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CONTENTS

YES 80%

Last week’s result

NO 20%

This week’s question

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Bollywood ---------------------- 24-25

Classifieds ------------------------- 47

Community Post -------------- 10-21

Date Book -------------------------- 23

Edit Page --------------------------- 49

HealthScience Post --------- 40-42

Horoscope ------------------------- 22

Immigration Post ------------- 43-46

Life Style ----------------------- 37-39

Philosophy ------------------------- 48

Publisherís Diary ------------------ 4

Real Estate -------------------- 30-31

TechBiz Post ------------------- 34-36

Travel & Hospitality Post ---- 27-29

Details on page 18

Details on page 6

Details on page 34

Details on page 35

Democratsrejoice victory inCal state races

Tri-Valley, not students,should be blamed

Details on page 37

Details on page 8

Details on page 8

Details on page 7

Indian Americanis Dean of KUBusiness School

Details on page 43Details on page 34

TRI-VALLEY PRESIDENTSUSAN ARRESTED

Indicted for visa fraud, money laundering, alien harboringIndia Post News Service

NEW YORK: The president of the no-torious Tri-Valley University in Califor-nia has been indicted by a federal grandjury on 33-criminal counts, charging herwith an array of violations, including visafraud, money laundering and alien har-boring that affected more than 1500 In-dian students.

The charges were the result of a two-year investigation by US Immigration and

Customs Enforcement's (ICE) HomelandSecurity Investigations (HSI).

Tri-Valley University President SusanXiao-Ping Su, 41, who also served as theschool's chief executive officer, is accusedof engaging in a two-year scheme to de-fraud the Department of Homeland Secu-rity (DHS) by submitting phony docu-ments in support of Tri-Valley University'sapplications to admit foreign nationals onstudent visas. Details on page 6

Susan Xiao-Ping Su

FRIENDS OF OSAMA: Activists of Pakistani Jamaat-ud-Dawa chant slogans during funeral prayers for Osama bin Laden on

a street in Karachi on May 3. Hundreds of people offered special prayers for Osama bin Laden in the populous Pakistani city

of Karachi, where the organizers declared the Al-Qaeda chief as a martyr, police said

AZ Gov vetoes Bill to remove Balbir nameIndia Post News Service

PHOENIX, AZ: On Friday April 29, Governor of Ari-zona, Jan Brewer invited the family of Balbir Singh Sodhi,America’s first backlash hate-crime after 9/11, to her officeand vetoed House Bill # 2230 in their presence which wouldhave removed Balbir Singh Sodhi’s name from the Arizona

September 11, 2001 Commemorative Monument markingthe tragedy of 9/11, honoring victims and aftermath.

Balbir Singh Sodhi was shot five times on September15, 2001 in Mesa, Arizona in an apparent hate violencerelated to the tragedy of 9/11. Brewer regretted the legis-lation and she expressed her deepest condolences to theSodhi family. Details on page 18

Neeli Bendapudi

Osama: Nosurprise forIndian Americans

Texas lawmakerintroduces bill tofreeze aid to Pak

DoL releases$240m for H-1Btechnical skills

Fans vote foranother seasonof ‘Outsourced’

Bose donatesmajoritystock to MIT

7 Indians amongfastest 50businesswomen

Indian originbusinessesearned $150 bn

Australia to hireIndians to plugskills shortage

Dr. Amar Bose

Roemer tenure was good forIndia, US ties?

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Bollywood:Leaner, fitterYash Raj Films has asked Anushka toget leaner and toned before shooting forher next film Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl.

1Cover Story:Susan indicted

10Community:Justice done

43Health:Obama’s promiseObama has promised graduates that he'llkeep working to help undocumented im-migrants become American citizens.

37Life Style:

Across all networks, Outsourced cur-rently has highest votes, next only toABC's No Ordinary Family.

34Techbiz:

Dr. Amar Bose has given to his almamater MIT a significant donation in theform of stock in his company.

27Travel:NilgiriSituated at the junction of the two ghatranges of the Sahayadri Hills, Nilgiri dis-trict provides a fascinating view.

Bose donation

Community members feel that long awaitedjustice has been done and Osama’s endwould send a message to all terrorists.

The president of the notorious Tri-ValleyUniversity in California has been indicted bya federal grand jury on 33-criminal counts.

‘Outsourced’ saved

Much as I was relieved that the world has been rid of an avatar of evilin the form of Osama bin Laden the political critic in me couldn't helpnoticing President Obama's "I-Did-It" speech that was aimed at

ensuring his second term in office.Ah, let him have his moment in taking credit while experts and lay persons

alike bust their heads with questions over the official version of an operationthat's springing more holes than Swiss cheese.

Taken at face value, the domestic brownie points that Obama wins throughthis extraordinary operation are nothing compared to the likely upheavals it willhave in Pakistan and elsewhere among terror groups.

I wouldn't want to be in the shoes of any Pakistani today. It's the sheerembarrassment of having to live under the kind of leadership they have. But theincompetent and imprudent leadership of that country is shot from all sides now.It is facing the wrath of Americans who believe it has knowingly harbored binLaden on its soil all these years after being fed with billions of American aiddollars; the wrath of the al Qaeda and Taliban which hold Pakistan responsiblefor 'handing over' bin Laden to the US; and the wrath of its own people, who areshocked that bin Laden had been in their midst while their leaders vehementlydenied it all along, and the brazen way in which the US attacked and killed binLaden purportedly without the knowledge of the Pak leadership.

The world would perhaps sympathize with Pakistani people if they finallyawaken and revolt against their army, the ISI and the government in general butnot if they succumb to extremist pressure and rise against the US simply forviolating their space.

On another note, a purported will left by bin Laden reveals that he did notwant his children to join the al Qaeda or go on the path he had chosen. If thisdoes not awaken the thousands of misguided youth and culpable parents whoare inspired by Osama's ideology, then nothing will.

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Tri-Valley president Susan arrestedIndicted for visa fraud, money laundering, alien harboring

India Post News Service

NEW YORK: The president ofthe notorious Tri-Valley Univer-sity in California has been indictedby a federal grand jury on 33-crimi-nal counts, charging her with anarray of violations, including visafraud, money laundering and alien

harboring that affected more than1500 Indian students.

The charges were the result ofa two-year investigation by USImmigration and CustomsEnforcement's (ICE) HomelandSecurity Investigations (HSI).

Tri-Valley University PresidentSusan Xiao-Ping Su, 41, who alsoserved as the school's chief ex-

ecutive officer, is accused of en-gaging in a two-year scheme todefraud the Department of Home-land Security (DHS) by submittingphony documents in support ofTri-Valley University's applica-tions to admit foreign nationals onstudent visas. The indictment fur-ther alleges that after obtaining

such approvals, Su fraudulentlyissued visa-related documents tostudent aliens in exchange for "tu-ition and fees."

Su was taken into custody themorning of May 2 at herPleasanton, California home byHSI special agents. She made herinitial appearance in the federalcourt in Oakland shortly after her

arrest.In carrying out the scheme, Su

is accused of making multiple falserepresentations to DHS throughTri-Valley University's use of theStudent and Exchange Visitor In-formation System (SEVIS), whichthe US government uses to moni-tor the "F-1" student visa pro-gram. Through her false represen-tations, Su was able to unlawfullyobtain and issue F-1 visa-relateddocuments without regard to thestudents' academic qualificationsor intent to pursue a course ofstudy required to maintain a law-ful immigration status.

According to the indictment,Su admitted and maintained for-eign students in exchange for tu-ition and other payments. In fur-therance of the F-1 visa scheme,Su also allegedly harbored mul-tiple Tri-Valley University stu-dent-employees to assist her inmaking the false representationsto SEVIS. The indictment furtheralleges the defendant engaged inmultiple money laundering trans-actions totaling more than $3.2million using proceeds she de-rived from the visa fraud scheme.

"Today's indictment alleges avisa fraud scheme through whichthe defendant accrued millions ofdollars and took advantage of

others' eagerness to come to theUnited States," said United StatesAttorney Melinda Haag. "My of-fice remains committed to work-ing closely with ICE HomelandSecurity Investigations to iden-

tify and prosecute those who un-dermine the integrity of thiscountry's immigration lawsthrough fraud and for personal en-richment."

Australia plans to hire Indiansto plug skills shortage

MELBOURNE: Up to 30,000Australia-trained Indian gradu-ates could be recruited to help dealwith a skills shortage that threat-ens to severely impact thiscountry's booming resources sec-tor.

Officials of the two sides haveinitiated discussions with tertiaryinstitutions and training bodies inboth nations about opening upthis country's training system,according to business daily 'Aus-tralian Financial Review'

Under the plan, as many as100,000 Indians would be trained,with up to 30,000 Australia-trainedgraduates to be recruited locally.

The paper said India promptedthe initiative after a realization thatit needs about one million skilledworkers to develop its own min-ing industries.

Demand for the Indian gradu-ates will rely on the demands ofmining companies, which havealso been involved in discussionswith officials from both countries.

Australia's senior trade officialin India, Peter Linford, told thedaily that the skills training pro-gram offered huge opportunitiesfor education and industry.

Linford said Austrade wasworking with the mining sectorand India's skills development

group on the scheme which couldbecome a model for other indus-tries in other countries.

Indian trainees would be

trained to Australian standardsand employed on the same condi-tions as Australians. They wouldbe subject to existing immigrationrules.

A Skills Australia report earlierthis week said Australia wouldneed 2.4 million extra skilled work-ers in the next four years to meetthe demands of the mining boom.

Treasurer Wayne Swan saidthe government's priority was totrain Australians first and fore-most for jobs but skilled migrantswould be needed.

"What the government is go-ing to do is train Australians.We're going to make sure thatAustralians can participate in thebenefits of the boom," Swan wasquoted by the Australian Associ-ated Press as saying.

"There are some concentra-tions of inter-generational or wel-fare dependants in parts of thecountry that we need to deal with,we need to help those people backinto the workforce." -PTI

The 33 counts contained in theindictment carry maximum penal-ties ranging from one to 20 yearsimprisonment. The charges in-clude wire fraud; mail fraud; visafraud and conspiracy to commitvisa fraud; use of a false docu-ment; making false statements toa government agency; alien har-boring; unauthorized access toa government computer andmoney laundering.

Federal agents had shutdown the university in Januaryfollowing investigations, result-ing in over 1,500 students, amajority of them from India -more particularly from AndhraPradesh state - not only losingtheir academic year and visa sta-tus but some of them facing de-tention and deportation. A num-ber of these students have al-ready returned to India, whilesome are awaiting admission toother universities in the US.Several, however, are still underinvestigation and an uncertain fu-ture.

US will carry out Abbottabad-type attacks 'if needed'

WASHINGTON: Brushingaside Pakistan's protests, Presi-dent Barack Obama has made itclear that the US will again carryout special operations in thatcountry like the one againstOsama bin Laden if necessary totarget high profile terrorists.

Obama's views on the subjectwere enunciated by White HousePress Secretary Jay Carney whenhe was asked at a news confer-ence whether the US reserves theright, as the Presidenthad said back earlier, togo and enter Pakistaniterritory and act againstterror suspects if Paki-stan will not act againstthem.

Carney while reply-ing in the affirmative tothe question said, "Yes.He made very clear dur-ing the campaign that that was hisview. He was criticized for it. Hemaintained that was his view, andby the actions he has taken asPresident, feels that it was the rightapproach and continues to feelthat way."

The comments by Carney cameagainst the backdrop of Pakistan'sprotestations that the helicopterraid by US commandos inAbbottabad deep inside thatcountry to kill the al Qaeda leaderwas violation of its sovereignty

and an "unauthorized unilateralaction". Carney also noted thatthe covert operation againstOsama was "very successful".

The Obama Administration atthe same time said the al Qaedaleader would have been takenalive had he surrendered to theUS commandos but maintainedthat its covert operation inAbbottabad deep inside Pakistanon Sunday to kill him was con-ducted in a manner "fully consis-

tent" with the laws of war.Carney said the US believes

that the 9/11 mastermind wasbrought to justice in the helicop-ter raid and that it is "entirely ap-propriate" given the circum-stances.

"It's a hypothetical, but cer-tainly that method was very ef-fective and was entirely lawful. Icertainly wouldn't want to pre-clude the use of that method byanything I might say from here,"Carney said. -PTI

In furtherance of theF-1 visa scheme, Sualso allegedly har-bored multiple Tri-Valley Universitystudent-employeesto assist her in mak-ing the false repre-sentations to SEVIS

A Skills Australia reportearlier this week saidAustralia would need2.4 million extra skilledworkers in the next fouryears to meet thedemands of themining boom

Carney said the US believesthat the 9/11 mastermind wasbrought to justice in thehelicopter raid and that it is‘entirely appropriate’ giventhe circumstances

Tri-Valley University

India PostMay 13, 2011 7

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Top Stories

Indian American named asDean of KU Business School


NEW YORK: Neeli Bendapudi,a scholar of business practicesand professor of marketing atOhio State University, has beennamed the Henry D. Price Dean ofthe University Of Kansas SchoolOf Business.

Bendapudi will take over asdean on Aug 1, returning to theinstitution where she earned herdoctorate in 1994. She was se-lected after a nationwide searchthat began in November last year.

"I am extremely happy to havea national scholar and leader ofthe caliber of Neeli Bendapudi asthe KU's next dean of business,"said Jeffrey Vitter, provost andexecutive vice chancellor. "Neelicaptivated those she met duringher interviews with her ideas, aca-demic and corporate experienceand sheer energy. The searchcommittee did a wonderful job at-tracting very strong finalists, andI'm delighted that we were able tobring Neeli and her husband,Venkat - both Jayhawk alums -back home to Lawrence."

Bendapudi has been a profes-sor of marketing at Ohio State'sFisher College of Business since2008. She began her time at OhioState as an assistant professor in1996, before becoming an associ-ate professor in 2002. Previously,she was an assistant professor ofmarketing at Texas A&M Univer-sity.

"I am very thankful to KU lead-

ership and to the business schoolcommunity for giving me the op-portunity to help take my almamater to greater heights,"Bendapudi said. "My hope is towork with all the stakeholders ofour School of Business to make ita great place to learn, a great placeto work, a great place to partner

and a great place to invest. Myfamily and I owe so much to thiswonderful institution. Comingback to KU is a dream come true."

Bendapudi has consulted fordozens of the world's largest com-panies, including Cessna, Deloitte& Touche, Procter & Gamble andYellow Roadways. She hasworked extensively with Hunting-ton National Bank as a customerexperience consultant from 2006to 2007 and an executive vicepresident and chief customer of-

ficer from 2007 to 2008.She is the founder and execu-

tive director of the Initiative forManaging Services, a centerwithin Fisher College represent-ing a consortium of companiesthat partner with the college onteaching, research and outreachregarding service management.

"I look forward to Neeli's lead-ership in connecting us morestrongly with the business com-munity and ensuring the Schoolof Business is aligned with rel-evant programs at KU," said Chan-cellor Bernadette Gray-Little. "Wewill undoubtedly benefit from herenthusiasm, creativity and famil-iarity with KU, all of which posi-tion her to ensure the long-termstrength of the school."

Bendapudi earned a doctoratefrom KU in 1994. She earned anMBA from Andhra University inIndia in 1985, where she also didher undergraduate work.

The school consists of fouracademic areas - finance, econom-ics and decision sciences; ac-counting and information sys-tems; marketing, entrepreneur-ship and law; and management -with an enrollment of more than1,000 undergraduates, 581master's students and 34 doctoralstudents.

Bendapudi replaces WilliamFuerst, who will step down after11 years as business dean - thelongest tenure in recent years -and assume a faculty role withinthe school.

China comes to rescue ofPak after Osama killingBEIJING: With its ally Pakistan

under attack for its failure to lo-cate the hideout of Osama binLaden near its capital Islamabad,China strongly came to its rescue,saying the global communityshould "understand and support"Islamabad's anti-terrorism efforts.

"Pakistan is at the forefront ofinternational counter terrorism ef-forts. As for question, the inter-national community should un-derstand and support Pakistan,"Chinese foreign ministry spokes-person Jiang Yu said.

She was replying toa question about UScriticism on Pakistan'santi-terrorism efforts inthe light of the discov-ery of bin Laden resid-ing close to a militaryacademy and calls forWashington's aid toIslamabad.

"We supportPakistan's position andunderstand and support Pakistanformulating and implementingcounter-terrorism strategy basedon its national conditions," shesaid, reiterating her stand twodays ago extending firm backingfor Islamabad in the face interna-tional criticism after Osama wasspotted and killed by US forces inAbbottabad.

Jiang said China also appreci-ated "Pakistan's active participa-tion in international counter-ter-rorism efforts".

She, however did not reply toa question whether China will in-

crease its assistance to Pakistan,which is it strategic ally.

She also did not directly re-spond to a question on whetherthe US was right in entering intosovereign country to hunt terror-ists.

On China's counter-terrorismpolicy, Jiang said China also suf-fered from terrorism and named theseparatist outfit East Turkestanmovement active in MuslimUygher dominated Xingjian prov-ince bordering Pakistan.

"Some terrorist forces are en-gaged in great many terrorist activi-ties for the purpose of splitting Chinaand seriously threatens China's in-ternal security and regional peaceand stability," she said.

"Combating East Turkestan ter-rorist forces is important part of in-ternational counter-terrorism cam-paign and the international com-munity should step up coop tofight against terrorism together,"she said referring to the ongoingmovement by a section of Uyghurseparatists in Xingjian seeking anindependent country by the nameof East Turkestan.-PTI

HAIL OBAMA: Crowds gathers outside the White House in Washington early Monday, May 2, to celebrate after President Barack

Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden

UAE issues'stapled visa'for PoK people

ISLAMABAD: The UnitedArab Emirates has begun issuing"stapled visas" to Pakistan-occu-pied Kashmir residents, includingits "Prime Minister" SardarAttique Ahmed, a media reportsaid here.

The practice of issuing"stapled visas" is new and previ-ously visas were stamped as usualon the passports, the PakistanObserver newspaper reported.

PoK "Prime Minister" SardarAttique Ahmed Khan, who holdsa Pakistani diplomatic passport,was issued a stapled visit visa bythe UAE Embassy in Islamabad,the report said.

China had sparked a diplomaticrow with India last year by issu-ing stapled visas to residents ofJammu and Kashmir. -PTI

‘I look forward toNeeli's leadership inconnecting us morestrongly with the busi-ness community andensuring the School ofBusiness is alignedwith relevant pro-grams at KU,’ saidChancellorBernadette Gray-Little

‘Pakistan is at the forefront ofinternational counter terrorismefforts. The international com-munity should understand andsupport Pakistan,’ Chineseforeign ministry spokespersonJiang Yu said


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Top Stories

Osama's Pak haven no surprise to Indian Americans

Texas lawmaker introduces bill to freeze US aid to Pakistan

SRIREKHA CHAKRAVARTY


NEW YORK: Even as bit-by-bit details of the sensational op-eration by an elite band of USNavy Seals in Abbottabad, Paki-stan that killed Osama bin Ladenare emerging, people across theworld are reacting to news of theworld's most wanted terrorist'sdeath which came in the form of adramatic announcement by Presi-dent Obama from the White Houseon May 1.

Apart from the obvious eupho-ria and pride among Americans,many of whom expressed it inspontaneous flash mobs outsidethe White House in WashingtonDC, and Ground Zero and TimesSquare in New York, others arebeginning to mull over the wholegamut of events before, duringand after, as facts begin to sink in.

Sanjay Puri, Chairman of USIndia Political Action Committee(USINPAC), expressed relief at thenews and said, "After the horrificattack on 9/11, Americans had tochange the way they lived andviewed the rest of the world. Fromairport security to tourists com-ing to the United States, every-thing changed. But one thing thatdid not change was the resolve ofthe United States to deliver jus-tice to the 9-11 victims and theirfamilies. Osama bin Laden's deathwas a long time coming but it hasgiven us Americans a sense ofjustice done."

Puri, however, adds that it wasextremely disturbing to know thatbin Laden was found living inluxury in plain view of Pakistan'sforemost military academy, barelyan hour's drive from Islamabad."It definitely raises a lot of redflags," he said. "The Pakistan mili-tary, which is the recipient of bil-lions of dollars of tax payerfunded aid, owes the Americanpeople an explanation."

That bin Laden's end came in acompound so close to the Paki-stani capital, Islamabad, wheresome have speculated he hadbeen hiding and operating his ter-ror base for several years, is em-blematic of "profound intertwin-ing "of the Pakistani military andintelligence service with terrornetworks, asserted Hindu Ameri-can Foundation (HAF) leaders asthey assessed the aftermath.

"Today, a man who slaughteredthousands of innocent Americanswas brought to justice despitebeing harbored in the heartlandof Pakistan, but the war on terroris far from over," said Suhag A.Shukla, Esq., HAF Managing Di-

rector and Legal Counsel. "ThePakistani military that has institu-tionalized terror as a proxy warweapon, stands exposed despitedubious assertions to the con-trary, of its close relationshipswith al Qaeda and the Taliban. Thereal test for the global communityis whether it is brave enough tocall out and expose Pakistan'sdouble game."

For Shruti Sheth, an IT Con-sultant from South Brunswick, NJ,it was a "where were you whenyou heard it" kind of moment, es-pecially since she hasn't forgot-ten exactly where she was whenshe heard of the 9/11 attacks on

World Trade Center buildings.Both days are equally poignantfor Shruti, though this Sundaynight as she casually surfed thetelevision channels one last timebefore retiring to bed, shechanced upon President Obamamaking the announcement aboutbin Laden's death, she remembersspontaneously jumping up andturning up the volume to ensureshe was seeing and hearing right."I couldn't believe it. Cynical thatwe tend to be about these things,I never did believe anyone wouldever catch bin Laden dead or alive.He was almost mythical and Ithought the truth about him wouldforever remain a political cover upwhether from the Pakistani side orthe US side," she said."

"Back home, my friends and Iwould always joke about binLaden," said Yogesh Naik, a Jer-sey City resident and a relativelyrecent immigrant to the US. "Wewould say, for all you know binLaden could be enjoying the royalhospitality of the Pakistani Presi-dent or that he could be freelyroaming the streets of Washing-ton DC, in an a obvious slight toAmerican intelligence. We werenot too off the mark on the Paki-stani assumption though," hesays tongue-in-cheek.

Indeed, for Indians, who haveborne the brunt of the Pakistaniintelligence agency ISI's viciousmachinations and Pakistanigovernment's dubious actionsover the years, the finding of binLaden on Pak soil comes hardlyas a surprise. Vicariously, Yogeshsays, "I'm glad the US did not in-volve Pakistan in its covert op-eration. It's a slap on Pakistan'sface."

For Ravi Ponnuru, who worksin a financial firm in Lower Man-hattan, the existence of bin Ladenwas a daily reminder as he passedby Ground Zero everyday on wayto work. Taking a ringside view of

the whole US-Pakistan equationnow, he says, "I wonder how thatwill play out. It would be a trav-esty of justice - and common sense- if the US continues to give mon-etary and military aid to Pakistan.I wonder if Pakistan governmentwill start acting up with the US inorder to save its face before itsown people."

"I was watching some ordinaryPakistani people being inter-viewed on TV, and I felt sorry forthem," Ravi continued. "For all themurky dealings of their govern-ment and that horrible ISI, some-how I felt the ordinary citizens ofthat country do not deserve theglobal embarrassment they have

to suffer today."On a different take, for the uni-

lateral action that the US govern-ment has taken of killing an "en-emy" on a foreign soil, TaniaSingh, a New York attorney saysthe US should be as proactive inacting on the perpetrators of the26/11 attacks in Mumbai, who areon trial in the US. "The whole ex-ercise of some Indian authoritiesbeing allowed to interrogateDavid Headley, if you remember,was such a sham. India has issuedan arrest warrant for Headley fol-lowing the interrogation, but theycan never get the US to extraditehim though he has confessed to

his involvement in the Mumbaiattacks. India should act smartnow to pressure the US to notonly take full and just actionagainst this American accused inthe 26/11 attacks, but also to getPakistan to cooperate with Indiain bringing those involved to jus-tice."

The US, Tania added, "cannothave one policy for the protectionof its citizens and another for thepeople of other countries."

"It would be interesting to seehow the US justifies its continuedpresence in Afghanistan to Af-ghans, to Americans and to theArab world at large. PresidentObama had better come up withan exit strategy from Afghanistansoon before he loses the browniepoints he won for his "daring"executive order to take out binLaden," Tania said.

"Killing Osama is like dumpingjust another bag of trash in a land-fill. He will continue to raise a stinkfor as long as his ideology hasfollowers," Pinaki Chatterjee, acontent developer in New YorkCity sounded a somewhat dampbut cautionary note. "So, let usnot assume the world is any saferjust because bin Laden is dead."

Pinaki is also not content withthe day-by-day revelations thatare "officially" being fed to themedia by the government, as hecalls it. Spinning conspiracy theo-ries, he says, "We might neverreally know what role Pakistan orISI played in all this, whether theyknew about Osama's presence inPakistan, whether they knowinglyharbored him, whether they wereinvolved in the final operation orwere really in the dark about theUS action. We will also neverknow if Pakistan knowingly "gaveup" Osama to the US in some tacitunderstanding or deal…"

Hopefully, Pinaki says,WikiLeaks will come out with thetruth soon.


NEW YORK: RepublicanCongressman from Texas, TedPoe has introduced a bill May3 to freeze American aid to Pa-kistan until it can demonstratethat it had no knowledge ofOsama Bin Laden's where-abouts.

Congressman Poe intro-duced the Pakistan Foreign AidAccountability Act, which willprohibit any foreign aid frombeing sent to Pakistan until itcan demonstrate that it had noknowledge of Osama Bin

Laden's whereabouts. This legis-lation would require the US StateDepartment to certify to Congressthat Pakistan was not providing asanctuary for the world's mostwanted terrorist.

"Pakistan has a lot of explain-ing to do. It seems unimaginablethat Osama Bin Laden was living1,000 yards away from a militarybase in a million dollar mansionbuilt especially for him and no onein the Pakistani government knewabout it. I don't buy it," said Rep.Poe.

"Congress has already appro-priated $3 billion to Pakistan for

this year. Unless the State Depart-ment can certify to Congress thatPakistan was not harboringAmerica's number one enemy, Pa-kistan should not receive onemore cent of American aid. This isexactly why we need to reevalu-ate the foreign aid that we send tocountries that do not haveAmerica's best interest in mind."

In March, Congressman Poeintroduced the Foreign Aid Ac-countability Act (H. Res 173),which would amend the rules ofthe House of Representatives toprohibit the consideration of anybill or joint resolution that appro-

priates foreign assistance formore than one country. It wouldchange the rules so that mem-bers of Congress vote on eachcountry - one at a time.

Congressman Poe serves onthe House Foreign Affairs andJudiciary Committees. He is thevice chair of the Foreign AffairsSubcommittee on Oversight andInvestigations as well as theSubcommittee on Terrorism,Nonproliferation and Trade.Congressman Poe also serveson the Judiciary Subcommitteeon Crime, Terrorism and Home-land Security.

‘One thing that did notchange was the re-solve of the UnitedStates to deliver justiceto the 9-11 victims andtheir families. Osamabin Laden's death wasa long time coming butit has given us Ameri-cans a sense ofjustice done’

‘Killing Osama is likedumping just anotherbag of trash in a land-fill. He will continue toraise a stink for as longas his ideology hasfollowers,’ PinakiChatterjee, a contentdeveloper in New YorkCity sounded a some-what damp butcautionary note

‘Pakistan has a lot ofexplaining to do. Itseems unimaginablethat Osama Bin Ladenwas living 1,000 yardsaway from a militarybase in a million dollarmansion built espe-cially for him and noone in the Pakistanigovernment knewabout it.’

India PostMay 13, 2011 9

www.indiapost.com

Top Stories

American Muslims thank Obama for Osama death

Pak needs to answer questions: USINPAC

Indian American in Navybribe case pleads guilty


NEW YORK: Muslim organi-zations across the United Stateshave thanked President BarackObama for being instrumental inthe demise of global terroristOsama bin Laden.

