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Vol.8 No. 33 December 19-25, 2015 60 Cents
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US, Russia unite to target India's interests

ISIS' revenue sources met in Paris climate
Washington: In a rare show of

unity, the United States and Russia
on Thursday led 13 nations to
unanimous approval of a United
Nations plan to choke off revenue
sources for the militant group
Islamic State, including oil, cotton
and antiquities that are smuggled
out of Syria to thriving black mar
kets.
T he Security Council vote,
attended by finance ministers from
all 15 countries, signaled that
Moscow and Washington are nar
rowing their differences on how to
confront the crisis in Syria, where
Islamic State has consolidated
power and territory despite more
than 5,000 airstrikes from U.S.,
Russian President Vladimir Putin

said at his yearend news
conference that Moscows plan
for Syria "coincides with the US
vision in its key aspects."
Russian and other warplanes.
"If we can get at [Islamic State's]
wallet and its financial cof fers in
an intensified and even more
aggressive way, that's going to
US Fed raises rate in sign

economy looking up
India sees 'minimal' impact of US rate hike
Washington/New Delhi: T he
Federal Reserve hiked interest
rates for the first time in nearly a
decade on Wednesday, signaling
faith that the US economy had
largely overcome the wounds of
the 20072009 financial crisis.
The US central bank's policy
setting committee raised the
range of its benchmark interest
rate by a quarter of a percentage
point to between 0.25 percent
and 0.50 percent, ending a
lengthy debate about whether
the economy was strong enough
to withstand higher borrowing
costs.
"With the economy performing
well and expected to continue to
do so, the committee judges that
a modest increase in the federal
funds rate is appropriate," Fed
Chair Janet Yellen told the press.
The Fed's policy statement noted
that the unemployment rate has
OP ED 14
Federal Reserve Chair Janet

Yellen made the
announcement Wednesday.
fallen to 5 percent, and
expressed confidence that infla
tion will rise over the medium
term to the Fed's 2 % objective.
India on T hursday said its
economy was resilient and well
insulated to cope w ith any
impact of the hike in US interest
rates even as the key equity mar
ket indices in the country react
ed positively to log the sharpest
GLAMOR 18
Continued on page 4
BOOKS 19
have a material effect on their abil

ity to prosecute war," U.S.
Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha
Power said.
The goal "is to put more pressure
on the countries that are not act
ing aggressively enough, or at all,
to cut off the funds flowing to ter
rorists," she said. "Such inaction
puts all of our nations at risk,
including the United States."
The plan builds on U.N. sanctions
already in place for Al Qaeda. It
urges countries to track suspicious
financial transactions that might
be funneling money to Islamic
State. Offenders may be subject to
freezing of assets, travel bans, an
talks: Javadekar
Continued on page 4
India building
secret nuke facility,
says Foreign
Policy magazine
Washington: India is building a
topsecret facility in southern
Karnataka to augment its nuclear
power for civilian use as well as
increase and upgrade its weapons
that could deeply unsettle its
neighbors, says an exhaustive
report in the international maga
zine Foreign Policy.
It says work on the project
began early in 2012 when tribal
pastureland was blocked off with
a barbedwire fence at Challakere
for a project that experts say will
be the subcontinents largest mili
taryrun complex of nuclear cen
trifuges, atomicresearch laborato
ries, and weapons and aircraft
testing facilities when its complet
ed, probably sometime in 2017.
Foreign Policy listed the pro
jects primary aims: to expand the
governments nuclear research, to
produce fuel for Indias nuclear
reactors, and to help power the
countrys fleet of new submarines.
Continued on page 4
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30
Prime Minister Narendra Modi flanked by his Minister of Environment

Prakash Javadekar and Power Minister Piyush Goyal
at the climate conference in Paris.
New Delhi: Asserting that it has
"secured" India's interest in the
Paris ag reement on climate
change, the government today
said the pact meets its "broad
expectations" and recognizes
the country's development
imperatives.
"We fee l vindicated
that all our major
requirements have been
accepted and have
become a part of the
a g r e e m e n t , "
Environment Minister Prakash
Javadekar told Parliament.
He made the statement in both
the Houses amid the din due to
noisy protests by members of
Congress and some other parties
over a host of issues.
Javadekar, who had led an inter
ministerial delegation that partici
pated in the Conference of Parties
(COP) in Paris, highlighted the
major aspects of the agreement
which, he said, recognized the
imperatives of climate justice, the
specific needs and special circum
stances of developing countries, a

point made by India.
"The agreement also explicitly
recognizes that the principles of
equity and common but dif fer
entiated responsibilities and
respective capabilities in the
light of dif ferent national
circumstances w ill be
respected.
"India has been a strong
advocate of the principle of
dif ferentiation and opera
tionalization of common but
dif ferentiated responsibilities
(CBDR)... I am pleased to inform
the House that India has been able
to secure its interest and that of
the developing countries in this
agreement. The Paris agreement
meets our broad expectations," he
said.
Throughout the course of the
negotiations, India engaged con
structively and in good faith, he
said, adding that the pathbreaking
alliance will provide an "unprece
dented" boost to solar energy
development.
More on the climate deal on pages 1213.
excellence in journalism
December 19-25, 2015
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Parrikar discusses Make in India,

ISIS threat with US
Washington DC: Indian Defense
Minister Manohar Parrikar visited
the United States at the invitation
of US Secretary of Defense Ash
Carter
December710 that
included visits to multiple US
facilities including US Pacic
Command
(PACOM),
the
Pentagon, and a visit w ith
Secretary Carter to observe ight
operations aboard the aircraft
carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower
(CVN69).
At the Pentagon, Parrikar and
Secretary Carter discussed the
IndiaUS defense relationship and
broader IndiaUS strategic part
nership, and focused on ways to
maintain the strong momentum
of security and defense engage
ment, including means to further
move the Defense Technology
and Trade Initiative (DTTI) for
ward. Secretary Carter and
Parrikar expressed satisfaction
with DTTI progress to date. They

committed to identifying addi
tional projects for possible co
development and coproduction
of high technology items that
meet the transformational intent
of DTTI.
The two commended positive
discussions at the Joint Working
Group on Aircraft Carrier
Technolog y
Cooperat ion
(JWGACTC), especially in the area
of Aircraft Launch and Recovery
Equipment (ALRE), and look for
ward to continued progress to be
achieved at the second meeting of
the JWGACTC in February 2016
in India.
Parrikar informed Carter about
the MakeinIndia Initiative, under
which several reforms have been
taken in the Indian defense sec
tor. Carter expressed hope that
this would pave the way for even
greater participation of US com
panies in the defense sector.

Both leaders expressed satisfac
tion at the level of maritime coop
eration between the two navies
and resolved to further expand it
in coming years.
T hey also discussed a w ide
range of regional security issues,
including the threat posed by ISIL
and entities such as AlQaeda and
its afliates, LashkareTayibba,
JaisheMohammad, D Company,
the Haqqani Network, and other
regional terror groups. They dis
cussed ways to implement the
defenserelated aspects of Prime
Minister Narendra Mo di and
President Obama's Joint Strategic
Vision for the AsiaPacic and
Indian Ocean Region. The ofcial
visit underlined the strategic
importance of the defense rela
tionship and the personal priority
that the minister and secretary
place on the bilateral partnership.
Justice system treats everybody

fairly, Rajeswari says
Special to The South Asian Time
New York: The rst female judge in
NYC of South Asian origin, who has
risen from humble beginnings in
India, has stated that the justice sys
tem in the US looks at all people
equally.
Chennaiborn Raja Rajeswari who
had faced hardships when she
arrived in the Big Apple as a
teenagers spoke Dec 10 at the
Indian Consulate here as part of the
Media India Lecture Series 2015,
cosponsored by The South Asian
Bar Association of New York
(SABANY).
Everybody is treated fairly irre
spective of caste, creed, color, eth
nic origins, nationality, sexual ori
entation and legal status, she said.
Before she was appointed as a
judge in the Criminal Court of the
City of New York about 18 months
ago, she could not initially make a
strong impact on the selectors,
including Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Some of us have unusual names.
Our resumes should stand out and
you have to prove your talent once
Judge Raja Rajeswari speaking

at the Indian consulate.
you are given an opportunity, she
noted. Rajeswari pointed out that
the judiciary must reect the local
multiethnic character of society.
Acknowledging that spousal abuse,
domestic violence and other forms
of illtreatment exist in South Asian
communities here, she urged the
victims to le complaints to rele
vant authorities and not consider it
a stigma.
"More caring and dedicated coun
selors are needed, besides help in
reaching out to people in their own
languages, said the judge, who has
been appointed as the head of a lan
guage advisory committee by the
mayor. She urged the gathering to
encourage younger Indian

Americans to choose their eld of
interest so that they will be able to
promote goodwill and understand
ing between the two countries.
After her legal studies in the US,
Rajeswari joined Richmond County
District Attorneys Ofce in 1998
and served over 16 years in the
Criminal Court and the Supreme
Court as well as at Narcotics and
Sex Crimes Special Victims bureaus.
While appointing her to a 10year
term, Mayor de Blasio lauded
Rajeswaris extraordinary empathy
for others and appreciated her lan
guage skills. She was an assistant
district attorney in Staten Island,
before her current appointment. An
accomplished Indian classical
dancer and instructor, the lan
guages Rajeswari knows include the
three south Indian languages and
even Sinhala of Sri Lanka. Consul
General Dnyaneshwar Mulay wel
comed the gathering and SABANY
President Vichal Kumar briey
spoke. Students of Padmalaya
Dance Academy run by Rajeswari
gave a performance.
US Navy officials briefing Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar in the

presence of US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter at USS Dwight D.
Eisenhower on December 10.
NYC politicians rally against

hateful Trump
New York: Dozens
of New York City
elected ofcials,
clergy members
and activists ral
lied
against
Donald Trump on
Dec 9, decrying
the Republican
presidential fron
trunner's "hateful"
rhetoric and pro
posal to bar
Muslims from
entering the US.
City Council Speaker Melissa MarkViverito
City Council
addressing the interfaith rally at City Hall.
Speaker Melissa
MarkViverito, a Democrat who mary residence and ofce in
organized the rally on the steps of Manhattan. "He built his wealth
City Hall, declared that Trump's off the back of New Yorkers, and
proposed ban was "xenophobic we will not stand for that," said
and racist." "There is nothing left Public Advocate Letitia James. "If
to say about Donald Trump other Donald wants to come after our
than that he is a disgusting, racist Muslim brothers or anyone else,
demagogue who has no business he will have to contend with all of
running for president, period," us." Imam Khalid Latif, one of sev
said MarkViverito. Speaker after eral religious leaders who spoke,
speaker stepped to the micro said Trumps antiMuslim rhetoric
phone to bash Trump, a native was "symptoms of bigotry" the
New Yorker who keeps his pri nation must confront.
TURN PAGE
Neighbor of San
Bernardino attackers
faces terrorism charges
Riverside,
Calif.:
Enrique Marquez, who
supplied the assault
rifles used to kill 14
people in a massacre in
San Bernardino, Calif.,
this month, was arrest
ed T hursday and
charged with crimes
including conspiring to
support terrorists.
Court papers show that he and one
of the attackers had steeped them
selves for years in radical and vio
lent Islamist propaganda, includ
ing the teachings of the extremist
cleric Anwar alAwlaki and bomb
making techniques from an Al
Qaeda magazine. Mr. Marquez, 24,
has told investigators that he and
an attacker, his longtime friend
and neighbor, Syed Rizwan Farook,
had been discussing radical Islam
since 2007. They made

plans in 2011 and
2012 to launch deadly
attacks on the college
they had attended and
on a busy California
freeway.
Mr. Marquez bought
not only the guns used
in the San Bernardino
shooting but also the
smokeless powder that Mr. Farook
used to build pipe bombs, accord
ing to documents filed in Federal
District Court here on Thursday.
In addit ion to the terrorism
charge, he faces a count of lying on
gun purchase forms to conceal
that he was really buying them for
Mr. Farook, and one of defrauding
the immigration system by enter
ing into a sham marriage with a
Russian immigrant.
Sikh boy jokes about blowing

up US school, put behind bars
Washington: A 12yearold Sikh
boy was arrested from a Texas
school and held for three days after
he joked with a classmate that he
would blow up the building with a
bomb stowed in his backpack,
police said on Friday.
A Face book post written by
Armaan Singh Sarais cousin said a
bully in class thought it would be
funny to accuse him of having a
bomb, and so the principal, without
any questioning, interrogation, or
notification to his parents, called
the police. The incident comes
wee ks after a Texas teenager,
Ahmed Mohamed, was taken away

in handcuf fs for bringing to his
Dallas school a homemade clock
that staf f mistook for a bomb.
Worried & frightened at home, his
family was concerned as to why he
had not reached home right after
school. They started calling every
police department in the area, only
to find out he was sent to a juvenile
facility. They kept him held behind
bars for three consecutive days,
Sarais cousin Ginee Haer wrote in
the post, shared by around 8,000
people on Facebook by Friday
morning.
US, Russia unite to target ISIS...

Continued from page 1
arms embargo and other sanctions. The resolution
also urges countries to expand the sharing of infor
mation among governments and between govern
ments and the private sector about extremist
groups and financial activities.
"Cutting [Islamic State] of f from the international
financial system and disrupting its financing are criti
cal to ef fectively combating this violent terrorist
group," said U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew, who
led Thursday's meeting. "A united international front
is vital to achieve that goal."
Islamic State controls large parts of Syria and neigh
boring Iraq, and has seized assets from banks and
other institutions in its selfdeclared caliphate. The
group also generates hundreds of millions of dollars
annually to finance its military operations, support
affiliates in Yemen, Libya and elsewhere, and pay for
daytoday governance of its territory, U.S. of ficials
say. Unlike Al Qaeda, which is financed largely by
donations, ransoms and money sent from abroad,
Islamic State does not rely heavily on banks. That has
made it more difficult to track its money and inter
rupt or seize its funding sources, experts said.
Still, the group needs access to international finan
cial systems to import oil production machinery,
weapons and communications equipment, Adam
Szubin, the acting Treasury undersecretary for terror
ism and financial intelligence, said at a White House
briefing this week.
Most of the group's money comes from the illicit
sale of oil and gas, some of it to the Syrian govern
ment, as well as to black market operators who
Szubin said purchase it at the wellheads before smug
gling the product out of the region.
The White House has denied a Russian claim that
the Turkish government, a U.S. ally, is buying Islamic
State oil. Turkey also has denied the charge.
Other revenue sources include fees, or "taxes,"
extorted from the estimated 8 million people in
Islamic Statecontrolled areas.
Taxes are reportedly levied for businesses, real
estate and commerce; there is even a special tax
Christians must pay. And, as Power put it, "most
grotesquely" the terrorist group makes money by
trafficking women and girls sold as slaves.
US Fed raises rate in sign economy...

rally in over a month. "We've to consider how the US
Fed is going to raise its rates, going forward," Minister
of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, said. "We're very
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wellequipped to deal with any turmoil or volatility
that may ensue as the Fed raises rates."
Earlier, it was widely feared that any rise in the US
interest rates could trigger a flight away of invest
ments into the global financial market to America, as
it potentially makes investments there a bit more
attractive.
But the Indian equity markets have taken the devel
opment positively, at least for now a line taken by
the Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian, who
saw "quite minimal" volatility in the Indian markets.
The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock
Exchange closed the day's trade up 309.41 points or
1.21 percent, and the broader Nifty of the National
Stock Exchange also rallied sharply to end with a gain
of 93.45 points or 1.21 percent up.
India building secret nuke facility...

But another, more controversial ambition, according
to retired Indian government officials and independ
ent experts in London and Washington, is to give
India an extra stockpile of enriched uranium fuel that
could be used in new hydrogen bombs, also known as
thermonuclear weapons, substantially increasing the
explosive force of those in its existing nuclear arse
nal, the report says.
The magazine points out that New Delhi has never
published a detailed account of its nuclear arsenal,
which it first developed in 1974.
According to independent estimates, India has
between 90 and 110 nuclear weapons, as compared
to Pakistans estimated stockpile of up to 120. China
has approximately 260 warheads.
The report says China and Pakistan would see the
secret project as a provocation. Experts say they
might respond by ratcheting up their own nuclear
firepower. Pakistan, in particular, considers itself a
military rival, having engaged in four major conflicts
with India, as well as frequent border skirmishes.
Foreign Policy quotes Gary Samore, who served
from 2009 to 2013 as the White House coordinator
for arms control, as saying: I believe that India
intends to build thermonuclear weapons as part of its
strategic deterrent against China.
Other than the Challakere project, Western moni
toring agencies were keeping an eye on a similar
nuclear facility near Mysore.
However, Western knowledge about how Indias
weapons are stored, transported, and protected, and
how the radiological and fissile material that fuels
them is guarded and warehoused the chain of cus
tody remains rudimentary, the report says.
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TRISTATE COMMUNITY
US town to set up
scholarship to
honor Hinal Patel
Washington, DC:
T he US town of
Spotswood in New
Jersey will set up a
scholarship fund to
honor the memory
of an Indianorigin
emergency medical
technician, who died
in the line of duty in
Hinal Patel died in an ambulance
July this year, a
crash while on duty
media report said.
Hinal Patel, 22, was enroute University. Patel hoped to one
with her partner to assist on a day become a doctor.
T he scholarship will keep
routine call in a neighboring
town when her ambulance was Patel's memory alive and it will
struck by a car. Patel died in be awarded annually to a
the crash while her partner and deserving senior at Spotswood
the woman who hit the ambu High School every spring on
awards night.
lance survived.
The organizers of the Kloos
It was Patel's last shift at the
Spotswood Emergency Medical Family Lights, another yearly
Services. She was leaving her tradition that supports "a wor
position to continue her educa thy cause" has invited dona
tion at the Graduate School of tions for Patel's scholarship
Biomedical Science at Rutgers fund.
IBA hosts a Christmas

Spectacular at India Square
Christmas Tree lighting (right) Santa Claus highlight program

Oak Tree Road, Iselin: The Indian
Business Asso ciat ion he ld a
Christmas Spectacular at India
Square, located near the Oak Tree
Road Shopping District. The pro
gram, which culminated in the
lighting of the IBA Christmas Tree,
featured live music performances
and dance groups. "We blended
classic Christmas carols with Indian
music to create a unique program
that the people really enjoyed," said
IBA Executive Vice President Viru
Patel. "The audience really loved
Rudolph and Rockin' Around the
Christmas Tree," he said.
Karina Kohli of New York

crowned Miss India USA 2015
Miss India USA Karina Kohli flanked by Mrs. India USA

Neha Multani Verma, & Miss Teen USA Aanchal Shah
Fords, N.J.: Acting student Karina Kohli of New York

was crowned Miss India USA 2015 during the 34th
annual Miss India USA pageant held Dec. 6 at Royal
Alberts Palace here.
Organized by the New Yorkbased IFC, headed by
Dharmatma Saran, the event drew a record number of
55 contestants this year, according to a press release.
Aanchal Shah from Florida, who hopes to become an
oncologist, was crowned Miss Teen India USA from
among 17 other contestants; while Neha Multani
Verma of New York, an executive with a large real
estate corporation, was crowned the second Mrs. India
USA at the same pageant.
Karina Kohli, 18, studies acting at New York
University. She was crowned by outgoing queen
Pranathy Gangaraju. Kohli will represent the US in the
25th Annual Miss India Worldwide Pageant, also
organized by IFC, to be held in New York in September
2016. Nandini Iyer, 27, of New Jersey, and Visakha
Sundar, 21, of Virginia, were respectively declared first
and second runnersup among 20 contestants from
around the country. During the pageant, Saran present
ed an appreciation plaque to H.R. Shah, Albert Jasani,
Nishi Bahl and Shilpa Jhurani for their support in
organizing this years pageant.
Santa Claus made a special

appearance and distributed over
1500 gifts to children, who also
enjoyed train rides and other activi
ties. The free event, open to the
public, drew families from across
New Jersey. "We are developing
Oak Tree Road in to the Indian
Community's Time Square. Today,
we brought that dream closer to
reality with our own version of
Rockefeller Center," said Dhiren
Amin, President of the IBA. Behind
him towered a 23 foot Christmas
Tree adorned with lights and orna
ments. The Christmas Tree will be
on display through January.

