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Washington: The political strategist

spearheading the Senate Republicans'

campaign effort declared Thursday that his

party will take cont rol of the Senat e in

November, af ter close to a decade in the

minority.

"We are going to win the Senate, I feel

very good about that," NRSC executive

director Rob Collins said.

"These races have been tough. They

have been a grind. But we are seeing

movement in the right direction and I feel

really good about where we are and think

we're going to take the Senate and we're

going to take it on election night," Collins

said, predicting the GOP will win the 6

seats it needs to control the Senate, even if

races in Louisiana and Georgia are close

enough to require run-offs in the weeks

ahead.

Earlier, noted psephologist Nate Silver

predicted Republicans have a 57.9 percent

chance of getting a majority in the Senate.

Washington Posts Election Lab gives a 94

percent chance to GOP of gaining control,

with a projected 52 Senate seats. A Gallup

poll released Monday suggests the GOP

may be outpacing Democrats in voter con-

fidence on several issues that are expected

to be crucial in determining Novembers

Senate races.

Collins said the credit for the party's

expected success belongs to a disciplined

crop of GOP challengers and good stew-

ardship from political handlers in

Washington so the campaigns avoided

the types of gaffes and missteps that

derailed several GOP candidates in 2012.

Foreign policy, terrorism, Ebola, and

ISIS are high on voters' minds, Collins

said. Those "constant crises" -- coupled

with President Obama's high unfavorable

ratings -- have created openings for

Republicans.

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

excellence in journalismFASHION 15 FESTIVALS 16 SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30

Vol.7 No. 25 October 18-24, 2014 60 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info

CINEMA 25

Washington: The US government and the

Dallas hospital where a man died of Ebola on

Thursday admitted to errors that led to the

infection of two nurses, while Republicans

are demanding a ban on flights from the

African nations affected by the disease.

In a House investigatory subcommittee

hearing, lawmakers charged the government

with being slow to halt the arrival of Ebola in

the country and U.S. Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention director Thomas

Frieden said that "it's not easy" to prevent the

virus from spreading.

The "mistakes" that occurred must be "cor-

rected quickly" to prevent more infections

but the "trust and credibility of the adminis-

tration and government are waning as the

American public loses confidence each day,"

said Pennsylvania Republican Tim Murphy,

the subcommittee chairman.

Ebola is not a new virus, although it is new

to the US, said Frieden, adding that, despite

the recent incidents, "we remain confident

that our public health and health care systems

can prevent an Ebola outbreak here." He also

New Delhi: The BJP will form the

next government in both

Maharashtra and Haryana, exit

polls predicted on Wednesday. The

only thing they did not agree on

was whether the party would win a

clear majority on its own.

The exit polls validate the BJP's

bold gamble in going it alone in

both states, as well as its focus on a

Modi-centered campaign that dwelt

more on governance issues. The

results will be announced on Oct

19. In Maharashtra, Today's

Chanakya exit poll gave the BJP

151 seats or a clear majority in the

288-member assembly. AC

Niels en/ABP News predicted the

party would just hit the half-way

mark of 144. The CVoter/Times

Now poll gave the BJP 138. Thus,

BJP may need some support fromothers, which it get easily.

Interestingly, the Sena too is not

seen as a major loser. All the polls

agreed that it would finish second

and that it would improve signifi-

cantly upon its 2009 tally of 44

seats, though the numbers varied

from 59 to 77. Three of the four

polls put the Congress in third spot,just a little ahead of the NCP while

one had it the other way round. The

MNS would get fewer than the 13

seats it won in 2009.

In Haryana, only three polls made

predictions and two of them gave

Gov't admits mistakes handling Ebola,Republicans demand ban on flights

There have been only three knownEbola cases so far in the US, and withproper training and instructions to

hospitals, the spread of this fatal butcurable disease will certainly becurbed, so panic is unnecessary.Continued on page 4

Continued on page 4

GOP predicts Senate victory

Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh:

India Thursday moved tantaliz-

ingly close to having its own

satellite navigation system as it

smoothly launched a satellite

with its rocket - and is now only a

step away from joining a select

group of space-faring nations that

have such a system.

With the successful launch of

the third of seven satellites

pl an ne d un de r th e In di an

Regional Navigation Satellite

System (IRNSS), India is just a

satellite and a couple of monthsaway from having its own satel-

lite navigation system.

This puts India at the door step

of an exclusive space club that

has the US, Russia, China and

India getting its ownnavigation satellite system

Modi will snatch Maharashtra,Haryana from Congress: Exit polls

ISROs PSLV-C26 carryingIndia Regional Navigation

Satellite System lifts off fromSriharikota in AP Oct.16.Continued on page 4

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October 18-24, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info

JAN. 2015

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Washington: As a new poll showed

Indian-American Rohit 'Ro' Khanna

closing the gap in the Congression-

al battle for Silicon Valley, he

vowed to focus on the community's

key concerns - education and the

economy.

"With the polls tied at 38/38 %,

this is the best pick up opportunity

for an Indian American in the coun-

try," said the former Obama admin-

istration official challenging veteran

fellow Democrat 7-term incumbent

Mike Honda in the Nov 4 election.

"Ultimately, the choice in this

election is clear: We can rest on our

laurels as the innovation capital of

the world and watch new jobs and

opportunities go elsewhere. Or, like

those who built Silicon Valley, we

can roll up our sleeves and get towork," Khanna said.

Khanna's campaign pollster found

in a survey of 400 likely voters last

week the two tied at 38 % with 24 %

undecided - a big turnaround from

the 20-point lead Honda held in

June's primary vote.

But Honda's campaign disputed

the figures, saying Monday that its

own internal polling -- a survey of

500 likely voters, conducted Oct 7-

12 -- showed 42 % support to Hon-

da to Khanna's 27 %, with 31% un-

decided. Exuding confidence, the

38-year-old said, that the 38-38 fig-

ure reflects a sense of urgency from

voters who want effective and ac-

cessible leadership in Congress." He

also claims his campaign has galva-

nized the Indian community.He has already won the backing of

Yahoo's Marissa Mayer and Face-

book's Sheryl Sandberg in the con-

stituency that's home to tech titans

Apple, Yahoo, Facebook, Intel and

eBay.

"I'm running for Congress be-

cause Silicon Valley needs a Con-

gressman who will bring a different

approach to governing - someone

who will build bipartisan coalitions

to get things done. Someone who

will lead on issues, not follow.

Someone who will be engaged and

show up in the community," Khan-

na said. Khanna said while working

in the Commerce Department he

had gained an understanding of not

only the challenges faced by "man-

ufacturers of all sizes, but also of thecompetitive advantages that Ameri-

ca has in manufacturing and export-

ing." "We need more people in Con-

gress who understand how the econ-

omy works and will reach across the

aisle to get things done," he said.

Khanna said he was also "very

proud of the Indian American com-

munity's increasing participation in

the Democratic process.

This is representative of the in-

credible contributions that the com-

munity has made to the economy,

innovation, and much more."

Toronto: Canadas new

High Commissioner to

India, Nadir Patel is anIndo-Canadian, one

who was born in Prime

Minister Narendra

Modis state of Gujarat

and speaks Gujarati at

home.

Patel is barely 44. His

appointment was an-

nounced last Friday by

Foreign Affairs Minis-

ter John Baird and International

Trade Minister Ed Fast.

Patels appointment follows the

appointment of Richard Rahul Ver-

ma, an Indian American, as Ameri-

cas next ambassador to India.

We are pleased to announce the

appointment of Nadir Patel as

Canadas new High Commissioner

in the Republic of India, said the

Canadian ministers. Patel brings a

wealth of experience and will

strengthen even further the Canada-

India relationship, including on bi-

lateral trade and international secu-

rity. Parliamentary Secretary to

Baird is another Indo-Canadian

Deepak Obhrai. I am delighted

Nadir Patel is our new high com-

missioner, Obhrai said. He will

join other distinguished Canadians

who have had a strong hand in

strengthening our relations with In-

dia, especially when my govern-

ment has put relations with India as

a priority. Patel was rather young

when his parents decided to emi-

grate to Canada. After graduating

from Wilfrid Laurier University in

Waterloo with political science ashis major subject, he joined the Fed-

eral Public Service and kept inces-

santly moving up the ladder.

Till three years back, Patel was

Canadas consul-general in Shang-

hai. On returning to Ottawa, he be-

came assistant deputy minister for

corporate planning, finance and IT,

and CFO at Foreign Affairs, Trade

and Development Canada.

