US RECOGNIZES TIBET - India Post Newspaper

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This week’s question

Last week’s result

YES 62% NO 38%

US RECOGNIZES TIBET

CONTENTSDetails on page 6

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Bollywood -------------------------- 35

Classifieds ------------------------ 32

Community Post -------------- 17-26

Edit Page --------------------------- 34

Horoscope ------------------------- 37

Immigration Post ------------ 12-13

Life Style ------------------------ 14-15

Philosophy/Perspective ------- 33

Info/Highlights ---------------------- 4

Real Estate -------------------- 28-29

TechBiz Post ------------------ 10-11

Travel & Hospitality Post -------- 16

Wellness Post ---------------- 30-31

A first in 60 years, Tibetan leader invited to White House

Details on page 5

AAPI mourns thepassing away ofDr. Ajay Lodha

Will rest of the world support

US policy on Tibet?

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DHARAMSALA: For the first time in six decades,Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) presidentLobsang Sangay has entered the White House -- a his-toric recognition by the United States to the demo-cratically elected government-in-exile that is head-quartered in this northern Indian hill station.

This is for the first time that the head of the CTA

has been invited into the White House, a spokesper-son for the CTA informed.

Last month, Sangay became the first CTA presidentto be formally invited into the US State Departmentto meet Assistant Secretary and Special Coordinatorfor Tibetan Issues Robert Destro.

Details on page 6

Kashi statue fromCanada; Templefinds in PAK

The head of the Tibetan government in exile Dr Lobsang Sangay, left, at the White House in Washington, DC on November 21.

Pic kind courtesy Central Tibetan Administration

BAPS celebrateDiwali online atLA & Milpitas

Will the Moderna vaccine get

US approval by year end?

Biden expectedto pick Blinkenfor Secy. of State

India's twin goals:Energy andeconomic power

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HIGHLIGHTS

35Bollywood:Rakul in 'Mayday'Actor Rakul Preet Singh will co-star withAmitabh Bachchan and Ajay Devgan inthe thriller drama, Mayday. The film isdirected and produced by Ajay Devgan.

5Cover Story:US RECOGNIZES TIBETFor the first time in six decades, CentralTibetan Administration, president LobsangSangay has entered the White House -- ahistoric recognition by the United States.

17Community:BAPS Mandirs' Diwali onlineBAPS Mandirs in Chino Hills andMilpitas, CA, brought together theHindu community through 5-days ofvirtual Diwali celebrations.

12Immigration:Judge stops expelling of childrenA federal judge ordered the Trumpadministration to stop expell ingimmigrant children who cross thesouthern border alone.

14Lifestyle:Home workout planWhile fitness enthusiasts can createtheir own fitness routine by combiningexercises it requires a lot of intrinsicmotivation to follow a set routine.

10Techbiz:India's twin goalsIndia needs disruptive solutions toachieve the twin goals of becoming aneconomic and a clean-and-greenenergy superpower.

16Travel:DamanDaman a beautiful little city, surroundedby states of Gujarat, Maharashtra andArabian Sea, has a rich culture and history,which dates back to over 2000 years.

30Wellness:Biden on China, WHOUS President-elect Joe Biden has saidthat he wants to make sure that Chinaplays by the rules and announced thathis administration will rejoin the WHO.

NewsweeklyIndia Post

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US RECOGNIZES TIBETA first in 60 years, Tibetan leader invited to White House

DHARAMSALA: For the first time in sixdecades, Central Tibetan Administra-tion (CTA) president Lobsang Sangayhas entered the White House -- a his-toric recognition by the United Statesto the democratically elected govern-ment-in-exile that is headquartered inthis northern Indian hill station.

This is for the first time that the headof the CTA has been invited into theWhite House, a spokesperson for theCTA informed.

Last month, Sangay became the firstCTA president to be formally invitedinto the US State Department to meetAssistant Secretary and Special Coordi-nator for Tibetan Issues Robert Destro.

In the last six decades, the head ofthe CTA was denied entry to the USState Department and the White House;the logic for both denials was that theUS government did not recognize theTibetan government in exile.

"Today's visit amounts to anacknowledgement of both the demo-cratic system of the CTA and its politicalhead," said the spokesperson.

Sangay met the White House offi-cials.

Prior to this meeting, Sangay hadmet the White House officials in undis-closed meetings and locations over adozen times in the past 10 years sincehe became the CTA's president in 2011.

This unprecedented meeting per-haps will set an optimistic tone for CTAparticipation with US officials and bemore formalized in the coming years,said the CTA.

Though he nears the end of his sec-ond consecutive term as the CTA presi-dent, Sangay has tirelessly advocatedfor the Tibetan Policy and Support Actof 2019.

Earlier this week, Sangay had severalvirtual meetings. Through meetings,Sangay has discussed the Tibetan Policyand Support Act and other matters withthe Congressional-Executive Commis-sion on China Chairman Jim McGovernand senior Senate Foreign RelationsCommittee staffers, both on the Repub-lican and Democrat side.

CTA Representative Ngodup Tseringand Kelsang Dolma accompaniedSangay on these meetings in the WhiteHouse.

Before heading to the US on his sec-ond leg of tour in less than a month,Sangay told IANS in an exclusive inter-

view that the next priority of his gov-ernment is passing of Tibet Policy andSupport Act in the Senate.

"This Act builds on the Tibet Policyand Support Act of 2002 and will be a

major update to the US policy on Tibet.Among important updates, passing ofthis Act will make it the official policy ofthe US to see that the selection of Ti-betan Buddhist leaders, including the

future Dalai Lama, follows the wishes ofthe Tibetan Buddhist community andaccording to the instructions of currentDalai Lama without any influence fromthe Chinese government," Sangay cat-egorically informed.

Without mincing words, he added,"The Act will also forbid China fromopening a new consulate until a US con-sulate is allowed in Lhasa."

Sangay, the youngest to head the gov-ernment-in-exile, said the State Depart-ment has always maintained that theCTA is the Tibetan government-in-exile.

In a related development, hours af-ter US Democratic lawmakers infor-mally re-nominated House SpeakerNancy Pelosi to lead the party for an-other two years, her decades old unwa-vering support to the cause of the Ti-betan people has been reaffirmed withpassing of a bipartisan resolution on 'au-tonomous' Tibet.

In a tweet on November 18, she in-formed: "Today, the House sent a strongmessage with the passage of resolu-tions calling for the end of China's hu-man rights abuses.

"The House on a bipartisan basis willalways fight for freedom of religion &culture in Tibet and for the rule of law inHong Kong."

The resolution, headed by Republi-can Congressman Ted Yoho, affirmingthe significance of the advocacy forgenuine autonomy for Tibetans in Chinaand the work the 14th Dalai Lama hasdone to promote global peace, har-mony, and understanding.

The resolution states that the Houseof Representatives recognizes the cul-tural and religious significance of agenuinely autonomous Tibet and thedeep bond between the American andTibetan people.

It commends the 14th Dalai Lama forhis commitment to global peace andnon-violence and determines that itwould be beneficial to convene a bipar-tisan, bicameral forum, either through aJoint Meeting of Congress, a teleconfer-ence broadcast in the auditorium at theCapitol Visitor Center, or roundtable,between members of Congress and theDalai Lama to discuss peaceful solutionsto international conflicts.

Eliot Engel, Chairman of the HouseForeign Affairs Committee, accusedChina of violation of international reli-gious freedom in Tibet. IANS

Lobsang Sangay

Sangay thanks US Congressmanfor resolution on Tibet

DHARAMSALA: Central Tibetan Ad-ministration (CTA) President LobsangSangay thanked Republican Congress-man Ted Yoho for sponsoring the cru-cial resolution that recognizes the cul-tural and religious significance of anautonomous Tibet and seeks peacefulsolutions to the Tibet issue.

"I along with the Rep. Ngodup wasthe first to meet Con-gressman Ted Yoho.In our second meet-ing, CongressmanYoho expressed thathe wanted to inviteHis Holiness the DalaiLama to address theCongress. He alsoproposed to pass abill to that effect andwe agreed.

"Hence the bill.Taking this opportu-nity, I would like to thank Congress-man Ted Yoho for his leadership inpassing this crucial bill as well as Con-gressmen Michael McCaul, JimMcGovern, and Chris Smith for theirendorsements," said Sangay in a

statement.This week the US House of Repre-

sentatives passed a resolution, affirm-ing the significance of the advocacyfor genuine autonomy for Tibetans inChina and the work the 14th DalaiLama has done to promote globalpeace, harmony, and understanding.

The resolution, headed by Yoho,states that theHouse of Represen-tatives recognizesthe cultural and reli-gious significance ofa genuinely autono-mous Tibet and thedeep bond betweenthe American and Ti-betan people.

It commends the14th Dalai Lama forhis commitment toglobal peace and

non-violence and determines that itwould be beneficial to convene a bi-partisan, bicameral forum, eitherthrough a Joint Meeting of Congress,a teleconference broadcast in the au-ditorium. IANS

‘I would like to thankCongressman Ted Yoho

for his leadership inpassing this crucial bill

as well as CongressmenMichael McCaul, JimMcGovern, and Chris

Smith for theirendorsements’

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Kashi statue fromCanada; Templefinds in PakistanHARPREET SINGH

NEW DELHI: Canada's University of Regina is re-patriating an antique idol back to India, stolenmore than a century ago. The idol of GoddessAnnapoorna was reportedly stolen from a Varanasighat as reported.

The statue formed part of the collection of Uni-versity of Regina's Mackenzie Art Gallery and willsoon begin its journey back to India. The virtualrepatriation ceremony was conducted in thepresence of the president of the University withVC Thomas Chase andIndia's high commis-sioner to Canada AjayBisaria November 19,said the press state-ment from the univer-sity.

Artist Divya Mehra iscredited to havebrought to notice thatthe statue was wrong-fully acquired, while go-ing through the perma-nent collection of theUniversity. The statuewas part of aendowment of 1936 from a NormanMackenzie after whom the gallery has beennamed.

From Peshawar there is archeological newsstating the discovery of what is believed to be a1300-year-old Hindu temple by Pakistani and Ital-ian archeologists at work on a mountain site in NWPakistan's Swat district.

Fazle Khaliq at the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa De-partment of Archeology announced the discoveryalso Thursday 19 November.

The likely date of the temple's constructiongoes back 1300 years and is of Lord Vishnu, he hassaid.

The Hindu Shahis or Kabul Shahis (850-1026 CE)are supposed to have ruled the areas of EasternAfghanistan and Gandhara, part of present dayAfghanistan-Pakistan and parts of NW India.

Biden expected to pick Antony Blinken for Secy. of StateNEW YORK: US President-elect Joe Biden is ex-

pected to nominate top Obama-era diplomat AntonyBlinken as Secretary of State, setting the ball rollingfor a global reset of America's alliances skewered byfour years of Donald Trump's unique brand of politics.

Blinken, 58, has served as Deputy Secretary of Stateand Deputy National Security Adviser during theBarack Obama administration. He was a foreign policy

advisor to Biden's 2020 presidential campaign.The news comes even as Donald Trump refuses to

concede to Biden and continues to lob legal chal-lenges as a "revenge" tool, according to people famil-iar with Trump's thinking. The 2020 US election wascalled for Biden, on November 7.

The New York Times and the Washington Post arereporting that Biden has already "chosen" Blinken.There's no official word yet. Others on the shortlist forAmerica's top diplomat: Susan Rice and Senator ChrisCoons. A potential Rice pick comes with political bag-gage that would face stiff opposition in the Senate.

Biden's first wave of Cabinet picks are expected tobe announced Tuesday, November 24.

"You're going to see the first of thepresident-elect's cabinet appoint-ments on Tuesday of this week,"Biden's chief of staff Ron Klain told ABCNews on Sunday.

Post-election, Biden has promisedthat his Cabinet will look like Americaand will be the most diverse in thecountry's modern political history.

Talk has been swirling about moreglass ceilings that could be shattered.Will Biden nominate a woman to headthe Pentagon, the Treasury or the De-partment of Veterans Affairs? Also be-ing closely watched is whether Bidenwill pick an African American to headDefense, the Interior Department orTreasury.

Biden's running mate and now VicePresident-elect Kamala Harris is the

first woman, the first South Asian and the first AfricanAmerican to ever ascend to the highest political officein the United States.

Biden said in televised remarks last week that hehas already decided on his Treasury pick, someonewho will be agreeable "for both the moderate and

progressive sides of the party".Klain said plans for the January 20 inauguration are

also underway, although it will be transformed by thepublic health imperative of the still-raging pandemic,which has killed more than a quarter million Ameri-cans in 10 months.

"They're going to try to have an inauguration thathonors the importance and the symbolic meaning ofthe moment, but also does not result in the spread ofthe disease. That's our goal," Klain said. IANS

Antony Blinken

Four Indian-Americans among 32 studentschosen as Rhodes Scholars from US

NEW YORK: Four Indian-Americans are among thecohort of 32 students chosen from the US as RhodesScholars virtually for the first time this year due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.

The diverse group, that won scholarships to theOxford University in England, comprises immigrantsand students of color.

American Secretary of the RhodesTrust Elliot Gerson announced thenames of the 32 Americans chosen asRhodes Scholars representing the USon Sunday 22 November.

The four Indian-American studentsinclude Swathi R Srinivasan,Vijayasundaram Ramasamy, Garima PDesai and Savarni Sanka.

Never before has a class of RhodesScholars been elected entirely virtu-ally, with both candidates and selec-tors participating safely, indepen-dently and digitally, Gerson said.

He said this year's class for the prestigious scholar-ship reflects the remarkable diversity that character-

izes and strengthens the United States.Out of the 32 students, 22 are of color; 10 are Black,

equal to the greatest number ever elected in one yearin the United States, nine are first-generation Ameri-cans or immigrants and one is a Dreamer with activeDeferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status.

Seventeen of the winners are women,14 are men, and one is non-binary.

These bright young Americans willgo to Oxford October next year tostudy in fields broadly across the so-cial, biological and physical sciences,the humanities, and public policy.

They are leaders already, and weare confident that their contributionsto public welfare globally will expandexponentially over the course of theircareers, Gerson said.

Srinivasan from Ohio is a senior atHarvard College with double concen-

trations in Social Studies and History of Science, with afocus on public health inequality. She is also writing athesis for the Chemistry Department. PTI

The four Indian-American students

include Swathi RSrinivasan,

VijayasundaramRamasamy, Garima

P Desai andSavarni Sanka


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For sustainable recovery in post-COVID world reformedmultilateralism need of the hour: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the 15th G-20 Summit at Riyadh via video conferencing, in New Delhi on November 22

NEW DELHI/RIYADH: Prime Minister Narendra Modiat the G20 Summit on Sunday, 22 November assertedthat for an inclusive, resilient and sustainable recov-ery in a post-COVID world, effective global gover-nance is required and reformed multilateralism is theneed of the hour.

At a G20 session, he also underscored the impor-tance of the '2030 Agenda for Sustainable Develop-ment Goals' aimed at "leaving no one behind".

The prime minister said that India is following thesame principle in the 'Reform-Perform-Transform'strategy to move forward and taking inclusive devel-opment efforts that are participative, according to aMinistry of External Affairs (MEA) statement.