"The Township of Woodbridge
really worked with us in organizing
the event," said IBA Chairman
Chandrakant Patel. He pointed to
the Iselin Fire department which
had a fire truck on site and gave
tours to visitors. The Christmas
Tree was lighted by Woodbridge
Mayor John McCormac. Also pres
ent at the event were members of
the Woodbridge Council.
"Our goal for this event was to
create a bridge between the Indian
community and the larger commu
nity," said Mahesh Shah.
New England Brewing

changes name, label
of Gandhibot beer
Connecticut: New Eng land
Brewing Co. in Woodbridge has
changed the name and labe l
design of its controversial
Mahatma Gandhiinspired beer,
according to a Harford Courant
report.
GandhiBot, which featured a
robotic depiction of the Indian
civil rights leader on its can, has
been rebranded Gbot, with a
new design featuring a metal arm
extended in a peace sign emerg
ing from a pile of scrap metal.
T he company made the
announcement on social media
Wednesday.
"Same exact beer, just a newish
label," company officials said in a
Facebook post.
The beer, which is extremely
sought after and often only avail
able by making a trip to the
brewery, will be on package
store shelves with the new name

and design by the end of the
month, New England Brewing Co.
said.
GandhiBot had been of fered
for several years but the brewer
faced growing criticism over the
name, including a lawsuit filed in
late 2014 in India that claimed
the name dishonored the memo
ry of Gandhi, who abstained from
alcohol and was part of the tem
perance movement in India.
After the lawsuit company offi
cials apologized to those who
were offended by the name and
met with IndianAmerican busi
ness owners and community
leaders. New England Brewing
Co. announced in January that it
would be changing the name and
design of the beer and that the
pro cess would take several
months.
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
WaterAid seeks NRIs help in

solving Indias water and
sanitation crisis
New York: WaterAid called on New York
business leaders to ensure that millions of
people in India have and use something
that most of the world takes for granted
within the next four years: a toilet. The
unprecedented opportunity to achieve a
clean India was presented in Manhattan at
an exclusive gathering of prominent New
York residents with a connection to India
and an interest in the sustainable progress
of humanity.
India faces herculean challenges in pro
viding and maintaining the two basic serv
ices of safe drinking water and improved
sanitation. With more people than any
other country in the world living without
access to improved sanitation, nearly half
of the population in India currently prac
tices open defecation.
Fourteen months after Prime Minister
Narendra Modis Swachh Bharat (Clean
India) Mission rst announced an ambi
tious campaign to ensure that every
household in India has a toilet by 2019,
more than $360 million have been invest
ed in toilet construction, and more than
2.5 million toilets have been built across
the country.
But more than 100 million additional
toilets must be built within the next four
years in order to achieve the achievable
vision of an opendefecationfree India.
Thats nearly 70,000 toilets that need to
be built each day, and the resources
required to achieve this are not yet fully in

place.
Speaking at a special dinner with promi
nent residents of New York, hosted by Sam
S. Jain, Founder and CEO of Fareportal,
WaterAid India Chief Executive Neeraj
Jain, said: We can all make a difference in
helping achieve a clean India. Whats most
needed is an ef fective, resourced and
nanced system that can drive and deliver
the campaign on the ground, where it mat
ters the most. Today, I appeal to everyone
in the US with a connection to India and
an interest in the sustainable progress of
humanity to support WaterAid in order to
ensure a clean India.
WaterAid America Chief Executive,
Sarina Prabasi said, Clean water, toilets
and basic hygiene practices like hand
washing with soap are critical to eradicat
ing extreme poverty. We dont have a
chance of meeting global goals for univer
sal access to clean water and sanitation
(Goal 6 of the UN Sustainable
Development Goals), without accelerated,
but longlasting change in India. Its up to
all of us to make that happen.
WaterAid India is part of a joint national
campaign, Wada Na Todo Abhiyan, which
is producing a critical analysis on the
progress of the Swachh Bharat Mission,
which was presented to the Indian govern
ment on May 26, a year after coming into
ofce.
Roopa Modha selected

ambassador for the
"Girl Rising" campaign
It is linked with Michele Obamas Let
Girls Learn movement
New York: Connect icut
commencement speaker
based attorney Roopa
three t imes when she
Modha has recently been
received her AS (Honors) in
selected as an ambassador
programming, BS (Honors)
for the internat ionally
in health science, and JD
renowned organization, Girl
(Doctor of Jurisprudence).
Rising, due to her commit
Modha has many inter
ment to charity and her
ests, but she continues to
focus on womens rights.
nd time for charitable
The organizations mission
causes. She singlehandedly
is to change the way the
raised $5000 to build
world values the girl and is
schools in South Asia after
Attorney Roopa Modha
to ensure that girls educa
the tsunami. She is an
tion is part of the main
accomplished speaker
stream conversation. It is also linked with who has organized and moderated many
Michele Obamas Let Girls Learn move panels to highlight important topics such
ment.
as domestic violence and rape laws in the
Modha is a multitalented individual who US and India, and ethics and diversity
has achieved success in a variety of disci issues affecting South Asians.
plines from law, science, and entertainment
Due to her social activism and work, she
(editor/writer/emcee/interviewer/illustra was honored in 2014 by the Connecticut
tor/TV host) to fashion (model, fashion Women's Educat ion and Leg al Fund
week attorney, pageant winner), dance (CWEALF) as a woman leader who will
(ballet, tap, jazz, Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, make a difference in the world and build
folk, Bollywood), and music (lyricist, DJ). opportunities for others. In 2015, Roopa
She is also an author, whose book is cur was also nominated for the Connecticut
rently pending publication.
South Asian Bar Association's Trailblazer
Modha has had the rare honor of being Award.
Muslims to hold third peace rally against terrorism on Dec 19

Cohen Childrens Medical
York: On December 19th ant iMuslim rhetoric, a small said about us and our religion.
Center hosts top hematologists New
from 3 6 p.m., a g roup of group of Long Island Muslims
The group is asking Muslims and
American Muslims will peacefully
hold a rally to condemn terrorism,
ISIL and other terrorist organiza
t ions. T hey w ill also be there
speaking out against what is being
said about them and their religion
Islam by people like Donald
Trump. The rally, which will be
held at Diversity Plaza in Jackson
Heights, is the third of many more
to come.
In light of the recent events and
(L to R): Dr Subhash Varma, Dr Neelam Verma, Dr Akshat Jain,

Dr Jeffrey Lipton
New York: On the hee ls of the
International American Society of
Hematology meeting in Florida,
The Department of Hematology
Oncology at the Cohen Childrens
Medical Center hosted past week
the rst visit from its international
collaborators.
Eminent physicians Dr. Neelam
Varma director of hematology and
Dr Subhash Varma, renowned
internist and hematologist and the
vice dean of the prestigious Post
Graduate Institute of Medicine at
Chandigarh (PGI) were visiting fac
ulty under the International Bone
Marrow Failure consortium found
ed by Dr. Akshat Jain, Assistant pro
fessor and section head of global

hematology oncology at the Hofstra
North Shore LIJ School of Medicine
in New York.
Under the leadership of the
department chief Dr. Jeffrey Lipton
at Cohens, who is the past presi
dent of the American Society of
Pediatric Hematology Oncology
and has an extensive international
experience in Bone marrow failure
disorders, this is a beginning of a
new IndoUS health care partner
ship, bringing an opportunity of
international dialogue and advance
ment of science by cutting edge
genetic analysis of patient sub
strate from South Asia.
have decided to stand up and voice

their opinion on what it means to
be Muslim living in America.
The description on the Facebook
page, American Muslims 4 Peace,
reads: The main stream media has
tarnished the name of Islam &
Muslims and what it means to be
an American Muslim. We cannot
sit around anymore and talk. We
need to take action and go out and
do something about what is being
nonMuslims to join them in soli

darity to show the people of
America that Islam is a peaceful
religion and is being misrepresent
ed by unIslamic terrorists. We
want to act on this and portray the
correct image of Muslims, Abbas
Dastgir, one of the organizers of
the walk, said.
We believe in coexistence and
this ght is just as much as ours as
it is Americas.
Call for application to attend Teach For

Americas Chicago & NYC summits
Selected college students to attend Asian American &
Pacific Islander Leadership meets
New York: The Teach For America Midwest region
will host selected students to attend the Asian
American and Pacic Islander Leadership Summit
(AAPILS), whose mission is to cultivate and increase
the leadership skills of AAPI undergraduate students.
The summits will be held in Chicago on Jan 2223,
2016 and in New York City on Feb 1920, 2016. The
event is free and meals will be included.
Teach For America is uniquely positioned to make
a dif ference in the Asian American and Pacic
Islander (AAPI) community. While AAPIs comprise
nearly 5 percent of the total enrollment in public ele
mentary and secondary schools, they represent less
than 1.5 percent of the teachers. AAPILS will drive

the work of engaging undergraduate students in
partnership with regional and national organizations
that focus on working with and serving the AAPI
community.
Current sophomores, juniors, and seniors attending
college in the participating regional area (i.e. Chicago
or NYC) are eligible to apply.
Applicants must be willing to commit approximate
ly 2 hours prior to the Summit to complete prepara
tion work. Applicants must be interested in raising
awareness about educational inequity on their cam
puses after the Summit.
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Robber shoots Indianorigin

A $2,000 H1B fee on Indian
companies could return
store clerk, calls him IS terrorist
Washington, DC: A special $2,000
fee could return on H1B and L1
visas for Indian IT companies to fund
a 9/11 healthcare act in the US with
a group of Congressmen quietly
mounting fresh ef forts to reimpose
it.
Such a move has been made part of
the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and
Compensat ion Act which funds
health screenings and treatments for
9/11 rst responders.
The Bill, named after Detective
James Zadroga who died of a respi
ratory illness in 2006, expired on
October 1. Lawmakers are seeking to
permanently extend the Bill and
want to generate necessary funds by
imposing a $2,000 additional fee on

H1B visas. The Bill has been written
in such a way that it would impact
only Indian companies.
According to NASSCOM, Indian
companies had paid between $70 to
80 million per annum between 2010
and 2015.
The "extra fee applies to compa
nies with at least 50 per cent of their
employees on H1B visa or L1 visas,
and is in addition to the other fees
paid by employers," Computerworld
reported.
Because of its 50 per cent thresh
old, it mostly hits the large Indian IT
services rms, the leading users of
the H1B visa, the report said.
Michigan: In a suspected hate

related incident, an Indianori
gin store clerk was shot in the
face during a struggle with an
unidentied man who called
him a terrorist and part of the
ISIS terror group as he tried to
rob the store, a media report
said. The clerk, whose name
was not released, worked at a
store in Michigan owned by
SikhAmerican businessman
Inderjit Singh.
The clerk sustained injuries
and was released from hospital
over the weekend. He told co
workers that the robber called
him a terrorist because he is
of Indian descent, according to
US Army allows Sikh soldier

to keep beard for now
New York: Granting a rare reli
g ious accommo dat ion to an
activeduty combat soldier, the
US Army has allowed a Sikh cap
tain to grow his beard and wear
a turban, in a move that may
have far reaching implications
for troops seeking to display
their faith, a media report said.
Captain Simratpal Singh was
forced to see his locks drop to
the oor on his rst day at the
US Military Academy at West
Point almost 10 years ago, as the
army did not allow soldiers to
have long hair or beard, the New
York Times reported.
However, all this changed last
week for Captain Singh, who
believed his "selfimage" was "cut away", after
the army granted him a religious accommoda
tion that will allow him to grow his beard and
wrap his hair in a turban.
"It is wonderful. I had been living a double
life, wearing a turban only at home," said the
Bronze Star awardee, who led a platoon of com
bat engineers who cleared roadside bombs in
Afghanistan.
"My two worlds have nally come back
together," the NYT quoted him as saying.
The daily said it was the rst time in decades
that the military has granted a religious accom
modation for a beard to an activeduty combat
soldier a move that observers say could open
the door for Muslims and other troops seeking
to display their faith. But it is only temporary,
lasting for a month while the army decides
Captain Simratpal Singh

whether to give permanent status to Captain
Singh's exception. However, the Sikh soldier
told the NYT that he was prepared to sue if the
accommodation is not made permanent.
"This is a precedentsetting case," said Eric
Baxter, senior counsel at the Becket Fund, a
nonprot public interest law rm that special
izes in religious liberty.
"A beard is a beard is a beard. If you let one
religious individual grow it, you will need to do
it for all religions." Army spokesperson Lt. Col.
Jennifer R. Johnson said the US Army does not
comment on individual personnel decisions, but
added that future requests for such accommo
dations would be evaluated "on a casebycase
basis, considering the impact on unit and indi
vidual readiness, unit cohesion, morale, disci
pline, and health and safety of the force."
a report in mlive.com, a
Michiganbased news website.
Singhs daughter Gurleen
Kaur, said the robber demand
ed money from the store work
er then led him to a back room
where he put the barrel of a
long gun into the workers
mouth. The victim, 34, told
Kaur that the robber called
him a terrorist and said he
was part of Islamic State terror
group.
T he worker, fearing he
would be killed, grabbed the
rie and was shot in the cheek
during the struggle, she said.
Grand Rapids Police Sergeant
Terry Dixon said the victim
responded bravely. Were very

proud of how he responded in
light of this incident. T his
couldve been much, much
worse g iven the apparent
intent of the suspect, Dixon
said.
If the victim had not fought
of f the suspect, then this
couldve been a much more
serious incident. Kaur said the
gunman threatened the worker
allegedly because of his ethnic
ity. Were Americans, she
said. Were trying to live nor
mal lives, be Americans. The
robber, wearing a mask and
holding a gun, left with an
undisclosed amount of money.
Tata Trusts partners with Khan

Academy for free online education
Mumbai: Tata Trusts Dec. 6 announced it
will be supporting U.S.based nonprot
Khan Academy to provide free online
education to Indians through one of the
biggest openaccess online platforms.
Tata Trusts chairman Ratan Tata did
not specify the agg reg ate value of
resources which will be granted to Khan
Academy during the veyear partner
ship by Tata Trusts, which control 66
percent of the shares of Tata Sons, the
holding company of the over $100 bil
lion group.
Tata said the promise of free access to
quality education is a "new era" and a
"compelling opportunity" with a poten
tial to multiply literacy rates which
attracted the Trusts towards making the
commitment.
"What the Khan Academy has created
is a concept which provides free educa
tion and knowledge to anybody, any
where. Therefore, for me, as an Indian
and as a citizen on this planet, it's a great
privilege. I look at this as a great oppor
tunity where we will do something to
create a difference for generations," Tata
told reporters.
The hedge fund analystturnedfounder
of Khan Academy, Indian American
Salman Khan, said that Indian students
already use the academy's content, but it
is now in the process of creating special
ized content in English and Hindi for the
benet of India.
He said Tata Trusts has been support
ing education for over a century now,
which involves giving grants, providing
scholarships for students going abroad
Industrialist Ratan Tata shakes hands

with Sal Khan at the press
announcement in Mumbai
for studies, etc. The concept brought in
by Khan Academy is "refreshingly differ
ent" and will make a "tremendous differ
ence" in India by turning illiterates into
literates.
The Indian content will be mapped to
the standards set by the National Council
of Education Research and Training, and
work around subtitling and translation
of video tutorials has already started,
Khan said. He added that it will play a
complementary role to the existing edu
cation system.
Khan said content will also be pro
duced in regional languages soon, but it
will stick to math and science.
When asked about the potential dif
culties for operating in a low and expen
sive bandwidth country like India, Tata
said the demand for connectivity will
make the exponential connectivity possi
ble, while Khan said that the trends of
broadband adoption are positive.
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
White House celebrates Guru Labor Trafficking Survivor gets

Nanak's birth anniversary
Obama Administration Post
Washington, DC: The White House
celebrated the birth anniversary of
Sikhism's founder Guru Nanak with
top aides of President Barack Obama
assuring the community of his full
support.
"President Obama stands with, he
stands behind you and he stands in
solidarity with you. And we all have a
responsibility to remind Americans
what makes us g reat" President
Obama's senior adviser Valerie
Jarrett told a gathering of the Sikh
community from across the US. The
program opened with Jesse Moore,
Asso ciate Director of Public
Engagement, welcoming the guests.
This was followed by a Sikh hymn
performed by Manpreet Singh and
Raghubir Singh from New Jersey on
classical instruments like taus, dilru
ba and jodi. When Jarrett greeted the
gathering saying "Happy Gurpurab"
a room full of Sikh men, women, and

children cheered and clapped, accord
ing to a media release.
Dr Rajwant Singh, Chairman of the
Sikh Council on Re lig ion and
Education, said, "The Sikh community
is grateful for the powerful and sup
portive words of President Obama's
team today."
"This sends an assuring signal to
the entire community that this nation
stands behind it," he said.
Valerie Jarrett was given a Phulkari
shawl, a typical Punjabi specialty, and
a book on Sikh heritage and ethos as
she was honored by Sikh representa
t ives from Sikh Coalit ion, Sikh
Council on Religion and Education
and United Sikhs.
In his keynote address, Amritjit
Singh of Ohio University discussed
about "Guru Nanak: Equality and
Social Justice.".
Washington, DC: President

Hospital Medical Center in
Barack Obama Dec. 16
Cincinnati, Ohio, a position
announced several adminis
in which he has served since
tration posts with Indian
2008. Additionally, he is the
American Harold d'Souza
founding member of the
among them.
National Survivor Network
T he president named
and is act ive w ith End
d'Souza a member of the U.S.
Slavery Cincinnati.
Advisory Council on Human
According to d'Souza's
Traf ficking. The president
LinkedIn account, he is a
also named six people to the
survivor of labor trafficking
Panel of Arbitrators of the
and debt bondage and a ded
International Centre for the
icated advo cate ag ainst
Settlement of Investment
human traf ficking. "My per
Disputes, as well as another
sonal philosophy is to fix the
to the Arct ic Research
problem and not continue
Commission.
cycles of blame," he said,
Harold dSouza
"I am honored that these
adding he advances that phi
talented individuals have decided to serve our losophy in the g reater Cincinnat i area
country," Obama said in a statement. "They through community service.
bring their years of experience and expertise
Previously, d'Souza served as a sales manag
to this administration, and I look forward to er in India. He received his bachelors and
working with them. D'Souza is a senior sup masters degrees from Maharaja Sayajirao
ply chain associate for Cincinnati Children's University in Vadodara, Gujarat.
Teen pleads guilty to hate crime

for hitting elderly Sikh man
Families seen together at the banquet
Grand Christmas
extravaganza held in Chicago
Chicago: A glittering evening of dazzling
dance presentations, stirring melodious
carols, inspiring remarks and uplifting
yulet ide sermon marked the Grand
Christmas Banquet celebrations organized
by United Christian Cultural Association
[UCCA] on December 5 at the Bristol
Palace in Mount Prospects, Illinois that
drew a large gathering of families and chil
dren to celebrate the festive season of
Christmas.
This Grand Christmas celebration was
attended by Ambassador Dr. Ausaf Sayeed,
Consul General of India and renowned
international speaker Anil Kumar from
India who were joined by a host of commu
nity/business leaders representing all
major faiths. The evening celebrations set
of f with the lighting of the Christmas
Candles by Ambassador Dr. Ausaf Sayeed,
Guest Speaker Anil Kumar, Ifte khar
Sharee f, Ravi Achanta and Harish
Kolasani. Teresa Neetipudi opened the
evening with a graceful classical invoca
tion dance followed by a colorful fusion
dance presented by Kala Dance Academy
group artfully choreographed by Ruth
Varghese entitled Silent Night illustrating
the joy of Christmas with interludes of the
beautiful strains of Christmas carols sung
This Grand Christmas celebration was

attended by Ambassador Dr. Ausaf
Sayeed, Consul General of India and
renowned international speaker Anil
Kumar from India
to further elevate the festive merriment.
Ambassador Dr. Ausaf Sayeed in his
remarks paid rich accolades to the Chicago
Christian community and outlined the
extraordinary contributions made by
Christians in India especially in the field of
education, healthcare, charity, social
empowerment and emancipat ion of
women and participation in public life and
added that Christianity has profoundly
helped strengthen the social fabric in
India. The keynote speaker Anil Kumar
took to the stage and eloquently presented
the central theme of Christmas message of
salvation to all mankind through the birth
of Jesus Christ.
Community service recognitions were
presented by the Guest Speaker Anil
Kumar to Mrs. Subhadra Vipparthi, Mrs.
Persis Dadepogu, Mrs. Satya Sudhakar,
Mrs. Suguna Vallabhdas & Mrs.Mamta
Katari with each recipient introduced by
Dr. Nandan Thogaru who said these ladies
inspired spiritual journeys.
New York: An American teenager accused

of brutally beating an elderly Sikh man in
the US and calling him a "terrorist" and
"Bin Laden" has pleaded guilty to one
count of hate crime, a media report said.
The 17yearold, whose name was not
released, pleaded guilty on December 7 to
hitting Inderjit Mukker, 53, of Darien and
will be sentenced in February in juvenile
court. Mukker was assaulted on
September 8 when the Willowbrook teen
pulled up to his car yelling racial slurs,
including, "Terrorist, go back to your
country, Bin Laden!" A US citizen and
father of two, Mukker was on his way to a
grocery store and was repeatedly cut off
by a driver.
He pulled over to the side of the road to
let the driver pass, but the driver instead
pulled in front of his car and aggressively
approached Mukker's vehicle.

The assailant then reached into the car
and repeatedly punched Mukker in the
face, causing him to lose consciousness,
bleed profusely and suf fer a fractured
cheekbone and a laceration to his cheek.
He was rushed to the hospital, where he
received six stitches, treatment for lacera
tions, bruising and swelling.
The Sikh Coalition's legal team pursued
the case and met with the DuPage State's
Attorney's Office, sharing additional evi
dence and information that showed
hatred to be the primary motivation
behind the crime. Later State's Attorney
Robert Berlin announced the juvenile peti
tion had been amended to include one
count of hate crime, after further investi
gation and the discovery of additional evi
dence.
NY doctor gets 30 years jail for

videotaping child patients for porn
New York: A 57yearold Indianorigin
pediatrician from New York has been
jailed for 30 years for sexual exploita
tion of a child and producing child
pornography.
Rakesh Punn had pleaded guilty in
April last year to producing child
pornog raphy, Assistant Attorney
General Leslie Caldwell of the Justice
Department's Criminal Division said.
Punn admitted that in September
2007, he sexually exploited a minor
paediatric patient during a medical
appointment at his homeoffice.
Mr Punn falsely diagnosed the child
with an illness so that he could obtain
unfettered access to her without her
parents being present and then

drugged and secretly photographed the
girl.
At sentencing, the court found that
Punn engaged in a pattern of similar
conduct w ith other pat ients and
enhanced his sentence accordingly.
Punn awaits sentencing on state
charges also related to this conduct. He
was arrested in July 2010 on prelimi
nary charges of videotaping patients.
He was initially charged with abusing
three children under the guise of giving
them medical treatment. He admitted
in April 2014 to sexually abusing an
11yearold girl who was a patient in
his office in Bethpage.
US AFFAIRS
Clinton: US needs '360

At debate, Trump asked to
fight radical Islam, not Muslims degree' antiterror strategy
Washington: Republican presidential candidates
joined issue with frontrunner Donald Trump's call
to ban Muslims from coming to the US, with
Senator Ted Cruz citing the example of India to
assert all Muslims were not jihadists.
"I understand why Donald made that proposal. I
introduced legislation in the Senate that I believe is
more narrowly focused at the actual threat, which
is radical Islamic terrorism," he said participating
in the final Republican debate of 2015 among nine
top candidates on Tuesday night in Las Vegas.
"In this instance, there are millions of peaceful
Muslims across the world, in countries like India,
where there are not the problems we are seeing in
nations that are controlled have territory con
trolled by Al Qaeda or ISIS," he said.
"And we should direct at the problem, focus on
the problem, and defeat radical Islamic terrorism.
It's not a war on a faith; it's a war on a political and
theocratic ideology that seeks to murder us," Cruz
added.
In the debate hosted by CNN, Trump defended his
proposals to ban nonAmerican Muslims from com
ing to the US, ban refugees fleeing ISIS, deport 11
million illegal immigrants and wall of f America's
southern border.
"We are not talking about isolation; we are talk
ing about security," he said. "We're not talking
about religion. We're talking about security. Our
country is out of control."
Asked about his earlier comments calling Trump
"unhinged", former Florida governor Jeb Bush said:
"Donald, you know, is great at the oneliners."
"But he's a chaos candidate. And he'd be a chaos

president. He would not be the commanderinchief
we need to keep our country safe," he declared.
Like Cruz, Senator Marco Rubio too declined to
attack Trump outright and said: "We must deal
with this threat of radical Islamists, especially from
ISIS." Trump also reiterated his strategy to cut off
the ISIS' recruiting methods on social media, which
he argued would involve collaboration with the
Silicon Valley and limiting internet access.
Trump's suggestion prompted Kentucky Senator
Rand Paul to ask "if you are going to close the
internet, realize America what that entails. That
entails getting rid of the First Amendment. Okay.
No small feat." He added that some of Trump's pro
posals for fighting terrorism "would defy every
norm that is American".
Trump dismissed his rival's attacks with a wave
of his hand saying: "These are people that want to
kill us, folks. And you're objecting to us infiltrating
their conversations? I don't think so. I don't
think so."
Dean Skelos, son Adam held

guilty on corruption charges
New York: Jurors in the political corruption
trial of former Senate Republican Majority
Leader Sen. Dean Skelos of Nassau County
and his son Adam have found the pair guilty
of bribery, extortion and conspiracy charges
in federal court in Manhattan.
The verdict on the second day of delibera
tions capped an extraordinary twoweek
period in which two of the states most pow
erful leaders at the start of 2015 Skelos
and former Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver
ended their political careers in disgrace at
the hands of Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet
Bharara.
The swift convictions of Sheldon Silver
and Dean Skelos beg an important question
how many prosecutions will it take before
Albany gives the people of New York the
honest government they deserve? Bharara
said in a statement after the verdict was
announced.
The Skeloses were found guilty of using
the senators power as majority leader to
pressure three companies to give jobs, fees
and benefits worth $300,000 to Adam
Skelos, doing favors in Albany for the compa
nies in return, and intervening with Nassau
County to help one of the companies on a
contract.
Dean Skelos, 67, of Rockville Centre, auto
matically loses his Senate seat as a result of
conviction of a felony, ending a 30year
Senate career. Both he and his son, 33, also
of Rockville Centre, face a maximum sen
Former Senate Republican Majority Leader

