Boomerang.

• Listen: Parents should check in with kids periodi-cally to make sure they’re safe and happy at school, on the playground and online. If you’re an adult and a child tells you about a bullying situation, listen. Either let the school know about the issue or talk to the other children’s parents about putting a stop to the behavior.

Whether you’re a victim, a bystander or a concerned adult, don’t sweep bullying under the rug. By speaking out against cruelty, you can help end bullying.

Source: StatePoint.net

Speak Up During National Bullying Prevention Month

I Speak Up!” Photo credit StatePoint

VOICE OF ASIA 16 FRIDAY, September 26, 2014BOLLYWOOD MASALA Friday, September 26, 2014 Section 2 Email: [email protected] Tel: 713-774-5140

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Shah Rukh Khan Delivers King Size Show With ‘SLAM - The Tour’

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by Shobana Muratee

HOUSTON - Ten years is a long time but the wait was well its worth, especially

for die-hard fans of Shah Rukh Khan who got a Texas size show with his ‘SLAM -The Tour’ on Friday, Sep. 19 at the Toyota Center downtown.

The show which is on its world tour was the largest Bollywood bonanza with a super-sized star ensemble which included Shah Rukh Khan, Ab-hishek Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Farah Khan, Boman Irani, Malaika, Arora Khan, Sonu Sood, new comer Vivaan Shah and singers Yo Yo Honey Singh and Kanika Kapoor. The mega show, with its beginning performance in Houston, was brought by local promoter Rajender Phal, CEO of Star Promotions, known for promoting such mega shows in the past like ‘The Unforgettable’ with the Bachchans. New Jersey was the next stop for SLAM on September 20 followed by performances in Washington DC (September 21). Then future shows are scheduled for Chicago (September 26), Vancouver in Canada (September 27) and San Jose (September 28). They are scheduled to perform at the UK’s O2 Arena in London on October 5.

New comer Vivaan Shah opened the show with great gusto and style. He performed to the special ‘Slam’ song written specially for the show which gave a rocking intro to the show.

Shah Rukh Khan proved beyond a doubt that he’s still the undisputed King of Bollywood. He continues to charm his audience with his sig-nature moves from the nineties and romanced his way through the eve-ning, proving himself the ‘Bollywood Badhsha’ and ‘King Khan’. The show revealed the industrious side of Khan and his quest for pushing boundaries. He didn’t sting or limit his appear-ance. In fact the audience got an abundance of performances and some even got quality time with him - like a couple from Dallas, Teju and Daval with whom he clowned around with and later quizzed them on his films before presenting them with a Harley Davidson motorbike.

Although there was much hype about Shah Rukh Khan’s new body frame, packing ‘eight-pack’ abs, it was left only to one’s imagination as he didn’t come anywhere close to stripping his shirt off for the show. Sonu Sood on the other hand, dropped his shirt at the slightest cue, which was well received as he seemed to be compensating for oth-erwise awkward dance moves.

For Deepika Padukone, this world tour was her first. But she is already a heartthrob of thousands who have watched her blossom since her Om Shanti Om Bollywood debut. Since then she has had a series of hits including her latest with a Shah Rukh Khan-star vehicle, the block-buster “Chennai Express’. Their unmistakable chemistry was evident throughout the show which made the performances even more intriguing. Deepika looked ravishing in every outfit and her best was for the last when she danced to a number from her upcoming film Happy New Year.

Abhishek Bachchan brought a feel of freshness to the group and stood out as the most original star with the Bachchan aura hovering about him. He tactfully connected the audience with Ashwarya Rai Bachchan (his super star wife) in India with an Ins-tagram of Houstonians going wild.

Boman Irani and Farah Khan pro-vided some comic relief with their act as an odd romantic couple inspired by their roles in Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi. The star comedian Boman seemed a little out of place on the live stage but was very lively. Farah was very delightful and an absolute

Shah Rukh Khan seen interacting with couple from Dallas to who he later presented a Harley Davidson motorbike.

Shah Rukh Khan introduces Houston’s Rajender Phal, CEO of Star Promotions Deepika Padukone looked fiery in her shimmering gold outfit at the finale.

pro who delivered her performances with great ease. Acting seems to come to her as naturally as directing. She is the queen of choreography and has directed films that were real blockbusters. Her new film Happy New Year is scheduled to release in October around the time of Diwali. This tour roster had the entire Happy New Year star cast serving also as its promo platform for the film and Farah did a brilliant job by plugging it in.

Malaika Arora Khan’s sizzling per-formances to her item songs kept the audience energized as the show went on to go way past midnight. Yo Yo Honey Singh was clearly cut out for a global audience. His music and moves were both catchy and had everyone grooving to his rap. Finally, Kanika Kapoor looked very glamorous and was a welcome talent who connected instantly with massive crowd.

It was fitting finale when the entire star troupe, dressed in blue glitzy uniform, performed to an altered ver-sion of the song ‘India Waale’ from the film Happy New Year and crafted it into “Houston Waale’. All in all a night to remember!