The American Society for Mus-lim Advancement in a statementsaid, "Today, we speak not asMuslims, and not even as Ameri-cans. We speak as human beingswho are committed to democracy,and the rule of law. The attack onthe twin towers was carried out inthe name of religion and was anaffront on the human condition.As president Obama reminded us,

this terrorist was not a Muslimleader and did not represent Is-lam. He caused many to questionthe fundamental core beliefs wehold dear: love of one's fellowneighbor, respect for others' waysof life, and mutual dialogue andunderstanding."

"We are heartened that thehuman condition has triumphedover this attack. Despite contin-ued challenges, the world hascome together and billions ofpeople of different nations, racesand beliefs embraced one anotherin the common bonds of human-ity. Today, we stand with thesesame voices and hope that thedemise of this global terrorist will

usher in an era of peace and tran-quility for us all," it said.

In the same vein, the MuslimPublic Affairs Council greeted thenews of the death of Osama binLaden with an immense sense ofrelief. "This is a time when ourcountry must stand together, andturn the page on a decade of ter-ror led by bin Laden and Al-Qaeda.MPAC also commends the serviceof President Obama and his na-tional security team, who havemade bringing bin Laden to jus-tice a top priority," it said its state-ment.

"We hope this is a turningpoint away from the dark periodof the last decade, in which bin

Laden symbolized the evil face ofglobal terrorism," said MPACPresident Salam Al-Marayati. "Hisactions and those of Al-Qaedahave violated the sacred Islamicteachings upholding the sanctityof all human life. His acts of sense-less terror have been met withmoral outrage by Muslims world-wide at every turn in the past de-cade," the MPAC said.

"We support PresidentObama's statement that bin Ladenwas 'not a Muslim leader, he wasa mass murderer of Muslims," saidMPAC Senior Adviser Dr. MaherHathout. "We stand together withall Americans and all peace-lov-ing people around the world in

remaining vigilant against any andall threats against our country."

In light of the widespreaddemocratic protests sweeping theMiddle East which have demon-strated the power and effective-ness of peaceful protests to en-act political change and realize theaspirations of the people, binLaden and Al-Qaeda's pro-vio-lence messages have been ex-posed as bankrupt and misguided,the MPAC added.

The Islamic Society of NorthAmerica (ISNA) said it joins allAmericans in thanking PresidentObama for fulfilling his promise tobring Osama Bin Laden, leader ofal-Qaeda, and perpetrator of the 9/11 attacks, to justice. "We hope hisdeath will bring some relief to allthe families, of every faith and walkof life, who lost loved ones on 9/11 and in every other terrorist at-tack orchestrated at the hands ofOsama Bin Laden," it said.

"Over the past decade, ISNAhas stood firm on our stance thatISNA and Muslims in America con-demn the actions of Bin Laden on9/11 and all acts of terror at thehands of Al Qaeda, the Taliban,and all others who spread fear andhate through violence. We haverepeatedly condemned the calls ofBin Laden and others like him formass bloodshed and the attackingof innocent lives across the world.

"ISNA joins President Obamaand prays that as the nation con-tinues to heal from the devasta-tion inflicted upon them at thehands of Bin Laden, we will turnto each other today, united, andemerge tomorrow with an evenstronger resolve to take every ac-tion necessary to protect the pre-cious ideals of our nation that BinLaden attempted to destroy on 9/11: peace, tolerance, respect, andfreedom for all," said ISNA Presi-

dent Imam Magid.The American Islamic Con-

gress said: "It is a sad truth thatone man's death can represent astep forward in the progress ofhuman relations. But in the caseof Osama Bin Laden, Americanstake comfort that our military hasat last served justice to a man whoterrorized the United States, aswell people of all backgroundsaround the world. In fact, BinLaden and his followers havemassacred and maimed tens ofthousands of Muslims.

"The world may at last be freeof Bin Laden, but the danger herepresented has not gone away.


NEW YORK: Following thedeath of Osama bin Laden at thehands of US Special Forces, a lotof questions need to be answeredby Pakistan about the role of itsmilitary and intelligence servicesin harboring the man responsiblefor the worst terror attacks in UShistory, the US India Political Ac-tion Committee (USINPAC) hassaid. "As such, the USINPACstrongly urges Congress to con-duct thorough hearings to inves-tigate Osama Bin Laden's pres-ence in Pakistan, its hostile role inthe war in Afghanistan and to re-view US aid to Pakistan," theUSINPAC said in a statement.

Sanjay Puri, USINPAC Chair-man said, "The Pakistani govern-

ment has been disturbingly silentsince the operation that eliminatedBin Laden, but it needs to answerhow he could live in Pakistan forfive years without the knowledgeof the ISI or the Pakistan Army. Itis impossible to believe that BinLaden did not have a significantsupport system in Pakistan. BinLaden was living in a conspicu-ous luxury mansion eight timeslarger than neighboring buildings.That no one would have asked anyquestions, particularly in a culturewhere people are involved withtheir neighbors is highly improb-able. That this would happen onthe doorstep of Pakistan's top mili-tary academy is unimaginable.This again reaffirms the feeling thatthe Pakistan army and intelligenceservices are running with the hare

and hunting with the hounds."The United States Congress

and the Obama Administrationneed to take a hard look at the tax-payer funded aid that is going toPakistan. Manish Thakur, Chair-man of USINPAC's National Se-curity Committee said, "Americansacross the nation are expressingserious concern about providingfinancial aid to a country whichhas been harboring the terroristresponsible for the deaths of over3,000 innocent Americans. Ordi-nary Americans who are making asacrifice in lives and treasure in thevolatile Af-Pak region are not readyto buy old arguments about the USneeding Pakistan for land routesto Afghanistan when it is activelysupporting forces fighting ourtroops."


NEW YORK: Anjan Dutta-Gupta, the founder and presidentof a technology services companylocated in Rhode Island and Geor-gia pleaded guilty in US DistrictCourt in Providence to bribing apublic official in a kickbackscheme netting more than $9 mil-lion of naval funds, it was an-nounced by United States Attor-ney Peter F. Neronha late lastmonth.

Dutta-Gupta, 58, of Roswell,GA, founder and president of Ad-vanced Solutions for Tomorrow(ASFT), pleaded guilty to payingbribes to a civilian program man-ager and senior systemsengineer with theUnited States Navy'sNaval Sea SystemsCommand (NAVSEA)who maintained officesin Newport, R.I andWashington, D.C., andto others, to ensurepayment and additionalfunding to existing Na-val contracts and workorders for work purportedly to beperformed at ASFT.

Anjan Dutta-Gupta is sched-uled to be sentenced by US Dis-trict Court Chief Judge Mary M.Lisi on December 9, 2011. Dutta-Gupta faces up to 15 years in fed-eral prison, and a fine of $250,000or three times the value of the bribepayments - whichever is greater.

According to information pre-sented in court and in court docu-ments, from about 1996 throughJanuary 2011, at least $8,000,000was paid by ASFT (largelythrough its subcontractors) to aco-defendant in this case, RalphMariano, 52, of Arlington, VA, acivilian program manager and se-nior systems engineer with

NAVSEA, to Mariano's familymembers and to a Senior VicePresident at ASFT. In addition, atleast $1,200,000 was paid to sub-contractors based on inflated in-voices and funneled back to SIC,a corporation owned by Dutta-Gupta.

In exchange for Dutta-Guptaand ASFT's kickbacks of millionsof dollars from 1996 through 2011,according to court documents,Mariano took steps to ensure thatASFT received payment on in-voices submitted, and that addi-tional funds were added to exist-ing ASFT contracts when needed.In his position as program man-ager, Mariano regularly instructed

Navy contracting officers to addfunding to ASFT contracts anddelivery orders.

In addition, according to courtdocuments, Mariano completednumerous Funding Certificationforms when he added funds to theASFT contracts. Through theseand other mechanisms, Marianowas able to utilize his position asa program manager with theNAVSEA to add millions of dol-lars to existing ASFT contracts.In exchange, defendant Dutta-Gupta agreed to make regular pay-ments to Mariano.

Ralph Mariano, charged byway of a Criminal Complaint withparticipating in the kickbackscheme, is awaiting trial.

The ideology he embodied andpromoted is still out there - andwe must do everything in ourpower to combat it. Muslims andMuslim-Americans in particularhave an important role to play inthis struggle, standing up un-equivocally against terrorism andfor individual rights.

"Bin Laden's death fittinglycomes as new bursts of freedomare emerging in Muslim-majoritycountries around the world. Dig-nified nonviolent strugglesagainst tyranny and in celebrationof individuality are a powerful re-buke to the threatening forces ofBin Ladenism."

In light of the widespread democratic protestssweeping the Middle East which have demon-strated the power and effectiveness of peacefulprotests to enact political change and realize theaspirations of the people, bin Laden and Al-Qaeda's pro-violence messages have beenexposed as bankrupt and misguided,the MPAC added

Anjan Dutta-Gupta is sched-uled to be sentenced by USDistrict Court Chief Judge MaryM. Lisi on December 9, 2011.Dutta-Gupta faces up to 15years in federal prison,and a fine of $250,000

India Post www.indiapost.com May 13, 2011

COMMUNITYACROSS AMERICA

Desi News

10

Details on page 12

Details on page 14

Details on page 18

Details on page 16

Bin Laden: Good riddance butmore mysterious in death!

SURENDRA ULLAL, RAMESH SOPARAWALA & HARISH RAO

CHICAGO: Probably the mostnotorious character on the in-ternational poli t ical scenewhose acts of commission andomission have impacted on allareas of human activities in re-cent years, Osama Bin Laden, isno more.

He was mysterious during hislife – born in Saudi Arabia, sta-tioned in Afghanistan’s hillyterrain and finally “hiding” in apalatial mansion in Pakistan –but has proved now more mys-terious in his death. The deadOsama is the real Osama or hisduplicate? Was he armed anddangerous? Why burial in seaand not under-ground? Thesequestions crop up and it is onlythe American military that killedhim has the answers.

The mystery apart, most on thisglobe have heaved a sigh of reliefthat he is no more now. Most feelthat the long awaited justice hasbeen done and that his end wouldsend a message to all terrorist ele-ments across the world that crimedoes not pay in the long run andcriminals are accountable for theiractions. That was the consensusamong our readers who were ap-proached for their reactions.

India Post weekly sought theopinion of leading Indian Americanbusinessmen, professionals andactivists about this historic eventthat will for good or for worse showup on the annals of history, may bejust as the names of Atilla the Hunand Taimurlung or Taimurlane, ruth-less Tartar warlord did.

The Council on American-Is-lamic Relation’s Chicago office(CAIR-Chicago) welcomed theannouncement of the eliminationof Osama bin Laden. CAIR-Chi-cago held a press conferencealong with other Chicago areaMuslim leaders to share reactionsto this momentous event.

“We are relieved that justicehas not been denied even if it hasbeen delayed,” said Ahmed Re-hab, CAIR-Chicago’s ExecutiveDirector. “This goes to show thatthe way to fight terror is throughgood intelligence, and surgicaloperations, and not military

surges abroad, or the choking ofcivil liberties at home.”

10th District CongressionalCandidate Ilya Sheyman statedthat, “Yesterday’s historicachievement is a testament to thetireless work and courage of ourintelligence and military person-nel, and to President Obama’sleadership. With the mission inAfghanistan now complete, it istime to begin a responsible and

speedy withdrawal to bring ourbrave men and women home.”

Incredulous lawmakers arepressing Pakistan for answers totwo simple questions: What didits army and intelligence agentsknow of Osama bin Laden’swhereabouts and when did theyknow it?

Amid the high praise for thesuccessful US military operation,congressional Republicans and

Democrats questioned whetherbin Laden was hiding in plainsight, with Pakistani military andintelligence operatives either to-tally unaware of his location orwillfully ignoring his presence toprotect him.

“I think this tells us once againthat, unfortunately, Pakistan attimes is playing a double game,”said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine,a Senate Armed Services Commit-

tee member who indicated thatCongress could put limits onfunds for Pakistan.

In his outspoken remarksNaren Patel, leading Indian busi-nessman and community leader,lavished praise on PresidentObama for his quick and sweep-ing action to eliminate the enemyof civilized society who was re-sponsible for the destruction oftwin towers in New York, causing

death of nearly three thousandinnocent men and women a de-cade ago. It is but befitting thatpeople across the world, includ-ing ironically most Muslims glee-fully celebrated this, except per-haps only a small faction of Mus-lims, in Pakistan.

He, however, felt that end ofOsama at best would slow downthe terrorist activities but wouldnot stop terrorist threats whetherglobally or in India, because as amovement it has spread its ten-tacles across the civilized world,notwithstanding disapproval ofmany moderate Islamic leadersand countries.

He also expressed confidencethat this would not in any wayadversely affect the economicgrowth and political stability inIndia. He also said it was incred-ible to understand how Pakistancould play a double-game of re-ceiving billions of dollars fromthe US and support Osama. Itproves that US cannot trust Pa-kistan and must now, after thislearn a lesson to reduce or with-draw its support and come clean.

Professor GhanashyamPandey, a highly respected IndianAmerican in Chicago land almostechoed the opinion of Naren Patel,and cautioned that end of Osamawould not in any way alter the po-litical realities and therefore Westincluding India must be on theirguard and remain ready to with-stand and repel any future attacks.

He also referred to the unrestspreading across many Muslimstates in Middle East and NorthAfrica indicating the people’s in-clination towards democracy.

Sher Mohammed Rajput, yetanother long time Indian commu-nity activist was confident thatLaden’s demise would certainlybring down the intensity of anti-Americanism, but will have no ef-fect on India as well as in India.

This is so because Muslims inboth countries by far are the mostexposed to the long tradition oftolerance, which is evident fromthe opinions gathered from theyouth of Detroit, Michigan.

Contíd on page 11

Dignifiedcelebration of AIAAnnual DayRAMESH SOPARAWALA


CHICAGO: The Association ofIndians in America (AIA) cel-ebrated its annual day at AshyanaBanquet Hall in Downers Groveon May 1 in the presence of 120plus guests and members. It wasnot an elaborate affair but still itwas a dignified one and quite en-joyable for all those present.

Welcoming the guests, the sec-ond term AIA President NarenPatel mentioned that one of theoldest ethnic organizationsfounded in 1967 has been strivingto achieve its objectives hard andthe emphasis is slowly turning oninvolving second generation In-dians more and more in its affairs.

Air India keepingup operationsdesptie strike

SURENDRA ULLAL

CHICAGO: Air India has sched-uled to operate 106 flights on thedomestic sectors per day as partof the contingency schedule, forthe next few days inspsite of a sec-tion of pilots striking work and dis-rupting its flight operations.

According to Air India sourceshere, this includes operation offlights by Alliance Air, additionalflights operated with wide bodiedB777 & B747 and Air India ExpressB737 aircraft, in addition to the regu-lar Airbus flights, as against a nor-mal operation of about 320 flights.

Malayaliscelebrate Vishu(New Year)

VINOD MENON

ST. LOUIS: Ohmkaram, a St.Louis based non-profit voluntaryorganization of Kerala Hindus,celebrated Vishu (Malayali NewYear) in a grand manner at theMahatma Gandhi Center in Ballwinon April 16. It was attended bynearly 100 people.

Acknowledged as the first dayof the zodiac almanac, Vishu iscelebrated on the first day of theMedam month, based on theMalayalam calendar.

Highlight of the day-long eventwas a packed cultural programheld in the evening, consisting ofprayers, songs, dances, historicaland religious drama skits.

Democratsrejoice victory

in Cal stateraces

He felt that end of Osama at best would slowdown the terrorist activities but would not stopterrorist threats whether globally or in India,because as a movement it has spread its ten-tacles across the civilized world, notwithstandingdisapproval of many moderate Islamic leadersand countries

Before and after

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Similarly cultural and linguis-tic unity of the Hindus andMuslims is going back to a thou-sand years. As far as Osama isconcerned he was not followingthe precepts of Islam, which isagainst killing of innocent humanbeings. We should not give muchpublicity to this incident. Backhome, I would say governmentshould attach more importanceto the critical shortage of water,public health and educating thepeople about unity and harmonyof all Indians through centuries.

Dr Hemant Patel, formerPresident of AAPI and a frontranking community activist inNew Jersey said that the resi-dents of New York and New Jer-sey have special reasons to feelhappy since it was at Laden’sbehest that the twin towers weredestroyed and hundreds werekilled or incapacitated.

Touching upon the economicfallout, he said that the immedi-ate reaction on the New Yorkstock exchange was buoyant andthis should be taken to suggestthat nipping terrorism in theglobe would presage economicstability, including halting spiral-ing oil prices.

He felt that the exit of Ladenwould have favorable impact onIndian economy as well since itmight prove a much neededbreak on cross border terrorism.Indian government should learna lesson or two from the Ameri-can action.

Dr Bharat Barai who was inIndia, talked to IP on phone andfelt that more than anything elsethis exposed Pakistani hypocrisy.To subscribe to the claim by Pa-kistani government that it was un-aware of Osama Bin Laden’s pres-ence on its soil – just hundredmiles away from the capital cityof Islamabad – should be dubbedgross wishful thinking. The Paki-stan government has proved onemore time that it has double stan-dards in dealing with not only In-dians but even with its allies inthe West. The world should takecognizance of this fact.

Bal Dhake, an Indian indus-trialist in Detroit Michigan, wasof the view that the death ofOsama Bin Laden would not byitself end the terrorist threats thatthe world community has beenfacing for years now. It might geta setback but a total rout of thisnefarious activity can only beachieved if there is all-round vigi-lance from all the concerned par-ties, mainly the governments ofthe civilized world. The Indiangovernment should act in simi-lar way and hit out at terroristshiding in Pakistan or all the ele-

ments which abet terrorism inIndia.

Nand Kapoor, former presidentof Association of Indians inAmerica, said that messenger ofterrorism has died and the wayhe met his death exemplifies theHindu theory of Karma – “whatyou sow so shall you reap.”

Evil as he was, so are his part-ners in crime and so are the ele-ments that helped him in hiding.These partners and these ele-ments should now feel scaredthat they could meet the samefate at the hands of mightyAmerica or Almighty.

America is the country thatwill hound out those who helpedhim, Kapoor felt. “On one hand Iam sorry at his death but he wasnot using his wealth and intelli-

gence for the good of humanity.He was pervert in mind and hisdeath should not sadden any-body.”

Dr Dayal Meshri, a highly re-spected Indian scientist and acommunity leader from CatoosaOK, was emphatically in supportof the action when he was askedabout the killing of Osama BinLaden. He said it is a clear mes-sage to everyone that they keepaway from interfering with US.Osama was instrumental in plan-ning and attacking the twin-tow-ers in New York, causing thedeath of three thousand men andwomen. We are therefore withinour rights to redress our griev-ance by appropriate punishmentto those perpetrators. Exceptinga small fraction of people in Pa-kistan there is an overwhelmingapproval of the action of USNavy Seals.

This action would not in anyway affect the economic and po-litical situation in the US includ-ing harmonious relations be-tween Islamic countries like SaudiArabia, who in fact supported theaction by the U.S.

“I strongly feel that India alsomust courageously pursue thesimilar policy of stern actionagainst the terrorist elements hid-ing within that country and muststrive to get rid of them. Of courseIndia is neither in a position norable to take unilateral action inview of unfavorable geo-politicaland social paradigms. But Indiacan certainly take a firm and ag-gressive stand against terrorist

activities and punish them for vio-lations of law.”

Mujeeb Osma and MuhammedSafdar Ali: In the final analysis, itwould not be an exaggeration tosay that President Obama has con-quered Osama Laden.

This is one of President

Obama’s most courageous andbold actions in as much as theentire operation took place in aforeign country without consult-ing the governments in the regionthat is Pakistan. The amazing factsand realities are that Osama binLaden was hiding in a place thatwas beyond doubt incomprehen-sible, as the place of his residencewas 100 yards away from PakistanMilitary Academy and in closeproximity of the capital itself where

no one was aware of his presence.It will certainly embarrass the ISI– Inter-Services Intelligence aswell the Government of Pakistanthat a high profile person likeOsama bin Laden, who is soughtworldwide, could hide at such asensitive place without theirknowledge.

This will put the local law en-forcement agencies, Inter ServiceIntelligence as well the Govern-ment of Pakistan on edge and theirresponse or no-response will notbe an easy job.

The action taken by US com-mandos was swift as the entireoperation was conducted within40 minutes. After 9/11 Osama binLaden was more of an isolatedperson and was not effectively incontrol of Al-Qaeda. He was moreof a symbolic figure where otherpeople affiliated or working withhim gave him the recognition forpsychological boost and gaininggeneral support from the groupthat can be stirred easily playingon emotion rather than intellect forthe so-called religious cause andreason. Osama got his trainingwhile fighting the Soviet Army byjoining Pakistani and American mili-tary in Afghanistan.

The Al-Qaeda movement hasharmed Muslims in both the Mus-lim and non-Muslim countriesover a decade. If not controllednow, it will continue to producethe same result. It is not just aproblem for western countries butall those Muslim countries as wellwho have social and political re-sponsibilities to shoulder.

Bin Laden: Good riddance but more mysterious in death!Contíd from page 10

After 9/11 Osama binLaden was more ofan isolated personand was not effec-tively in control of Al-Qaeda. He was moreof a symbolic figurewhere other peopleaffiliated or workingwith him gave himthe recognition forpsychological boost

‘Osama was instru-mental in planningand attacking thetwin-towers in NewYork, causing thedeath of three thou-sand men andwomen. We aretherefore within ourrights to redress ourgrievance by appro-priate punishment tothose perpetrators’

May 13, 2011India Post12 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

Dignified celebration of AIA Annual Day

Dance performance by young children Chalka Chalka by Riya Patel, Shriya Patel,

Mona Panchal, Ishani Majmudar

AIA office bearers and guests L to R Yogesh Dwivedi, Prof Pandey, Salil Mishra, Naren Patel, Ms

Beena Patel, Yash Amin, Consul Vishwas Sakpal and Shri Patel

Payalia group

RAMESH SOPARAWALA


CHICAGO: The Association ofIndians in America (AIA) cel-ebrated its annual day at AshyanaBanquet Hall in Downers Groveon May 1 in the presence of 120plus guests and members. It wasnot an elaborate affair but still itwas a dignified one and quite en-joyable for all those present.

Welcoming the guests, the sec-ond term AIA President NarenPatel mentioned that one of theoldest ethnic organizationsfounded in 1967 has been strivingto achieve its objectives hard andthe emphasis is slowly turning oninvolving second generation In-dians more and more in its affairs.Last year, it started something newinvolving young children - a danceand singing competition arrangedby Anil Sharma.

It was a successful youth com-petition program. "This is how weengage our young generation toparticipate and promote our culture.

This year my granddaughter ShriyaPatel and her group are also par-ticipating in the dance program andI want to thank all the parents fortheir commitment and dedication tokeep our culture alive. I am veryhappy that so many dance schoolsare performing in this program."

He offered special thanks to

Cook County Circuit court ClerkDorothy Brown, Illinois StateSenator Kirk Dillard, Indian Con-sul Vishvas Sapkal -soon to beConsul General in St. Petersburg,Russia - for their unwavering sup-port and presence.

Prof Ghanshyam Pandey, Chair-man Board of Trustees, in his brief

address said it was significant thatthis one of the oldest organiza-tions of Indian origin in this coun-try was singularly free from fac-tions and factional fights. "It is theonly organization with direct mem-bership and probably among thevery few ones which did not split,or bifurcate, or had any conflicts.

It is an organization with a greatvision and has lived up to its ob-jectives fairly well," he observed.

Whereas the national AIA wasengaged in addressing many ofthe issues of vital importance tothe Indian community, its chap-ters, which are spread throughoutthe country, are engaged in com-

munity activities be it social, cul-tural or participating in the Ameri-can mainstream, he pointed out

It has also recognized the needto involve increasingly the secondand the third generation Indiansin its affairs. With this view in mind,the AIA IL chapter initiated an es-say competition and last year itconducted a grand youth talentshow and competition in October."This was a grand success asabout 120 youth participated inthis competition with 20 youthseach from the University of IllinoisUbrana-Champgin and the North-western University who partici-pated in the A Capella singing com-petition," he said.

As in previous years, this yearAIA will be celebrating Indepen-

dence Day on Daley Plaza on Au-gust 15th.

Through the National AIA pro-grams on Project India and AIDSAwareness, it sends many doctorsto India and supports the treat-ment program of AIDS patients.AIA annual Banquet is a tributeto Asian heritage besides being afun-filled program.

Anil Sharma, KaathakaliDasgupta and Shaila Khedker en-tertained the audience with oldand new film and non-film songswhile second generation Indianyouth and young children pre-sented dance performances whichwere quite entertaining and wonthe hearts of those present.Yogesh Dwivedi proposed a voteof thanks.

"It is the only organization with direct member-ship and probably among the very few oneswhich did not split, or bifurcate, or had anyconflicts. It is an organization with a great visionand has lived up to its objectives fairly well"

May 13, 2011 India PostCommunity Across Americawww.indiapost.com

13

PCS holds Vaisakhi cultural programSURENDRA ULLAL

(L-R) Rajinder Singh Mago, Mohinderjit Singh Saini, Illinois Treasurer Dan

Rutherford, Ronny Kular, Balwinder Singh Girn

Start with Shabd by children at PCS Rangala Punjab celebrations

CHICAGO: The Punjabi Cul-tural Society of Chicago (PCS) heldits annual event "Rangla Punjab2011" to celebrate Vaisakhi festi-val on Saturday April 23 atCopernicus Theater in Chicago. Itwas attended by more than 1500guests.

Over 250 performers renderednearly 40 delightful acts in a five-hour show. Dr & Mrs BhupinderSingh Saini of Pain ManagementClinics in Wisconsin were theChief Guests. The immediate pastPCS chairperson MohinaAhluwalia and President RajinderSingh Mago were honored withplaques for their services.

The program includedBhangra, Gidha, Punjabi songsand music, a short play, recogni-tion of sponsors, guests and thePCS officials. There was also anannouncement of the 2011 boardof directors.

Bhangra and Gidha performersof all ages ranging from talentedyoung boys and girls to exception-ally entertaining adult artists in avariety of colorful Punjabi cos-tumes from Illinois, Indiana, Wis-consin and Iowa performed theirbest on stage.

College Bhangra teams from theUniversity of Chicago "BalleBhangra," Illinois Institute ofTechnology "Tech De Fateh," andUniversity of Iowa "HawkeyeBhangra" were a delight to watch.The Gidha dance moves by thecolorfully dressed ladies from"Milwaukee Da Gidha" Team, and"Shaunkna Chicago Diyan," theChicago Gidha team, won thehearts of the audience.

PCS vice president ParminderSingh Ghotra welcomed the audi-ence. The program opened withsinging of a prayer ("shabad") bya group of young children.

Dan Rutherford, the IllinoisState Treasurer, graced the eventas a special Guest of Honor. In hisbrief address he said "It is my 6thtime at this PCS event. I have also

attended PCS sports festivals. Icame to you during my campaignand now that I have been elected Imust come back to thank you - myfriends and supporters. I reallyenjoy your shows and somedaywould love to learn Bhangra."

The program divided in foursegments was emceed by MonaBhalla, Dilraj Singh Sekhon,Pardeep Singh Deol, Manjit SinghGill, Baljit Singh Sidhu and

Surinder Singh Sangha. A shortplay "Batwara" (Partition) with amessage of unity was well re-ceived. A group of talented sing-ers sang melodious Punjabi songswith the accompaniment of profes-sional musicians Hitesh Master,Ajay and Suresh.

The 2011 president of Sikh Re-ligious Society Palatine HarkiratSingh Sandhu made an appearanceand conveyed Vaisakhi greetingsto the audience and said that oneshould be true to his or her own

faith no matter what their faith is.PCS also recognized its permanentBoard of Governors and Board ofAdvisors.