Nadir has an MBA from New

York Universitys Stern School of

Business and the London School of

Economics and Political Science.

Washington: President Obama

will nominate top ACLU lawyer

Vanita Gupta to run the Civil

Rights Division at the Justice

Department, but will delay a for-

mal announcement until after the

midterm elections, LA Times has

reported.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder

Jr. announced Wednesday that

Gupta would take over the post

immediately as acting assistant

attorney general for civil rights, a

somewhat unusual move for some-

one who is about to be officially

nominated for such a post.By announcing her appointment

as acting head rather than proceed-

ing with a formal nomination at

this time, the Obama administra-

tion appears to be trying to avoid

po te nt ia l co nt ro ve rs y in th e

November elect ions. In a similar

move Tuesday, administration

sources said the White House

would not nominate anyone to

replace Holder, who plans to step

down, until after the Nov. 4 elec-

tions.

Obamas previous nominee for

the civil rights job, Debo Adegbile,

was rejected by the Senate in

March after some Democrats

joined Republicans in opposing his

appointment because of his previ-

ous legal representation of a pris-

oner convicted of killing a police-

man. Gupta is also likely to run

into opposition, though, unlike

Adegbile, she has support from

some prominent conservatives,

including anti-tax crusader Grover

Norquist and David Keene, former

pres ident of the Nat ional Rif le

Assn. Gupta is a former lawyer for

the NAACP Legal Defense and

Educational Fund. At the ACLU

(American Civil Liberties Union)she rose to become deputy legal

director. Former colleagues

describe her as a rock star

among civil rights and criminal

justice lawyers. In her first case,

she won pardons for 35 mostly

African American defendants,

whose convictions she showed

were based on falsified evidence

from a police officer.

Her duties as head of the Civil

Rights Division will include super-

vising the Justice Department

investigation into the August

shooting death of unarmed African

American Michael Brown, 18, by a

white policeman in Ferguson, Mo.

Gupta was born in Philadelphia,

but mostly grew up in England and

France. She is a graduate of Yale

and New York University Law

School, graduating from law

school in 2001.

3October 18-24, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY

Ro Khanna closes gap in Congressionalrace from Silicon Valley

ACLU lawyer Vanita Gupta to head Justice Deptts civil rights unit

Ro Khanna, 38, is pitted against Mike Honda, 73, a JapaneseAmerican, in the only Asian American-majority

district in continental United States.

Former colleagues describeVanita Gupta as a rock star

among civil rights andcriminal justice lawyers.

Nadir Patel with Canadian Prime MinisterStephen Harper

Indo-Canadian is Canadasnew envoy to India

432 Park Avenue has become the tallest residential buildingin the Western Hemisphere, with 104 condos, 84 stories, and

a height of 426 metres (1,396 ft). It is the second tallestbuilding in Manhattan, behind One World Trade Center. The

building was topped out on September 21, 2014.

Towering over

Manhattan

8/10/2019 Vol 7 Issue 25 - Oct 18-24, 2014

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4 October 18-24, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoTURN PAGE

Gov't admits mistakes handling Ebola ...

Continued from page 1

said that to protect US citizens, it is necessary

to first prevent the spread of the virus in West

Africa, where the epidemic arose in March.

The second nurse found to have Ebola,

Amber Joy Vinson, traveled by plane from

Cleveland to Dallas on Monday, when she had

a slight fever.

Frieden admitted in his testimony that the

nurse should not have traveled, although it wasa CDC official who gave her the OK to take

the flight, given that her fever was under the

threshold set by the CDC and she had no other

symptoms.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest

said Thursday that the decision to allow

Vinson to travel was "a mistake" that should

not have occurred, but the risk of infection for

the other passengers was "rather low."

Vinson and the other infected nurse, Nina

Pham, work at Texas Health Presbyterian

Hospital in Dallas, where Duncan received

medical care for 10 days before dying of

Ebola, which he had contracted in his native

Liberia.

The hospital acknowledged making a mis-

take in failing to diagnose Duncan with Ebolawhen he first sought medical care on Sept. 25,

prescribing antibiotics for his high fever and

sending him home, only to have him return

three days later when his symptoms got worse,

at which time he was admitted and quaran-

tined.

At the hearing on Thursday, several lawmak-

ers urged the U.S. government to consider a

temporary ban on flights from the countries

affected by the virus, a proposal backed by

House Speaker John Boehner.

Although five U.S. airports have now imple-

mented special procedures to screen incoming

passengers for Ebola , the White House said

that the administration was not considering a

ban on flights.

Modi will snatch Maharashtra, Haryana ..

Continued from page 1

the BJP a clear majority, while the third had it

hitting the half-way mark. The ABP News poll

suggested the BJP would win 54 seats in the

90-member house, Today's Chanakya put the

figure at 52 and CVoter at 45. So the BJP is

poised to comfortably form the government in

the state.

The polls were also unanimous that

Chautala's INLD would finish second with 22-

23 seats, and the Congress a distant third.

In any case, brand Modi is getting a major

boost, wiping out any dent made by the earlier

by-poll results in some sta tes like UP. The

polls also send a strong signal to BJP allies that

they would be ill-advised to try any hard bar-

gaining with the BJP, as the Sena did. The

Congress looks like a party currently in free

fall.

India getting its own navigation satellite ..

Continued from page 1

Japan as members. The navigational system,

developed indigenously by India, is designed

to provide accurate position information serv-

ice to users within the country and up to 1,500

km from the nation's boundary line.

Though IRNSS is a seven-satellite system, it

could be made operational with four satellites,

ISRO officials said.

The fourth navigation satellite is expected to

be launched this December. The entire IRNSS

constellation of seven satellites is planned to

be completed by 2015.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated

ISRO scientists and described the launch as "amatter of immense pride and joy".

The rocket - Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle

(PSLV) C26 blasted off with its luggage, the

1,425-kg IRNSS-1C (Indian Regional

Navigational Satel lite System-1C) sate llite.

"India's third navigation satellite is up in the

orbit," ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan said

post launch. In the coming days, the satellite

will be positioned in the Geostationary Orbit.

The satellite has two kinds of payloads - nav-

igation and ranging. The navigation payload

would transmit navigation service signals to

the users. The satellite has a life span of 10

years.

The system, expected to provide a position

accuracy of better than 20 meters in the pri-

mary service area, is similar to the naviagation

systems of the US, Russia, Europe, China and

Japan.

The system will be used for terrestrial, aerial

and marine navigation, disaster management,

vehicle tracking and fleet management, inte-

gration with mobile phones, mapping and geo-

detic data capture, visual and voice navigation

for drivers and others. It will be used for

defense purposes as well.

By Parveen Chopra

New York: Columbia

University is holding a panel

discussion on India Beyond

Technology and Yoga: The

Power of Literature in a

Globalizing World on

October 27.

Pankaj Mishra (author of

From The Ruins of Empire),

Urvashi Butalia, founder,

Zubaan Books, Vikas Swarup

of Slumdog Millionaire

fame, and Suketu Mehta (Maximum City:

Bombay Lost and Found) will be in con-

versation with Vishakha Desai, Special

Advisor for Global Affairs to the President

of Columbia University and Professor ofProfessional Practice at the School of

International and Public Affairs.

But isnt it the IT prowess that has put

India on the world map? Talking to The

South Asian Times, Dr Desai argued that it

is not either/or, and that while talking about

Indias soft power, it is important to explore

the role of Indian literature.

Urvashi Butalia added that people judge

a country not by one thing but by many.

When suggested that bloggers and twit-

terati are diminishing the thinkers and

authors, Butalia replied, No, I think not. In

fact, with the new social media, neither

thinking nor authorship is any longer the

preserve of the elite, so you have literally a

million - and more - viewpoints and so

much to choose from and I find that both

frightening and exciting!

Desai argues that with the clutter of infor-

mation, you need powerful voices to make

sense of things, to help provide wisdom .

Just like video did not kill movies, they

adapted, books are not going away in the

digital age. Both Desai and Butalia agreed

that it is still the Indian authors writing in

English who get all the attention. Says

Butalia, Translation is difficult, India

offers very few subsidies for translations -

unlike many other countries - so it is

English that gets to travel, mainly, andEnglish that gets to represent the whole of

India. But imagine how much more impact-

ful it would be if we could get even a frac-

tion of the wonderful literatures in our vari-

ous languages up there in the world!