With the changing situation in the wake of theCOVID-19 pandemic, Modi said, India has adopted a'Self Reliant India' initiative. Following this vision, basedon its competence and dependability, India will be-come an important and reliable pillar of the worldeconomy and global supply chains, he said.

The prime minister also underscored that for an in-clusive, resilient and sustainable recovery in a post-COVID world, effective global governance is requiredand reformed multilateralism through improvementin character, governance and processes of multilateralinstitutions is the need of the hour.

The agenda of the second day of the G20 summitfocused on a session on building an inclusive, sustain-able and resilient future.

In a recorded message at a G-20 summit side event-- 'Safeguarding the Planet: The Circular CarbonEconomy Approach', Modi said climate change mustbe fought not in silos but in an integrated, compre-hensive and holistic way.

He asserted that the entire world can progressfaster if there is greater support of technology andfinance to developing nations.

Modi said India is not only meeting its Paris Agree-ment targets, but also exceeding them.

"Inspired by our traditional ethos of living in har-mony with the environment, and the commitment ofmy government, India has adopted low-carbon and

climate-resilient development practices," he said.The prime minister said for humanity to prosper, ev-

ery single individual must prosper. "Rather than seeinglabor as a factor of production alone, the focus must beon the human dignity of every worker," Modi said.

Such an approach would be the best guarantee forsafeguarding the planet, he said.

Modi said that in times of COVID-19 when every-one is focused on saving citizens and economies fromthe effects of the global pandemic, it is equally impor-tant to keep focus on fighting climate change.

"Climate change must be fought not in silos but inan integrated, comprehensive and holistic way," hesaid and highlighted that India is not only meeting itsParis Agreement targets, but also exceeding them.

India is a signatory to the Paris Agreement underthe United Nations Framework Convention on ClimateChange. The Paris accord was adopted at the UN cli-mate conference "COP 21" held in the French capitalin 2015 with an aim to reduce hazardous greenhousegas emissions.

Underlining that India has taken concrete action inmany areas, Modi said the country has made LED lightspopular and noted that this saves 38 million tons ofcarbon dioxide emission per year.

"Smoke free kitchens have been provided to over80 million households through our Ujjwala Scheme.This is among the largest clean energy drives glo-bally," he said.

"There are efforts to eliminate single-use plastics;our forest cover is expanding; the lion and tiger popu-lation is increasing; we aim to restore 26 million hect-ares of degraded land by 2030; and we are encourag-ing a circular economy," the prime minister said.

India is making next-generation infrastructure suchas metro networks, waterways and more, Modi said,adding that in addition to convenience and efficiency,they will also contribute to a cleaner environment.

"We will meet our goal of 175 gigawatts of renew-able energy well before the target of 2022. Now, weare taking a big step ahead by seeking to achieve 450gigawatts by 2030," he said. PTI

Indian American charged with pushing woman on to train trackNEW YORK: An Indian American man has been

charged with randomly pushing a woman on to therail track as a train was coming into a station in thecity's underground system.

The woman had an incredible escape after she laydown and stayed still on the track while the trainpassed over her after she was allegedly attacked byAditya Vemulapati, according to police.

Police said that the fire department rescued thewoman from under the train.

New York transit police chief Kathleen O'Reillysaid, "The perpetrator waited purposely as the No 5train was approaching and pushed our victim on tothe tracks. She fell, fortunately for her, between the

roll bed and the rails and, by the grace of God, sus-tained (only) minor injuries."

Police described Vemulapati as a homeless man. Helaid down on the subway station platform after thealleged attack and a transit employee held him tillpolice arrested him.

While in custody he was produced before a judgethrough a video link because of the Covid-19 pan-demic and charged with attempted murder and as-sault.

Judge Keisha Espinal ordered him held without bailafter prosecutors said that he had a history of arrestsin Illinois, Missouri and Florida states.

Vemulapati did not know the woman, Liliana

Sagbaicela, 40, an Ecuadorian immigrant whoworked as a housekeeper.

"The perpetrator had no contact with the victimand no words were exchanged," O'Reilly said.

She said, "The whole incident is captured on video.It is very disturbing. We see him waiting, calculatingfor the train to approach the station and at the op-portune moment pushed the victim to the tracks."

The attack appeared to be a random act of vio-lence.

The transit system's Acting President SarahFeinberg said, "This city has a mental health crisisright now. We have got folks in this city who desper-ately need mental health care." IANS


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Indian man attackedby three Pakistaniburglars in UAE

DUBAI: A 33-year-old Indian man was attacked bythree mask-wearing Pakistani burglars who also stolehis laptop, mobile phone and some cash while he wasasleep at his home in Dubai, according to a media re-port.

During a hearing in the Dubai Court of First Instance,the man said the Pakistani burglars broke into a villa inthe Bur Dubai area in August, assaulted the residentswith a metal bar, and stole several items, the GulfNews reported.

He said the attackers put a plastic bag over his faceand tape on his mouth.

"They were wearing medical masks. One of themmuzzled me and the other attacked me with a metalbar. I tried to resist but they overpowered me. I pulledthe mask of one of the attackers and saw his face," thevictim told the court.

"I managed to remove the plastic bag and the tapeand went outside the room. I went to my roommateand tried to chase the attackers," he said.

The burglars stole the man's laptop, mobile phone,cash, and credit cards, the report said.

While one of the burglars was arrested by a policepatrol as the victim identified him, the other two re-main at large.

The 25-year-old Pakistani defendant has beencharged by Dubai Public Prosecution with robberyand physically assaulting the victim, the report said.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for De-cember 9, it said. PTI

Indian Navy to host bilateral exerciseSIMBEX-20 in Andaman Sea

22 November."The 2020 edition of SIMBEX will witness partici-

pation by Indian Navy ships including destroyer Rana

with integral Chetak helicopter and indigenously

built corvettes Kamorta and Karmuk," the Navy said

in the statement.

In addition, Indian Navy's submarine Sindhuraj and

P8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft will also partici-

pate in the exercise, it said.

The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) will be rep-

resented by the Formidable-class frigates Intrepid

and Steadfast with S70B helicopter and Endurance-

class landing ship tank Endeavour in the exercise, the

statement said.

The SIMBEX series of exercises between the Indian

Navy and the RSN have been conducted annually

since 1994 and they are aimed at enhancing mutual

interoperability and imbibing best practices from

each other, the statement said.

The 2020 exercise is being conducted as a 'non-

contact, at sea only' exercise in view of the COVID-19pandemic, it said. PTI

NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy will host the 27th edi-tion of the India-Singapore bilateral maritime exer-

cise SIMBEX-20 from Monday to Wednesday in theAndaman sea, said an official statement on Sunday

Indian-American scientists identifypossible Covid-19 treatment

NEW DELHI: A team of Indian-origin immunologistsin the US has discovered a potential strategy to pre-vent life-threatening inflammation, lung damage andorgan failure in patients with Covid-19.

The scientists led by Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti,vice chair of Immunology at St. Jude Children's Re-search Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, identified thedrugs after discovering that the hyper-inflammatoryimmune response associated with Covid-19 leads totissue damage and multi-organ failure in mice by trig-gering inflammatory cell death pathways.

The researchers detailed in a paper published inthe journal "Cell" how the inflammatory cell-death sig-naling pathwayworked, which ledto potential thera-pies to disrupt theprocess.

"Understandingthe pathways andmechanism drivingthis inflammation iscritical to develop effective treatment strategies,"said Kanneganti who was born in Telangana andearned her undergraduate degree at Kakatiya Univer-sity in Warangal.

"This research provides that understanding. We alsoidentified the specific cytokines that activate inflam-matory cell death pathways and have considerablepotential for treatment of Covid-19 and other highlyfatal diseases, including sepsis," she informed.

She worked with Bhesh Raj Sharma, Rajendra Karkiand others at her lab for the research that helps in-crease understanding of the pathways and mecha-nism that drives Covid-19 inflammation so research-

ers can develop effective treatment strategies.The infection is marked by increased blood levels

of multiple cytokines. These small proteins are se-creted primarily by immune cells to ensure a rapidresponse to restrict the virus. Some cytokines alsotrigger inflammation.

Kanneganti's team focused on a select set of themost elevated cytokines in Covid-19 patients.

The scientists showed that no single cytokine in-duced cell death in innate immune cells.

The St. Jude investigators then tried 28 cytokinecombinations and found just one duo that, workingtogether, induced a form of inflammatory cell death

previously de-scribed byKanneganti asPANoptosis.

The investigatorsshowed that block-ing individual celldeath pathways wasineffective in stop-

ping cell death caused by TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma.Because TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma are produced

during Covid-19 and cause inflammatory cell death,the investigators questioned whether these cytokineswere responsible for the clinical manifestations anddeadly effects of the disease.

They found that the TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma com-bination triggered tissue damage and inflammationthat mirror the symptoms of Covid-19 along withrapid death.

Neutralizing antibodies against TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma are currently used to treat inflammatory dis-eases in the clinic. IANS

The scientists led by Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti,vice chair of Immunology at St. Jude Children's

Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, identifiedthe drugs after discovering that the hyper-inflam-

matory immune response associated with Covid-19

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India Post 9November 27, 2020www.indiapost.com

10 India Post November 27, 2020www.indiapost.com

Tech News TechBizIndia to pursue twin goals of becoming economic

and energy superpower: AmbaniAHMEDABAD: India needs

disruptive solutions in renew-able, low carbon and carbonrecycle technologies, as well asbreakthroughs in renewableenergy and innovations in en-ergy storage and utilization toachieve the twin goals of be-coming an economic and aclean-and-green energy su-perpower, Reliance IndustriesChairman Mukesh Ambani saidrecently.

Ambani, who is also thePresident of the Board of Gov-ernors of Gandhinagar-basedPandit Deendayal UpadhyayUniversity (PDPU), said in hisconvocation address that heforesees an "explosive and ex-ponential growth" in the Indianeconomy in the post-COVIDera.

The country will find a placein the top three economies ofthe world within a couple ofdecades, he said.

"By the middle of the cen-tury, the world will use twice asmuch energy as we use today.In the next two decades,India's own per capita energyneeds will be more than twiceas much as today," Ambanisaid.

Therefore, he said that Indiais required to simultaneouslypursue two goals: to becomean economic superpower, andto become a clean and greenenergy superpower.

"To achieve these twingoals, we need disruptive solu-tions in renewables, low car-bon and carbon recycle tech-nologies. We need break-throughs in renewable energysources such as green and bluehydrogen," he added.

Further, Ambani said thatthe country needs great inno-vations in energy storage andutilization.

He was addressing thegraduating students at the 8thconvocation of PDPU orga-nized via video conferencing,where Prime MinisterNarendra Modi was the chief

guest.To the graduating students

worried about the uncertain-ties created by the post-COVIDsituation, he advised them toventure out with supremehope and confidence.

"The future is very bright forIndia. This is our ancient nationthat has faced many adversi-

ties in the past and hasemerged stronger each time.This is because resilience is inthe very DNA of Indian peopleand Indian culture. In the post-COVID era, I clearly foresee ex-plosive and exponentialgrowth in the Indianeconomy," the RIL chief said.

Within a couple of decades,

India will be among the topthree economies of the world,he said.

"The growth will create un-precedented opportunitiesand possibilities for young and

talented people like you. In-deed, most of these opportu-nities will be created by youngentrepreneurs themselves. Isee amongst you as creators ofsuccessful start-ups," he said.

Ambani said that the futureof energy is being shaped byunprecedented changes,which are impacting the "fu-

ture of humanity and ourplanet".

He said that if Indian mastersthe synergy between the en-ergy revolution and the fourthindustrial revolution, it willsurely become "one of themost prosperous nations of theworld, an India that guaranteesprosperity and well-being" for

all Indians."The most important ques-

tion we face is this: can we pro-duce growing amounts of en-ergy we need to sustain oureconomies without harmingthe environment, without fail-ing to fulfill our climate changeobligations. We must be pre-pared to answer these ques-tions with a very confident'yes,'" he said.

Ambani praised the leader-ship of Gujarat under ChiefMinister Vijay Rupani and saidthat the state has always beena trailblazer and showing a pio-neering spirit.

He said the world acknowl-edges that the new Gujarathas paved a path for a new In-dia, with the visionary leader-ship of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi that Gujarat re-ceived being now available tothe nation.

He said that the PDPU willcontinue to make its uniquecontribution to enhance thereputation of Gujarat and Indiain the energy sector.

Ambani also advised stu-dents to continue the processof learning, as a "constant andnever-ending process of ex-ploration, discovery and ad-venture".

"A true student never stopsthe pursuit of knowledge," hesaid.

"The world is waiting foryou. Step out and take theplunge. Fail, if necessary, but inpursuit of your dream with pas-sion, purpose and persistenteffort. Your dreams will indeedcome true," he said.

Around 2,600 students re-ceived their degree certifi-cates at the convocation. Morethan 40 scholars received PhDdegrees, and 77 students wereconferred medals of merit. PTI

Mukesh Ambani

By the middle of the century, the worldwill use twice as much energy as we use today.In the next two decades, India's own per capita

energy needs will be more than twice asmuch as today, Ambani said

RBI first bank in theworld to reach 1Mfollowers on Twitter

NEW DELHI: The ReserveBank of India on Sunday, 22 No-vember became the first cen-tral bank in the world to havemore than one million follow-ers on its Twitter handle.

RBI governor Shaktikanta Dascongratulated his colleagueson this occasion. Das has a sepa-rate Twitter handle with 1.37lakh followers. "RBI Twitter ac-count reaches one million fol-lowers today. A new milestone.Congratulations to all my col-leagues in RBI," he tweeted.

India's monetary authorityhas beaten the US Federal Re-serve and European CentralBank on Twitter by emergingas the most popular centralbank on the micro-bloggingsite with one million followers.

Currently, the RBI handle isfollowed by as many as10,00,513 people around theworld. ANI

Rishi Sunak plansnew investmentbank infrastructure

LONDON: UK ChancellorRishi Sunak is set to unveil anew National InfrastructureStrategy next week for an esti-mated 100-billion poundsworth of long-term invest-ment, including a new bank toleverage private sector capitalfor such projects, media re-ports said.

The Indian-origin financeminister, who is leading thecountry's economic fight backagainst the coronavirus pan-demic, will publish the strat-egy to help tackle the climatecrisis and invest in transport,when he will also outline aSpending Review.

The UK Treasury has said thatthe infrastructure strategywould contain a down paymenton flagship programs includingfiber broadband, flood de-fenses and transport schemes.

The new UK investment bankis intended in part to replacethe functions of the EuropeanInvestment Bank (EIB), after theend of the Brexit transition pe-riod on December 31. PTI

UK signs trade deal withCanada to prepare for Brexit

LONDON: The UK signed an interim trade deal with Canada on

Saturday, 21 November, the second major agreement the country

has reached as negotiators hurry to cement trading relationships

in preparation for life outside the European Union.

While Britain formally withdrew from the EU in January, it contin-

ues to trade with other countries under the bloc's umbrella during

a transition period that is scheduled to end December 31. AP

11India PostTechBiz PostNovember 27, 2020

www.indiapost.com

Tech BriefsWorries of widespread 'tech addiction'may be overblown: Study

NEW DELHI: Parents, take iteasy if your kids are spendingmore time on various screens.New research claims that pa-rental restrictions on tech use

have little lasting effect intoadulthood and fears of wide-spread and long-lasting techaddiction may be overblown.