TOP: SLAM-The Tour group that performed in Houston on Friday, Sep. 19, 2014. From L-R: Vivaan Shah, Sonu Sood, Deepika Padukone, Shah Rukh Khan, Malaika Arora Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Farah Khan and Boman Irani.

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by LIZZIE PARRY

A drug widely prescribed to those with diabetes could cause thyroid,

heart and a host of other health problems, a study has warned.

Metformin is commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes. It lowers blood sugar levels by reducing glucose production in the liver.

But new research, published in the Canadian Medical Asso-ciation Journal, found the drug is linked to having an underactive thyroid.

And the increased risk of pro-ducing low levels of the thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), can lead to complications, scientists have warned.

The condition can cause heart disease, goitre - a lump in the throat caused by a swollen thy-roid - pregnancy problems and a life-threatening condition called myxoedema coma.

Both men and women can have an underactive thyroid, though

Social Security Benefits Now or Later?

Are you still work-ing?

If you plan to continue working, there are limits on how much you can earn each year between age 62 and full retirement age and still get all your ben-efits.

Depending on the amount of your benefit and your earn-ings for the year, you may have to give up some of your benefits. If your earnings will be high, you may decide to wait until full retirement age to start your benefits.

Once you reach full retire-ment age, there is no limit on how much you can earn.

•After you reach full re-tirement age, Social Secu-rity recalculates your benefit amount to give you credit for any months in which you did not receive a benefit because of your earnings.

•When additional earnings appear on your record, Social Security checks whether you will increase your monthly benefit. If you do, Social Se-curity will send you a letter telling you your new benefit amount.

How much can I earn and still get benefits?

If you are younger than full retirement age and make more than the yearly earnings lim-it, your earnings may reduce your benefit amount. (If you were born between 1/2/1945 and 1/1/1955, your full retire-ment age is 66 years.)

If you are under full retire-ment age for the entire year, Social Security Administra-tion deduct $1 from your benefit payments for every $2 you earn above the annual limit. For 2014, that limit is $15,480.

• In the year you reach full retirement age, SSA deducts $1 in benefits for ev-ery $3 you earn above a dif-ferent limit. In 2014, the limit on your earnings is $41,400 but SSA only counts earnings before the month you reach your full retirement age.

Do you come from a long-lived family?

When you think about re-

tirement, be sure to plan for the long term.

A man who turned 65 in 2014 can expect to live about another 19.3 years. A woman who turned 65 the same year can expect to live about an-other 21.6 years.

And those are just averages.

About one out of every four 65-year-olds today will live past age 90. One out of 10 will live past age 95.

How long do you expect to live?

Did your parents and grand-parents all live into their 80s or 90s? If the answer is yes, and you have every reason to believe you will too, you may want to delay starting your benefits until full retirement age or later. If they didn’t, you may choose to start receiving retirement benefits earlier.

• If you come from a long-lived family, you may need the extra money more in later years, particularly if you may outlive pensions or annu-ities with limits on how long they are paid.

There are some of the fac-tors to be considered (To Be Continued……).

For effective Retirement and Health Planning contact Su-dhir Mathuria for your Health and Wealth Planning at 713-771-2900.

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The drug metformin - widely prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes - could cause heart disease and a host of other health problems, scientists have warned

Common diabetes drug metformin could cause thyroid and heart problems, experts warn

Metformin is commonly prescribed to treat type 2 diabetesBut new research warns the drug is linked to having an underactive thyroid• Complications include heart disease and problems in pregnancy•

the condition is more common in women.

In the UK, it affects 15 in every 1,000 women and one in 1,000 men. The condition can also de-velop in children.

The amount of metformin an individual needs to control blood sugar levels is worked out by a person’s doctor or diabetes team.

However, some previous re-search has raised concerns that the drug may lower thyroid-stim-ulating hormone levels.

The study, published in Cana-dian Medical Association Jour-nal, examined data on 74,300 patients who received metformin and sulfonylurea, another com-mon diabetes drug, over a 25-year study period.

Of these people, 5,689 were being treated for an underactive thyroid, and 59,937 had normal thyroid function.

In the group with an underac-tive thyroid, there were 495 in-cidences of low thyroid-stimu-

lating hormone (TSH) (119.7 per 1000) per year compared with 322 in the normal group (4.5 per 1000).

In patients with a treated un-deractive thyroid, metformin was associated with a 55 per cent increased risk of low TSH levels compared with treatment with sulfonylurea.

Metformin therapy did not ap-pear to affect people with normal thyroid function.

Dr Laurent Azoulay at the De-partment of Oncology, McGill University, said: ‘The results of this study confirmed that the use of metformin was associated with an increased risk of low TSH lev-els in patients with treated hypo-thyroidism.