Butalia agreed that Prime Minister Modi

is playing an impactful role in the represen-

tation of India and its image around the

world. I think he is just the most recent

example. Recall when Nehru first made his

visits abroad and floated the concept of non-

alignment. Or when Indira Gandhi met

Castro and he put his arms around her. Or

when Manmohan Singh met with President

Bush and they signed the nuclear deal.

Dr Vishakha Desai, former head of Asia

Society, was a witness to the Modi effect in

New York. She revealed that she is now

writing a personal book about India, taking

off from her parents trajectory who were

freedom fighters.

The event is sponsored by Columbia-

Bibliotheque nationale de France World

Writers Festival.

To learn more, visit:

www. globalcenters.columbia.edu

Indian authors panel atColumbia on Oct 27

Urvashi ButaliaVishakha Desai

(Moderator)

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5October 18-24, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY

Washington,DC: A 28-year-old

Indian techie has been sentenced to

death in the US for the gruesome

killing of an Indian baby and her

grandmother in a 2012 kidnapping

plot that went horribly wrong.Raghunandan Yandamuri was

convicted by a Montgomery Coun-

ty Court jury of first-degree murder

in the stabbing death of 61-year-

old Satyavathi Venna and the suf-

focation death of her 10-month-old

granddaughter, Saanvi Venna, in

King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

During the trial, Yandamuri

showed no remorse and said he

would rather accept the death

penalty than sit through arguments.

The jury on Tuesday could have

chosen to sentence Yandamuri to

life in prison but in making their

decision, the five women and sev-

en men considered aggravating

factors such as the elements of

Yandamuri's crimes and mitigating

factors such as testimony regarding

his gambling addiction and mental

state.

Investigators say Yandamuri was

a neighbor and friend of the Venna

family and carried out a kidnap-ping of the baby to try and get

$50,000 ransom to pay off a gam-

bling debt.

Formal sentencing will be sched-

uled within 45 days. Defense At-

torneys say there will be an appeal.

While agreeing that it is the first

known case of an Indian being

slapped the death penalty, eminent

attorney Ravi Batra issued this

statement on the case: What is

certain is that a baby and a grand-

mother were senselessly killed.

The jury has spoken, the court act-

ed, prosecutors vindicated societal

rights and the defense, at times pro

se, maintained a stony innocence.

While the tragedy is obvious as to

the victims, the dynamic of every

trial, even when "fair," is different

- and it is that difference that raises

concern in some - none more than

now-former United States

Supreme Court Justice Harry

Blackmun who in 1994 while re-nouncing the death penalty after 20

years of dealing with capital cases

said, given the differences in trials

and variations in justice-output,

that he would from this day for-

ward, I no longer shall tinker with

the machinery of death," and ruled

all death sentences as "unconstitu-

tional."

The Vienna Convention on

Consular Relations of 1963's Arti-

cle 36 grants a foreign national

consular access for effective legal

representation - a law binding fed-

erally but not on the 50 states as the

VCCR has never been ratified by

the US Senate. This is an issue that

continues to simmer multilaterally,

as it does in United States."

New York: Two weeks after In-

dias Prime Minister wowed

20000 of his ardent supporters at

New Yorks biggest arena, anoth-

er Indian headlined the Madison

Square Garden with his two backto back sold out shows.

31 year old Aziz Ansari, actor,

comedian and soon to be pub-

lished author presented his fourth

and latest show, modern Ro-

mance at two scheduled shows

on Thursday that saw about

10,000 people each show. After

his latest show he became the sev-

enth comedian in history to sell

out a show at the arena in Madison

Square Garden joining an eclecticclub that in the 25 years has wel-

comed Andrew Dice Clay, Chris

Rock, Eddie Izzard and KevinHart.

Ansari, who was born in the US

to Tamil parents, began his career

as a comedian in 2000 when

studying at New York University.

He branched into films around

2007 and is now widely known

for his role as Tom Haverford, a

government employee in NBCsaward-winning comedy, Parks

and Recreation.

New York Times wrote about

Ansaris performance as usually

jittery and rapid-fire in his jokes,

tried a more sober, conversational

style in his show at Madison

Square Garden.

New York: Kundan & SantoshJasuja Foundation organized a

unique event on October 12 in"Little India" area of Hicksville tomark National Breast Cancer

Awareness Month.First 'Cars vs Cancer Cruise'

was flagged off from the Apna

Bazar parking lot which wasturned into meeting and startingpoint for cars cruising to Bear

Mountain, upstate New York. Theevent was a successful turnoutwith vehicles including Maser-

atis, GTRs, BMWs, Infinitys,FRSs, Mustangs, Corvette and

many others. Registration fee of$25 per vehicle were donated to'Making Strides Against Breast

Cancer' organization.

Founder President of KSJFoundation, Shudh Parkash

Singh flagged off the cruise. Theorganizing committee ChairmanArjun Vir Singh announced that

the event raised hundreds of dol-lars and will now be held annual-ly.

Sukhmani Kaur Jasuja, a direc-tor of KSJ foundation said thiscruise is especially important as it

was organized by all youngstersrepresenting the second and thirdgeneration of Indian Americans.

"We must carry on the Indian cul-ture of helping others. A lot of

participants shared with me thattheir Indian parents and grandpar-ents raised them with family val-

ues and importance of philanthro-

py, " she said.The cruise covered over 137

miles and the participants werejubilant. 'Making Strides AgainstBreast Cancer' distributed pink

and grey jerseys to all drivers."We feel so good. Cruising

along in a caravan of cars on a

nice day like this is not only funbut also gives me satisfaction formaking a small contribution to-

wards cancer research." saidVikram Singh a participant.

"We got to spend time withfriends and made new friends. Ithink more people should support

charities like KSJ Foundation fororganizing events like these," saidMichael Gill, one of the partici-

pating drivers.

Raghunandan Yandamuri is convicted of killing an Indian babyand her grandmother in a botched kidnapping in Pennsylvania,

which has death penalty on statute.

Cars lined up for the cruise. (Inset) Shudh Prakash Singh, founderPresident of KSJ Foundation flagged off the cruise.

First Indian origin person sentenced to death in US

Comedian, actor Aziz Ansariat MSG (Photo courtesy: The

New York Times)

He is seventh comedian in history and firstIndian-American to achieve the feat

Ansari joins the big league withtwo sold out shows at MSG

First Cars Vs Cancer Cruise takes off in Hicksville

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6 October 18-24, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoTRISTATE COMMUNITY

California: Indian

American comedian

Hasan Minhaj is the lat-

est addition to The Dai-

ly Show with Jon Stew-

art, set to join the show

as a correspondent start-

ing from November, the

India West reported.

Minhaj will be a part

of the Emmy andPeabody award-winning

shows team of on-air

personalities including

Samantha Bee, Jordan Klepper, Ja-

son Jones, Jessica Williams, Lewis

Black, John Hodgman, Al Madrigal,

Aasif Mandvi, Kristen Schaal and

Larry Wilmore.

The Daily Show, a late-night

satirical news program, airs Monday

through Thursday on Comedy Cen-

tral.

Also coming on board the show in

December will be South African

comic Trevor Noah, who first de-

buted in the U.S. on The Tonight

Show with Jay Leno.

Minhaj and Noah will be replacingMichael Che and Larry Wilmore.

Reacting to the announcement,

Minhaj posted on Twitter Oct. 10,

Beyond excited to be joining

@TheDailyShow team

with my South African

brother @TrevorNoah.

NYC here I come!

Minhaj, also an actor

and writer, has appeared

on popular shows like

Arrested Develop-

ment on Netflix, E!s

Chelsea Lately,

HBOs Getting On,Comedy Centrals

@midnight and Fai-

losophy on MTV.

Recently, the Los Angeles-based

comic participated as a New Face

at Montreals 2014 Just for Laughs

Festival. Minhaj, who hosts the web

series The Truth with Hasan Min-

haj, was also chosen by the Sun-

dance Institute to create his own

show and feature film at the New

Frontier Storytelling Lab Oct. 22-27.

His project is Paint the Town, a

film adaptation of Sakoon, the au-

tobiographical solo show based on

Minhajs first-generation experi-

ences as an Indian American come-

dian.Earlier this year, Minhaj presented

David Munros documentary Stand

Up Planet at the San Francisco In-

ternational Film Festival.

Standup comic Hasan Minhaj

to join The Daily Show

Ne w York: In di an

American journalist

Anand Gopals riveting

bo ok N o Good Men

Among the Living:

America, the Taliban, and

the War through Afghan

Eyes (Henry Holt) has

be en an no un ce d as a

finalist in the non-fiction

category by the National

Book Foundation for the

National Book Awards.