Vaisakhi festival is the celebra-tion of ending of harvest season,and beginning of a new year. It's asymbol of renewal. Punjabi Cul-tural Society of Chicago (PCS) hasbeen organizing this traditionalPunjabi cultural program "RanglaPunjab" for more than two de-

cades.PCS Board of Directors for 2011

as announced are Dr Amarjit Singh(Hon. Chairman), Balwinder SinghGirn (President), Baljit Singh Sidhu(Sr. V.P.), Parminder Singh Ghotra(V.P.), Surinder Singh Sangha(Exec. Secretary), Pardeep SinghDeol (Finance Secretary), ArvinderSingh Gakhal (Sports Director),Jatinderpal Singh Sangha (YouthDirector), Gurmit Singh Dhillon (In-ter-community Director).

PCS officials honored the Chief

Rajinder Singh Mago honored with a plaque for his services

to the organization.

guests Dr & Mrs Bhupinder SinghSaini with a plaque for his supportto PCS. Dr Saini appreciated thework of PCS and its dedicatedboard members. Dr Amarjit Singhpledged his support to PCS for thenext ten years.

"Mere fact that more than 250children were involved in show-casing their Punjabi culture is initself a great achievement by PCSChicago," said Balwinder Singh,PCS president.

The next PCS participation pro-grams are: "Passport to the World- India" at Chicago Children'sMuseum at Navy Pier on May 15and "Asian American Festival" atDaley Plaza Chicago May 16 to 20.

Chicago team performing GidhaUniversity of Iowa team performing Bhangra

Bhangra and Gidha performers of all agesranging from talented young boys and girls toexceptionally entertaining adult artists in avariety of colorful Punjabi costumes fromIllinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa performedtheir best on stage


Air India keeping up operationsdesptie strike

SURENDRA ULLAL

CHICAGO: Air India has sched-uled to operate 106 flights on thedomestic sectors per day as partof the contingency schedule, forthe next few days inspsite of a sec-tion of pilots striking work and dis-rupting its flight operations.

According to Air India sourceshere, this includes operation offlights by Alliance Air, additionalflights operated with wide bodiedB777 & B747 and Air India ExpressB737 aircraft, in addition to theregular Airbus flights, as againsta normal operation of about 320flights. The curtailed operationsschedule till 6 May has beenfinalised and put on the website.

All its 45 daily flights on thelong haul routes to the UnitedStates, United Kingdom, Europe,Japan, Hong Kong, Korea con-

tinue to operate normally and asper schedule. Air India's subsid-iaries, Air India Express operated72 flights and Alliance Air - 32flights, also on schedule. Air In-

dia has approximately 29,000 seatson offer on these services.

On the domestic sector, 90% offlights have been curtailed and 40 do-mestic flights scheduled out of Delhi,Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad,

Kolkata, Chennai and other airportshave operated successfully.

Air India continues to take nec-essary steps to minimize the incon-venience caused due to the strike

to its passengers. The number offloor walkers at major airports andCall Centers have been increased.Air India is also transferring thestranded passengers to flights ofother airlines.

Air India Maharaja

Gaytri Pariwar celebrates Ram NavmiANUPAMA PATEL

Manisha & Vinay Patel, Main Yajmans St Louis devotees Pandya, Kusumben

CHICAGO: Global GayatriPariwar recently celebrated RamNavmi and Poornahuti of ChaiterNavratri at Gayatri ShaktipeethChicago with Gaytari yagya.

Ms Harsaben , the Temple priestand Kusum Patel sang inspiringdevotinal songs. Main yajmanswere Manisaben and Vinaybhai

Patil. They first prformrdSatyanarayan katha followed byGayatri yagya. Kusumben talkedon the teachings of Lord Ram say-ing, "Lord Rama exemplified theperfect person; he showed us howto embody the divine on earth, howto live our lives in accordance withdharma and divine principles."

This is a very critical year in theentire world, so Kusumben ad-vised chanting of more and moreGayatri mantra. Dilip Bhai Thakkarproposed a vote of thanks toMahaprasad donors. Mrs Coooprsang Shree Ram bhajan and joinedin singing aaarti with Harshaben,Kusumben & Bhanuben.

On 16th April, Kusumben,Dilipbhai & Harsaben Thakkar andhis son Sunny Thakkar went to St.Louis for performing Gaytri Yagya.Main organizers Rramanbhai Pateland Laxmiben arrenged the pro-gram at St. Baptist Church. Morethan 200 devotees attended andoffered Aahuti to the Yagya.

Laxmiben said that they were cel-ebrating not only Ram Navmi pro-gram, but also Gurudev's centenary.Jigneshbhai and Tejalben partici-pated as main Yagya's yajmans.

Ramanbhai Patel, SudhirbhaiDesai, Sunny Thakkar and others'birthdays were celebrated as asanskar.

New play on domesticviolence

ASHWIN PATEL

Ashok and Anita in Faultlines

ST. LOUIS: The new playFaultlines, written by Lee PattonChiles and produced by GitanaProductions, examines issues ofdomestic violence and abuse ofwomen, particularly those in theSouth Asian immigrant commu-nity. The play opens May 20 andruns through June 5 at the Cardi-nal Rigali Center, 20 ArchbishopMay Drive at Laclede StationRoad.

Faultlines follows the newlymarried Indian woman Niragha asshe leaves India and comes toAmerica to begin her marriedlife. Isolated and alone with ahusband she barely knows,Niragha becomes the victim ofverbal and physical abuse. Shefinds herself trapped between theworld she once knew and her newhomeland.

Contíd on page 15

All its 45 daily flights on the long haul routes tothe United States, United Kingdom, Europe,Japan, Hong Kong, Korea continue to operatenormally and as per schedule. Air India's sub-sidiaries, Air India Express operated 72 flightsand Alliance Air - 32 flights, also on schedule


15

"The reality and pain of domestic vio-lence against women truly is a global prob-lem," said Cecilia Nadal, executive directorof Gitana. "Many South Asian women inAmerica face stresses like isolation and acultural tolerance for domestic violence,which can fuel a fire of abuse. But those arestresses that many women today face. AtGitana, we use the arts to help our audi-ences learn about themselves through thelenses of others like Niragha."

The performance on Saturday, May 21will be hosted by KMOV-TV co-anchor Jas-mine Huda, who will present Gitana's "Ex-traordinary Person of the Year Award" to anoutstanding volunteer who works with do-mestic violence issues.

Statistics from South Asian domestic vio-lence organizations in the US show that onein five South Asian families in America ex-perience domestic violence at some time.Women between the ages of 20 and 34 en-dure the highest rate of domestic violence,which can range from physical, verbal, emo-tional, sexual and economic abuse.

Performances are Fridays and Saturdaysat 8:00 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2:30

p.m. beginning May 20-June 5. The RegionalArts Commission and the Missouri ArtsCouncil have provided partial funding tosupport Gitana Productions events.

New play on domestic violenceContíd from page 14

Gitana Productions, Inc. is a not-for-profitarts and education organization dedicatedto increasing cross-cultural awareness andcollaboration by bringing international mu-sic, dance and drama to the St. Louis com-munity.

Sikh families join White House Easter Egg Roll


WASHINGTON: Marking another stepforward for Sikh Americans, the next gen-eration of the Khalsa attended the annualEaster Egg Roll at the White House. The

Easter Egg Roll is the largest annual publicevent held at the White House, and is atradition dating back over a century, to 1878.This year marks the second year Sikh chil-dren were specifically invited to join in thefestivities.

The Sikh Coalition was honored to pro-vide 25 tickets from the White House to Sikhchildren, their parents and their grandpar-ents, who journeyed to the nation's capitalfrom places around the country, includingCalifornia, Florida, New York, New Jersey,and the DC area, to represent the commu-nity. There they participated in a range ofactivities: an egg roll, sports, storytelling,learning about healthy cooking, celebrityappearances and more.

President Obama made an impromptu

second appearance to greet participants. Atleast one member from each Sikh family inattendance had the rare opportunity toshake the President's hand. PresidentObama smiled and said to one Sikh child,"Hey there cutie pie, are you having fun?"

Earlier this month, Sikhs across the coun-try invited non-Sikhs to join in Vaisakhi cel-ebrations. The Sikh Coalition and commu-nity likewise appreciated the White Houseand Obama administration's invitation toSikhs to join in Easter festivities.

Statistics from South Asiandomestic violence organiza-tions in the US show that onein five South Asian families inAmerica experience domes-tic violence at some time.Women between the ages of20 and 34 endure the highestrate of domestic violence,which can range from physi-cal, verbal, emotional, sexualand economic abuse


Rajkot teacher wins ISTEOutstanding Teacher award

Malayalis celebrate Vishu (New Year)VINOD MENON

Ohmkara-Vishukakani

Community kitchen at Ohmkara celebrations

ST. LOUIS: Ohmkaram, a St.Louis based non-profit voluntaryorganization of Kerala Hindus,celebrated Vishu (Malayali NewYear) in a grand manner at theMahatma Gandhi Center in Ballwinon April 16. It was attended bynearly 100 people.

Acknowledged as the first dayof the zodiac almanac, Vishu iscelebrated on the first day of theMedam month, based on theMalayalam calendar.

Highlight of the day-long eventwas a packed cultural programheld in the evening, consisting ofprayers, songs, dances, historicaland religious drama skits. It con-cluded by a grand dinner feast withmore than 25 traditional dishes onthe menu.

The stage program showcased

talents from many children aged4-16, earnestly demonstratingtheir Malayali culture to proudparents and guests. Several adultsalso participated in entertainingperformances. Priya Nair provideda descriptive narrative for the au-dience, as the program's emcee.

"Vishu is the most eagerlyawaited festival for us, and thepeople of Kerala celebrate it fromdawn to dusk", said OhmkaramPresident Raj Unni.

"In Kerala, Vishuvela is an ex-tension of the celebration carry-

ing on for days, and we havebursting of padakkam (firecrack-ers) too," he added, highlightingthe significance of the celebrationfor Malayalis.

Prior to the cultural program,several traditional rituals wereconducted, including viewing ofthe Vishukkani (arrangement ofauspicious religious items on ametal vessel called uruli) andKaineetum presentation byNatesan Manchira (gift of gold

coins from a respected elder tochildren).

Free family portraits were alsooffered, capturing guests dressedin their best traditional custom at-tire.

Celebrations began in earnest

much earlier in the morning, whenmany volunteers got together fora fun filled sadyavattam (commu-nity cooking) -a common scene inKerala during weddings, religious

functions and cultural events."We recreated moments of a

traditional get-together with afeast prepared entirely on-site!"said an enthusiastic co-coordina-tor and executive committee mem-ber Biju Kurian. He described theeffort as a "nostalgic, unique ex-

perience just likeback home inKerala".

"Fond memoriesof our childhoodand youth - a dayfilled with happi-ness and energy; amemorable day"summed up VimalNair, Ohmkaramsecretary and theevents organizingchairman.

Ohmkaram wasformed in 2006 andhas held manyevents in apprecia-tion of its Kerala

cultural roots, includingMalayalam language classes. Itaims to encourage participation inKerala traditions (especiallyamongst the youth) and fosterunity and cooperation within itscommunity in the area.

Children's performances Ganesh Stuti by Krishna and Maya

Grand opening of Art ofLiving center

NITA VIRANI


NEW YORK: The InternationalSociety for Technology in Educa-tion (ISTE) has named BijalDamani, a higher secondaryteacher with The Galaxy Educa-tion System in Rajkot, Gujarat, In-dia as 2011 Outstanding Teacher.

Through the OutstandingTeacher and an OutstandingLeader awards, the ISTE recog-nizes and honor individuals whohave demonstrably improved edu-cation through the use of technol-ogy. The 2011 Outstanding Leaderaward has been given to MonicaBeglau of eMINTS, Missouri.Candidates for the awards arenominated by ISTE Affiliates, anetwork of more than 75 profes-sional associations representingmore than 100,000 educatorsworldwide. Nominations are re-viewed by an eight-person teamof education and technology pro-fessionals from around the world.

Damani was nominated by theIndia Council for Integral Educa-tion for her ability to make learn-ing exciting and creative. Damaniuses technology and social mediaas educational and collaborativetools, bridging the gap betweentraditional education and digitallife and engaging studentsthrough project-based learning.Damani started the social entrepre-neurship project Galaxy Bazaar,which is run by her students.

Damani and Beglau will be hon-ored and presented with theirawards at ISTE's annual confer-ence and exposition, ISTE 2011, inPhiladelphia, PA., June 26-29, 2011.Each recipient will receive $1,000toward ISTE 2011 travel expenses,free conference registration, com-memorative plaques, and compli-mentary ISTE memberships.

ISTE is the premier membership

SCHAUMBURG: The Art ofLiving Foundation (ALF), an in-ternational non-profit that offersstress reduction, meditation, yogaand self-developmental programs,is opening its 1st ever center inSchaumburg, Illinois on May 13.The opening hours will be 6:15 pmto 9:30 pm.

Located at 1251 N Plum GroveRoad, Suite #110, Schaumburg, thecenter will offer specialized semi-nars and courses on the skillful useof breath, yoga, meditation and self-knowledge to lead a life of greaterjoy and contentment.

As stress becomes a biggerhealth problem in America, the cen-

ter will offer innovative and proventechniques that calm the mind andimprove physical and emotionalwell-being of individuals.

ALF is one of the world's larg-est United Nations accreditedNGOs, founded in 1981 by Sri SriRavi Shankar. It has touched thelives of over 300 million peopleworld-wide through his inspira-tion, transformative breathing,meditation programs and his glo-bal service projects. His organiza-tion offers conflict resolution,trauma relief, breathing and medi-tation programs for individuals,communities, businesses, youth,schools veterans and prisons.

association for educators andeducation leaders engaged in ad-vancing excellence in learning andteaching through the innovativeand effective use of technologyin PK-12 and teacher education.Home to ISTE's annual conferenceand exposition and the widely-adopted NETS, ISTE representsmore than 100,000 professionalsworldwide.

Damani uses technol-ogy and social mediaas educational andcollaborative tools,bridging the gapbetween traditionaleducation and digitallife and engagingstudents throughproject-basedlearning

"We recreated mo-ments of a traditionalget-together with afeast prepared en-tirely on-site!" said anenthusiastic co-coordinator andexecutive committeemember Biju Kurian


17

Sikhs caution about backlash after LadenIndia Post News Service

WASHINGTON: Sikh community mem-bers in America have welcomed the newsof Osama Bin Laden's demise at the handsof American security forces. They also ex-pressed caution since this event has thepotential of reviving some of the preju-dices that the Sikh community had to facesince 9/11 due to mistaken identity.

Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh in Phoenix,was killed on September 15, 2001, asAmerica's first victim of backlash hate vio-lence. Sikhs have approached the ObamaAdministration that a close eye needs tobe kept to control any backlash againstanyone in America.

Dr. Rajwant Singh, Chairman of the SikhCouncil on Religion and Education(SCORE), said that "We appreciate Presi-dent Obama's leadership in bringing jus-tice to a man who caused so much grief tomany fellow Americans and to so manypeople around the world. Thousands ofAmericans lost their loved ones and manyhad to suffer due to Bin Laden's inhumanacts on 9/11. Sikh community faced thebacklash around the world due to mis-taken identity and many even lost theirlives in America.

He added, "The prejudice and violencewas even experienced by Sikh youngstersin America. Bin Laden's execution pro-vides a relief to many but how would theyrecover their loss. We are concerned thatthe images of Bin Laden with turban be-ing shown on TV and on the internet cancreate confusion in the minds of many andinstigate reaction towards innocent Sikhbystanders. We pray that good sense pre-vails and we can face these challenging

times holding each other together. We arethankful to both President Bush and Presi-dent Obama for giving Sikhs the supportduring the last decade." Dr. Rajwant Singhmet with the White House officials to keepthem informed of community's concerns.

Gurvendra Singh Suri, CEO of OptimalSolutions, in Texas, said, "We thank thebrave men and women serving in the mili-tary and intelligence fields whose workto secure our nation have now broughtthe leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Ladenthe perpetrator of the 9/11 attacks, to Jus-tice. We hope his death will bring somerelief to all the families, of every faith andwalk of life, who lost loved ones on 9/11and in every other terrorist attack orches-trated or inspired by the perverse hatredof Bin Laden's misguided ideology."

Dr. I.J. Singh, a Sikh author and pro-fessor of Anatomy in New York Univer-sity, said, "Osama bin Laden is dead. Howshould I, a Sikh-American react? First I

am satisfied that justice has been done;Osama, who directed the killing of thou-sands of innocent Americans, has nowmet his end as he should have years ago.Secondly, as a Sikh I am profoundly con-cerned.

"The past ten years have seen manyhate crimes against Sikhs, including mur-der, by patriotic but misguided Americanswho could not tell the difference betweena Sikh and a Muslim follower of Osama.We would need to be vigilant and proac-tive in our communities and in liaising withlocal police and authorities. Any preven-tive measures we can initiate would bemore useful than a bunch of protests andcopious hand-wringing after the fact."

Sarbjit Singh Sidhu, Chairman of GuruGobind Singh Foundation in Washington,said, "We are happy that Osama Bin Ladenno longer poses a threat to the Americanpeople thanks to the United Stated ArmedForces. We are grateful that the terrorist mas-ter-mind of the 9-11 attack and other attacksaround the world which have killed thousandsof innocent people has been eliminated.

"Sikhs in particular have been affectedand suffered after 9/11 due to mistakenidentity, being wrongly identified as radi-cal Islamists."

Satinder Singh Rekhi, CEO of RSystemsin Sacramento, CA, and Chair of SCORE'sboard, said, "This momentous achieve-ment is a victory for people of all culturesaround the World who seek peace, free-dom and a world with more love and lesshatred.

We thank President Obama for his lead-ership, the Central Intelligence Team, theUS Navy Seals and all the men and womenwho were instrumental in accomplishing

this mission."Rana Singh Sodhi, youngest brother

of Balbir Singh Sodhi, " My brother un-derstood that as a nation if we as indi-viduals and institutions did not take im-mediate action then - and I fear now - wewill continue to lose many more innocentpeople. The founder of Sikh faith estab-lished our articles of faith 500 years agowhich includes the turban and beard,which symbolizes to us our devotion toGod and equality of all people. Someother people in the world wear turbansand beards. In the United States, it is theSikhs that wear turbans."

"Today we are remembering all of thevictims of September 11th those innocentpeople in New York, Pennsylvania andWashington DC. They themselves or theirfamily's were from many countries andproud Americans." Rana added, "With allof the media coverage of Bin Laden wehave to remind ourselves not to react to

the sorrow and each other," "Unfortunately, to this day we still

have American killing and targeting Ameri-cans. Hate crimes, backlash, and espe-cially backlash murders continue to be theInvisible causalities of September 11thand the war on extremism" GuruRoopKaur Khalsa, Sikh Community Spokesper-son

"The war we are fighting is againsthate and fear, notagainst eachother. Since Sep-tember 11th, men,women, & chil-dren from allfaiths & cultureshave been af-fected by the actsof violence anddiscr iminat ionthat have taken place in the aftermath of9/11. Balbir Singh Sodhi was the first suchdeath categorized as a hate crime."

Khalsa added, "The over 40 US homi-cides that have possible or proven ties toSept 11 backlash, were all Americans, theyor their parents had moved here seekingreligious freedom and basic civil rights,our countries founding principles. Theyare Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, and Chris-tians. They came from countries as variedas India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria,

Egypt, Yemen, and Somalia."They were all Americans shot by other

Americans. That is why today, we musttake extreme caution and be careful not toreact to the massive media coverage whichincludes head gear on many of the extrem-ists; because the fight against hate takesthe entire community and its leaders will-ing to take a strong stand condemninghate crimes and targeting of innocent

people because of race, religion, articlesof faith or mistaken association."

Rana added, "We in the intensity of 9/11 made a difference and together we canhelp others to evolve past our anger, hateand fear by reaching out to others withincreased understanding, respect, and sup-port. May our collective prayer be thatGod preserve and protect the honor of allpeople, our nation, and our world. Thankyou for embracing us as your neighborsand embracing our Sikh family."

‘We are concerned that the images of Bin Laden with turbanbeing shown on TV and on the internet can create confusionin the minds of many and instigate reaction towards inno-cent Sikh bystanders. We pray that good sense prevailsand we can face these challenging times holding eachother together’

"They were all Americans shot by other Ameri-cans. That is why today, we must take extremecaution and be careful not to react to themassive media coverage which includeshead gear on many of the extremists”

May 13, 2011India Post18 Community/Californiawww.indiapost.com

Cal News

Details on page 20

Democrats rejoice victory instatewide races

Senate Majority Leader and Fremont City council member Bill Harrison with the Indo-American community leaders


SACRAMENTO: Democratsof the Blue State of Californiaheld a convention from April 29– May 1 in Sacramento Conven-tion Centre, Sacramento, CA torejoice their 100% victory instatewide races (9 out of 9 raceswere won by Democratic candi-dates). It was justified to havethe convention in the capitol cityof California after the localDemocratic Party was able towithstand the red wave to keepthe state blue.

The three-day event con-sisted of numerous workshops,receptions, tours, discussions,future plans, networking andpartying in the evening. Thegeneral sessions were packedand the excitement showed asthe various honorable speakersaddressed the Democratspresent and were greeted withapplause before, during and af-ter their speeches.

There were numerous electedofficials from the State of Cali-fornia including Gov. JerryBrown, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom,State Treasurer Bill Lockyer,Senate Majority Leader SenatorElan Corbett, Assembly memberBob Wieckowski, CDC AlamedaCounty Chair Robin Torello. Alsopresent were Fremont City coun-cil members Sue Chan, BillHarrison and Anu Natarajan.

A Cardiologist and Chair FIADr Romesh Japra, MD, Fremontcity planning commissioner YogiChugh, Fremont city LibraryCommissioner Dharminder

Dewan were also present as thedelegates of the DemocraticParty along with Vijay Thaparfrom India Post.

“I am honored to be part ofthis convention and am excitedto see so many young people

actively participating in the po-litical process and getting in-volved with the elected officials.We have laid the foundation and

the younger generation has tocapitalize on this.” said DrRomesh Japra, Chair IADF.

As delegates they witnessed More pics on page 19

Indian American Community leaders with Assembly Member Bob Wieckowski

and CDC Alameda County Chair Robin Torello - Dharminder Dewan, Assembly

member Bob Wieckowski, CDC chair Robin Torello, Dr Romesh Japra, Vijay

Thapar, Yogi ChughYogi Chugh in action.

the biggest gathering of theDemocrats after the November2010 elections. Their presence

was noticed and acknowledgedby party grassroot workers aswell as elected officials as wasevident from the recognition

given to Dr Japra as they enteredthe chambers of Senate majorityleader Ellen Corbett.

“Year 2010 elections were a

tough challenge for us and weemerged victorious. I stronglybelieve that the conventiongives an opportunity to theDemocrats to come together andacknowledge the fact that we area party of masses, as is evidentfrom people of every age who arepresent in the convention”, saidYogi Chugh, a long time partyactivist and chair TCDF.

“This is my first convention andit is a learning experience. We needto continue the hard work to ensurethat we win the state office as wellas the Presidential elections and thisconvention is enhancing the excite-ment and determination to be better

in 2012” says Dharminder Dewan,secretary IADF.

Satya Kalraspeaks on Dharmaat Cal varsityIndia Post News Service

BERKELEY, CA: The BhagavadGita and Dharma was discussed inthe University of California at Ber-keley for the class of studying Eth-ics of Rights, Gender and GlobalJustice: East & West.

On Feb 16, (Mrs) Satya Kalra,founder of Path to Anandam wasinvited to speak on Adharma andDharma to the class studying Eth-ics of Rights, Gender and GlobalJustice: East & West in the Uni-versity of California at Berkeley.She presented vignettes from herrecent book, "My questions andGod's Answers" based on theBhagavad Gita.

The course is part of the Reli-gious Studies Major, a programinitiative in the College of Lettersof Science, supported by Philoso-phy and Human Rights Minor.

Details on page 20

Details on page 21

Peace OverViolence holdsDenim Day in LAIndia Post News Service

LOS ANGELES: Peace OverViolence (POV) held the 12th an-nual Denim Day in LA & USA, asexual violence prevention andeducation campaign, on April 27as part of April's Sexual AssaultAwareness Month. More thantwo million people took a stand bywearing denim to raise awarenessand end rape and sexual violence.Multiple events were heldthroughout Los Angeles, includ-ing LAUSD schools and LA-areaworkplaces and communities.

"This year marked unprec-edented expansion of Denim Dayactivities throughout the UnitedStates and around the world.

AZ Gov vetoesBill to removeBalbir name India Post News Service

PHOENIX, AZ: On FridayApril 29, Governor of Arizona, JanBrewer invited the family of BalbirSingh Sodhi, America's first back-lash hate-crime after 9/11, to heroffice and vetoed House Bill # 2230in their presence which wouldhave removed Balbir Singh Sodhi'sname from the Arizona September11, 2001 Commemorative Monu-ment marking the tragedy of 9/11,honoring victims and aftermath.

“I am honored to be part of this convention andam excited to see so many young people ac-tively participating in the political process. Wehave laid the foundation and the youngergeneration has to capitalize on this” saidDr Romesh Japra, Chair IADF

Democrats rejoice victory in statewide races

In discussion Dr Romesh Japra and Senate Majority Leader Ellen CorbettYogi Chugh, Dharminder Dewan, Rao Kaza, an active Democrat from Contra Costa County,

Dr Romesh Japra, Vijay Thapar

May 13, 2011 India PostCommunity/Californiawww.indiapost.com

19

Satya Kalra speaks on Dharma at Cal varsityMay 13, 2011India Post20 Community/California

www.indiapost.com


BERKELEY, CA: TheBhagavad Gita and Dharma wasdiscussed in the University ofCalifornia at Berkeley for the classof studying Ethics of Rights, Gen-der and Global Justice: East &West.

On Feb 16, (Mrs) Satya Kalra,founder of Path to Anandam wasinvited to speak on Adharma andDharma to the class studying Eth-ics of Rights, Gender and GlobalJustice: East & West in the Uni-versity of California at Berkeley.She presented vignettes from herrecent book, "My questions andGod's Answers" based on theBhagavad Gita.

The course is part of the Reli-gious Studies Major, a programinitiative in the College of Lettersof Science, supported by Philoso-phy and Human Rights Minor. Itwas devised and is being taughtby Dr Purushottama Bilimoria, aphilosopher with a training in San-skrit and world religions, whoteaches both in Australia and inAmerica and researches on issuesin social justice and personal lawsin India.

The course examined majortheories in morality for culturalvalues, religious beliefs and prac-tices, law, justice and humanrights, and ecological attitudes.

While the students primarilystudy these theories through sev-eral texts and readings, such as theNobel Laureate and PadmaBhushan awardee, Amartya Sen'sThe Idea of Justice, Dr Bilimoriaalso introduces the class to con-cepts of Dharma, Adhikara, Duty,Karma and Equanimity, and sinceteachings are highlighted in a con-densed form in the Bhagavad-Gita,he welcomed copies of SatyaKarla's book to be distributed tothe class.

With the use of Power-Point,she began with a background onhow she came upon the spiritualteachings of Hinduism and whatled her to write the book, and whyshe believes the Bhagavad Gitacontains an essential message forcontemporary times and theyounger generation in particular.She said in elucidating her ap-proach and 'take' on the teachings,

which she was at pains to explainwas not out of any scholarly de-sire to translate or write yet an-other commentary on the much-celebrated 'Song of the Lord', butto bring out through her own per-sonal experiences and encounterwith the broader philosophy of thetradition, the salient features ofwhat is meant by doctrines suchas Dharma and Karma, and howthey might have relevance to think-ing on ethics, justice, rights andduties.