‘Given the relatively high inci-dence of low TSH levels in pa-tients taking metformin, it is im-perative that future studies assess the clinical consequences of this effect.’ SOURCE: Mailonline.

by Kerry SHERIDAN

WA S H I N G T O N , September 23, 2014 (AFP) - The num-

ber of Ebola infections in Libe-ria and Sierra Leone could sky-rocket to 1.4 million by January 2015, according to a worst-case scenario released by US health authorities Tuesday.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention esti-mated that Ebola cases in these two West African nations could range between 550,000 and 1.4 million cases by January 20, 2015.

The Ebola epidemic has killed 2,811 people of the 5,864 infected since the beginning of the year in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia and Nigeria, according to the World Health Organization.

The CDC estimate is based on the assumption that Ebola cases in the world’s largest outbreak to date are being underreported by a factor of 2.5.

However, experts warned the figures are based on data that is three weeks old, before the United States and other nations ramped up their responses to the epidemic in West Africa.

“The numbers do not reflect current conditions,” said a CDC statement on the projec-tion, published in the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Week-ly Report.

Asked by reporters why the CDC would release information that was already out of date, the agency’s chief Tom Frieden said the model is designed to be used by government leaders and international relief groups to model what may happen un-der different variables.

“The bottom line here -- and what I think what is really im-portant in this tool -- is that the model shows that a surge now can break the back of the epi-demic,” Frieden said.

“It also shows that there are severe costs of delay.”

The UN health agency ear-lier Tuesday projected that new cases would increase from hun-dreds each week to thousands without “drastic improvements in control measures,” with in-fections more than tripling to 20,000 by November.

That study, published in the New England Journal of Medi-cine, projected a 46 percent death rate among reported cas-es that have a known clinical outcome.

Some prior outbreaks of Ebo-la have had much higher fatal-ity rates.

A key challenge in the current epidemic is isolating and treat-ing those who are sick.

A US military mission to the region has begun, which will involve 3,000 troops providing training and logistics.

In Liberia, the hardest-hit na-tion, chronic shortages of beds and staff have forced health care workers to turn patients away.

“I would say that we have seen a tremendous surge in the last week in responses from around the world,” said Gayle Smith, special assistant to the president and senior director of the Na-tional Security Council.

“That momentum must be at least maintained so that we can assure that we are way out ahead of this and not assuming... that we don’t need more.”

Ebola is spread through close contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, or by touch-ing the corpse of someone who died from the disease -- as is a common custom in funeral rites.

The hemorrhagic fever causes muscle aches, diarrhea and vomiting.

“If we move fast enough we can turn it around,” said Frie-den.

“I am confident that the most dire projections are not going to come to pass.”

US warns Ebola could infect 1.4 million by 2015

Factors to consider To Delay Social Secu-rity Benefits after full retirement benefits.

VOICE OF ASIA 19 FRIDAY, September 26, 2014HEALTH, SC & TECH

by Prof. Meenakshi Bhat-tacharjee

As the old saying goes, “April show-ers bring May flow-

ers.” As much as we may appreciate the beauty of dif-ferent flowers emerging from sleepy ground, many floral friends are much more than just a pretty face. Some flow-ers possess the power to heal, earning them a place in your medicine cabinet as well as your favorite vase.

It’s no secret that flow-ers can boost morale and improve mood. A bunch of sunny-faced blooms brighten a room and the spirits of any-one catching a drift of their scent. Medicinal properties of flowers were discovered thousands of years ago. Folk medicines practiced by the natives around the globe ex-tensively use flowers. Flower therapy uses essential flower oils, flower waters, flower juice, flower petals (fresh and dried), and aroma to heal mind and body. Because of me-dicinal properties of flowers, modern medicines use flower extracts. Essential flower oils are also used in cosmetics. . One of the greatest advantag-es is that flowers and plants offer completely natural me-dicinal properties, often with-out the scary side effects that modern pills and medications bring on. Furthermore, rem-edies made from flowers can be much cheaper than drugs marketed by pharmaceutical companies. To learn more about using medicinal flow-ers for home remedies, have a look at some of the most ef-fective ones below.

ANGELICA HERB – Re-member the green bits of can-

Flower Power: The Healing power of Flowers - Part I

Prof. Meenakshi Bhattacharjee, Rice University, Houston TX.

died angelica used to decorate cakes? It comes from the very same plant as the Angelica flower. Like the rest of the plant, the flower is extremely fragrant and has a number of medicinal uses including di-gestive disorders and coughs and colds. It can also be given as a strengthening tonic for se-niors and children. Act much like calcium channel block-

ers used in treatment of heart problems related to angina. Other medicinal qualities are as carminative, antispasmod-ic, topical anti-inflammatory, diuretic, expectorant, diges-tive tonic, anti-rheumatic, uterine stimulant, cholagogue (gallbladder pain), somatic, and diaphoretic. This flower helps relieve anemia, abdom-inal bloating, chronic bron-chitis, dyspepsia, flatulence, gastrointestinal spasms, loss of appetite, peptic discom-forts, arthritis and joint pain, typhoid, ulcers. It has been used as a blood purifier, to promote blood circulation and in both sexes. It relieves peripheral circulation prob-lems and reduces high blood pressure by acting to stabilize blood vessels.