Gopal has served as an

Afghanistan correspon-

dent for The Wall Street

Journal and The Christian

Science Monitor, and has

reported on the Middle

East and South Asia for

Harpers, The Nation,The New Republic,

Foreign Policy, and other publi-

cations.

Gopal earned a bachelors

degree from New York

University and also completed

graduate studies in physics and

chemistry at the University of

Pennsylvania. As a Bernard L.

Schwartz Fellow at New

America Foundation, Gopal

wrote No Good Men Among

the Living: America, the

Taliban, and the War through

Afghan Eyes.

He is known for conducting a

rare interview with Gulbuddin

Hekmatyar, the reclusive leader

of one of the Talibans most

important allies.

No Good Men Among the

Living: America, the Taliban,

and the War through Afghan

Eyes follows three Afghans a

Taliban commander, a U.S.-

backed warlord, and a housewife

trapped in the middle of the

fighting. The narrative reveals

the workings of Americas

longest war and the truth behind

its prolonged agony.

Journalist Anand Gopals book shortlistedfor National Book Award

Washington, DC: The Future of

Diplomacy Project at the Belfer

Center for Science and InternationalAffairs at Harvard Universitys

Kennedy School has appointed Farah

Pandith as fall 2014 Fisher Family

Fellow.

Pandith, in residence in September,

will teach a series of study groups on

shifting national security paradigms

since the 9/11 terrorist attacks and

the language and tools of extremism.

Pandith was appointed the first-

ever special representative to

Muslim communities in June 2009

by th en -U .S . Secr et ar y of Stat e

Hillary Clinton.

Before that, the Indian American

was senior advisor to the assistant

secretary of state for European and

Eurasian Affairs and director ofMiddle East regional initiatives for

the National Security Council.

In these roles, Pandith launched

initiatives focusing on Muslims,

including Europes first pan-

European Muslim professional net-

work, Generation Change, Viral

Peace and the Transatlantic

Leadership Network. A key architect

of the Women in Public Service

Project and the Hours Against

Hate Campaign, after her fellowship,

she will be a senior fellow with theMiddle East Initiative at the Belfer

Center through mid-November this

year.

The fellowship was funded in 2010

by the Richard and Nancy Fisher

Family Fellows Program.

Previous fellows have included C.

Raja Mohan, senior associate in

Carnegies South Asia program; and

Shyam Saran, former Foreign

Secretary of India.

Anand Gopals book No Good Men Among the Living: America, the

Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes.

Farah Pandith

Hasan Minhaj

Farah Pandith namedFisher Family Fellow

A picture that captures the love affair between United

States and India: Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney lookingresplendent in a saree, Prime Minister Narendra Modi,and eminent attorney Ravi Batra at the reception forthe PM hosted by Indian Ambassador S. Jaishankar at

The Pierre, New York Sept 28.

Khumariyaan band(from left, SparlayRawail, Shiraz Khan,Farhan Bogra and

Aamer Shafiq) per-forming at AsiaSociety, NY, lastSunday.Khumariyaanmeans intoxicators,and the Peshawar,Pakistan group,calling themselves"music of theoppressed", work withPashtun folk tunesand their own compo-sitions. Photo cour-tesy: The New YorkTimes.

Prakash Patil from New Jersey brings

home the title of Mr.India Galaxy2014, after beating 15 semi-finalists.The pageant was held on August 23 atHotel Renaissance in Los Angeles,California and was organized byJinnder Chohaan from Spirit of India.

Second Indian American after Aasif Mandvi tojoin as correspondent

8/10/2019 Vol 7 Issue 25 - Oct 18-24, 2014

7/32

7October 18-24, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY

Washington, DC: Indian-

American food justice

activist Navina Khanna is

one of the five winners of

the prestigious James

Beard Foundation

Leadership awards for

2014, considered North

America's highest honor for

food and beverage profes-

sionals.

Khanna, Fellow at

Movement Strategy Center,

has won the award "For herwork as a food justice

activist organizing across

communities for equitable

and ecological food sys-

tems on local, regional and national levels."

The JBF awards covering all aspects of the

industry -from chefs and restaurateurs to

cookbook authors and food journalists to

restaurant designers and architects - are pre-

sented each spring at Lincoln Center.

New York based JBF also maintains the his-

toric James Beard House in the City's

Greenwich Village as a "performance space"

for visiting chefs and hosts conferences, tast-

ings, lectures, workshops and food-related art

exhibits around US.

Khanna is also a co-founder and the Field

Director of Live Real, "a national initiative

dedicated to amplifying the power of young

people in frontline communities shaping radi-

cally different food systems through policy

and practice."

As a Movement

Strategy CenteR

Innovation Fellow,

Khanna, according to her

pro fi le, app lie s les son s

from other social justice

movements to build a

stronger, more aligned,

and strategic food justice

movement.Committed to

creating equitable, ecolog-

ical systems, "she has

spent nearly 15 years

focused on transformativechange through agricul-

ture and food systems."

Based in Oakland, she's

worked as an educator,

community organizer, activist and policy

advocate transforming local, regional, and

national agri-food systems from field to

vacant lot to table.

Khanna holds an MS in International

Agricultural Development from University of

California, Davis, where she developed cur-

riculum for the first undergraduate major in

sustainable agri-food systems at a Land-Grant

University.

She also has a BA from Hampshire College,

where she focused on using music and dance

for ecological justice. She is also a certified

Vinyasa yoga teacher and permaculturalist.

"A first generation South Asian American,

Navina's worldview is shaped by growing up -

and growing food - in the US and in India,"

according to her profile.

Chicago suburb first US city tohost official Diwali celebrations

Aurora: The City of Aurora, a suburb of Chicago

organized an evening of music, dance and fireworks to

celebrate the festival of Diwali. This makes it the first

city in the US to officially sponsor the celebration of

Diwali, according to the organizers of the event.

Several thousand Indian Americans attended the fes-

tivities, which was organized on the weekend, because

the festival falls on a work day here. Traditional folk

dances from various Indian states alongwith Bollywood

numbers were performed while vendors showcased eth-

nic Indian jewelry and sold snacks like bhelpuri. Cash

prizes were offered to Indian American children who

answered questions on Indian history and culture. The

event also included an outdoor fireworks display spon-

sored by the city. The organizers had to do with battery

operated 'diyas' inside the auditorium to comply with

local fire protection laws. The event was attended by

Aurora mayor Tom Weisner and other local politicians.

They noted that the Diwali celebration honored the

diversity of the suburb while acknowledging the contri-

bution of the local Indian American community. Aurora

is the second most populous town in the state of Illinois,

next to Chicago. It is known as the 'city of lights'because it was one of the first cities in the United States

to adopt an all -electric street lighting system. Next year

the organizers have promised an even bigger event.

"This year we put together the festivities in barely five

weeks. Next year we plan to hold this in an outdoor

park whic h has a capacity of 20,000 peop le," said

Krishna Bansal, the chairperson of the City of Aurora

commission which organized the event.(The South Asian Times solicits news/photos pertainingto Diwali celebrations from across the nation. Sendthem to editor@thesouthasiantimes.info)

Navina Khanna

New York: Anoop Jain has won the

prestigious 2014 Waislitz Global Citizen

Award and $100,000 cash prize for hiswork to build community sanitation

facilities, an area that aligns with Prime

Minister Narendra Modis commitment

to ending open defecation, organizers of

the award said.

Jain, educated in the United States,

was named the recipient of the award for

his exemplified values of a Global

Citizen through his work in founding

Humanure Power in Bihar in 2011 to

build community sanitation facilities in

rural India.

The award carries a $100,000 cash

prize in recognition of the winners work

in making the world a better place.

The announcement of the award coin-

cided with Modis recent visit to theUnited States when he addressed thou-

sands of people at the Global Citizen

Festival last week in Central Park.

The organization said Jains work

through Humanure Power is in line with

Modis goal to put a toilet in every

household and school in India by 2019

a commitment he rei tera ted in his

remarks onstage at the festival.

Humanure Power has already seen

over 17,000 users, while hygienically

disposing of eight tons of human excre-

ta. Such efforts would help prevent dis-

ease and improve productivity as toilets

prevent water-borne diseases caused by

fecal contamination, which affects

bro ade r hea lth , socia l and econo micchange desperately needed in India.