She started her presentationwith the story of Arjuna's vishadin the opening scene of theBhagavad-Gita on the battlefieldof Kurukshetra, which is alsoDharmakshetra. The story of thebattle between the forces ofdharmic justice adharmic avariceand vanity is described in sym-bolic imagery of the internal battlebetween temptations, ego, and the

intellect or conscience which onlyseeks atman-realization and free-dom from the cycle of death andbirth (samsara).

Arjuna is then taught by hismentor and friend, Krishna, poisedby the chariot, on the some eigh-teen 'yogas', inculcating paths todiscriminating between dharma(right conduct) and adharma (un-toward conduct), and movethrough karma-yoga, jnana-yoga,and bhakti-yoga as well as disci-plines of austerity, self-sacrificeand giving.

The effect of adharma on thebody, mind, intellect, memory, andgeneral state of being is also ex-

Peace Over Violence holds Denim Day in LA

Peace over violence Executive Director Patti Giggans (middle) and Council

President Eric Garcetti (middle right) at homeboy Industries in downtown Los

Angeles, one of many sites that participated in Denim Day in LA and USA 2011


LOS ANGELES: Peace OverViolence (POV) held the 12th an-nual Denim Day in LA & USA, asexual violence prevention andeducation campaign, on April 27as part of April's Sexual AssaultAwareness Month. More thantwo million people took a stand bywearing denim to raise awarenessand end rape and sexual violence.Multiple events were heldthroughout Los Angeles, includ-ing LAUSD schools and LA-areaworkplaces and communities.

"This year marked unprec-edented expansion of Denim Dayactivities throughout the UnitedStates and around the world," said raged, and, as a result, wearing

jeans became an internationalsymbol of protest against destruc-tive attitudes about sexual assault.

"What started as a protest hasbecome a national day of educa-tion that is spreading globally,"Giggans said. "We surpassed twomillion participants, reaching morepeople in more places than wecould have expected, and we arestill counting!"

In Los Angeles, where POV isheadquartered, Giggans joined

forces with Mayor AntonioVillaraigosa, Los Angeles PoliceDepartment Chief Charlie Beck andother leaders at City Hall for apress conference to announce theelimination of a historic backlogof more than 6,132 untested sexualassault evidence kits. Every kitfrom the historic backlog had beentested and entered into the sys-tem.

New to this year's Denim Daywas POV's partnership with1in6.org, an organization that sup-ports male survivors of sexualabuse. Steve LePore, executivedirector of 1in6, joined Giggans atLA City Hall to testify before theL.A. City Council.

Peace Over Violence organizedthe first annual Denim Day in LA12 years ago, encouraging every-one to make a social statementwith their fashion statement andto wear jeans with a purpose.Sponsors this year included theCity of Los Angeles, LA UnifiedSchool District, Staples CenterFoundation, Clear Channel Com-munications, Union Bank, EVAW:the HBCU Project, Beyond theBell, and a number of other orga-nizations.

Patti Giggans, executive directorof POV. "We envision Denim Daybecoming a global event, withpeople around the world rallyingaround this important, symbolicday to ensure a planet free fromsexual violence."

In addition to events in LosAngeles, Denim Day events wereheld in England, Turkey andGhana. Official Denim Day eventswere held throughout the US, in-cluding Nevada, where Gov. BrianSandoval asked all state workersto wear denim, and Wisconsin,where Attorney General J.B. VanHollen also encouraged stateworkers to wear their jeans in sup-port of Denim Day. In New YorkCity, Denim Day activities were held in all five boroughs. In Sac-

ramento, more than 75 legislatorscame together to declare DenimDay in California.

Denim Day began in protestagainst a 1998 Italian SupremeCourt decision that overturned arape conviction because the vic-tim wore jeans. The justices rea-soned that the victim must havehelped her attacker remove herjeans since they were tight, andthis, they said, implied consent.People all over the world were out-

plored in the closing part of thelecture. The lecture ended with asanguine comment on how theBhagavad Gita continues to berelevant for contemporary life,given that the tendency towardadharma is on the rise in more waysthan we might realize.

Satya Karla was able to simplifythe otherwise bewildering andcomplex teachings of the Gita andpresent in terms an accessible tostudents and general audience,without compromising on thedepth of the transcendental wis-dom of the most commentedupon scriptures in the Hindu tra-dition.

May 13, 2011 India PostCommunity/Californiawww.indiapost.com

21

AZ Gov vetoes Bill to remove Balbir name India Post News Service

PHOENIX, AZ: On FridayApril 29, Governor of Arizona, JanBrewer invited the family of BalbirSingh Sodhi, America's first back-lash hate-crime after 9/11, to heroffice and vetoed House Bill #2230 in their presence whichwould have removed Balbir SinghSodhi's name from the ArizonaSeptember 11, 2001 Commemora-tive Monument marking the trag-edy of 9/11, honoring victims andaftermath.

Balbir Singh Sodhi was shotfive times on September 15, 2001in Mesa, Arizona in an apparenthate violence related to the trag-edy of 9/11. Brewer regretted thelegislation and she expressed herdeepest condolences to the Sodhifamily.

According to GuruRoop KaurKhalsa, a Sikh community activ-ist, "During the meeting, Brewergraciously vetoed House Bill #2230 to the immense appreciationof Sodhi family and the larger SikhCommunity".

"This is why we love this coun-try. The leadership is responsive.When we met with the Governortoday and RepresentativeKavanagh Tuesday they eachhonored my brother, our familyand our Sikh community with car-ing concern. We humbly re-quested that they help us so thatour brother's part in the local andnational 9/11 history would notbe denied. Our brother representsall 9/11 backlash victims," re-sponded Balbir Singh Sodhi'sbrother Harjit Singh.

Rana Singh Sodhi youngestbrother of Balbir Singh Sodhiadded, "They honored us somuch. In the intensity after Sep-tember 11th as a community wemade a difference. Today, as we

head into the tenth anniversaryof 9/11 the world is again watch-ing and together as an entirecommunity we reinforced nobacklash, no hate, don't target….even in times of crises, respectand understanding should pre-vail. My brother was killed be-cause of the way he looked andour articles of Sikh faith - his tur-ban, and in his heart and on hislips were the words, 'Please re-spect, and protect the innocentpeople.'

"We had requested that theGovernor continue to display thisquality of leadership. The last tenyears we have promotedArizona's leadership's heroic re-sponse to our Sikh communityand backlash through every me-dia channel and faith communitythroughout the world includingwithin our own twenty seven mil-lion Sikh members. As we pre-pare for the 10th anniversary of9/11 erasing Balbir Singh Sodhifrom the AZ 9/11 Monumentwould create such sorrow and atremendous outcry," said SikhCommunity SpokespersonGuruRoop Kaur Khalsa.

"It is vital that the Arizona Sep-tember 11, 2001 commemorativemonument continue to serve as aforewarning that backlash is an"after effect of an attack" and areminder that "No gentle person,no child, no culture and no reli-gion should be condemned, as-saulted or targeted because of theunspeakable acts of others." saidKhalsa. "Backlash murders arethe Invisible causalities of Sep-tember 11th. Balbir Singh Sodhiwas the first such death catego-rized as a hate crime."

Representative JohnKavanagh of Fountain Hills whointroduced the controversial billto alter the Arizona 9/11 Monu-

ment apologized to the family ofBalbir Singh Sodhi, saying hemisunderstood the case.Kavanagh met with Rana SinghSodhi, his brother Harjit Singh,and GuruRoop Kaur Khalsa. Heclarified that he wanted to removepolitical statements and that hefelt that the memorial should belimited only to victims who died

on 9/11 and more like a grave-stone.

He sought to remove the panelcontaining the key phrase, "09 1501 Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh, mur-dered in Mesa" plus 11 other in-scriptions which according to himwere offensive such as "Foreign-born Americans afraid," ''Mustbomb back" and "You don't winbattles of terrorism with morebattles."

After the meeting with the fam-ily he proposed a plan that would

put Balbir Singh Sodhi's nameback on the Monument if Gov. JanBrewer did not veto the bill withnew wording describing Sodhi'smurder with "09 15 01 Balbir SinghSodhi, a Sikh, First backlash hate-crime murder victim" and drop-ping the phrase "fear of foreign-ers".

"I apologized for dredging upthe sorrow once again. I apolo-gized for any misunderstanding,"Kavanagh said. Rana Singh Sodhideeply appreciated Kavanagh'sapology and his offer to correctthe error but still opposedHB2230.

"I am so comfortable. When Imet him, he was so responsive andunderstanding. I have no re-venge," Rana Singh Sodhi said.

Opposition to 9/11 Monumentalterations got support from manyquarters including a sizable Asiancommunity in AZ, the ArizonaInterFaith Movement and AZ 9/11 Commission, a citizens commit-tee that planned the memorial, urg-ing a veto. In addition, Anti-Defa-mation League, an active Jewishorganization who fights bigotry,hate-crimes and extremism, camein support of the Sodhi family andurged the lawmakers to alter theaction on this bill.

Former Maricopa County At-torney Rick Romley who pros-ecuted the case against BalbirSingh Sodhi's murderer, also op-posed the bill and blamedKavanaugh for not doing his'homework'.

According to him the shoot-ing of Balbir Singh Sodhi wasmeant as retaliation for 9/11 basedon the Sodhi's killer's own admis-

sions. Balbir Singh Sodhi family

members, GuruRoop Kaur Khalsaand Dr. Jaswant Singh Sachdevreached out to all communitiesand leaders to express their opin-ion on this issue. Arizonians ofvarious political and religiousspectrum came out in support ofthis effort similar to the outpourof support to the Sikhs after 2001.Sodhi family has appreciatedsupport from Sikhs acrossAmerica and thanked communityleaders for their hard work.

Dr. Jaswant Singh Sachdev,Sikh community leader in Phoe-nix, expressed his satisfaction atthe outcome and said, "This istruly a great relief that this Monu-ment will remain as is and will con-tinue to remind how this greatnation honors its fallen heroes."

Dr. Rajwant Singh, Chairmanof Sikh Council on Religion andEducation, lauded the role of theSodhi family and Khalsa for theiroutreach efforts and building astrong relationship with variouspolitical and religious communi-ties in AZ to keep the positiveprofile of the Sikh community. Hesaid, "This reminds us that wemust stay engaged in the fabricof American society to makepeople aware of our issues andtraditions." He added, "GovernorJan Brewer has sent a right mes-sage to the entire nation and theworld that the tragic lessons of 9/11 and its victims cannot be eas-ily forgotten. This Monument iscritical and it ought to teach animportant lesson to coming gen-erations of Americans to live inharmony with each other."

Sikhism training in CA police academies

Justice has been served,says Imam Shamshad


LOS ANGELES: In a big victoryfor the Sikh community, startingthis summer, all law enforcementofficers in the state of Californiawill be trained to identify and re-spect Sikhs and Sikh practices.The training will be given as partof a required class in all policeacademies throughout the state,and will also be available online.In addition, current police officersare being advised of the trainingmaterials through a two-page bul-letin being issued to all police de-partments.

The training, which is spon-sored by California's Peace OfficerStandards and Training Commis-sion (POST), is part of a workbookused in police academies. It cov-


CHINO, CA: Commenting onthe death of Osama bin Laden,Ahmadiyya Imam and missionaryof Baitul Hameed MosqueShamshad A. Nasir said that "Jus-tice has been served." He empha-sized the importance of remainingsteadfast in the fight against ter-rorism and the need to combat ris-ing extremism, and that if left un-answered, it always escalates fromintolerance to terrorism.

The Imam added, "We all needto unite to oppose evil and terror-ism in the world, no matter whatform it takes." He observed thatnow was the time for the US gov-ernment to step up and do more toeradicate the root causes of ter-rorism based in economic, politi-cal and human rights issues.

Imam Shamshad said, "Whatneeds to be dealt with head-on is

the ignorance, intolerance and vio-lence directed against non-Mus-lims and persecuted groups withinIslam such as the Shias, Sufis andthe Ahmadis which is the result ofdecades of indoctrination in ex-tremist, radical thinking amongpoor and uneducated Muslims inplaces like Pakistan and Indone-sia."

He added that, as a direct re-sult of intolerant and fanaticalteachings, laws promoting severepunishments for blasphemy, in-cluding death, have become thenorm in many Muslim countries.This is especially true in Pakistan,where since 1974 harsh and brutallaws have been used to legitimizeand sanction the persecution andmurder of members of the non-mainstream Sunni Muslim major-ity such as Shias and Ahmadis,

ers everything from identifyingthe 5Ks to how to search some-one who is wearing a kirpan.

"Our goal is to ensure peaceofficers are trained to interact withvarious populations in California.By fostering respect for people ofall religions, we hope that our of-ficers and deputies will be betterable to do their jobs in the field,"said Bob Ziglar, Basic TrainingCoordinator of POST.

The training is being imple-mented two years after California'sstate legislature unanimouslypassed a law requiring California'slaw enforcement officers to betrained about Sikhs. That law, AB504, was vetoed by then-Gover-nor Arnold Schwarzenegger. How-ever, POST has since been work-ing with the Sikh Coalition and

other local community members todevise a training plan of their own.

"Hundreds of Sikhs partici-pated in lobbying for the originallegislation, and this outcome is adirect result of their hard work.Thank you all. We are overjoyedthat the state has finally taken thefirst step to stop unnecessary ar-rests of Sikhs for practicing theirfaith," said Neha Singh, WesternRegion Director of the Sikh Coali-tion.

"The Sikh community shouldnot live in fear of arrest by lawenforcement for carrying thekirpan," said Assembly memberWarren Furutani, who introducedthe legislation two years ago. "Ithank POST for proactively takingthese steps to ensure that Sikhscan practice their faith freely."

"This is why we lovethis country. The lead-ership is responsive.When we met with theGovernor today andRepresentativeKavanagh Tuesdaythey each honoredmy brother, our familyand our Sikh commu-nity with caring con-cern. We humblyrequested that theyhelp us so that ourbrother's part in thelocal and national 9/11 history would notbe denied’

May 13, 2011India Post22 Horoscope

Pandit Parashar, CEO & COO Astro Scan USA is also avail-able for individual consultations.He can be reached at: [email protected]

925-833-7170website: www.parashar.com

Your Weekly FutureMAY 13TH - MAY 19TH

Take it easy and try to relax in spare time. Watch out for

people trying to take undue advantage of your gener-

osity. Some of you will be traveling away from home for busi-

ness purpose. You will be spending money towards chil-

dren. People in business will make new clients. A sibling

may need your advice and help.

There will be some interesting and positive devel-

opments in career. The seat you were trying will

be assigned to you will added benefits and authority.

Every body at home will enjoy the new gadget you

purchased. You may visit an interesting place with

some very close friend. You will meet an famous dig-

nitary this week.

You have some easy money coming this week.

Email you write will get the job done quickly.

Money will go towards children and making final

payment on an old debt. You will hear some very

good news from far off place. An old family mem-

ber will need extra medical care.

GEMINI (MAY 21 TO JUNE 20)

LEO (JULY 23 TO AUGUST 22) VIRGO (AUGUST 23 TO SEPTEMBER 22)

LIBRA (SEPTEMBER 23 TO OCTOBER 22) SCORPIO (OCTOBER 23 TO NOVEMBER 22)

CAPRICORN (DECEMBER 22 TO JANUARY 19)SAGITTARIUS (NOVEMBER 23 TO DECEMBER 22)

AQUARIUS (JANUARY 20 TO FEBRUARY 18) PISCES (FEBRUARY 19 TO MARCH 20)

by Pandit Parashar

www.indiapost.com

CANCER (JUNE 21 TO JULY 22)

TAURUS (APRIL 21 TO MAY 20)ARIES (MARCH 21 TO APRIL 20)

Presence of strong Sun in house of luck will help you

achieve goals easily. Rewards will start pouring in

for the work done in the past and you will have several

good size contracts in your hands. Some of you will be

adjusting in new home this week. You will take family to a

social event and meet old friends also.

A surgery may be the sure way out to tackle the prob-

lem that keep coming back. You will need to take an

important business decision, you will have couple of

choices but you will adopt the little longer but the right

path only. Some of you will be getting ready to make a

smooth switch to another job close by.

Diplomacy will help you overcome a tricky situation in ca-

reer. Spouse may feel exhausted and need extra rest.

You will be spending money on children. You will hear from

an old friend after long time. You will make good use of time

on hand and clean up the things gathering dust in the house.

You will participate in a social event.

Seek Outside help if you can not decide an impor-

tant issue involving a relationship or partnership.

New expenses could shake your budget. If you maintain

patience you will soon overcome your opponents. Some

of you may decide to go ahead with the law suit to prove

your point. Promising week for people looking for a job.

Money wise you will do better this week. You will have

more than one chance to make fast money. Specula-

tion or lottery could be profitable too. Try not to take some

one's words for granted and use your intellect. You may

play some trick on a friend or a colleague. Spouse will be

full of some bright and non failing ideas.

Colleague may try to involve you into unnecessary

argument by putting the blame on you. You may

finally get some kind of clearance from a government

agency. Be little careful when it comes to matter of heart

and try to understand other person's emotions. You may

also give final shape to a very short please trip with family.

You may hit some kind of financial jackpot. Money may

come through stocks or lottery. Bold actions will take

you close to your goals quick causing lots of excitement in

the family. A female from another nationality will be really

helpful. You will be travelling to a coastal area to meet an

important person and seek advice.

You will regain confidence as the ideas will start working

and you will be able to see things more clearly. Pres-

ence of Sun in your sign will make you more popular. You

will receive many valuable gifts from people you like. Finan-

cial juggling will reduce the pressure immediately. You will

benefit from a tall and fair skin person.

Stress could take a toll and you may be advised to

relax and take it easy for few days. Presence of Mars

in first will make you impulsive and as a result you can

end up making some decisions that will put you under

lots of financial pressure in near future. A close relative

will call to invite you to a big party.

May 13, 2011 India Post 23

www.indiapost.com

DatebookNEW YORK

UpcomingILLINOIS

UpcomingNEW JERSEY

UpcomingNORTHERN CALIFORNIA

U p c o m i n g

WASHINGTON DC

Upcoming

Tues May 10• India's WorldVenue: The New School, Tishman Auditorium,66 West 12th Street, New YorkTime: 8pmContact: 212-229-5776 x3

Fri May 20• Athirudram-2011Venue: Sanatan Dharma Temple, 15311 Pio-neer Blvd, Norwalk, CATime: 7amContact: 714-759-2511

Sat May 21• RK Video & FFTL Productions

Presents Wedding AlbumVenue: Hindu Auditorum, 143-09 Holly Ave,Flushing, New YorkTime: 8pmContact: 800-851-8514

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIAU p c o m i n g

Fri May 20• Athirudram-2011Venue: Sanatan Dharma Temple, 15311 PioneerBlvd, Norwalk, CaliforniaTime: 7amContact: 714-759-2511

Mon July 4• Rathyatra, Festival of IndiaVenue: National Mall (in front of Air & SpaceMuseum), Washington, DCTime: 10:30am to 9pmContact: 301-299-2100

Fri April 29• Musical Evening With Manoj

Mishra & Group @ BaltimoreVenue: Greater Baltimore Temple, 2909 BloomRoad, Finksburg, MarylandTime: 7pmContact: (202) 247-7434

Sat Nov 12• Hello Namaste Salaam

Satsriakal MastiVenue: Chandni Restaurant, 5748 MowrySchool Rd, Balentine Plaza, across HiltonHotel, Newark, CA 94560Time: 7pmContact: 510-299-1138

Fri May 13• Tiecon 2011Venue: Santa Clara Convention Center, 5001Great America Pkwy, Santa Clara, CaliforniaContact: 408-567-0700

Sat May 14• Community Day: Art of IndiaVenue: San Jose Museum of Art, 110 S. Market,San Jose, CaliforniaTime: 11am to 5pmContact: 408-271-6840

Sun May 15• Gaata Rahe Mera Dil Live ShowVenue: Quinlan Community Center, 10185North Stelling road, Cupertino, Bay areaTime: 4:30pm to 9pmContact: 408-839-7024

Wed May 18• The Diner And The DinnerVenue: India Community Center, 525 LosCoches St, Milpitas, CaliforniaTime: 7pmContact: 408-934-1130

Fri May 27• Sri Shirdi Sai Baba SatsangVenue: Sons of Italy, 155 Clay Street, Weed, CATime: 6pm to 9pmContact: 512-750-0045

Fri June 3• San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival

Venue: Zellerbach Hall, 4800, 101 ZellerbachHall, Berkeley, CaliforniaContact: 415-474-3914

Fri May 13• Celebrity DJ Piyush LIVE at

Highlands - Desi Rock FridayVenue: The Highlands Hollywood, 6801Hollywood Blvd, Los AngelesTime: 9:30pmContact: 323-205-5594

Sat May 14• LeMast Club Presents

Bollywood Bhangra BashVenue: Tantric Lounge of Tanta on Sunset,3705 W, Sunset Blvd, Los AngelesTime: 10pmContact: 805-587-9144

Sat May 21• Jk Yog Presents science of

God-RealizationVenue: Ma Durga Temple, 2007 E FoothillBlvd, Pasadena, CaliforniaTime: 6pm to 7:30pmContact: 626-351-5253

Sat May 28• Hema Wellness ProgramVenue: Dancing Shiva Yoga and AyurvedaCenter, 7466 Beverly Blvd, Los AngelesContact: 866-436-5621

Sat May 28• Rahat Fateh Ali Khan Live in

Los AngelesVenue: Terrace Theater, 300 E Ocean Blvd,Long Beach, CaliforniaTime: 7pmContact: 510-610-0750

Sun June 5• SALDEF's 15th Anniversary

CelebrationVenue: Diamond Bar Center, 1600 GrandAvenue, Diamond Bar, CATime: 5:30pm to 8:30pmContact: 714-504-5264 & 818-416-2952

Fri May 13• Desi Girls Bring Sheela Ki Javeni

At MunniBarVenue: Chatney Manor, 3793 Route 1 South,South Brunswick, New JerseyTime: 7pmContact: 732-754-6414

Sat May 14• Musik Waves Presents

Paresh RawelVenue: Ritz Theatre, 1148 E.Jersey St, Eliza-beth, New JerseyTime: 8pmContact: 732-277-6687

Fri May 13• Zindagi Trust Charity Gala and Concert

Venue: Belvedere Banquets, 1170 Devon St.,Elk Grove Village, IllinoisTime: 6:30pmContact: 630-929-3592

Sat May 14• The Festival of ColorsVenue: Naperville Riverwalk Grand Pavilion,500 W. Jackson Ave., Naperville, IllinoisTime: 11am to 4pmContact: 630-355-5468

Sun May 15• Opening To LoveVenue: I.M.U., 1418 W Howard St at SheridanRd, Chicago, IllinoisTime: 9amContact: 773-262-1468

May 13, 2011India Post24 www.indiapost.com

1 Mit Jaaye Ghum:Dum Maaro Dum

2 Teri Justaju (Saaware):Shor In The City

3 Awaaz: F.A.L.T.UShor In The City

4 Saibo: Shor In The City5 Jiyein Kyun: Dum Maaro Dum6 Bhojhal Se: I AM7 Sau Baras: Haunted8 Maine Yeh Kab Socha Tha: Game9 Tum Bin Yeh Dil Ghabraye:

Zokkomon10 Wundoo Yeredoo: I AM

TOP TENHINDI FILM SONGS

Anushka Sharma has been asked to get leaner and toned thanever before! The reason? Yash Raj Films has asked her to shedany extra inches gained before she begins shooting for her

next film Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl. The actress has had a long break afterthe shoot of her last project Band Baaja Baraat.

The production house is very strict when it comes to the fitness oftheir heroines. While signing a film, their contract insists they be of acertain weight and have a specific Body Mass Index.

A source reveals, "A foodie she binged on her favorite delicaciesand let herself go. YRF has instructed her to go slow. The actressbegan working out with her trainer and got a toned look. Since shehas a high metabolism rate, losing weight quickly isn't a problem."

Those who have worked with the banner insist that they arepretty weight-specific when it comes to thewomen. "Every one from Kareena to Deepikahave followed the YRF diktat of gettingthe right digits on the weighing scale.It's a rule they don't let anyone break."

Salman Khan broke an old world record andset a new Guinness World record on theshow, Guinness World Record - Ab India

Todega aired on Colors, hosted by bubbly PreityZinta. Salman Khan broke the record of gettingkissed maximum time which was set by an actorfrom Japan.

The Japanese actor was kissed 87 times in aminute while Sallu received 108 kisses by 25 younggirls in one minute and broke the old record andset a new Guinness World record. The group ofyoung girls was thrilled to kiss one of the mosteligible bachelors of Bollywood.

Well, Salman should now dance to Katrina'ssong, 'Zara zara Kiss me, Kiss Me'!

India Post 25May 13, 2011

www.indiapost.com

Bollywood

Imran Khan, known for his chocolate boylooks and romantic side, has shot for anextremely bold lovemaking scene for his

forthcoming crime and sex comedy "DelhiBelly".

After this, many feel that the 28-year-old,who married his longtime girlfriend AvantikaMalik in January, will be seen as the new badboy in tinsel town.

Releasing July 1, "Delhi Belly" is producedby Aamir Khan, and features an ensemble castincluding Kunal Roy Kapoor, PoornaJagannathan, Vir Das and Shenaz Treasurywala.The film is about three friends living togetherin a bachelor's pad in the capital.

Director Abhinay Deo says the movie isdefinitely for the "urban class".

"'Delhi Belly' is in English, actuallyHinglish - it is 80 percent in English and 20percent in Hindi. It is primarily meant for theyouth, or may I say for the young at heartwho still have a sense of humor. It will beliked by people who don't mind accepting afew things about the urban society, andthose who have a good sense of humor,"Deo said.

Slumdog Millionaire' star Freida Pinto iscarving out her niche in Hollywood. Her

forthcoming international flick is the epicmovie 'Immortals' which is based on Greek my-thology. The film comes from the makers ofaction-thriller 300 in the direction of TarsemSingh and stars Superman Henry Cavill andMickey Rourke.

The story of the film is about KingHyperion (Mickey Rourke) who has declaredwar against humanity and has spread havocin Greece in search of the legendary EpirusBow, a weapon of unimaginable power forgedin the heavens by Ares. Since the Gods, by

Abhishek and Aishwarya are looking forward to droll in comedy for RajkumarSantoshi's 'Ladies And Gentlemen'. This would be the first time that bothof them will be seen doing a comedy together.

Confirming his eagerness to do a comedy flick, Abhishek revealed that he wasindeed looking forward to doing this comedy film with Aishwarya.

The actor didn't want to give much detail about the film, but stated that thescript of the film is funny and interesting.

"It's a great script, very funny and Raj-ji is directing it. We've been very keento work together for a long time. I'm very happy that we will be finally workingtogether," stated Abhishek.

COMEDY COUPLE

BOLD 'BELLY'BOLD 'BELLY'

ancient law, must not intervene in man's con-flict, they are helpless. Here comes the peas-ant named Theseus (Henry Cavill) who hassecretly been chosen by Zeus to save hispeople from Hyperion and his hordes. Withthe help of his followers, the visionary priest-ess Phaedra (Freida Pinto) and cunning slaveStavros (Stephen Dorff), Theseus sets forthfor this Herculean task.

Freida plays Phaedra, an oracle priestesswho can see the future, but only if she re-mains a virgin. She helps Theseus with hergift but cannot enjoy her womanhood to thefullest.

'IMMOR'IMMOR'IMMOR'IMMOR'IMMORTTTTTAL' PRIESTESSAL' PRIESTESSAL' PRIESTESSAL' PRIESTESSAL' PRIESTESS


May 13, 201126

www.indiapost.com May 13, 201127 India Post

Nilgiri means "Blue Mountains". The entire area of theBlue Mountains constitutes the present district ofNilgiri. The height of the hills in the Blue Mountain

range varies between 2,280 and 2,290 meters, the highest peakbeing Doddabetta at a height of 2,623 meters.