Sen. Dean Skelos and Adam Skelos after
the guilty verdict on Dec 11.
tence of up to 130 years in prison, although
a much shorter sentence is likely.
The government charged the two with
shaking down three companies developer
Glenwood Management of New Hyde Park,
Roslyn malpract ice firm Physicians
Reciprocal Insurers, and AbTech Industries,
the Glenwoodaffiliated Arizona firm that got
a $10 million stormwater treatment contract
with Nassau.
During the trial beginning Nov. 16, prose
cutors claimed Dean Ske los he lped
Glenwood and Physicians Reciprocal with
critical real estate tax breaks and malprac
tice bills, respectively, and that the Skeloses
threatened to use political influence to torpe
do AbTechs Nassau contract if it didnt pay
Adam more.
Minneapolis: Of fering a prebut

tal to Republicans, Democratic
presidential candidate Hillary
Clinton said Tuesday that the
American people "cannot give
into fear" in the aftermath of
attacks in Paris and California,
laying out a multipronged strat
egy to protect the homeland and
prevent domest ic terrorist
attacks.
Clinton assailed her Republican
rivals shortly before the party's
latest presidential debate, telling
an audience at the University of
Minnesota that another ground
war reminiscent of conflicts in
Iraq and Afghanistan would play
into the hands of the Islamic
State group and fail to keep the
US safe.
"Shallow slogans don't add up
to a strategy," Clinton said.
"Promising to carpet bomb
until the desert glows doesn't
make you sound strong, it makes
you sound like you are in over
your head," she added, referenc
ing recent comments by Texas
Sen. Ted Cruz. "Bluster and big
otry are not credent ials for
becoming commanderinchief."
Clinton soug ht to assure
Americans that she would pro
tect the homeland and prevent
homeg rown terrorists from
Hillary Clinton speaks about

her counterterrorism strategy
during a speech in Minneapolis
Dec 15.
sprouting. Her strategy includes
proact ive steps for capping
Islamic State recruitment in the
U.S., especially online, and for
stopping potential jihadists from
training overseas. She also urged
that the US take steps to stop for
eign fighters from entering the
country, discover and disrupt
plots before they can be carried
out, work more closely with law
enforcement agencies and
empower MuslimAmerican com
munities. "This is a 360degree
strategy to keep America safe,"
Clinton said. She also reiterated
her support for new restrictions
on guns, saying it was "time to
restore the ban on assault
weapons," a law first passed by
her husband, former President
Bill Clinton, which expired during
the Bush administration.
'Star Wars: The Force

Awakens' lives up to hype
Hollywood: The hype
said at box of fice it
will emulate Titanic
and Avatar. It sure
has all the features
becoming the mon
ster hit in a long time.
Star Wars: The Force
Awakens is the first
film in the Star Wars
seque l
trilogy
announced
after
Disney's acquisition
of Lucasfilm in 2012. It is directed, copro
duced, and cowritten by J. J. Abrams. The
seventh installment in the main Star Wars
film series, it stars Harrison Ford, Mark
Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy
Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita
Nyong'o, on and on. The story is set approx
imately 30 years after the events of Return
of the Jedi (1983).
T he grand premiere of T he Force
Awakens was held across three theaters in
Los Angeles on December 14, four days
before its date of release in 2D, 3D, and
IMAX 3D, more than 10 years after the
release of the franchise's last installment,
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
(2005).
The film was acclaimed by critics, who
compared it favorably to the original trilo
gy with praise aimed at its action
sequences, characters, and emotional
drama. Here is a sampling:

Chris Nashawaty from Entertainment
Weekly said, "J.J. Abrams 'T he Force
Awakens' delivers exactly what you want it
to: rollicking adventure wrapped in epic
mythology, a perfect amount of fan service
that fires your geekiest synapses, and a
justright cliffhanger ending that paves the
way for future installments."
He gave the movie a B+.
Richard Lawson from Vanity Fair wrote,
"'The Force Awakens' finds just the right
path through reverence and respect to find
invention, ushering a new generation into
its galaxy of iconic visuals and reliable
heroes by raising the epic stakes, while
keeping the narrative, for the most part,
focused and propulsive."
Finally, Manohla Dargis of The New York
Times exclaimed, "The big news about 'Star
Wars: The Force Awakens' is spoiler
alert that its good!"
10
INDIA
Jaitley file behind CBI search, says Kejriwal

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal took a swipe at the
Centre this week, saying the CBI
search at the Delhi Secretariat was
aimed at a file connected to union
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and
his links with the Delhi and District
Cricket Association (DDCA). Jaitley
refused to comment on the issue
beyond terming Kejriwal's charge
as "rubbish".
The raid by the Central Bureau
of Investigation at the Delhi gov
ernment's seat of power specifi
cally the third floor where both the
offices of the principal secretary to
the chief minister and Kejriwal
himself are located rocked politi
cal parties both inside and outside
parliament during the day.
Trinamool Congress chief and
West Beng al Chie f Minister
Mamata Banerjee, K.C. Tyagi of the
Janata DalUnited and leaders of
Left parties came out in support of
the Aam Aadmi Party government.
T he Cong ress targeted the
Centre over the raid, but also
attacked Kejriwal for his "double
standards".
Kejriwal said the CBI team was
looking for a report of the inquiry
commission that had probed, on
his instructions, the affairs of the
DDCA which he alleged was a den
of corruption.
"Jaitley had been involved for a
long time with the DDCA," he said.
"They wanted the file of DDCA...
Arrested Delhi bureaucrat,

aide sent to judicial custody
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Jaitley figures in it. They came
looking for that file," he told
reporters outside the residence of
Deputy Chief Minister Manish
Sisodia where AAP leaders held a
meeting.
Reacting to Kejriwal's statement,
Jaitley said: "His (Kejriwal) morn
ing statement appeared to be
prima facie incorrect. But the
evening one seems to be absolute
rubbish. And I don't think I need to
respond to rubbish."
Earlier, Jaitley said the CBI raid
was not ag ainst Ke jriwal, but
ag ainst an of ficial who was
attached to his office.
"The raids have nothing to do

with Arvind Kejriwal's office or his
tenure as chief minister. T hey
relate to a period much before he
became chief minister.
"Now if these facts can be twist
ed and an incorrect argument is
developed, let others outside do it
because every word said in this
house has sanctity," Jaitley said in
parliament.
Kejriwal, however, stressed that
the CBI searches were aimed at
him and the allegations against his
principal secretary Rajendra
Kumar were just an excuse to hit
at him. "Rajendra is an excuse,
New Delhi: A court here sent, to 14 days judicial custody, a principal

secretary of the Delhi government and his personal assistant, arrested
by the CBI for taking a bribe from a labour contractor who arranges
security guards and peons.
Sanjay Pratap Singh, who is principal secretary, Scheduled Castes,
Scheduled Tribes and Minorities Welfare, and his assistant Ramesh
Kumar were presented before Special Judge Anju Bajaj Chandna after
expiry of their seven day police custody, and the court remanded them
in judicial custody as the agency said further custodial interrogation
was not required.
It was alleged that the two people allegedly demanded a bribe of
Rs.2.2 lakh from the contractor whose firm is providing security
guards and peons to the welfare department.
According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), following reg
istration of the case, the probe agency laid a trap and the personal
assistant was caught while accepting the bribe of Rs.2.2 lakh from the
complainant, on behalf of the IAS officer. He had asked his assistant to
deliver the money to his car.
"The assistant delivered the money to his car, which was intercepted
by the CBI outside his office and the officer was nabbed with the bribe
amount," a CBI official has said.
Singh, a 1984 batch Indian Administrative Service officer, was later
suspended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Kejriwal is the target," he said,
referring to the principal secretary
who the CBI alleged was involved
in corrupt ion. Earlier, CBI
spokesperson Devpreet Sing h
denied any raid at Kejriwal's office.
The chief minister said the CBI was
ly ing because its of ficers did
search his office.
He said his office didn't maintain

files beyond 1015 days.
"If they were looking for files of
the 200714 period, what were
they looking for in my office?"
He pointed out that Rajendra
Kumar had held senior positions in
the departments of education, IT
and VAT.
India launches six Singaporean satellites;

50th launch from Sriharikota
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh): India has
put into orbit in copy book style six
Singaporean satellites that will hover
about 550 km above the Earth for up to
five years. It was the Indian space
agency's 50th launch from here.
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle's
Core Alone (PSLVCA) variant standing
44.4 metres tall and weig hing 227
tonnes rose into the evening skies at 6,
riding majestically on the tail of fierce
orange flames.
The Singaporebuilt satellites included
the city state's first commercial earth
observatory TeLEOS1 weighing 400 kg.
"Today's achievement demonstrates,
yet again, India's increasing space capa
bilities," President Pranab Mukherjee
said in a message to the Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO).
ISRO chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar said
the agency would keep putting satellites
both communication and earth observa
tion variants into orbit. "We have a lot
more to achieve next year."
The expendable rocket carrying six
Singaporean satellites cumulatively
weighing around 620 kg as its luggage
slung them into their intended orbit just
over 21 minutes into flight.
ISRO's PSLV C 29 lifts off from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota.
The rocket blasted of f from the first
launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space
Centre here, around 80 km from
Chennai.
For onlookers, the rocket on its way up
looked like an inverted flare/torch light
ing up the night sky. As it gathered
speed, the ISRO team celebrated.
ISRO successfully switched on and off
the rocket's fourth stage/engine 46 min

utes after it delivered the satellites in
space. The test will enable ISRO to devel
op rockets that can launch orbits at dif
ferent orbits in one flight.
"The restart test was successful. The
engine was fired for nearly five seconds.
We will be using this technology some
time next year," Kumar said.
Just over 18 minutes into flight, the

rocket ejected the TeLEOS and it was fol
lowed by the other five.
In just over 21 minutes, all six satellites
were put into their intended orbit.
"The restart of the engine happened
beautifully. The test was a success," S.
Somnath, director of the Liquid
Propulsions Systems Centre, told IANS.
According to him, the multiple burn
fuel stage/engine will be used in PSLV
C35 rocket which will carry two satel
lites.
It is expected to last up to five years.
The other smaller satellites VELOXC1
(123 kg), VELOXII (13 kg), Kent Ridge1
(78 kg), Galassia (3.4 kg) and Athenoxat
1 will last from between six months
and three years.
Kumar said the next three satellite
launches using PSLV rocket would be
navigation satellites. They would be fol
lowed by some multiple satellite launch
es.
Last month, India launched its commu
nication satellite GSAT15 using the
Ariane rocket of the European space
agency which takes the total number of
satellite launches in 2015 to 21 17 for
eign, four Indian.
INDIA
11
DELHI'S BAD AIR: Supreme Court bans

diesel SUVs registration
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dou
bled the environment compensat ion
charge (ECC) for loaded commercial vehi
cles entering Delhi and imposed a blanket
ban on registration of diesel vehicles of
2,000 cc and above in the National Capital
Region (NCR).
A bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur,
Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice R. Banumathi
said no commercial vehicle registered
prior to 2005 will enter Delhi and all taxis
will have to switch over to CNG by March
1, next year.
However, the decision was dubbed inap
propriate by car dealers in the city who
insisted that the ban should have been
imposed on all categories for SUVs if pollu
tion was the only reason behind the ban of
high end diesel SUV cars.
"What type of decision is this? Why ban
SUVs of 2,000 cc and above and not all
SUVs if pollution is really an issue?
"We will have to cancel all our advance
bookings for bulky SUVs. As per the
Supreme Court decision, only two of our
SUVs Quanto and TUV 300 can be
sold. We are going to face huge job cuts
this way," Sachin Chaudhary, branch man
ager at Delhibased Koncept Mahindra,
awards.
According to reports, SUV sales of above 2000 cc and other in November

was about 20,000 units.
The Centre for Science and Environment
(CSE), however, supported the Supreme
Court's ruling and said: "The current emis
sions standards in India legally allow
diesel cars to emit more particulate matter
and nitrogen oxides which are the most
serious pollutants of concern in our city's
air than petrol cars."
According to Automot ive Research

Association of India (ARAI), diesel cars
emit five times more particulate matter
and seven times more total air toxins com
pared to petrol cars.
According to reports, SUV sales of above
2000 cc and other in November was about
20,000 units, while the diesel version of
Government looks to budget

session for passing GST Bill
New Delhi: The government is mulling
waiting till the budget session of parlia
ment to secure passage for the Goods and
Services Tax Bill, a highly placed source
said.
The government is expecting improved
numbers in the Rajya Sabha in April 2016
since a number of Congress members are
retiring in March and April next year.
In March, five nominated members of the
upper house are retiring. The BJPled gov
ernment will get to nominate new mem
bers.
"Instead of getting the bill passed now
with compromises, we can get it passed in
April 2016," the source said. The source
said in April, there will be at least 17 more
members supporting the GST.
"If not in April, the GST can be imple
mented in May, or June or July... it will be a
matter of delay of a few months only," the
source added.
The next target of implementing the GST
is likely to be set at June 2016.
According to government sources, all
parties, except the Congress and AIADMK,
are supporting the GST Bill at present.
The Congress is adamant on at least
three changes in the GST Bill to enable its
passage in the Rajya Sabha.
One of the demands is that the states do
not have powers to levy additional tax over
the 18 percent tax rate that forms part of
the Constitutional Amendment Bill.
On Wednesday, Finance Minister Arun

Jaitley said placing the demand for cap in
the constitutional amendment was difficult
to accept.
"Are tariffs part of the constitution? Can
tariffs ever be cast in stone?" Jaitley said at
an interactive session here on GST organ
ised by industry chambers here.
"Suppose there is a drought or a flood in
10 states and for one week you need to
raise the tarif fs, are you then going to
amend the constitution?" he asked.
"GST is an idea which I have no doubt
that, if not today, tomorrow it has to be
approved; we are just going through the
agony prior to the passage of the bill," the
finance minister said.
A constitutional amendment measure, the
GST Bill needs to be passed by a two third
majority in both houses of parliament and
by the legislatures of half of the states in
the country to become law.
This will enable the GST to be introduced
across the country. Following this, parlia
ment and state legislatures will need to
pass the GST bills that impose central and
state GSTs.
The government is in a minority in the
Rajya Sabha. The bill was sent to a select
committee of the upper house, and a report
is with the house now.
The GST is seen as key to facilitating
industrial growth and improving business
climate in the country.
Marut i's Sw ift Dzire alone sold over

21,000.
Anand Mahindra, chairman and manag
ing director of Mahindra and Mahindra
Group, tweeted: "So even if we believe the
decision on diesel vehicles isn't optimal,
we'll honour it and develop vehicles that
comply with their stipulations."
In fact, M&M, the country's third largest
automaker with a market share of 7.86
percent, will be the worst hit by the judg
ment as it has a massive lineup of diesel
SUVs and utility vehicles. Its bestselling
vehicles Scorpio and XUV 500 too
have a 2,179 cc engine.
Banning registration of SUVs and private
cars of and above 2,000 cc engine capacity
using diesel as fuel up to March 31, the
apex court said: "We are of the view that
the new commercial light duty diesel vehi
cles can for the present continue being
registered in Delhi on account of the
dependence of the public on such vehicles
for supply of essentials."
On the other hand, 100 percent increase
in ECC would mean that light commercial
vehicles with two axles loaded with goods
will pay Rs.1,400 and loaded commercial
vehicles with three and four axles will pay
Rs.2,600 to enter Delhi.
Karti distances from ED

raids, Chidambaram
calls Centre foolish
Chennai/New Delhi: The
Enforcement Directorate
(ED) has conducted raids
in Chennai at the prem
ises of firms allegedly
connected to former
finance minister P.
Chidambaram's son
Karti.
Karti said neither he
nor his family were
shareholders in any of
the
firms,
while
Chidambaram issued a
statement saying "noth
ing was found in the
P. Chidambaram's son Karti.
fishing and roving
enquiry" and he would like to see how shareholder or director of any of the
far a "foolish government" will go in said firms. We do not have any eco
nomic interest in the said firms."
"harassing" his son.
He said that as the allegation of his
Kart i, in a statement issued in
Chennai, said some of ficers of the connection with the firms was "false".
He said there was no "basis for them
investigating agencies visited his
to have visited by of fice or to make
office on Wednesday.
"I was informed that they are inves any enquiries in my office".
Chidambaram said: "As can be
tigating three firms of which two
belong to my friends. They are owned expected, nothing was found in the
by professionals and managed by fishing and roving enquiry. I would
competent board of directors. I am like to see how far a foolish govern
ment will go in harassing him. I still
not aware of the third firm," he said.
"I made it clear to the officers what believe that the department I left
I had publicly stated earlier. Neither I behind have many of ficers who will
nor any member of my family is a act according to their conscience."
12
CLIMATE DEAL
UN chief terms Paris deal 'monumental

triumph' for planet Earth
Paris: United Nations chief Ban Kimoon has
termed the historic climate change agree
ment reached in Paris as a "monumental tri
umph" for planet Earth that will set the
stage for achieving an end to poverty and
development for all.
"In the face of an unprecedented chal
lenge, you have demonstrated unprecedent
ed leadership," the UN Secretary General
said taking the COP21 stage just minutes
after the adoption of the agreement.
"You have worked collaborative ly to
achieve something that no one nation could
achieve alone. This is a resounding success
for multilateralism."
In a landmark deal, 195 Parties to the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change
pledged to curb emissions, strengthen
resilience and take common climate action.
"The Paris Agreement is a monumental tri
umph for people and our planet," Ban said in
a tweet, immediately following the adoption
of the new Paris Agreement. "It sets the
stage for prog ress in ending poverty,
strengthening peace and ensuring a life of
dignity and opportunity for all."
Recalling that he made climate change one
of the defining priorities of his tenure, Ban
French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius (center), stands near French President
Francois Hollande (left) and United Nations SecretaryGeneral Ban Kimoon (right) at the
World Climate Change Conference 2015 at Le Bourget near Paris
said that most of all, he has listened to peo
ple the young, the poor and the vulnerable,
including indigenous peoples, from every
corner of the globe.
"They seek protection from the perils of a
warming planet, and the opportunity to live

in a safer, more bountiful world," he said.
"They have demanded that world leaders act
to safeguard their wellbeing and that of
generations to come."
World leaders hail the

Paris Climate deal
Washington/Paris: T he world
leaders led by US President
Barack Obama today welcomed
the adoption of a legallybinding
pact seeking to limit global warm
ing to we ll be low 2 deg rees
Celsius, calling it a big step for
ward in securing the planet for
future generations.
French President Francois
Hollande termed the day as a
great date for the planet.
"In Paris, there have been many
revolutions over the centuries.
Today it is the most beautiful and
the most peaceful revolution that
has just been accomplished," he
said. The international deal on
limiting climate change repre
sents "a huge step forward in
securing the future of the planet",
Brit ish Prime Minister David
Cameron has said.
T he deal, which attempts to
limit the rise in global tempera
tures to less than 2C, was
approved by all 195 countries at a
summit in Paris.
Cameron said it showed what
"unity, ambition and perseverance
can do". German Chance llor
Angela Merkel welcomed the deal,
saying it will oblige the entire
global community to act against
global climate change. "Despite
the fact that a great deal of work
is still lying ahead, it is a sign of
From left, France's President Francois Hollande holds a box containing

an international petition to support the climate talks.
hope that we will be able to pre
serve conditions for living for bil
lions of people in future," the
chancellor stressed.
UN chief Ban Kimoon termed
the agreement as a "monumental
triumph" for planet Earth that will
set the stage for achieving an end
to poverty and development for
all.
"In the face of an unprecedented
challenge, you have demonstrated
unprecedented leadership," the
UN Secretary General said taking
the COP21 stage just minutes
after the adoption of the agree
ment.
"You have worked collaborative

ly to achieve something that no
one nation could achieve alone.
This is a resounding success for
multilateralism." In a landmark
deal, 195 Part ies to the UN
Framework Convent ion on
Climate Change pledged to curb
emissions, strengthen resilience
and take common climate action.
China termed the pact as "a new
beginning in international cooper
ation". The pact is fair in splitting
responsibility between developed
and developing countries, Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokesperson
Hong Lei said.
Turning to the agreement itse lf, the

SecretaryGeneral said negotiators reached
"solid results on all key points," with an
agreement that demonstrates solidarity and
"is ambitious, flexible, credible and durable."
"All countries have agreed to hold global
temperature rise to well below 2 degrees
Celsius. And recognizing the risk of grave
consequences, you have further agreed to
pursue efforts to limit temperature increase
to 1.5 degrees," he said.
In addition, a review mechanism has been
established whereby every five years, begin
ning in 2018, Parties will regularly review
what is needed in line with science.
"Governments have agreed to binding,
robust, transparent rules of the road to
ensure that all countries do what they have
agreed across a range of issues," Ban added.
"When historians look back on this day,
they will say that global cooperation to
secure a future safe from climate change
took a dramatic new turn here in Paris," Ban
said. "Today, we can look into the eyes of
our children and grandchildren, and we can
finally say, tell them that we have joined
hands to bequeath a more habitable world
to them and to future generations."
Obama reaches out to

world leaders; congrats
them on climate deal
Washington, DC: In the after
math of the historic Paris cli
mate deal, US President Barack
Obama has reached out to
world leaders and thanked
them for their valuable contri
butions in working towards
making the planet safe.
As per the W hite House,
Obama has so far reached out
to the leaders of France, Brazil,
China besides UN Secretary
General Ban Kimoon. He is
expected to contact more lead
ers. Obama telephoned French
President Francois Hollande to
thank and congratulate him
and Foreign Minister Laurent
Fabius for their leadership in
achieving a historic climate
ag reement in Paris on
December 12, the White House
said.
Obama accepted Hollande's
appreciation for the US leader
ship and commitment to
addressing the challenges pre
sented by climate change and
the important contributions
made at the conference by the
US delegation to enable a suc
cessful outcome, it said. In a
separate phone call, Obama
thanked Brazilian President