The study is among thefirsts to examine how digitaltechnology use evolves fromchildhood to adulthood in themobile Internet era.

The data were gathered

prior to the Covid-19 pandemic,which has resulted in dramaticincreases in the use of technol-ogy, as millions of students havebeen forced to attend school

and socialize online.But the study authors said the

findings should come as somecomfort to parents worriedabout all that extra screen time.

"Are lots of people gettingaddicted to tech as teenagersand staying addicted as youngadults? The answer from our re-search is 'no'," said lead author

Stefanie Mollborn, a professorof sociology at the Institute ofBehavioral Science at Universityof Colorado Boulder in the US."We found that there is only aweak relationship betweenearly technology use and latertechnology use, and what wedo as parents matters less thanmost of us believe it will".

Published in Advances inLife Course Research, the pa-per is part of a four-year Na-tional Science Foundation-funded project aimed at ex-ploring how the mobileInternet age truly is shapingAmerica's youth.

Even before the pandemic,adolescents spent 33 hoursper week using digital technol-ogy outside of school.

For the latest study, the re-search team shed light onyoung adults ages 18 to 30. Theresearchers also analyzed sur-vey data from a nationally rep-resentative sample of nearly1,200 participants, followingthe same people from adoles-cence to young adulthood.

Surprisingly, parenting prac-tices like setting time limits orprohibiting kids from watchingshows during mealtimes hadno effect on how much thestudy subjects used technol-ogy as young adults.

"This research addressesthe moral panic about technol-ogy that we so often see," saidJoshua Goode, a doctoral stu-dent in sociology and co-au-thor of the paper.

"Many of those fears wereanecdotal, but now that wehave some data, they aren'tbearing out". From the dawn ofcomic books and silent moviesto the birth of radio and TV,technological innovation hasbred moral panic among oldergenerations.

"We see that everyone isdrawn to it, we get scared andwe assume it is going to ruintoday's youth," said Mollborn.

In some cases, excess canhave downsides. For instance,the researchers found thatadolescents who play a lot ofvideo games tend to get lessphysical activity. IANS

Modi, Bhutanese PM jointlylaunch RuPay card Phase-IINEW DELHI: Prime Minister

Narendra Modi along with hisBhutanese counterpart LotayTshering recently launchedRuPay card Phase-II that willallow cardholders fromBhutan to access the RuPaynetwork in India.

The prime ministers of thetwo countries had jointlylaunched Phase-I of theproject during Modi's statevisit to Bhutan in August lastyear.

In his speech via videoconferencing, Modi spoke

about the deep cooperationbetween the countries in agamut of fields, includingISRO's preparation to launchBhutanese satellite intospace and BSNL's agreementwith Bhutan regarding thirdinternational internet gate-way.

Modi also asserted that In-dia stands solidly with Bhutanin this difficult hour of theCOVID-19 pandemic, and saidmeeting the neighboringcountry's requirements willalways be its top priority. PTI

Google testing paid service'Task Mate' in India

NEW DELHI: In a bid to im-prove its mapping servicesand bring more businessesonline, Google is testing apaid crowdsourcing servicecalled Task Mate in India thatwill help select users earnsome money.

In the "early access" Betatesting phase, the 'Task Mate'service is currently "limited toselected testers" through areferral codesystem, re-p o r t s9to5Google.

A redditpost by a useralso sug-gested thatsuch Googleservice is nowlive in the country: "Googleseems to be testing theirnew Task Mate app in Indiawhich pays you in Indian cur-rency for completing tasksregarding Google app eco-system. (Currently invitationonly)".

The 'Task Mate' lets you

"find tasks nearby," "com-plete a task to begin earn-ing," and then "cash out yourearnings."

The latter is done by reg-istering an e-wallet accountor with the in-app paymentpartner. When that is done,users can earn the money byhitting the "Cash Out" but-ton.

The tasks are "simple" andare catego-rized as "Sit-ting" or"Field".

For ex-ample, somesitting tasksinclude tran-scribing, re-cording spo-

ken sentences and translat-ing from English to your lo-cal language.

The field tasks includetaking photos of a nearbyrestaurant or shop frontwhich can be used in en-hancing mapping details.IANS

Microsoft Teams now offers24-hour video calls for freeWASHINGTON: Microsoft is

now rolling out an all-dayvideo calling option that willlet Microsoft Teams users usethe calls free for 24 hours.

A c c o r d -ing toM a s h a b l e ,this new fea-ture sup-ports up to300 partici-pants andcan be theperfect wayfor a large crowd togetherthis season without furtherspreading COVID-19. At atime when most videostreaming services have a

time limit, Microsoft intendsto put no limits on familycalls this holiday season.

As per Mashable, to starta video call with Microsoft

Teams, thehost willneed aM i c r o s o f ta c c o u n t .O n c elogged in,the host cans i m p l yshare the

meeting link to friends andfamily who can then join themeeting via the Web for freewithout even needing aMicrosoft account. ANI


In Brief Immigration

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The incoming

administration of

President-elect Joe

Biden has not directly

said whether it will

keep trying to expel

immigrants

Judge orders US to stop expellingchildren who cross border

HOUSTON: A federal judgeon Wednesday (18 Nov.) or-dered the Trump administra-tion to stop expelling immi-grant children who cross thesouthern border alone, haltinga policy that has resulted inthousands of rapid deporta-tions of minors during thecoronavirus pandemic.

U.S. District Judge EmmetSullivan issued a preliminary in-junction sought by legalgroups suing on behalf of chil-dren whom the governmentsought to expel before theycould request asylum or otherprotections under federal law.

The Trump administrationhas expelled at least 8,800 un-accompanied children sinceMarch, when it issued an emer-gency declaration citing thecoronavirus as grounds for bar-ring most people crossing theborder from remaining in theUnited States.

Border agents have forcedmany people to return toMexico right away, while de-taining others in holding facili-ties or hotels, sometimes fordays or weeks. Meanwhile,

government-funded facilitiesmeant to hold children whilethey are placed with sponsorshave thousands of unusedbeds.

Sullivan's order bars only theexpulsion of children whocross the border unaccompa-nied by a parent. The govern-ment has expelled nearly200,000 people since March,including adults, and parentsand children traveling to-gether.

``This policy was sendingthousands of young childrenback to danger without anyhearing,'' said Lee Gelernt, alawyer for the American CivilLiberties Union. ``Like so many

other Trump administrationpolicies, it was gratuitouslycruel and unlawful.''

The Justice Department didnot immediately say whether itwould appeal. It has appealedanother federal judge's order

barring the use of hotels to de-tain children.

The incoming administra-tion of President-elect JoeBiden has not directly said

whether it will keep trying toexpel immigrants under pub-lic-health authority. Biden isexpected to roll back severalTrump administration policiesrestricting asylum as part of abroader shift on immigration.

The Trump administrationhas argued in court that it mustexpel children who have re-cently crossed the border _whether they had authoriza-tion or not _ to prevent the in-fection of border agents andothers in immigration custody.

The emergency declarationwas made by Dr. RobertRedfield, director of the Cen-ters for Disease Control andPrevention, and the Justice De-partment on Oct. 2 cited thejudgment of ``the nation's top

public health official'' in urgingSullivan not to stop the expul-sion of children.

The Associated Press re-ported on Oct. 3 that top CDCofficials resisted issuing thedeclaration because it lacked apublic health basis, but thatVice President Mike Pence or-dered Redfield to move for-ward anyway.

Opponents of the policy ac-cuse the administration of us-ing the pandemic as a pretextto restrict immigration and sayagents can safely screen mi-nors for COVID-19 without de-nying protections under fed-eral anti-trafficking law and acourt settlement that governsthe treatment of children.

U.S. Magistrate Judge G.Michael Harvey recommendedon Sept. 25 that Sullivan grantan injunction barring expul-sions of children, saying thegovernment was claimingpower that was ``breathtak-ingly broad.''

Children and parents whohave been expelled have re-ported believing they wouldbe allowed to reunite withfamily in the U.S., only to in-stead be deported to theircountries of origin.

One mother of 12- and 9-year-olds found out her chil-dren had been expelled whenshe received a call from an offi-cial in Honduras asking her tosend a relative to collect them.

The father of a 1-year-oldgirl alleged that agents toldhim and his wife to feed the girlice in case their temperatureswere checked before boardinga flight. U.S. Immigration andCustoms Enforcement has de-nied using ice as an artificialcooling measure. AP

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan issued apreliminary injunction sought by legal groups

suing on behalf of children whom the governmentsought to expel before they could request asylum

or other protections under federal law

1000s back elderlySikh widow's rightto stay in UK

LONDON: Over 62,000people have signed an onlinepetition in favor of an elderlySikh widow's right to not beforcibly sent back to India afterover 10 years of living and mak-ing a home in England.

Gurmit Kaur Sahota, 75,came to the UK in 2009 andSmethwick in the West Mid-lands has been home to herever since. Legally an undocu-mented migrant, UK Visas andImmigration rules mean Sahotais expected to go back to Indiaeven though she has no familythere, attracting widespreadsupport from the local commu-nity in Smethwick which hasadopted the septuagenarian.

Gurmit Kaur has no family toturn to in the UK and no family toreturn to in Punjab, so the localSikh Community of Smethwickhave adopted her. Gurmit ap-plied to stay but has been re-fused even though she has nofamily to return to in Punjab, In-dia, reads the petition onChange.Org addressed to the UKHome Office and UK Parliament.

Gurmit is a very kindwoman, even though she hasnothing she is still generousand will always give what shecan, when she can. Most of herdays are spent volunteering atthe local gurdwara, it notes.

At a local Black Lives Matterprotest Gurmit was giving outfruit to protesters in solidaritywith the cause. Gurmit is an assetand a kind auntie to Smethwick.We want her to stay here.Smethwick is home, it adds. PTI

India Post 13November 27, 2020 Immigration Postwww.indiapost.com

UN official warnsof humanitariandisaster if talks fail

KABUL: The UN's top official for refugees saidon Tuesday (17 Nov.), if the Afghan peace processcollapses and violence continues, there will be ahumanitarian disaster as thousands of displacedpeople struggle to survive the pandemic amidthe harsh winter.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees FilippoGrandi told The Associated Press at the end of afour-day visit to Afghanistan that if the fightingcontinues, there will be more internal displace-ment.

If this peace effort collapses then we could seea big humanitarian disaster in the country that isfor sure, I hope it won't," he said.

Violence and chaos have increased in Afghani-stan in recent months even as government nego-tiators and the Taliban are meeting in Qatar to findan end to decades of relentless war. The two sideshave made little progress.

I think we need to be ready for everythinghere, we need to be ready for more humanitarianissues, Grandi said.

He urged the international community to re-main committed to Afghanistan and called forgreater support for displaced and returning Af-ghans ahead of a donor pledging conference inGeneva next week.

He said his message in Geneva would be thatcountries should be prepared for two scenarios: agood one in which it's necessary to invest in de-velopment also on in which, especially in the shortterm, more food, water and shelter aid will beneeded.

Arzo, 27, who like many Afghans goes by onlyone name, is the mother of six children living inthe Bagrami camp for displaced people on theoutskirts of Kabul.

She told The Associated Press recently that thefamily's only breadwinner is 8-year-old Fawad,who sells plastic bags in the local market. She saidher husband lost his right leg, the victim of a sui-cide attack in Nangarhar province.

Arzo's eldest daughter, 10-year-old Husna, col-lects burnable garbage for the mother to cook ameal or boil tea in the corner of the house.

If someone sees our misery they will help uswith some loaves of bread, but most of the time,we have to just spend the day with an emptystomach. We are going through a lot of hardshipand problems, we want a lot of things, but wecan't afford to have them. My husband is disabled,who else will come to help us, she said.

In addition to Afghans displaced within thecountry, more than 742,000 Afghans have re-turned from Iran and Pakistan since the begin-ning of this year, according to the InternationalOrganisation for Migration. The majority ofthem are working and trying to provide forlarge families. AP

How Indians can benefit from Grenada'sCitizenship-by-investment program

NEW DELHI: A steep hike in fees and prolongedwaiting time have made the US-EB5 Visa almost unat-tainable in recent times.

With the suspension of a whole host of other US visacategories; popularity of the Grenadian E-2 Visa, thatcan be easily obtained via the Citizenship-by-invest-ment (CBI) programs, has risen tremendously in thelast few years. CBI programs are also a terrific channelfor high net-income (HNI) holders from developing

countries looking to bolster and diversify their invest-ment portfolio. They offer greater migration optionsalong with freedom to travel visa-free to over 143countries, including the UK, Schengen, Russia & China.

Mohammed Asaria is the Founder & Managing Di-rector of Range Developments, the largest & most suc-cessful hospitality developer in the Caribbean engagedin the CBI sphere. Mohammed was born and brought upinUK and graduated with a law degree from Universityof Cambridge.

Prior to establishing Range Developments, he workedfor a number of years in law firms and investment banksin London, Tokyo and Dubai.

Here, he discusses the advantages of pursuing CBIprograms (and E-2 visa programs), in Grenada,

You have graduated as a lawyer. What made youventure into Real Estate?

MA: My mother was born in Kenya, my father was fromUganda, and three generations back from India. Myfather's family was settled in Uganda till 1972,whenunderIdi Amin's regimemany Asians weremade to leave thecountry. That's how heended up in theUnited Kingdom as arefugee. If at thattimeCBI option hadbeen made available, then it would have immensely ben-efited my father's family. So it's very personal to me.

The first time I actually came across the concept ofCBI was in 2011, when someone suggested that I obtaina Saint Kitts & Nevis passport through their CBI program.The idea just resonated with me. It has been an intense,eventful, and fulfilling nine years since.

Can you give us some background on Range Devel-opments?

MA: Range Developments was established in the Car-ibbean in 2012, and is the largest and most successfulhospitality developer in the eastern Caribbean, set upwith the objective of providing investors with access toexceptional real estate developments through CBI pro-grams of the countries we operate in.

The Range Developments brand has gained credibil-ity as a safe and secure investment;and hotel brands and investors alikeknow that we will deliver as promised.In each of the countries where we havebeen successful, we act as a beacon forthe CBI industry in that jurisdiction. Wedo our due diligence fully before weinvest in a country.

Range Development is redefiningluxury in Grenada. Can you throwsome light on the kind of projectsthat Range Development has donein the past or is currently developingthere?

MA: Our first project was the ParkHyatt, St. Kitts. When the Hotel openedin 2017, it was not only a major mile-stone for us, but also a key milestone

for tourism in the Eastern Caribbean. We got rave reviewsin the international media.

After the success of Park Hyatt, we were invited torepeat this feat in Dominica with the Cabarets Resort &Spa Kempinski, Dominica, an ultra-luxury 5-star hotel. Weare now onto our third project in the island of Grenada,the Six Senses La Sagesse, Grenada, scheduled to becompleted in 2022.

We not only offer the best services in the world, butalso preserve the integrity and harmony of the sitethrough sustainable development that is in balancewith the nature and its surroundings. We also have anincredible track record when it comes to completionof projects as we employ some of the best engineers,architects, contractors and skilled workforce in theCaribbean to ensure that we are able to timely ex-ecute and deliver on our vision.