BEGONIA – Begonias can be prepared in several differ-ent ways. An infusion made by soaking the flowers in hot water helps to eliminate headaches and rid the body of

toxins. The crushed flowers

and leaves can also be rubbed directly on the skin to help relieve pain and heal sores or burns. Flower infusions used to promote blood circulation and elimination of toxins from the body. Poultice of flowers used for burns and toxic sores, relives headaches, rashes, sore and irritated nipples, conjunc-tivitis and peptic ulcer. It is also anodyne, antiphlogistic and antispasmodic. Decoc-tion used in the treatment of traumatic pain, hematemesis, gonorrhea, post-partum vagi-nal discharge, amenorrhea and snakebites.

BELLIS PERENNIS – Also known as the common daisy, this flower holds a wealth of medicinal properties despite its unassuming appearance. When used in an infusion, it

acts as a laxative as well as an expectorant to purge the body of toxic matter. It is also used as a home remedy to help treat physical disorders such as ar-thritis and rheumatism. Direct application to the skin through an ointment or poultice aids in healing wounds. They are a traditional wound herb and are also said to be especially useful in treating delicate and listless children. Recent re-search has been looking at the possibility of using the plant in HIV therapy. It is mildly anodyne, antispasmodic, an-titussive, demulcent, diges-tive, emollient, expectorant, laxative, ophthalmic, purga-tive and tonic. The fresh or dried flowering heads are normally used. An infusion is used in the treatment of ca-tarrh, rheumatism, arthritis, liver and kidney disorders, as a blood purifier etc. The daisy once had a great reputation as a cure for fresh wounds.

An ointment made is applied externally to wounds, bruises whilst distilled in water is used internally to treat inflam-matory disorders of the live. It is said to be a cure for mouth ulcers. Daisies also have a reputation for effectiveness in treating breast cancers. The flowers are normally used fresh in decoctions, ointments and poultices. A mild decoc-tion may ease complaints of the respiratory tract, rheumat-ic pains and painful or heavy menstruation. The plant, har-vested when in flower, is used as a homeopathic remedy. Its use is especially indicated in the treatment of bruising.

BLACK COHOSH – Wom-en should be very careful when using Black Cohosh as it is an extremely potent flow-er. Black Cohosh can be used as an emmenagogue, which means that it stimulates the uterus. Women with menstru-

al problems can effectively use low doses of this flower to help regulate their cycles and relieve pain. In the same vein, pregnant women should avoid it since it can bring on a mis-carriage or early labor. Black cohosh acts as a antispas-modic to muscles, nerves, and blood vessels and as a muscle anti-inflammatory. It contains the anti-inflammatory com-pounds that have been used for an assortment of mus-cular, pelvic, and rheumatic pains. Black cohosh seems particularly effective for uter-ine cramps and muscle pain caused by nervous tension, as well as pains accompanied by stiffness, soreness, and tight

sensations or contractions. Native Americans used it for female and muscular condi-tions as well as fatigue, sore throat, arthritis, and rattle-snake bites.

BLOOD ROOT – This little white flower is very ef-fective in low doses when treating respiratory problems. It can be made into a paste when mixed with other com-

pounds and applied on the skin to treat rashes, warts, tumors and various dermic problems. When ingested as a tea or tonic, bloodroot is very effective in cleansing the blood and lowering fevers. Used mainly for bronchial problems and severe throat infections. The root is used in many pharmaceuticals, mixed with other compounds to treat heart problems, dental ap-plications (to inhibit plaque), and to treat migraines and for ringworm infections. Blood-root is said to repel insects. It is used in as an anesthetic, cathartic, emetic, emmenag-ogue, expectorant, diuretic, febrifuge, sedative, stimulant and tonic. Also as an anes-thetic, antibacterial, anti-cho-linesterase, anti-edemic, anti-gingivitic, anti-inflammatory, anti-neoplastic, antioxidant, anti-periodontic, anti-plaque, antiseptic, diuretic, emetic, expectorant, fungicide, gas-trocontractant, hypertensive, pesticide, respiratory stimu-lant and more.

BLUE LOBELIA – Native Indians used Blue Lobelia as a treatment for syphilis as well as less severe ail-ments. Tea made with this flower helps to relieve fevers, coughs and colds, and diges-tive problems. It stimulates the respiratory center of the

brain, producing stronger and deeper breathing, making it very useful in treating many respiratory complaints, such

as asthma, chronic bronchitis, whooping cough, spasmodic croup, and pneumonia. It is a most useful systemic relax-ant and a holistic combination of stimulation and relaxation. Used to treat convulsive and inflammatory disorders such as epilepsy, hysterical con-vulsions, traumatic injuries, tetanus, sores and abscesses, colds and fevers, diphtheria and tonsillitis.