Dilma Roussef f and congratu
late her and Environment
Minister Izabella Teixeira for
their leadership in achieving a
historic climate agreement.
Roussef f underscored the
importance of the US' leader
ship in ensuring a successful
outcome to the negotiations.
Both the leaders agreed on the
importance of the US and Brazil
working together as they began
with the implementation phase
of the ag reement, a media
statement said. Obama also
thanked Ban for his leadership
in achieving the historic climate
agreement. T he two under
scored their commitment to
work together to implement the
deal.
The President and Secretary
General also discussed the dete
riorating situation in Burundi
and the urgent need to begin
internationallymediated dia
logue, the White House said.
On Sunday, Obama spoke to
his Chinese counterpart Xi
Jinping as both vowed to work
together to implement Paris cli
mate deal.
Paris climate deal

fair: China
Beijing: Top emitter China wel
comed the landmark Paris cli
mate agreement, saying it is
fair in splitting responsibility
between developed and devel
oping countries and heralded
"a new beginning in interna
tional cooperation."
"We appreciate the ef forts
that all parties have made,
especially host country
France," Foreign Ministry
spokesperson Hong Lei said.
"China has always promoted
relative negotiations, and we
will continue to work with the
international community to
deal w ith g lobal climate
change," he said.
On the basis of common but
dif ferentiated responsibilities
and respective capabilities,
developed countries agreed to
raise $100 billion a year by
2020 to help developing coun
tries
transform
their
economies.
China and the US, which are
the top two emitters, reached
an agreement last year under
which America intends to

achieve an economywide tar
get of reducing its emissions
by 2628% be low its 2005
level in 2025.
For its part, China committed
to achieve the peaking of CO2
emissions around 2030 and to
make best efforts to peak early
and intends to increase the
share of nonfossil fuels in pri
mary energy consumption to
around 20% by 2030.
Following the adoption of the
agreement, China's Special
Representat ive on Climate
Change Xie Zhenhua said: "The
Paris Climate Conference is a
crucial point in the global cli
mate governance process.
"T he outcome has a real
bearing on human beings'
undertakings in climate change
and our future of sustainable
development."
"China will take international
oblig at ions commensurate
with its own national condi
tion, development stage and
actual capacity," Xie said.
Paris: Australian Prime Minister

Malcolm Turnbull on Monday
overturned a decision by his
predecessor to ban government
investment in wind power.
Earlier this year, former prime
minister announced a controver
sial ban on wind farm invest
ment, in what was labelled a war
on clean energy in favor of dirti
er forms of power such as coal,
Xinhua news agency reported.
But on Monday, a cabinet
spokesperson said a decision to
allow the Clean Energy Finance
Corporation (CEFC) the right to
invest in wind power reflected
the Turnbull government's
"strong support for renewables
and innovation." "The mandate
puts the CEFC's focus on new and
emerging renewables technolo
gies, rather than supporting well
established technologies that are
financially viable without govern
ment support," the spokesperson
said. T he news comes on the
back of the widely successful cli
mate talk in Paris, where
Australian Environment Minister
Greg Hunt and Foreign Minister
Indias environment minister Prakash Javadekar with UN chief

Ban Kimoon in Paris.
coastline and those dependent
directly on agricultural yields at
risk.
The Paris accord builds upon
the bottom up approach of vol
untary commitments or Intended
Nat ionally
Determined
Commitments (INDCs) from both
developed and developing coun
tries. The accord urges parties to
enhance their pre2020 emission
cuts and acknowledges the sig
nificant gap between current
pledges and what is needed to be
consistent with holding tempera
ture rise to 1.5 deg rees.
Countries are expected to submit
revised INDCs by 2020, and
every five years thereafter. Modi
13
Australia commits to wind

energy after Paris deal
The deal is balanced in

Indias immediate interests
New Delhi: Leading up to the
negotiations and through the
conference in Paris, Indias role
was often made out to be as one
that could either make or break
the negot iat ions. But under
prime minister Narendra Modi,
India deftly managed its PR and
signed onto a final agreement
that is balanced in its immediate
interests.
The Paris accord sets the archi
tecture for carbon emission
reduction after 2020. It safe
guards the principle of common
but differentiated responsibility
that has remained a nonnego
tiable aspect of Indias climate
position. This principle squarely
puts the major responsibility on
developed nations to drastically
cut their carbon emissions and
provide the necessary finance,
technology and capacity building
for developing economies to mit
ig ate and adapt to climate
change.
The agreement will come into
effect once at least 55 countries,
amounting to 55% of g lobal
g reenhouse g ases, rat ify or
accept the Paris agreement.
For India, the dangers of cli
mate change are all too real. The
1.5 degrees target will avoid put
ting the lives of millions along its
CLIMATE DEAL
in his opening speech at the

negotiations highlighted the
need to operationalise the princi
ple of equity and fair distribution
of the remaining carbon space
(i.e. the amount of carbon we can
further emit before breaching
average temperature threshold).
But by deferring ambitious car
bon reductions from the devel
oped countries post 2020, which
will still remain voluntary, India
has ef fectively accepted a sce
nario where a fair carbon budg
eting is a distant dream. India, it
appears, will instead push hard
for greater financing and capaci
ty building for a renewable ener
gy transition.
Australia became one of nearly 200 countries committed to ending

the era of fossil fuels.
Julie Bishop agreed to Australia
becoming one of nearly 200
countries committed to ending
the era of fossil fuels.
Last wee k, Turnbull also
revealed his government's com
mitment to encouraging innova
tion and small business, and
according to a statement
released on Monday, noting that
clean energy such as wind is cru
cial to the future of innovation in

Australia. Kane Thornton, chief
executive of the Clean Energy
Council, also praised the deci
sion, telling The Guardian that
Abbott's "war on wind" was a
step back, whereas the talks in
Paris and Turnbull's support for
innovation was a giant leap for
ward for clean energ y in
Australia.
Paris climate deal is

weak, unambitious: CSE
New Delhi: The Paris climate change
deal was "weak and unambitious" in
allowing the developed countries
avoid their "historical responsibili
ty", the Centre for Science and
Environment (CSE) said on Sunday.
"The draft Paris agreement con
tinues to be weak and unambitious
as it does not include any meaning
ful targets for developed countries
to reduce their emissions," said
Sunita Narain, director general of
CSE, in a statement.
The agreement did not opera
tionalize equity and the term 'car
bon budget' did not even find men
tion in the text, which would end up
furthering "climate apartheid".
The agreement had come after an
intense two weeks of negotiations
and represented a lot of "compro
mises" made, particularly by devel
oping countries, the CSE statement
said. Developing countries had got
promise of money while developed
countries had finally "got rid of
their historical responsibility of
causing climate change" and they
had no legally binding targets on
finance or emissions cuts.
"The phrase 'historical responsi
bility' has been erased from the
agreement and this weakens the
obligations of developed countries
to take actions due to their past
emissions," said Chandra Bhushan,

deputy director general of CSE.
"Without historical responsibility,
equity will now be interpreted only
through the words 'respective capa
bilities and national circumstances',
further removing dif ferentiation
between the climate actions of
developed and developing coun
tries."
To erase any notion of historical
responsibility, the developed coun
tries had gone to the extent of men
tioning in the text that the loss and
damage due to climate change "does
not involve or provide a basis for
any liability or compensation,"
Bhushan added.
Words and phrases like 'equity',
'common but differentiated respon
sibilities', and 'climate justice' were
mentioned, but were are not in
operational parts of the text and so
there were no commitments for
these things, the statement said.
India also "believes that it will not
have to do much before 2030," the
statement added.
But CSE analyses say India will be
under constant pressure to take
more burden for mitigating climate
change by 2020 and beyond, espe
cially when the next review of all
the nationally determined contribu
tions of countries take place.
14
OP-ED
India's baffling conditional pardon

and deal with David Headley
By Mayank Chhaya
Chicago: Considering that any
intelligence that David Coleman
Headley might supply India will
necessarily be exponent ially
dated, it is hard to make sense of a
special court in Mumbai granting
a conditional pardon to the key
Mumbai terror plotter and even
making him a witness for the
prosecution.
For Headleys part though he
has once again pulled off a crafty
deal to save himself more trouble
by agreeing to turn approver for
India reportedly in return for dis
closing the role played by his han
dlers from the Pakistani military
and inte lligence services.
However, on the face of it one can
not say what specifically India
stands to gain by granting him
such extraordinary accommoda
tion.
The only plausible explanation
behind the Mumbai courts deci
sion is that the Indian prosecutors
are trying to make the best of a
bad situation where Headley is a
tightly controlled subject by the
US authorities access to whom is
very limited. Given his history
with the US authorities as an
informant and rather complicated
entanglement with the terrorist
group LashkareTaiba as well as
Now with the Indian deal, David Headley has yet again excelled at
finding a way out of a potentially terrible situation.
elements of Pakistani intelligence
there has been some reluctance
on the US side to expose him to
Indian investigators.
While his plea deal with the US
prosecutors requires him to coop
erate with India and other foreign
agencies to the fullest possible
extent, it is a matter of specula
tion how much he is really permit
ted to reveal. Anything that he
might have to say about his rela
tionship with Pakistani intelli
gence or any other official agency
is now a good seven to nine years
old. He was arrested in October,
2009 from Chicagos OHare
International Airport just as he
was about to leave the country.
Effectively, he has been out of any
direct touch w ith any of his

Pakistani contacts since his arrest.
He is known to have shared all
the intelligence and information
that he possessed about the
November 26, 2008 Mumbai
attacks with the US investigators.
He was also extensively interro
gated by Indian investigators in
June, 2010 during which the US
Department of Justice had main
tained that "There were no restric
tions on the questions posed by
Indian investigators. That being
the case, coupled with the dated
ness of his information, the Indian
conditional pardon is intriguing.
His 2010 plea deal was incum
bent upon the quality of informa
tion that he would provide to the
US authorities. At the time the

prosecutors here had said that
Headley has provided substantial
assistance to the criminal investi
gation, and also has provided
information of significant intelli
gence value. Subsequently, even
at the time of his sentencing in
January, 2013, both the prosecu
tion and defense repeatedly and
greatly emphasized the extent and
quality of his cooperation. His
attorney John Theis, in requesting
for a lighter sentence, had said the
information that Headley provid
ed was "so profound that it calls
for extraordinary downward
departure."
He also said because of the
information provided by Headley
barely 30 minutes after his arrest,
lives were saved not just in India
and the United States but else
where in the world.
For its part even the defense
described Headley's case as
"unique ly agg ravat ing" and
"uniquely mitigating" and fre
quently pointed out his unprece
dented cooperation. It was per
haps for the first time in a major
case of global terrorism that one
of the key players chose to coop
erate without any coercion and so
immediately after his arrest.
T he government's posit ion
paper on his sentencing, while
referring to his extraordinary

cooperation, said, "Headley simi
larly provided extensive detail
about Ilyas Kashmiri and his net
work." When asked to elaborate
on the kind of information that
Headley provided about Kashmiri,
the prosecutors had said it was
classified and they could not
share it.
It had baffled many then why a
man once so deeply immersed in
an extreme version of Islam
known as Salafism could change
so radically as to seriously under
mine its other ad herents by
exposing them. One plausible
explanation could be what even
Judge Harry Leinenweber zeroed
in on. He had pointed out how
Headley had a history of being
arrested and then finding his way
out of it by cooperating with the
authorities. He was referring to
Headley's two arrests in the past
in connect ion w ith narcot ics
smuggling and how he managed
to come out of prison on fairly
positive terms in exchange for
cooperation.
His plea deal to escape the
death penalty and extradition to
India was yet another deal that he
struck. Now with the Indian deal,
Headley has yet again excelled at
finding a way out of a potentially
terrible situation.
Overhaul of Congress leadership an idea whose time has come

By Rekha Bhattacharjee
hat has become of our
g reat org anizat ion?
Instead of a party that
fired the imagination of the mass
es throughout the length and
breadth of India, we have shrunk,
losing touch with the toiling mil
lions, said Rajiv Gandhi while
addressing the Congress cente
nary session in Bombay (now
Mumbai) on December 28, 1985.
History seems to be, like always,
repeating itself. The "great organ
ization" India's prime minister
was referring to needs an urgent
leadership change to stem the rot.
As one of the staunch Nehru
Gand hi family loyalists, M.L.
Fotedar, has recently stated, the
Congress is on the verge of a col
lapse. "However, this time there is
no savior," writes the former
union minister and serving
Congress Working Committee
member in his soon to be
re leased book, "T he Chinar
Leaves".
It would be interesting to see who would challenge the motherson

duo and how many CWC stalwarts would stand behind the challenger.
If one is to ask a devoted
Congress worker, the scenario is
really bleak. A political party
which was guided by intellectual
giants like Mahatma Gandhi and
Jawaharlal Nehru, and which has
ruled India for around 50 years in
the last seven decades or so, has
been reduced to the ignominy of
occupying just a handful of the
opposition benches. Time is run
ning out fast for the dynasty
which has been at the helm of the

Indian National Congress for
most of the last seven decades or
so. With the electoral fortunes of
the Congress hitting its nadir last
May winning just 44 of the Lok
sabha's 543 elected seats the
delinking of the historic political
organization from the Nehru
Gandhi family is a historic neces
sity which the Congress leader
ship can ignore only at its peril.
Sonia Gandhi is rightly credited

for her role in saving the oldest
Indian political party from obliv
ion in 1998, but she is we ll
beyond her prime. The Congress
president needs to be shown the
script of her inaugural speech on
April 6, 1998.
Gandhi is credited with devising
plans to revitalise the party by
"reinforcing the role of ordinary
workers and creating a represen
tative and responsible organiza
tional structure of the party" in
1998. But, in 2015, Rajiv
Gandhi's widow can be accused of
"losing touch with the toiling mil
lions".
To make the scenario even
more depressing for a brooding
Congress worker, the only alter
native being presented by an
organization in denial is Rahul
Gand hi. It would be naive to
expect Rahul Gandhi of upping
his leadership ante and provide
effective leadership to one of the
largest political organizations in
the world.
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
Why are Congress leaders so

reluctant to look beyond Sonia
Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi? How
can one justify such a bankruptcy
of leadership from a party which
still has some credible intellectu
als in its ranks? The 2014 parlia
mentary election results provided
a wonderful opportunity to push
for a leadership change but it has
been wasted by those for whom
the Congress starts and finishes
with: NehruGandhi family.
"T he dilemma be fore Sonia
Gandhi was that on the one hand
she could not do without her
coterie while on the other hand
she had an overriding desire to
see her son succeed in politics,"
Fotedar writes in his book.
It would be interesting to see
who would challenge the mother
son duo and how many CWC stal
warts would stand behind the
challenger. It would also be inter
est ing to see whether the
Congress would decide to go for
the makeover at the top or disap
pear into the annals of history.
16
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
Film fraternity congratulates

Salman on acquittal
Mumbai: Friends and colleagues of Salman Khan, who
was acquitted of all charges in a 2002 accident case,
congratulated the Bollywood superstar for getting rid of
the "legal sword" that was hanging over his head for 13
years. Singer Mika Singh, who has given several popular
hit songs for his films like "Aaj ki party", tweeted:
"Congrats big bro @BeingSalmanKhan...God bless you",
while Salman's "Yuvvraaj" shared: "God is always kind to
good human beings, @BeingSalmanKhan with god's bless
ings is freed today from a hanging sword for thirteen years.
Cheers!"
Veteran actor Anupam Kher said: "So happy that
@BeingSalmanKhan is acquitted of all charges.
Truth Prevails. Even if it takes 13 long years."
The Bombay High Court on Thursday gave a
clean chit to Salman in the September 28,
2002, accident case citing lack of evidence.
Justice A.R. Joshi said the actor "cannot be
convicted" on the basis of the evidences pro
duced by the prosecution.
Following the news, congratulations also
came in from singer Adnan Sami, who
crooned the melodi
ous track "Bhardo
Salman Khan
jholi" in "Bajrangi Bhaijaan". "#SalmanVerdict Heartiest

Congratulations to my dear bro @BeingSalmanKhan!
Celebrating with #DRUMSOFCELEBRATION," he posted.
Aftab Shivdasani wrote: "Congratulations bhai
@BeingSalmanKhan, we wish you lots of peace, love and
happiness always. Also very happy for your loved ones.
#relief "
Also celebrating the judgment was "Hate Story 3" actress
Daisy Shah, who is Salman's close friend.
"It's time for double celebration as Salman has been
acquitted and I am extremely happy for him. I will be meet
ing him in the evening. It's a big day for his family and
friends," Daisy said.
Author and columnist Shobhaa De commented that justice
has prevailed, but also raised a pertinent question.
She shared: "Thank god for our courts!!! Justice first and
last! If Salman didn't do it, who did? One dead person. Four
injured. Surely, someone is guilty??"
Meanwhile, actress Shilpa Shirodkar told IANS: "I just wish
he is acquitted from all the other cases he has on his head.
God bless him and he lives a very healthy life and keeps
entertaining everyone."
Salman's name is also part of a case in which he and few
other Bollywood actors are accused of poaching blackbucks.
Mamata, Big B wish 'superstar'

Rajinikanth on birthday
n the occasion of super
star Rajinikanth's 65th
birthday, celebrities
across various fields including
West Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee, megastar
Amitabh Bachchan and veteran
actor Anupam Kher have wished
him Happy birthday.
Rajinikanth, who made his
debut with filmmaker K.
Balachander's Tamil drama
Apoorva Raagangal in 1975,
he went on to star in films like
Mullum Malarum, Moondru
Mugam, Kalaimamani,
Muthu, Sivaji and Enthiran.
His Hindi credits include
Bulandi, Aatank Hi Aatank,
Insaniyat Ke Devta, Hum and
Khoon Ka Karz.
While fans wanted to celebrate
their superstar's birthday in a
grand style, Rajinikanth request
ed them to call off all plans due
to the grave situation caused by
heavy rains in Tamil Nadu.
However, this didn't stop
celebrities from wishing him and
they took to Twitter to express
Superstar Rajinikanth turned 65.

their feelings.
Here's what they have posted:
Mamata Banerjee: Happy
birthday to Rajinikanth ji.
Amitabh Bachchan: Happy
Birthday to Rajini. Rajinikanth
for December 12. The weight of
his popularity and presence can
never be measured.
Anupam Kher: Happy Birthday
@rajinikanth. A great actor/star.
A greater human being. Love,
peace and happiness always.
Dhanush: Happy birthday
#superstar.
Aishwaryaa R.Dhanush:
Happiness and pride in life
includes putting up this tweet.
Happy B'day Appa. Love you
more than life. Stay
blessed.#HappyBirthdayThalaiv
aa
Soundarya Rajinikanth: Appa
is away working in Goa! He's
gods child and I'm blessed to be
born to him!
#HappyBirthdayThalaivaa
#loveyou #blessed.
Abhishek Bachchan: Happy
birthday Thallaiva!
Allu Arjun: Many Happy
returns of the day to the South
Indian @superstarrajini guru. My
favourite of favourites. Our
South Indian pride and deep
respect.
Sivakarthikeyan: Happy
Birthday to thalaivar @super
starrajini sir.
Anirudh Ravichander: Happy
Birthday to the one and only
Superstar in the world.
#StyleSamrat.
Radikaa Sarathkumar: Happy
bday Rajini sir.
Schwarzenegger may not be part of 'Enthiran 2'
he Terminator" star Arnold Schwarzenegger,

who was approached by the makers of super
star Rajinikanthstarrer "Enthiran 2" to play
the antagonist in the film, may not get to play the
role as the deal failed to work out, a source has said.
"The team has finally decided to rope in a
Bollywood actor to play the baddie. The deal with
Arnold Schwarzenegger didn't work out for various
reasons. Hence, the makers decided to move on as

the project was getting delayed," a source from the
film's unit told IANS. One of the reasons why the
deal with Schwarzenegger fell through was because
of the star's high remuneration of Rs.120 crore,
according to the source, A sequel to Tamil block
buster "Enthiran", the film also stars Amy Jackson,
who will reportedly be playing a robot.
A scene from 'Dilwale
Raj Thackeray not

against 'Dilwale'
screening
aharashtra Navnirman
Sena president Raj
Thackeray declared that
he did not support a proposed
boycott of Shah Rukh Khanstar
rer 'Dilwale' called by an affiliat
ed unit of the MNS.
"I wish to make it clear that the
MNS Chitrapat Sena's (MNSCS)
decision to boycott the film
(Dilwale) is not the official stand
of the party," Raj Thackeray said
in a statement.
T he statement came in the
wake of MNSCS chief Amey
Khopkar's call on Monday
appealing to the masses not to
patronize 'Dilwale' as its lead
actor Shah Rukh Khan remained
unmoved by the farmers' plight
in Maharashtra.
"W hile Shah Rukh donated
Rs.10 million (Rs.1 crore) to the
floodhit people of Chennai, he
seems to have forgotten the

droughthit
farmers
of
Maharashtra. We strongly con
demn this," Khopkar had said
calling on viewers to boycott the
forthcoming SRK re lease on
December 18.
Endorsing Khopkar's stance,
Raj T hackeray said that SRK
must understand that after com
ing to Maharashtra, becoming
big and earning millions, it is not
right to forget the state, but said
boycotting 'Dilwale' was not the
MNS's official stand.
The popular SRKKajol pair
which gave Bollywood its longest
running movie in history 'Dilwale
Dulhaniya Le Jayenge' will be
seen again in Rohit Shetty's
'Dilwale' five years after the hit
movie, 'My Name Is Khan', which
was their eighth film together in
over 20 years.
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
17
Dilip Kumar was tearful upon

receiving Padma Vibhushan
egendary actor Dilip
Kumar says tears
welled up in his eyes
when he was honored with
the Padma Vibhushan, the
country's second highest
civilian award in Mumbai.
Union Home Minister
Rajnath Singh conferred
the distinction on the thes
pian at his residence.
Overwhelmed today by
the gesture of home minis
ter @BJPRajnathSingh who
flew to Mumbai specially
to present me with the
#PadmaVibhushan, Dilip
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh presents
Kumar posted on Twitter
Padma Vibhushan Award to Dilip Kumar.
on Sunday.
Peshawar, now in Pakistan, Dilip Kumar, whose
Health did not allow me to travel to Delhi to
real name is Yusuf Khan, entered the Indian film
receive the award from the President. CM
industry in the blackandwhite era and became a
@Dev_Fadnavis and Governer Vidyasagarji too
name to reckon with in the 1950s and 1960s.
came to wish me. Tearful moment when the award
He is credited for films like "Aan", "Daag",
was in my hands. How happy and proud my family
"Madhumati", "Paigham", "Leader", "Ram Aur
was. Indeed Allah's mercy and blessing, added
Shyam", "Devdas", "MughalEAzam" and "Ganga
Dilip Kumar, who turned 93 last week.
Jamuna".
Present on the occasion were his actresswife
After working for about six decades, he retired
Saira Bano, Maharashtra Governor C.V. Rao and
from films in 1998. His last movie was "Qila".
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Born in
MLTR makes Delhiites sway

to 1990s pop music
anish soft rock/pop band
Michae l Learns to Rock
(MLTR) took the hearts
away of music lovers in the
national capital with their 1990s
hit numbers in their maiden per
formance in Gurgaon.
When the clock struck 8.50 p.m.
on Friday, the diehard fans of the
threepiece band consisting of
drummer Kare Wanscher, singer
keyboard player Jascha Richter
and guitarist Mikke l Lentz,
jumped with joy as the trio, aged
over 40, hit the stage all suited up.
While Wanscher, in a white shirt
The band Michael Learns to Rock.