High above the sea level, situated at the junction of thetwo ghat ranges of the Sahayadri Hills, Nilgiri district pro-vides a fascinating view. Kerala on the west, the Mysore Stateon the north, and Coimbatore district on the east and southbound it. Headquarters of Nilgiris district is Udhagamandalam(also called as Ooty).

Nilgiris derives its charm from its natural setting. The steephills and fantastically narrow valleys with numerous riversand rivulets running in all directions with a few fine waterfallshere and there provide beautiful scenery. The temperate and

most equable climate further heightens the attractiveness ofthe place. The major tea growing areas in the South are theNilgiris and these tea gardens are beautiful to watch.

Adventure and Trekking:The Nilgiris are a trekker's paradise. Landscaped by na-

ture, the hills abound in treks for lovers of nature. There aretreks and treks in whichever direction you turn and fromwhichever point you start. A trek can be full of thrill, excite-ment and adventure and a way of seeing and enjoying naturein all its beauty and splendor.

Trekking pamphlets are available with the Nilgiri Wildlifeand Environment Association (NWLEA). There are guideswho have sound knowledge of certain areas. If necessary,their services may be hired. And for further details contactthe Tourist Information Office at Charing Cross, Ooty.

The Nilgiris are atrekker's paradise.

Landscaped bynature, the hills

abound in treks forlovers of nature

Cont’d on page 28

India Post May 13, 201128 Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com

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Nilgiris: Blue Mountains withnumerous rivers & rivulets

Fairs & FestivalsThe Flower and Fruit Show:

The annual Flower Show at Ootyand the Fruit Show at Coonoor arethe important cultural events, de-serving special mention.

ShoppingJust about anything available

in the cities can be had at Ootywith the added attraction of lei-surely shopping. Exclusive Nilgiriproducts including Nilgiri tea,fruits, natural oils like Eucalyptas,Toda embroideries, plant nurser-ies are easily available in the town.Co-operative Super Market andMunicipal Market are some of thebest places for shopping fruits andgeneral groceries. Kairali of Kerala

and national highways connectOoty with all major towns and cit-ies. There are regular bus services

Cont’d from page 27

to and from Coimbatore, Trichy,Bangalore, Madurai, Kanyakumari,Mysore, Palghat, Calicut, Tirupatiand other important destinationsin South India. Ooty is also well

Handicrafts and Poompuhar ofTamil Nadu Handicrafts have theirshowrooms near to Super MarketBuildings on Charring Cross.

How to reachAir: Coimbatore, 105-km from

Ooty, is the nearest airport. It hasdaily flights to and from Chennai,Bangalore, Cochin andTrivandrum.

Rail: Ooty is on the narrowgauge railway connected toMettupalayam (47-km), which isdirectly connected to Coimbatoreand Chennai. The famous toy trainconnects Ooty with Mettupalayamand Coonoor.

Road: A good network of roads

connected with major cities ofKerala and Karnataka.

Local Transport: Coonoor andKotagiri are also well connectedby road with the major cities andtowns of the state. For local trans-portation, auto rickshaws and taxisare available.

The Flower and Fruit Show

Nilgiri Tahr in The Nilgiris

A tea factory next to a tea plantation

Oman's tourism industry focuses on IndiaDUBAI: Oman's Ministry of

Tourism has refocused its indus-try marketing strategy and willgive greater priority to attractingshort-term leisure and MICE busi-ness from India, besides the Gulfregion, a senior official has said.

According to Salem Al Mamari,Director General of Tourism Pro-

motion at Oman's Ministry ofTourism, this is being done againsta backdrop of regional events thathave spurred demand for travel tothe Gulf, even though Oman willcontinue to strongly support tra-ditional source markets.

The ministry ran a major

roadshow in India and hosted amajor media trip from India in mid-April.

"Our recent work in the Indianmarket has piqued our interest andwe are looking at a number of ini-tiatives over summer. Indigo Air-lines' decision to start daily ser-vices between Mumbai and Mus-

cat from next August is a positiveindicator of growing travel de-mand for Oman and bodes well forour future tourism and hospitalitylinks," Al Mamari said.

The ministry also announcedwork on a global awareness cam-paign that will start in late 2011.

"The events of recent monthshave brought our industry to-gether and reinforced the value ofthe GCC and Indian markets, withour latest discussions highlight-ing the underlying value of theseareas.

"The ministry takes the view

that it is in the collective interestof all GCC tourism authorities tomore aggressively promote the re-gion in their respective communi-cations to the travel trade and con-sumers and to look at coordinatedmeasures such as visas that pro-mote intra-regional travel," he

added.Oman's Ministry of Tourism is

encouraging discussions onways to make intra-regional traveleasier, with emphasis on tappingthe large transit markets travelingthrough the region's aviationmega hubs. -PTI

Salem Al Mamari, Director General of

Tourism Promotions, the Sultanate of

Oman's Ministry of Tourism

"Our recent work in theIndian market haspiqued our interest andwe are looking at anumber of initiativesover summer. IndigoAirlines' decision to startdaily services betweenMumbai and Muscatfrom next August is apositive indicator ofgrowing travel de-mand for Oman”

Just about anythingavailable in the citiescan be had at Ootywith the added at-traction of leisurelyshopping

India PostMay 13, 2011 29Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com

JK to develop tulip gardenin Jammu

JAMMU: To boost tourism in the regionthe Jammu and Kashmir government hasdecided to set up a tulip garden in Jammu,the winter capital of the state, on the linesof Asia's largest tulip garden located inSrinagar.

"The government has prepared a com-prehensive plan costing Rs 13.57 crore fordevelopment of Bhour camp garden inJammu city," Minister for Health, Floricul-ture and Horticulture, Sham Lal Sharma saidwhile inspecting the land at Bhour camp areain outskirts of Jammu city.

The plan includes providing landscap-ing, fencing, pathways, maintenance staffhut illumination, drinking water, irrigation

water channel and storage reservoirs,parkings, state-of-art entry gate facilities,he said.

Flanked by Minister for Revenue, Reliefand Rehabilitation, Raman Bhalla and Min-ister for Medical and Technical Education,R S Chib, Sharma asked officers to fence563.5 kanal (70.40 deres) of proposed landof the garden.

He asked them to sow all seasonal plantsin a systematic manner in the garden so thatthe tourists could enjoy the place.

Sharma said all efforts are being made todevelop Bhour camp area as tourist spot byproviding all infrastructural facilities to tour-ists there. -PTI

Tourism circuit to be developedin Rajasthan

BIKANER: A tourism circuit, comprisingplaces of interests in Bikaner, Jodhpur andJaisalmer districts, will be developed inRajasthan, Union Tourism Minister SubodhKant Sahay said here.

"There is a huge potential for develop-ing tourism in Rajasthan... The union gov-ernment will spend Rs 50 crore to develop

a 'desert triangle' in Bikaner, Jodhpur andJaisalmer districts," he said at a functionhere, adding that Bikaner alone will receivehalf of the amount.

Tourism will be developed in the desertstate, which has a wonderful diversity tocater to the tourists, under the public-pri-vate partnership (PPP) model, he said. -PTI

India Post May 13, 2011www.indiapost.com

Real Estate30

Realty Tidbits

IT Dept purchased propertiesworth Rs 2500cr last year

The Income Tax Department became one of the largest pur-

chasers of real estate propertieslast year as it embarked on a megaexpansion spree to spread its es-tablishment for enhancing tax-payer services in the country. Thedepartment, which has recently be-gun a special drive to check preva-lence of black money in thecountry's real estate sector, hasacquired high-worth propertiesworth about 2,500 crore in morethan 20 cities in the last year alone.

The largest acquisition by thedepartment has been at the costof more than 2,000 crore for thepurchase of office space in thecivic centre near the nationalcapital's marketing hub,Connaught Place. The civic cen-tre is the tallest building in Delhi.The department has similarly pur-chased 56 staff quarters worthmore than 89 crore at the priceyBandra-Kurla complex inMumbai.

"All the acquisitions havebeen done in order to expand tax-payer facilities and to providebetter living and working facili-ties for the department staff. No

doubt the department's purchas-ing power has been the largest inthe last fiscal," an Income TaxCommissioner involved in theprocess, said. The department,with these acquisitions in the real

estate sector has probably be-come the largest government de-partment to acquire and createreal estate in the country, the com-missioner said.

The shopping bucket of thedepartment, according to an offi-cial report, has other high-profilepurchases and acquisitions likecreation of a training centre andhostel facilities for new recruits

of the Indian Revenue Service(IRS) at their alma mater - NationalAcademy of Direct Taxes (NADT)in Nagpur at the cost of 100 crore.

In Chandigarh, the I-T depart-ment has purchased 5,000 acresof land for office space at the costof more than 33 crore, a central-ized air conditioned I-T office atUdaipur at the cost of more than16 crore, acquisition of land forconstruction of office building forthe department in Mumbai atabout 23 crore and land measur-ing more than 9,500 sq m atJamnagar in Gujarat for officebuilding at 8 crore.

Another set includes officebuilding at Siliguri for 5.5 croreand a separate creation of 49 resi-dential quarters and guest houseat Siliguri in excess of 10 crore.One more big acquisition by thedepartment has been made atMuzzafarpur in Bihar for buildingstaff quarters at the cost of morethan 21 crore.

Probe into Raja OK to Unitech,DB Realty projects

Realty firms DB Realty andUnitech's troubles are likely

to get worse. The CBI is now likelyto probe the two companies' realestate projects that were clearedby former telecom minister A Rajaduring his tenure as environmentminister from 2004 to 2007. CBIsources said Unitech and DB Re-alty (whose telecom armSwan Telecom is alleged tohave given kickbacks in the2G scam) had obtained envi-ronmental clearances forsome of their key projectsduring Raja's tenure.

"These clearances couldbe linked to the 2G spectrumscam too," a CBI official said.Sources added that Raja hadgiven the clearances at the in-stance of RK Chandolia, then di-rector of planning and coordina-tion in the environment ministry.Chandolia later became Raja's per-sonal secretary at the telecom min-istry.

According to the CBI, as many

as 2,016 projects got environmen-tal clearances in just two years, ofwhich Vinod Goenka and ShahidBalwa, promoters of DB Realty,benefited the most.

The link between the realtycompanies and Raja went back tohis previous tenure as the minis-ter of environment. "This unholy

friendship culminated in all thesecompanies getting the clearancecertificate to their future projects,"the official said, adding that thefriends in the real estate commu-nity were asked to apply for 2Gspectrum which was seen as avery lucrative business.

Hircon begins handover oftallest residential tower

Come August, Hircon International, a Dubai-based devel-

oper, will commence handover of23 Marina, a 395-metre tower inDubai Marina, which will then sur-pass The Torch as the world's tall-est residential tower by almost 47metres. "We have got the utilityconnections… we will have tem-porary power connection by nextweek. Snagging notice has beensend to investors and we expectresidents to move into the apart-ments by August," DarshanHiranandani, director, Hircon In-ternational, told Emirates 24|7.

The 90-storey tower comprises288 apartments and three pent-houses. It has two and three-bed-room apartments and four-bed-room duplexes, ranging from 1,709sq ft to 5,775 sq ft. Earlier this week,Select Group, a private propertydeveloper, said it will beginhandover of The Torch tower, a348 metres (1,142 ft), 86-storey resi-dential tower, in Dubai Marina from

May. It beat Q1 Tower off GoldCoast, Australia, (323 metres, 1,058ft) to clinch the title for the world'stallest residential tower.

In November, Tameer Holdingpresident Federico Tauber saidthat the 107-storey Princess Towerand 91-storey Elite Residence inDubai Marina will be handed overin the fourth quarter. The 414-metre tower has 763 units, whilethe latter 381-metre tower has 696units. According to Hiranandani,23 Marina is likely to have an oc-cupancy rate of between 50 and60 per cent, as most of the apart-ments have been bought by end-users. "A majority of investors areend users. Some of our investorshave bought apartment to rentthem while some have them as holi-day homes," he added.

Although the developer has noapartments to sell, Hircon is as-sisting investors to resell theirapartments if they wish to. "Weare offering a service to our inves

Regulation lawshould be‘comprehensive’

The proposed law to regulatethe development of India's

real estate sector must address theinterests and responsibilities of allstakeholders, according to the in-dustry leaders. General consensuson these lines was reached by theConfederation of Real Estate De-velopers' Associations of India(CREDAI) at its 11th national con-vention. The two-day meeting, in-augurated by Union Urban Devel-opment Minister Kamal Nath waspresided over by CREDAI Chair-man Pradeep Jain and PresidentLalit Kumar Jain. Other key speak-ers included CREDAI Secretary T.Chitty Babu and Vice-President C.Shekhar Reddy.

Adani to investRs 5000cr inAhmedabad

Adani Realty Business, the realestate arm of the Adani Group,

plans to invest Rs5,000 crore inthe group's upcoming township inAhmedabad. The total investmentis expected to be sale-revenuefunded, without any debt. Thegroup is developing a 600 acretownship named Shantigram inAhmedabad in a phased manner.Out of the Rs5,000 crore invest-ment, more than Rs3,000 crore isthe value of the land, which isowned by the Adani family.

The payment for this land, whichhas been transferred to a newwholly owned special purpose ve-hicle (SPV), will be made in a stag-gered manner over the next three tofour years. The remaining Rs2,000crore is the development cost, ofwhich more than Rs700 crore hasalready been infused. The companyis confident to funding the projectas well as paying the total land valuethrough sale-revenue generatedover a period of time.

Keerthi launchesluxury villas inHyderabad

Keerthi Estates, a Hyderabad-based real estate developer

with two decades of experienceand operations in Hyderabad andBangalore, has launched its pre-mium luxury residential complex -Richmond Villas - in Hyderabad.The gated-villas project, consist-ing of 157 villas of 4BHK, is com-ing up over 24 acres of lush greenlandscape near Andhra PradeshPolice Academy circle, close to thenew International Airport.

HSIIDCearmarks Rs

2,100 cr for landacquisition

Details on page 31

As many as 2,016 projectsgot environmental clear-ances in just two years, ofwhich Vinod Goenka andShahid Balwa, promoters ofDB Realty, benefitedthe most

May 13, 2011 India PostReal Estatewww.indiapost.com

31

SBI drops prepayment chargeson home loans

Banking leader State Bank ofIndia dropped 'prepayment

charges' on all its loans over thepast fortnight. The announcementcoincided with the hiking of thebank's base rate and withdrawalof the controversial teaser homeloan schemes. With the SBI tak-ing the lead, other banks arenow expected to follow suit andwithdraw the controversialpenalty in the days to come.

Most banks and home fi-nance institutions charge a pre-payment penalty in the rangeof 1 per cent to 2 per cent in theevent of a customer opting toclose the home loan prema-turely. Public sector banks gen-erally charge about 1 per centor less of the loan outstandingas prepayment penalty, while itcan be anywhere between 1-3per cent in private banks. Inmany cases, banks do notcharge any prepayment penaltyif you prepay using your ownsources.

The penalty is calculated onprincipal. Hence, if you have Rs20 lakhs of loan outstanding,the penalty could range fromnothing to Rs 60,000 depend-ing on the bank. Last year theissue had come under the purviewof the Competition Commission ofIndia. After a long hearing, thebanks managed to make a strong

case for retaining the charge, say-ing they charge it with a view tocovering the interest loss due tothe foreclosure of the loan.

They said prepayment penaltyhelps them mitigate the costs ofdeposits taken at higher rate whichthey do not have a right to pre-

pay. It also covers for the cost in-curred in legal and technical ser-vices and origination fees. Bankswork out agreements assuming

such costs can be recovered overthe full tenure of the loan, whichprepayment jeopardizes.

The Competition Commissionlater ruled that the levy of prepay-ment penalty by banks on homeloans is not against competitionlaws. A majority decision given by

the four-member Commissionon December 2, 2010 said banksand housing finance compa-nies have not violated Section3 and 4 relating to anti-competi-tive practices and abuse ofdominant position.

However, two of the mem-bers issued dissenting orderssuggesting that banks shoulddiscontinue with the practiceof charging such a penalty. Ear-lier, the Reserve Bank of Indiahad gone on record expressingits dissent over the practice ofslapping penalty charges onpremature repayment of loans.The apex bank had said it didnot approve of such charges.

"RBI does not approve ofcharging penalty or foreclosurecharges. We have advisedbanks to lay out appropriateinternal principles and proce-dures so that usurious interestincluding processing and other

charges are not levied by them onloans and advances," RBI had saidin response to a query filed underthe Right to Information Act.

CREDAI to tacklecorruption in real estate

CREDAI (Confederation ofReal Estate Developers As-

sociations of India) has presenteda time-bound program to the gov-ernment to tackle the menace ofcorruption in the real estate sector."The Confederation has presenteda time-bound action plan to unionurban development minister KamalNath at the two-day 11th NationalConference (NATCON) of CREDAIin Singapore," said a CREDAI offi-cial.CREDAI national president LalitKumar Jain said the developercommunity was being branded asbeing corrupt. He said the confed-eration would seek an appoint-ment with the prime minister to dis-cuss ways and means to check thecancer of corruption instead ofindulging in blame game.

"This country is, sadly though,rated to be one of the most cor-rupt nations of the world. Any citi-zen of this country will feel hurtand humiliated. The real estatesector is rated to be the biggestcontributor to this notoriety. I andall my colleagues in real estate feelgreatly insulted," said Jain.

He added that developers werevictims of the system and not thebeneficiaries. Jain said the real es-tate sector was being branded asthe breeding ground for blackmoney and corruption.

"It is the various government

procedures and delays in clear-ances that rise to corruption. Wecurse every person who exploitsus to give us a legitimate permis-sion which we deserve instantlyand without any illegitimate de-

mand," he said.Talking about the long process

of clearances, he said this processinvolved connecting with morethan 150 people in about 40 de-partments of central, state govern-ment and municipal corporations.

"After investing heavily inland, even a day's delay in approv-als adds to the costs. And in des-peration and when speed becomesimportant, the concept of speedmoney creeps in," he pointed out.Every developer has to obtain 40certificates, NOCs and clearances.

"The McKinney report to theGovernment of India as long agoas in 2001 said that land approvalrelated hurdles are costing 40%higher to home cost," he said.CREDAI presented two key docu-ments to Kamal Nath - a compila-tion of best practices by some stategovernments that can be emulatedby the rest of the country and a com-prehensive checklist for approvals.

HSIIDC earmarks Rs 2,100 cr for land acquisitionCHANDIGARH: Haryana State

Industrial & Infrastructure Devel-opment Corporation Limited(HSIIDC) said it would spend Rs2,100 crore for undertaking vari-ous development works and ac-quisition of land in 2011-12.

The process has already beenset in motion for acquisition of

about 29,000 acres of land to meetthe needs of these projects, whichincludes setting up of new Indus-trial Model Townships (IMTs), in-dustrial estates and various initia-tives under the Delhi-Mumbai In-dustrial Corridor (DMIC), aHSIIDC spokesman said.

HSIIDC has successfully com-pleted projects involving an in-vestment of more than Rs 6,000crore, during the last six years,he said.

He said some of the new keyprojects included an Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre (ECC) atManesar, an Integrated Multi-

modal Logistic Hub (IMLH),Mass Rapid Transit System(MRTS) between Gurgaon-Manesar-Bawal, industrial es-tates at Bidhal-Lath, Madina andNarnaul and IMT Kharkhauda.

All these entail huge financialinvestment for which various

implementation modes like thePublic Private Partnership (PPP)funding and Special Purpose Ve-hicle (SPV) route, etc, are beingadopted.

The HSIIDC was focusing ontimely implementation and moni-toring of these projects to ensurethat there were no time and costs

over-runs, Arora said.The development works at

IMT Faridabad, IMT Rohtak, In-dustrial Estate, Panipat, and ex-pansion of the Industrial Estatesat Bahadurgarh, Barhi, and Raiinvolve creation of state-of-the-art infrastructure, and services

like road networks, water supply,sewage system, storm waterdrainage system, horticultureworks and electricity distribu-tion networks.

Implementation of Phase-I ofIMT, Rohtak, over 858 acres isnearing completion. The devel-opment works initiated by Larsen& Tubro (L&T) on turnkey ba-sis, are likely to be completed byAugust, 2011. The award forPhase-II of the project over 1,893acres, is being finalized. -PTI

Two of the members issueddissenting orders suggest-ing that banks shoulddiscontinue with the prac-tice of charging such apenalty. Earlier, the ReserveBank of India had gone onrecord expressing its dissentover the practice of slap-ping penalty charges onpremature repayment

The HSIIDC was focus-ing on timely imple-mentation and moni-toring of theseprojects to ensure thatthere were no timeand costs over-runs

Talking about thelong process of clear-ances, he said thisprocess involvedconnecting with morethan 150 people inabout 40 departments

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TechBizTech News

Bose Corp. founder donates majoritystock in company to MIT


NEW YORK: Dr. Amar Bose,the iconic founder of Bose Corpo-ration has given to his alma materMIT, a significant donation in formof stock in his company.

Bose, who is an alumnus of the1951 class, has given to MIT themajority of the stock of Bose Cor-poration in the form of non-vot-ing shares.

MIT will receive annual cashdividends on those shares whendividends are paid by Bose Cor-poration; those cash dividendswill be used by MIT to sustain andadvance MIT's education and re-search mission.

Under the terms of the gift, MITcannot sell its Bose shares and willnot participate in the managementor governance of the company.Bose Corporation will remain a pri-vate and independent company,and operate as it always has, withno change in strategy or leadership.

Dr. Bose will remain BoseCorporation's Chairman and Tech-nical Director.

Dr. Bose received his bachelor's

degree, master's degree and PhDfrom MIT, all in electrical engineer-ing. He was asked to join the fac-ulty in 1956, and accepted with theintention of teaching for no more

than two years. He continued as amember of the MIT faculty until 2001,making important contributions tothe Institute's teaching of under-graduate electrical engineering.

In 1964, Dr. Bose founded BoseCorporation. From its inception,

the company has remained pri-vately owned, with a focus onlong-term research.

In expressing gratitude for thisgift, MIT President Susan

Hockfield remarked not only on Dr.Bose's generosity, but also on hishumility. "Amar Bose gives us agreat gift today, but he also servesas a superb example for MITgraduates who yearn to cut theirown path. Dr. Bose set the high-

est teaching standards, for whichhe is still admired and loved byhis faculty colleagues and themany students he taught. His in-satiable curiosity propelled re-markable research, both at MITand within the company hefounded. Dr. Bose has always beenmore concerned about the next twodecades than about the next twoquarters."

"Dr. Bose," Hockfield contin-ued, "has asked us not to shinetoo bright a spotlight on him to-day. So to honor that wish, let ussimply celebrate Dr. Bose's pro-found belief in the transformativepower of an MIT education."

In a letter to Bose Corporationemployees, Dr. Bose paid tributeto his mentors at MIT: ProfessorsY. W. Lee, Norbert Wiener andJerome Wiesner. He explained thatthe gift represents his long-helddesire to support MIT education,and reaffirmed the company's mis-sion to play for the long run.

"We will continue," Dr. Bosewrote to his employees, "to remaintrue to the principles upon whichour company was founded."

Dr. Amar Bose

7 Indian American businesswomen among50 Fastest Growing


NEW YORK: Seven IndianAmerican women businesswomenare among the top 50 FastestGrowing Women-owned compa-nies in North America.

The fourth of these rankingswere released by the Women Presi-dents' Organization (WPO) andAmerican Express OPEN, the smallbusiness division of American Ex-press.

The Top 50 generated a com-bined $4.1 billion in 2010 revenues(mean of $82.7 million) and collec-tively employed 24,650 in 2010(projected average for 2011 is 557employees).

Himanshu Bhatia, ranked third,owner and chief executive officer,has seen her business employ-ment skyrocket (1,500 in 2008, 5,000

in 2010 and 6,500 projected for2011) in addition to the company'srapid revenue growth($117,000,000 in 2008 to$230,000,000 in 2010).

The other Indian American

women business leaders on theTop 50 list are: Ranjini Poddar,Artech Information Systems, NewJersey (IT Consulting); RachnaAgarwal, Expedien, Inc., Texas(Business Intelligence); GloriaRajkumar, SIMAC Canada Inc.,

Ontario, Canada (IndependentMedical Assessments); Kiran Gill,PARS Environmental, Inc., NewJersey (Environmental consultingfirm); Anjali 'Ann' Ramakumaran,Ampcus Inc., Virginia (Consulting

services); and Sonu Ratra, Akraya,Inc., California (IT & Marketingstaffing).

The Top 50 list includes a groupof trailblazing women entrepre-neurs that represent a variety ofindustries ranging from staffing to

electronic systems providers, lan-guage services to security, saidMarsha Firestone, Ph. D., presi-dent and founder of the WPO. Weare pleased to partner with Ameri-can Express OPEN to honor thesepowerful women and recognizetheir triumphs.

In order to help the Top 50 con-tinue to seize even more businessopportunities, each of the honoredbusiness owners will be offered aBusiness Platinum Card fromAmerican Express OPEN. The cardwill include 100,000 MembershipRewards points, which may beused on capital investments in-cluding: the funding of employeerecognition programs, businesstravel or the purchase of officeequipment and supplies.

Contíd on page 35

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No shortage ofwarehouses forgrain: Haryana

CHANDIGARH: The Haryanagovernment has said there wouldbe no shortage of warehouses inthe state for storage of food grainsin the days to come as tendershave been approved for construc-tion of additional warehouses hav-ing capacity of 15 lakh tonnes offood grains.

At present, the state's ware-houses have a capacity of 40 lakhtonnes of food grains, an officialrelease said here.

The warehouses would also beconstructed on public private part-nership mode as per schemes ofthe Union government.

The state had a target to pro-duce 63 lakh to 65 lakh tonnes ofwheat during current season outof which 60 lakh tonnes of wheathas so far been procured, it said.

Heavy production of wheat hasbeen recorded in the state exceptKarnal and nearby districts as thecrop had been damaged in theseareas due to hailstorm and cropdiseases which caused low pro-duction. -PTI

Role of Relianceofficials in 2Gscam 'minimal'

NEW DELHI: The marathonhearing on the bail plea of fivecorporate honchos jailed in con-nection with the 2G spectrum caseentered the fifth day in Delhi HighCourt with three top RelianceADAG officials claiming that theirrole in the "massive" scam was"minimal".

"Even if, we take CBI's allega-tions at their face value, the roleof Reliance officials in the so calledmassive scam was minimal,"former Attorney General Soli JSorabji, appearing for GautamDoshi, Group Managing Directorof Reliance ADAG, told Justice AjitBharihoke.

Sorabji, citing from the briefnote of the CBI, said the only alle-gations against the Reliance offi-cials was that they "structured" afront company, Swan Telecom Pri-vate Ltd, with an intention to cheatthe DoT by bypassing its guide-lines on grant of licenses.

"Structuring a company is notan offence and moreover, I am nothere in the main thing (con-spiracy)," he said.

"Look at their records. Theyhave no criminal past, they werenot arrested during the probe.These are relevant factors whichcannot be thrown in the dustbin,"he said, adding, they be not de-prived of personal liberty if refusalof bail amounted to awarding pun-ishment. -PTI

In order to help the Top 50 continue to seize evenmore business opportunities, each of the honoredbusiness owners will be offered a Business Plati-num Card from American Express OPEN

"Dr. Bose," Hockfieldcontinued, "has askedus not to shine toobright a spotlight onhim today. So tohonor that wish, let ussimply celebrate Dr.Bose's profound beliefin the transformativepower of an MITeducation"

35India PostTechBiz PostMay 13, 2011

www.indiapost.com

"Based on American ExpressOPEN's 'State of Women-OwnedBusinesses' report, there are anestimated 8.1 million women-owned businesses in the UnitedStates, generating nearly $1.3 tril-lion in revenues and employingnearly 7.7 million people," said

Nancy Hood, Vice President atAmerican Express OPEN. "We atOPEN are honored to support thiselite group of women who diver-sify the full spectrum of industriesand have become leaders withinthe women business community."