Range Development is known for the develop-ment of luxury, high-end resorts under CBI pro-grams. What exactly is a Citizenship-by-Investment

programmed?MA: The concept

is actually simple -aninvestor is allowed toapply for citizenshipof that country in re-turn for investmentin an approved real

estate project. The investors become eligible for manyof the benefits that follow including greater mobility,visa-free travel to many destinations worldwide (in-cluding the UK, Schengen, Russia and China), access toa tax-efficient jurisdiction, and much more. ANI/Mediawire

Mohammed Asaria is the Founder & ManagingDirector of Range Developments, the largest &

most successful hospitality developer in theCaribbean engaged in the CBI sphere

For detailed story visit www.indiapost.com

India Post14 www.indiapost.com November 27, 2020

For detailed story visitwww.indiapost.com

With the current Covid-19 situation, theage-old phrase 'Health is Wealth', hasbecome a rising priority for most of us.

As the fitness industry has shifted fromoutdoor to virtual platforms, people started workingout of the comfort of their home. Thanks to the digitalworld, we have a choice to customize and personalizeour workout routine as per our preference. While fit-ness enthusiasts can create their own fitness routineby combining a variety of HIIT exercises with func-tional training or yoga asanas, it requires a lot of intrin-sic motivation to follow a set routine.

Dhara Tanna, Senior Vice President, Fitternity listsdown some lesser-heard exercises to break freefrom a monotonous workout routine:

SEAL WALKPlank has always been the go-to exercise, but try

bringing a variation to the regular plank - Seal Walk, (aplank replicating the moving of a seal). It works onshoulders muscles, rectus abdominis, triceps, and spi-nal erectors.

Process: Start by being in a push-up position andraise your core on the support of your hands and knees.Slowly lift and move one hand about a foot ahead andthen repeat the same movement with the other hand.

DEAD BUGBreak out of unlimited crunches and

try this Dead Bug exercise that workswell on your core but also pro-tects the spine andp r e v e n t s

lower back pain!Process: Start by lying on your back on a padded/

yoga mat. Raise your knees facing towards the ceilingand feet flat on the ground, while the arms rest overyour head. Lift both your legs at a 90-degree angle fromthe ground, with knees in the air pointing to the ceil-ing and legs parallel to the ground.Bring your arms close to theears and lift your handsso your elbows

are above your shoulders with your fists facing in to-ward each other. Exhale as you slowly lower your rightarm and left leg until they're just above the floor. Whileinhaling, bring them back to the starting position. Re-peat this movement with your left arm and right leg.

GLUTE BRIDGE ABDUCTIONA great variation on the mat for your lower body -

Glute Bridge Abduction. While performing the glutebridge abductions, you not only

work on your glutes, but also your spine. If you want toup your workout, try doing it with a band.

Process: Begin by lying on your back with kneesbent and palms at your sides on the ground. Bringglutes towards the ceiling with legs touching eachother and squeeze glutes at the top. Separate yourlegs while they're still in the air (abduction) and bringthem back together while they are still in the air. Re-turn both legs back down to the ground, as you com-plete one repetition of this exercise.

BANDED OVERHEAD TRICEP PRESSAs the name suggests, this exercise is per-

formed using a resistance band and works towardstoning the triceps.

Process: Lace one end of the band on the groundand step on it, while stretching the other end overyour head as you keep your arm close to your ear.Slowly bend your elbow so that the hand that is raisedabove your head moves back towards your shoulders.Raise back your hand over your head and stretch it asyou complete one repetition. Beginners can start byperforming 8-12 repetitions of this exercise.

LYING STRAIGHT ARM BANDED PULL DOWNAnother innovative workout on the mat puts your

lats, upper back, chest, and core on fire!Process: Find yourself an anchor that is closer to the

ground and attach your resistance bands to it. Gripthe band in each hand and lie down on the floor fac-ing the ceiling. Raise your arms to eye level until thebands begin to stretch and continue this move-ment so that your hands travel all the way

down to your hips.IANSlife

November 27, 2020 India Post

www.indiapost.com

15

PUJA GUPTA

NEW DELHI: Travelling alone can bethe most therapeutic form of self-indul-gence! By traveling alone, one can en-gage with their new surroundings un-filtered by the prejudices, tastes, orpreferences of a traveling companionand connect with the soul of the placeby hanging out with the locals

Switzerland is a solo traveller's haven,one of the safest and easiest places tonavigate, - the sheer variety of things tosee and do ensures that your solo trip is amemorable one, especially if it's your first!

Here are some of the activities werecommend you should add to your itin-erary!Not just a place to stay, but toexperience:

Switzerland has a number of reason-ably priced youth hostels around thecountry that are clean, safe, centrally lo-cated and with a choice of single room,double room and bunk beds with cen-tral kitchens and lobbies and lounges -perfect if you're looking to meet othertravellers. Other than hostels, travellerscan choose to stay in single rooms avail-

able at lower rates than double rooms,in most hotels- whether budget, mid-priced or luxury.

The ultimate travel partner- TheSwiss Travel Pass:

When travelling solo, a Swiss TravelPass is a boon! Swiss Travel Systemmakes traveling alone in Switzerlandtrouble-free with their efficient net-work of public transport- from the high-speed and famously punctual trains tobuses, boats and trams. The Swiss Travelpass offers exciting discounts on mostmountain excursions and gives you afree entry to almost 400 museums!

A part of the country's heritage andhistory, Switzerland's panoramic trainroutes are among the most beautifulrail routes in the world. To experienceSwitzerland's majestic mountain scen-ery, idyllic valleys and villages; alongcrystal-clear lakes and ice-blue glaciers-a journey on The Glacier Express, or TheBernina Express is highly recom-mended!

Adventure Escapades:With the stunning landscapes and

action-packed activities, Switzerland

will surely unravel the hidden adrena-line junkie in you! Whether you chooseto jet ski over crystal blue waters, divefrom the sky into lush green valleys orski down steep terrains of the snow-capped alps, there's an adventure tosuit every person when in Switzerland.We recommend trying mountain bikingor e-biking or sliding down the fastestToboggan Run in Pilatus.

The best part? Your daring escapadesaren't limited to just one season.Whether you plan your trip in the sum-mer, autumn or winter, Switzerland will

always welcome you with towering al-pine peaks, emerald green valleys andshimmering blue lakes!

GASTRONOMIC ADVENTURES:In Switzerland- cheese and chocolate

will be your go-to choice of food. ButSwitzerland's local cuisine has the influ-ence of 3 different cultures- German,French and Italian, so whether you are ameat lover or vegan, you will never runout of options to eat!

If you are on a budget, many restau-rants offer a "meal of the day" which in-cludes a salad/soup, a choice of 2 or 3main courses and a dessert. Manymountain excursions offer a 'picnic' op-tion where you can carry your ownmeal. Another must try when travelingto the country is Swiss Wine; one of thecountry's best kept secrets is that al-most all regions in Switzerland producetheir own wines. The Viognier, Pinot Grisand Chardonnay from Lake Geneva re-gion and Merlot Bianco from Ticino areparticularly well known. However, if youconsider yourself a wine connoisseur atrip to the Lavaux vineyards is a must!

When you are done trying the richwines and scrumptious Swiss Delicaciesand are craving a taste of home you cantry one of the many amazing Indian res-taurants in the country.

Swiss Cities- the fusion of old withthe new!

Swiss cities are a true wonder! Sur-rounded by the spectacular scenerythat dominates Switzerland's land-scape, the cities embody quality of life,urban flair and are perfect to base your-self to explore when travelling indepen-dently.

Zurich is a perfect example of Swisscities, which are a blend of the old andnew! While the old town will show youthe rich history, the newer parts will ca-ter to your young spirit with the best ofZurich nightlife with trendy bars andclubs. IANSlife


November 27, 2020www.indiapost.comIndia Post16


The cool beaches, green-ery, scenic natural beautyand most of all, its easy

availability of cheap liquormakes Daman a popular desti-nation among youths and evenas a getaway for those inGujarat.

Daman is a beautiful littlecity, surrounded by states ofGujarat, Maharashtra and Ara-bian Sea on the sides. The placehas a rich culture and history.Its history dates back to over2000 years ago. The present istinted in colors of enjoyment,simplicity, and festivity. Beachesof the area let it stand out as acenter of natural beauty to-gether with hints of fun. Whatadds on to the tourist experiencehere is the shopping scene,which ranges from leather prod-ucts, exquisite brands of liquor tohandcrafted items.

PLACES TO VISIT IN DAMANDevka Beach: Devka beach is

a sight of pure beauty. Like somany other beaches of Daman,this too is a massive, pictur-esque and quite unspoilt.

The place has clean blue wa-ters, well maintained shoresand enough beauty for every-body. Also, there is a specialAmusement Park here whichhouses huge fountains andplay area for kids.

Mirasol Lake Garden:Mirasol Lake Garden isa man-made marvel,which serves asone of a populartourist attractionin the area.

Surrounded by a beautifullake and two island connectedby a bridge, the place is verycalm and peaceful. Boat ridesand fountains add to thebeauty of this charming gar-den. The garden also has facili-ties for other activities likecomputer games and toy trainetc. that makes it a favoritehotspot for picnickers. With awater park located just next it,this amazing lake garden alsoserves as a located for manyfilm shootings.

Lighthouse: The Lighthouseis sure to leave an imprint onyour mind. Every tourist whovisits Daman and Diu loves thissite.

Standing tall, the Lighthouseoffers a magnificent view of thesunset. It is a major landmark ofthe town and is situated insidea fort. An excellent view of thesea traffic can also be seen fromhere.

Jampore Beach: Jamporebeach is one of the significantattractions in Daman. Situatedremotely 5 kilometersaway from the MotiDaman Jetty, thebeach getsf a m ebe-

cause of its blackish mud-col-ored water. It is a perfect placefor the ones seeking longingpeace and solitude. The beach isaway from the hustle of the cityand is, therefore, a great placeto relax. Covered with trees allover makes the place breezyand gives it an ecstatic look.

Just jump into its waters,drink your heart out and returnhome with fantastic memories.Walk by the sea and capture thebeauty of the sunset, gorge onthe most delectable food, andenjoy every fun-filled sport activ-ity at the beach. Visitors can evengo shell hunting or build castleson the sand. Come here withyour family for a perfect week-end break. Enjoy every momentunder the shade of its trees asyou look at the artistry of its wa-ters. www.holidify.com

www.indiapost.comNovember 27, 2020

COMMUNITYACROSS AMERICA

India Post

Desi News

17

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandirs, LA& Milpitas, celebrate Diwali online

India Post News Service

Amid the COVID-19 glo-bal pandemic, the BAPSShri Swaminarayan

Mandirs in Chino Hills andMilpitas, CA, focused on bring-ing together the Hindu com-munity through five days of vir-tual Diwali celebrations. Dur-ing this period, the traditionscelebrated provided an oppor-tunity to reflect and introspecton one's personal, profes-sional, and spiritual growth.

Diwali is celebrated everyyear on the first lunar phase ofthe moon, when the moonprovides no light and theworld is enveloped in dark-ness.

The ancient practice oflighting divas, or traditionallamps, during the days ofDiwali not only erases physicaldarkness, but also symbolizesone's commitment to removedarkness -in the form of anger,greed, arrogance and resent-ment - from one's life. Thefestival's rich traditions andrituals marked by bright col-ors of Rangoli (ornate designsmade of colored powder), the

lamps, the elaborate offeringof vegetarian food (Annakut)to God, all mark a renewal ofthe good within and the good-will towards all around us.Diwali presents Hindus withan opportunity to reaffirm therich values and traditions ofthe religion within them-selves.

Many families would gener-

ally gather at the BAPS Mandirto celebrate this festival.However, due to the healthand safety concerns this year,the BAPS organization pro-vided live, interactive pro-grams throughout the holidayseason to bring the commu-nity together through activi-ties that each family couldpartake in and share with oth-ers online. One such activitywas the observation of NewYear's Day, which occurs theday after Diwali. BAPS mandirsacross the world celebratethis day by offering Annakut(meaning "Mountains ofFood") to the sacred imageswithin the shrines of themandir.

The 100s of food items aregenerally made by followersof the faith in their homes andbrought to the mandir. Thisyear, however, families wereencouraged to make freshvegetarian delicacies and of-fer them to the images that

are kept at home, with thesame spirit and to share pic-tures of this and other Diwaliactivities online.

Mansi Patel, a youngmother, said, "This year hasbeen like no other, but myfamily and I are cherishing themoments when we cel-ebrated at BAPS ShriSwaminarayan Mandir in LosAngeles the last several years.

Cont’d on page 23

AAPI mourns thepassing away ofDr. Ajay LodhaIndia Post News Service

CHICAGO: "We are shockedand saddened at the passingaway of Dr. Ajay Lodha, a vision-ary leader and past Presidentof AAPI, who died early on No-vember 21st, 2020, due tocomplications from COVID 19."Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda,President of American Associa-tion of Physicians of Indian Ori-gin (AAPI) observed here.

Dr. Ajay Lodha passed awaypeacefully, after fightingCOVID valiantly for last 8months at the Cleveland Clinic,surrounded by his wife Smita,his son Amit and his daughterShweta.

Details on page 20

State OfficialsAnnounce LatestCOVID-19 Facts

SACRAMENTO: The CaliforniaDepartment of Public Health(CDPH) has announced themost recent statistics onCOVID-19.

California has 1,102,033confirmed cases to date. Num-bers may not represent trueday-over-day change as re-porting of test results can bedelayed.

There were 14,319 newly re-corded confirmed cases Satur-day (21 Nov). Numbers do notrepresent true day-over-daychange as these results includecases from prior to yesterday.

Details on page 22

November 27, 2020India Post18 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

St Louis Bal Vihar celebrate Diwali through virtual meetRAJ IYER

ST Louis Bal Vihar Diwali MeetDiwali sweets

ST LOUIS: Bal Vihar of St.Louis, a nonprofit organizationseeking to promote Indian cul-ture among children, cel-ebrated the Diwali knowsalsoas Deepavalior Festival ofLight, with pujas, diyas, andfireworks.

Given the current pandemicenvironment, Bal Vihar schoolheld a virtual Diwali celebra-tion keeping in mind the safetyand well-being of r= familiesand students. The start was bya youth group students sum-marizing the significance ofDiwali. The event continuedwith religious ceremony facili-tated by a Hindu priest in St.Louis. Many students and their

families joined the ceremonyfrom the comfort of theirhomes via Zoom.

The children followed thepriest in performing puja attheir home using clay diyasthey made in their previousclass. The puja started withshort prayers, followed by anarti. Even though we all missedbeing around other families/students, the ability to see oth-ers dressed up in their beauti-ful culture attire made up forsome of that. It was probablythe next best thing we coulddo besides being together inperson. At the end of pujawhen doing Aarti, everyonejoined together to sing mak-

like any other that was wit-nessed. All prayed collectivelyfor the situation all over theworld to return to some sem-blance of normalcy. There areso many lessons learnt thisyear. One of them on the big-gest festival for BalViharfamilies being togethervirtually and participating inone grand ceremony feelingthe presence of each otherKeep COVID-19 at arm's lengthwas the lesson

On behalf Center for IndianCultural Education - Bal Vihar ofSt. Louis greets everyone in US,India and the rest of the worldentering the Hindu CalendarSamvat Year 2077.

