vol 7 issue 19 - september 6-12, 2014

8/11/2019 Vol 7 Issue 19 - September 6-12, 2014

1/32

New Delhi: India put several states

on heightened alert on Thursday

after al Qaeda announced the for-

mation of a wing of the militant

group in India and its neighbor-

hood, a senior government official

said.

In a video posted online, al Qaeda

chief Ayman al-Zawahri promised

to spread Islamic rule and "raise the

flag of jihad" across the "Indian

subcontinent".

New Delhi regards the message

as authentic and has warned state

governments, said an official who

attended a security briefing in

which it was discussed with Home

Minister Rajnath Singh.

"This matter has been taken very

London: The UK and USA are in

alliance to research, recon, investi-

gate, identify and bring those to

justice for the horrific public mur-

ders of innocent journalists James

Foley and Steven Sotloff.

Prime Minister David Cameron

and President Obama are reported

to have pledged an alliance and call

for global interaction through all

proper military and security chan-

nels to help locate ISIS and destroy

them.

While members of NATO meet-

ing in Newport, Wales, onThursday were weighing what role

they would play, US officials urged

them to commit to a strategy that

includes providing more arms to

Kurdish forces fighting the Islamist

insurgents.

The pledge of alliance and inter-

national request to assist and locate

the ISIS terrorist cells responsible

is likely to originate from the

NATO co nf er en ce . Pres id en t

Obama is reported to have said:

We will not be intimidated. Their

horrific acts only unite us and stiff-

en our resolve to take the fight

against these terrorists and those

that make the mistake of harming

Americans will learn that we will

not forget and that our reach is long

and that justice will be served.

Prime Minster Cameron said: A

country like ours will not be cowedby these barbaric killers . If they

think we will weaken in the face of

their threats, they are wrong.

Going onto say that the UK have

assisted in military strikes previ-

ously and are prepared to do so

The South Asian Timese x c e l l e n c e i n j o u r n a l i s m

excellence in journalismOP ED 13 TRAVEL & TOURISM 18 SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30

Islamabad: The weeks-long politi-

cal crisis in Pakistan seemed to be

headed towards a resolution afterweeks of turmoil with efforts to

seal a negotiated settlement

between the government and pro-

testers gaining momentum.

Talks between the two warring

sides the government and the

Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-

i-Insaf (PTI) and cleric Tahir-ul-

Qadris Pakistan Awami Tehreek

(PAT) were held late onWednesday night.

Two separate meetings took

place overnight with the first one

bei ng held between the gov ern -

ment committee and the PTI and

the second between PAT, govern-

Vol.7 No. 19 September 6-12, 2014 60 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info

India sounds alert after al Qaeda announces local wing

Continued on page 4

UK and USAPremiersintend todestroy ISIS

Pak protest groups agree totalk to end crisis

President Obama and British Prime Minister Cameronat the NATO summit in Wales.

Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri

Storming of Pakistan Television (PTV) building in Islamabad byprotesters was widely condemned.

Continued on page 4

SELF HELP 26

Continued on page 4

Sania Mirza reachesfinal of US Openmixed doubles

Sania (pictured) and hermixed doubles partner Bruno

Soares will play AbigailSpears-Santiago Gonzalez

duo on Friday.

New York: Sania Mirza is in

line to win her third Grand

Slam title and first with new

partner Bruno Soares as the top

seeded pair beat Yung-Jan Chanand Ross Hutchins 7-5 4-6 10-7

to reach the mixed doubles

final.

Sania and Soares are up now

against unseeded pair of Abigail

Spears from the USA and

Santiago Gonzalez from

Continued on page 4


2/32

2 September 6-12, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoDIPLOMACY

Shinzo Abe hostsa Tea ceremonyas a special

gesture forPrime MinisterNarendra Modiin Tokyo.

An upbeat NarendraModi wowedbusinessmen byplaying traditionalTaiko drums withgreat verve.

PM Narendra Modiaddressing at the

banquet hosted by thePrime Minister of JapanShinzo Abe at Akasaka

Palace in Tokyo.

Narendra Modiinteracting

with childrenduring his visit

to TaimeiElementary

School inTokyo.

HowModi charms Japan

Tokyo: Prime Minister Narendra

Modi hard sold India to Japanese

investors saying that his country

offers only a red carpet and not red

tape while dubbing his five-day trip

to Japan as very successful".

Modi arrived in Kyoto on the first

leg of his Japan visit last weekend.

Japanese Prime Minister Prime

Minister Shinzo Abe came down to

Japan's former capital to personally

receive his Indian counterpart.

"I've come to assure you there is

no red tape but only red carpet that

awaits you in India," he said while

delivering the keynote address in a

seminar at the Tokyo Stock

Exchange, co-hosted by JapanExternal Trade Organisation (Jetro).

Modi said India was also the only

place where the Japanese industry

would pleasantly find all the three

'Ds' - democracy, demography and

demand.

"I have come here to assure you

that if you have to look anywhere

outside Japan, you do not need to

look here or there," he said, adding:

"We particularly want to encourage

and invite small and medium enter-

prise s, as also smal l-sca le indus -

tries."

The prime minister said India now

has a government that is working on

development and wants to step upmanufacturing. He said he wished

for India what he himself experi-

enced when he was young when he

did not have to think twice if a

product said "Made in Japan".

According to the organisers, as

many as 4,000 people had evinced

interest in attending the event at a

venue that could accommodate only

2,000.

Later, speaking at a reception

hosted by the Japan-India

Association and the Japan-India

Parliamentary Friendship League,

the prime minister said India and

Japan were now working as "special

strategic and global" partners.

Modi suggested expanding links

between people's representatives by

creating a Young Parliamentary

Association and a Women's

Parliamentary Association.

"If we have a Young

Parliamentary Association, it can

represent the thought and ideology

of the new generation. There can

also be an arrangement for the

women parliamentary members of

the two countries to meet and share

ideas," he said.

The prime minister said there was

an unwritten spiritual connection

between the two countries, adding

that there was growing interest

among the Japanese to learn Hindiand yoga.

In the evening, while inaugurating

a Vivekananda Cultural Centre in

the Japanese capital, he told the

India community that had gathered

for the event that India and Japan's

friendship would determine the

course of the 21st century.

"There is no doubt that the 21st

century belongs to Asia. But India

and Japan's friendship will deter-

mine how it will actually look like,"

Modi said.

"The state and direction of the

21st century will depend on the

direction in which Japan and India

try to take the world," he said.

There are around 23,000 Indians

in Japan. Terming his Japan visit as

"very successful", Modi said it wasfor the first time that the word tril-

lion was in news.

"So far we would hear only about

millions and billions. Now we are

hearing about trillions," Modi said,

hinting at Japan's offer of invest-

ment of 3.5 trillion yen (Rs.2.03

trillion) to India in the next five

years.

Modi started the penultimate day

of his five-day trip to Japan by visit-

ing the University of the Sacred

Heart where he said that India was

committed to peace and this com-

mitment has "significance far above

any international treaties or process-

es"."Commitment to peace and non-

violence is ingrained in the DNA of

the Indian society... This commit-

ment to peace that was intrinsic to

Indian society, has significance far

above any international treaties or

pr oces ses, " Mo di sa id wh il e

responding to a question on how

India could enhance the confidence

of the international community as a

non-NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty)

state.

Another highlight of Modi's pro-

gramme was when he called on

Japanese Emperor Akihito during

which he gave the latter a copy of

the Gita.

Modi also kicked off a new initia-

tive on training for Japanese youth

started by Tata Consultancy

Services (TCS) at its various facili-

ties in India, asking them to return

to Japan as India's ambassadors.

You are going as employees of

TCS. But I want you to come back

to Japan as ambassadors of India,

Modi told the first batch of 48

trainees who will proceed to India

to undergo training for six-eight

weeks at various TCS offices.

The two leaders signed the Tokyo

Declaration in which the two sides

pledged to advance peace, stability

and prosperity in Asia and the

world, and elevate the India-Japanrelationship to a special strategic

and global partnership.


3/32

Washington, DC: One fine morning this sum-

mer, Indian-American Frank Islam received an

unexpected call from the US President, Barack

Obama.

The call was to "appreciate" the desk in Is-

lam's library, which is a replica of the Resolute,the desk in the White House's Oval Office.

The replica of the iconic Resolute desk, first

placed in the Oval Office by President John F.

Kennedy and used by Obama, is not the only

US Presidential memorabilia in Islam's newly

built mansion in a 10 acre plot in Potomac, one

of the richest suburbs of Washington.