with rolled up sleeves and black
pants, began the gig by playing
the drums with intensity, Lentz,
sporting formals, including a tie,
strummed the guitar. Richter, on
the other hand, dressed in a grey
suit, took charge of the keyboard
and mic and started the concert
with their last year's single "Silent

times". Then their 1993 hit track
"Sleeping child" drew cheers from
the crowd at the Showshaa Arena,
which can accommodate about
2,500 people, at the Kingdom of
Dreams here. "Complicated heart"
also made the attendees sing
along with the band. "Thank you
so much. We are so happy to see
you for the first time a t our live
concert in Delhi," Richter told the
enthusiastic fans. The band, which
was formed in 1988, also includ
ed their latest single "I'll wait for
you" in their act.
Alia Bhatt.
Alia Bhatt 'ne' after

suering burns
ctress Alia Bhatt, who

reportedly suffered
burn injuries at an
awards function here, says she
is fine now. She has thanked
her fans and wellwishers for
the concern.
Alia, who was attending an
award function, reportedly suf
fered burn injuries on her left
hand and face.
"Thank you guysss so much
for all your concern, love and
wishes!!! Things like this are a
gentle reminder that we can't
overlook safety," Alia tweeted
on Tuesday.
The "Highway" actress also
said that accidents, like the one

she suffered, "are preventable".
"It isn't possible to go
through life accidentfree. But,
most accidents like this one
are preventable... FYI my face is
fine," the "Shaandaar" actress
added.
On the silver screen, the 22
yearold actress was last seen
in Vikas Bahl's romantic come
dy "Shaandaar" alongside
Shahid Kapoor.
She will be next seen in the
upcoming thriller "Udta
Punjab", directed by Abhishek
Chaubey. The film is slated to
hit the screens next year.
EVA LONGORIA IN INDIA FOR A CAUSE

fter her muchtalked about
engagement in Dubai,
"Desperate Housewives" star
Eva Longoria has come straight down
to India with her fiance Jose Antonio
Baston! She isn't here on an acting
assignment, but for a cause.
The couple met a group of under
privileged children who are a part of
an NGO here on Tuesday.
Longoria, an active philanthropist,
announced her arrival here, via
Twitter. She even posted images from
her visit to Harmony House, an NGO

which takes care of the basic needs of
underprivileged children, and wrote:
"Thank you Harmony House for let
ting us visit! You're doing amazing
things."
The image features the 40yearold
actress looking cosy in a shirt and a
black jacket, with a group of children
who are seen holding a poster that
reads: "Welcome Eva & Pepe".
Pepe is the nickname of Baston,
who is a television professional.
Eva Longoria in India.
Longoria received a traditional

Indian welcome as she sported a gar
land and vermillion mark on her fore
head. With another image, she tweet
ed: "The Welcome greeting in India!
#HarmonyHouse #ThankYou."
Her excitement didn't just end
there. She was glad to watch the chil
dren's enthusiasm in learning new
skills.
"Yoga dance by the young boys at
#HarmonyHouse #Talent," Longoria,
whose The Eva Longoria Foundation
helps Latinas with education and
career training.
18
GLAMOR
You too can help the model-turned-actress

bring the third Miss Universe crown to
India by voting for her during the
pageant in Las Vegas on Dec 20.
By Parveen Chopra
ushmita Sen won in 1994.
Lara Dutta in year 2000.
T his year the mo de l
turnedBollywoo d actress
Urvashi Rautela is seeking the
third Miss Universe crown in
Las Vegas. Often compared to
former Miss World Aishwarya
Rai, the gorgeous girl is con
sidered a hot favorite.
She is the best of Indian
beauties ever sent for Miss
Universe pageant, says Mani
Kamboj, coowner of Roshni
Media Group. Mani is hotfoot
ing to Vegas to show solidarity.
She wants all Indian Americans
too to support her. How?
During the live telecast of the
pageant on Fox on Dec 20
starting at 7 pm, people from
all over the world can vote for
their favorite contestant at
www.missuniverse/vote.
Mani tells The South Asian
Times that Urvashi has worked
hard to ensure that she steals
the show in Vegas, which will
see 80 beautiful women from
all over the world competing.
And she has blessings and
backing of many notables in
Bollywood. Urvashi has been
gifted a lucky charm by no
other than Lara Dutta.
Urvashi (named fitt ing ly
after an apasra) is 21, five feet
ten inches. She won Miss
Universe India in 2012 but
was dethroned after a dispute
over her age. She made her
Bollywoo d de but opposite
Sunny Deol in Singh Saab The
Great (2013) and will be seen
next year in Great Grand
Masti, the third installment of
the successful Masti comedy
series.
T his year by winning the
Miss Diva contest she was
handed the ticket for Miss
Universe. T his fulfilled her
burning desire to represent
India and make it proud. As
she posted on her Facebook
page: I dont believe in com
peting with anyone. But I com
Seeking a third Miss

Universe crown for
India.
Urvashi drew the queen of clubs card at a photoshoot in Vegas.

pete with myself and that is
what makes me stronger and
better. I believe in my dreams
and on this note I am set to
represent my country India to
try and do full justice to my
title and bring back the third
crown.
Mani Kamboj informs us that
Urvashi has labored a lot to
juggle her film shoots as well
as g ive adequate t ime for
stretching, dancing (she is
adept in 8 dif ferent dance
forms) and ensuring she pre
pares for the pageant. She
wants to do justice to whatever
she does.
According to those close to
her, the actress has also spent
a lot of time in reading positive
views and prepared herself
mentally too.
Urvashi is a nat ive of
Uttarakhand. A national level
basketball champion, she now
runs, w ith her family, the

Urvashi Rautela Foundation
to help empower the under
privileged people in India. She
also actively supports PETA
India and Save the Girl Child
Camp.
Mani adds, Urvashi believes
that representing India at the
international level will ensure
to make her message reach
across the world.
Many Indian beauties after
winning crowns ventured into
films. Urvashi is already an
established actress, who has a
huge fan following in India.
She was named the youngest
most desirable actress of 2015
of the Indian film industry.
Last year, she was made it to
the top 100 sexiest women in
the world list of FHM maga
zine.
Heres wishing her the best
at the pageant and afterwards.
BOOK REVIEWS
19
WHY INDIA NEEDS A PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM

By Arvind Padmanabhan
as "familiarity" the only reason

why India adopted a parliamen
tary system of governance? In his
book "Why India Needs the Presidential
System", author Bhanu Dhamija, himself a
publisher, seeks to answer this question,
while extending some radical thoughts on
how we should be governed.
"The Indian system began to break down
almost immediately after Independence,
because the powers of its two topmost
of ficials were poorly de fined," says
Dhamija, 56, a nonresident Himachali,
while calling for a federal set up instead,
given India's diversity, size and communal
divisions.
"The truth is the Indians adopted the
British parliamentary system for poor and
unsubstantiated reasons. Vallabbhai Patel,
the first leader to attempt a justification of
this system in India's Const ituent
Assembly, could come up with only one
reason: Familiarity."
Dhamija, who is an alumunus of Panjab
University in Chandigarh and the Stern
School of Business, New York University,
Why India Needs the

Presidential System,
By Bhanu Dhamija;
Harper Collins,
Rs. 550
and has lived half his life in the US, says

that the centralized, unitary control that
the parliamentary system offers does not
work for India.
According to him, the architect of the
Constitution of India Bhimrao Ramji
Ambedkar alluded to two main benefits of
the parliamentary system in the
Constituent Assembly one that it had the
potential for a "more responsible" govern
ments and the other of a "strong centre".
He seeks to suggest how the benefits
were not just unrealistic, but also impracti
cable. He also goes on to state that
Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister,
almost singlehandedly picked this system
of government, but never really bothered
to explain his choice in the assembly.
"One of the astonishing stories about the
making of the Indian Constitution is in a
joint meet ing of Nehru's Union
Const itut ion Committee and Pate l's
Provincial Constitution Committee on 11
June 1947, Nehru was asked by a resolu
tion to reconsider his decision."
While Ambedkar, he says, was the chief
defender of the parliamentary system, he
came on the scene only after the decision
to adopt this system had already been

taken. Prior to his appointment as chair
man of the Drafting Committee, he had
always opposed this system.
"Ambedkar would become the first
framer to disown this system. During a
debate in the Rajya Sabha in 1953 he said:
'My friends te ll me I have made the
Constitution. But I am quite prepared to
say that I shall be the first person to burn
it out. I do not want it. It does not suit any
body.'"
Even Vallabhbhai Patel, the first home
minister and deputy prime minister of
India, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the
father of Pakistan, also recommended a
dif ferent system of governance, even as
Mahatma Gandhi favored a system based
on village panchayats.
"How the concentration of power in a
Central government created a 'strong' gov
ernment? What made a national govern
ment 'strong' in a large diverse nation, a
union based on willing participation of
units, or one based on force?" he queries.
"As India's constitution was being adopt
ed, it was quite evident that it had failed to
inspire."
Toil, trouble and tension but hope

too: Middle East explained
By Vikas Datta
olonialism's malevolent ef fects lin

gered here long and for nearly a centu
ry now, this region saw great instabili
ty and/or intense repression. The Arab
Spring held hope of a peaceful and equitable
future but the optimism has waned and the
Middle East is more dangerously unstable
made more toxic by the fact that what hap
pens there can cause repercussions not only
in adjoining continents but even in those
separated by mighty oceans. What is hap
pening, and why, how did groups like the IS
appear and does the future hold any hope?
Over a dozen writers, most hailing from
the region, seek in this book to deal with
these questions, as more, as they "provide
valuable insights into what is happening in
the Middle East from a range of cultural per
spectives".
The book, which grew out of multiple
pane l discussions at the Edinburg h
International Book Festival in August 2014,
is divided into four parts the region's
remaking in and after the First World War,
the contemporary unravelling of the old
order, on writing in the region, and the
Syrian crisis.
With the Middle East one region where the
weight of history still hangs heavy after the
local inhabitants' hopes for selfrule were

belied by imperial statesmen who drew arbi
trary lines to create a score of artificial
nationstates within their "spheres of influ
ence", it is taken up in the first section.
Oxford academician Avi Shlaim, whose
writings include a voluminous biography of
King Hussein of Jordan, calls the region's
chronic condition of turmoil, instability and
lack of rights the ""postOttoman Syndrome"
arising from three contradictory promises.
T hese were the muchmaligned Anglo
French SykesPicot agreement, the assur
ances made by Sir Henry McMahon, the then
British high commissioner in Egypt, to
Hussein, the Sherif of Makkah, and the equal
lypilloried Balfour Declaration, promising a
Jewish homeland in Palestine but without
prejudice to rights of existing residents (a
stipulation often glossed over).
Jamie Barr provides more telling detail,
about the first of these, proving how almost
casual decisions about someone's else fate
can blight futures and Palestinian academi
cian Salim Tamari gives experiences culled
from diaries of Ottoman civilians and sol
diers in the region in World War I (including
journalist Najib Nassar, who happens to be
editor Raja Shehadeh's greatuncle), show
casing the rupture of existing imperial iden
tities and assertion of new national or local
ones. In the next section, Egyptian historian

Khaled Fehmy wonders when did the coun
try's revolution started or should have
started, Palestinian poet and academician
Tamim alBarg hout i te lls in a searing
account why Arab states are akin to "cracked
cauldrons" and writer Justin Marozzi, who
recently wrote a biography of Baghdad,
addresses Iraq's case. BritishIranian journal
ist Ramita Navai and BritishTurkish journal
ist Alev Scott underscore that crisis is not
limited to only Arab states, but takes new
shapes in Iran and Turkey two seemingly
more stable polities and societies.
Writers' experiences in the region feature
Kuwaiti professor Mai AlNakib, who is work
ing on her first novel, BritishPalestinian
author Selma Dabbagh and academician and
translator Marilyn Booth, dealing with issues
like gaps in history, persistence of social
issues and aspirations in literature down the
ages, the obstacles for a writer, including
censorship and how hope only survives
within a book!
Of fering some unique perspectives on
Syria choking between the authoritarian
Baathist regime and the vicious IS are Dawn
Chatty, who discusses "what you don't read"
about it, and above all, seeks to fix the nation
in local, regional and Western perspectives
rather than as an anomalous "black hole",
Shifting Sands:
The Unravelling of the Old Order in
the Middle East, by Raja Shehadeh
and Penny Johnson (editors);
Profile Books/Hachette India,
Rs.350
Robin YassinKassab and Malu Halasa, who
strikes a rare note of optimism by chroni
cling the street art and other artistic forms
of expression.
In the afterword, Shehadeh, a Palestinian
lawyer, rights activist and acclaimed writer ,
through changing conversations in a shared
taxi ride between Ramallah and Jerusalem,
shows changing Palestinian norms as he
contends a just, inclusive solution to the
Palestinian issue can of fer a new vision of
"cooperation and cosmopolitanism" to the
Middle East.
As an exploration of not only the Middle
East's tragedies, but also its potential, as well
as a concise but most accessible and insight
ful explanation of the region, this book is
unbeatable.
20
DIASPORA
Lord Swraj Paul opens new varsity

building in daughters memory
Wolverhampton: Noted NRI industrialist
Lord Swraj Paul has opened a new building
in memory of his late daughter Ambika at
the University of Wolverhampton in the UK
which he said would inspire students and
teachers who are the future of Britain.
The of ficial naming ceremony for the
"Ambika Paul Building" was accompanied by
the unveiling of a special bronze and oak
plaque to be placed at the main entrance as
an "inspirational reminder" for students.
"T his is a very special and emotional
moment for myself and my family. Ambika
was an angel and a bright light. It is fitting
that the Ambika Paul Building will be full of
vibrancy and energy," Lord Paul, who is the
Chancellor of University of Wolverhampton,
said at the naming ceremony.
Ambika Paul was born in Kolkata in 1963
and died of leukaemia at just four years of
age in April 1968. The memorial plaque
unveiled for the building traces the story of
her life.
Lord Paul's family set up the Ambika Paul
Foundation in her memory as a charitable
trust in 1978 to promote the wellbeing of
children and young people worldwide
through education, culture and health. In
2010, the foundation had donated funds
towards the refurbishment of the universi
ty's Students' Union, renaming it the Ambika
Paul Students' Union Center.
Earlier this year, the foundation gifted a
further $1 million the largest donation in
the university's history which the institu
The new building will house the university's

multipurpose Students' Activities Center.
tion said it would use to further enhance the
student experience.
The new Ambika Paul Building, which is
represented by a specially designed circular
monogram using letters A and P, will house
the university's multipurpose Students'
Activities Center.
"Lord Paul is an exceptional ambassador
for the university and the naming of the
Ambika Paul Building will be particularly
poignant for him and his family, providing a
lasting tribute to their beloved daughter's
life. Today's event has even greater signifi
cance after the recent and tragic death of
their youngest son, Angad," said Professor
Geof f Layer, ViceChance llor of the
University of Wolverhampton.
Disabled Indian girl wins

New Zealand award
Wellington: A 16yearold girl, born pre
maturely in India and having a condition
called hemiplegia, has won a prestigious
award constituted to honor outstanding
achievements of New Zealanders with dis
abilities, a media report said.
Muskan Devta, a published author and
inspirational speaker, was presented with
the Supreme ACC Attitude Award for 2015
at Auckland's Viaduct Events Center earlier
this month, stuff.co.nz reported on Friday.
"Hemiplegia is something I would have
to live with throughout my entire life. So
why worry?" she said at the awards cere
mony.
Devta earlier won the award in the junior
category last year. Her persistent efforts to
improve the lives of others also saw her
getting selected as a finalist in the youth
category of the award this year.
But overcoming a tough competition
from the winners of eight other award cat

egories, she won the overall Attitude ACC
Supreme Award.
Though it was hard to make friends and
lead a "normal" life when her parents shift
ed to New Zealand, Muskan found courage
in her younger brother Aman and began
her mission to make a positive change in
the world.
She decided to break out of her shell and
became class captain, a roving reporter for
the school newsletter and had her own
radio show on popular Hindi station Radio
Tarana.
In 2013, Muskan published first autobi
ography, "I Dream", to raise money for
Starship Children's Hospital where she
underwent corrective surgery. She now
aims to raise funds to build two classrooms
at a school for the visually challenged chil
dren in India.
Pravin Gordhan
becomes South Africa's
finance minister
Johannesburg: Pravin Gordhan, a widely
respected Indianorigin politician, has
been appointed South Africa's new
finance minister by President Jacob
Zuma, becoming the third finance chief
of the country in a week amid a raging
economic turmoil.
Zuma sacked Nhlanhla Nene from the
ministry on Wednesday and replaced
him with the relatively unknown law
maker David Rooyen, sparking a wave of
criticism and financial turmoil.
The removal of Nene sent the Rand
currency to record lows, sparked a sell
of f in bank stocks and sent yields in
local and dollardenominated debt soar
ing. Credit agency Fitch downgraded
South Africa on December 4 December,
leaving the continent's most sophisticat
ed economy just one notch above junk
status. T he president came under
intense criticism for the manner in
which he replaced Nene. The announce
ment was initially made with no reasons
given and it was seen as illtimed given
the intense pressure on the economy.
The choice of Rooyen, an ANC whip in
Parliament's standing committee of
finance, was also questioned given his
relative lack of experience in govern
ment. 66yearold Gordhan's appoint
ment sent the Rand up almost 5 per cent
Pravin Gordhan
on Sunday night, but failed to quell a
t ide of crit icism of the president.
Gordhan was widely respected when he
served as South Africa's finance minister
from 2009 until 2014.
In a statement on Sunday, the presi
dent said that after replacing Nene he
had "received many representations to
reconsider my decision."
"As a democratic government, we
emphasize the importance of listening to
the people and to respond to their
views," Zuma said.
T he presidency's statement said
Gordhan's role would include "promot
ing and strengthening the fiscal disci
pline and prudence" and "working with
the financial sector so that its stability is
preserved", Timeslive reported.
Indian doctor in Ghana

conferred national award
Accra (Ghana): Indian doctor Uma Sen, who
spent her entire career working in Ghana,
was conferred its prestigious award
Member of the Order of the Volta (MV) by
President John Mahama in recognition of
her "patriotic and humanitarian services to
the people of this country in the field of
health care." The citation read: "At the
regional hospital, you devoted your full
time to duty and brought smiles to many
women who hitherto, suffered from infertil
ity and could not have babies of their own.
You saved many lives at the Regional
Hospital. It is on record that you always
responded positively to night and weekend
calls even when you were not on duty."
In spite of the fact that she had dedicated
her whole life serving Ghanians, she was
not able to get a resident permit until new
agency Indo Asian News Service (IANS) took
up her case two years ago when she was in
retirement. Ghana Health Service's regional
director, Joseph Teye Nuertey, had then told

IANS that "this woman deserves to be prop
erly honored by the country."
Sen's story is a remarkable one. Originally
from India's West Bengal state, she arrived
in Ghana in 1969 and has been in the west
African country since then, spending her
entire working life at various hospitals
before ending up at the Volta Regional
Hospital at Ho.
Popularly called "Mama" or grandmother,
Dr Sen who is now now 82, worked as a
specialist gynaecologist but because she
could not put up a house of her own, she
ended up being looked after by the staff of
the hospital because she did not marry.
Sen said that since arriving in Ghana she
got busy with work and forget about enjoy
ing her life. "I just worked and worked,
sometimes, I even forget to have my meals,
but I do not regret coming because it has
been a great experience for me."
SUBCONTINENT
21
Talks with Pak will start new chapter of peace: Sushma

New Delhi: External Af fairs
Minister Sushma Swaraj expressed
the hope that the renewed dia
logue between India and Pakistan
will open a new chapter of peace
and development in the region.
Making a statement on her visit
to Pakistan in both houses of par
liament, Sushma Swaraj said it was
decided that a "Comprehensive
Bilateral Dialogue" will start and
foreign secretaries of the two
countries will work out the modali
ties under the "new dialogue".
"The new dialogue, we sincerely
hope, marks a new beginning also
for peace and development in the
whole region," she said.
Sushma Swaraj said India empha
sized the need to speed up the judi
cial process in the 2008 Mumbai
terror attack by Pakistani terror
ists. The minister said her meet
ings with Pakistan Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif and his Adviser on
Foreign Af fairs Sartaj Aziz in
Islamabad were held against the
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj talks to press in Islamabad.