Jains company would use the

$100,000 to advance its mission of

improving access to toilets for thousands

of people living in rural India by build-

ing more community sanitation facili-

ties. In addition, the money would go

towards formalizing their monitoring

and evaluation methods.

Jain graduated from Northwestern

University in 2009 with a degree in

Environmental Engineering. After work-

ing as an engineer for a year, he quit his

job after raising $30,000 to build a com-

munity soup kitchen for Tibetan

refugees in northern India. He continued

working in rural India before moving to

Bihar, where Humanure Power was

born. To acquire the requis ite skills to

work in the public health field, Jain pur-

sued an MPH from Tulane School of

Public Health and Tropical Medicine,

and graduated from there in May 2013.

Anoop Jain

Indian-American activist wins

prestigious US food award

Jains company woulduse the $100,000 toadvance its mission ofimproving access totoilets for thousands ofpeople living in ruralIndia by building morecommunity sanitationfacilities.

Anoop Jain wins Global CitizenAward for sanitation

8/10/2019 Vol 7 Issue 25 - Oct 18-24, 2014

8/32

8 October 18-24, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoNATIONAL COMMUNITY

Washington: Three decades after

many Sikhs fled the violence that

devastated their families in Punjab,

the Indian government is continuing

to make it hard for them to visit

India. Their crime? Sikh Americans

say its the price theyre being

forced to pay for having sought

political asylum in the West.

Prime Minister Narendra Modis

promise on a recently conc luded

visit to the U.S. to make it easier for

people of Indian origin and U.S. cit-

izens to travel to India has thus

received a cool reception from Sikh

Americans, some of whom have

been kept out of India because of a

government blacklist that

includes the names of Sikhs accused

of terrorism, supporters of Khalistan

and those who sought political asy-

lum on the grounds of religious per-

secution in India.

We are disappointed that theprime minister has not indicated any

reforms to the Indian governments

maintenance of a blacklist, which

unfortunately includes innocent and

law-abiding Sikhs, said Manjit

Singh, co-founder of the Sikh

American Legal Defense and

Education Fund (SALDEF).

Currently there is no official

proc es s to appe al th e in co rr ec t

inclusion of your name on the

blacklist by providing documentary

evidence to prove your case, he

added.

Those who manage to travel to

India often get harassed by immi-

gration officials who single out all

Sikhs ... regardless of if they were

ever Indian citizens in the past, to

more closer scrutiny and checks;clearly indicating the process dual

standards that apply to Sikhs and

other Indians (who are non-Sikhs)

entering the country, said Manjit

Singh.

The blacklist was constituted

in the 1980s when the separatist

Khalistani movement was at its

peak in Punjab. At least half a dozen

Sikh Americans interviewed for this

story said many Sikhs ended up on

the government blacklist despite

never having committed any crime.

At that time a lot of people fled

to escape the violence and sought

political asylum in the U.S. But now

things have changed in India, yet for

us Sikhs living outside we are

looked upon as people who are not a

part of India any more, said JasdipSingh, chairman of the South Asian

Democratic Caucus of Maryland.

Rajwant Singh, chairman of the

Sikh Council on Religion and

Education (SCORE), said by lifting

the visa restrictions on Sikhs the

government of India will help ease

the feelings of many who have been

wronged in the turbulent times of

the 80s.

(Courtesy The Tribune, Chandigarh)

New York: Inspired by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi, Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation at

its annual international meet last weekend in

Cincinnati, Ohio raised Rs.1 Crore, though it

was not a fund-raising event. The non-profit

organization also year-marked $150,000 for

rehabilitation of Kashmir valley flood victims.

In opening remarks, Shyamji Gupta, founder

of Ekal Movement set the tone by challeng-

ing the gathering to undertake a new initiative

for the rural masses. Inspired by the clarion

call for a Swachha-Bharat (Clean-India) by

PM Modi, Ekal volunteers wholeheartedly

adopted this campaign to create and implement

a strategy to clean the Ekal Villages where 1.5

million children are being nurtured and

groomed. The campaign will create awareness

and develop sustainable approaches to keep

the villages clean.

Spearheading the on-the-spot fundraising

efforts Himanshu Shah, CEO, Shah Capital,

said poor sanitation and lack of solid waste

management has had tremendous negative

impact on the health of Indians all over. It is

time we address this issue.

He contributed significant amount to the

cause and matched donations raised by Ekal.

Welcoming this impromptu generosity, Vinod

Jhunjhunwala, President of EVF-USA said,

while ideas are plenty, India often loses out

on implementation. Ekal, with its reach in over

54,000 villages throughout India has widegrass-root network that can effectively imple-

ment this cleaning initiative. Ekal uses edu-

cation as a primary vehicle to bring holistic

development of remote and rural villages. In

addition to education, Ekal is working on

health, sanitation, agriculture and develop-ment. Ajay Singh, Project Coordinator for

EVF-USA, informed the gathering about the

state-of-the-art approach adopted by Ekal-

India to administer and monitor various

aspects of Ekal. He further elaborated that the

teachers and students third-party assessment,

automated school allocation as well as their

google-mapping was already underway. The

movement has created so much excitement

among youth in the U. S. that several college

students are going to Ekal villages to study the

movement. Several innovative solutions to a

range of issues including the use of technology

for education and the micro-rural entrepre-

neurship were also discussed. In several vil-

lages, solar energy is already being used by the

villagers for lifes basic necessities with helpfrom Ekal. At the conference, Ekal also

addressed the national tragedy of the floods

affecting the Kashmir valley. Ekal USA has

year-marked $150,000 for these flood victims.

Milwaukee: Dr. Raj

Rao, a professor of

Orthopaedic Surgery

and Neurosurgery at

the Medical College

of Wisconsin, has

be en appo in te d

chairperson of the

Orthopaedic and

R e h a b i l i t a t i o n

Devices Panel of the

U.S. Food and Drug

Administration.

Rao, who is a

p r a c t i c i n g

orthopaedic surgeon

at Froedtert Hospital

and Childrens

Hospital of

Wisconsin, will

chair the FDAs lead adviso-ry panel that reviews the

safety and efficacy of

orthopaedic and spine-relat-

ed devices for marketing in

the U.S. The Indian

American has previously

served as a voting member

on the panel.

Rao completed his intern-

ship and residency in

orthopaedic surgery at the

University of SouthernCalifornia in 1995, and a fel-

lowship in spine surgery at

William Beaumont Hospital

in Royal Oak, Mich., in

1996. He joined the MCW

faculty in 1999.

He was recently awarded

the 2014 David Selby Award

of the North American Spine

Society for contributions to

the field of spinal disorders.

Ekal raises Rs. 1 Crore forClean India Campaign

Washington, DC : A week

after his controversial com-

ments about women and pay

raises, Microsoft CEO Satya

Nadella has again apologized

for the remarks, telling

employees in a companywide

memo that it was a humbling

and learning experience.

He described his comment

that women should rely on

good karma rather than ask-

ing for a raise as generic

advice that was just plain

wrong in hindsight.For context, I had received this advice

from my mentors and followed it in my

own career, he wrote. I do believe that at

Microsoft in general good work is reward-

ed, and I have seen it many times here. But

my advice underestimated exclusion and

bias conscious and unconscious that

can hold people back. The memo, sent

prior to a regular monthly Q&A session

with employees, went on to outline a series

of steps that Nadella says the company will

be taking to improve diversity and inclu-

sion across the company, including the

companys engineering and senior leader-

ship teams. The plan also includes manda-

tory diversity training for employees.

Excerpts of Nadellas memo to employees,as obtained by GeekWire, a tech news

website. ., I want to provide additional

thoughts from the Grace Hopper confer-

ence last week. Thank you to the many

people who sent me comments

and feedback over the past

few days. It was a humbling

and learning experience.

Any advice that advocates

passivity in the face of bias is

wrong. Leaders need to act

and shape the culture to root

out biases and create an envi-

ronment where everyone can

effectively advocate for them-

selves. Make no mistake: I am

100 percent committed to

Diversity and Inclusion at the

core of our culture and com-pany. Microsoft has to be a great place to

work for everybody. I deeply desire a

vibrant culture of inclusion. I envision a

company composed of more diverse talent.

I envision more diverse executive staff and

a more diverse Senior Leadership Team.

There are three areas in which we can

and will make progress starting immedi-

ately.

First, we need to continue to focus on

equal pay for equal work and equal oppor-

tunity for equal work.