The grand foyer has a domed ceiling, remi-

niscent of Capitol Rotunda or Statuary Hall.

There are also hand-painted murals depicting

Maryland landscapes.

Obama, during the conversation said that

Vice-President Joe Biden told him about Is-

lams mansion and described its unique fea-

tures. Obama's call to Islam came after Biden

attended a fundraiser event at his house on July

11 and described the house as "beautiful with

gorgeous landscape."

Islam moved into 'Norton Manor', as he and

his wife Debbie Driesman call their new house,

last year and have been receiving steady stream

of visitors since then, including politicians,

bankers and journalists.

The house, built on a sprawling 47,000 sq

feet area, also has a 9,000 sq ft five-bedroomguest house and a tea house. There are 14 bed-

rooms, 22 bathrooms, a movie theatre, a gym

and 60 chandeliers.

Built over a period of seven years and cost-

ing $ 1.5 million a year in maintenance, 'Nor-

ton Manor' boosts of several man made water

streams, fountains and gardens, which are

replicas of some of the historical gardens of the

West.

"I got the idea from the Presidential Palace in

India. The Taj Mahal also has a beautiful re-

flecting pool. It is indeed very nice in the

evening, you can see the reflection of the house

in the pool," Islam said.

Azamgarh-born Frank (Fakhrul) Islam is

CEO of FI Investment Group, which he found-

ed in 2007. Obama appointed him to the Board

of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for

the Performing Arts.

New York: Most New York-

ers will not like it, but a team

of mathematicians and engi-

neers has calculated that if

taxi riders were willing to

share a cab, New York City

could reduce the current fleet

of 13,500 taxis up to 40%,

thus unclogging traffic, con-

serving fuel and fighting air pollution.

The predicted economic and environmental

savings are considerable, said Steven Strogatz, a

mathematician at Cornell and author of the re-

portpublished Monday in Proceedings of the Na-

tional Academy of Sciences, as quote in The New

York Times.

Think of how much spare capacity you have in

taxis in NYV, said another team member, Carlo

Ratti, the director of the Senseable City Labora-

tory at MIT. Youre at a hotel, youre going to

JFK Airport, and you take a taxi. And just minutes

later, theres somebody else taking another taxi,

half empty, to JFK. To study ride-sharing sce-

narios, the researchers delved into a database

compiled by the New York City Taxi and Limou-sine Commission that included information about

each of the 172 million taxi rides in the city in

2011: where the passenger was picked up and

dropped off, time of pickup and time of drop-off.

Then, applying a computational technique

known as shareability networks, they combined

trips that were headed in the same direction at the

same time without taking the passengers too far

out of their way.

They found that sharing

would reduce the number of

trips, and the number of

taxis, by 40 percent and that

passengers would still arrive

in the same amount of time,

give or take a few minutes.

The team acknowledged

that such a system could not be implemented

without changes in the way people hail taxis.

Much of the inefficiency in the current system re-

sults from a drivers not knowing the destination

until after the pickup. Smartphone apps, already

used by taxi services like Uber and Lyft, could

sidestep that problem.

On the streets of New York City, there was

skepticism. The whole thing strikes me as silly,

and it will be ignored, said Gene Salomon, the

author of the 2013 book Confessions of a New

York Taxi Driver. The problem, he went on, is

that passengers would rather pay extra for a pri-

vate ride than split a fare with someone theyve

never met. The Taxi and Limousine Commission

has expressed concern that commercial ride-shar-ing programs, especially those that crowd source

to recruit vehicles and drivers, may lack rigorous

oversight.

We have made our position quite clear. You

must use T.L.C.-licensed drivers, in T.L.C.-li-

censed vehicles dispatched by licensed bases,

Allan Fromberg, the agencys deputy commis-

sioner for public affairs, wrote in an email.

3September 6-12, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY

Cuomo may dump running mateif she loses primary

New York: Gov. Andrew Cuomos re-elec-

tion team is mulling a painful scenario to

dump Kathy Hochul, a moderate upstater,

as the Governors running mate for Lt Gov-

ernor amid signs that leftist law professor

Tim Wu is picking up momentum in the

Sept. 9 Democratic primary.Such an action could be needed because

a Wu victory would result in a Cuomo/Wu

ticket on the Democratic line in the No-

vember election but potentially disastrous

Cuomo/Hochul tickets on the Working

Families, Independence, and Womens

Equality lines, where no primaries are slat-

ed.

Under the state Election Law, votes for a

Cuomo/Hochul ticket in November would

not be added to the tally for the Cuomo/Wu

ticket, potentially costing Cuomo hundreds

of thousands of votes.

Cuomo would have until Sept. 16 under

the election law to swap Wu for Hochul,

using a technique that would allow the for-

mer Buffalo-area congresswoman andlawyer to be nominated instead for a judge-

ship, according to an expert on legislative

election law. This is the painful scenario

being reviewed by the Cuomo people, who

realize that there is an outside possibility

that Wu could win the primary, said a

source close to the Cuomo campaign, as

quoted in the a report in New York Post.

Wu won the surprise endorsement of The

New York Times as well as other left-of-

center groups last week as they criticized

Hochuls past opposition to state aid for il-

legal aliens and her 100 percent rating from

the National Rifle Association.

Meanwhile, Cuomo campaign operatives

privately concede that he would suffer con-

siderable national political damage if Ford-

ham University Professor Zephyr Tea-

chout, the governors hard-charging pro-

gressive challenger and Wus running

mate, gets more than 30 percent of the vote.

About 30 percent will be a huge embar-

rassment to Cuomo on the national scene

and would reinforce the sense that progres-

sives dont like or trust him, said a promi-

nent Democratic activist.

Obama all praise for Indian-American's newly built mansion

Frank Islams mansion in a Washington DCsuburb; & (Inset) Frank with President Obama.

Yellow cab fleet can be cut by 40%if New Yorkers share rides

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and hisrunning mate Kathy Hochul


4/32

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4 September 6-12, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoTURN PAGE

UK and USA Premiers intend to destroy ...

Continued from page 1

again, in the process he did not flinch from the possi-

bility of death in a military response and insisted that

Britain would not be deterred by threats from ISIS, or

pay ransom money.

World attention now on the Premiers as to their

response is captive.

India sounds alert after al Qaeda...

Continued from page 1seriously," the official told Reuters. "An alert has been

sounded."

Until now there has been no evidence that al Qaeda,

the group responsible for the 9/11 attacks in New York,

has a presence in India.

The timing and content of the video suggests rivalry

between al Qaeda and ISIS, or the Islamic State of

Syria and Iraq, which is said to be gathering support in

South Asia. According to media reports, Islamic State

pamphlets have been distributed in Pakistan in recent

days.

Al Qaeda's establishment of a local branch seeks to

take advantage of the planned withdrawal of U.S.-led

forces from Afghanistan, which may lead to an influx

of battle-hardened militants into India.

Zawahri's announcement made two references to

Gujarat, the home state of India's Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. Modi has long been a hate figure for

Islamist groups because of religious riots in 2002 when

he was chief minister of the state.

"In the wake of this al Qaeda video, we will be on a

higher alert," S.K. Nanda, the senior bureaucrat in the

home department of Gujarat, told Reuters. A high secu-

rity alert in the state involves activating informer net-

works in sensitive areas.

The All India Muslim Majlise Mushawarat, an

umbrella body of mainstream Muslim organizations,

vowed to fight al Qaeda if it appeared in India. "Indian

Muslims are loyal citizens of their country and they

will fight al Qaeda if it ever tried to create a presence

here," said the group's president Zafarul-Islam Khan.

Intelligence sources in Indian-held Kashmir said on

Thursday that they had so far detected no trace of al

Qaeda in the region that borders Pakistan and China.

The head of the newly-created South Asia branch of

al-Qaida, Asim Umar, is a Pakistani ideologue who has

produced a number of online calls to jihad but has a

relatively low profile.

Pak protest groups agree to talk to end...


ment and opposition parties Jirga, a committee of

opposition politicians led by Jamaat-e-Islami chief

Siraj-ul-Haq.

Though the talks were inconclusive, leaders from

both sides said there were some posit ive outcomes

from the talks.

Rehman Malik, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader

and a member of the opposition Jirga, tweeted after

the talks, I had a very long day. Deadlock between

govt and IK/TUQ (Khan/Qadri) is over. They are now

having dialogue which will be helpful in resolving the

crises.