backdrop of "positive develop
ments" of the talks earlier between
the two national security advisers
in Bangkok.
"Both sides condemned terror
ism and resolved to cooperate to
eliminate this menace. There we
dwelt on the need for Pakistan to
expedite the Mumbai terrorist
attack trial," Sushma Swaraj said.
"The Indian side was assured of
the steps being taken to expedite

its early conclusion."
"This government accords the
highest priority to the country's
security. In order to meet the
threats, the government will take
all steps, including through diplo
matic channels," she added.
"At the same time, the govern
ment is also committed to building
an environment of peaceful and
cooperative relations with all our

neighbours, including Pakistan, so
that the ef forts for peace and
development in South Asia, initiat
ed by the government on the day
of assuming ofce itself, are taken
further forward," she said.
The minister said there were two
aims of the dialogue: Addressing
the issues of concern through dia
logue, and establishing cooperative
relations.
She said that when Prime
Minister Narendra Mosi met
Pakistan Premier Sharif during the
Conference of Parties (CoP) 21 cli
mate chnge summit meeting in
Paris on November 30, there was
a discussion on how the two coun
tries could build an atmosphere
conducive for again reengaging
with each other.
Following PM's conversation
with PM Nawaz Sharif in Paris, the
two leaders decided that both sides
should hold the NSAlevel meet
ing, Sushma Swaraj said.
The national security advisers

met in Bangkok on December 6.
"T hey focused on peace and
security, terrorism, tranquillity
along the Line of Control, and
Jammu and Kashmir, the state
which has been most directly
impacted by terrorism and viola
tion of LoC," she said.
My visit to Islamabad for the
Heart of Asia Conference came two
days after the constructive talks
between NSAs on issues related to
security, terrorism, etc. My meet
ings with PM Nawaz Sharif and
Sartaj Aziz in Islamabad were held
in the backdrop of this positive
development.
Sushma Swaraj's statement was
made earlier in the Rajya Sabha
amid din as Congress members
trooped near the chairman's podi
um and raised slogans. While the
statement was barely audible in
the Rajya Sabha, the Lok Sabha
was in order when the statement
was made after lunch break.
Modi, Nawaz likely to meet

next month in Switzerland
Islamabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his
Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif are likely to
meet next month in Sw itzerland, the media
reported.
They will attend the 46th annual meeting of the
World Economic Forum (WEF) in DavosKlosters.
The threeday meeting will commence on January
20. New Delhi has shown its consent for participa
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Pakistani

counterpart Nawaz Sharif.
tion by Modi while Nawaz will attend the forum

from Pakistani side, The News International quoted
diplomatic sources as saying.
Meanwhile, it is likely that the foreign secretaries'
talks between Pakistan and India will take place
after the Davos meeting of the two prime ministers.
India is insisting that the talks that would deter
mine the course of future dialogue between both
the countries should be held in New Delhi while
Pakistan is asking it take place in Islamabad, the
sources said.
Year after Peshawar massacre, Pak still

trying to cope with terrorism
New Delhi: As Pakistan marks the rst year
following the Peshawar attack, surviving
school children, teachers and parents have
been attempting to make the long journey
back to normality.
The school attack on December 16 last
year in the provincial capital of Khyber
Pakhtukhwa which left 140 children dead
was seen by many as the worst in the coun
try's bloody history of terror attacks.
The surviving students still face the trau
ma and horric memories of the attack, but
they are back in their classrooms.
For the rst time in its 13yearold battle
against terror, the carnage united the coun
try, including all political parties irrespec
tive of their differences.
While schools and universities across the
country hold candlelight vigils and pledges
to ensure that such an incident is not
repeated, parents of the dead hold on to the
last memories of their children's in the form
of their belongings.
Pakistan, a victim of homegrown terror

ism, has faced more than a dozen attacks in
over a decade of violence where the toll of
innocent victims has consisitently risen, but
never before had the proponents of terror
attempted to massacre children on such a
large scale.
The sense of resulting shock and outrage
across the world was unprecedented.
In June 2014, the Pakistani military
launched a ground of fensive to clear the
terrorists from the North Waziristan tribal
region, the largest sanctuary carved out by
them in the AfghanistanPakistan region.
The militants then dispersed, many of
them moving into the neighboring Khyber
region, the backyard of Peshawar.
Some of the militants, ghting under the
TehreekeTaliban banner, carved out sanc
tuaries in northeastern Afghanistan and
remained secure until they came under
attack amid growing signs of improvement
in Pakistan's relations with the US and
Afghanistan.
A day after the Peshawar school attack, as
the nation mourned, Pakistan's united politi
cal leadership announced that it would no
longer be willing to make any distinction
between "good" and "bad" terrorists a dif
ferentiation that had invited scathing criti
cism when enunciated by Islamabad.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
vowed to carry on ghting terror until the
last terrorist was killed.
As he was making the announcement,
Pakistan's Army Chief General Raheel Sharif
was meeting Afghan President Ashraf Ghani
and International Security Assistance Force
(ISAF) commanders in Kabul to seek their
assistance in ghting a menace which he
said had "hit the heart of the Pakistani
nation".
The political leadership also unanimously
approved a 20point National Action Plan.
The government decided to set up military
courts to try civilians involved in terrorism.
The move was opposed by human rights

groups who argued it would lead to miscar
riage of justice and summary executions.
The government announced an end to the
moratorium on capital punishment and sub
sequently hanged over 300 people convict
ed of murder, rape and terrorism, among
other charges. These included four terror
ists linked to the school massacre.
Amnesty International, in its report on
November 24 this year, said it recorded 299
executions in Pakistan since the death
penalty was reinstated in March.
The hangings of the school assailants
were t imed to coincide w ith the rst
anniversary of the massacre. The trials were
held in a military court, and the proceedings
were shrouded in secrecy.
Pakistan has long been accused by its crit
ics of trying to control Afghanistan through
Taliban so as to prevent its archrival India
from using that country to open up a "sec
ond front" against Islamabad.
22
INTERNATIONAL
Paris deal continues close and strong

partnership: Obama to Modi
Washington: US President Barack Obama
has thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi for "his vision and leadership" in
achieving the historic climate agreement in
Paris, saying it continued their close and
strong partnership on important issues.
Obama spoke by phone "w ith Prime
Minister Narendra Modi of India to thank
him for his vision and leadership in achiev
ing the historic climate agreement in Paris
on December 12," a White House readout of
the call said.
The president, it said noted "that it contin
ued their close and strong partnership on a
range of issues that are important to both
the United States and India."
"The President and Prime Minister each
underscored the importance of implement
ing the agreement and working together in
the future on climate change, including
through the Mission Innovation initiative

announced in Paris on November 30," the
readout said.
Earlier the Prime Minister's Of fice in a
Twitter message said: "In a telephonic call to
the Prime Minister today, he (Obama) said
India played a critical role in making
Climate Change Paris Summit an historic
success,"
Modi also shared with President Obama
the concerns of the Indian IT industry and
professionals on the proposed legislation in
the US Congress relating to H1B and L1
visas, it said.
Earlier last week too, Obama had called
Modi and many other world leaders in a bid
to clinch the climate deal.
US President Barack Obama with Prime

Minister Narendra Modi.
WANTED: Women to run for US announces $1.8 billion

arms sale to Taiwan
office of UN secretarygeneral
United Nations: The election
process for the next UN secre
tarygeneral that could see a
woman ascend to the leader
ship of the world body has
been launched with the prom
ise of openness and universal
involvement.
Assembly president Mogens
Lykettoft and Council presi
dent Samantha called for
nominations of women for the
of fice with the assurance of
an unprecedented open, dem
ocratic process that could
erode the the P5's secretive,
firm control of the election.
For the first time in the UN's
history, members w ill be
directly involved in the elec
tion of its head, Lykettoft told
reporters.
"Convinced of the need to
guarantee equal opportunities
for women and men in gain
ing access to senior decision
making positions, member
states are encouraged to con
sider presenting women, as
well as men, as candidates for
the position of secretary gen
eral," Lykettoft and Power
wrote in a joint letter to all the
UN members. "We note the
regional diversity in the selec
tion of previous secretaries
general."
Several organizations and
leaders have been lobbying
for a woman to head the UN.
They said they "will of fer
candidates opportunities for
informal dialogues or meet
ings with the members" of the
Council and Assembly. This
sets up a campaign system
Assembly president Mogens Lykettoft.

reflective of the elections in
democracies where candi
dates interact directly with
voters.
Releasing the letter to the
media, Lykettoft said the new
process would "increase the
defacto power" of the 193
member Assembly. He noted
that there were strong senti
ments for having a woman as
the secretarygeneral and also
for someone from the East
Europe, but said the decision
was up to the members.
All the eight secretariesgen
eral in the UN's 70year histo
ry have been men selected in
backroom deals by the perma
nent members of the Council
and rubberstamped by the
Assembly to fulfill the
Charter's requirement.
Ban Kimoon's second term
concludes at the end of 2016
and the election will be held
in the second half of the year.
Under the informal system
of regional rotation followed
since the e lect ion of

Myanmar's U Thant in 1961,
it is a European's turn to fol
low Asia's Ban. No East
European has served in the
UN's highest job, which has
been held by three from the
West.
Because the region had been
under the firm control of the
Soviet Union whenever it was
Europe's turn, no one from
there was acceptable to the
other permanent members.
India has advo cated the
more open process that has
been introduced following an
Assembly resolution earlier
this year.
In April India's Permanent
Representative Asoke Kumar
Mukerji told a pane l on
re forming the e lect ion
pro cess that the Security
Council should present a slate
of candidates, rather than just
one, to the General Assembly,
which should e lect one of
them by a twothirds majority.
Washington: The Obama administra

tion has announced a $1.83 billion
arms sale to Taiwan, the first offered
by the US to the selfgoverning island
in four years. China regards Taiwan as
part of its territory and has said the
sale, which was expected, should be
canceled to avoid harming its relations
across the Taiwan Strait and between
China and the US
The US maintained there's no need
for it to hurt the relationship, which
has also been strained by China's
islandbuilding in the South China Sea
and alleged cybertheft.
T he administrat ion not ified
Congress that the proposed arms
package includes two decommissioned
US Navy frigates, antitank missiles,
amphibious assault vehicles and
Stinger surfacetoair missiles. There's
also support for Taiwan's capabilities
in intelligence, surveillance and recon
naissance and a weapons system to
defend against antiship missiles.
Congress has 30 days to review the
sale, but it's unlikely to raise objec
tions. There's been mounting biparti
san concern that Taiwan is inade
quately armed to defend itself against
an increasingly powerful mainland
China.
US lawmakers we lcomed the

announcement. There were calls from
both parties for more frequent arms
sales to Taiwan.
New York Rep. Eliot Engel, the top
ranking Democrat on the house for
eign af fairs committee, said the sale
would contribute to peace and stabili
ty across the strait. "I wish we would
see them on a regular basis," he said.
The committee's Republican chair
man, California Rep. Ed Royce, said the
administrat ion had "needlessly
dragged out" the approval process,
and that other Taiwanese requests
"have still not seen the light of day."
Senator John McCain, Republican
chairman of the senate armed services
committee, said the US should avoid
extended periods during which "fear of
upsetting the USChina relationship
may harm Taiwan's defense capabili
t ies." T he administrat ion has
announced more than $12 billion in
arms sales to Taiwan since 2010, but
none since $5.9 billion in sales in
September 2011 that included
upgrades for Taiwan's F16 fighter
jets. That drew a diplomatic protest
from Beijing, which suspended some
military exchanges with the United
States. It did not seriously impair ties.
Teen punches Spanish PM in face, breaks his glasses

Madrid: Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy suffered a scare when a 17year
old youth punched him in the face during a campaign appearance in his north
western fiefdom of Galicia, breaking his glasses. A source in his ruling conserva
tive Popular Party, who refused to be named, said the 60yearold conservative
Spanish leader was walking through the city of Pontevedra on the latest stop of
his push for reelection in Sunday polls when the incident happened. The
source said the teen approached and hit him, "knocking off and breaking his
glasses," adding Rajoy was fine and had continued his walk through the city. A
police source, who also refused to be named, said the alleged aggressor was a
17yearold and had been detained. A video of the incident shows the youth,
wearing a black jacket and sporting a crew cut, punching the prime minister
hard on the left side of his face before being wrestled to the ground.
BUSINESS
23
US Fed raises interest rates for first time since 2006

Washington: In a historic move, America's
central bank, the US Federal Reserve, for
the rst time in nearly a decade raised its
key interest rate from a range of 0 per
cent to 0.25 percent to a range of 0.25
percent to 0.5 percent
The rate hike though a small one, is
seen as a sign of how much the US econo
my has healed since the 20072008
nancial crisis. The central bank appar
ently believes the US economy is strong
now and no longer needs crutches.
T he announcement of the w ide ly
expected move came at the conclusion of
the crucial twoday meeting of the policy
making federal open market committee's
(FOMC).
Explaining the Fed's historic decision,
Janet Yellen, the rst woman Fed Chair in
Janet Yellen, the Fed's first woman chair

in its 112year history.
the bank's 112year history, told a press
conference that Fed decided to move now
because it felt it was on course to hit its
goals.
"We decided to move at this t ime
because we feel the conditions we set out,

for a move, namely further improvement
in the labour market and reasonable con
dence that ination would move back to
2 percent in the medium term, we felt
these conditions had been satised," she
said.
"We have been concerned about the
risks from the global economy and those
risks persist, but the US economy has
shown considerable strength," Yellen
said. But "don't "overblow the signicance
of this rst move," she said reminding
reporters, "It's only 25 basis points.
Monetary policy remains accommoda
tive."
Earlier the Fed said in its statement:
"The Committee judges that there has
been considerable improvement in labour
Will achieve fiscal deficit

without cuts: Jaitley
New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley said the government will
achieve its scal decit target with
out any cuts in this nancial year.
He made the statement in the
Rajya Sabha after several members
objected to the rise in excise duty
on petrol after a supplementary list
of business mentioning this was cir
culated.
The opposition parties, led by the
Congress, said that the benet of a
fall in international oil prices was
not being passed on to the con
sumers. "It has caused anguish to
all of us that in the supplementary
list of business there is a seventh
hike in central excise duty on petrol
and diesel... When this government
came crude oil price (in the interna
tional market) was around $100,
while it fell to $35 on Tuesday. In
the last nancial year, the saving on
oil import was $88 billion,"
Congress leader Anand Sharma said
raising the issue.
"You are proteering and it not
transferring the benet to people,"
he said. "They have to save this
money to cover up where they have
failed," he said, adding that Rajya
Sabha does not have power to reject
nancial bills. He also questioned
more allocations sought for the
external affairs ministry and ques
tioned if it is for the foreign visits of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Sharma was joined in by sev

eral opposit ion leaders
including Tapan Kumar
Sen of CPIM, Ram Gopal
Yadav of the Samajwadi
Party, Sharad Yadav of
the Janata DalUnited,
Bhupinder Singh of the
Biju Janata Dal, K.P.
Ramalingam of the DMK
and D Raja of the CPI.
Ally Shiromani
Akali Dal leader
Sukhdev Sing h
Dhindsa said
the
hike
should not
be
on
diesel,
and the
benets should be passed on to
farmers, as well as share shall be
given to states.
Responding to the concerns
raised by the members, Jaitley said
that the benets were being passed
on to the consumer, but the money
also needed to be used for develop
ment work. Jaitley said that a sub
sidy is given on petrol and diesel,
the money for which comes from
the tax given by people, and to
recover that for scal decit, the
money for development work used
to be cut.
"Fiscal decit was achieved by
cutting amounts like Rs.1,20,000
market conditions this year, and it is rea

sonably that condent ination will rise."
Stocks rallied with the Dow rising over
100 points after the announcement, CNN
reported. Investors were pleased to see
that the Fed expects "only g radual
increases" in interest rates next year.
The Fed put interest rates near zero
during the nancial crisis in December
2008 to help stimulate the economy and
boost the collapsed housing market.
But the economy is now a lot healthier
with unemployment at 5 percent, half of
the 10 percent rate it hit in 2009 during
the worst of the jobs crisis.
Over 12 million jobs have been added
since the recession ended. Wages which
have barely grown during the recovery
have also started to pick up recently.
New Google campus at

Hyderabad, more net
access planned: Pichai
Finance
Minister
Arun Jaitley.
Google chief executive Sundar Pichai
crore in one given year. Today what

has happened, the international
price has fallen, the present govern
ment has a clear policy, that has
been shared in three ways. One part
of fall in prices goes to consumer,"
he said, adding that so far prices of
petrol have been cut 20 times and
prices for diesel have gone down
16 times.
The minister also said that sever
al states increased VAT ( Value
Added Tax) on Petrol as soon as
center reduced prices. "I am not
complaining against any state India
has to take utmost advantage of the
fall in oil prices," he said.
New Delhi: Google will build a

new campus at Hyderabad,
even as it is working towards
including as many people as
possible to use the Internet in
India, its chie f execut ive,
Sundar Pichai, said here.
"In our attempt to provide
Internet access to people, we
have decided to provide WiFi
in 400 railway stations with
RailTel. The 100 stations will
come online by 2016 end.
Mumbai Central station will be
online by January," Pichai said
at an event here. This was also
a part of the assurance which
Google gave to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, when he visited
the search engine giant's head
quarters at Mountain View,
Santa Clara County in

California in September this
year. Regarding the company's
expansion plans in India, he
said: "We will ramp up our
engineering investments at our
Bangalore and Hyderabad facil
ities." "We will also build a huge
new campus in Hyderabad," he
said, but did not disclose the
amount of investment. T he
company now has 1500
employees in India.
"This country has given me
and Google so much and I just
hope we can give much more to
the country," he said, adding: A
lot of what today is about is
how we build products for the
next billion Indian users, yet to
come online."
24 December 19-25, 2015
SPORTS
Congress demands probe into DDCA,

Jaitley's resignation
New Delhi: Alleging serious financial irregu
larities in the DDCA, the Congress demand
ed a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC)
probe and said Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley should not continue as minister till
the probe was completed.
There were "gross financial irregularities"
in the Delhi and District Cricket Association
(DDCA) which had been headed by Jaitley,
Congress senior spokesperson Ajay Maken
said.
"The Congress demands that Jaitley's
tenure as DDCA chief and his team's gross
financial irregularities in the cricket body
should be inquired into by a Joint
Parliamentary Committee (JPC)," Maken told
reporters here.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha
Ghulam Nabi Azad and Leader of the
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Congress party in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun
Kharge were also present at the press con
ference held in the Parliament House com
plex. Maken, a former union sports minister,
said there was "no hope of a fair probe till

Jaitley was the finance minister" and
demanded his resignation till the probe was
completed.
The Congress leader slammed Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his remarks
that the Aam Aadmi Party government was
to order a Commission of Inquiry into DDCA
affairs.
Maken said the power to order an inquiry
in Delhi rested with the Lieutenant Governor
of Delhi.
He said Kejriwal should have instead
favoured a courtmonitored CBI probe into
the issue or registered an FIR.
"His (Kejriwal's) intention was not to act
into the serious allegations of irregularities
in the DDCA," Maken said.
Maken released copies of a report of the
committee constituted by the Kejriwal gov

ernment to inquire into the af fairs of the
DDCA.
He referred to a question by BJP MP Kirti
Azad posed to the government in August
and said the Lok Sabha was informed that
corporate af fairs ministry had ordered
inspection of books of account and other
records of DDCA in 2012.
He said the inspection report revealed that
the Registrar of Companies (RoC) in its
order of August last year had named four
of ficials Sunil Dev, Narender Batra, S.P.
Bansal and C.K. Khanna as "of ficers in
default".
He said the officers had applied for com
pounding of offences and this was forward
ed by the RoC to the Company Law Board
(CLB).
Awaiting government nod

for Pakistan series: BCCI
Dhoni for Pune, Raina in team Rajkot for IPL 9
Lahore: Former England and Wales Cricket Board

(ECB) chairman Giles Clarke has been told by the
Indian cricket board authorities they are waiting
for the government approval for a series against
Pakistan in Sri Lanka. Giles has played the role of
a facilitator for the resumption of IndiaPakistan
cricketing ties, holding meetings in Dubai with
the boards' of ficials recently. But he too has
received a reply similar to what was given to the
PCB when he spoke to BCCI president Shashnak
Manohar. The Indian board chief told him that
the Indian government had not yet given its go
ahead for the series, reports dawn.com. Pakistan
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has already given
the green light to the PCB to host the series in Sri
Lanka. Two tentative dates for the series, com
prising three Oneday Internationals and two T20
matches, have been put forward by the PCB: Dec
15Jan 4 and Dec 19Jan 4.
Mumbai: India's limited overs skipper

Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the top draw
in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016
draft here and was picked up by the
Sanjeev Goenkaowned Pune franchise at
the stipulated price of Rs.12.5 crore.
Lefthand batsman Suresh Raina was
picked up by the Rajkot franchise owned
by Intex Mobiles. The Rajkot team also
successfully bid for 'home' allrounder
Ravindra Jadeja (Rs.9.5 crore), New
Zealand captain Brendon McCullum
(Rs.7.5 crore) and Australian allrounder
James Faulkner (Rs.5.5 crore) and West
Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo. The
ninth season of IPL will begin on April 9,
2016. The two new IPL franchises were
allowed to select up to five cricketers
each from the draft. It will be the first
Mahendra Singh Dhoni & Suresh Raina

time that Dhoni and Raina will not turn
out for Chennai Super Kings (CSK). CSK
and Rajasthan Royals (RR) were sus

pended for two years on the recommen
dation of the Supreme Courtappointed
Justice (retd) R.M. Lodha Committee,
which decided the quantum of punish
ment following the two teams' convic
tions.
It paved the way for Rajot and Pune
franchises to join the IPL.
Excited to play for the beautiful
vibrant city Rajkot in @IPL. Looking for
ward to have new teammates and sup
port from the people of Gujarat, Raina
tweeted on Tuesday after the draft.
Pune opted to take righthand batsman
Ajinkya Rahane as their second choice
player and his India teammate offspin
ner Ravichandran Ashwin as the third
preference.
Kohli's belowthebelt comment on media

I
f Virat Kohli keeps harping

on "unfair criticism" of the
dicey pitches on which his
Indian team won the Test series
30, he is unwittingly admitting
that there is some truth in what
critics say.
R i g h t
through
t h e
f o u r
match series ag ainst South

Africa, the Indian captain
seemed visibly unhappy with the
media not giving enough credit
to his young team beating the
world's No.1 team.
No one has belittled the victo
ry, coming as it did against a
team hailed as the best trav
e llers who did not lose a
series overseas for almost a
decade. It was only pointed
out that if the matches
were played on slightly
better pitches, the enjoy
ment for both the teams and
the fans would have been
more instead of making it
feel pyrrhic and blurring the
big picture of Indian cricket.
For a year and half or so, a
sense of deja vu will prevail as
India will be playing much of its
international cricket at home.
Virat Kohli
Imagine, if the fortunes reverse

like it happened when India
went without a victory in eight
overseas Tests against England
and Australia not so long ago,
the depressing scenario.
Will the cycle of winning at
home and losing overseas con
tinue?
To be fair to Kohli, he has
shown lot spunk as captain and
his young teammates rallied
around him to raise a hope that
things can change in the coming
years.
After the South Africa series,
Kohli has somewhat modified
his line of attack, saying people
are finding new ways to criticise
his team when it is winning. He
is particularly miffed with some
former players whom the
younger players looked up to
while growing up.
He reserved his harshest for
the media: "Someone who hasn't

played for the country has no
right to comment on an interna
tional cricketer anyway. I don't
think that has any kind of logic.
You cannot sit there and say
how you would have done some
thing differently when you have
not been in that situation your
self and don't have the mindset
of a cricketer."
It surely is a belowthebelt
strike.
His grouse is that that the
series was played at home and
people here were out looking for
weaknesses and finding ways to
criticise, failing to notice the
kind of good cricket the team
played.
Kohli predictably took shelter
under stats, pointing out that
the top five rungetters and the
top two bowlers were Indians,
without mentioning that it was
in a lowscoring series.
As for former cricketers, he is
a little conciliatory in tone. He
says he is hurt seeing the people
he has grown up watching and
admiring going hammer and
tongs at his players.
Kohli feels that what is written,
spoken and analysed in the
media is taken as Gospel by the
fans and if things were projected
negatively, then the players suf
fer. It is not dif ficult to know
what he was hinting at and he
was clearly trying to protect his
teammates like a good leader.
Kohli is not the first captain to
undermine critics. Some of his
predecessors also tried to put
the media in their place, almost
saying they should only report
the game on the basis of the
scoreboard and not air their crit
ical appreciation on a highly
skilled sport!
Are you suffering from