BUTTERFLY WEED – But-terfly Weed is primarily effec-tive in treating respiratory and related lung issues. When in-gested in large amounts, it can be used for internal cleansing and pain relief. Direct appli-cation to the skin in the form of a poultice can help to re-duce swelling or heal wounds. Widely used for lung inflam-mations (Pleurisy), asthma, and bronchitis. It was named

after its ability to help reduce the pain and inflammation of the disease pleurisy (Pleurisy Root). It helps improve lym-phatic drainage and relaxes the capillaries. It is a relaxing diaphoretic that works gradu-ally. Can be used for bruises, swellings, rheumatism and lameness. Contains an en-zyme that removes warts. It has been used as a fever-reducing agent, digestive and anti-inflammatory. It was also used for colds, diarrhea, dys-entery, emphysema, flu, indi-gestion, measles, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and typhoid.To be continued next week


Friday, September 26, 2014 Section 2 Email: [email protected] Tel: 713-774-5140

BUSINESSONLINE.COMvoiceofasiaonline.com

SYDNEY / MELBOURNE

NEW DELHI, September 20, 2014 (AFP) - US bil-lionaire Bill Gates will

dine with some of India’s wealthi-est people this weekend in a bid to encourage them to give more to charity, in a country where the rich are still seen as relatively tight-fisted.

The gathering will be hosted by tycoon Azim Premji, founder of Bangalore-based software giant Wipro and one of India’s biggest donors, an executive close to the businessman told AFP on Satur-day.

“They will be meeting privately to allow them to speak freely” about philanthropy, the executive told AFP.

The meeting comes amid disqui-et in India about a yawning divide between the burgeoning wealthy class and hundreds of millions still living in deep poverty.

India has 100 billionaires -- the sixth biggest number globally, ac-cording to a report this week by Swiss bank UBS and Wealth X, a firm which tracks “ultra-high net

Bill Gates in bid to boost charity amongst India’s rich

worth” individuals.But like other emerging econo-

mies such as China, India’s chari-table giving still lags markedly behind that in the West where the tradition of wealthy businessmen donating chunks of their fortunes is much more deeply ingrained.

Rich Indians gave an average 3.1 percent of their income to charitable causes in 2011 -- up from 2010 but far behind the 9.1 percent average in the United States, according to consultancy Bain & Company.

Premji was the first Indian to join Microsoft co-founder Gates and US billionaire investor War-ren Buffet’s Giving Pledge club which encourages the world’s wealthiest to donate at least half their fortunes to charity.

Gates is the world’s wealthiest man, worth an estimated $76 bil-lion, according to a 2014 Forbes list.

The tech tycoon, who is on a trip to India with his wife Melin-da, said this week in New Delhi he

did not believe it was a good idea for the rich to leave a lot of money to their children.

“A lot of (people with) first-gen-eration fortunes now don’t believe in aristocratic dynasties -- they don’t want to destroy their chil-dren’s experience of making it on their own,” Gates said in a public talk Thursday.

He said he believed “that (feel-ing) is increasing” among the world’s wealthy.

He and his wife have already declared that they have no inten-tion of leaving their entire fortune to their three children, saying they needed to “have a sense that their own work is meaningful”.

Their Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given away bil-lions of dollars to global health and development.

Gates attended a similar event hosted by Premji in 2012. The latest event’s guest list was not divulged but Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chief of pharmaceutical company Biocon, said its aim was “to tell other wealthy to share”.

Bill and Melinda Gates with Indian author Chetan Bhagat (left) at an ‘All Lives Have Equal Value’ event in New Delhi on September 18, 2014 (AFP Photo/Chandan Khanna).

by Staff ReporterMISSOURI CITY - Friday,

September 19th, 2014— Mis-souri City, Texas: After a long day of heavy downpours, the skies cleared for the much an-ticipated grand opening of dgn Factory’s second location in Missouri City, TX. The partners of dgn Factory, Deven Bhakta, George Eapen, and Niraj Shah, (after whose first names dgn Fac-tory is named), welcomed Mis-souri City Mayor, Allen Owen, Mayor Pro Tem, Robin Elackatt, Missouri City Council At Large Position 2, Chris Preston and other distinguished friends and family.

George Eapen was proud to say that dgn Factory (formerly known as Dosa Factory) has topped the charts for the most favorite restaurants for 2013 in the United States. He also spoke on the plans for future expansion of dgn Factory both nationally and internationally. After a successful opening of their first location in a strip cen-

dgn (dosa) Factory opens its 2nd location in Missouri City, TX

ter on Richmond Ave, Houston, the second location in Missouri City, TX is in a freestanding location equipped with a drive thru and patio seating. The third location is also being completed in Downtown Houston in the Tunnel food court scheduled to open November 2014. There are also plans to launch two food trucks in Houston making Indian Fast Food more accessible to all. Once these locations are up and running, dgn Factory will accept offers for franchising starting 2016.

Upon concluding his welcome speech, George Eapen welcomed Mayor Allen Owen to light the ceremonial lamp which cultur-ally signifies “giving life” to the new location. Following Mayor Owen was Mayor Pro Tem, Robin Elackatt, Missouri City Council At Large Position 2, Chris Preston, and partners of dgn Factory. In his speech Mayor Allen Owen said that he is happy that dgn Factory chose Missouri City for their second location.