Diwali Prayer

ing the chorus fill our homelyatmosphere will lots of posi-

tive vibes.The Year 2020 has been un-

Celebrating Govardhan Puja at ISKCON BostonGEETHA PATIL

BOSTON: International Soci-ety for Krishna Consciousness(ISKCON) Boston temple orga-nized an evening online Diwali

and Govardhan Puja programon Sunday, November 15, 2020.

Due to COVID-19 situationand in adherence with Govern-

ment guidelines, this year'sDiwali and Annakuta were cel-ebrated ina simplemanner.Online programs were coordi-nated by Giridharan, Rajkoti,and Saikiran with the festivalevent coordinatorsn a m e l y P a r o m i t aBanerjee(Singh) andGiridharanbecause the Diwali-

the festival of lightsis one ofthe most widely celebratedoccasions in the year. Onlineteam focused much on giving

everyone an opportunity fordarshan of the Lord.

Abhishekam at Boston Temple Villagers requesting Lord Krishna to save themKrishna Radha in Boston Temple

Cont’d on page 22

India Post 19November 27, 2020 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

Grand celebration of Diwali In Rhode IslandGEETHA PATIL

RHODE ISLAND NY: Diwali, one ofIndia's most important festivals was cel-ebrated as a community festival oflights by the India Association of RhodeIsland (IARI) on November 21, 2020 withmuch enthusiasm. The cultural eveningof this celebration was streamlinedthrough Facebook and YouTube pages

and was open to the public. Hundredsof spectators watched this greatevening program.

The president of IARI, Nikhil Shah wel-comed all members of the Indian Com-munity to the program and wishedthem A Happy Diwali. Gina Raimondo,Governor of Rhode Island wished every-one A Happy Diwali and said, 'let's staytogether and fight out this challengingsituation in a better way and will cel-ebrate our triumph in person next yearin the way we love.'

The cultural event included classical,regional folk and Bollywood styledances and melodious music. The firstfew performances started with youngkids' 'Dia Dance' choreographed byEsha Mogavi. This was followed by an-other dance on 'Ganesh StutiPadam'that was presented by - Prafulla's Acad-emy of Dance and Music students. Apictorial Ram Katha was presented bythe students of Akshar that was di-

rected and choreographed by KavitaAggarwal and Manisha Singh. SeniorStar Kids group presented, 'Aya BappaMoriya' dance choreographed by NehaSwaroop Sharma.

The popular singer, Dhruvit Shah pre-sented a melodious song that touchedeveryone's heart. 'Madhura VenuGanam

- a BharathnatayamPadham' was pre-sented by BhramaraKalakendra andchoreographed by Darshana Sukesh.Shruti, the Performing Arts Group pre-sented 'Garbo' Gujarati dance that waschoreographed byGhanshyamsinhChavda and HareshMadhavi.

RaftaRafta Medley was presented byRI Rockstars and choreographed byArathi Nambiar and Nandita Lajeesh.Anokhi Diwali Dream Catchers dancewas choreographed by Sayani Banerjee.

Disco Deewane by Junior Star kids, cho-reographed by Neha Swaroop Sharma.Sumita Gokhale, a physician presenteda tuneful song, 'Char kadam' accompa-nied by Yash Gokhale on Guitar andDhruvit Shah on keyboard.AlarippuBharathnatayam waspresented byBhramaraKalakendra choreo-graphed by Darshana Sukesh.Jiya Jale dance was per-formed by RI Divas and cho-reographed by ArathiNambiar.

Rassado, the folk dance ofIndia was presented byShrusti Performing Art Groupand choreographed byGhanshyamsinhChavda andHaresh Madhavi. AnotherBollywood dance was pre-sented by Senior Kids DanceGroup of Unstoppable DanceStudio that was choreo-graphed byGhanshyamsinhChavda andAshviniChavda. All Stars group per-formed Radhakrishna Medley dancethat was choreographed by Sanya Garg.Dancing Divas group presented'RaasGulaal' dance and choreographed

Raas Gulaal dance Rassado Dance

Garbo Dance

Aarippu dance

Singer Dhruvit ShahSinger Sumita GokhaleRam Katha

by Neha Swaroop Sharma. Dhruvit Shahand Sumita Gokhale presented aBollywood Mashup as a grand finaleperformance by singing a popularBollywood love song that made every-one to sing along.

Thanks, were presented to PatelBrothers for sponsoring the culturalshow, to Ghanshyamsinh Chavdafor hisgreat assistance in producing Video,Graphics, and Design Editing, and toNeha Swaroop Sharma, Manisha Biyani,Medha Rastogi for their Emcee Voice.Last but foremost, Medha Rastogi, thepublic relations coordinator for the In-dia Association of Rhode Island for put-ting this event together with her team.


AAPI mourns the passing away of Dr. Ajay LodhaIndia Post News Service

CHICAGO: "We are shocked and sad-dened at the passing away of Dr. AjayLodha, a visionary leader and past Presi-dent of AAPI, who died early on Novem-ber 21st, 2020, due to complicationsfrom COVID 19." Dr. SudhakarJonnalagadda, President of AmericanAssociation of Physicians of Indian Ori-gin (AAPI) observed here.

Dr. Ajay Lodha passed away peace-fully, after fighting COVID valiantly forlast 8 months at the Cleveland Clinic,surrounded by his wife Smita, his sonAmit and his daughter Shweta.

Describing this day as one of "thedarkest days in AAPI history" Dr.Jonnalgadda, who worked with at theExecutive Committee of AAPI under theleadership of Dr. Lodhaadded, "In hispassing away today, I have lost a dearFriend, Mentor, and Brother."

A past President of AAPIQLI, Dr.Lodha was a former Chief Medical Of-ficer and Senior Vice President ofCaritas Health Care System represent-ing St. John's Hospital and Mary Im-

Nursing Homes on Long Island, NewYork and has been credited to be thefounder of the Accountable Care Orga-nization (ACO) and the IndependentPhysicians Association (APA).

Born in Rajasthan, he was a graduateof RNT Medical College, Udaipur,Rajasthan. Dr. Lodha completed his Resi-dency at the Flushing Hospital, NY. Hewas the founder and president ofQueens Medical Services, a primarycare practice with two locations serv-ing Queens, NY since 1995 and was apartner in Hillaire and Nesconset Nurs-ing homes.

In honor of the great leader of AAPI,the largest ethnic medical organizationis creating an AAPI Lodha DistinguishedService Award through "GOFUNDME"and is seeking donations to help makean impact and to educate members ofthe Medical Profession on current ac-tivities and new products in the medi-cal field. For more details, please visit:www.aapiusa.org. Donation Link:https://events.aapiusa.org/memorial-fund/

Council in 2015.An Internist by profession, Dr. Lodha

has had experiences in leading almostall areas of Medicine. He owned two

Dr Ajay Lodha

Brazil's fashion brand urgedtowithdraw Ganesh shorts

MADHU PATEL

maculate Hospital in New York. Dr.Ajay Lodha was appointed a memberof the Nassau County ComptrollerGeorge Maragos's MWBE Advisory

CHICAGO: Indian Americans acrossthe country have urged Franca (SãoPaulo, Brazil) headquartered clothingcompany Jon Cotre for immediate with-drawal of shorts carrying image ofLordGanesh dubbing it highly disgusting.

The pitching forwithdrawal is led byRajan Zed, Presidentof Universal Societyof Hinduism, sayingthat Lord Ganesh ishighly revered inHinduism meant tobe worshipped intemples or homeshrines and not toadorn one's thighs,hips, groin, but-tocks, genitals andpelvis.

Any Inappropri-ate usage of Hindu deities or conceptsor symbols or icons for commercial orother purpose, hurt the devotees, theIndian American contend.

Clothing companies should not be inthe business of religious appropriation,

sacrilege, and ridiculing entire commu-nities. It was deeply trivializing of im-mensely venerated Hindu deity LordGanesh to be displayed on shorts, RajanZed emphasized.

Hinduism is the oldest and third larg-est religion of theworld with about 1.2billion adherentsand rich philosophi-cal thoughts In Hin-duism, Lord Ganeshis worshipped asgod of wisdom andremover of obstaclesand is invoked be-fore the beginningof any major under-taking.

Each of the ob-jectionable sixGanesh shorts for

men and women, carrying images ofLord Ganesh, were priced at R$ 69,99and described as "Ideal for Beach orPool". Launched in 2011, Jon Cotredeals in men, women and children'sfashions.

Lord Ganesh Shorts


Govardhan Puja & Annakut at Grayslake TempleGEETHA PATIL

Govardhan Puja and Annakut Puja

CHICAGO: Hindu Mandir of LakeCounty, Grayslake, a Chicago suburb,performed the Govardhan Puja/Annakuta (mountain of rice decoratedwith variety of foods), in a traditionalway on Saturday, November 21, 2020with small group of devotees on siteand many more on online.

In adherence with Governmentguidelines, this year's Diwali &Annakuta Pujas were simpler but fo-cused on giving everyone the oppor-tunity for darshan of the Lord andPrasadam.

Temple priest, Pt Anil Joshi Ji per-formed Abhishekam, Annakuta offer-ing, Archana and Aarti by chanting108 names of Lard Krishna and KrishnaMaha Mantra.

Due to COVID-19 safety and sanita-tion measures, no outside food fromthe devotees was accepted but thetemple priest, Pt Joshi Ji and his wife

Kiran Joshi prepared at their home awide variety of vegetarian delicaciessuch as sweets, snacks, curd items, In-dian breads, pakoras, fruits and juicesand offered to Shri Krishna Paramatmato express gratitude on everyone'sbehalf.

He built a replica of Govardhan Hillwith rice to commemorate the inci-dent from the Bhagavat Puran whereLord Krishna lifted the Govardhan Hillto provide the people of Vrindavan vil-lage shelter from torrential rains.

Pt. Joshi delivered his discourse onthe history, significance, vidhi, andbenefits of Govardhan Puja.

He said that by performing or par-ticipating in this puja, devotees ob-tain two kinds of blessings: 1) to over-come the feelings of egoism andsocio-economic and power inequali-ties 2) to live peacefully, sacrifice, and

share love witheach other. In addi-tion, he requestedevery devotee toworship LordKrishna as the lifterof Govardhan Hill,worship the hill asHis incarnation, andworship the cowsand bulls that aredear to the Lord.

In hisAshirvachanam, heblessed all thedevotees to behappy and prosper-ous and not forgetour traditions andphilosophy andpreserve our Hinduheritage.

At the end of theevent, the Hill ofPrasadam (sancti-fied food) was dis-tributed to thedevotees as carryout packages dueto COVID situationby following propersocial distancing.

Due to COVID-19 safety

and sanitation measures, no

outside food from the devo-

tees was accepted but the

temple priest, Pt Joshi Ji and

his wife Kiran Joshi prepared

at their home a wide variety of

vegetarian delicacies such as

sweets, snacks, curd items


The program started with an insight-ful lecture on 'The ImportanceofGovardhan Puja' by Romapada SwamiMaharaj. He said that this day is com-memorated as the day when LordKrishna defeated God Indra. GovardhanPuja is chiefly identified with LordKrishna lifting the 'Govardhan Hill' on hisfinger to protect those who sought hisrefuge from Indra's pouring rage. Hisdescription of the story was accompa-nied by numerous paintings that de-picted every step of the story.

Arati, and Govardhan Puja were per-

Celebrating Govardhan Puja at ISKCON Bostonformed by the temple priests HemasarirDas, BrajendraNandan Das, VanamaliPandit Das, DinaTarini Dasi. They chantedin chorus Shri Krishna Maha Mantra andother Vedic Mantras. Chanting of the di-vine Mantras and names in groups culti-vates loving kindness, and a powerfulbridge of humanity. It empowers to con-nect our tender hearts with the Lord.Melodious Kirtan were sung by KarunaRandolph and Daksha Mata Ji and otherdevotees made the surrounding atmo-sphere very heartfelt. Later, book read-ing on the pastime activities of Krishnawas completed by one of the devoteesfor the children.

The president of the temple,Vanamali Pandit Das thankedGagandeep Saini, Padmagopika Dasi,Gopal Mamdyal, Anu Gargfor theirbeautiful decoration of the shrine andthe Govardhan Hill. He thankedParomita Banerjee (Singh) & Family,Rajesh Bajaj & Family for sponsoring theprogram. He acknowledged the ser-vices of Krishna Lila Das, Mukta VandyaDas, Jaya Sachi Dasiand the Congrega-tion Members in preparing MahaPrasadam for the priests and limitednumber of devotes. He also thankedand wished 'Happy Diwali' to all whowere online and on-site.

Cont’d from page 19

State Officials Announce Latest COVID-19 FactsSACRAMENTO: The California Depart-

ment of Public Health (CDPH) has an-nounced the most recent statistics onCOVID-19.

California has 1,102,033 confirmedcases to date. Numbers may not repre-sent true day-over-day change as re-porting of test results can be delayed.

There were 14,319 newly recordedconfirmed cases Saturday (21 Nov).Numbers do not represent true day-over-day change as these results in-clude cases from prior to yesterday.

The 7-day positivity rate is 6.0% andthe 14-day positivity rate is 5.5%.

There have been 22,237,309 testsconducted in California. This representsan increase of 265,477 over the prior24-hour reporting period.

As case numbers continue to rise inCalifornia, the total number of individu-als who will have serious outcomes willalso increase. There have been 18,676COVID-19 deaths since the start of thepandemic.

CALIFORNIA COVID-19 BY THE NUM-BERS

Testing Turnaround TimeThe testing turnaround dashboard

reports how long California patients arewaiting for COVID-19 test results. Cali-fornia has worked to reduce testingturnaround times in recent weeks tohelp curb the spread of the virus. Dur-ing the week of November 8 to Novem-ber 14, the average time patientswaited for test results was 1.3 days.During this same time period, 60 per-cent of patients received test results in1 day and 88 percent received themwithin 2 days. The testing turnaroundtime dashboard (PDF) is updated

weekly. At this time, all four tiers in theTesting Prioritization Guidance origi-nally dated July 14, 2020, will haveequal priority for testing.

Your Actions Save LivesCalifornia is experiencing the fastest

increase in cases we have seen yet -

faster than what we experienced at theoutset of the pandemic and this sum-mer. If COVID-19 continues to spread atthis rate, it could quickly overwhelm ourhealth care system and lead to cata-strophic outcomes. Protect yourself,family, friends and community by follow-

ing these pre-vention mea-sures:

Staying homeexcept for es-sential needs/ac-tivities and fol-lowing local andstate publichealth guide-lines when visit-ing businessesthat are open.

Following thelimited Stay atHome Order thatrequires all non-essential workand activities tostop between 10p.m. and 5 a.m. incounties in thepurple tier. Theorder will takeeffect at 10 p.m.Saturday, No-vember 21, andremain in effectuntil 5 a.m. De-cember 21.

Staying closeto home, avoid-ing non-essentialtravel, and prac-ticing self-quar-antine for 14

days after arrival if you leave the state.Keeping gatherings small, short and

outdoors and limiting them to thosewho live in your household.