All eligible companies wereranked according to a salesgrowth formula that combines per-

7 Indian American businesswomenamong 50 Fastest Growing

centage and absolute growth.From this list, the 50 Fastest wereselected. To be qualified for theranking, businesses are requiredto be privately held, woman-owned/led companies in the U.S.or Canada and have reached rev-enue of at least $500,000 by thefirst week of 2006 and $2 million in2010.

Contíd from page 34

Indian American businesses earned $150 billionIndia Post News Service

NEW YORK: Indian Americans ownednearly 20 percent of all Asian-owned firmsin the United States earning over $150 bil-lion, giving employment to over 850,000people across the country, according to theUS Census Bureau’s 2007 Survey of Busi-ness Owners (SBO).

Precise numbers show Indian Americansowned 19.9 percent of all Asian-owned firms(308,514 firms) with receipts of $152.5 bil-lion (30% of all Asian-owned firm receipts).

Although Chinese owned firms ac-counted for 27.3 percent, the highest amongall Asian groups, their earnings were lessthan that of the total Indian American firmsat $142.8 billion (28.1%).

Overall, Asians owned 1.5 million non-farm US businesses operating in the fiftystates and the District of Columbia in 2007,an increase of 40.4% from 2002. These Asian-owned firms accounted for 5.7% of all non-farm businesses in the United States, em-ployed 2.8 million persons (2.4% of total em-ployment) and generated $507.6 billion inreceipts (1.7% of total receipts).

These findings come from the US Cen-sus Bureau’s 2007 Survey of Business Own-ers (SBO) and were collected as part of the2007 Economic Census. The SBO includes

a sample of more than 2.3 million non-farmbusinesses filing 2007 tax forms as individualproprietorships, partnerships, or any typeof corporation, and with receipts of $1,000or more. The SBO defines Asian-ownedbusinesses as firms in which persons ofAsian origin own 51 percent or more of theequity, interest or stock of the business.

Type of businessAmong Indian-American owned US

firms, 48.9% were in the professional, sci-entific, and technical services, the retailtrade, and the health care and social assis-tance sectors, accounting for 1.7% of all USbusinesses in these sectors.

Further breaking it down, data showsretail trade, wholesale trade, and profes-sional, scientific, and technical services ac-counted for 59.1% of Indian-Americanowned business revenue.

Geographic concentrationCalifornia had the largest number of In-

dian-American firms at 58,995 with receiptsof $29.1 billion (19.1% of all Indian-Ameri-can firm receipts).

New York and Texas were next with47,760 and 27,748 of Indian-American firmsrespectively, with receipts of $17.2 billionand $14.0 billion respectively.

The metropolitan statistical areas with

the largest number of Indian-Americanowned firms were New York-Northern NewJersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA (64,457); LosAngeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA(23,151); and Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI (17,362).

Employer firmsIn 2007, there were 109,196 Indian-Ameri-

can employer firms, an increase of 32.5%from 2002. These firms employed 850,191

persons, an increase of 39.4% from 2002,and had a total payroll of $26.8 billion, anincrease of 52.4% from 2002.

In 2007, these firms generated $140.9 bil-lion in receipts, an increase of 75.9% from 2002.In 2007, employer firms accounted for 35.4%of the total number of Indian-American firmsand 92.4% of their total revenues. Averagerevenues for these Asian Indian-owned em-ployer firms in 2007 were $1.3 million.

Non-employee firmsIn 2007, 199,318 Asian Indian-owned

firms had no paid employees, an increase of41.6% from 2002. These non-employer firmsgenerated $11.5 billion in receipts, an in-crease of 44.4% from 2002. In 2007, non-employers accounted for 64.6% of the totalnumber of Asian Indian-owned firms and7.6% of receipts. Average receipts for theseIndian-American non-employer firms in 2007were $57,928.

A little over 41,000 Indian American firmshad less than $5,000 revenues while 28,083Indian American firms had revenues of overOne Million.Interestingly, there were 69,935Indian-American owned employer firms withless than five employees that generated$38.6 billion in revenues. In comparison,1,959 Indian-American employer firms with50 or more employees, generated $36.6 bil-lion in revenues.

India may allow FDI in multi-brand retail in 36 citiesNEW DELHI: Industry

Ministry's proposal to openmulti-brand retail for foreign in-vestment is likely to go to theCabinet soon after assemblyelection results of four statesand a Union Territory, taking onboard job-related concerns of theLabor Ministry, sources said.

The Cabinet note, circulatedby the Department of IndustrialPolicy and Promotion (DIPP) hasa rider that foreign retail giantswill have to invest a minimum of$100 million, half of which mustgo to the back-end infrastructurelike cold storage, soil testinglabs and seed farming.

In the event of the proposalgetting approved, multi- nationalretailers like Wal-Mart, Carrefourand Tesco which have beenawaiting the government's deci-sion, would be allowed in cities

with population of over one mil-lion (according to 2001 census).

As per this criterion, the for-eign chains would be able toopen shops in 36 cities only,sources said. This rider wouldtake care of concerns expressed

by the ministries of labor andrural development over the im-pact of the big foreign retailerson the small kirana shops, theysaid. Asked how soon the deci-sion could be expected, theysaid, "The government is wait-

ing for election results of the fiveassembly elections. After thatthe decision would be taken".The issue is politically sensitive,as some of the political partieslike the Left, have been oppos-ing the move."

At present, India allows FDIonly in single brand retail chainslike Nike, Louis Vuitton with acap of 51%. It also permits 100%overseas investment in whole-sale cash-and-carry format. Sev-eral of the big chains like Wal-

Mart and Carrefour have set uptheir joint ventures in India, wait-ing for their full-scale entry intothe multi-brand retailing. A dis-cussion paper on opening of thesector has been in the publicdomain since July 2010 and thestakeholders have submittedtheir feedback.

India's total retail sector is es-timated at $590 billion, of whichunorganized is at $496, accord-ing to an Icrier report. Openingof the multi-brand retail to for-

eign investment is expected torevive the investor confidence inthe country. Foreign direct in-vestment has dipped by 25%between April-February of 2010-11, while concerns over sustain-ing robust economic growth ofover 8.5% have surfaced in thebackdrop of inflation. Besides,the India Inc confidence has alsobeen dented because of a spateof scams such as 2G telecomspectrum and CommonwealthGames.

Among Indian-American owned US firms, 48.9% were inthe professional, scientific, and technical services, theretail trade, and the health care and social assistancesectors, accounting for 1.7% of all US businessesin these sectors

India's total retail sector is estimated at $590billion, of which unorganized is at $496, accord-ing to an Icrier report. Opening of the multi-brand retail to foreign investment is expected torevive the investor confidence

36 India Post TechBiz Post May 13, 2011

www.indiapost.com

India puts onus for global inflationon rich nations

Pranab Mukherjee

HANOI: India has blamed richcountries for rising food and en-ergy prices, stating inability of theirregulators has led to massive fi-nancial inflows into commoditymarkets for higher returns.

Finance Minister PranabMukherjee said "rising interna-tional commodity prices are not allexplainable by supply or demandshocks or shortfalls" and askedthe Asian Development Bank todo some more "home work" on theissue.

Mukherjee was addressing fi-nance ministers of the SAARC(South Asian Association for Re-gional Cooperation) on the side-lines of the annual general meet-ing of the ADB.

"They (rising prices) are resultof inability of regulators and thatof monetary policy in richer coun-tries to control the unabated mas-sive financial inflows into globalcommodity markets in search ofhigher returns," he said.

Mukherjee said these financialfactors are doing the world much

harm, especially the poor. "Weneed better governance and regu-latory oversights of these mar-kets," he said.

In a separate meeting, ADB

President Haruhiko Kuroda saidthat Asia must play greater re-sponsibility in global economicand financial affairs "by playing amore proactive role in designing

an effective multilateral frameworkthat promotes global monetaryand financial stability".

According to an ADB study a10 per cent rise in domestic food

prices in developing Asia, hometo 3.3 billion people, could pushan additional 64 million people,into extreme poverty based on theUSD 1.25 a day poverty line. -PTI

Anna Hazare's movement figures in ADB meetHANOI: Anna Hazare's move-

ment for a tough legislation tocheck corruption in India figuredat the Asian Development Bankmeeting where Finance MinisterPranab Mukherjee admitted thegovernment came under the pres-sure of the civil society.

"(Our) Government took quickaction as a result of pressure builtby civil society as any govern-ment which is responsible and re-sponsive cannot ignore this fact,"Mukherjee said in response to aquestion at Governors' Seminar,part of the ADB's official agendafor its annual meeting here.

The Finance Minister said ef-forts of Hazare and other mem-bers of the civil society hasbrought to focus the important

issue."One social activist Anna

Hazare, along with the efforts ofthe others, have brought to fo-cus one important aspect of leg-islation which has been pendingfor long. This will deal with cor-ruption in high places," he said.

Hazare, 73 year old Gandhianfrom a Maharashtra village, alongwith his supporters went on a 98-hour long hunger strike in NewDelhi in April demanding legisla-tion for setting up of Lok Pal (Om-budsman) to deal with corruption.

Following the pressure, theGovernment has set up a jointcommittee comprising senior min-isters and representatives of thecivil society, including Hazare, todraft the legislation.

Mukherjee said with participa-tion of civil society in law mak-

ing, "we are adding a new dimen-sion in our multi-party democraticsystem".

At a session moderated by wellknown BBC presenter NikGowing, Mukherjee said "Thereshould be sufficient flexibility infunctioning of legislation whereviews of others can be adequatelyreflected".

The Finance Minister, who ismember of the Lok Pal Bill draft-ing committee, said "various as-pects of government functioningshould be transparent, account-able and must be corruption free.We are trying to introduce LokPal Bill".

With regard to the ongoing in-vestigation into the 2G scam,which has seen many high pro-file corporate personalities com-ing under scanner along withformer Telecom Minister A Raja,

Mukherjee said, "When publiccomplaints were raised, CBI wasasked to look into the matter".

He said the CBI had started in-vestigation into the alleged ir-regularities in 2G spectrum allo-cation in 2008 even before theofficial auditor CAG raised thealarm.

Stating a healthy practice pre-vails in India, Mukherjee said"even charge sheet was filedagainst one former Prime Minis-ter (in a different case)".

It may be recalled that CBI fileda charge sheet against NarasimhaRao in JMM bribery case in 1997.

"This speaks about the ac-countability and transparencyof institutions," Mukherjeesaid. -PTI

Asian economies need to be carefully steered: PranabHANOI: With China and India among

those driving global economy, Finance Min-ister Pranab Mukherjee has cautioned thatAsian economies would need to be carefullysteered and that they are not on autopilot.

Mukherjee along with finance ministersof leading Asian economies, including Ja-pan, did brainstorming on a number of glo-bal issues like rising food prices and role ofregulators in rich countries and tax evasion.

They have gathered here to participatein the annual meeting of the Asian Devel-opment Bank (ADB), which is optimistic thatabout 50 per cent of global output will comefrom Asia in 2050.

Speaking in the Governors' Seminar onASIA 2050, Mukherjee said that Asianeconomies, which are lynchpin of globalrecovery, would need to be carefullysteered.

"... despite its blistering pace of growth,Asia is not on the autopilot mode and infact would require careful steering to realizethe goal of a prosperous Asia which willnot only make lives of Asians better butaugur well for world economic growth," hesaid referring to an ADB study giving a op-timistic outlook for the continent.

Most of the influential leaders such asADB President Haruhiko Kuroda pressed

for greater role of Asia in the global mon-etary and financial institutions.

The report said that engines of Asia's re-emergence -- India, China and five othereconomies -- will account for 45 per cent ofthe global GDP by 2050. It said Asia's risewill be led by China, India, Indonesia, Ja-pan, Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand.

The study said that in the more optimis-tic Asian Century scenario, the region'sgross domestic product (GDP) would soarto USD 148 trillion and account for 51 percent of global output in 2050.

Referring to the immediate challenge ofrising food and energy prices, Mukherjee

blamed the rich countries. He said inabilityof their regulators has led to massive finan-cial inflows into commodity markets forhigher returns.

On issue of black money, Mukherjeeasked the international community to im-press upon "non-cooperative jurisdictions"(countries and territories) to share informa-tion about funds stashed there.

He said such entities should share taxinformation through regular instruments.

There should not be any differentiationbetween tax evasion and tax fraud. Also,the flow of information should not be hin-dered. -PTI

Jet Airways to paySahara Rs.478 crore

MUMBAI: Bringing an end tothe legal row between Jet Airwaysand Sahara India over the multi-crore takeover deal, the BombayHigh Court held that Jet is liableto stick to the renegotiated Rs1,450-crore purchase price to Sa-hara Airlines and pay the balanceamount of Rs.478 crore within twoweeks.

In its 73-page order, the courtsaid out of the Rs.478 crore due toSahara Airlines (now Jetlite), Jethas already deposited Rs 275 crorewith the court. This amount, withinterest accrued thereon, would bepaid to Sahara by the court andthe balance would be paid by Jet.

Jet's liability to pay Rs 478 croreincludes 9 percent interest on theprincipal sum of Rs 402 crorewhich works to Rs 9.92 lakh perday or a little over Rs 75 crore.

Jet's counsel Janak Dwarkadasmade a statement before the courtthat they would make the paymentwithin two weeks.

Justice DhananjayChandrachud, however, rejected the

petition filed by Sahara claiming Rs2,000 crore as the total sum for thetakeover instead of the renegotiatedamount of Rs 1,450 crore agreedbetween the two parties.

Jet bought Sahara Airlines inApril 2007 for Rs 1,450 crore afteran arbitration award. It paid Rs 900crore and agreed to pay the bal-ance in four installments.

"We welcome this verdict andit is very good as the court hasaccepted our side," Jet Airwayssenior vice-president for financeM Shiv Kumar said.

About the impact of the verdicton the profitability of Jet, Kumarsaid, "the net additional outgofrom us will be only Rs 116 croreand not Rs 550 crore as demandedby the contending party. We areto get an income tax refund of Rs87 crore and we have already de-posited Rs 275 crore with thecourt."

Asked whether they wouldmove the Supreme Court, Kumarsaid they are yet to study the courtorder. -PTI

"They (rising prices)are result of inability ofregulators and that ofmonetary policy inricher countries tocontrol the unabatedmassive financialinflows into globalcommodity markets insearch of higherreturns"

He said the CBI hadstarted investigationinto the alleged ir-regularities in 2Gspectrum allocation in2008 even before theofficial auditor CAGraised the alarm

www.indiapost.com37 India Post May 13, 2011


NEW YORK: TV viewers and fans pro-pelled 'Outsourced' - the first US TV showset in India and with predominantly SouthAsian cast and crew - to be ranked #1among NBC shows considered on thebubble in an online viewer poll Save ThatShow (www.savethatshow.com).

Outsourced got more than 850, leav-ing the second most 'popular' show TheEvent with just over 430 votes.

Save that Show invites TV viewers toweigh in on television programs that hadconsidered to be "on the bubble" (to bescraped) in an online poll. Across all net-works, Outsourced currently has highestvotes, next only to ABC's No Ordinary Fam-ily. Outsourced also had the highest per-centage of its votes in the "It's Perfect" cat-

egory, the highest of all shows voted on.In the new political climate, fans have

been weighing in that the need forOutsourced could never be more impor-tant, when multi-cultural stories onprimetime US shows and comedy can in-crease cross-culture understanding and

people of all backgrounds.Rizwan Manji, one of the prominent

cast members on Outsourced says on

the importance of having Muslim ac-tors on US primetime TV: "I think morethan ever in today's political climate,

it is important to have positive repre-sentations of Muslims and SouthAsians in the media."

"Outsourced has given me the op-portunity to be on a show that depictsSouth Asians in a way that they are

Short film on Sri Chinmoypremieres at Tribeca


NEW YORK: "If you become a spiri-tual person, you could accomplish any-thing. The amount of weight, he wasmoving was unheard of," says WayneDeMilia, Chairman, International Fed-eration of Bodybuilders, in the film'Challenging Impossibility' about India-born spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy.

The film premiered May 1, at theworld renowned Tribeca Film Festivalin New York City, which was attendedby the World's Strongest Man 2002Hugo Girard, Olympic legend Carl Lewisand three-time Mr. Olympia body-builder Frank Zane, whose statementsare shown in the film.

"You almost feel like gravitystops," states Carl Lewis on the Cont’d on page 39

screen, who was lifted by Sri Chinmoy on aplatform together with a 2500 kg elephantby 2.5 inches.

Produced by Sanjay Rawal and NatabaraRollosson of New York the short film fea-tures Sri Chinmoy (1931-2007).

In the new political climate, fans have beenweighing in that the need for Outsourced couldnever be more important, when multi-culturalstories on primetime US shows and comedy canincrease cross-culture understanding andpeople of all backgrounds

not regularly portrayed on TV," he says. "Ithas also given great opportunities such asrecently appearing on "The Tonight Show"

to share my background as a Muslim, repre-senting the life of the everyday Muslimguy!"

The film premiere was attended by the World's Strongest Man2002 Hugo Girard, Olympic legend Carl Lewis andthree-time Mr. Olympia bodybuilder Frank Zane

May 13, 2011India Post

www.indiapost.com

38

Rohini's latest at exquisite fashion show

J.S.BEDI


LOS ANGELES: Along with numerous guestcelebrities and several attendees, the multi-tal-ented Indian designer Rohini Bedi identifiedfor her structured "Kali saris," showcased her

newest collection with an exquisite fashionshow on the 28th of April at the Los AngelesConvention Centre. The collection featured thelatest designs to hit the Indian fashion scenejust in time for spring. Bold, bright colors, beau-tiful patterns and textures lit up the runway as

the audience sat in awe.With her impressive sense of mixing col-

ors, Rohini Bedi has been consistent in herdisplay of creative styles over a period oftime that has fetched her respect and theadmiration of all. This season, she stuck toher intrinsic sense of exquisitely drapedsaris, tunics over Patiala's and the evergreen

long Anarkalis.For the finale the models sashayed down

the ramp in all black silhouettes that wereboth bold and intriguing and she used largehats above as a styling feature.

The ready to wear collection is avail-able at Rohini Bedi's exclusive studio inCosta Mesa.

With her impressive sense ofmixing colors, Rohini Bedi hasbeen consistent in her display ofcreative styles over a period oftime that has fetched her respectand the admiration of all

May 13, 2011 India Post

www.indiapost.com

39

Short film on Sri Chinmoypremieres at Tribeca


Five-time Mr. Universe BillPearl said, "Even the greatestbodybuilder in his prime wouldn'tattempt to lift like Sri Chinmoy.Sri Chinmoy took up the sport atthe age of 53 years. "He per-formed his own strenuous featsto spread his message of worldharmony and inner peace," wrotethe New York Times reportingabout the premiere of 'Challeng-ing Impossibility'.

The film also shares SriChinmoy's philosophy that age

should never be a barrier toachieving one's dreams, that, ashe said, "Age is in the mind, andnot in the heart."

The film shows musician Sting,President Nelson Mandela andNobel Laureate ArchbishopDesmond Tutu being lifted by SriChinmoy on a honorary platformoverhead. After being honoredDesmond Tutu says to SriChinmoy: "You are part of the spiri-tual force of love that emanatesfrom God and which will transformthe world."

Conference renews Carnatic music traditions

Choicest films for Sikh film festival Phalke Academy awards forDharmendra, Ranveer

MUMBAI: From veteran actorDharmendra to newcomer RanveerSingh - quite a few actors from theHindi film industry were honoredwith the Dadasaheb Phalke Acad-emy Awards here.

The event was attended byRani Mukerji, Priyanka Chopra,Anushka Sharma, Sonakshi Sinha,Rekha and Asha Parekh, amongothers. However, Aamir Khan,who was supposed to attend theshow, decided to skip it.

Dharmendra was bestowed

excellent performance in the film"Band Baaja Baarat" and her co-actor of the film got the best de-but award.

"I'm truly elated and it's a veryprestigious award because he wasthe visionary of the Indian film in-dustry and to get such an honorat such a young age for me is ex-tremely motivating and encourag-ing and I hope that whatever littleI'm trying to do in the industry, if itmakes even slightest of mark, it willmake me happy," said Anushka.


NEW YORK: Sri AnnamacharyaProject of North America (SAPNA)in joint collaboration with IndiaClassical Music Society (ICMS)conducted the 3rd InternationalVeena Conference in Chicago lastmonth.

The most celebrated, and wor-shiped South Indian music instru-ment Veena dazzled the over 300audiences at the unique festivalwhich brought over 80 Veenas, 100performers supporting on vocals,string instruments such as West-ern Guitars, and classical and folk

percussion instruments.On that day, young and bud-

ding stage presence of next gen-eration artists was in perfect con-trast with their own growing mu-sical maturity. The profound art-istry, commitment of seasoned art-ists and innovative experimenta-tion of the new genre made amemorable impact on those whoattended the event.

As a national instrument of In-dia, Veena holds an esteemed placein the world of instrumental mu-sic. Veena is the most ancient,most revered musical instrument,and finds mention in Vedic lore as

one of the three principle musicinstruments along with 'Venu' thewind instrument and 'Mridanga',the percussion instrument.

At the festival, the very expan-sive and cohesively continuing mu-sical tradition of Carnatic Music ofIndia was brought to stage for thethird year in a row to celebrate theVeena. Audiences delighted onwitnessing over 80 hand carvedVeenas dressed magnificently fromdifferent sampradayas - schools ofmother land. The chosen theme for2011 Veena conference was RagaKalyani one of the major scales ofCarnatic music.


YUBA CITY: A Sikh Film Festi-val will be held at 17th PunjabiAmerican Festival on May 29 atYuba Sutter Fairgrounds. The fol-lowing are among the films to beshown at the non-profit event:

It begins with a 3-minute musi-cal video Aao Ji in high resolutionby King Gurcharan Mall.

The Reunion by Angad Bhai(20 minutes): Two friends whoshare a common background re-unite after several years of beingapart. One is a Sikh who has cut hishair after being brutalized during ahate crime, and the other has kepthis hair since birth. Their dialoguedeals with issues Sikhs face whentrying to assimilate into modernAmerican society, while maintainingtheir cultural and religious heritage.

Riding The Tiger by MichaelSingh (12 minutes). Michael isgreat documentary producer. Heis son in law of Burt Lancaster thegreat Hollywood legend who hadwon several Oscars.

Riding the Tiger recountsMichael Singh's personal and inti-mate journey into self-identity as ahalf-Sikh young man who survivedthe atrocities of 1984, denying hisSikh heritage and passing for awhite man. His story is set againstthe backdrop of the bloodiest yearin modern Sikh history.

In 1984, the Indian Governmentsponsored massacres of Sikh menwomen and children in both June

and November of 1984. AfterPrime Minister Indira Gandhi laysiege on the Sikh's holiest site--The Golden Temple--Michael andhis brother Surinder managed toinfiltrate it and view the destruc-tion following the gunning downof hundreds of pilgrims.

Five months later, Mrs.Gandhi's bloody siege resulted inher own death when her two Sikhbodyguards assassinated her. Inreturn, Government-guided mobsall over New Delhi raped, scalped,and butchered thousands moreSikh men, women and children.For three terrifying days, somethirty Sikh women and children hidin the bedroom of Michael andSurinder's host, the Bishop of

Delhi, Maqbool Caleb. The IndianGovernment has yet to account forwhat it did to the Sikhs.

This 12-minute movie -a pre-view of a planned one-hour film -offers a riveting glimpse intoMichael's experience.

The Prisoner's Song (21 min-utes): Winner of "Best Film" awardat the Spinning Wheel Film Festi-val, Toronto, 2009. Retired Colo-nel Perminder Randhawa servesas a guide to an 80-second audiorecording made during WWI byPunjabi farmer Mal Singh, while hewas a German prisoner of war. The

British Empire recruited soldiersfrom all across the empire in theirfight against Germany and Mr.Singh found himself captured atthe Battle of Flanders in 1915,where one of the young soldierswas Adolf Hitler.

In this rare recording made byGerman scientists studying theirmulti-ethnic POWs, Singh tells hiscaptors that once upon a time hecame from a land "of butter andmilk," but now in European handshe is dying of hunger, and yearn-ing for peace and a return to hisnative land.

An insightful commentary byIndian Army veteran ColonelRandhawa points out the ironythat the Sikhs, while fighting fortheir own independence from Brit-ish oppression, were still willingto aid the British Empire in theirEuropean "War for Civilization."

Britain's dubious promise toMal Singh and his family ends thisunique and poignant glimpse intothe past.

Wagah by Supriyo Sen (20 min-utes): Each night the only bordercrossing between India and Paki-stan on a 1000km stretch becomesthe sight of an extraordinaryevent. Thousands of peoplegather to witness the ritual clos-ing of the border, after which themasses get as close as possible tothe gate to greet their former neigh-bors. This "festival" is thereforeon the one hand a celebration ofthe partition, but on the otherhand also the only connecting el-ement. What do the terms separa-tion, home and proximity mean tothe people on both sides? Winnerof 32 International Awards.

Added Ranveer: "Quite clearlythis is the most prestigious awardthat I've received till now. It's avery big day for me. It's amazingto be here and to be receiving thisaward."

The best debutant award wasbagged by Sonakshi Sinha for"Dabangg" and Arbaaz Khan gotthe best debut producer award forthe same film.

Veteran actor Dara Singh wasalso honored with the senior mostcine artist award.

While the men came dressed insuits, the actresses flaunted col-orful saris here. -Agencies

with the Phalke Ratan, AshaParekh received the legendaryicon cine artist award, Rani gotoutstanding performance awardfor "No One Killed Jessica" andPriyanka received memorable per-formance award for "7 KhoonMaaf".

"I felt really nice getting thisaward because this is an awardfrom our industry. I'm very happy,"Asha Parekh told reporters here.

Echoing a similar stance, Ranisaid: "This is my first award for'Jessica...' and that too this award.So I'm very happy."

Anushka was honored for the

Anushka Sharma, Asha Parekh, Dharmendra and Ranveer Singh pose at the

Dadasaheb Phalke Awards 2011 ceremony in Mumbai on May 3

Two friends who share acommon backgroundreunite after severalyears of being apart.One is a Sikh who hascut his hair after beingbrutalized during ahate crime, and theother has kept his hairsince birth. Their dia-logue deals with issuesSikhs face

www.indiapost.com40 India Post May 13, 2011

Health ScienceHealth LineNJ Senate panelOKs healthcommissioner

TRENTON, NJ: A Senate panelhas approved Gov. ChrisChristie's nominee for state healthcommissioner.

The Senate Judiciary Commit-tee voted unanimously to approvethe nomination of Mary O'Dowd.

But not before some conten-tious questioning over the Christieadministrations cuts to health pro-grams for women and its slowprogress on implementing a medi-cal marijuana program.

The 33-year-old O'Dowd wasnominated to succeed PoonamAlaigh, who resigned last month,citing an illness in her family.

O'Dowd is a former vice presi-dent of the New Jersey HospitalAssociation and worked as a fi-nancial manager at New York Uni-versity Medical Center. She is mar-ried to Christie's deputy chiefcounsel, Kevin O'Dowd. -AP

Ariz. governorvetoes healthinsurance proposal

PHOENIX: Gov. Jan Brewer ve-toed a proposal that would havelet health insurance companies li-censed in other states issue poli-cies in Arizona.

Brewer says she vetoed the billpartly because of a provisionadded late in the legislative pro-cess. That provision would haveallowed insurers licensed by Ari-zona to drop specific mandatedcoverage if an out-of-state com-pany doesn't provide the man-dated coverage in a policy issuedin Arizona.

Brewer also says she hasconcerns about whether Arizo-nans would have adequate re-courses if mistreated by out-of-state insurers. -AP

US mothers feedinfants variety ofherbal products

CHICAGO: New research sug-gests many U.S. babies are fedherbal supplements or teas.

Food and Drug Administrationresearchers led the study. It wasreleased in the journal Pediatricsand is billed as the first to examinebroad use of such products inAmerican infants.