After the meeting between PAT, government andopposition parties, Minister for Planning and

Development Ahsan Iqbal said, During the meeting

we have agreed to continue talks and resolve matter

through dialogue. We have also decided not to com-

ment on any development until we reach a decision, as

it might affect the dialogue process.

Imran Khan, addressing his supporters on

Wednesday night, said, Let me tell you what you

have achieved so far. People who were not ready to

talk, are now ready to not only listen to our demands

but also to set up an independent judicial commis-

sion. The only unaccepted demand remains the Prime

Ministers resignation, he said. If we had not come

on to the streets, then the next election would have

been far more fraudulent, the PTI chief said. The pro-

testers returned to the negotiating table on Wednesday

after the political crisis took a violent turn over theweekend with three people killed and over 550

injured.

Khan wants the ruling PML-N governments ouster

over alleged rigging in last years polls which his

party lost, while Qadri wants to bring a revolution in

the country.

Sania Mirza reaches final of US Open...


Mexico.

Sania had also reached the womens doubles semi-

final with Zimbabwean partner Cara lack but lost

Martina Hingis-Flavia Pennetta pair.

It will be Sania's fifth mixed doubles final appear-

ance at the Grand Slam level, having won Australian

Open (2009) and French Open (2012) with compatriot

Mahesh Bhupathi.

The 27-year old had reached the Australian Open

mixed doubles final this year also but ended runners-

up with Romanian partner Horea Tecau.

All other Indians have already exited from the last

Grand Slam of the season as Rohan Bopanna and

Leander Paes fell at different stages of their respective

events.

There was no Indian playing in the men's singles as

Somdev could not qualify for the main draw.

Richmond, VA: Former Virginia

Gov. Bob McDonnell and his

wife Maureen were convicted

Thursday on a range of corrup-

tion charges in connection with

gifts and loans they accepted

from a wealthy businessman,

marking a stunning fall for the

onetime rising Republican star.

A federal jury in Richmond

convicted Bob McDonnell, 60, of

11 of the 13 counts he faced;

Maureen McDonnell was con-

victed of nine of the 13 counts

she had faced.

Sentencing was scheduled for

Jan. 6. Each faces up to 30 years

in prison.

Assistant Attorney General

Leslie Caldwell, head of the

Justice Department's criminaldivision, said the state's former

first couple "turned public service

into a money-making enterprise."

The former governor, up until

his federal corruption case, was a

major figure in national politics

and had been considered a possi-ble running mate for presidential

candidate Mitt Romney in 2012

New York: Joan Rivers, the rau-

cous, acid-tongued comedian who

crashed the male-dominated realm

of late-night talk shows and turned

Hollywood red carpets into danger

zones for badly dressed celebrities,

died Thursday. She was 81.

Rivers was hospitalized last

week after she went into cardiac

arrest at a Manhattan doctor'soffice following a routine proce-

dure. Daughter Melissa Rivers said

she died at Mount Sinai Hospital in

New York, surrounded by family

and close friends.

"My mother's greatest joy in life

was to make people laugh,"

Melissa Rivers said. "Although

that is difficult to do right now, I

know her final wish would be that

we return to laughing soon."

Comedian Joan Rivers dies at 81

Ex-Virginia governor, wife foundguilty on corruption charges

Joan Rivers

Former Virginia Gov.Bob McDonnell


5/32

5September 6-12, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY

Washington, DC: Foreign students

from India, China and South Korea

are the major contributors to the US

economy with the host countryearning $21.8 billion in tuition fees

and $ 12.8 billion in living costs

from them over the period of 2008

to 2012.

In a report released by the presti-

gious Brookings Institute, 118

metro areas of the US are home to at

least 1,500 students each from In-

dia, China and South Korea.

Students from Mumbai and Hy-

derabad made a contribution of over

$1.25 billion to the American econ-

omy with Mumbai sending 17,294

students, Chennai (9,141), Banga-

lore (8,835) and New Delhi (8,728)

to the US during the five-year peri-

od, the report said.

Among the foreign students in the

STEM (science, technology, engi-

neering and math) category, 31 percent are from China, 27 per cent

from India and five per cent from

South Korea.

The American think-tank noted

that Hyderabad is the top source

city of foreign STEM students in

the United States and India accounts

for eight of the 10 origin cities with

the highest shares of their F-1 (stu-

dent visa) students in STEM fields.

Beijing (49,946), Shanghai

(29,145), Hyderabad (26,220) and

Riyadh (17,361) also topped the list

of source cities, each sending be-

tween 17,000 and 50,000, according

to the report.

New York: Two Indian-origin

women are among 12 people named

to an advisory council of the United

Nations Foundation's campaign that

focuses on young American girls and

raises awareness about issues facing

adolescent girls.

Akila Somasegar and AnjulaAcharia-Bath are among the 12 peo-

ple on the advisory council of the

UN Foundation's Girl Up campaign

selected from diverse backgrounds

and who are focused on supporting

girls around the world.

Somasegar is the Director of Rev-

enue at Seattle-based start-up Buu-

teeq that is focused on delivering

digital marketing systems for hotels.

Born and brought up in India, So-

masegar is also a philanthropist fo-

cused on supporting a number of

charitable groups targeting kids and

women's education and empower-

ment. Acharia-Bath is an entrepre-

neur, philanthropist and Angel advis-

er/investor.In 2007 she co-founded

media company Desi Hits!, which

helped introduce artists like Lady

Gaga and Britney Spears to emerg-

ing global markets like India. The

council would help guide the cam-

paign, focusing its efforts on helping

Girl Up meet its fundraising and ad-

vocacy goals, advising on the cam-

paign's strategy and raising aware-

ness among new audiences about is-

sues facing adolescent girls, the

campaign said in a statement.

Girl Up director Melissa Hille-

brenner said through the council, the

members would help guide the cam-

paign's strategy and lead efforts to

mobilize people in their networks.

"They are integral to Girl Up and

contribute directly to the campaign's

success," Hillebrenner said.

New York: Over 200 meditation stu-

dents of Sri Chinmoy from 35 countries,

including India, have set a new Guinnessworld record for the World's longest

fresh flower garland to honor the Indian

spiritual leader.

Joining them at an event in Queens in

New York, home to a large number of In-

dian-Americans, to honor Sri Chinmoy's

(1931-2007) 50 years' work for world

peace on his Aug 27 birthday were New

York City Councilman Jimmy Jennaro

and Ashrita Furman, holder of 206 cur-

rent Guinness Records.

The garland, which goes 5 miles in

multiple loops on Joseph-Austin-Field in

New York's Queens Borough surpasses

the previous record by 1.9 miles (3 km).

Made of 180,000 carnations of various

colors, it weighs 4000 lb (1800 kg), ac-cording to a media release.

Chinmoy, a renowned peace visionary

founded the Oneness-Home Peace Run,

world's largest torch relay for peace,

composed 21,000 songs, wrote 1600

books and established meditation and

peace centers in 60 countries.

The supersized garland also ensures

Furman a new entry in the Guinness

Book of Records.

The previous record of a 5 km (3.1mile) garland was set by a team in India,

four month after Ashrita had broken the

record with a 2 mile (3.2 km) garland in

2011.

Furman, a 59-year-old health food

store manager from Queens, New York

currently holds 206 Guinness world

records, including the official record for

"the most records held at the same time

by an individual".

Furman worked for three months with

flower farms in South America and gath-

ered a team from all over the world to

plan the assembly of the garland, the re-

lease said. Furman and his team worked

from 7 am until 2 pm to create the

longest garland of the world.New York City Councilman Jimmy

Jennaro completed the world's longest

flower garland by attaching the last

flower assembly.

"We hope this will inspire others to feel

peace in their hearts. After the record we

will give the flowers to people in the

neighborhood," said Furman.

By Parveen Chopra

Flushing, NY: Emirates Airline

is celebrating 10 years of flying

to the US with a showcase at the

US Open from August 25 to

September 8. It is in its third

year of a 7-year partnership with

the US Open to highlight itsworld class service that has fu-

eled the Dubai based airlines

expansion to nine US gateways

including New York as part of a

global network spanning more

than 140 destinations across six

continents, including seven in

India.

On August 27, Emirates host-

ed India Day in its private hos-

pitality suite at the Arthur Ashe

stadium. Chef Ravi Nage, one of

Emirates regional catering

managers, showcased the art be-

hind how to make classic Indian

favorites, such as Cardamom

Chicken and Vegetable Do-pi-aza, and to highlight the gour-

met, regionally inspired South

Asian cuisine available on se-

lected Emirates flights, particu-

larly those culminating in India.