Wearing a cloth face mask when outin public.

Washing hands with soap and waterfor a minimum of 20 seconds.

Avoiding touching eyes, nose ormouth with unwashed hands.

Covering a cough or sneeze withyour sleeve, or disposable tissue. Washyour hands afterward.

Avoiding close contact with peoplewho are sick.

Staying away from work, school orother people if you become sick withrespiratory symptoms like fever andcough.

Answer the call if a contact tracerfrom the CA COVID Team or your localhealth department tries to connect.Contact tracers will connect you to free,confidential testing and other re-sources, if needed.

Following guidance from publichealth officials.


BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandirs, LA& Milpitas, celebrate Diwali online

This year, with Param PujyaMahant Swami's guidance myfamily and I are taking part inall of the virtual programs andfestivities that the BAPS ShriSwaminarayan Mandir hasmade. My husband and I wantto maintain the traditions ofour culture but found it difficultto replicate many of those ex-periences for my son. However,with the support of these virtual

celebrations we have createdan environment of Diwali withdecorations, cooking and bak-ing. My son really enjoyed theKids Diwali virtual program,which emphasized the impor-tance of being a good personand making the right deci-sions."

Although no grand celebra-tions were held at the mandirthis year, BAPS did offer limitedviewings of the sacred images,

during the Diwali season. As apart of its ongoing COVID-19response efforts, theorganization's humanitarianarm - BAPS Charities - organizeda Food Drive and requested allwho come to the mandir tobring non-perishable fooditems to help those most af-fected by the pandemic. Thedrive is on going until the weekof Thanksgiving.

"This year, Diwali looked dif-ferent as we did not get to

come together at the Mandir.However, it was a great oppor-tunity to join my family andmake items to celebrate athome. We definitely missedcoming together; however, thesilver lining was being able tocelebrate in grand with myfamily and seeing pictures ofwhat other families did. In a way,though we were physicallyseparated, I still felt united witheveryone because we all shared

in the same experience athome. It was wonderful to seeeveryone's creativity and devo-tion," said Jignya Patel, one ofthe BAPS Mandir youth leaders.

JankiDubal, a mother of twoand devotee stated, "Celebrat-ing Diwali at the BAPS ShriSwaminarayan Mandir is oneway that I try to teach my chil-dren about our cultural heri-tage. This year we could notcome together and celebratetogether; however, BAPS ShriSwaminarayan Mandir put to-gether a wonderful interactivechildren's program that mychildren participated in virtu-ally. They got to do traditionalart such as Rangoli and learnedabout making good choices allin the comfort of our home.Though we celebrated a littledifferently this year, we werestill able to keep the most im-portant cultural traditions alivefor our kids through these pro-grams. My family and I had sucha wonderful time celebratingtogether because of how BAPSShri Swaminarayan Mandir notonly provided virtual programs,but kits with materials to cel-ebrate at home."


‘This year, Diwali looked different as we did

not get to come together at the Mandir. However,

it was a great opportunity to join my family and

make items to celebrate at home’

52 local businesses in 8th District received funding, still time to applyHARISH RAO

CHICAGO: More than 50small businesses facing eco-nomic uncertainty due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in the dis-trict State Senator RamVillivalam (D-Chicago) repre-sents received financial reliefthrough the Business Interrup-tion Grant Program, and he isurging more to apply.

"Isupported legislation tomake these extremely valu-able grants available for oursmall businesses as we headinto the winter and the pan-demic continues," saidVillivalam. An Indian origin localupcoming political star, add-ing. "Our local economy ispowered by both family and

minority-owned businesses.While outdoor dining was em-ployed over the summer tohelp generate business, that ismuch more of a challenge dur-ing the winter months."

The Illinois Department ofCommerce and Economic Op-portunity awarded the fundsthis week as part of the second

round of BIG program funding.Applications will also remainopen until all of the funding isspent.

The second round of grantsawarded between $5,000 to$150,000 to 52 businesses inthe 8th District, which receivednearly a combined $1.5 million.These funds can be used tohelp cover expenses like pay-roll costs, rent, and utilities, aswell as pandemic-related ex-penses, such as personal pro-tective equipment, increasedtraining and new technology.

"While these grants providemuch needed financial relief,there is simply no questionthat we need an all of the

above strategy that includes afederal stimulus package,"Villivalam said. "Additionally, Iwill certainly and I know otherfolks will support their localand small businesses through-out the winter. Getting takeoutor simply purchasing a giftcard can really help out a smallbusiness owner."

The BIG program is the big-gest state-funded financialsupport program created inresponse to the pandemic todate. Applications are avail-able on the DCEO'sw e b s i t e < h t t p s : / /w w w 2 . i l l i n o i s . g o v / d c e o /smal lbizass istance/pages/c19disadvantagedbu

Seeking public holiday onDiwali in New Jersey

NEELA PANDYA

NEW JERSEY: Indian Ameri-cans across New Jersey havesought public holiday in theState on Diwali, one of theirmost popular festivals starting2022.

They content that it wasnot fair with New Jersey, asmost inthe community have tobe at work on their most popu-lar festival while there werepublic holidays on other reli-gious days.

The pitchingfor the holidaydemand is ledRajan Zed,President ofUniversal Soci-ety of Hindu-ism, who sug-gested thatNew JerseyG o v e r n m e n tneeded to revisit its publicholiday policies as the New Jer-sey demographics hadchanged making it amulticultural society andHindu population keeps ongrowing. The New Jersey Gov-ernor Phil Murphy needs to se-riously examine this issue offairness.

It is important for Hindufamilies to celebrate Diwali day

together at home/temple.Public holiday on Diwali wouldensure that and it would be "astep in the positive direction".New Jersey had 12 State Holi-days in 2020; including GoodFriday, Christmas Day, etc.

Zed noted that awarenessabout other religions thus cre-ated by such holidays likeDiwali would strengthen cohe-sion and unity in the overall

New Jerseycitizenry andmake themwell-nurturedand enlight-ened citizens.

As an inter-faith gesture,Rajan urgedRoman CatholicArchbishop ofNewark Cardi-

nal Joseph William Tobin andleaders of other religions/de-nominations active in New Jer-sey to come out in the supportof Hindu brothers and sistersfor Diwali holiday.

Hinduism, oldest and thirdlargest religion of the world,has about 1.2 billion adherentsand moksh (liberation) is its ul-timate goal. There are aboutthree million Hindus in USA.


Asian American AdvocacyFund to reach new voters toelect Democrats to Senate

BABU TANGEWALA

ATLANTA: Coming close on the heels of an un-precedented level of Asian American turnout inGeorgia, the Asian American Advocacy Fund (Po-litical Action Committee is launching a new initia-tive aimed at capitalizing upon the success of theorganization's 2020 federal election outreach toensure that Asian American voters participate inthe January 5 2021 runoff election. The new cam-paign Asian Americans for Ossoff and Warnock willbe run by a "dream team" of Asian American po-litical organizers, both within Atlanta and on anational level.

"Whether you care about climate, immigra-tion, or the economy, the road to progress runsthrough Georgia," said Aisha Yaqoob Mahmood,Executive Director AAAF. "Asian voters came outin November because voters understood that ourcommunities were on the line. This is no less truein January, and we're committed to doing every-thing we can to ensure that Jon Ossoff and RafaelWarnock represent Georgia in the United StatesSenate next year."

This new campaign will utilize and reinvigoratethe infrastructure and organizing networks builtby the Asians for Abrams campaign in 2018, serv-ing as the leading in-language field operation toreach Asian American and Pacific Islander voters.These voters, while traditionally low-propensity,flexed their political muscle in November: 2020early voters alone exceeded 2016 turnout by59%. Of early voters 30,473 voted for the firsttime in their life, while 61,829 didn't vote in 2016.There are more than 240,000 voters currently onthe rolls.

"Asian American voters were a critical part ofthe coalition that delivered the state to JoeBiden," said NseUfot, Executive Director of theNew Georgia Project. "Ossoff and Warnock's suc-cess at the ballot box is dependent upon thesame diverse coalition."

Asians for Ossoff& Warnock, is a campaignfunded by the Asian American Advocacy FundPolitical Action Committee (AAAF-PAC). AAAF-PACis affiliated with the Asian American AdvocacyFund, Inc. (AAAF), a 501(c)(4) grassroots organiza-tion dedicated to building a politically-conscious,engaged, and progressive Asian American basein Georgia.

As Global Migration Plummets - How WillBorders Reopen and Economies Restart?

VIDYA SETHURAMANIndia Post News Service

The COVID-19 pandemic and the responses to ithave left an indelible mark on families, commu-nities and societies around the world. As infec-

tions, hospitalizations and deaths continue to mount,governments are trying to come to terms with themassive consequences of the health crisis on theireconomies, labor markets and, unavoidably, globalmobility and migration systems. As the health crisisof Covid-19 heads towards a new and likely finalphase, a major report by the Migration Policy Instituteillustrates the challenge to governments everywhere:how to reimagine borders and reopen economies and

societies after the devastation of the pandemic. Jour-nalists in key regions (India and Mexico) illustrated thereality on the ground at the weekly conference callpresented by EMS on November 20.

Demetrios G. Papademetriou, a DistinguishedTransatlantic Fellow and President emeritus at the Mi-gration Policy Institute, author of the report: Manag-ing the Pandemic and its Aftermath sketches the dev-astating toll of the virus across families, economies,labor markets and migration systems. He raises ques-tions and offers reflections about the next wave ofpolicies needed to address a sharply different land-

scape. In re-opening migration systems, some catego-ries of migrants, in particular "essential" workers insectors including health care, tech (in particular artifi-cial intelligence and related sciences) and agriculture,as well as those who fill identifiable and hard-to-filljob and skills gaps, will become even more important.But immigrant-receiving countries should also investin "cleaning up" certain components of their systemsby dedicating additional resources to clearing asylumclaim backlogs and turning their attention to logjamsin their temporary worker programs, addedDemetrios.

"Crises, and especially life-altering ones, presentboth challenges and opportunities. COVID-19 is no

e x c e p t i o n , "Papademetriou writes."But crises also fuel inno-vation and can create'new facts on the ground'that, managed responsi-bly and smartly, can seedpositive change and leadto new opportunities."

We all have to come together and find a solution.Krishnaraj Rao, freelance investigative journalist

from Mumbai, India spoke on the migration situationin India. COVID-19 has massively impacted this groupof migrant workers. We are not seeing mortality ashigh as expected in the start of the pandemic, saidRao. Indians are wearing masks and sanitizing to anextent, but not 100%, added Rao.

The scale of the migrant crisis has made visible anoften-overlooked population of workers. With politi-cal will, and investment at federal and state levels, thiscould be an opportunity to transform livelihoods. Mi-

grants are not just objects of charity that need sup-port. Internal migrants are key income generators thatplay a vital role in any society and should never beoverlooked again.

As the health crisis of Covid-19 heads towards a new and

likely final phase, a major report by the Migration Policy Institute

illustrates the challenge to governments everywhere: how to

reimagine borders and reopen economies and societies

after the devastation of the pandemic

Alameda County Health Care Services Agency:

Statement on State's Limited Stay-at-HomeOrder for Purple Tier Counties


ALAMEDA County, CA: The State has announced alimited Stay at Home Order generally requiring thatnon-essential work, movement, and gatherings stopbetween 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. PST in counties in thePurple Tier per the State's Blueprint for a SaferEconomy. The order will take effect at 10 p.m. Satur-day, November 21 and remain in effect until 5 a.m.,December 21, although it may be extended or re-vised as needed.

Alameda County is in the Purple Tier and residentsand businesses will be impacted by the State's Or-der.

We welcome this focused, targeted effort by theState to slow the steep rise in COVID-19 cases andhospitalizations occurring in Alameda County, theBay Area, and the State.

The State has explained that this Order does notprevent restaurants from operating after 10 p.m. fortakeout and does not prevent people from going tothe grocery store or pharmacy for essential needs,or walking their dog in their neighborhood. The Or-der also provides that it does not prevent membersof the same household from leaving their residencestogether, as long as they do not intermingle with oth-ers while out. This is not an exhaustive list, but wehope these examples will help clarify what residentsand businesses may be permitted to do under theState's Order.

It does mean that we must restrict our interactionswith people outside of our households for non-essen-tial activities or social gatherings.

Cont’d on page 26


Fremont Police Department releases results from Nation'sFirst Zero-Emission Tesla Patrol Vehicle Pilot Program

FREMONT, Calif. - The Fremont Police Department(FPD) released the results of one of the nation's firstElectric Patrol Vehicle Pilot Program that tested a TeslaModel S 85 electric vehicle (EV) customized for patroloperations from March 2019 to March 2020. Resultsfound that the pilot vehicle exceeded performanceand operational objectives, withstood the rigors ofpolice use requiring minimal maintenance, and is cost-effective when factoring in overall cost of vehicle withmaintenance and fuel savings.

The chart below lists data derived from the pilotprogram and beyond as compared to calculated an-nual averages for a standard gas Ford police pursuitvehicle (PPV).

Not only did the Tesla Model S 85 result in a lowertotal annual cost of energy/fuel, maintenance, and re-pair, it also demonstrated the effectiveness of electricvehicles in helping the City of Fremont meet its goalsto reduce 2005 levels of greenhouse gas emissions by55% by 2030 and achieve long-term carbon neutralityby 2045.

It is also expected that the Tesla's average annualmaintenance and repair costs will decrease over timeas more data is available and the sample period is ex-tended, with a roughly 50% reduction (approximately$2,910).

Additionally, initial statistics from the City ofFremont's Electric Patrol Vehicle Pilot Program haveindicated that the reduced maintenance needs ofelectric vehicles will likely result in an expectedlifespan of longer than five years (the expectedlifespan for patrol vehicles), leading to additional costsavings for the Fremont Police Department.

In terms of performance, the Tesla Model S 85 metor exceeded expectations. The 265-mile range of theTesla easily accommodated the 40-70 mile rangethat patrol vehicles drove on average per day.

"The final results from the one-year Electric PatrolVehicle Pilot Program have been encouraging as theCity of Fremont continues to look for cost-effectiveways to help make Fremont more sustainable," saidFremont Police Captain Sean Washington. "With anaverage of 27 fewer daysof downtime per year, asavings of $2,147 in thetotal annual cost of en-ergy/fuel, maintenance,and repair, and no opera-tional carbon dioxideemissions, the pilot pro-gram results haveprompted Fremont PD tomove forward with plansto expand its fleet ofelectric patrol vehicle al-ternatives."

To date, the Fremont Police Department has ac-quired two out of the three additional electric/hy-brid patrol vehicles it has budgeted for the last twofiscal years: the 2020 Tesla Model Y (purchased for$57,126.83) and the 2021 Ford Hybrid Explorer (pur-

chased for $48,223). These vehicles were purchasedto help mitigate the increased amount of time thatFPD gas-powered vehicles were out of service, re-sulting in a consistent and severe shortage of usablepatrol vehicles. The third vehicle has not been pur-chased yet, but the Department is committed tostaying energy efficient and will be considering avariety of car manufacturers and vehicle options priorto moving forward with this investment.

The newly purchased Tesla Model Y has many ad-vantages over the Tesla Model S 85, including a lowerstarting price, an increased range of over 300 miles,more rear cargo and storage space for police equip-

ment, and higher ground clearance to allow the ve-hicle to traverse a wide variety of terrain.