“We were kind of worried that there are plenty of empty retail spaces and we are glad that this one has been empty for the shortest period, only 4 months. We welcome dgn Factory to Missouri City and wish them all success in their journey” said Mayor Allen.

Mayor Pro Tem Robin Elack-att read out the Missouri City Declaration and handed it over to owner and partners Deven Bhakta, George Eapen, and Niraj Shah. He then promised full cooperation from Missouri City officials to make sure that dgn Factory runs as a successful business.

Finally, George Eapen wel-comed the guests to a buffet of items including: gobi schezwan, mini idlies, spicy aloo wedges and a variety of stuffed dosa’s.

dgn Factory is scheduled to officially open to the public next week.

For more details, please visit: http://dgnfactory.com/

From L-R: Council Member, Missouri City and At-Large Incumbent Jerry Wyatt, partners Niraj Shah, George Eapen, Deven Bhakta, Missouri City Mayor Allen Owen, Mayor Pro Tem Robin Elackatt and Chris Preston At Large Position #2 Missouri City Council Member, hold the declara-tion for display at dgn Factory. Photo by Jacob David

VOICE OF ASIA 21 FRIDAY, September 26, 2014BUSINESS

by Jacob David

HOUSTON - WILSHIRE Bank (Nasdaq: WIBC)

has opened its doors in Hous-ton for the first time. The new branch in Houston is on the 10,000 block of Harwin. Their first branch in Texas was opened in Dallas. The bank started in the 1980s in California by Jewish and Korean immigrants. It was a bank opened to represent the true spirit of Multi ethnic groups. On December 31st, 2014 Wilshire Bank will be celebrating its 34th anniver-sary.

With $3.68 Billion in Assets, Wilshire Bank has 36 branch-es with 25 of them in Los An-geles, 8 shared between New York and New Jersey and 2 in Dallas, Fortworth, and 1 in Houston. Wilshire Bank plans to hold a grand opening on November 17th, 2014. The bank plans to expand rapidly between 2014 and 2016 in Texas. It aims to target Asian Immigrant minorities, Wom-en owned businesses from China, Korea, India, Nepal, Pakistan and others settled here in Houston.

In his speech at a press conference held at Shahnai

Restaurant in Hillcroft, JP Park, Senior Vice President, Wilshire Bank, said that “Houston is a big city, bigger than Dallas. With a combined population of 9.5 million, Wilshire bank hopes to set deep roots in Texas. There are other Chinese banks which are strong here in Houston like East West, Metro and Golden bank. But we are not here to attack them. We are here to serve the Asian and South Asian communities and add to the competition. We are open to American clients also. We’d like to strengthen the financial market here in Houston. Competition is al-ways good so long as it is done ethically and legally. This helps the business mar-ket positively.”

“Wilshire Bank plans to reach out with loans for busi-nesses focusing on the Oil & Gas Sector, and helping busi-nesses grow in Corpus Christi and San Antonio. “We plan to open 3 – 4 branches in a couple of years expanding to Austin (2016) and San Anto-nio (2017).”

Reminiscing, JP Park said that “Wilshire Bank started as a small community bank in 1980. 80% of the banks did not do well and stopped

short of reaching a billion dollars. We reached our $1 Billion mark in 2005. In 2006, we reached $2 Billion. There after the market and the economy came upon hard times. Many banks closed, even Signature bank closed. We reached our $3.68 Billion mark in 2014. Wilshire bank has 7 loan production offices situated in Los Angeles, New York, New Jersey, where banking is tough business, he said. We have survived that economy. In Los Angeles, we are situated on Wilshire Blvd, where Asian Immigrants now own the most expensive Real Estate.”

“With Wilshire Bank, eth-nicity does not matter. What matters is which bank cares about you and the business that you do?” JP Park said. Joining October 2000, he has had 14 years of experience in the Financial Industry. He says that his career has grown faster than most others. This is because he is a self made business man and under-stands how businesses are run. “I know Asian American and South Asian Immigrants are hard working people. They are rich and well-to-do because of their work eth-ics. We plan to be a bank for the diverse communities in Houston. We will try our best to approve most business loans because we know that behind every business owner

New Wilshire Bank Opens In Houston

281-825-5335844-TAJ-4-YOU

Los Angeles | Washington | PhiladelphiaHouston | Staten Island | New York

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is a family which depends on him or her. Our motto is the understanding that as our cus-tomers grow, it will help our growth”

Wilshire Bank has 80% of institutional investors in its stock holdings and 15% of individuals. Most institutions holding Wilshire bank stock are based in LA, NY and TX. The branch in Houston will

have 7 staff members, with 5 managing operations and 2 lending officers. It will offer full service taking deposits and offering loans. Yuri Yoo is the First Vice President and Branch Manager. Saleem Afrooz is their bank officer representing the South Asian communities.