Chef Ravi who had flown in

from Dubai, interacted with the

media and the guests before

they got engrossed in the second

round match that Wawrinka

won, overcoming some hiccups

in the end. Chef Ravi said that

they are particular about aesthet-

ic presentation of Indian dishes.

He also pointed out that air trav-

elers are now more health con-

scious and he finds 60% ofthem want vegetarian meals,

which augurs well for Indian

cuisine.

Emirates engaged tennis fans

throughout the Grand Slam tour-

nament with a contest to win a

set of tickets to the Mens Final

match on Sept 8 by taking ten-

nis-inspired selfies with a friend.

Emirates also debuted its new

Emirates Lounge, which is open

to all visitors at the US Open.

Guests meet cabin crew and en-

joy refreshments while watching

a live feed of the tournament.

The space also features exhibits

of Emirates world-class ameni-ties such as the in-flight enter-

tainment system with up to

1,800 channels.

Emirates support of premier

sports and cultural events has

made the airline, founded in

1985, one of the worlds most

recognized airline brands.

Emirates Airlines Chef Ravi Nage interacting with theIndian media at the Emirates Suite inside the

Arthur Ashe stadium.

GuinnessRecordholderAshritaFurman

Indian students major contributorto US economy: Report

Two Indian-origin women named to a UN advisory council

Emirates Airline hosts IndiaDay at US Open

World's longest garland honors Sri Chinmoy in US

Akila Somasegar Anjula Acharia-Bath


6/32

6 September 6-12, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoTRISTATE COMMUNITY

IN BRIEF

Himanshu Asnani, 27, an Indian-born

mathematics researcher at Stanford

University Electrical Engineering

School, is the winner of the Marconi Socie-

ty Paul Baran young scholar award for2014.

"The prestigious award will be presented

to Asnani at our annual event Oct 2 at the

National Academies of Sciences in Wash-

ington," Society's young scholar selection

committee Bob Tkach said.

Asnani, who hails from Kota in Ra-

jasthan, is also a system engineer at the

Swedish telecom major's R&D center in the

Silicon Valley.

Named after Nobel laureate Guglielmo

Marconi, who invented radio, and set up in

1974 by his daughter Gioia Marconi Braga

through an endowment, the Marconi Socie-

ty awards annually outstanding individuals

whose scope of work and influence emulate

the principle of 'creativity in service to hu-

manity' that inspired Marconi.The award, with a cash prize of $4,000, is

given to scholars who are 27 or younger at

the time of the nomination, as Marconi was

27 years when he invented the wireless te-

legraphy.

Asnani's academic and entrepreneurial

achievements also stood out in a review of

the nominated researchers from the world

over the society undertakes every year.

"Asnani's outstanding work and contribu-

tion to point-to-point and multi-terminal

channel coding and source coding problems

were impressive," Tkach recalled.

Stanford Math researcher wins major award

Alottery system would decide the

participants who would get to at-

tend the public reception of Prime

Minister Narendra Modi on September 28

at the prestigious Madison Square Garden

in New York City, organizers of the event

have said.

Indian-American Community Founda-

tion, set up recently for the purpose, re-

ceived some 20,000 applications from peo-

ple across the country - from as far as re-

mote parts of Alaska and Hawaii.

407 Indian-American community organi-

zations and religious institutions have

joined hands to host Modi's public recep-

tion.

Lottery to decide participants at Modi's US reception

Andrew J. Preston Politi-

cal Action Award Spon-

sored by past President

and PAC Chairman Andrew J.

Preston is presented to New Jer-

sey Pharmacists Association,

NJPhA member for exhibiting

an outstanding effort in the po-

litical arena to benefit their pro-

fession and patients in the com-

munity. Ritesh Shah, a pharma-

cist, business entrepreneur and

self-less and dedicated commu-

nity health care leader has been selected as

the recipient of the 2014 Award. The award

will be presented to him at the Keynote Ad-dress and Luncheon on September 21dur-

ing 144th Annual Convention in New Jer-

sey.

As a chairman of NJ Pharmacist PAC,

Shah has been trying to push legislation in

favor of small pharmacies and advocacy to-

wards the pharmacist and their profession.

As a chairperson of patient ed-

ucation committee at the Indian

Health camp of New Jersey, he

has done so many seminars to

provide patient education and

counseling on diabetes, asthma,

cardiac diseases, influenza,

medication management clini-

cal pharmacy expertise in vari-

ous areas of patient manage-

ment including medication

management, chronic disease

management, drug-interaction

and patient adherence and counseling and

many other chronic diseases to help under

insured and uninsured patients to reducecomplications from chronic diseases and

improve their lifestyles. As a chairman,

Mr. Shah had asked for equal playing field

for pharmacists and pharmacy owners in

the state, demanded transparency in MAC

pricing on drugs and asked for fair insur-

ance audit for small pharmacies.

Pharmacist Ritesh Shah to receive

2014 Andrew J. Prestin PAC Award

New York State Senator Joseph P Addabbo Jr at the Indian I-Daycelebration Aug 15 at Sunnyside Community Hall in Queens organized by

Bruhad Seniors of Greater NY. Children sang patriotic songs.

Bollywood actressand dancer Esha Deolvisited the office ofOmni Mortgage inHicksville, NY onMonday, whereOmni's chief HermanSingh announced heras their brandambassador. At thelunch event, scores ofguests lined up to getthemselves clickedwith the comelyactress, who took ahiatus from films twoyears ago after mar-rying businessmanBharat Takhtani.(Photo by: VaahoPhotographers,

www.vaahony.com)

Hicksville High School GradSabina Lotlikar (left) won the

director's award at LongIsland beauty pageant held

last month. Sabina is thedaughter of Salya & Sanjay

Lotlikar of Hicksville, NewYork. Her family is originally

from Goa in India, She is

studying criminal justice in acollege in New York.

Ritesh Shah


7/32

Washington, DC: Four econo-

mists of Indian origin have been

featured in in the International

Monetary Fund's (IMF) list of25 economists under 45 who are

shaping the way one thinks

about the global economy

The "Generation Next" list of

"economists under 45 (who) will

have the most influence in the

coming decades on our under-

standing of the global econo-

my," was compiled by IMF with

information from "readers,

assorted international econo-

mists and journal editors."

The list is published in the

September issue of "Finance &

Development."

Indian origin researchers on

the list are Raj Chetty and GitaGopinath from Harvard

University, Parag Pathak from

the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology and Amit Seru from

the University of Chicago.

Dominated by Americans who

share US nationality with coun-

tries such as France, India,

Australia and Canada, the list

also features economists of

British, Russian, Argentinean

and Pakistani origin.

7September 6-12, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY

Washington, DC: India-

born scien tist Dr Thomas

John Colacot has won the

American Chemical

Society's ACS Award in

Industrial Chemistry, one

of the top honors in the

field.

Colacot, who studied at

St Berchman's College,

Changanacherry, Kerala

and IIT, Chennai, is the

first Indian to get the award

in industrial chemistry. Healso holds an MBA degree

and was elected as a

Fellow of the Royal

Society of Chemistry.

The award is sponsored by the ACS

Division of Business Development and

Management and the ACS Division of

Industrial and Engineering Chemistry.

Currently Global R&D manager in the

homogenous catalysis area at Johnson

Matthey, a specialty chemicals company,

Colacot directs research in US, UK and in

Indian labs. 'The ACS is proud to recog-

nize your outstanding contributions to the

development and commercialization of

ligands and precatalysts for metal-cat-

alyzed organic synthesis, particularlycross-couplings, for industrial and aca-

demic use and applications,' a letter from

Tom Barton, president of ACS noted.

The 2015 national awards recipients will

be honored at the awards

ceremony in conjunction

with the 249th ACS nation-

al meeting in Denver,

Colorado in March next

year.

Colacot had received

Royal Society of

Chemistry's RSC Applied

Catalysis Award in 2012

for his contributions to the

area of catalysis. His work

on 'cross-coupling' is par-

ticularly acclaimed.Colacot joined Johnson

Matthey, USA in 1995 and

started working in the area

of palladium catalyzed

cross-coupling.

The catalysts developed in his labs are

currently used to make new drugs for

Hepatitis C, a deadly disease with no cure,

one pill per week for type II diabetics, and

many hypertension drugs.

Colacot's work involves developing and

commercializing ligands and catalysts for

applications in metal-catalyzed synthetic

organic chemistry.