The total cost of ownership (TCO) over a five-yearperiod was calculated for the Tesla Model S 85 at$132,758 and the Ford Utility Interceptor at

$115,740 factoring in upfront costs such as purchaseprice and modifications, miles driven, fuel/energycosts, and maintenance costs. Furthermore, FPD ex-pects the lifespan of the Tesla Model S 85 to belonger than 5 years, further decreasing the TCO.

Comprehensive TCO calculations derived from the388 City vehicles studied in the City of Fremont Mu-nicipal Fleet Electrification Study from May 2020 in-dicated EV replacement results in $3,156,000 of sav-ings to the City over the next 20 years, with$2,457,000 of these savings directly related to Po-lice vehicle replacement.

Additionally, the current City fleet's greenhousegas emissions impact is approximately 2,000 metrictons of carbon dioxide annually, more than half ofwhich comes from Police vehicles alone. If the Citywere to electrify according to the above parameters,it could reduce its greenhouse gas impact from fleetvehicles by 53% by 2030.

In order to improve efficiency and sustainability,the City first began experimenting with electric ve-hicles in 2009 with the purchase of two Ford Escapehybrid vehicles and five 2009 Toyota Prius vehicles.

The full-length report includes a pilot projecttimeline, maintenance and fuel economy outcomesand methodology, deployment benefits and chal-lenges, recommendations, and future plans. To down-load the report and find additional information aboutthe Tesla pilot project, visit www.fremontpolice.gov/ElectricVehicle. Photos of the Tesla Model S are avail-able upon request, as well as vintage photos of Fre-mont patrol cars dating back to 1958.

"The final results from the one-year Electric Patrol Vehicle

Pilot Program have been encouraging as the City of Fremont

continues to look for cost-effective ways to help make Fremont

more sustainable," said Fremont Police Captain Sean

Washington. "With an average of 27 fewer days of downtime per

year, a savings of $2,147 in the total annual cost of

energy/fuel, maintenance, and repair


Santa Clara County continues to see alarming risein COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations

Fairgrounds facility gets additional expansion due to high demand; COVID-19 Testing Facilities on Holiday Schedule Next WeekFairgrounds and City-based sites include Free Flu Test


SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA: Santa Clara County con-tinues to see an alarming increase in COVID-19 casesand hospitalizations. The seven-day average of newcases is the highest it has been since the beginning ofthe pandemic and continues to rise. Another deeplyconcerning indicator is the steep rise in hospitaliza-tions throughout the county. The number of hospital-ized COVID-19 patients increased by 50 percent in oneweek, from 110 on November 12th to 166 on Novem-ber 19th, 2020. If COVID-19 hospitalizations continueto increase at this rate, then hospitals in our countycould exceed capacity in three weeks.

Due to increasing demand, the mass COVID-19testing facility at the Santa Clara County Fairgroundswill be expanded to accommodate 3,000 appoint-ments a day starting next week and 5,000 by mid-De-cember -- twice the current capacity.

Appointments are essential for reserving a testingslot - while a limited number of tests have been ad-ministered in the past on a walk-in basis, the continu-ing rise in popularity means those who arrive withoutan appointment may not be accommodated.

Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, COVID-19 Testing Officer forthe County of Santa Clara, said that testing should notbe considered a means to clear people for unsafe ac-tivities, such as holiday group gatherings or travel.

"A negative result does not mean someone has a passto put themselves and others at risk," Fenstersheib said."People who test negative can still be carriers of the vi-rus but be in an early stage of infection. It's critically im-portant that you not travel during this time of height-ened COVID-19 risk." The County also urges residents torefrain from gathering with anyone outside their house-hold.

The State of California permits limited outdoor gath-erings with a maximum of three households, masks, andphysical distancing. If you choose to gather, please do sooutside and maintain social distance, concluding anysuch gatherings before 10pm under the new limitedstay at home order that goes into effect.

Holiday Schedule: Free COVID-19 testing facilitieswill be on a holiday schedule next week. All County-run testing sites will be closed for the ThanksgivingDay; Appointments will be available Friday, Saturdayand Sunday after Thanksgiving at the Santa ClaraCounty Fairgrounds.

While pop-up sites in San Jose and Gilroy will notbe in operation on Thanksgiving and Friday, both haveadditional Monday hours.

Flu testing is being conducted simultaneously withCOVID-19 testing at city-based sites and the SantaClara County Fairgrounds. Next week, appointment-only COVID-19 testing will be conducted at sites inSunnyvale, Morgan Hill, and Santa Clara. Appointmentscan be made starting seven days in advance of thetesting date until all slots are reserved atwww.sccfreetest.org. Appointment-based testing isalso available in San José at the Fairgrounds, with ap-

pointments now available five days in advance. Test-ing is free at all these sites.

APPOINTMENT-BASED TESTING SITESInfluenza test is included. Make an appointment by

visiting www.sccfreetest.org and clicking on "Sched-ule an Appointment Today"

Text message results are available at appointment-based County of Santa Clara testing facilities.

SAN JOSÉSanta Clara County Fairgrounds Parking Lot A

(across from the blue arch) - Drive-through, bike, andwalk-up appointments

Across the street from the Fairgrounds main en-trance, 344 Tully Road, San José, CA 95111

Appointments Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, Nov.24, 25 and 27, 11:30 a.m. to 6:15 p.m.; Saturday andSunday, Nov. 28 and 29, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

SUNNYVALEMurphy Park, 260 N. Sunnyvale Ave., Sunnyvale,

94086By appointment only for Monday, Nov. 23, 9:30 a.m.

to 4 p.m.

MORGAN HILLMorgan Hill Council Chamber Building, 17555 Peak

Ave., Morgan Hill, 95037By appointment only for Tuesday, Nov. 24, 9:30 a.m.

to 4 p.m.

SANTA CLARASanta Clara Central Park Library, 2635 Homestead

Road, Santa Clara, 95051By appointment only for Wednesday, Nov. 25, 9:30

a.m. to 3 p.m.

POP-UP TESTING SITESNo appointments needed and only for people with-

out symptoms. Influenza test is NOT included.SAN JOSÉ

Emmanuel Baptist Church, 467 N. White Road, SanJose, 95127

Monday to Wednesday, Nov. 23 - Nov. 25, 11 a.m. to5:30 p.m.

Public Health Story Road Hub, 1775 Story Road, SanJose, 95122

Wednesday, Nov. 25, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

GILROYSouth County Annex (formerly Del Buono Elemen-

tary) - 9300 Wren Avenue, Gilroy, 95020Monday to Wednesday, Nov. 23 - Nov. 25, 11 a.m. to

5:30 p.m.The County test sites provide COVID-19 tests free

of charge, regardless of immigration status, and nodoctor's note is needed. At some County test sites,people with insurance may be asked to provide theirinsurance information, so that payment from the in-surance company can be collected. However, patientswon't be billed for any co-pay, deductible, or any othercost for testing. Those without health insurance orthose who do not provide insurance information canstill get a test at those sites.

For people without COVID-19 symptoms, the Countycurrently offers indoor and drive-through sites. Peoplewith symptoms are directed to drive-through sites toreduce the chance of getting others sick.

The County of Santa Clara continues to remind those withhealthcare coverage that systems such as KaiserPermanente, Sutter/Palo Alto Medical Foundation and oth-ers are required by County order to offer free testing tosymptomatic persons, persons who have been exposed toa confirmed COVID-19 case, and all "essential workers." Ex-amples of "essential workers" include teachers, healthcareworkers, grocery store clerks, and persons who work in ag-riculture or food manufacturing. For more information ontesting rights, see our Frequently Asked Questions page.The County also collects and publishes data on testing bylarge healthcare systems: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/covid19/Pages/dashboard-testing.aspx#hstesting.

County test sites and additional sites operated byother organizations are mapped on the County'swebsite at www.sccfreetest.org. The site is availablein English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Tagalog.Information is also available by calling 2-1-1.

We ask our residents to continue to protect them-selves, their loved ones, and their communities fromCOVID-19 by limiting gathering with anyone you don'tlive with, wearing a face covering whenever youleave home, maintaining at least 6 feet of distancefrom anyone you don't live with, wash your handsfrequently, and follow the Bay Area's Holiday Gath-ering and Travel Guidance (Spanish and Chinese)

Statement on State's Limited Stay-at-HomeOrder for Purple Tier Counties

Please find the State's press release here:https://www.gov.ca.gov/2020/11/19/state-issues-l imited-stayat-home-order-to-slow-spread-of-covid-19/

As a reminder, we are in the midst of flu seasonand this year it is more critical than ever for every-one 6 months of age and older to get a flu shot. Wemust avoid a "twindemic" and surges that compro-mise our hospital and health care system alongwith flu symptoms that mimic COVID-19.



www.indiapost.com

Horoscope

Kindly read the predictions from your ascendant sign. If you do not know your ascendant sign then read thesame from Moon sign. If Moon sign is also not known then read it from the Zodiac sign. The ascendant sign which is

calculated from the birth details viz. date, month, year, time & place of birth gives 85 % accurate predictions. Theaccuracy of predictions from Moon sign get limited to only 50 %. The predictions from Zodiac sign are only 25 %

accurate. In nutshell the predictions from ascendant sign are most accurate. In getting personality analysis the traitsgiven by ascendant sign are 100 % accurate and that is the essence of Vedic Astrology.

Your Weekly Futureby VANEET SHARMA

MAR 21 to APRIL 20 JUN 21 to JULY 22 SEP 23 to OCT 22 DEC 22 to JAN 19

MAY 21 to JUN 20 AUG 23 to SEP 22 NOV 23 to DEC 21 FEB 20 to MAR 20

APRIL 21 to MAY 20 JULY 23 to AUG 22 OCT 23 to NOV 22 JAN 20 to FEB 19

NOV 27TH to DEC 3RD 2020

“Felicitated and

honored by then

President of India Shri

Pranab Mukherjee"

VANEETSHARMA

510-648-4899

The first half of theweek is excel-

lent for your social ac-tivities and your coop-erative attitude and

charitable activities shall win recognitionfor you but in the latter half of the weekyou might remain worried about yourchildren. Some other tension might af-fect your health badly. In nutshell this isgoing to go an average week for yourhappiness however it shall be auspiciousto go out on a journey with your familyto feel better

This also shall beone of the best week

and the initial two daysare indicating some hid-den gains from family

sources. The next two days till the midof the week you making a special markin society thereby making your presencefelt. Your state of mind shall remainslightly disturbed in the last two days ofthe week however the time period isn'tbad to execute some planning in action.Administrative support shall come sud-denly.

This week shall be good in the

first half of it. You shallbe able to developgood relations with

everyone around and your adversariesshall also get compelled to support you.Your social life shall be perfect and yourpartner would be pleased to work withyou. This time would be good for devel-oping new associations. This is the timeperiod to get benefited from potentialpartner.

Although you shallbe able to

earn excellent gainsbut there might re-main lot of mental ten-

sions on domestic front. There is prob-ability of having difference of opinionwith mother. You might have to remainworried about the health of mother. Youare advised to be careful especiallywhile driving. There can be few familyfeuds however you shall try to solveyour troubles by the mid of the week.

You shall start withvery low en-

ergy level in this weekhowever improve-ment can be expected

in terms of restoration of confidence on26th and 27th of November. This time shallbe good for your marital bliss as well. Thelast half of the week will be good for yourfamily life. You can win the support of yourseniors and the other best feature of thisweek shall be your excellent performancein any type of competition.

The first day of theweek is not

good for health, stateof mind and decisionmaking. Avoid any im-

portant decision regarding financialmatter essentially. The remaining part ofthe week is better for all areas as com-pared to previous week. By 29th you shallsee some betterment in work too. Thebold decisions made by you in this weekwon't go in vain. Practically you shall findthings easier in this week. The end of theweek indicates increase in gains too.

In spite of averagehealth condi-

tions you shall be ableto do your work per-fectly and you can see

more gains coming to you in the begin-ning of the week. You need to maintainyour patience and confidence so that thedomestic atmosphere doesn't get af-fected. On 28th and 29th you need tocontrol your anger, unnecessary travelingand expenses. Avoid the idea of going ona journey. On the last day of the week yourstate of mind shall be absolutely alright.

You shall attain theblessings of

some spiritual personin the beginning ofthe week or else you

shall get an opportunity to meditate in ashrine. In the mid of the week you shallmultiply the efforts to fight with the oddsituations and eventually the improvedwork conditions shall bring in gains in spiteof intervention of obstacles. The last dayof the week is excellent for going on a jour-ney to a famous place of pilgrimage.

This week shall befulfilling in all

respects as good re-sults can be expectedin all areas viz. health,

reputation, money, family life, social rela-tions, progress in work, attachment withparents and domestic happiness. The onlynegative thing in this month can be someobstacles in matters related to journey toa religious place. The day of 26th and 27thNovember shall be especially beneficial forfamily life. The next two days should begood for multiplying your efforts.

Planetary transitmarks better-

ment in work area inthe beginning of theweek and therefore

you shall be earning enough gains in themid of this week whereas the day of 28thand 29th is giving strong indications ofvisiting some beautiful place of choicealong with your lover/beloved. You areadvised to keep your patience, resis-tance and energy intact. The last twodays of the week are excellent for con-jugal bliss.

The beginning ofthe week indi-

cates some gains. On26th and 27th therecan be some injury,

mental tension, disappointment, finan-cial loss or some kind of infamy or sud-den eruption of an argument or fightwith spouse. The latter part of the weekwill balance some of the damages andtherefore there shall be peace of mindduring last days. The support of familyshall be available during your difficulttime.

The first half of theweek is not

good for health, happi-ness, decision makingand social life. You

might have to suffer suddenly from someweather borne health trouble whichwould be cured in the second half of theweek. Your domestic happiness shall re-main intact and the support of family canbe expected. In the latter half of the weeksome religious ceremony might get or-ganized at your home. The last day of theweek shall be the best day of the week

Realty Tidbits Real Estatewww.indiapost.comIndia Post November 27, 202028

Tiny house village planned neardowntown St. Louis

ST. LOUIS: St. Louis is the lat-est city with plans for a village oftiny homes to provide shelter forthe homeless, and the funding iscoming from a federal programfor COVID-19 relief.

Mayor Lyda Krewson re-cently announced plans for 50tiny homes on property neardowntown that was previouslythe site of an RV park. Krewsonplans to use $600,000 of thecity's $32 million in federalCARES Act money to build thehomes and lease the land. TheBoard of Estimate and Appor-tionment must grant final ap-proval.

``This forward-thinking, in-novative, and efficient ap-proach to housing has beendone in some other cities, butnever in St. Louis,`` Krewsonsaid in a news release. She saidthe tiny house community ``ex-pands our current capacity tohelp more people and buildson our longstanding commit-ment to connecting those inneed to more stable housing

environments.''Each house will have a bed,

desk, chair, heating and air con-ditioning. Showers and secu-rity will be provided at the vil-lage. The city also plans to con-tract with a social services pro-vider to implement on-sitecase management and super-

vision.Plans call for 40 single

homes, eight double homesand two compliant with theAmericans with Disabilities Act.The homes are expected to goup quickly _ the city antici-pates the first residents willmove in by Dec. 1.