Angelina Jolie syndrome?
Do you pay extra attention to the probability of dangerous diseases you may suffer
from in the future? Growing healthism is now seen as an unhealthy trend.
f you pay extra attention to the

probability of dangerous dis
eases that you may suffer from
in the future, you are probably suf
fering from what is being termed as
Ange lina Jolie syndrome, or
healthism, a study warns.
The politicization and commer
cialization of health issues in
todays Western culture have led to
growing healthism a peremptory
idea of selfpreserving behavior.
This approach criticizes everything
that fails to fit into the glamorous
standards of a beautiful, young and
slim body. But even simple con
cerns about the standards of physi
cal condition may provoke hyper
correction, such as surgery on a
healthy body, said study author
Evgenia Golman from National
Research University Higher School
of Economics, Russia. More wide
spread displays of healthism
include the boom in diets, fitness
fads, plastic surgery, organic food
along with the popularity of mobile
apps for health monitoring.
Popular healthcare policy today
often shifts the responsibility for
health from healthcare institutions
to individuals themselves, and shifts
the focus from treatment to preven
tion including prevention of even
purely hypothetical pathologies,
Golman wrote in her paper.
25
Coconut milk next

best to breast milk,
to be promoted
more in India
oconut milk
has proved
to be the
next best to
breast milk and
the
Co conut
Development
Board (CDB) in
Ko chi is set to
promote it as a
health drink and
one to be used for cooking.
According to studies, dairy
milk contains lactose, a type of
sugar that is difficult for many
people to digest, while coconut
milk does not contain the com
pound.
A renowned US nutrition spe
cialist, Dr. Josh Axe, has found
that coconut milk is next best
to breast milk, CDB chairman
T.K. Jose said.
"According to Dr. Axe, in situ
ations when a baby is not get
ting breast milk or needs addi
tional supplements, in coun
tries like Sri Lanka, Malaysia,
Thailand and Vietnam coconut
milk is widely used in place of
cow milk," Jose said.
CDB, which works under
Ministry of Ag riculture of
Government of India, is now
positioning coconut juice/milk
To prevent cancer, Jolie had double mastectomy and then ovaries and
fallopian tubes removed.
Preventive medicine undoubtedly
helps prevent many diseases and
can save a lot of resources for fami
lies and the state. But if calculation
of sicknesses and idealization of
beauty and healthy body standards
are understood improperly espe
cially in a purely commercial way
they can lead to mass neurosis
and a social obsession with comply
ing to healthist fashion.
The most dangerous thing is that
such an approach stigmatizes every
thing that doesnt fit in with the
model of a healthy lifestyle, the
Cancer rates rising

in lowerincome
countries: Study
HEALTH
hile incidence and mortality rates from

several common types of cancer in many
highincome countries have gone down,
many lowand middleincome countries have seen
cancer rates rise, partially due to increases in risk
factors that are typical of Western countries, says a
study. Improved screening and detection ef forts,
combined with decreases in risk factors like smok
ing, have reduced the incidence and mortality rates
from cancer in highincome countries, the findings
showed.
Worldwide, an estimated 14.1 million new cancer
cases and 8.2 million cancer deaths occurred in
2012, the study said.
"This study gives us important clues about the
epidemiology of cancer and gives us some ideas
about what we could further investigate to improve
global public health," said one of the researchers
Lindsey Torre from the American Cancer Society.
The researchers analyzed incidence and mortality
data for the years 20032007 from the
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
database, which includes incidence data through
2007 from cancer incidence in five continents, and
mortality data through 2012 from the WHO Cancer
Mortality database.
researcher warned. A young, beauti

ful and slim body is becoming not
just a glossy cult, but a measure
for an individuals socioeconomic
position and even their value to
society. A person not only obses
sively monitors every bodily mani
festation, but also starts detecting
signs of imaginary sicknesses.
Everything that doesnt fit into
healthist standards (from excessive
weight to facial features) can
become an object of discrimina
tion. The study was published in
the Journal of Social Policy Studies.
as a natural health drink. It has

also produced flavored coconut
milk at the production centre
here.
Coconut juice is produced by
extracting the pulp from the
ripe coconut.
"In some countries, it is called
coconut milk while in other
countries it's known as coconut
juice. We have developed this
technology and it is available
for transfer," said Jose.
"In three months' t ime,
coconut producer companies in
Kerala will enter mass produc
t ion of this wonder health
drink," he said.
According to CDB of ficials
Annie Eapen and Aneeta Joy,
flavored coconut juice has nil
cholesterol level besides an
energy value (per 100 ml) of
75 Kcal, with a total fat of 13%
and carbohydrate of 1516 %.
Jelly Belly: A helping hand for women over 35

o you wake up tired
in spite of a full
night's sleep? Does
walking up the stairs
exhaust you? Does swal
lowing
paracetamol
tablets for even a mild
headache make you look
for a magic pill that can
make you energetic and
ready to deal with your
chores and duties while
also finding a little time
for yourself? Fear not,
help is at hand.
In her book Jelly belly
(HarperCollins), author
and wellness expert Dr. Aparna Santhanam
has put together almost all the problems
that women 35plus face, identified pat
terns and offered doable solutions. Some of
these problems are physical, although their
expressions may be psychological or emo
tional.
In the crazy mix of trying to keep the
homework balance perfect, women often
forget to take care of themselves, leading
to a number of stressrelated illnesses.
This book is intended to make women
more aware of their bodies and more mind
ful of the factors they can

bring under their control.
The 30s is the decade
of slowing down of body
mechanism but revving
up the pace of life in gen
eral. And often, this cre
ates imbalances in the
body that may develop
into more complex issues
later on in life. Checkups
will help you flag these
issues so that one can
know what precautions
to take.
This is the right book if
you are looking for
answers to health problems like controlling
the effects of fluctuating hormones, loss of
energy, nagging headaches, hot flushes and
depression. How do you address heart and
bone health once you hit 30? What are the
essential screening tests and when should
they be conducted? How do you fight grey
ing hair and sagging skin, or control uri
nary incontinence?
Four lifestyle choices are essential: learn
right acquire reliable information and
knowledge about health issues; eat smart
focus on nutrition; move to improve exer
cise regularly; and release stress care for

your emotional wellbeing. A balanced diet
can usually provide all the nutrition neces
sary to excel at most daily activities.
"Daily needs for women include 46 serv
ings of fruits and vegetables, 34 servings
of proteins, and some complex carbohy
drates along with nuts and legumes along
with two servings of dairy substitutes", the
author recommends. There are some tips
to eat healthy at any restaurant of your
choice like choosing brown rice over white
rice if you are eating at a Chinese restau
rant and choose tandoori over fried in case
of an Indian restaurant.
"The belly is the most evocative symbol
of unwanted weight gain and this is the
most obvious indications of problematic
and unwanted fat depositions in one's body
which can have serious health implica
tions," Santhanam says.
Our lifestyles, combined with modern
stress levels, make us particularly vulnera
ble to heart diseases and those in the over
weight or obese categories are at higher
risk. Changes in the lifestyle can be a pre
ventive measure.
The author urges readers to be kind to
their bodies, treat it as a temple and nour
ish it with goodness.
26
LIFESTYLE
Breaking bread with colleagues Tooth decay can

boosts productivity
be reversed with
New York: If you usually dine solo
in office, try to change that habit
as eating meals with your col
leagues may actually boost your
pro duct ivity, a new Corne ll
University study has found.
In research that could have
implications for organizations
looking to enhance team perform
ance, Cornell researchers found
that firefighter platoons which
eat meals together have better
group job performance compared
with firefighter teams which dine
solo.
"Eating together is a more inti
mate act than looking over an
Excel spreadsheet together. That
intimacy spills back over into
work," said study's author Kevin
Kniffin.
"From an evolutionary anthro
pology perspective, eating togeth
er has a long, primal tradition as a
kind of social glue. That seems to
continue in today's workplaces,"
Kniffin explained.
Given the findings, organiza
tions would do better to consider
their expenditures on cafeterias
as investments in employee per
formance, Knif fin said. Over the
preventive care
course of 15 months, Kniffin and

his colleagues conducted inter
views and surveys in a large city's
fire department, which included
more than 50 firehouses.
T he researchers asked the
department's 395 supervisors to
rate on a scale of zero to 10 the
performance of their platoon
compared to other fire companies
in which they've served.
T he supervisors were also
asked how often the platoon eats
together in a typical fourday
workweek.
The platoons which ate together
most often also got higher marks
Rely on aerobics for healthy

brain function: Study
New York: Young
adults who have
greater aerobic
fitness also have
greater volume
of their entorhi
nal cortex, an
area of the brain
responsible for
m e m o r y ,
research showed.
Better aerobic
fitness, however, does not appear
to impact hippocampal volume
another area in the brain respon
sible for memory, the study
found.
While aerobic fitness is not
directly associated with perform
ance on a recognition memory
task, the participants with a larg
er entorhinal cortex also per
formed better on the recognition
memory task.
"Our results suggest that aero
bic exercise may have a positive
ef fect on the medial temporal
lobe memory system (which
includes the entorhinal cortex) in
healthy young adults," said prin
cipal investigator Karin Schon
from Boston University School of
Medicine.
"This suggests that exercise
training, when designed to
increase aerobic fitness, might
have a positive ef fect on the

brain in healthy young adults,"
Schon added.
The entorhinal cortex is a brain
area known to show early pathol
ogy in Alzheimer's disease, which
is characterized by profound
memory impairment.
Researchers said this work
could support previous studies
that suggest aerobic exercise
may forestall cognitive decline in
older individuals at risk of
dementia, and extends the idea
that exercise may be beneficial
for brain health to younger
adults. "This is critical given that
obesity, which has recently been
linked with cognitive deficits in
young and middleaged adults,
and physical inactivity are on the
rise in young adults," Schon said.
The study appeared in the jour
nal NeuroImage.
for their team performance.

Conversely, the platoons that did
not eat together got lower per
formance ratings.
In interviews, firefighters said
daily group meals were a central
activity during their shifts.
In fact, the researchers noted,
firefighters expressed a certain
embarrassment when asked
about firehouses where they did
n't eat together."It was basically a
signal that something deeper was
wrong with the way the group
worked," Kniffin said.
The study is published in the
journal Human Performance.
S y d n e y :
Preventat ive oral
care can reduce the
need for unpleasant
dental drilling and
filling by 3050 per
cent, says a study.
The findings sug
gest that tooth
decay or dental
caries
can
be
stopped, reversed,
and prevented with
out the need for the
traditional 'fill and
drill' approach that has dominat
ed dental care for decades.
"It is unnecessary for patients
to have fillings because they are
not required in many cases of
dental decay," said the study's
lead author Wende ll Evans,
associate professor at University
of Sydney in Australia.
"This research signals the need
for a major shift in the way
tooth decay is managed by den
tists. Our study shows that a
preventat ive approach has

major benefits compared to cur
rent practice," Evans said. The
researchers said that application
of high concentration fluoride
varnish by dentists to the sites
of early decay, attention to home
tooth brushing skills, restriction
of betweenmeal snacks and
beverages containing added
sugar, and riskspecific monitor
ing can he lp prevent tooth
decay.
Lack of sleep can make your

emotions go haywire
London: If you feel cranky or
grumpy after a night without
sleep, it is because your brain's
ability to regulate emotions gets
compromised by fatigue, say
researchers.
This is a bad news for adults
who get less than six hours of
sleep in night.
T he team from Te l Aviv
University identified the neuro
logical mechanism responsible
for disturbed emotion regulation
and increased anxiety due to
only one night's lack of sleep.
T he research reveals the
changes sleep deprivation can

impose on our ability to regulate
emot ions and allo cate brain
resources for cognitive process
ing.
"Prior to our study, it was not
clear what was responsible for
the emotional impairments trig
gered by sleep loss," said profes
sor Talma Hendler of TAU's
Sackler Faculty of Medicine.
The team assumed that sleep
loss would intensify the process
ing of emotional images and thus
impede brain capacity for execu
tive functions.
"We were actually surprised to

find that it significantly impacts
the processing of both neutral
and
emot ionallycharged
images," Hendler added. "It turns
out we lose our neutrality."
"The ability of the brain to tell
what's important is compro
mised. It's as if suddenly every
thing is important," she said.
These results reveal that with
out sleep, the mere recognition
of what is an emotional and what
is a neutral event is disrupted.
The results appeared in the
Journal of Neuroscience.
Be calm before surgery for better outcome

New York: If you are ill and sched
uled for a medical procedure, keep
calm as feeling high levels of dis
tress, fear and hostility prior to
undergoing a surgery like angio
plasty may lead to poor outcome,
said a study.
"I was surprised by this result.
Prior to this study, I did not believe
patient mood could have an effect
on outcome," said study author
Nadja Kadom, acting associate pro
fessor of radiology at Emory
University School of Medicine. The
team analysed the results of 230
patients, including 120 women

and 110 men (mean age 55 years)
who underwent interventional
radiology procedures including
vascular and kidney interventions.
Upon arriving for their proce
dure, patients were asked to com
plete a questionnaire called the
Positive Af fect Negative Af fect
Schedule (PANAS) to assess their
mood. Using a fivepoint rating
scale, the patients reported to what
extent they felt strong, alert, deter
mined and other positive feeling
states and to what degree they
were experiencing negative feel

ings, such as guilt, nervousness or
irritability. The data revealed that
patients with a high negative
af fect experienced significantly
more adverse events than patients
with low negative af fect. "Our
study shows that mood matters.
You don't need to have a chipper,
cheery attitude prior to your pro
cedure. You just have to overcome
negative emotions and get to a
neutral level," noted Dr Elvira V
Lang, interventional radiologist in
Boston.
LIFE & LETTERS
27
JLF is as much about local culture and writers
A folk dance performance from an earlier edition of the festival.

By Prakash Bhandari
Jaipur: The rich culture and heritage of
Rajasthan is set to come alive as the ZEE
Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) showcases
the color and culture of its home state to
over two lakh visitors.
JLF is an international literary event of
huge standing among global writers and
thinkers with participants and book fans
coming from all around the world. The vari
ety of topics and issues it addresses are
vast, and yet key to its ongoing success is it
sense of place and its unique regional color.
The festival is free and open to all.
The annual event was founded in 2006,
and will return from 2125 January for
the 2016 edition.
In JLF 2016 a number of sessions focus
on the traditions, culture and writers of
Rajasthan.
Meera Bai: Jeevan Ki Kavita explores the
celebrated 16th century Hindu mystic poet
and devotee of Krishna. Many legends sur
round Meera including her fearless disre
gard for social conventions and her wor
ship of god Krishna. Many poems of pas
sionate praise of Lord Krishna are attrib
uted to Meera and her life is the subject of
movies and literature to this day.

Gathering to discuss Meera are Madhav
Hada, author of the recently published but
already widely acclaimed book on the life,
time and social environs of the Bhakti poet
ess, Pachrang chola pahar sakhi ri. Hada is
recipient of Rajasthan Sahitya Akademi's
Devraj
Upad hyay
Puraskar
and
Government of India's Bhartendu
Harishchandra Puraskar; Alpana Mishra, a
young Hindi novelist and associate profes
sor at the Hindi Department of De lhi
University, writer of Anhiyaare Talchhat
Mein Chamka and singer Suman Yadav,
who will give audiences a glimpse of the
many beautiful musical settings of Meera
Bais work.
Rajasthali: Katha aur Kathakaar, will
explore the unique cultural and linguistic
heritage of Rajasthan, with its rich diversity
of ballads, epics and oral traditions finding
echoes and resonances in this session of
readings by wellknown writers and poets
from the state. Moderator Nand Bhardwaj is
joined by Mohan Aalok; writer of Ghamsan
and Dhankathava Dr Satya Narayan Soni;
Rajasthans wellknown award winning
short story writer Reena Menaria; and
Manohar Singh Rathore.
Other authors from Rajasthan who will

appear at JLF 2016 include Premchand
Gandhi, poet, playwright, translator and
columnist. Harish Karamchandani, who
received the Rajashtan Sahitya Academy
Award for his poetry collection Samay
Kaisa Bhi Ho. Realist poet Ravindra Prabhat
whose work often touches on human suf
fering and social issues. Om Purohit Kagad,
wellknown author and poet in both Hindi
and Rajasthani, and Meethesh Nirmohi
Mithesh Nirmohi whose poems, stories,
interviews and reviews have appeared in
almost every prestigious magazine over the
last 40 years.
The rich, oral Kaavad traditions will be
celebrated and explored in Kaavad: The
Itinerant Storytellers of Rajasthan. This
rich culture has a fascinating genealogy of
illustrated storytelling in performance. The
Kaavadiya Bhats of Mewar and Marwar use
a portable shrine of multiple unfolding pan
els to bring to life, myths, histories and line
ages. Rituals, symbolism and narratives
converge in a unique liminal space in a vir
tual pilgrimage, leading from the external
to the innermost shrine. Nina Sabnani dis
cusses the dynamics between words and
images that are the essence of the Kaavad
repertoire, while Kojaram ji and his accom

panist demonstrate through a compelling
performance.
The wide and delicious variety of tradi
tional Rajasthani fare and daily homestyle
cooking is documented in a brand new and
informative practical cookbook. Launching
at ZEE JLF 2016, Rajasthan on A Platter/
Rajasthan Ka Khana Peena brings alive the
intangible cultural heritage of Rajasthan
through its authentic cuisine and cooking
techniques. Dr Suman Bhatnagar and Dr
Pushpa Gupta, both professors at Maharana
Pratap University of Ag riculture and
Technology, Udaipur will be introduced by
Ram Pratap Digg i. T he book w ill be
launched by Arvind Singh Mewar.
Sanjoy Roy, Manag ing Director of
Teamwork Arts, Producer of the JLF, said,
The festival has been embraced by Jaipur
and the city today is known as much for its
incredible built heritage as it is for being
host to the worlds largest free literary
festival.
The winter sun, the energy of the festi
vals visitors and the amazing debates, dis
cussions and dialogues that are on of fer
makes this an experience for everyones
must do list.
Global Jain community loses a visionary
r. Narendra P. Jain was a distinguished

Indian diplomat for 36 years, serving
as Indias Ambassador to European
Union, UN, Belgium, Nepal, and Mexico apart
from being Secretary, Ministry of External
Af fairs, Government of India. In 1967, he
joined the Ministry of Commerce as Director,
overseeing trade and economic relations
with the Soviet Union and Eastern European
countries. During 1974 to 1979, he was the
Joint Secretary and later Additional
Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs.
In 1985, the Mexican Academy of
International Law and Diplomacy honored
him with a doctorate in International
Relations.
Dr. Jain was born in December 1930, and
passed away last month in Indore, India. He
was educated at the University of Bombay,
India and University of Cambridge, U.K
In his postretirement years spent in
Indore, Dr. Jain advised leading Indian corpo
In Memoriam:
Dr. N.P. Jain
rations in steel, hydroelectric power, bank

ing and agriculture economy sectors besides
being a member of the 60person Think
Tank at the UN Earth Summit in Rio De
Janeiro in 1992. He was a globally oriented
economist and environmentalist who made
recommendations on integrating environ
mental factors to sustainably develop the
world economy. He was a scholar, poet, and a
published author who wrote several books
including his autobiography in Hindi, Jeena
Isi Kaa Naam Hai (2015). He used his
knowledge and skill sets for promoting high
er education in India and abroad, including
International School for Jain Studies. In June
2015, he lectured at the University of
California, Riverside, on Emerging
Dimensions
of
Human
Resource
Management.
From childhood, he was engrossed in
learning about Jainism, and lived its core
principles such as communicating the truth,
adhering to nonviolence, promoting peace,

and practicing forgiveness. He was an articu
late orator on Jain religion and philosophy.
He was the chief guest at the World Jain
Congress held at Leicester in U.K. in June
1988. Dr. Jain was on the steering commit
tee of the World Forum of Jains, a keynote
speaker at the Parliament of World Religions
in Chicago in 1993, and an active participant
in the UN Millennium Summit of Spiritual
Leaders in New York in 2000. Dr. Jain along
with Late Dr. LM Singhvi attended the 2007
JAINA Convention in Edison, NJ, and inspired
JAINA to take the lead in convening Jain
Diaspora Conferences at each future JAINA
Convention by inviting leaders of Jain com
munities in over 35 countries to share com
mon concerns. His urging helped nurture the
concept of the Global Jain/world citizen who
exemplifies the Jain Way of Life through
engagement in international humanitarian
service.
28
HUMOR
Funny Side by Nury Vittachi
3 CRIMINALS I SECRETLY ADMIRE

W
hen I was a student I had the idea of

organizing a party with Breathalyzer
tests at the door so no girls could get
in unless they were drunk enough. Had to
cancel when my tutor threatened to report
me. Guess I should have tried it at university
rather than junior high.
***
I put that memory into my evil but clever
file. A recent addition to that file came from
reader Rakesh Umar.
A jailbird broke out of a high security
prison and trekked overnight to another
prison where he told guards to lock him up
again.
Convict Pankaj Pahade, 22, explained that
he was bored at Narsingpur prison in Madhya
Pradesh, India, so he decided to transfer him
self to Chhindwara jail, which was more con
venient for his family to visit, the Times of
India reported.
Evil but clever, right? He broke the law but
was kind of admirable.
***
was shown to me by a child.