His book on 'New Trends in Cross-

Coupling: Theory and Applications' is

scheduled to be published in October,2014 by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

He is also PhD thesis examiner to many

IITs and visiting faculty at Rutgers

University.

Dr Thomas John Colacot

Raj Chetty, 35, Indian and American,

Harvard University, received his PhD at age

23. He combines empirical evidence and

economic theory to research how to

improve government policy decisions in

areas such as tax policy, unemployment

insurance, education, and equality of oppor-

tunity.

Gita Gopinath, 42, American and Indian,

Harvard, studies international macroeco-

nomics and trade with a focus on sovereign

debt, the response of international prices to

exchange rate movements, and the rapid

shifts in relative value among world curren-

cies.

Amit Seru, 40, Indian, University ofChicago, researches financial intermedia-

tion and regulation as well as issues related

to corporate finance, including resource

allocation within and between firms, and

organizational incentives.

Parag Pathak, 34, American, MIT, played

a role in applying engineering approaches

to microeconomics. His research focuses

on market design, education and urban eco-

nomics.

Scientist wins prestigious awardin Industrial Chemistry

Washington, DC: Two US lawmakers,

including the lone Indian-American

Congressman, have joined Sikh communi-

ty groups in protesting the world basket-

ball body FIBA's delay in reviewing the

discriminatory policy against Sikh basket-

ball players who wear turbans.

"Every day FIBA delays is another day

that Sikhs can't play," Democrat House

members Ami Bera and Joe Crowley, for-

merly chair of the India Caucus, said in a

statement Thursday after the International

Basketball Federation's (FIBA) announce-

ment that its governing board would delay

a review of its headgear policy.

"Allowing Sikhs to play while wearing

their turban is a no-brainer, and we're dis-

appointed that FIBA has delayed their

review of a policy that can only be

described as outdated, discriminatory, andtotally inconsistent with the ideals of team

sports," they said urging the board "to stop

delaying and let Sikhs play."

The FIBA decision comes ahead of the

Saturday start of FIBA Basketball World

Cup hosted by Spain amid an outcry over

an incident involving two Sikh players

who were told by referees that they must

remove their turbans if they were to play

in FIBA's Asia Cup. The players, who

have always played in turbans, were told

that they were in violation of one of

FIBA's official rules, which states,

"Players shall not wear equipment

(objects) that may cause injury to other

players."

However, other sports leagues, such as

Federation Internationale de Football

Association (FIFA) and the National

Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA),

allow athletes wearing turbans to partici-

pate. Last week, Crowley and Bera joined

several members of Congress in wring a

letter to FIBA president urging the board

to update its policies to stop requiring

Sikhs to remove their turbans during bas-

ketball games.

"It is disappointing that FIBA has decid-

ed to let bureaucracy stand in the way of

progress and religious freedom," two com-

munity organisations, Sikh AmericanLegal Defence and Education Fund

(SALDEF) and the Sikh Coalition said.

"While FIBA presents itself as a repre-

sentative of global sport this weekend,

Sikh players will still be forced to choose

between playing a game they love and fol-

lowing their religious beliefs," they said.

The incident involving the two Sikh

players has also sparked a social media

campaign using the hashtag

#LetSikhsPlay.

Indian origin-economists on the IMF list:

Four young Indian-origin economistsin IMF list of 25

Sikhs, lawmakers protestbasketball ban on turbans


8/32

8 September 6-12, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoNATIONAL COMMUNITY

San Leandro, Calif.: KamalaDevi Harris, attorney general for

the state of California, wed her

longtime boyfriend Douglas

Emhoff in a private ceremony at

the Santa Barbara, Calif., Court-

house Aug. 22. The media was

kept away from the wedding, but

a news report in the San Francis-

co Chronicle suggested that they

might throw a more high-profile

party at the Presidio in San Fran-

cisco in mid-September.

Harris, born in Oakland, Calif.,

is the daughter of Tamil Nadu-

born oncologist Dr. Shyamala

Gopalan, and a Jamaican Ameri-

can father, Stanford economics

professor Donald Harris. As suchshe became the states first Asian

American and African American

attorney general when she was

elected to the post in 2010.

Emhoff is partner in charge of the

law firm Venable LLP in Los An-

geles.

It is Harriss first marriage,

while Emhoff was previously di-

vorced. Both are 49, and became

engaged five months ago.

California: Maya Sarihan, from Arizona won Miss

India America 2014 and Nick Thakor was declared

Mr. India America 2014 at the red carpet gala was

hosted by Spirit Of India for its 22nd year.

Top Miss India winners were: Miss India Globe2014 - Meghana Pagadala, Miss India Global 2014

- Vivica Mitra (plus JINmodels.com Miss Photo-

genic 2014), Miss India Galaxy 2014 Nishtha

Chawla from Virginia, Trisha Batra Miss Teen In-

dia America 2014, Miss India East Coast 2014 Di-

vya Trivedi (from New Jersey), and Miss India

West Coast 2014 - Jackie Kahlon. Star Plus TVs

Peoples Choice was Rebecca Mathew from Chica-

go.

Top Mr. India winners were: Kunwar Dodd (from

Canada) - Mr. India Globe 2014, Shawn Singh - Mr.

India Global 2014, Prakash Patil (from New York)

- Mr. India Galaxy 2014, Dhaval Panchal (from

North Carolina) Mr. India East Coast 2014 and Star

TVs Peoples Choice award, and Maneet Singh -

Mr. India West Coast 2014 and JINmodels.com Mr.

Photogenic 2014.Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, NBA Sacramento

Kings owner Vivek Ranadive and NFL football

player Bret Lockett (from Patriots and Jets) were

honored during The Elite Awards.

Spirit of India pageant crownsMr., Miss India America

Kamala Devi Harris ties the knotwith Douglas Emhoff

Corporate Office: 385 Seneca Avenue, Ridgewood NY 11385

718.821.3182, www.AtlanticDialysis.Com

Washington, DC: Back in

2006, Joe Biden, then a

Senate candidate ran intotrouble for a remark that

"you cannot go to a 7-

Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts

unless you have a slight

Indian accent."

Gaffe-prone Biden got

away by explaining that it

wasn't a racial slur but "was

meant as a compliment" for

the "vibrant Indian-

American community"

making "a significant con-

tribution to the national

economy as well." A spin or

not, Biden who went on become vice presi-

dent in 2008, was speaking a home truth as

according to the Asian-American

Convenience Store Owners Association its50,000 members own over 80,000 conven-

ience stores.

That's more than half the US convenience

store count of 151,282 as of Dec 31, 2013.

These small retail businesses provide the

publ ic a convenient location to buy dail y

necessities (predominantly food and gaso-

line) and services. There is one convenience

store for an average of every 2,100 residents

all over the US with non-fuel sales of $205

billion, according to National Association of

Convenience Stores.

But this very ubiquitous presence of

Indian-owned convenience store often makes

them the target of attacks as it happened in

Ferguson, a small pre-dominantly black town

in Missouri which erupted into violentprotests after a White policeman shot dead an

unarmed black teenager on Aug 9.

Police released a controversial hazy sur-

veillance video implying that the slain teen

Michael Brown had robbed a Patel-run con-

venience store in the days or hours before the

incident but later acknowledged that the

alleged robbery had nothing to do with theshooting incident.

The Ferguson Market, where Brown

allegedly grabbed a handful of cigars before

his deadly encounter with police, looters

twice targeted the store owned by a Patel

family along with several other Asian-

American owned stores, according to the

Daily Beast.

Robberies appear to be an occupational

hazard for those running a convenience store.

According to the non-profit research think

tank Center for Problem-Oriented Policing

(POP Center), convenience store robberies

account for approximately 6 percent of all

robberies known to the police.

Convenience store employees suffer from

high rates of workplace homicide, secondonly to taxicab drivers, it says citing FBI

data. Victims include Indian students taking

up overnight jobs at gas stations to pay for

their studies.

Kamala Harris with Douglas Emhoff

Indian-Americans pay a price forrunning convenience stores

Miss IndiaAmerica 2014Maya Sarihan

Indian-owned convenience stores often make target ofattacks as it happened in Ferguson, Missouri which

erupted into violent protests after a White policemanshot dead an unarmed black teenager on Aug 9.


9/32

Tel Aviv: Israel's foreign ministry says Steven Sot-

loff, the US journalist whose execution was captured

on video by ISIS, held dual American-Israeli citi-

zenship. Sotloff's connection to Israel had been kept

secret in an effort to protect him, and it's not believed

that his captors even knew he was Jewish.