Second, we need to recruit more diverse

talent to Microsoft at all levels of the com-

pany. To achieve this goal and especial-

ly in engineering we will have to

expand the diversity of our workforce atthe senior ranks and re-double our efforts

in college and other hiring. Third, we need

to expand training for all employees on

how to foster an inclusive culture.

Wisconsin Professor to

Chair FDA Panel

(L to R): Shyam Gupta, HimanshuShah, Ramesh Shah

Dr Raj Rao

Microsoft CEO SatyaNadella

Blacklisted US Sikhs in visa tangle

A Sikh delegation met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ExternalAffairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during Modi's US visit last month.

Nadella sets new diversity planafter humbling experience

8/10/2019 Vol 7 Issue 25 - Oct 18-24, 2014

9/32

Washington: President Barack

Obama vowed a more aggressive

response to the handling of any new

US Ebola cases on Wednesday after

the infection of a second Texas

healthcare worker prompted him to

postpone a political trip in a sign of

growing concern.

Obama spoke after convening a

special Cabinet meeting at the

White House to discuss the U.S. re-

sponse to the deadly virus. He ac-

knowledged concerns and fears

raised by the handling of the origi-

nal Ebola patient at a Dallas hospi-

tal, Liberian national Thomas Dun-

can, who died before infecting at

least two healthcare workers while

there. The case of the second health-

care worker who contracted the dis-

ease, Dallas nurse Amber Vinson,

has triggered alarm because she

flew on a commercial airliner a day

before reporting symptoms.The Vinson case forced Obama,

who typically hews closely to his

schedule, to abruptly put off a trip to

New Jersey and Connecticut, amid

growing criticism of the administra-

tion's handling of Ebola, which is

raging out of control in West Africa.

Obama said the Centers for Dis-

ease Control and Prevention, which

has been criticized for its handling

of the Ebola situation, would send a

rapid-response SWAT team within

24 hours to any hospital or health-

care facility where an Ebola case is

reported to ensure proper protec-

tions are being carried out.

He also said it is critical to safe-

guard doctors and nurses. "We have

to make sure that we are doing

everything we can to take care of

them even as they take care of us,"

he said.

At the same time, Obama urged

Americans to remain calm and

stressed that the risk posed by Ebo-

la in the US was extremely low.

"It's not like the flu, it's not air-

borne," he said. Rather, he said, the

only way to get it is by coming into

contact with the body fluids of

someone who is showing Ebola

symptoms.

Meanwhile, House Speaker John

Boehner said Obama should "ab-

solutely consider" a temporary ban

on travel to the United States from

countries at the center of the Ebola

outbreak - something the White

House has so far ruled out.

In New Yorks JFK airport, teams

armed with thermal guns and ques-

tionnaires are screening travelers

from West African countries hit

hardest by the outbreak. JFK Air-

port is the first of five US airports to

start enhanced screening of US-

bound travelers from Guinea,

Liberia and Sierra Leone, where

most of the outbreak's more than

4,000 deaths have occurred.

US AFFAIRS 9October 18-24, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Washington: Republicans are

poised to seize control of the Sen-

ate in the Nov. 4 midterm elec-

tions, according to multiple pro-

jections. But Democrats arent

ready to concede just yet.

An Oct. 11 forecast by Five Thir-

ty Eight -- run by noted psepholo-gist Nate Silver -- predicted Re-

publicans have a 57.9 percent

chance of getting a majority in the

Senate. The predictions from the

Washington Posts Election Lab

are even more troubling for De-

mocrats. Republicans are given a

94 percent chance of gaining con-

trol, with a projected 52 Senate

seats. A Gallup poll released Mon-

day suggests the GOP may be out-

pacing Democrats in voter confi-

dence on several issues that are ex-

pected to be crucial in determining

Novembers Senate races, includ-

ing Republican policies on the fed-

eral budget deficit, combating Is-lamic State militants, the effective-

ness of the federal government and

the economy as a whole.

The six seats most likely to flip

from the incumbent party to the

opposition are all held by Democ-

rats, the Washington Post says. Of

those six seats, the Senate races in

Montana and West Virginia seem

certain to fall to the GOP. Momen-

tum in Arkansas, Louisiana and

Alaska seems to favor Republi-

cans, as well. The race for South

Dakotas seat is close enough that

the Democratic Senatorial Cam-

paign Committee recently fun-

neled $1 million in funds toward

the contest to secure a favorable

outcome.

The negative outlook for De-

mocrats comes as the DSCC raised

a record $16 million last month,

surpassing the $15.5 million raised

by the National Republican Sena-

torial Committee, The Hill reports.

The massive war chest suggests

Democratic leaders have the ca-

pacity to reverse the sluggish

polling numbers.

Pointing to a poll as evidence of

a coming victory -- particularly

when several of the Senate races

are tightly-contested -- is a shaky

proposition, asserted Democratic

strategist Brent Budowsky in a re-

cent column for The Hill.

Washington: Just as the US job

market has finally strengthened, the

Federal Reserve now confronts a

new worry: A sputtering global

economy that's spooked investors

across the world.

The economic slump could spill

into the US, potentially weakening

job growth and keeping inflation

well below the Fed's target rate.

Such fear has led some analysts to

suggest that the Fed might wait un-

til deep into next year to start rais-

ing interest rates and then raisethem more gradually than expected.

Yet so far, the prospect of contin-

ued lower rates which make

loans cheaper and can fuel stock

gains is being outweighed by in-

vestors' mounting fears of weakness

from Asia to Europe to Latin Amer-

ica. After shedding 223 points Mon-

day, the Dow Jones industrial aver-

age is now 5.5 percent below its

September peak. Americans with

stocks in their retirement accounts

have taken a beating at least for

now.

On Tuesday, solid earnings from

several large U.S. banks gave

stocks a boost. The Dow was up

nearly 100 points, or 0.4 percent, in

mid afternoon trading.

The Fed's vice chair has publicly

acknowledged that the turmoil

abroad could lead the Fed to actmore cautiously.

"If foreign growth is weaker than

anticipated, the consequences for

the U.S. economy could lead the

Fed to (raise rates) more slowly

than otherwise," Vice Chair Stanley

Fischer said in a speech last week-

end.

GOP tipped to take control of US SenateObama vows more aggressive response to bola fears

Slowing global economy couldlead Fed to delay rate increaseNew York: Gas priceshave fallen below $3 a

gallon at 43,000 US gas

stations, according to

GasBuddy.com, or one-

third of the stations it

tracks.

And prices at the

pump, already the low-

est in four years, should

continue to fall, said

Tom Kloza, GasBuddys

chief oil analyst. On

Tuesday, he cut his fore-

cast for the national av-

erage price this fall to

between $2.95 and$3.10, from his previous

call of $3.10 to $3.25.

Prices, said motor

clubs group AAA

spokesman Michael

Greene, are in free

fall. Prices on average

have tumbled 15 cents a

gallon so far this month

and are down about 50

cents a gallon from the

recent peak on June 28.

While gas prices usu-

ally drop in the autumn,

this years decline is be-

ing accelerated by fears

of a price war between

members of the OPEC

countries and non-

OPEC producers, Gas-

Buddys Kloza said.

il prices have been

falling since June amid

concerns over sluggish

demand in a weak glob-al economy. On Tues-

day, the International

Energy Agency cut its

2014 oil demand growth

forecast to its weakest in

five years the same time

that output has been ris-

ing.

Gas at under $3 at one-third of pumps

Amber Vinson, 29, and Nina Pham, 26, are the two nurses at aDallas hospital to be diagnosed with the Ebola virus after

treating Thomas Eric Duncan who died from the virus.

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10 October 18-24, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoNOBEL PEACE PRIZE 2014

New Delh: Kailash Satyarthi, who shares

this year's Nobel Peace Prize with Pakistani

child rights activist Malala, is possibly

India's best known face against child labour.

Satyarthi and his organization, Bachpan

Bachao Andolan (BBA) - the Save

Childhood Movement, have single-handedly

brought to centre-stage the debate on child

rights in India.

They have so far freed 80,000 children

from servitude, including bonded laborers,

and helped in their successful re-integration,

rehabilitation and education.

Officially, there are only about five

million child workers in India, but voluntary

organisations and social and other activists

say the actual figure is ten times as much.

The Delhi-based Satyarthi, 60, has been a

persistent campaigner worldwide on social

issues involving children since the 1990s.

He gave up a promising career as an elec-

trical engineer at the age of 26, and has since

highlighted child labour as a human rights

issue as well as a welfare matter and charita-

ble cause.