About 9 percent studied hadbeen fed supplements at leastonce. The 2005-2007 study oversampled whites mothers, so au-thors say the true national preva-lence is likely between 3 percentand 10 percent. About 2,600 moth-ers were questioned. -AP

Legislature makes new dealon NC worker insurance

RALEIGH, NC: The GeneralAssembly has unveiled a new pro-posal designed to close a $515million funding gap for NorthCarolina's state employee healthinsurance plan for the next twoyears, but it's unclear whether Gov.Beverly Perdue will go along withit after she vetoed an earlier plan.

The Senate voted 31-17 alongparty lines in favor of the dealreached between Republican lead-ers in both legislative chambersthat would still require all activeemployees and teachers to pay amonthly premium for their own in-surance for the first time.

The House chose not to voteon the compromise before leavingRaleigh for the weekend becauseGOP leaders are unsure aboutwhether Perdue will go along withwhat appears to be minor changescompared to what she vetoedApril 13. A deadline set last weekby State Health Plan administra-tors to meet a July 1 enrollmentstart came and went.

"We don't want to take it up ifshe's going to veto it again," saidRep. Jerry Dockham, R-Davidson,the House's chief negotiator on aconference committee working outchanges. "We need to get this

done soon or its going to startcosting us a good amount ofmoney."

Perdue's office gave no hintabout how she'd respond if thelatest proposal to cover the StateHealth Plan's 663,000 memberscame to her desk.

"We're watching the legislationclosely and hoping to reach the

best possible result for teachers,state employees and retirees," Per-due spokesman Mark Johnsonsaid in a prepared statement.

Perdue has said she blocked thefirst bill in large part because teach-ers - in particular the North Caro-lina Association of Educators -weren't involved in the originalnegotiations. The NCAE, alongwith other groups, have been meet-ing with lawmakers since then, butthe teachers' group doesn't like thecompromise.

The bill would still require pre-

miums from $5 to $21.63 per monthfor more than 322,000 active work-ers and teachers, depending onwhich of the two policies theychoose and whether they haveMedicare. The vetoed bill hadpremiums from $8.27 to $21.72per month. The lower range ofcosts in the new bill would bepaid for by increasing co-pay-

ments for generic drug prescrip-tions from $10 to $12. Currentlypremiums are required for depen-dent care coverage.

The new version "is unaccept-able because this Legislature isdead set on balancing the bookson the backs of teachers," NCAEexecutive director Scott Ander-son wrote by email. "Our mem-bers have for years acceptedlower professional salaries in ex-change for fair benefits. NorthCarolina is now going to try toattract and retain teachers with

some of the lowest salaries andbenefits in the country."

The NCAE has wanted to pre-serve a premium-free option foractive workers, but Sen. TomApodaca, R-Henderson, the chiefsponsor of the original health planbill, said that's not on the tableright now. He said more delayscould cost the plan about $10 mil-lion a month in additional ex-penses under the current pay-ment schedules.

"We've got to do something.We've bent over backwards. We'vemet with all of the concerned par-ties," Apodaca said. "I think at thispoint it's about the best we cando."

Perdue's budget proposalwould have required monthly pre-miums only for workers and retir-ees who chose the more generousof the two insurance policies. Re-tirees also would continue to havea premium-free policy for them-selves in the GOP plan.

Any likely outcome will stillmean higher co-payments anddeductibles and a more than 5 per-cent annual increase in dependentcoverage premiums for the nexttwo years, raising them to morethan $600 per month. -AP

Health insurance exchange survives in GOP HouseDENVER: A health insurance

proposal popular with businessgroups but not all conservativessurvived important tests inColorado's Republican House.

The bill to create a health in-surance marketplace in which in-dividuals and small businesscan pool together for lower pre-miums has already clearedColorado's Democratic Senate,but its prospects were less clearin the Republican House. SomeRepublicans argue that becausethe new federal health care lawrequires states to set up ex-changes, states should resistthe move.

The measure cleared a Housecommittee after some tea partysupporters urged lawmakers toreject the idea. Not long after,Republicans seized momentum

and passed the measure on to ap-proval by the full House. Onemore vote is required before theHouse and Senate can start workrectifying differences to send thebill to Democratic Gov. JohnHickenlooper, who supports the

idea.House Republican Leader

Amy Stephens, who co-spon-sored the idea and has beensharply criticized by some conser-vatives, insisted that the exchange

will promote private competition.Stephens predicted consumer-

friendly companies competing forinsurance spending and com-pared the plan to shopping onlinefor airfare.

"You can compare online, like

Travelocity or Kayak," she toldthe House.

The bill creates an exchangeboard and an oversight commit-tee. The board would administerthe exchange, with the power to

set up financial plans, apply forgrants and determine the size ofthe small employer market. Theexchange would allow smallgroups to pool resources to buyhealth insurance. Only a hand-ful of Republicans opposed theidea on a voice vote.

"I'm just not comfortable withthe direction it goes," said Re-publican Rep. Don Beezley.

In the committee, supporterstried to quell fears that a Colo-rado exchange is a step towardfederal health care mandates.They mentioned that the ex-change would not purchase in-surance or set rates, be anagency of the state and therewould be no mandate to buyhealth insurance. Carriers wouldnot be required to provide insur-ance. -AP

Official knownfor '76 swine flufiasco has died

ATLANTA: A prominentformer federal health officialwhose career was tainted by con-troversy over a swine flu cam-paign in the 1970s has died. -AP

Perdue has said she blocked the first bill in largepart because teachers - in particular the NorthCarolina Association of Educators - weren'tinvolved in the original negotiations

The bill to create a health insurance marketplacein which individuals and small business can pooltogether for lower premiums has already clearedColorado's Democratic Senate

India PostMay 13, 2011 Health Science Post 41

www.indiapost.com

Neb. abortion health insurancebill advances

Sides differ in Iowa on reportingmedical errors

LINCOLN, Neb.: New abortionrestrictions advanced throughNebraska legislative debate evenafter a supporter voiced concernsthat the bill doesn't clearly ad-dress threats to a mother's healthand fertility.

Supporters argued that excep-tions for miscarriages and certainanomalies in the pregnancy al-ready exist in the legislation. Law-makers granted second-roundapproval to the bill, 30-8.

The bill by Omaha Sen. BeauMcCoy would exclude abortioncoverage from all private insur-ance policies sold in Nebraska.Abortion coverage would be al-lowed only with an optional riderpaid for solely by the insured.

Lincoln Sen. Danielle Conradintroduced a measure that wouldhave spelled out exceptions formiscarriages and for ectopic preg-nancies, which start outside thewomb and are not viable. Suchpregnancies can endanger themother's life and lead to infertility.The current bill allows exceptionsfor "spontaneous abortions,"which generally means miscar-riages, and abortions to save themother's life.

Conrad, who opposed the bill,said she introduced the amend-ment to send "a clear signal to in-surance companies that you are notallowed to deny coverage for ec-topic pregnancies or miscarriages."

"We don't want to leave anythingto chance," she said. "We want tomake sure we're all on the same page,

and using not confusing terms."McCoy said the exceptions in

his bill were sufficient."Both of these issues that

Senator Conrad brings . . . are al-ready included within the con-fines of this legislation," he said.

But Columbus Sen. PaulSchumacher said the bill, LB 22,fails to address potential situa-tions in which a non-resident

woman with coverage based out-side Nebraska suddenly needs anabortion. Schumacher said theunanswered questions could pro-long the woman's suffering.

"That's what's frustrating,"Schumacher said. "It's going toleave the floor and I'm going tovote for it, I'm pro-life but it's go-ing to leave the floor with all thesequestions that our attorneygeneral's going to spend moneyon to litigate, that our courts aregoing to roll the dice on, and wecould clean it up. But it's going togo right on through."

Lincoln Sen. Ken Haar intro-duced a measure that would givemore discretion to doctors for birthswith severe complications. Haar,who later withdrew his amendment,said the current proposal would al-low insurance companies to "pointto this bill and say they cannotcover this abortion unless thewoman is doomed to die."

The bill also would apply topolicies sold through a new insur-ance exchange being set up bystates under the new federalhealth care law. The federal lawcalls on states to start setting upthe exchanges by 2014. -AP

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa:Healthcare officials and patientadvocates are taking opposingsides over the benefit of requir-ing doctors and hospitals to re-port mistakes that are made whiletreating a patient.

Advocates for patients be-lieve public reporting of medi-cal errors , both minor anddeadly, reduces mistakes andhelps patients shop for the saf-est hospitals. Opponents ofmandatory reporting claim Iowahospitals already report errorsvoluntarily.

The Gazette in Cedar Rapidsreported that 26 states requirehospitals to report their medicalmistakes, but Iowa does not.

Officials with the Iowa Hospi-tal Association said mandatory re-porting can stifle innovation asproviders focus on the care ofpatients.

"Government regulation doesnot create that kind of buy-in orprogress," said Scott McIntyre, aspokesman for the association.

The association supports pro-viding information to the IowaHealthcare Collaborative, whichposts online reports of medicaloutcomes of various proceduresat hospitals.

Dean Lerner, a former directorof the Iowa Department of Inspec-tions and Appeals, said that isn'tenough.

"States that have public report-ing have seen bigger changes,bigger improvements," he said.

Andrew Leffler, who becameparalyzed from the waist downafter an epidural leaked into hisspine and damaged his nerves as

he was being treated for a brokenleg, said he would support man-datory reporting.

"It's OK if you screw up, justacknowledge it and go on," saidLeffler, 54, of Keokuk.

Leffler sued the University ofIowa Hospitals and Clinics in 2004and reached a settlement fiveyears later for $850,000. After le-gal fees he received $485,000. -AP

Lincoln Sen. Ken Haarintroduced a mea-sure that would givemore discretion todoctors for births withsevere complications

The Gazette in CedarRapids reported that26 states require hos-pitals to report theirmedical mistakes,but Iowa does not

India Post May 13, 2011Health Science Post42

www.indiapost.com

US panel endorses Vertexhepatitis C drug

'Divert medical marijuanamoney for treatment'

CARSON CITY, Nev.: Nevada Health andHuman Services officials say lawmakersshould pass a bill that would take moneyfrom the state's medical marijuana programa to fund a drug treatment program.

Division of Child and Family ServicesAdministrator Diane Comeaux testified be-fore the Assembly Ways and Means Com-mittee, The Nevada Appeal of Carson Cityreported.

Comeaux said diverting the funds wouldbenefit families working with state childwelfare agencies who need drug treatment.She said families now wait up to eightmonths to access treatment programs.

"When we have a family that has sub-stance abuse issues and they're on wait listfor six or eight months and have to starttreatment after that, that puts them behindsix or eight months," she said. "What we'rehoping for with this program is that theywouldn't have to be on a wait list."

Assembly Bill 528 would transfer$700,000 from the medical marijuana accountto the substance abuse program each yearof the coming biennium.

Phil Weyrick of the Nevada Health Divi-sion said that would leave enough moneyin the account to operate the medical mari-juana registry since that account is ex-pected to generate $877,861 in fiscal 2012and $965,647 in 2013.

"Based on the proposed revenue, we're

confident the registry will be able to con-tinue operations," Weyrick said.

Money for the medical marijuana accountcomes from a $50 permit application chargedto those wanting to use the drug and from a$150 charge for processing the application.

Health and Human Services Director MikeWillden said more application packets arerequested than processed, particularly byLas Vegas-based operations that helpqualify people for medical marijuana cards.

Rebecca Gasca of the American CivilLiberties Union testified against the bill.She contends the funds should be rein-vested in the medical marijuana program toeducate doctors about the value and usesof medical marijuana and participants as totheir legal rights and risks as well as lookfor ways to help come patients obtain themarijuana they need. -AP

WASHINGTON: US government healthexperts say an experimental hepatitis C drugfrom Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a sig-nificant step forward in treating the virus,despite a high rate of rashes among pa-tients taking the tablet.

The Food and Drug Administration'spanel of experts voted unanimously, 18-0,that telaprevir is a safe and effective treat-ment for hepatitis C. The agency generallyfollows the recommendations of its panels.A final decision is expected by May 23.

Panelists commended the Massachu-setts-based drugmaker for developing adrug that appears to raise the cure rate forhepatitis C from roughly 40 percent withcurrent therapies to nearly 80 percent.

The most significant side effect with thetablet-based drug was a rash, which af-fected more than half of all patients. Panel-ists said the issue could be addressed byeducating patients and doctors throughmaterials and a toll-free hotline.

The FDA convened its two-day meetingto review two new drugs that block the en-zyme which allows the hepatitis virus toreproduce. Earlier, the same panel unani-mously recommended approval for Merck'sdrug boceprevir. Both Merck and Vertexhave spent more than 15 years developingmore effective therapies for the virus thatinfects about 3.2 million people in the U.S.,or about 1.5 percent of the population.

Like HIV drugs, the new drugs fromMerck and Vertex will be prescribed as partof a cocktail with two older drugs to helplower viral levels.

The panel discussion highlighted sev-eral advantages of Vertex's drug over itsMerck counterpart. The cure rate for newpatients taking telaprevir ranged between75 and 79 percent, compared with 60 and 65percent for boceprevir. Additionally, mostpanelists said that patients who had previ-

ously failed treatment for the virus couldlikely achieve a cure within six months -half the time needed with older drugs whentaking telaprevir. When reviewing Merck'sdrug, the panel said those patients wouldlikely need a full year's worth of treatmentwith the entire drug cocktail.

Elsewhere in the discussion, Vertex ex-ecutives said they were exploring a twice-daily regimen of telaprevir. The drugs pre-sented by both Vertex and Merck requirepatients to take three tablets a day.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals' telaprevir is ex-pected to garner sales of up to $3 billionannually. That is more than the $700 to $800

million expected for Merck's boceprevir,based on analyst estimates.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals is based in Cam-bridge, Massachusetts, and was foundedin 1989 by a former Merck & Co. scientist.If approved, telaprevir would be thecompany's first commercialized product inthe U.S.

Vertex holds marketing rights for NorthAmerica, while Johnson & Johnson willmarket the drug in other parts of the world.Eli Lilly and Co. will receive an undisclosedpercent of royalties because of its collabo-rative work on the drug between 1997 and2002. -AP

Vermont physician's workpays off on health care

MONTPELIER, Vt.: Even now, Dr. DebRichter is haunted by images of some ofthe patients she saw at inner-city clinicswhere she worked in Buffalo, N.Y., duringthe 1980s.

One young man without health insur-ance didn't get the early intervention heneeded for diabetes. He went blind, got aninfection and died at 21. His sister, who alsohad lived with juvenile diabetes, delivereda baby three months premature. The babydied. Two years later, the 25-year-oldwoman suffered a heart attack and diedduring coronary bypass surgery.

``I had patients who were dying atyoung ages of preventable diseases,'' Rich-ter said. One common symptom: Lack ofhealth insurance.

The experiences prompted Richter, 55,to become an activist. She joined Physi-cians for a National Health Program. Af-

ter moving with her family to Vermont in1999, she continued to pursue her goal of apublicly financed universal health care system.

Richter watched last week as the Ver-mont Senate voted 21-9 to pass a bill set-ting the state on a path toward the univer-sal, unified health care system that, she andother backers say, will take administrativecosts and insurance company profits outof health care, cover all Vermonters includ-ing the 45,000 now without health insur-ance and save the state money.

``This is a step in the right direction _finally,'' Richter said after the Senate voteon legislation previously passed by theHouse. ``This is the first time a state is ac-tually establishing a true health care sys-tem, where everyone will be included. It'sgoing to have a budget. We're going tohave uniform payments, which will helpreduce administrative costs.'' -AP

Comeaux said diverting thefunds would benefit familiesworking with state child wel-fare agencies who need drugtreatment. She said familiesnow wait up to eight months toaccess treatment programs

The most significant sideeffect with the tablet-baseddrug was a rash, which af-fected more than half of allpatients. Panelists said theissue could be addressed byeducating patients anddoctors through materialsand a toll-free hotline

43 India Post May 13, 2011www.indiapost.com

In Brief ImmigrationObama pledgeshelp for illegalimmigrant grads

'Special Registration' process forMuslim nations suspended

South Asian Network welcomes this partial victoryIndia Post News Service

On Thursday, April 28, 2011,the National Security En-try-Exit Registration Sys-

tem (NSEERS) registration require-ments process, also known as "Spe-cial Registration," was suspended.President Obama said on the day"today is a good day for America."Implemented by the Department ofHomeland Security (DHS) in 2002,Special Registration was acounter-productive response toSeptember 11th, 2001. From thestart, South Asian Network (SAN)organized against the program,which served to split apart thou-sands families and break apartSouth Asian communities acrossthe U.S. through detention anddeportation.

Special Registration requiredboys and men, ages 16 to 45 froma list of 25 countries with largeMuslim populations to register atimmigration offices or ports of en-try. As a result, 84,000 males werefingerprinted, photographed, andquestioned in long interviewsbased on their countries of ori-gin, more than 13,000 were put

into deportation proceedings,and 2,800 were detained. Whilethe requirements to registerbased on a particular religion ornationality have now been re-moved, NSEERS as a regulationwill remain in place.

In Southern California, SANorganized several townhalls, le-gal clinics and provided support

and guidance to assist those en-tering for interviews and to trackany outcomes of those allowedto exit. Through this process,SAN collected nearly 700 intakesin the initial four-month periodand analyzed them for a recenthuman rights report, From Dis-placement to Internment. In LosAngeles, Bangladeshi and Paki-stani men represented 60 percentof those registering.

In a statement, SAN said it wel-comed this partial victory as the

ten year anniversary of Septem-ber 11th, 2001 nears. SAN's Ex-ecutive Director, ManjushaKulkarni stated, "Similar to thehistory of Chinese exclusion acts,Japanese internment and Mexi-can deportations, Special Regis-tration profiles an exclusivegroup of people based solely ontheir national origin and religion.

SAN has been advocating thatNSEERS and similar discrimina-tory enforcement policies end."

Sumana Tumpa, a SAN youthgroup member and Bangladeshiresident in Koreatown remembersthe effects that Special Registra-tion had in Los Angeles: "Myolder brothers and uncles had togo in for Special Registration andwere fearful of what would hap-pen in interviews at the FederalBuilding. People in the commu-nity were not sure if those going

in would come out."SAN Policy Organizer Tamia

Pervez notes, "This is a great stepforward, yet many communitymembers have been adversely im-pacted by detentions, deporta-tions and onerous registration re-quirements. People continue to bedenied status adjustment becauseof improper application of thepolicy. SAN hopes that DHS cangrant retroactive relief for thesecommunity members."

SAN is concerned that eventhough NSEERS is suspended,the policy remains on the booksand can be renewed in the future.While recognizing the importanceof the policy's suspension, SANcontinues to call for a reexamina-tion of ineffective immigration en-forcement strategies so that poli-cies like NSEERS get repealed intheir entirety.

South Asian Network is agrassroots, community-based or-ganization dedicated to advanc-ing the health, empowerment andsolidarity of persons of SouthAsian descent. SAN is based inArtesia, the heart of "Little India,"in Los Angeles County.

Details on page 46

DoL releases $240m for H-1B technical skills trainingIndia Post News Service

NEW YORK: Secretary ofLabor Hilda L. Solis announcedMay 2, the availability of ap-proximately $240 million throughthe H-1B technical skills train-ing grant competition. The USDepartment of Labor expects tofund 75-100 grants through asingle solicitation.

Individual grants will rangefrom $1 million to $5 million andwill be distributed through tworounds of funding. The projectsto be funded will help workersupdate current skills or acquirenew ones so they can enter ca-reer pathways leading to higher-paying jobs.

"This administration is commit-ted to getting all Americans backto work and into good jobs. Thesegrants will create important oppor-tunities for those who may still be

searching for work after manymonths of unemployment," saidSecretary Solis. "As they seek outnew careers in promising indus-tries, our nation's workers needand deserve access to quality

training and employment services.The H-1B technical skills grantcompetition will help make thatpossible."

The Labor Department intends

to award at least $150 million tograntees that provide on-the-jobtraining to all participants. Theremaining funds will be awardedto applicants that offer other train-ing strategies. At least $45 million

of the total will be awarded to ap-plicants providing training foroccupations in the health care in-dustry and at least $60 million willbe awarded to applicants serv-ing individuals experiencinglong-term unemployment.

Prospective applicants are en-couraged to view the online tu-torial "Grant Applications 101: APlain English Guide to ETA Com-petitive Grants," available athttp://www.workforce3one.org/page/grants_toolkit. Prospec-tive applicants can register athttp://www.grants.gov to accessthe solicitation. The Labor De-partment also posts grant infor-mation at http://www.doleta.gov/grants.

Utah Co. GOPbacks repeal ofimmigration reforms

SPANISH FORK: Hundreds ofUtah County Republicans turnedout at their GOP convention tohelp pass a resolution urging therepeal of a controversial immigra-tion overhaul that Republican Gov.Gary Herbert signed into law lessthan a month ago.

On a vote of 443-365, countydelegates backed the proposedrollback of HB116, which amongother things creates a guest workerprogram for illegal immigrants.

The package approved by thelegislature during the 2011 generalsession also requires employers toverify the immigration status oftheir employees and mandates thatanyone arrested for a felony mustprove their citizenship.

About 1,000 people attendedthe convention at Maple Moun-tain High School in Spanish Fork.Supporters of the push for the re-peal said the vote should signalto GOP faithful that the immigra-tion bill is bad policy.

Herbert told the Deseret Newsafter the vote he was disappointedbut that the delegates have a rightto voice their opinion as part of"the process." -AP

MIAMI: President BarackObama promised graduates at avast, multicultural community col-lege in Miami that he'll keep work-ing to help undocumented immi-grants who study in the U.S. be-come American citizens.

The president's renewed en-dorsement of the DREAM Actthat's become a rallying cry forHispanic and other studentsaround the country drew enthusi-astic applause from more than3,000 graduates of Miami DadeCollege at their commencementceremony. The students are partof an increasingly important po-litical constituency in a state thatwill be crucial to the president's2012 re-election hopes.

Obama's made little progress onhis commitment to immigrationoverhaul since taking office, dis-couraging Latino voters and par-ticularly students. Students ralliedoutside the commencement cer-emony calling on Obama forswifter action. -AP

Colo. bill punisheshiring of illegal

immigrants

Special Registration required boys and men,ages 16 to 45 from a list of 25 countries withlarge Muslim populations to register atimmigration offices

Individual grants will range from $1 million to$5 million and will be distributed through tworounds of funding. The projects to be fundedwill help workers update current skillsor acquire new ones

India Post44 May 13, 2011Immigration Postwww.indiapost.com

First preference visa demand 'extremely low'CYRUS D. MEHTA

* Cyrus D Mehta, may be contactedat 212-425-0555 or

[email protected]

The Department of State'sVisa Bulletin for May 2011notes that demand in the

employment first preference is ex-tremely low compared with that ofrecent years. Absent an immedi-ate and dramatic increase in de-mand, this category is expected toremain "Current" for all countries.It also appears unlikely, the Bulle-tin says, that a second preferencecut-off date will be imposed for anycountries other than China and In-dia, where demand is extremelyhigh. Based on current indicationsof demand, the best-case scenariosfor cut-off date movement eachmonth during the coming monthsare as follows:

Employment Second: Demandby applicants who are "upgrad-ing" their status from employmentthird to employment second pref-erence is very high, but the exactamount is not known. Such up-grades are in addition to theknown demand already reported.The Bulletin said this makes it dif-ficult to predict ultimate demandbased on forward movement of theChina and India cut-off dates. Al-though thousands of "otherwiseunused" numbers will be availablefor potential use without regard tothe China and India employment

second preference per-country an-nual limits, it is not known how theupgrades will ultimately affect thecut-offs for those two countries.

China: An advance in the pri-ority date of zero to three weeks isexpected through July. No Augustor September estimate is possibleat this time.

India: An advance in the prior-ity date of one or more weeks, pos-sibly followed by additional move-ment if demand remains stable. NoAugust or September estimate ispossible at this time.

Employment Third:Worldwide: An advance in

the priority date of three to sixweeks may occur.

China: An advance in the pri-ority date of one to three weeksmay occur.

India: An advance in the prior-ity date of zero to two weeks islikely.

Mexico: Continued forwardmovement is expected; no specificprojections at this time.

Philippines: An advance inthe priority date of three to sixweeks is likely.

The Bulletin notes that theabove ranges are estimates basedon current demand patterns, andare subject to fluctuations during

the coming months. "The cut-offdates for upcoming months can-not be guaranteed, and no as-sumptions should be made untilthe formal dates are announced,"the Bulletin warned.

Allocation of "Otherwise Un-used" Numbers:

INA § 202(a)(5) provides thatif total demand in a calendar quar-ter will be insufficient to use allavailable numbers in an employ-

ment preference, the unusednumbers may be made availablewithout regard to the annual per-country limits.

Based on current levels of de-mand, the Bulletin for May 2011states that there will be otherwiseunused numbers in the employ-ment first and second preferences.Such numbers may be allocatedwithout regard to per-country lim-its, once a country has reached its

preference annual limit.Since under INA § 203(e) such

numbers must be provided strictlyin priority date order regardlessof chargeability, greater numberuse by one country would indi-cate greater demand by applicantsfrom that country with earlier pri-ority dates.

Based on the amount and pri-ority dates of pending demandand year-to-date number use, adifferent cut-off date could be ap-plied to each oversubscribedcountry for the purpose of assur-ing that the maximum amount ofavailable numbers will be used.

The Bulletin noted that a cut-off date imposed to control theuse of "otherwise unused" num-bers could be earlier than the cut-off date established to controlnumber use under a quarterly orper-country annual limit. For ex-ample, at present the India employ-ment second preference cut-offdate governs the use of numbersunder § 202(a) (5) because Indiahas reached its employment sec-ond annual limit.

The China employment secondpreference cut-off date governsnumber use under the quarterlylimit because China has not yetreached its employment secondannual limit.

The rate of number use under §

202(a) (5) is continually monitoredto determine whether subsequentadjustments are needed in visaavailability for the oversubscribedcountries. The Bulletin said thatthis helps assure that all availableemployment preference numberswill be used and that numbersalso remain available for appli-cants from all other countries thathave not yet reached their per-country limits.

As noted above, the number ofapplicants who may be upgradingtheir status from employment thirdto employment second preferenceis unknown. As a result, the cut-offdate that governs use of § 202(a)(5) numbers has been advancedmore rapidly than normal, in an at-tempt to ascertain the amount ofupgrade demand in the pipelinewhile at the same time administer-ing the available numbers.

"This action risks a surge in de-mand that could adversely impactthe cut-off date later in the fiscalyear," the Bulletin warned, addingthat it also limits the possibility thatpotential demand would not mate-rialize and the annual limit wouldnot be reached due to lack of cut-off date movement.

About 1,000 rally to protestimmigration bill

ATLANTA: Jose-David andLourdes Resendiz have lived inGeorgia for 14 years, but with thegovernor likely to sign a billpassed by the Legislature thataims to crack down on illegal im-migration, they're packing up theirthings and preparing to leave.

They were among a crowd at aMay Day rally at the Georgia Capi-tol that police estimated at about1,000. Chanting in Spanish andEnglish, waving signs and cheer-ing heartily for each speaker, theyurged Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal

to veto the bill that contains someprovisions similar to a tough lawenacted last year in Arizona.

Speakers encouraged illegalimmigrant workers not to leave thestate but instead to dig in, orga-nize and mobilize.

"In the labor movement wehave a saying 'Don't Mourn - Or-ganize!' We may want to mournHB87, but let us instead organizelike never before," said BenSpeight, organizer director of theTeamsters Local 728.

The bill passed by state law-

makers last month would autho-rize law enforcement officers tocheck the immigration status ofcertain suspects and to detainthem if they are in the country ille-gally. It would penalize people whoknowingly transport or harbor il-legal immigrants and makes it afelony to present false documentsor information when applying fora job. It also requires many busi-nesses to verify the immigrationstatus of new hires using an onlinefederal database.