The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, quoting

a former fellow captive, said Sotloff had kept his Ju-

daism a secret from the Islamist insurgents, pretend-

ing he was sick when he fasted for the Yom Kippur

holiday.

The Times of Israel writes that Sotloff moved to

the country in 2008 to study government at the In-

terdisciplinary Center. His mother Shirley's parents

were Holocaust survivors.

A journalist named Oren Kessler who kept up an

email correspondence with Sotloff says that he didnot discuss Israel or Judaism when working: Sotloff,

Kessler said, never shared his Jewish identity with

anyone in the field, opting instead to tell locals that

he had been raised Muslim but secular, without

mosque affiliation.

US AFFAIRS 9September 6-12, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Washington: In the wake of

ISISs latest killing of an

American journalist, leading

lawmakers from across the

aisle are calling for a bigger

role in the U.S. war against

the terrorist group.Leading lawmakers in

charge of foreign policy re-

acted Tuesday to the reported

beheading of American jour-

nalist Steven Sotloff by in-

creasing their calls for more

congressional involvement

and oversight of President

Obamas war on ISIS.

The latest apparent ISIS

atrocity against a US citizen

added to the congressional

anger at the Obama adminis-

tration for what many critics

call an incomplete and un-

clear plan to confront the

group both in Iraq and Syria,following President Obamas

admission last week that We

dont have a strategy yet for

dealing with ISIS in Iraq and

Syria. The two leaders of the

House Foreign Affairs Com-

mittee said Tuesday that they

want to lead the charge for

more congressional oversight

by holding hearings and forc-

ing a vote on Obamas ISIS

war within 60 days of thecommencement of airstrikes

in Iraq last month.The be-

heading of poor Mr. Sotloff

really just brings back that

we are dealing with a danger-

ous adversaryCongress

needs to play a vital role and

we are determined that the

House Foreign Affairs Com-

mittee will lead the way,

said Rep. Eliot Engel, rank-

ing Democrat on the HouseForeign Affairs Committee.

We believe that before the

president can continue be-

yond 60 days of doing

airstrikes in Iraq or anyplace

else, he would have to come

to Congress and get Con-

gresss authority to contin-

ue.

Engel and the committees

chairman, Rep. Ed Royce,

spoke to reporters via confer-

ence call from Israel on Tues-day. Royce said Secretary of

State John Kerry, who will

travel to the region this week,

must come before Congress

and present a strategy for de-

feating ISIS and put it up for

a vote by the beginning of

next month.

We are scheduling a hear-

ing upon our return and re-

questing the secretary of state

to present a plan, a strategy

focused on rolling back ISIS,

defeating ISIS through the

use of airstrikes and the sup-

port of those with common

interests,Royce said. We anticipate

there will be a vote on au-

thorization of the use of force

for such a plan. That would

come within the 60-day win-

dow.

Washington: The FBI confirmed on

Monday that it has joined a hunt for

the hacker or hackers who leakedhundreds of revealing images online

of Hollywood actresses in what ap-

pears to be a breach of celebrity

iCloud accounts.

The FBI is aware of the allega-

tions concerning computer intrusions

and the unlawful release of material

involving high profile individuals,

and is addressing the matter, said

Laura Eimiller, spokesperson for the

FBI in Los Angeles.

The problem emerged Sunday,

when a search for Jennifer Lawrence,

Kate Upton or related hash tags on

Twitter yielded hundreds of retweets

of several nude or near-nude images.

"This is a flagrant violation of pri-vacy," a spokesperson for The

Hunger Games star Lawrence said in

a statement Sunday. "The authorities

have been contacted and will prose-

cute anyone who posts the stolen

photos of Jennifer

Lawrence."

The hacker behind thestolen photos first posted

them on the image-based

online bulletin board

4chan, according to Buz-

zFeed. How or from where

the pictures were obtained

remained unclear on Mon-

day.

In 2012, Christopher

Chaney, 36, of Jack-

sonville, Fla., was sen-

tenced to 10 years in prison

for hacking into the email

accounts of more than 50

people in the entertainment

industry in order to gain

access to nude photos andprivate information.

Chaney, who was arrested

after an FBI investigation dubbed

Operation Hackerazzi, said that he

hacked into the accounts of film star

Scarlett Johansson and other celebri-

ties because he was addicted to spy-

ing on their personal lives.

Washington: Theres fresh evi-

dence that Republicans are inching

toward winning control of the Sen-

ate in November.

The bipartisan George Washing-

ton University Battleground Poll re-

leased Wednesday has the GOP

ahead on the generic congressional

ballot by 4 percentage points, 46 to

42 percent. More ominously for De-

mocrats, in states where there is a

competitive Senate race, Republi-

cans lead the generic ballot by 16

percentage points, 52 to 36.

Though the American public is

as divided as it has been all year, as

we head into the 2014 general elec-

tions the advantage among likely

voters is flowing toward Republi-

cans, said Christopher Arterton,

George Washington University pro-fessor of political management and

poll director.

The generic congressional ballot

has long been a general marker for

how parties stand with the public

heading into important votes. It asks

a simple question: Are you more

likely to vote for a Democrat or a

Republican to represent your con-

gressional district in the fall?

Respondents dont get the names

of the people running to specifically

represent their area. Voters feelings

about these individuals might sway

their answer to the generic question

about Democrats versus Republi-

cans, so candidate identificationsare left out.

Republican strategists are particu-

larly pleased about the partys ad-

vantage in this new poll because the

generic ballot often skews toward

Democrats. Thats simply because

there are usually more Democrats

than Republicans in the US. About

44 percent of US adults identify

with or lean toward the Democratic

Party, according to a recent Gallup

survey. Thirty-nine percent lean to-

ward or identify with the GOP.

The Republican edge in the Bat-

tleground survey thus may stem

from particular political circum-

stances which indicate a (possible)

impending GOP Senate takeover.

For instance, President Obamas rel-

atively low approval ratings have

been dragging down his party for

months. The new Battleground Poll

finds that fully 61 percent of re-

spondents disapprove of Obamas

job performance.

The much larger GOP lead in

states with close Senate races also

likely reflects the fact that this year

Democrats are defending a number

of endangered incumbents in red or

purple states, such as Louisiana and

North Carolina.

But this is just one poll, remem-ber. The RealClearPolitics average

of generic congressional ballot sur-

veys still has Democrats ahead, ever

so slightly, at 0.5 percent.

Congress Demands a Vote on Obamas war on ISIS Steven Sotloff heldIsraeli citizenship,

unawares to ISIS

House Foreign Affairs Committee Ed Royce (left) saidSecretary of State John Kerry must come before

Congress and present a strategy for defeating ISIS..

Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence of

Hunger Games fame is one of the victimsof the privacy breach on iCloud.

New poll gives GOP edge inbattleground states

FBI joins hunt for hacker who leakednude photos of actresses

Louisiana gay-marriage ban upheldWashington: In a boost for Louisiana Governor Bob-

by Jindal, who has been following a social conservative

agenda, a federal judge ruled Wednesday that

Louisianas ban on gay marriage is constitutional, mak-

ing him the first to uphold a state laws definition of

marriage as only between one man and one woman.

US District Court Judge Martin Feldman addressedhis unusual ruling, saying, It would no doubt be cele-

brated to be in the company of the near-unanimity of the

many other federal courts that have spoken to this press-

ing issue, if this court were confident in the belief that

those cases provide a correct guide.

Feldman justified his ruling by saying that no fun-

damental right was at stake. This court is persuaded

that Louisiana has a legitimate interest whether ob-

solete in the opinion of some, or not, in linking chil-

dren to an intact family formed by their two biological

parents, as specifically underscored by Justice Kennedyin Windsor. He did, however, note that the courts de-

cision is but one studied decision among many and

that the issue of same-sex marriage will, at some point,

end up before the Supreme Court.


10/32

10 September 6-12, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoINDIA

Hyderabad: Finally ending the sus-

pense, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister

N. Chandrababu Naidu announced that

Vijayawada will be the capital of the

state.

He told the state legislative assemblythat the government has decided to

"locate the capital city in a central place

of the state around Vijayawada".

Naidu said the decision was taken in

the state cabinet meeting Sep 1.

"It was also decided to go for decen-

tralized development of the state with

three mega cities and 14 smart cities," he

said amid protests by opposition YSR

Congress Party for making the

announcement without consultations.