Wilshire Bank can offer loans between $30 million to

L-R: Yuri Yoo, First Vice President and Houston Branch Manager; J.P.Park, Senior Vice President and Texas Regional Manager; and Saleem Afrooz, Bank Officer representing South Asian com-munities at the press conference meet held on September 19, 2014 at Shahnai Restaurant, Hillcroft. Photos: Jacob David.

$110 million for businesses. For now, JP Park, Senior Vice President and Texas Regional Manager, plans to shuttle be-tween Dallas and Houston. He will be here in Houston every week between Thurs-day and Saturday. You can reach him directly with ques-tions at 1-817-706-8342, even on Saturdays when he will be working. He promises to an-swer his calls.

J.P.Park, Senior Vice President and Texas Regional Manager.

VOICE OF ASIA 22 FRIDAY, September 26, 2014HOROSCOPEYour Horoscope for the Week of September 26, 2014

Aries (A,L,E) 21 March to 20 AprilOvercome new personal challenges and a new sense of direction. You may feel as

if there are too many things to decide on. Take the time to read, write & express your thoughts on paper. By doing so, you may feel an awakening of ideas, you shared with someone, long ago. That person may remind you of something very important that

you forgot. Stress that seemed so intense, lately, may lessen, as the week goes by. Take the time to enjoy all of those favorite things, that you really like to do. Don’t be afraid to express yourself.

Taurus (B,V,U) 21 April to 20 MayUnderstanding that you have reached a real milestone in art, music or literature.

You’ll be impressed with a new discovery & will want to tell the whole world. Be it in a personal relationship or a business dealing, you will reach a very positive goal. Focus your energy full force. You’ll seem to have a keener understanding of how things work.

Look behind the scene & you’ll see all of your options. Play your cards right & you may be celebrat-ing true success. Bring people together by showing them interesting new lifestyle or way to work.

Gemini (K,CHH,GH) 21 May to 20 JuneAdvance your creative ideas and concepts to those in power. Don’t rush any decisions,

play the waiting game. Recent events will make you aware of how precious life is. Exhibit benefits of new venture. Verify accounting procedures, make sure everything is on track. Stay focused on bringing your greatest asset to the forefront, your confidence. Once you

feel confident in yourself, you will be able to influence others. Peers may try to question your authority, reply with positive financial feedback. Family members, co-workers will vie for your attention.

Cancer (D,H) 21 June to 22 JulyYou need to organize your financial and personal situation. Look over your personal pa-

pers, make budgets and write everything down. You can get your point across and make valuable connections. Your personal life will stabilize. Don’t be confrontational. You’ll meet opposition if you try to push your ideas too much. Be observant and save your comments

for a better time. You need to focus on your career. You’ll accomplish the most if you travel for business. If you have an idea, present it.

Leo (M) 23 July to 22 AugustCo-operation & co-existence. You know you need to let go of the past. An old friend

can turn you on to a new experience. It could seem a little strange at first, but with time you could get used to it. In the professional domain you could find a supporter, mentor or colleague who boosts your confidence and presents you with an interesting

challenge. It’s one of those situations where less may be more. Listen to your intuition, don’t allow others to deter your progress.

Virgo (P) 23 August to 22 SeptemberNeed to work & play hard. You seem to be running late on everything you do this

week, as a result you don’t have any time to spare. This could be because you are either too stressed or too distracted to make good use of your time, so slow down, and you’ll get more things done. Don’t let this romantically calm period get you down, in fact, this

is a welcome break which will allow you to enjoy some free time alone to recover from emotional pressure. You sometimes find it hard to find companions who share your interests and ideas, but there are plenty of people who want to listen to you this week.

Libra (R,T) 23 Sept to 22 OctSome decisive moments as well as surprises in store for you, particularly in relation to

your personal plans. Personal change is definite. You have a tendency to be overly gener-ous and forget that you have a budget to respect. Your desire to help others is admirable, but it could lead you into the red. Your ambitious nature may sometimes attract criticism, but there is no doubt about it. Your efforts have been worthwhile and you are about to reach

a new level of success. You can arrange travel this week, as you seek out adventure and discovery.

Scorpio (N,Y)23 Oct to 21 NovChange in mood & perhaps a change of attitude that you feel. It’s easy to be disil-

lusioned about the progress you’ve made if you continue to look at things in a negative light. You tend to put more pressure on yourself than others do. You may assume a lot

more than you should. This may tend to make you more defensive about projects that you have been procrastinating about. Realize that things that you’ve committed to, should take priority. You need to organize your time in order to achieve any of these goals.

Sagittarius (BH,F,DH,TH) 22 Nov to 21 DecSome interesting happenings in your domestic & personal life, that could include

change of residence or marital status. Events this week, have made it impossible to allow things to remain as they are. The demands put on you may seem unfair, per-haps even a little manipulative. You may feel a little resentful. Allow changes to sink

in, don’t assume the worst in others. Try your best to treat them fairly. Your swift action will only strengthen your case. What may have began as a real burden to you, may now become a real asset.