Cool, I said. This shows that you should
never let a disability get in the way of follow
ing your dream.
So its all right to rob banks? she asked.
ONLY if it is following your dream, I said,
realizing I was on shaky moral ground there.
***
Just like a recent case in New York, in which

a man in a wheelchair successfully robbed a
bank.
The awkward thing was that the news item
To be honest, I dont approve of all that fol

low your dream stuff, after waking up from
one in which I had carrotcolored hair and
lived in a land of giant killer rabbits.
***
A third criminal I secretly admire was a guy

who robbed a bank cash delivery van in 2008
in Monroe, Washington, wearing jeans, a blue
shirt and a yellow safety vest.
He grabbed bags of money and ran.
Security guards were instantly on his tail
but he had earlier placed an ad in advertising
website Craigslist offering cash to jobseeking
men to meet near the bank at exactly that
time wearing jeans, a blue shirt and a yellow
safety vest.
Police were astonished, as EVERYONE
looked exactly like the perp.
Come on, even the Dalai Lama would root
for that villain, right?
***
These days Im an adult moralist so one
branch of bad guys I don't admire are philan

derers.
Example: A woman in Japan took out a law
suit over her husbands af fair with a night
club hostess, according to my correspondent
from that country.
A Tokyo District Court judge bizarrely ruled
that business arrangements were excluded
from antiadultery laws.
So if youre having an illicit love affair in
Japan, you know have to make sure you pay
cash to each other after every tryst.
This totally takes the romance out of it,
said the reporter, who did not want to be
named, in case people got the wrong idea
AKA (also known as) the right idea. His inter
est in the case was purely professional.
***
But karma gets philanderers in the end.
Reader Chun Kinming sent me a report
about a guy named Yuan who had a car acci
dent in Chinas Hunan province.
Seventeen weeping women turned up to
announce they were his one and only girl
friend. Cops arrested him but theyre proba
bly also asking for advice on how to charm
women, said Chun.
***
SEVENTEEN women. It all sounds like too
much trouble.
These days, follow your dreams has a new
meaning for me: turn over and go back to
sleep. Good night.
Laughter is the Best Medicine
BEST
RATE
FOR
INDIA
AND
PAKISTAN
New York Head Quarter
422S Broadway
HICKSVILLE
NY 11801
5168271010
by Mahendra Shah
Mahendra Shah is an architect by education, entrepreneur by profession, artist and humorist,
cartoonist and writer by hobby. He has been recording the plight of the
immigrant Indians for the past many years in his cartoons. Hailing from Gujarat,
he lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
ASTROLOGY
29
Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874

Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899
psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com
By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma
DECEMBER 1925, 2015

ARIES : Mental clarity gives a decisive
edge over all competitors at professional
front. Matrimonial alliance for eligible
bachelor in family brings joy to all. Speculations
are likely to bring monetary profits. Romance
touches new heights, as partner positively
responds. Charity work undertaken will bring
mental peace & comfort. Pack your bags and
some eatables and go out for a picnic. Dealings
for older properties can be in process. Your
teamingup with a set of ambitious people
would augur well for future.
TAURUS: Calculated risks would enables
to complete the project on time. Dont
forget to spend some pleasant time with
your children.
Unexpected travel for some proves hectic &
stressful, but financially rewarding. You are like
ly to find someone with whom you will enjoy the
ecstasies of love. Meditation and selfrealization
prove beneficial. Many people want to fly inter
national and you are one of them. Your posses
sion for acquiring a plot might be achieved. You
develop new contacts by attending social gath
erings/parties.
GEMINI: A firm commitment will not
only enable to achieve professional tar
gets but also to realise your dreams. A
new outlook will be the source of laughter at
family front this week.
Monetary position is likely to improve later in
the week. Love comes your way as friendship
turns into romance. You will have ample time to
do things to improve your health. By traveling
youll learn about new places and cultures,
which is ultimately a great deal about yourself.
If you invest on smaller properties then it can be
beneficiary for future investments. A visit to
new places where you have never gone before is
on the card.
CANCER: Cooperative nature brings

desired results at professional front.
Enjoying a picnic with family will not only
bring joy but also help in clearing misunderstand
ings. Hard work of previous weeks brings good for
tune enabling to fulfill monetary promises. You are
likely find comfort in the arms of romantic partner.
Sound physical health will enable to participate in
outdoor activities. You and your loved ones been
busy for quite sometimes and have finally decided
to go on a vacation. Your plan to own a house is
ought to be in the right way. The week promises
many exciting happenings.
LEO: You need to make full use of your
aspirations, supportive nature and open
mindedness at work. Charming nature
and pleasant personality would make you the
attraction of family function this week. You suc
ceed in making some extra cash on playing your
cards well. Love and romantic encounter will this
week keep you in a cheerful state. You will be suc
cessful in getting rid from tensions. Your next
journey is to a place which is full of natural beau
ty and ravishing. Plan to invest in cafeteria or a
bakery shop; it might create new opportunities
for you. Dont get surprised if you get unlimited
respect amongst your friends.
VIRGO: Dont forget to devote time on
acquiring new technical skills to enhance
career prospects. Family members appre
ciate the changes made in & around the house. An
auspicious week to invest money on items that
would grow in value. Sudden romantic encounter
is foreseen this week. A sparkling laughter filled
week when most things proceed, as you desire.
Time for a vacation, sit back and relax. You might
apply for bank loan as to get back the possession
of your mortgaged property. A promising week to
combine personal charms with positive & power
ful thinking to winover adversaries.
LIBRA: A test of your ability to handle

pressurised situations as you are entrust
ed with a special assignment. Friends
and family members would encourage to work
harder. Expenditure rises but rise in income takes
care of your immediate bills. A promising week
for romance when your innovation infuses a new
spirit in it. Your enormous confidence would help
in enjoying a healthy life. If you are thinking of
escaping from the hectic daily routine plan a trip.
There are chances of getting good amount from
an older property of yours. A week when you
would easily be able to make a mark.
SCORPIO : For some change of job would
bring mental satisfaction. You are likely to
hear a good news from close relatives.
Investment on longterm plans would pave the
way for earning financial gains. Partner brings
immense romantic pleasure even if work pressure
occupies your mind Cataract patients should
avoid visiting a polluted environment as smoke
could cause further problems to their eyes. Your
travel experience is going to be an extent of shar
ing your knowledge and communication. The plot
you were looking for can be profitable from
investment point of view. If you attempt difficult
tasks/encounter tough situations you are likely to
come out as a winner.
SAGITTARIUS : Your inner values coupled
with a positive attitude will bring success
at work. An old friend makes a pleasant
visit later in the week. Avoid hasty investment.
Your losses are certain if you dont look at invest
ments from all possible angles. Romance rules
heart & mind this week. A very healthy week filled
with happiness & vitality. Its time for a vacation
after a long and hard year at work. It is better to
try for your office accommodation as soon as pos
sible. With little obstacles at personal front it is a
week of great achievements for you.
CAPRICORN: Responding positively &

quickly to new ideas in business will go in
your favour. Evening enjoyed with family
and close relatives brings immense pleasure.
Improvement in finances makes it convenient in
clearing long pending dues & bills. Romantic
imagination occupies mind forcing to go out of
the way to please partner. Pleasure trip would
help in maintaining sound health this week. Time
to relax and unwind for few weeks. Time to think
about your investment plans, as investing resi
dentially might be profitable. An auspicious week
to bring changes by adopting a new & more bal
anced attitude in life.
AQUARIUS :Calculated risks at profes
sional front will be rewarded with suc
cess. You are likely to plan a short trip
with family. Successful execution of brilliant ideas
would help in earning financial profits. Cupids
arrows would make your heart flutter high. Yoga
and meditation would help in keeping in shape
and mentally agile. Weekend getaway to enjoy
pubs and clubs is on your way. Your investment
can be done on a cheap or smaller piece of land.
You are likely to reap achievements with hard
work at personal front.
PISCES: You will be successful in regain
ing your professional touch. Unexpected
visit by old friend could give you a pleas
ant surprise. A very successful week as far as
monetary position is concerned. You are likely to
enjoy a pleasure trip that will rejuvenate your
passions.
Blessings of a saintly person give peace of mind.
Before you travel examine yourself and your trav
eling partner, to determine what you expect from
your vacation. Family can be helpful on acquiring
your property or plot. You succeed in learning the
art of living to bring success & harmony in your
life.
ANNUAL PREDICTIONS: FOR THOSE BORN IN THIS WEEK

19th December, 2015
Ruled planet : Sun Ruled by no: 1
Traits in you: Being number 1, you are a person who loves
originality in whatever work you do. By nature you are an
authoritative person and so you always take charge of
things which also makes you responsible person. If you
take some task in hand, you are determined to finish it.
You are very soft spoken and kind hearted person.
Health this year: Happiness is a mantra for healthy body
too. Living a great social life and enjoying all pleasures of
life in the coming year will keep you strong both physical
ly and mentally.
Finance this year: This year you will be able to save money
for the future, which will give you a sense of security and
satisfaction. You might also purchase some artefacts for
your home, which will bring beauty and a sense of well
being around you.
Career this year: In career, success and prosperity will be
yours, in the year ahead of you. You will handle challeng
ing projects, with determination and sincerity. This will
bring you fame and recognition. Your ideas will draw the
attention of your seniors. Your work will be appreciated by
your colleagues and seniors.
Romance this year: You are a person with strong personal
ity, so its for you to attract the attention of opposite sex.
However it would be in your interest if you don't make
false promises. Better to channelise your efforts to devel
op friendly relations to bring love in your life.
Lucky month: July, October and January
20th December, 2015
Ruled planet : Moon Ruled by no: 2
Traits in you: Being number 2, you are a person with high
confidence, imagination and the one who is always ready
to help others. Anyone can trust you blindly as you are
very balanced person in nature. Though you are reserved
personality, but when it comes to do some task, you are
independent and complete your work with full determina
tion and honesty.
Health this year: This year you will have to be extra cau
tious about your diet and also make them others under
stand the value of eating healthy food. It would be in your
interest to avoid junk food and as far as possible, restrain
yourself from taking fried and spicy food.
Finance this year: This year taking loan from bank for
shortterm investment will be useful. If possible, invest the
money in reputed firm to yield good returns. Carelessness
on your part could cost dearly, so read all the papers care
fully before signing them.
Career this year: Those of you, who are in the field of
journalism or teaching, can expect to reach newer heights
of excellence, in the year ahead of you. If possible, take the
help of likeminded friends in work. Their timely help
would be crucial and beneficial for you.
Romance this year: For those of you, who are going to be

married, can expect success and prosperity in their mar
ried life. If possible, take sometime out for your love life.
You must keep your promise even after a tight schedule
otherwise it would create some strain in your relationship.
Lucky month: July, November and February
21st December, 2015
Ruled planet : upiter Ruled by no: 3
Traits in you: Being number 3, you are confident, ambitious
and independent person who loves to work with optimistic
attitude. You are a born leader, and you are always appreci
ated for your work, whether it is at home or work place.
Your efforts are always sincere and thats why you balance
your personal and professional life very smoothly.
Health this year: It is high time for you to be disciplined in
eating habits. Make sure that you avoid snacking in
between your meals at all costs. This would enable you to
keep yourself fit and enable you to enjoy life to the fullest.
Finance this year: Important projects might suffer due to
shortage of funds this year. Chances are that some proj
ects may even end half way, if some alternative arrange
ments are not made immediately. You need to keep the
project within stipulated budget to avoid additional finan
cial burden.
Career this year: The coming year, will see you achieve hon
our and fame, in your professional front. You might have to
travel a lot for work purpose. Make sure you use your profes
sional expertise to solve stumbling blocks in your progress.
Your little effort could resolve the problem once for all.
Romance this year: A very good year to sort out all misun
derstandings with lover/beloved, if you have! Let these
small problems not af fect your relationship. Therefore
resolve all these rightno to enjoy this lovely bond.
Lucky month: June, September, December and March
22nd December, 2015
Ruled planet : Uranus Ruled by no: 4
Traits in you: Being number 4, you are a person who likes
to take responsibilty and do your work with full dedication
and honesty. You are a very down to earth person with
religious beliefs. This year you might plan to go for a pili
grimage. Sometimes you become bossy, jealous or stub
born, which you should avoid to lead a happy life with
smiling people around you.
Health this year: This year keep in mind that keep your
cool and don't allow anybody to lose your temper on triv
ial issues especially when someone is deliberately trying
to provoke you. Restrain yourself otherwise chances are
that this might harm your personal interests.
Finance this year: Most of you will be lucky in money this
year. You need to grab any new business of fer, which
comes to your way. It might appear to be too small to
invest but a closer look would be required on your part.
You need to realise that it has longterm potential.

Career this year: Those of you in your 40th year and above,
should expect to reach the height of your professional
career, in the coming year. Time to evaluate situations and
work on priorities to succeed at professional front. Keep in
mind that setting priorities would enable to complete work
on time and at the same time give time to enjoy life.
Romance this year: Most of you will be lucky in love mat
ters. This year is likely to bring a surprise gift of love for
you. You should convey your feelings to begin your ride in
the sea of love.
Lucky month: June, July, October and January
23rd December, 2015
Ruled planet : Sun Ruled by no: 5
Traits in you: Being number 5, you are very strong headed
person with friendly nature and practical thoughts. You
inspire others to do their work with full dedication and
perfection. You have an ability to make many friends and
the best is that you are known as a very loyal friend to all
your friends. This year keep control over your moody
nature, which can put you in trouble. You strongly believe
in destiny and have strong concentration power. This year
you will feel more inclined towards religious activities.
Health this year: Make sure you keep yourself away from
two demons, greed and egoism to enable yourself to enjoy
sound health. Their presence in your life would make it
difficult for you to live a peaceful life.
Finance this year: Financially too, it will be a good year.
Some of you can expect to inherit property from your
ancestors. It would be in your interest if you keep your
investment plans secret. At this time you must focus all
attention on future goals.
Career this year: Those of you in the field of writing, or
teaching, can expect it to be an exceptionally good year.
Your extensive vocabulary and communication skills, will
take you to greater heights of success. You like your proj
ects and plans to move in double quick time. You will be
able to achieve success and that too in a short time, in the
coming year.
Romance this year: Separation from romantic partner for
few days would act as a blessing in disguise for you this
year. This will make you realise that what is true love and
will contribute in cementing your romantic bond.
Lucky month: May, July, September and December
24th December, 2015
Ruled planet : Venus Ruled by no: 6
Traits in you: Being number 6, you are lover of simplicity
and originality. You are always there to help others. You
are an ambitious person, who always climb the stairs of
success in whatever work you take in hand. You are very
outspoken in nature and good at solving other's problem.
The best quality in you is that you have an ability to laugh
at yourself and make others smile.

Health this year: This year as far as possible, avoid
overindulgence in the work you do. Keep in mind that this
will only affect your health. It would therefore be in your
interest to give body the muchneeded rest to keep your
self physically fit.
Finance this year: Good year as investment progress by
leaps & bounds. You need to invest the money in a regular
income bond. You will also love to spend a lot of time in
collecting donations for charitable institutions.
Career this year: You are full of confidence and do not
underestimate you capabilities. In this year, you will try to
impose your ideas on others. This may not be liked by
your colleagues, who tend to drift away. You will achieve
success in your pursuit of knowledge.
Romance this year: This year, take a pledge that you will
not get disappointed on a sad beginning in romance. Keep
in mind that love being the matter of hearts takes a little
time in blossoming. Just be sincere in your efforts.
Lucky month: June, August, January and February
25th December, 2015
Ruled planet : Neptune Ruled by no: 7
Traits in you: Being number 7, you are an intelligent, inde
pendent and kind hearted person. You know how to play
with words. Using your this quality you will easily impress
people around you. Your supportive nature makes you
famous in your group. justice. You love to be a leader in a
group and can easily sense positive and negative energies
coming from the people around you. This year you might
go for a foreign trip, which would be both pleasurable and
rewarding.
Health this year: This year try to start your day with jog
ging and make it an essential part of your daily routine. It
would help you in being in a very good shape. Moreover in
case of any ailment medicines will only effect when you
keep yourself physically fit.
Finance this year: This year your flourishing business
would bring rich dividends. The need of the hour is that
you invest in new business projects individually to regain
higher returns. You might also lend loans to someone,
which will be favourable to you.
Career this year: This year you will be able to pursue
many subjects, rather than confine yourself to any one.
Your honesty and loyalty, towards your work, will impress
your seniors. Those of you, who are in a teaching line, will
do well, professionally. Your skills and strong determina
tion will bring applaud for you.
Romance this year: This year if you are looking for a part
ner, then be ready to meet a dazzling beauty/handsome
guy who has the power to mesmerise you. However before
taking any initiatives make sure that he/she is the right
person and you are not under the spell of infatuation.
Lucky month: August, November, March and April
30
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
MAKING OUR CHOICE NOW
By Sant Rajinder Singh Ji

Maharaj
man was once asked by a saint if he
would like to find God. First the man
said that he wanted to wait until he got
married and settled down. T he saint
returned after the man married and settled
down, and again asked if he wanted to find
God. The man said, "When I am rich and suc
cessful at my job I will look for God." The
saint returned when the man had made a lot
of money and was successful at his career.
He again asked the man if he wanted to find
God yet.
Now the man wanted to wait to find God
until after he had married off his children.
When the children were settled, the saint
returned. Then the man wanted to wait to
find God until after he had grandchildren.
Finally, on his deathbed he told the saint he
was ready to find God.
But by then his whole life had passed and
there was no time left. Let us not be like that
man. Let us make a choice while still young
and vital and in our full senses. Let us not
wait until it is too late.
We have been allotted a number of breaths
By Sant Rajinder Singh

Ji Maharaj
arious scriptures from the East tell us
that we are born into this world with a
limited number of breaths. When our
numbered breaths are up, our soul leaves
the body at the time of death. What we do
with those breaths is up to us. We can con
sider our number of breaths like capital or a
in this lifetime. We can either waste them

away or make full use of them to complete
our course in spirituality. That is why the
Masters exhort us to make the best use of
this current lifetime.
A spiritual Master undertakes the respon
sibility of making sure our soul will be
reunited with the Divine. This responsibility
is as that of a teacher making sure the stu
dent is ready for the highest degree for grad
uation. It is his job to make sure we are pre
pared and developed spiritually. If we are
not ready, he still has to guide us until we
are ready. Thus, even while under the care of
a Master, he has to make sure we complete
our course in spirituality.
When someone is seeking, they often are
fired up with intensity to find the right spiri
tual Master, or the spiritual teaching that can
help solve the mystery of life and death. Yet,
after someone finds and joins a spiritual
path, some become complacent. They may
feel that their quest has ended, but, in reality,
their work has just begun.It is like applying
for a school, college, or university. We
intensely fill out applications and submit
admission papers, and are thrilled when
we receive our acceptance letter. Yet, their
work is not endedit has just begun. They
must work hard to complete their degree
program to graduate. It is the same on a spir
itual path. Just finding the right Master who
can teach us a meditation practice that pro
vides proven results is the beginning; we
have to then start putting in the effort and
commitment to master the meditation tech
niques to reach the goal of realization of the
Divine.
Once the great writer Mark Twain was
having a discussion with a businessman who
was known for being aggressive and ruthless
in his dealings with others.
T he businessman said to the writer,
Many of us read the

Commandments or
advice given by the
great saints in the
scriptures. Many of us
are happy even to
preach what our holy
books say. But how
many of us live up to
the teachings we
follow?
"Before I die I would like to make a pilgrim
age to the Holy Land and climb to the top of
Mount Sinai to read the Ten Commandments
aloud at the top."
Mark Twain quickly replied, "I have a bet
ter idea. Rather than go to Mount Sinai
where Moses was given the Ten
Commandments, why dont you just stay
home here in Boston and practice the Ten
Commandments in your life!"
This humorous comment carries a signifi
cant meaning. Many of us read the
Commandments or advice given by the great
saints in the scriptures. Many of us are
happy even to preach what our holy books
say. But how many of us live up to the teach
ings we follow?
There is a big difference between knowing
the theory and practicing it. It is not enough
to read the books or scriptures and know the
theory. We need to live up to them in our
own lives. If we learn a method of meditation
and instructions for progress, that is not
enough; the true heart of the spiritual teach
ings is in the practice. It is not enough to

know what others have said about it. It is
essential that we have our own firsthand
experience of spirituality. T hat can be
accomplished when we sit in meditation.
Progress is a matter of accuracy. We can
become accurate only by practice. Practice
makes perfect.
If we expect to sit in meditation once or
twice in our life and accomplish spiritual
progress, we are being unrealistic. We need
to practice daily.
It is said that if we take one step toward
God, God will take a hundred steps toward
us. The time we spend in meditation will be
richly rewarded.
Instead of mere ly reading the Ten
Commandments, live them. If we do our
meditations and lead ethical lives, observing
the virtues of nonviolence, truthfulness, puri
ty, humility, selfless service, and love for all,
we will be blessed with inner vision. We will
have the proof for ourselves of the existence
of our soul and God.
EVERY BREATH IS IMPORTANT

bank account given to us by God. Every
moment we make a choice about how to
spend our breaths. We can choose to spend
our capital wisely or foolishly.
In this regard, there is a story about a
poor man who was given a sandalwood for
est by a rich man for whom he did a favor.
The poor man did not realize the
value of the sandalwood and began
chopping it up for ordinary lumber
to build houses and sell for fire
wood. After many years, the rich
man returned to see how the poor
man was doing, expecting that he
would now be rich from the sale of
the expensive sandalwood. He was
shocked to find the forest depleted
and the poor man still barely mak
ing ends meet. Not having realized
the high value he could have gotten
for the sandalwood, he had squan
dered his treasure away. Likewise,
we have been given a sandalwood
forest or the gift of a number of
breaths to benefit ourselves, our
family, and all creation.
Let us ask ourselves what we are
trading for each breath. Are we
using our breaths for something
that will be truly helpful? To answer
By using our breaths for

our spiritual evolution
and to help others we will
make the world we live in
a better place.
this question we need to define our purpose
and goal in life. Whatever we decide will lay
down the tracks on which the train of our
life will go. Every person has the ability to
choose between going towards God or away
from God. Every person has the choice of
working towards goals of a worldly nature
or those of a spiritual nature.
First of all, let us be grateful and celebrate
that we have been born into this physical
existence as a human being. Recent scientif
ic studies estimate that there are anywhere
from 7 to 9 million species of life. This bears
out what the ancient Hindus spoke of when
they said that there were 8.4 million species.
This is where the terms being on the wheel
of 84 and the cycle of births and rebirths
come from. Science is now confirming what
ancient sages told us thousands of years
ago. Whether the actual number is 7 million,
8.4 million or 9 million, the fact remains
that there are millions of life forms. Being in
the human form is a reason to celebrate and

should not be taken for granted. It is in the
human form that the faculty exists to know
ourselves as soul and to know God. Let us
make the best of this opportunity and not
squander our life away.
Most people devote the entire gift of the
human form to feeding it, reproducing it,
and keeping it alive. However, our lives are
precious. Let us use the spiritual capital of
this birth and our remaining breaths to real
ize God. If we use our breaths for our own
spiritual development and for the better
ment of the lives of others, we will amass
the spiritual rewards of eternal love, bliss
and peace. By using our breaths for our spir
itual evolution and to help others, we will
make the world we live in a better place.
Each day let us take some time to keep our
priorities straight. We can write out our
plan for the day, giving time to our spiritual
priorities of meditation, selfless service, and
ethical living. In this way, the sandalwood
forest we have been given by God can be
invested to bring more good for ourselves
and for others. Let us be more aware of how
we use each moment of our lives. In this way
our spiritual success of reuniting our soul
with God can be achieved in the shortest
possible time. The choice is ours.

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The South Asian Times

Vol.8 No. 33 December 19-25, 2015 60 Cents

New York Edition

US, Russia unite to target India's interests

Washington: In a rare show of

Russian President Vladimir Putin

US Fed raises rate in sign

Federal Reserve Chair Janet

have a material effect on their abil

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flanked by his Minister of Environment

stances of developing countries, a

More on the climate deal on pages 1213.

December 19-25, 2015

December 19-25, 2015

Parrikar discusses Make in India,

with DTTI progress to date. They

panies in the defense sector.

Justice system treats everybody

Judge Raja Rajeswari speaking

encourage younger Indian

US Navy officials briefing Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar in the

NYC politicians rally against

December 19-25, 2015

since 2007. They made

Sikh boy jokes about blowing

Ahmed Mohamed, was taken away

US, Russia unite to target ISIS...

US Fed raises rate in sign economy...

New Delhi Bureau

Managing Editor: Parveen Chopra

President: Arjit Mehta

Contributing Editors: Meenakshi Iyer,

Strategy and Marketing

India building secret nuke facility...

Cartoonist: Mahendra Shah

IBA hosts a Christmas

Christmas Tree lighting (right) Santa Claus highlight program

Karina Kohli of New York

Miss India USA Karina Kohli flanked by Mrs. India USA

December 19-25, 2015

Fords, N.J.: Acting student Karina Kohli of New York

Santa Claus made a special

on display through January.

New England Brewing

store shelves with the new name

December 19-25, 2015

WaterAid seeks NRIs help in

required to achieve this are not yet fully in

Roopa Modha selected

Muslims to hold third peace rally against terrorism on Dec 19

(L to R): Dr Subhash Varma, Dr Neelam Verma, Dr Akshat Jain,

fessor and section head of global

have decided to stand up and voice

nonMuslims to join them in soli

Call for application to attend Teach For

than 1.5 percent of the teachers. AAPILS will drive

December 19-25, 2015

Robber shoots Indianorigin

imposing a $2,000 additional fee on

Michigan: In a suspected hate

US Army allows Sikh soldier

Captain Simratpal Singh

responded bravely. Were very