Naidu said the cabinet also decided to

go for land pooling system for building

the new capital. The system will be worked out by a

cabinet sub-committee.

In a 20-page statement read out before the scheduled

time, the chief minister defended the choice sayingVijayawada is centrally located and accessible to all dis-

tricts of the state.

He announced the measures his government proposed

to take for development of all three regions of the state.

The chief minister said the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)

government was committed to all round development of

all 13 districts of the state.

Located on the banks of Krishna river in Krishna dis-

trict of south coastal Andhra, Vijayawada is about 300

km from Hyderabad, which is currently serving as the

common capital of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Under Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act,

Hyderabad will be common capital of the two states for

a period not more than 10 years.

With a population of over a million as per 2011 cen-sus, Vijayawada is a major commercial hub.

Ever since taking over as the chief minister in June,

Naidu had been indicating that the new capital will be

built between Vijayawada and Guntur. He had taken

oath as the chief minister at a place between the two

cities.

An expert committee constituted by the central gov-

ernment to identify the capital submitted its report last

week, suggesting various options. It, however, left the

final decision to the government.

M u m b a i :

Australian Prime

Minister Tony

Abbott started

his India visit

from Mumbai

where he arrived

early Thursday,

heading a 30-

strong business

delegation.

His day, full of

e n g a g e me n t s ,

started by paying

homage to the26/11 terror

attack victims at Hotel Taj Mahal

Palace where he is staying in

south Mumbai.

Later, Abbott called on

Maharashtra Governor C.

Vidyasagar Rao at the Raj

Bhavan.

He is slated to speak to students

at University of Mumbai.

Abott is scheduled to have

lunch with a large group of top

industrialists at the Hotel Taj and

later meet a select group of CEOs

including Cyrus Mistry of Tata

Group and Adani Group's Gautam

Adani.

The late afternoon was sched-

uled for a sporting event organ-

ised by the Australian consulate

here - attending a felicitation of

young Indian cricketers by

Australians legends like Adam

Gilchrist and Brett Lee, in the

presence of Indian cricket legend

Sachin Tendulkar, at the Cricket

Club of India.

Arriving here on his first visit to

India as prime minister, the high

point of Abbott's trip is the possi-

bility of signing a nuclear cooper-

ation agreement with the Indian

government.

He is scheduled to hold delega-

tion-level meetings and discuss

various issues with President

Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President

Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister

Na re nd ra Mo di an d Ex te rn al

Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj

in New Delhi Friday.

New Delhi/London: Al Qaeda

leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has

announced the creation of aSouth Asian branch of his group

to "raise the flag of jihad" in the

Indian sub-continent, causing

concerns.

In a 55-minute video posted

online, Zawahari -- who suc-

ceeded Osama bin Laden after

he was killed in Pakistan -- also

pl ed ge d re ne wed lo ya lt y to

Afghan Taliban leader Mullah

Omar, BBC reported.

Announcing the formation of

"Al Qaeda in the Indian subcon-

tinent", Zawahiri - speaking in

both Arabic and Urdu - said this

"would be good news for

Muslims in Burma, Bangladesh

and in the Indian states ofAssam, Gujarat and Jammu and

Kashmir where they would be

rescued from injustice and

oppression".

Official sources said in New

Delhi that the Intelligence

Bureau had been asked to

authenticate the Al Qaeda video.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh

also met with the heads of the

Intelligence Bureau and the

Research and Analysis Wing(RAW) Thursday, the sources

told IANS. National Security

Advisor Ajit Doval attended the

meeting.

The Al Qaeda announcement

comes at a time when the group

faces challenges from the

increasingly aggressive Islamic

State that has taken control of a

large swathe of territory in Iraq

and in Syria too.

BBC quoted counter-terrorism

experts as saying that Al Qaeda

was vying with Islamic State to

recruit followers worldwide.

Islamic State leader Abu Bakr

al-Baghdadi describes himself

as a "caliph" - or head of state -and has called for support of

Muslims around the world.

BBC also said that Pakistani

militants linked to Islamic State

have distributed pamphlets in

city of Peshawar asking people

to support their idea of creating

an Islamic caliphate.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was

in India for two-day visit.

Australian PM begins India

visit from Mumbai Karauli: Every day at 6 am, Reenastealthily leaves her house with the

her face covered to avoid being

seen when heading out to do the

job she hates -- removing human

excrement with her bare hands.

Living in Rajasthan`s Karauli

district, Reena is among 116 manu-

al scavengers the central govern-

ment had identified for rehabilita-

tion two years ago. She was

employed as a sweeper in the local

civic body but was thrown out of

her job, forcing her to resume man-

ual scavenging.

"My own children run away fromme when I reach home. They say I

stink and make them throw up,"

she said.

Many other women to oin

impoverished Karauli are forced to

make ends meet by manual scav-

enging. Despite strict laws pro-

hibiting manual scavenging in the

country, the centuries-old practice

is still rampant in many areas.

Belonging to the lowest Hindu

caste, these women clean dry

latrines and carry the feces in bam-

bo o basket s on th ei r head s fo r

dumping in a faraway place.

"Three days after my marriage,

my mother-in-law took me alongwith her and forced me to remove

excreta from a house. After that I

had to be admitted to a hospital for

three days," Sulekha (name

changed), 30, said. She cleans the

toilets of 15 houses every morning

- and the amount she gets fromeach house is an appallingly low

Rs.20 per month.

The women frequently complain

of headaches, stomach aches and

nausea - due to inhaling the nox-

ious fumes during their work. They

are also malnourished. Their chil-

dren too are malnourished with

stunted growth.

"We cannot miss work even for a

day as the dirt gets piled up in the

dry latrines and the stench worsens.

If we do, the families drag us from

our homes," Namrata said.

And all these women have red-

dish-black corroded teeth caused

by chewing gutka. "To clean themess, either you have to be dead

drunk or have gutka in your mouth.

The scent of gutka keeps us from

vomiting," Reena said.

"The government claims that

these women have been rehabilitat-

ed, but this is not the case. Mosthad to get back to manual scaveng-

ing because they could not get

jobs ," Raj esh Sha rma , of Dan g

Vikas Sansthan, said.

"I thought my life would become

better when I was employed as a

sweeper in the municipality, but I

got thrown out after two months

because it was a contractual one,"

Meena said. "Then, nobody

employed me because of my caste

and past job."

The district administration, per-

haps rattled by PM Modi`s promise

of "Swach Bharat" to provide toi-

lets in every home by 2019, said it

would "look into" their case."Manual scavenging is a blot on

modern India. I will look into their

cases," district collector Babulal

Jatawat said.

In Rajasthan, these women are still

doing manual scavenging

Vijayawada to be capital of Andhra Pradesh

Vijayawada is about 300 km from Hyderabad.

Al Qaeda announces South Asia wing,India concerned


11/32

INDIA

New Delhi:The Supreme Court has asked the

government not to give a bureaucratic answer

about its plan to clean up the Ganga and

instead unveil a stage-by-stage timeline for

effective monitoring. "Don't give us a vision

plan. An artist's view. It may take 200 years to

implement," said a bench of Justice TS Thakur

and Justice R. Banumathi. "We don't know if

it (cleaning Ganga) will happen in our genera-

tion." "Can you indicate the stages through

which this plan has to move and the time

involved in each stage?" asked Justice Thakur

as solicitor general Ranjit Kumar started read-

ing from a 29-page affidavit starting with the

1985 first Ganga Action Plan.

The court wanted to be enlightened by

"someone who has a comprehensive view of

how Ganga would be made pollution free,

nitty-gritty of the plan, and how the mile-

stones can be achieved". The 2,525-km long

Ganga, which originates in the Himalayas, isconsidered the holiest of rivers by Hindus.

Telling Kumar that the government had

given a "very bureaucratic answer" to its

query, the court said it wanted to know how

much will be achieved in the five years this

government will be in office.

During the last hearing Aug 13, the court

had sought the status report on the govern-

ment's action plan to clean the Ganga along

with a roadmap. The court had also sought a

report on what the government was doing to

clean the river from Gangotri up to Haridwar

in the first phase. Justice Thakur observed:

"But for nature, it (Ganga) would have been

worst. It is nature that is doing a lot of clean-

ing." The court told the solicitor general if

polluting industries needed to be relocated, the

court could assist the government with legal

process.

Don't give us a vision plan. An artist's view. It may take 200years to implement, the Supreme Court told the Centre.