Deal, who has long been a sup-porter of strict immigration mea-sures, has said he plans to signthe legislation into law.

The bill has drawn criticismfrom civil liberties and immigrantrights groups, who say it will en-courage racial profiling. Many inthe business, agriculture, serviceand tourism and convention sec-tors have also expressed concern,saying it could drive away theirworkforce and make Georgia seemunwelcoming.

Cont’d on page 46

Based on the amountand priority dates ofpending demandand year-to-datenumber use, adifferent cut-off datecould be applied

The bill has drawncriticism from civilliberties andimmigrant rightsgroups, who say itwill encourageracial profiling

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India Post 45May 13, 2011 Immigration Postwww.indiapost.com

Alabama lawmakers closestever to immigration law

MONTGOMERY, Ala.: Afteryears of debate, the Alabama Leg-islature is close to enacting anArizona-style law cracking downon illegal immigrants and thepeople who hire them.

But first, the two legislatorswho have been driving the issuemust come together on a bill.

Republican Sen. Scott Beasonof Gardendale and RepublicanRep. Micky Hammon of Decatursaid they are optimistic that willhappen.

"Our leadership in the Houseand Senate is committed to pass-ing a tough immigration bill thisyear," Hammon said.

Hammon's bill has passed theHouse and has been approved bya Senate committee. It still needs avote in the Senate.

Beason's bill has passed theSenate but has not been consid-ered by a House committee.

Both bills would require policeofficers to demand proof of citi-zenship or residency from anyonethey stop for a traffic violation orother infraction if they have rea-sonable suspicion the person isin the United States illegally.Those whose legal status can't bedetermined could be jailed andeventually charged with trespass-ing if they are determined to be inthe country illegally.

The bills make it a crime to know-ingly house, give a ride to, rent toor employ an illegal immigrant.

They vary in their punishmentsand whether businesses are heldresponsible for subcontractors

who use illegal immigrants. But themain difference is that Hammon'sbill requires all businesses to usethe federal E-Verify program, anInternet-based system that allowsan employer to check a potentialemployee's legal status based oninformation routinely required onemployment forms.

Beason's bill requires E-Verifyonly for companies doing work forthe state or through a state grant.

He allows other businesses to usewhatever means they want tocheck their new employees. Hesaid he sees no need for a smallbusiness to use E-Verify if theowner is hiring someone he'sknown all his life. Hammon said E-Verify is the best way to make surejobs go to legal residents.

"The goal of this bill is to haveattrition of illegal immigrants inAlabama through enforcement,"he said.

Hammon introduced his firstimmigration bill seven years ago.Beason offered his first bill fiveyears ago. The two Republicanshad no luck when Democrats con-

trolled the Legislature, but theysaid their luck changed when Re-publicans won a majority in theHouse and Senate in November.They've also picked up votes fromkey Democrats, including HouseMinority Leader Craig Ford andSenate Minority Leader RogerBedford.

Beason said they were alsohelped by the downturn in theeconomy. With more than 9 per-cent of Alabamians out of work,he said people are more concernedabout any available job going to alegal resident.

"This is a jobs bill. We can putmore people back to work than anyother jobs bill in Alabama just bydoing something about illegal im-migration," Beason said.

But getting a bill all the waythrough the Legislature won't beas easy as getting an agreementbetween the two Republican leg-islators.

Some Democrats see both billsleading to ethnic profiling and arevowing to fight.

"We're going back to some daywe don't want to see, where peoplecan be pulled out of a car becausethey look like somebody," Demo-cratic Sen. Rodger Smitherman said.

If Beason and Hammon cancomplete a bill this year, oppo-nents say state officials can lookfor a legal challenge like the Ari-zona law faced. Nikki Cox, an at-torney for the ACLU of Alabama,said it will cost the financiallystrapped state government "pre-cious tax dollars to defend." -AP

Calif may let locals opt out ofimmigration checks

LOS ANGELES: California law-makers are the latest to weigh join-ing efforts in other Americanstates to gain control over a con-troversial US federal program thatautomatically checks the immigra-tion status of arrestees.

California accounts for morethan a third of the deportationsunder the US Immigration andCustoms Enforcement program,and some local officials are say-ing they were misled by the fed-eral government about theprogram’s extent.

Illinois lawmakers are also con-sidering a measure to let commu-nities retreat from the program.Washington state has deferred tolocal governments on whetherthey want to join the so-called“Secure Communities” program,which links up the FBI’s criminal

database and the Department ofHomeland Security’s records sothat every time someone is ar-rested their immigration status isautomatically, electronicallychecked.

The tug-of-war over the ICEprogram highlights the tensionbetween states and the federalgovernment in the absence of alegislative fix on immigration. Inthe last four years, states havepassed a flurry of bills and resolu-tions on issues ranging from em-ployer verification to access todriver’s licenses, most notablyArizona’s tough local immigrationenforcement law.

Immigrant advocates have lam-basted ICE’s fingerprint sharingprogram for sweeping up crimevictims and witnesses who are ar-rested during an investigation in

addition to those accused of com-mitting a crime. About 29 percentof the 102,000 immigrants deportedunder the program since it beganin 2008 have no criminal convic-tion, according to federal govern-ment statistics.

The California Assembly’s pub-lic safety committee voted to ad-vance the bill that would only letlocal communities participate in theprogram if they choose to do so.

The measure is being met withapplause from immigrant advo-cates, and from some in law en-forcement, including San Fran-cisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey,who has long pushed to withdrawfrom a program he fears will makeimmigrants afraid to report crimeand erode their trust in law en-forcement.

Cont’d on page 46

‘This is a jobs bill. Wecan put more peopleback to work thanany other jobs bill inAlabama just bydoing somethingabout illegalimmigration’

India Post46 May 13, 2011Immigration Postwww.indiapost.com

Colo. bill punishes hiring of illegal immigrantsDENVER: House Republicans

have advanced a proposal to fineColorado employers who fail toshow proof their workers are in thecountry legally, but deleted por-tions of the bill that immigrant ad-vocates feared would criminalizefriends and relatives of illegal im-migrants.

The Republican sponsor madethe last minute changes to the bill,expressing concerns of the costsassociated with the legislation. Inits original form, it would havemade it a misdemeanor to concealillegal immigrants or "recklessly"disregard their status. The bill pro-vided exceptions for emergencyresponders or child protective ser-vices workers.

"It basically seeks to criminalizefriends and loved ones of undocu-

mented immigrants," Hans Meyer,the policy director of the ColoradoImmigrant Rights Coalition, saidbefore the hearing.

Rep. Randy Baumgardner, R-Hot Sulphur Springs, said his pro-posal is about jobs and makingsure immigrants who came herelawfully are the ones who getthem. After he amended his bill,the only provisions that remainedwould require employers to pro-vide proof to the state's labor de-partment that employees are in thecountry legally. Employers wouldbe fined $5,000 for first offense and$25,000 for second offense.

"This is about jobs and theeconomy, period. And yes, beinghere legally whether you're an im-migrant or whether you're a citi-zen," Baumgardner said before the

hearing. He said later he changedthe bill because it would cost morethan $2.8 million next fiscal year toenforce. House Bill 1309 now goes

to the full House for consideration.Republicans have introduced

several immigration enforcementbills this session. While they havehad some success in getting bills

out of the House, where they havea one-vote advantage, their pro-posals don't get far in the Demo-cratic-controlled Senate.

Baumgardner pushed anotherArizona-style crack down on ille-gal immigration earlier this yearbut he shelved his bill over con-cerns that the proposal would bechallenged in court.

No one from the public testi-fied in support of Baumgardner'slatest proposal.

Jessie Ulibarri, public policydirector of the American Civil Lib-erties Union in Colorado, said hisorganization opposed the bill de-spite the changes. He said immi-gration enforcement is the federalgovernment's job.

"Just as a matter of course, weoppose state-level immigration

laws because it creates a patch-work of unfair laws that undermineour constitutional rights and lib-erties," he said.

Other provisions in the bill, be-fore it was amended, sought tostop human smuggling by allow-ing law enforcement to stop ve-hicles when they have "reason-able suspicion" of a traffic viola-tion, a lower legal standard thanprobable cause. The bill wouldhave also made it a crime for ille-gal immigrants to apply or solicitwork in a public place, and make itillegal to stop and block traffic topick up people to transport themto a work site.

Meyer, with the immigrantrights group, said those provisionraised Constitutional concernsabout freedom of speech. -AP

Supporters of the bill say it'snecessary to curb illegal immigra-tion, which they say drains thestate's resources and contributesto high rates of unemployment.

``Gov. Deal and the Legisla-ture found a workable solutionthat enforces the rule of law andprotects Georgia taxpayerswhile upholding individuals'constitutional rights," Dealspokesman Brian Robinsonwrote in an email. "Illegal immi-gration costs Georgia taxpayershundreds of millions, if not bil-lions of dollars, each year at thecity, county and state levels."

Irving Penso, a 64-year-oldAtlanta native who teaches En-glish as a second language, saidhe hopes the governor will "dothe right thing" and veto the bill.

"The reputation of the stateis at stake, this would be a hugestep backward," he said. "Whenone group is oppressed it re-flects badly on all of us."

Angel Salome, a 17-year-oldhigh school junior, was broughtto the United States as a 2-month-old infant strapped to his mother'sback as she swam across the RioGrande. He spoke at the rally andsaid he'd like his friends to speakout as well. His favorite subject inschool is U.S. history, and heplans to go to college and lawschool with dreams of becomingan immigration lawyer.

"I'm going to get that collegedegree and hopefully be able toprovide some financial stability formy mother so she never has toscrub another toilet or tub again,"he said after addressing the crowd.

In a nod to May Day's roots

About 1,000 rally to protestimmigration bill

as a workers' day, CharlieFlemming, of the Atlanta-NorthGeorgia Labor Council, part ofthe AFL-CIO, told the protest-ers that organized labor standsbehind them.

"These state immigration lawsunjustly target a segment of oursociety. It's not only unconstitu-tional, it's just unfair," he said. "Ithink it's important for us as a la-bor movement to embrace our im-migrant community. We're reallysupportive of pushing real, na-tional immigration reform."

Resendiz, 40, who works in-stalling insulation, said his wifeis packing things up, preparingto leave their home in Buford.He's thinking of heading to Utah.His 42-year-old wife, who worksin a Chinese restaurant, said sheplans to return to Mexico untilhe has a chance to assess thesituation in Utah, and then shemight join him there.

"We're illegal, but we came tothis country for a better life,"Jose-David Resendiz said in Span-ish. "We aren't crooks, we aren'tviolent. We pay taxes and wespend money here. We just wantto work to have a better life.

Utah's governor recentlysigned an immigration packagethat includes an enforcement lawreminiscent of Arizona's andwould also create a state guestworker program. The Utah law isn'tset to enter into effect until 2013because state officials need timeto seek a federal waiver for whicha process doesn't currently existto give the state the right to issuetemporary work permits and otheractions generally reserved for thefederal government. -AP


Calif may let locals opt outof immigration checks

However, the bill faces criticismfrom the California State Sheriffs’Association, which says the elec-tronic checks overseen by Immi-gration and Customs Enforcementare cost effective and eliminatingthem would place a burden on theiragencies.

The debate over the ICE pro-gram is playing out across Americaas federal authorities aim toachieve nationwide coverage in2013. It currently is in effect in morethan 1,200 jurisdictions in 42 states.The controversy heightened afterThe Associated Press reported inFebruary that the program initiallybilled as voluntary by federal offi-cials is now mandatory and thatcities must turn over the finger-print data to ICE.

Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgrenhas said she believes some of thestatements made by HomelandSecurity and ICE officials aboutthe program were intentionallyfalse and misleading and hasasked the department’s inspectorgeneral to investigate.

Fingerprints of criminal sus-pects collected by local law en-forcement officers have alwaysbeen sent to the FBI to checkagainst its criminal histories andfingerprint database. Under theICE program, the fingerprints alsoare run through the Department ofHomeland Security’s database,and federal authorities can deter-mine the suspect’s immigrationstatus and begin deportation pro-ceedings if necessary.

Immigration officials say thegoal is to ensure illegal immi-grants who commit crimes are

Cont’d from page 45 flagged and deported. Nation-wide, about 26 percent of thosedeported under program havebeen convicted of major drugoffenses or violent crimes.

Some communities have wel-comed the program as a cost sav-ings measure and a way to en-sure illegal immigrants who com-mit crimes are not released backinto their neighborhoods. InColorado, for example, lawmak-ers were considering a measure

to withhold funding from locali-ties that refused to participate,but it failed.

But officials in jurisdictions in-cluding Providence, Rhode Is-land, Chicago and San Franciscohave challenged the program,which they say undermines trustthat it has taken local law enforce-ment years to build in immigrantcommunities.

Between October 2008 andMarch 2011, more than 7 millionpeople who have been arrested

have had their fingerprints runthrough the ICE program. Roughly197,000 were identified as sus-pected illegal immigrants, andnearly 40 percent of those were inCalifornia, according to statisticsprovided by ICE.

Even if legislation were to pass,it is not clear a California law wouldtake precedence over the program.

ICE officials declined to com-ment on the pending legislationbut said the program is not vol-untary.

Rather, it is ultimately aboutsharing information between fed-eral agencies and “as a result,state and local jurisdictions can-not prohibit the information shar-ing between the Departments ofJustice and Homeland Securityupon which the Secure Commu-nities program rests,” ICE direc-tor John Morton wrote in a letterto Lofgren.

Immigrant advocates, however,believe states do have a say, not-ing that federal immigration offi-cials have crisscrossed the coun-try to sign agreements with differ-ent states.

Under the proposed Californiameasure, local governments thatwant to continue with the ICE pro-gram would need to maintain dataon arrests and the number of im-migrants referred to federal au-thorities. The program could onlybe applied to immigrants convictedof crimes, not those who are merelyarrested.

Communities that want to optout, like San Francisco, would befree of the program entirely,should the law pass and then besustainable. -AP

Baumgardnerpushed anotherArizona-style crackdown on illegalimmigration earlierthis year but heshelved his bill

Officials in jurisdictionsincluding Providence,Rhode Island, Chi-cago and San Fran-cisco have chal-lenged the program,which they say under-mines trust that it hastaken local law en-forcement years tobuild in immigrantcommunities

India Post 47

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Philosophy

Observer is not differentfrom the observed

We're searching for happinessin the wrong direction

J. KRISHNAMURTI

Suppose I am violent. Howdo I observe that violence?I want to understand the na-

ture of that violence. I want to ex-plore, discover the extraordinary fac-tors that contribute to violence.How do I observe? First, is violencedifferent from me? Do you under-stand my question? I am asking, isthat violence, which I see when Isay I am violent, is that violence dif-ferent from me, or I am that violence?

When you are angry, you areangry. It is not that you are differ-ent from anger. You are differentfrom anger only when you wantto control it, only when you say, ̀ Imust suppress it,' but are you actu-ally different, separate from vio-lence? Is that so?

Has the word `violence' - sepa-rated through tradition, throughconstantly talking about violenceand so on - created a separationfrom observation?

The observer says, I am differ-ent from that, I am different fromviolence. We have to enquire whois the observer. The observer isthe past, who has known whatviolence is. It is the past, it isknowledge, it is experience, it is allthe stored-up memories. Thosememories, those various forms ofknowledge, and the movement ofall that, is the past.

Thought has divided itself as

the past, the present, and the fu-ture. It has divided itself as theobserver and the observed.Thought has said, `I am not vio-lent, violence is not part of me.'

But when you look at it closely,you are violent, you are angry, youare greedy, envious, competitive,depressed, you are all that. Right?

The observer is not differentfrom that which he is observing.Please understand this. This isvery important because, if you re-ally understand this with all your

heart and your mind, with all yourbrain, conflict comes to an end;there is no duality at all. Forget allyour books, the Vedanta and allthe rest of it. The fact is, there isno opposite except physically.Psychologically, inwardly, there isonly the fact. The fact is, one isviolent and jealous, and so on.

Now, can you observe the factwithout its opposite, whichthought has invented? Do you see

this, to observe `what is'? In thatobservation, the observer is theobserved, the thinker is the thoughtthe experiencer is the experienced.

But we have separated it. Weare saying, ̀ I must experience en-lightenment,' or whatever it is youwant to experience. So the thinkeris the thought. There is no thinkerwithout thought. The observer isthe observed, the analyser is thatwhich he is analysing.

I can put it in ten differentways. But that is a fact: the ob-

server is the observed. Therefore,you eliminate altogether the senseof duality inwardly.

Then there is no question ofsuppressing it, escaping from it,analysing it. It is there. Then whattakes place? What takes placewhen there is actually the realiza-tion of this truth that there is onlythe fact, not the invented oppo-site, only that which is? In thatthere is no division as the ob-

server or the observed. Then whattakes place? Do you understandmy question?

Man has lived in conflict fromtime immemorial. We are asking ifthis conflict can end. If it ends, thenhe is a human being who is vital,creative, and he has somethingextraordinary.

When there is this realizationthat you are violent, not that youare separate and violence is sepa-rate, but you are that, what takesplace? You are brown, you have

certain characteristics, you havetroubles, you are a professor or ascientist - all that is not separatefrom you. So what takes placewhen this fact, this truth, is real-ized, not intellectually, not ver-bally, but deep down as fact, astruth? Have you not eliminatedaltogether the opposite?

The 107th birth anniversary ofJ. Krishnamurti is being observedon May 11

SWAMI CHINMAYANANDA

Charms of technology haveenthralled the public al-most as a danseuse will. If

we carefully look back on the his-tory of the world, it is clear we arethe saddest generation of hu-manity. But why? The cavemanhad his laughter and was happy.The modern days of rat raceshow improvements only on theoutside surface. In the absenceof a set of values for ourselveshow can there be happiness forhuman living?

The over-development of onecell to the exclusion of others iscalled cancer in medical terms. Thefaster development of one facet ofcivilization irrespective of the otherfacets is the cancer of modern times.Instincts and impulses rule us.

Each one of us is honestlysearching for happiness in thewrong direction. Desire after de-sire is what makes us unhappy.What is the purpose of existence?There is an infinite variety in na-ture. Who created this variety?Why? Such questions do not arisein the animal mind. Question, En-quiry, Discovery - this should beour style of living.

Everything is conditioned byTime and Space. At our present

level of evolution man cannot ob-serve the world objectively.Einstein himself despaired be-cause of two changing factors.'Jagat', the universe, itself comesfrom the root word which meanschange or flux. So to the question'What is unchanging?' you can-not answer from your experience.

Only the Rishis can answer.There exists something which

does not change. Who is know-ing that everything is changing?When you watch the roadside traf-fic, you are the Subject; everythingelse is the Object. Is there not inyou a centre which is observing,knowing and becoming consciousof all changes? If I am also chang-ing I cannot observe the change.If you are part of the system ofmovement, you cannot be a wit-ness to the movement. But you are

conscious that everything ischanging. Therefore you must bethe changeless.

There exists something in youwhich is changeless - in your BMI.This subjective essence in me ischangeless, because it is not con-ditioned by space and time. Thisimmortal essence, essential 'I' in mytrue nature, is the pure Conscious-ness, Light or Awareness. All our

experiences are dancing aboutbecause of this. They are all shin-ing because of this Awareness.

That which you are not awareof does not exist. That there ex-ists such an essential Reality isthe theme of all scriptures. Thereexists something higher in everyone of us. It is called Brahman.That is not a thing in itself. It isrepresented by AUM. It standsfor the changeless centre from

which one picks up all his con-scious experiences.

The Rishis said "God" insteadof "Life". They say: By "His"Grace. It is only a question of lan-guage. This Life is my true nature.I play the part of the physical me,the psychological me, the intellec-tual me. They constitute the littleego, little self. We must realize ourown higher nature.

When you have lost your carkey and keep searching it all theplace and finally your fingertouches the key in your ownpocket, you cry: "Hurray, I havegot it". You have not 'got' it; itwas already there. So also yourealize your own Self by a sparkof illumination.

The 124th birth anniversary ofSwami Chinmayananda was ob-served on May 8

J. Krishnamurti

Swami Chinmayananda

I am asking, is that violence, which I seewhen I say I am violent, is that violencedifferent from me, or I am that violence?

If I am also changing I cannot observe thechange. If you are part of the system ofmovement, you cannot be a witnessto the movement

49Edit Pagewww.indiapost.com

May 13, 2011 India Post

India Post

How will Osama deathaffect India?

RADHA VINOD RAJU

The US has finally suc-ceeded in neutralizingOsama bin Laden, deep in-

side Pakistan and not in the bad-lands of Waziristan on the Af-Pakborder. Indian security expertshave long maintained that Osamawould be found inside Pakistan,and have now been proved cor-rect. How does this significantevent impact India?

Osama was well known to thePakistani and Saudi intelligenceagencies when the jihad againstthe Soviet Union was being car-ried out in Afghanistan. Popularlyknown as the Sheikh, Osama hadcontributed millions towards thejihad in Afghanistan, and had be-come a cult figure among thejihadis.

It was the involvement of theUS in the Gulf war of 1990-91 thatset bin Laden against them and therulers of his own motherland,Saudi Arabia over their coopera-tion with the US administration.He became their implacable enemy,and soon declared a jihad againstthe US. His activities in SaudiArabia drew the ire of the govern-ment, which led to his moving toSudan and setting up base there.

When Osama bin Laden finallyshifted base to Afghanistan in1996, after he was compelled torelocate from Sudan under intensepressure from the US, he found thatthe Taliban had captured most ofAfghanistan. The Taliban at thatstage were the ISI's boys, and soona close nexus grew between theISI, the Taliban and the al Qaeda.

The al Qaeda agreed to allowthe use of their training facility totrain Kashmiri terrorists whichwould greatly help the Pakistanisdeny their own involvement in thisnefarious activity, which partiallyexplains why Pakistan desires stra-tegic depth in Afghanistan.

The United States at this stagebrought a lot of pressure on Paki-stan to persuade the Taliban todeliver Osama so he could be pre-sented before the law, but the Pa-kistanis could not, or would not,deliver. Osama bin Laden thenmounted a few major attacks onUS targets, including the embas-sies in Kenya and Tanzania andthe US Navy's warship USS Cole,killing hundreds of innocentpeople, including dozens of UScitizens.

This drew a swift response fromthe US, with cruise missile strikestargeting Osama bin Laden in hisknown camps in Afghanistan. TheKhost training camps also cameunder attack. According to the

deputy chief of the HizbulMujahideen in Srinagar, of the ter-rorists killed in the missile attacks,24 were Kashmiris. This confirmedthe nexus between the ISI, theTaliban and the al Qaeda and theirrole in the jihad in Kashmir.

While there is no proof of anyal Qaeda plans to target India,Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, alQaeda's operational commanderwho masterminded the 9/11 at-tacks, has reportedly admitted that

of the several operations that hehad planned or executed, one wasthe planned attack on the Israeliembassy in India which did nottake place as he was apprehendedbefore the attack could take place.

Bin Laden and his deputyAyman al Zawahiri, have also is-sued statements off and on, alleg-ing a nexus between the Ameri-cans, Israelis and 'Hindu India' to

target Muslims, and warning thePakistanis to be careful of thisnexus. Mustafa Abu Yasid, alQaeda's military commander inAfghanistan, threatened Indiawith more attacks and humiliation

if it attacked Pakistan in the wakeof the Mumbai attacks in Novem-ber 2008, known as India's 26/11.This clearly established a connec-tion between the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba which carried out theMumbai carnage, and the alQaeda. Thus India had started fig-uring prominently in the radar ofthe al Qaeda, though the organi-zation had not yet taken any tan-gible step to attack India.

It is clear from the Headley in-

vestigations that in addition to theLashkar-e-Tayyeba, IlyasKashmiri, known to be closelylinked with the al Qaeda, has alsobeen planning attacks on Indiantargets. Kashmiri was earlier asso-ciated with the Harkat-ul Jihad alIslami, but has now set up his ownunit called 513 Brigade.

The Lashkars, 513 Brigade andJaish-e-Mohammad are all part ofthe International Islamic Front forJihad against Jews and Crusadersset up by Osama bin Laden in1998. While the elimination ofOsama bin Laden is a greatcounter-terrorism achievement,and its significance cannot be un-derestimated, al Qaeda has gonethrough a kind of metastasis intosmaller groups spread across thecontinents, with a capacity tomount terrorist attacks.

Following Osama's killing, ac-cording to a jihadist, "A millionnew bin Ladens will be born. Theflag of jihad will be raised." Ac-cording to another, "We were notfighting for Osama, we were fight-ing for Allah. The jihad will con-tinue, even if the Amir isShaheed." Thus neither the USnor India can afford to lower theirguard against terrorism. The waron terrorism has to go on relent-lessly, till all threats are eliminated.

The writer is former DirectorGeneral, NIA. Courtesy IPCS

ExpendableIt is difficult to believe that in a country being run by the Army

no one knew about the helicopter raid by the army of anothercountry. It would take some sheen off the daring action by US

commandos to suggest that the top brass of Pakistan Army facili-tated the killing and taking out of Osama bin Laden.

Pakistan has been hoodwinking the world, and particularly theUS, for the last ten years. Even the US media has bought the pro-paganda that Pakistan knew nothing about the raid. It is true thatthe civilian leadership of Pakistan knew nothing, as always, aboutwhat is going on in their own country. But the Army, led by theMachiavellian Kayani, was playing and is still playing the game ofspreading lies so as to keep its nest cozy.

With the present degree of friction between the two countries,after the arrest of US contractor Raymond Davis for killing two ISIoperatives, the US had increased pressure on Islamabad to deliveron its agenda or lose the millions of dollars in aid. And its mainagenda was capture of Osama bin Laden. There was speculationthat Davis may have been on to something big when the Paki-stanis grabbed him. If the Americans were getting close to sniffingdistance of Osama, Pakistan army thought it would be wiser to letOsama be captured as he had lost much of his utility. His organiza-tion, the al Qaeda had become weak, and his blackmail value haddiminished. He was being hidden at great cost.

Giving the lie to the versions of Osama killing being trotted outin the West is what appeared in the Chinese media. KP Nayar,writing in the Telegraph of Kolkata, quotes China's official newsagency, Xinhua, as saying in its report that "electricity was cut offto Abbottabad as the operation to kill Osama began." It also said,"Security forces cordoned off the entire area near Osama's safehouse before the Americans attacked it and no one was allowed toenter or leave the operational surroundings during the attack."That shows complicity with the Americans not only within theArmy General Headquarters in Rawalpindi but down the line to thelocal administration.

Xinhua also said residents of Abbottabad took videos andcellphone pictures from their rooftops as the spectacular helicop-ter landing and firefight was under way. But Pakistani securityforces went round from house to house collecting memory cardsfrom cameras and seizing videos from residents soon enough sothat the pictures were not transmitted freelance by what modernTV would call citizen journalists.

The Telegraph report says, all this could not have been orga-nized by the Pakistanis after the event, which means, circumstan-tially, that the killing of Osama was a well co-ordinated US-Paki-stani operation down to local ward-level in Abbottabad.

According to a report in the Times of India, Indian agencies hadtwice warned their US counterparts about the presence Osama binLaden in an urbanized and heavily populated area not very far fromIslamabad. But the US did not take them seriously. Indian securityofficials also do not buy the US claim that Pakistani authoritieswere not informed about the Osama operation. A security officialwas quoted as saying, "We have no reason to rule out that thePakistanis decided to turn him (Osama) in because he was provingto be too much of a liability for them with no operational utility."

Indeed, Osama had become expendable in the present calcula-tions of the Pakistani army. In order to continue the dollars flow,Osama had to be sacrificed.

Hafiz Saeed, Lashkar-e-Toiba ChiefOsama Bin Laden

Following Osama'skilling, according to ajihadist, "A million newbin Ladens will beborn. The flag of jihadwill be raised." Ac-cording to another,"We were not fightingfor Osama, we werefighting for Allah. Thejihad will continue,even if the Amiris Shaheed”


May 13, 201150


May 13, 201152

indiapost_05-13-2011

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