He has argued that it perpetuates poverty,unemployment, illiteracy, population growth

and other social problems. Several presti-

gious awards have been conferred on him -

among these, Defenders of Democracy

Award (2009-US), Alfonso Comin

International Award (2008-Spain), Medal of

the Italian Senate (2007-Italy), and Robert F.

Kennedy International Human Rights Award

(US).

He has been involved with the Global

March Against Child Labor and its interna-

tional advocacy body, the International

Center on Child Labor and Education

(ICCLE) - a global coalition of NGOs,

teachers and trades unionists - and also the

Global Campaign for Education.

Satyarthi has helped enactment and adop-

tion of national and international legisla-

tions, treaties and conventions as well as the

constitutional amendment on child labour

and education.

Satyarthi, who was born in Vidisha in

Madhya Pradesh, has a degree in electrical

engineering and a post-graduate diploma in

high-voltage engineering.

After teaching engineering in a college in

Bhopal for a few years, he decided to work

for social change, and initially began by

starting a book bank for poor students who

could not afford textbooks.

Islamabad: Malala Yousufzai, the 17-year-

old Pakistani girl education campaigner who

was shot in the head in 2012 by a Taliban gun-

man, is the youngest person ever to win a

Nobel Prize.Malala won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize

along with Indian children's rights activist

Kailash Satyarthi.

Before Malala, Australia-born British citi-

zen William Lawrence Bragg was the

youngest Nobel laureate when he won the

physics Nobel in 1915 at the age of 25.

In naming her for the 2014 Nobel Peace

Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said:

Despite her youth, Malala Yousafzay has

already fought for several years for the right

of girls to education, and has shown by exam-

ple that children and young people, too, can

contribute to improving their own situations.

This she has done under the most dangerous

circumstances. Through her heroic struggle,

she has become a leading spokesperson forgirls rights to education.

Malala and India's Satyarthi were named the

joint winners of the eight-million kronor ($1.1

million) peace prize by the chairman of the

Norwegian Nobel Committee - Norway's for-

mer prime minister Thorbjoern Jagland -

Friday morning.

Malala was shot in the head while on her

way to school by a Taliban militant Oct 9,

2012.

From that horrific moment two years ago to

this momentous one Friday morning, the 17-

year-old's tale has been one of immense inspi-

ration for millions of people across the world

who value children's - and not just girls' -

rights and education.

After being shot, a critically injured Malala

was airlifted to a military hospital in

Peshawar. There a damaged portion of her

skull had to be removed. Later the Pakistan

government at its expense, airlifted her to

Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham,

England, where she was treated for life-threat-

ening injuries and pulled back from the brink.

Malala did not become famous only two

years ago after the appalling Taliban attack on

her. Rather, Taliban militants shot at her

because she had already earned name for rais-

ing her voice for girls' right to education much

before that, defying Taliban diktat.

Born July 12, 1997, in a Sunni Muslim fam-

ily at Mingora in Pakistan's Swat Valley,

Malala attended a school run by her father,

Ziauddin Yousafzai.

After the Taliban started attacking girls'

schools in Swat, Malala gave a speech in

Peshawar, Pakistan, in September 2008, on

How dare the Taliban take away my basic

right to education?

The next year, she started writing a blog

under the pen name Gul Makal for the BBC

on life under Taliban threats, but her identitywas given away in December the same year.

Her activism did not go unnoticed and, in

2011 she was nominated for the International

Children's Peace Prize, also known as the

Children's Nobel. The same year she was

awarded the National Youth Peace Prize of

Pakistan.

In England, after being discharged from

hospital, she started attending Birmingham

High School in March 2013.

On July 12 that year, her 16th birthday, she

gave a speech at the UN. She said: I speak -

not for myself, but for all girls and boys. I

raise up my voice - not so that I can shout, but

so that those without a voice can be heard.

Those who have fought for their rights: Their

right to live in peace; their right to be treatedwith dignity; their right to equality of opportu-

nity; their right to be educated. In October

2013, she released her autobiography: I am

Malala: The girl who stood up for education

and was shot by the Taliban.

The same month, the European Parliament

conferred on her the Sakharov Prize for

Freedom of Thought.

She was nominated for the Nobel Peace

Prize last year too but did not get it. This year

she became the Nobel laureate, the youngest

ever. She was in school in Birmingham when

the good news floated in.

Malala was shot in the head while on her way to school by a Taliban militant

on October 9, 2012.

Malala, now youngest Nobel laureate

Kailash Satyarthi: Champion of child rights

Kailash Satyarthi and his organization Bachpan Bachao Andolan have single-handedly brought to centre-stage the debate on child rights in India.

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New Delhi: The Nobel Peace Prize has, more

often than not, raised eyebrows and created

controversies for the political statement it

invariably makes.

As tensions escalated on the India-Pakistan

border, exciting fears of two nuclear armed

neighbors who might become trigger-happy

with nukes, it was the perfect time for the

Nobel commit tee to send a political signal

through two non-political entities.

The politics of the Nobel Peace Prize have

been descri bed as tra gic , out rag eous and

sometimes cringe-worthy, a report in the

Times of India said.

Kailash Satyarthi's Nobel Prize is a cause

for national celebration in India, even if many

Indians had to Google him to appreciate the

battle he has fought for child rights.But Malala Yousufzai, who received her

much deserved Nobel exactly two years after

she was shot in the head by the Taliban while

traveling to school, will be the second Nobel

laureate from Pakistan who will be forced to

make her home outside her own country.

The first, Abdus Salam, was one of the

finest minds in theoretical physics. In 1979, he

became the first Pakistani and so far the only

Muslim scientist to win the Nobel Prize. But

he was shunned in his native Pakistan, and

settled in Trieste in Italy. He was an Ahmadi,

and therefore not acknowledged as a Muslim

in Pakistan.

Writing in Foreign Policy, Elias Groll won-

dered "Will Malala's Nobel Prize Backfire?"

even as he viewed Yousafzai and Satyarthi's

joint selection as "an obvious nod towards the

ongoing global efforts" to end long-standing

India-Pakistan conflict.

"For Satyarthi, the award brings recognition

to decades of work on behalf of child labour-

ers, but for Yousafzai, the prize arguably

comes with risks," he wrote.

Noting that "In some quarters of Pakistan,

Yousafzai has become a symbol of Western

interference in the country," Groll wrote that

"huge international profile does not necessari-

ly translate into change on the ground in

Pakistan."

"If anything, those in Pakistan who are hos-

tile toward Yousafzai may only harden in their

opposition now that she has received the

Peace Prize. That may set her work back more

than it advances her cause," he wrote.Calling the two "South Asia's Peace

Heroes," Alyssa Ayres, a senior fellow at the

Council on Foreign Relations, thought the

Nobel committee clearly "views the hard work

of education and children's rights as vital

components in making South Asia a more

peaceful place."

But noting "a long history of India-Pakistan

civil society collaboration to try to overcome

tensions in the region, she wrote: "the Nobel

Committee's message isn't for those already

seized with the importance of normalizing

India-Pakistan relations."

"It's for those who would prevent better ties

from ever developing between India and

Pakistan, and who work to disrupt peace

efforts when they are underway," Ayers wrote.

"It's for known terrorists like Al Qaeda and

the Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Haqqani

Network, and myriad others."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congrat-

ulated Malala but his attending the award giv-

ing ceremony along with Pakistan PM Nawaj

Sharif is doubtful.

President Pranab Mukherjee praised the

Nobel committee for choosing India's Kailash

Satyarthi for this year's Peace Prize but

declined to comment if the joint conferment of

the award on Pakistan's Malala Yousufzai was

possibly intended to help find a solution to the

long-lasting tension between the two coun-

tries.

"This conflict (India-Pakistan) is a com-

pletely different issue. According to the con-

stitution of India, the president cannot make

any political statements. This is an issue for

the politicians to solve," Mukherjee said.

INDIA 11October 18-24, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Islamabad: Members of Tehreek-i-Taliban

Pakistan's (TTP) offshoot Jamat-ul-Ahrar

has condemned the awarding of the Nobel

Peace Prize to Malala Yousufzai, calling her

an "agent of kuffar (disbelievers)".

Jamat-ul-Ahrar's spokesman Ehsanullah

Ehsan and other members together Friday

posted comments on Twitter about Malala

and the award, stating that she did not repre-

sent Islam, Dawn online said.