11September 6-12, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info

66 percent voters satisfied with Modi's performance, functioning: Poll

Patna: Classes opened at the Nalanda

University this week, an ancient internation-al centre for learning in Bihar, after a break

of over 800 years with 15 students, its vice

chancellor said.

"We have formally started the academic

session of Nalanda University Monday

morning in the International Convention

Centre at the Buddhist pilgrim town of

Rajgir," Vice Chancellor Gopa Sabhrawal

said. Rajgir is about 100 km from Patna.

Sabhrawal said the ancient Nalanda

University functioned from 413 AD to 1193

AD.

Classes for the School of Historical

Sciences and the School of Environment and

Ecology have started for the first session

2014-15.

She said there was an introduction session

for students as well as faculty members as it

was the first day of the classes, revived after

over eight centuries.

"We have completed the first step towards

a big mission for revival of ancient Nalanda

university. Now more hard work has to be

done for it," she said.

Sabhrawal said that the launch of the aca-

demic session of the university was a low

key affair because the formal inauguration

would take place in mid-September after

formal opening by external affairs minister

Sushma Swaraj, who will be chief guest, and

university will also invite ambassadors of

the East Asian countries.

She said that till now 15 students have

been enrolled in the university and more will

be enrolled in coming days as the process oftheir application scrutiny and interview is

still on. "We strongly hope that more foreign

students will join the university because our

thrust is research along with study,"

Sabhrawal said. She said the university has

attracted over 1,000 applications from

around the world.

University Dean Anjana Sharma said eight

faculty members have joined the university

so far and many more would join this month

and in October.

Sharma said Upinder Kaur, daughter of

former prime minister Manmohan Singh,

will be a visiting faculty at the university.

Kaur is teaching history at Delhi University.

The university will come up in Rajgir, 12

km from where the ancient Nalanda

University stood till the 12th century, when

it was razed by an invading Turkish army.

The formal inauguration is expected in

mid-September, Sabhrawal said.

The fully-residential university, to be com-

pleted by 2020, will eventually have seven

schools, all for post-graduate and doctoral

students, offering courses in science, philos-ophy and spirituality, and social sciences.

Classes begin in Nalanda Universityafter over800 years

Fifty-one percent voters say if elections were heldnow, the Modi government will improve its tally.

New Delhi: Nearly two-thirds (66 per-

cent) of voters in a survey have

expressed satisfaction with the

Narendra Modi government's perform-

ance, and while more - 68 percent -

approve of the prime minister's style of

functioning.

Conducted across 14 cities including

the four metropolitan cities, major state

capitals as well as other prominentcities like Surat and Varanasi, the opin-

ion poll by Network 18 and Today's

Chanakya on 100 days of the Modi gov-

ernment sought to take a look at how

Team Modi has fared on foreign policy,

internal security and on the economic

front.

"Majority 66 percent voters say they

are satisfied with the performance so far

of the Modi government. Nineteen per-

cent say they are not satisfied with the

government performance," said a press

release giving the results of the survey

conducted Aug 26-31 and involving

6,280 respondents.

"Fifty-one percent voters say if elec-

tions were held now, the Modi govern-ment will improve its tally while 26 per-

cent say the opposite. On the key ques-

tion of corruption, 54 percent voters say

the Modi government can tackle corrup-

tion while 24 percent say it cannot tack-

le corruption," the release said.

According to the opinion poll, eco-

nomic sentiment was positive with 41

percent stating that the economy was

back on track, while 25 percent said it

was early to pass a judgment.

In response to a question "what do

you think the prime minister could have

been done better in 100 days", 48 per-cent voters wished the Modi govern-

ment to be stricter on spiralling prices.

"More than 30 percent voters believe

that price control has improved while

27 percent say that it has not improved,"

the release said.

About Modi's tenure, 41 percent vot-

ers described it as being "effective,

speedy, and purposeful", while 35 per-

cent said his government has to be more

bold and tough.

The poll said 68 percent respondents

approved of Modi's style of functioning

while only 25 percent find him authori-

tarian.

The opinion poll showed that Modi

has been successful in building a directrapport with people.

"Fifty percent respondents say that

Modi effectively communicates with

the people of the country."

On internal security, 37 percent

respondents said Maoist violence has

decreased during the Modi regime,

while 15 percent of voters said it had

increased.

The poll said voters appeared to be in

sync with Modi's foreign policy.

"Sixty-nine percent respondents rate

his foreign policy as being either good

or very good. Forty-seven percent saythe performance is good while 22 per-

cent say it is very good," the survey

said. On cancellation of foreign secre-

tary-level talks between India and

Pakistan, the poll showed that 54 per-

cent supported the move.

Meanwhile, 43 percent of respondents

say communal violence has not

increased during the Modi regime,

while 14 percent say it has, the poll

said. On the Congress leader in the Lok

Sabha not being recognised as the

Leader of Opposition, 44 percent voters

said it was the right decision, while 30

percent said the Congress deserves the

post.

Modi's "Team India" pitch foundfavor with 54 percent of voters who said

Modi was walking the talk on building a

team with the chief ministers, but 15

percent not holding a similar sentiment.

2,525-km

long Ganga,

which origi-

nates in the

Himalayas, is

considered

the holiest of

rivers by

Hindus.

Ganga cleaning will take 200years: Supreme Court

The fully-residential university, to becompleted by 2020, will eventually

have seven schools


12/32

12 September 6-12, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoINDIA

Bangalore: A court here has issued an

arrest warrant against Karthik Gowda,

son of Railway Minister D.V.

Sadananda Gowda, in a rape and cheat-

ing case filed against him by a Kannada

actress after he got engaged to anotherwoman.

"As Karthik failed to appear before

our investigation team despite repeated

summons since Aug 29 for questioning

on the charges alleged against him by

Maithreyi, the eighth additional city

metropolitan magistrate issued the war-

rant to arrest him," Deputy

Commissioner of Police (East) T.R.

Suresh said.

Police have formed two teams to look

for 30-year-old Karthik in Bangalore

and across the state.

Police in Goa and Kerala have also

been alerted to look out for him.

A search team has left for Madikeri in

Kodagu district, about 230 km fromhere, as he got engaged there Aug 27

and was later seen in Mangalore.

"Once arrested, we will present him

(Karthik) in the court and seek his cus-

tody for interrogation. The case is

bo ok ed ag ai ns t hi m Aug 27 un de r

Sections 376 (rape) and 420 (cheating)

of the IPC (Indian Penal Court) on the

basis of complaint filed by Maithreyi,"

said Suresh.

According to Karthik's counsel, who

filed an anticipatory bail application

Aug 30, the session court is yet to give

ruling on his plea for relief.

"Our petition for anticipatory bail for

Karthik is being heard by the session's

court. Its magistrate is yet to pronouncethe order as arguments were incom-

plete," counsel told reporters.

The court served a notice to the R.T.

Nagar police station, where the com-

plaint was lodged, asking if it had any

objection on granting anticipatory bail

to Karthik.

"We are opposing the anticipatory

bail plea, as Karthik did not respond to

our notices and summons to appear

before the invest igation officer under

the law," Inspector S. Raghupathy said.

Maithreyi has claimed that Karthik

tied the wedding knot with her June 5 at

his other house in Mangalore, about

350 km from Bangalore, and that they

consummated the informal marriageafter he forced himself upon her.

The probe team has already interro-

gated Maithreyi Aug 28 to 30 and

recorded her statements and collected

documents, including relevant certifi-

cates, photos and voice recordings.

The Gowdas, however, denied the

charge and accused Maithreyi of tar-

nishing their image and blamed politi-

cal opponents of conspiring to bring

disrepute to the family, as the victim

later claimed to have joined the

Congress two-three years ago.

BJP chief Amit Shah tomeet Uddhav

Mumbai: In a bid to defuse tensions between allies

Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party, visiting

BJP president Amit Shah will meet Sena chiefUddhav Thackeray, a party official said here.

He will call on Uddhav Thackeray at Matoshri,

the Thackeray residence in Bandra east which has

been the venue for many such VVIP meetings in

the past over four decades, especially during the

lifetime of the late Bal Thackeray.

Before meeting Uddhav Thackeray, Shah will

visit the Thackeray memorial at Shivaji Park and

pay homage to the founder of the Shiv Sena.

Till the time the BJP chief landed in Mumbai

Thursday morning, both parties had officially

declared that no meeting was scheduled between

the two.

However, Uddhav Thackeray reportedly took the

first step by inviting Shah to his residence, which

the latter acknowledged and accepted.

vol 7 issue 19 - september 6-12, 2014

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