Capricorn (KH,J) 22 Dec to 20 JanNew creative idea or project can spring up from nowhere. Even if the thought sounds

foolish at first, it’s time to follow through on your dreams. Let the thoughts come through, impractical as they may seem. Imagination will course you through now. Your greatest potential is to present information in a fascinating new package. Once you get though

with it, you’ll be able to create a good reputation. One that is bound to gain positive attention from all concerned.

Aquarius (G,S,SH) 21 Jan to 19 FebStrong feelings that may obscure your vision. Dwelling on your personal problems

will only distract you from the task at hand. Your greatest inspiration comes from tak-ing everything personally. You have a lot to gain by maintaining control of your emo-tions. An affair of the heart could move toward heartbreak. You still have time to save it, but do you really want to? You will have to be accountable for your actions. Choose

your words wisely, as the consequences of what you say will be great.

Pisces (D,CH,Z) 20 Feb to 20 MarchAn upsurge of your positive energy flow. Recently you have felt as if something was

holding you back, this week, everything will click. Don’t let underlying discord ruin your mood any more than necessary. Consider calling a powerful friend with a good ear. A small luxury will make you feel enormously wealthy. Giving yourself a reason to smile doesn’t have to take a break. You deserve whatever you want. If you don’t see

it, ask for it. Once you get past the initial stumbling blocks, you’ll realize that you were assuming other’s expectations of you.

by Hardik Vyas, Astrologer Cell : 832-298-9950

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HELP WANTEDLive in help - Gujarati lady

needed for cooking and light house keeping. Please

Call 832-526-8700

Convenience Store, Gas station, and Washateria in El Campo, Texas for Sale.

For Sale or Lease

Ph: 281-734-6896

Houston Community College Request for

Proposals (RFQ) State and Local Gov-ernment Relations

ServicesProject No. 15-01

Documents can be ob-tained at: www.hccs.edu/d i s t r i c t /depar t-ments/procurement. Sealed qualifications will be received in Procure-ment Operations (3100 Main Street, Room No. 11A06 Houston Texas 77002) until 2:00 PM (lo-cal time) on Wednesday, October 8, 2014.

ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDSCONSTRUCTION MANAGER-AT-RISK

Sterling Aviation High SchoolHOUSTON INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT (HISD)

Cadence McShane Construction as Construction Manager-at-Risk for HISD, in accor-dance with Texas Government Code 2269, will receive bids or proposals from all quali-fied subcontractors for the All-Trade Packages.A Pre-Proposal Conference will be held 10:00am Friday, October 3, 2014, at Sterling

High School Cafeteria located at 11625 Martindale, Houston, TX 77048. A Site-Visit walkthrough of the project will be held immediately following the pre-proposal confer-ence.Bids or proposals are due Wednesday, October 22, at 2:00pm, and bids or proposals

should be emailed to [email protected] or mailed/delivered to the Ca-dence McShane Construction, 7701 W. Little York, Suite 400, Houston, TX 77040. Late bids will not be accepted.There will be no public opening of bids or proposals. All bids or proposals shall be

available after award of contract, or the 7th day after final selection of bids or proposals, whichever is later. After receipt of bids or proposals, Cadence McShane, will conduct its evaluation of the subcontractor bids or proposals in relation to the project requirements and will select the bid(s) or proposal(s) that offers the best value to HISD.Cadence McShane, is committed to meeting the M/WBE goals set for this project. M/

WBE forms, schedules and statements, as required by the package documents, shall ac-company each bid or proposal that is submitted. Bids or proposals submitted without all required information, and in the order and manner specified, may result in the bid or proposal being considered non-responsive.HISD, the Owner, reserves the right to waive any informality and/or to reject any, or all

bids, or proposals.Contact Eddie Smith at [email protected] or Wm. Earl Finley, C.P.M.,

A.P.P. at [email protected] for additional information on this projectDrawings and specifications are available on iSQFT (www.isqft.com) and in the

Cadence McShane office located at 7701 W. Little York, Suite 400, Houston, TX 77040. Drawings and Specifications may also be reviewed at:

Associated General Contractors, 3825 Dacoma Street, Houston, TX 77092, (713) 843-3700 McGraw Hill Construction/Dodge, www.construction.com

Virtual Builders Exchange, 3910 Kirby, #131, Houston, TX 77098, (832) 613-0201

Know Your Words

Here’s your chance to be a Vocabulary Sleuth!

Usurp - verb. To take possession of by force.

Vagabond - noun. A wanderer.

Winsome - adjective. Attractive.

Yearling - noun. A young animal past its first year and not yet two years old.

Zephyr - noun. A soft, gentle wind.

Got a favorite word? Let us know!Email us: [email protected]

Free community events on: www.voiceofasiaonline.com Calendar!

When the contents are gone,LET THE CARTON LIVE ON...

Recycle your cartons, Houston!For more information, please

call 3-1-1or visit: HoustonSolidWaste.org

This is a public service message from Voice of Asia Newspaper, Houston, Texas. © 2014

The value of money is taught early!Earn Smart! Spend Wisely!

A community message from Voice of Asia Group

voice of asia sept 26 2014

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