Ehsanullah threatened that fighters would

continue to strike people who took what to

them was anti-Islamic positions.Pakistani girl child education campaigner

Malala Yousufzai and Indian child rights

activist Kailash Satyarthi were awarded the

2014 Nobel Peace Prize by the Norwegian

Nobel Committee for their struggle against

the suppression of children and young peo-

ple and for the right of all children to educa-

tion. Malala, 17, was shot in the head by

Taliban militants in October 2012 in her

home town in Swat district due to her defi-

ance of the Taliban's ban on girls' education.

The Pakistani Army announced last month

that a group of ten Taliban militants, who

were allegedly involved in attacking Malala

Yousufzai, had been arrested by the security

forces. The arrested militants admitted that

TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah plotted theattack on Malala

The arrested militants admitted that TTP

chief Mullah Fazlullah plotted the attack on

Malala.

Nobel Peace Prize raises political controversy

Pak Taliban condemns alala

Corporate Office: 385 Seneca Avenue, Ridgewood NY 11385

718.821.3182, www.AtlanticDialysis.Com

The politics of the Nobel Peace Prizehave been described as tragic, outra-geous and sometimes cringe-worthy

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12 October 18-24, 2014 TheSouthAsianTimes.infoINDIA

New Delhi:Prime Minister

Narendra Modi has unveiled some

key labor reforms that rely on trust

and promote the ease of doing

business , and said the measures

will go a long way in changingIndia's work culture and promoting

social security.

The prime minister also unveiled

the Shram Suvidha portal, a Labor

Inspection Scheme, as also the

po rt ab il it y of soci al se cu ri ty

through a Universal Account

Number for Employees Provident

Fund at an event in Vigyan Bhavan

conference complex here.

"How to change the work cul-

ture? These efforts are a great

example," said Modi amid

applause. "This is Minimum

Government Maximum

Governance." The prime minister

said: "E-governance is easy gover-nance. It builds trust for trans-

parency."

Modi said the government must

also trust its citizens and other

stakeholders and that a big step has

been ta ken in th is di rect io n

Thursday by allowing the self-cer-

tification of documents.

On the Inspector Raj regime, he

said, a computer will now deter-

mine where an inspection will be

carried out the next day. He also

said the number of forms that com-

panies have to fill on labour-related

issues has been reduced from as

many as 16 to just one now.

"The Shram Suvidha portal sim-

plifies compliance of 16 labor laws

with on online form," he said,

adding this form can be filed

online.

On the issue of social security oflabor force, the Prime Minister

expressed concern that as much as

Rs.27,000 crore was lying

unclaimed with the Employees

Provident Fund Organization.

"This money belongs to poor

workers of India," he said, adding

the portability provided under the

Employees Provident Fund

through one universal account

number will put an end to such

large sums of money being locked

up and not reaching the intended

beneficiary.

The prime minister said the

"Shramev Jayate" initiatives were

essential elements of the "Make inIndia" vision, paving the way for

skill development of youth in a big

way, and creating opportunities for

India to meet the global require-

ment of skilled labour.

Modi also unveiled a booklet on

National Brand Ambassadors for

Vocational Training and a souvenir

for All India Skill Competitions.

Gurgaon: No on e ca n gi ve a

warning to India, Home Minister

Rajnath Singh said, a day after

China objected to India building

road along the border.

"No one can give a warning to

India. India is a powerful nation

now," the home minister

said on the sidelines ofthe 30th Raising Day cer-

emony of the National

Security Guards (NSG) in

Manesar, on the outskirts

Delhi.

"As far as China is con-

cerned, both countries

should sit together and

discuss the issues," he

said.

China said India should

not take any action that

may complicate the situa-

tion in disputed border

areas.

The remarks come in

the wake of comments

made Tuesday by India'sMinister of State for

Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju

that there were plans to

construct a 2,000-km-long road

along the international border

be tw ee n Mago -T hi ng bu in

Tawang district and Vijaynagar in

Changlang district of Arunachal

Pradesh.

New Delhi: Prime Minister

Narendra Modi's pet Clean Gangaproje ct received a boost with the

inking here of an agreement

between India and Canada to clean

up the river, one of the most heavily

used in the world.

The Ministry of Water Resources,

River Development and Ganga

Rejuvenation inked a memorandum

of understanding with India-Canada

Centre for Innovative

Multidisciplinary Partnerships to

Accelerate Community

Transformation and Sustainability

(IC-IMPACTS) for collaborative

water research with Indian institu-

tions and industry partners to clean

up the Ganga.

Under the partnership, existing

Canadian technologies in waste-

water treatment, water quality moni-

toring and management, and water

reduction and waste-water reuse for

sectors such as the pulp and paper

industry would also be highlighted,said an official statement from the

Canadian High Commission here.

Canada's Minister of International

Trade Ed Fast and India's Minister

of Science and Technology Jitendra

Singh Wednesday launched a call

for joint R & D projects under the

Canada-India Science and

Technology Cooperation

Agreement.

India's Department of Science and

Technology (DST) would collabo-

rate directly with the IC-IMPACTS.

"This new call for proposals will

pro mot e sci ent ifi c col lab ora tio n

between Indian and Canadian scien-

tists through joint R & D projects in

safe and sustainable infrastructure

and integrated water management.

Successful joint research projects

are expected to lead to solutions to

challenges that affect the quality of

life of millions of people in Indian

and Canadian communities," saidthe statement.

Minister Fast's six-day, three-city

trade mission to India coincides

with an intensive week of high-level

engagement with India with

Canada's Minister for Foreign

Affairs John Baird, Minister for

Na ti onal Re venue Ke rry-Lynne

Findlay and Premier of the province

of British Columbia Christy Clark

visiting India.

IC-IMPACTS is led on the

Canadian side by the universities of

British Columbia, Alberta and

Toronto and is funded through the

Government of Canada's Networks

of Centres of Excellence pro-

gramme. In 2008, Canada and India

ratified an Agreement for Scientific

and Technological Cooperation to

foster greater bilateral science and

technology collaboration.

Canadian MoU boost for Modi's Clean Ganga project

No one can g ive warning to

India Rajnath

The prime minister alsounveiled the Shram Suvidha

portal, a Labor InspectionSchemeUnion Home Minister

Rajnath Singh

Modi launches key labor reforms

New Delhi: Prime Minister

Narendra Modi called up new

Afghanistan President Ashraf

Ghani and conveyed to him that

India will stand as a friend and

partner in Kabul 's endeavor to

bui ld a strong and prosper ous

nation.

Ghani, who was sworn in as

pr es iden t on Se p 29 , in tu rn

thanked the prime minister for

his letter of congratulations sentearlier and "described India as

the foundation of Afghanistan's

diplomacy and economic strate-

gy". During the phone cal l ,

Modi congratulated the former

finance minister and ex-World

Bank economist on his election

as president of Afghanistan,

marking the country's political

transition since the US-led

coalition ousted the Taliban

from power in 2001. Former

president Hamid Karzai was in

power since 2001.

Modi expressed confidence

that President Ghani's "exper-

tise, global experience andgrassroots knowledge, borne out

of travel to every district of

Afghanistan, will help him

implement his bold agenda of

economic reforms and develop-

ment in Afghanistan". He said

President Ghani's "experience

will be beneficial for India and

the region", said an official

statement. He lauded Ghani's

"wisdom and statesmanship"

and his commitment to unity,

pe ac e an d pr og re ss in

Afghanistan, which had enabled

the formation of a broad-based

and inclusive government and apeaceful political transition.

Modi paid tributes to the peo-

ple and the political leaders of

Afghanistan for their faith in

democracy and their determina-

tion to prevail over violence and

terrorism.

Afghanistan, under a power-

sharing agreement, has a nation-

al unity government that helped

end weeks of political bickering

following a June 14 runoff pres-

idential election whose results

were highly contested. While

Ghani is president, the country

now has a chief executive in

rival, Abdullah Abdullah.The PMO statement said

Ghani accepted Modi's invita-

tion to visit India at the earliest

opportunity.

India will stand as friend,

Modi tellsAfghan president

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13October 18-24, 2014TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA

BJP on top in Maharashtra, Haryana: Exit pollsNew Delhi/Mumbai/Chandigarh: The BJP

was within striking distance of power in both

Haryana and Maharashtra, exit polls said at

the end of keenly fought assembly elections

that pitted Prime Minister Narendra Modi'sparty against all key players in the two states.

Various exit polls gave the Bharatiya

Janata Party a