A second tiny house com-munity is planned in north St.Louis, also with about 50homes. That village, announcedlast month, will focus on housesfor homeless veterans and isfunded in part by the VeteransCommunity Project based inKansas City, Missouri. AP

Homes sales soaron North Carolina'sOuter Banks

NAGS HEAD, N.C.: Homesales on North Carolina's Outer

Banks are booming in the wake

of the coronavirus pandemic

and low interest rates.

The Virginian-Pilot reported

Wednesday that homes and lot

sales from Corolla to Ocracoke

reached $1.18 billion through

October.

That's the most since the all-

time record of $1.5 billion set

in 2005, according to Dan

Sutherland, director of mul-

tiple listing services for the

Outer Banks Association of Re-

altors.

Sutherland said that nearly

1,000 properties valued at

$435 million are under con-

tract and expected to close by

year's end. He also said that

sales will likely pass $1.6 billion

and set a new record.

Officials had closed access

to the Outer Banks in March

when the virus spread. It re-

opened in May, and thousands

of tourists flocked to the open

spaces of the Outer Banks.

More people are also work-

ing from home, and they real-

ized they did not need to live

in high-tax, high-traffic cities,

said Willo Kelly, chief executive

officer of the association.

She added that a slow

economy during the pandemic

has helped to keep interest

rates below 3%. That alsoboosts home sales. AP

Housing sales reviving, FY21 sales seen 40-50% down

HC junks realtor's plea againstGautam Budh Nagar's RERA order

ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad High Court has up-held an UP RERA order to a real estate developer tohand over the possession of its flats to thoseallottees within 60 days besides paying interest ontheir investments for the delay in completion of theproject. A bench of justices S P Kesarwani and Y KSrivastava gave the order on Monday, dismissingthe plea of realtor Paramount Prop Build Pvt Ltd,challenging the Uttar Pradesh Real Estate Regula-tory Authority's bench at Gautam Budh Nagar. PTI

NEW DELHI: Although de-mand for residential proper-ties have recovered in thepast couple of months topre-pandemic levels, theoverall primary sales is likelyto fall 40-50 per cent in thetop 10 cities during the cur-rent financial year, accordingto a Crisil report.

The report noted that,while the overall rebound inreal estate demand in Octo-ber was faster than envisaged

earlier, its sustenance post thefestive season will be a"monitorable".

"On full-year basis, we esti-mate overall primary sales towitness a decline of 40-50 percent in top 10 cities. With 'readyto move' inventory constituting10-20 per cent of the total in-ventory in key cities and upcom-ing supply this fiscal at similarlevels, capital values are likely toremain under pressure at leastfor the rest of this fiscal," it said.

60 per cent in top 10 cities, in-dicating a shift towards key de-velopers. This trend was visiblebefore the pandemic struckand is estimated to continueover the second half, it said.

"New home sales have seena surprise surge in the lastcouple of months, making thepandemic-led disruption looklike a mere blip. Indeed, unitssold in Mumbai and the rest ofMaharashtra are 1.1-1.3 timeshigher compared with January

this year," it said.The spurt rides on support-

ive measures from govern-ments of key states.Maharashtra has reducedstamp duty from 5 per cent to2 per cent up to December2020 and to 3 per cent forJanuary-March 2021.

Karnataka, too, has reducedstamp duty from 5 per cent to3 per cent for propertiespriced between Rs 21 lakhand Rs 35 lakh. IANS

The decline in the first half ofthe current fiscal for the top 7listed developers has been inthe range of 10-20 per centcompared with a decline of 50-

29India PostNovember 27, 2020

www.indiapost.com

Real Estate Post

4 traditional housedesigns to inspire you

RESIDENT BLOGGER

India's city landscape is leapfrogging each year,further and further away from the beautiful designs of the past. Most of these traditional housedesigns still flourish in villages or, more rarely, in

the secluded, untouched suburbs of the cities. Ifyou're in the market for a house or flat you may findyourself wondering where those beautiful houseshave disappeared and if there's any chance you canget your hands on one or convince your architect toadd a little touch of vintage India to your home. It cer-tainly is still an option but curious to know what werethese designs and where did they come from?

TAMIL NADUSouth India's traditional architecture is sometimes

considered synonymous with the state of Tamil Nadu'sAgrahara-style neighborhoods. A classical Tamil houseexemplifies the state's primarily Hindu roots withthese Agrahara, or Agraharam, Brahmin houses, con-sidered a staple example of their architecture. Thename itself derives from the manner in which thesehouses are laid out in a village, which was like a gar-land. It comprises of houses laid along a street leading

to the village's primary temple either devoted to asingle deity or one at either end devoted to differentdeities.

Each house had a wide verandah out front or onethat ran around the house called a thinnai where youcould relax or socialize away from the heat of the day.Large, ornate wooden pillars supported the terracottaroof of the thinnai. Interestingly enough, while theterracotta is now considered typical, it was a luxurywhen it first began and only the rich received specialpermission from royalty to use it. Other families usedthe more modest thatch roof. The most extravagantpiece in any of these houses, which is a feature thatsurvives to this day, is the front door, which is alwaysintricately carved. Another feature of these traditionalhouse plans includes the red oxide coated floors,which are known to retain coolness even in thewarmer seasons.

These Indian houses proved to be a passive form ofarchitecture with little damage to the environmentwhile maintaining a cool climate within the house ir-respective of the outside environs. The thatch or tileroof kept the heat at bay, and the sunbaked brick ormud walls had antiseptic properties keeping insectsaway. Bamboo was woven into mats to sit on or to useas walls.

The culture surrounding these beautiful houses wascommunal as most of the village was involved in theconstruction. Trees outside the owner's property couldnot be felled without the village elders' permission; car-penters were involved in this and the creation of theornate pillars and doors. The local blacksmiths werecalled in for the hinges and other implements while thepotters created the terracotta tiles. This work resultedin a beautifully collaborated piece of architecture thatsurvives and inspires people to this day.

ASSAMIf Tamilian architecture focused on the heat, the

Assamese had concerns regarding the seismic activ-ity. The main thing to keep in mind here is - light-weight. These quaint little houses were, at the most, onestory high and constructed from material like bambooand timber with metal sheets or thatch used for the roof-ing. In fact, the name for these Assam-type houses, Ikra,derives from the reeds used in the walls. This methodhas been in practice for over two centuries now, withmodern implements added along the way to create thecharming houses the state is known for.

The most popular architectural form is the Changhouse, which is probably what you imagine when youthink of the Northeast. These traditional house designsfeature bamboo walls raised by stilts and typicallyfound in hilly regions; this construction was inspiredby the frequent flooding and landslides. In general,homes are one story high due to the threat of earth-quakes.

These houses are also an extremely social creationwith open spaces at both ends for people to beseated. Most of these Indian house plans feature gar-dens in the front where some families cultivate someof their own crops. The kitchen usually lies at the heartof the house in this joint family culture.

PUNJABTraditional Punjabi homes are all the rage in

Bollywood movies. These homes revolve around anagricultural, joint family culture set within a rustic yetelegant house.

The main identifier of a Punjabi traditional houseplan is the courtyard with small flower beds or a smallorchard in the center of it, here you have your celebra-tions and pujas, and some of these Indian house de-signs have doors leading into their neighbor's' yards.

These houses are composed entirely of bakedbricks with timber doors, ideal for the swelteringheat. A cattle pen is usually set within the courtyard -the one feature that hasn't carried forward to the ur-ban version. ( With inputs from Sneha SharonMammen). www.housing.com


Health Line


One can be said to be perfectly healthy in body and mind only if no part of the body or mind makes itself felt. A partmakes itself felt only when there is something wrong with it. You know that you have a head only when it aches.

Sri Atmananda (1883 - 1959)

China will have to play by rules;US to rejoin WHO: Biden

WASHINGTON: US President-elect Joe Biden has said that hewants to make sure that Chinaplays by the rules and an-nounced that his administra-tion will rejoin the WorldHealth Organisation.

Biden was responding to aquestion on Thursday about hisremarks during the presiden-tial debates that he wanted topunish China over the wayBeijing has been behaving. Hewas asked if that could includeeconomic sanctions or tariffson China, the world's secondlargest economy.

In April, President DonaldTrump announced that the USwould withdraw from the WHO,accusing the UN organisationfor failing to oversee the onsetof the coronavirus as it beganto spread in China.

It's not so much about pun-ishing China, it's about makingsure China understandsthey've got to play by the rules.

It's a simple proposition, Bidensaid during a meeting with abipartisan group of governors

in his hometown inWilmington, Delaware.

He said that is one of the rea-sons why his administration isgoing to rejoin the WorldHealth Organisation.

We're going to rejoin on dayone as well and it needs re-

form, acknowledge, and rejointhe Paris Climate Accord. Andwe have to make sure that the

rest of the world and we gettogether and make sure thereare certain right lines the Chi-nese understand, Biden, aDemocrat, said.

President Trump's four yearsin power were the worst phasein China-US relations as the rul-

ing Communist Party of Chinaheaded by President Xi Jinpingstruggled to deal with whatChinese officials say is the mostelusive and unpredictableAmerican leader ever sinceformer US president RichardNixon in 1972 established tieswith the Communist nation.

During his tenure, Trump, aRepublican, pushed aggres-sively on all aspects of US-China ties, including with hisrelentless trade war, challeng-ing China's military hold on thedisputed South China Sea, itsconstant threats to Taiwan andbranding coronavirus as "Chinavirus" after it emerged fromWuhan in December last year.

Chinese strategic experts saidBiden entering the White House isexpected to provide an opportu-nity for breakthroughs in resum-ing high-level communication andrebuilding mutual strategic trustbetween the two major countries.

A day earlier, Senator JimRisch, chairman of the SenateForeign Relations Committee,published a majority reportentitled The United States andEurope: A Concrete Agenda forTransatlantic Cooperation onChina, to advance greater col-laboration between the USand Europe on the challengesposed by China.

We must be prepared towork with our trusted alliesand partners to counter an in-creasingly confrontationalChina that attempts to under-mine prosperity, security andgood governance in every re-gion of the globe, Risch said.

According to the report, theUS and Europe increasinglyagree that China poses signifi-cant political, economic, andeven security challenges. PTI

Joe Biden

WHO warns against Remdesivir for Covid-19 treatmentGENEVA: The World Health

Organization ( WHO) on Fri-day (20 Nov.) warned that theantiviral drug remdesivirshould not be used to treatCovid-19 patients no matterhow ill they are as there is noevidence it works.

"The panel found a lack ofevidence that remdesivir im-proved outcomes that matterto patients such as reducedmortality, need for mechani-cal ventilation, time to clinicalimprovement, and others,"Xinhua news agency quotedthe WHO's Guideline Develop-

ment Group (GDG) panel assaying in a statement.

"Any beneficial effects of

remdesivir, if they do exist, arelikely to be small and the pos-sibility of important harm re-

mains," the panel added.The WHO recommendation,

published in the British Medi-

cal Journal, was based on anevidence review that includeddata from four international

randomized trials amongmore than 7,000 hospitalizedpatients. After reviewing theevidence, the panel con-cluded that remdesivir hasno meaningful effect ondeath rates or other impor-tant outcomes for patients.

"Especially given the costsand resource implications as-sociated with remdesivir...The panel felt the responsi-bility should be on demon-strating evidence of efficacy,which is not established bythe currently available data,"it said. IANS

Italy plans tovaccinate 1.7mnpeople by Jan end

ROME: Some 1.7 million Ital-ians will get vaccinated againstthe novel coronavirus by theend of January 2021, thecountry's Extraordinary Com-

missioner for the Covid-19

Emergency Domenico Arcuri

announced here.

Addressing reporters re-

cently, Arcuri said that under

the government's national

Covid-19 vaccination plan, pri-

ority will be given to

healthcare workers and the

elderly, reports Xinhua news

agency.

"The first vaccine available

will be that provided by Pfizer,

and Italy will get the first

tranche of 3.4 million doses on

the basis of the procurement

carried out at the European

Union (EU) level," the top offi-

cial said.

He said the vaccines are ex-

pected to arrive in the country

in the second half of January,

and the plan is for the health

services to be ready by that

time to immediately start the

vaccination campaign.

"Since this vaccine has spe-

cific characteristics, the 3.4

million doses will allow us to

vaccinate 1.7 million people by

the end of January, with each

person getting two doses atan interval of about threeweeks," he explained. IANS

India PostWellness Post 31November 27, 2020

www.indiapost.com

Over 50,000 Ayushman Bharat Health andWellness Centers operational across country

California struggleswith how to enforcecoronavirus orders

SAN DIEGO: Health inspectorsfanned out to 29 businesses acrossSan Diego County, threateningcriminal prosecution and $1,000fines for ignoring orders to avoidindoor activity during thecoronavirus pandemic. Not just that,the businesses' names appeared onthe county's website _ unwelcomepublicity as officials push compa-nies to comply with tightening re-strictions.

The actions marked another turnin a months-long tug-of-war amongofficials in California over whetherto emphasize enforcement or per-suasion as infection rates soar andthe holidays arrive along withcolder weather and the flu season.

Instructors at The Yoga Box werestartled when health inspectors ar-rived simultaneously at four studiosto deliver scolding letters from Dr.Wilma Wooten, San Diego County'spublic health officer. AP

NEW DELHI: More than 50,000Ayushman Bharat-Health and WellnessCenters (AB-HWCs), which aim at pro-viding primary health care services tocommunities closer to their homes, arenow operational across the country and

have witnessed over 28.10 crore foot-falls, the Health ministry has said.

The ministry said 1.5 lakh AB-HWCsare to be established by December2022. With more than 50,000 centershaving been established, one-third of

the target has been met. This has led toimproved access to affordable primaryhealthcare services, it said in a state-ment.

This has been possible due to thejoint efforts of the Center and the

States/UTs in planning, monitoring at alllevels, standardization of processes, theflexibility for adaptation provided tothe States/UTs, and building on thehealth systems created thus far," Healthminister Harsh Vardhan said.

He thanked frontline health workers,medical officers, community health of-ficers and ASHAs for their dedication tothe cause of providing comprehensiveprimary health care services and forsupporting millions of people with nec-essary services in these difficult times.

They are the backbone of thehealthcare delivery system. Their contri-bution during the COVID period hasbeen exemplary, Vardhan said.

The Health and Wellness Centers havehelped in interventions such as risk com-munication, contact tracing, communitysurveillance and early identification ofcases, and seamless provisioning of non-COVID essential health services for en-suring protection of vulnerable groups,such as newborn, elderly and those withcomorbidities, it said.

The 50,025 operational AB-HWCs arenow spread across 678 districts, and in-clude 27,890 Sub Health Centers,18,536 Primary Health Centers and3,599 Urban Primary Health Centers,the ministry said. PTI


www.indiapost.com

Punjab Post

Punjab fully prepared to tackle secondwave of Covid if it hits: Dr. Talwar

DIG inspectsPhagwara railwaystation/tracksJASWANT SINGH GANDAM / RAMAN NEHRAIndia Post News Service

PHAGWARA: Deputy Inspector General (DIG) ofPolice, Jalandhar Range, R. S. Khatra, accompaniedby recently appointed Kapurthala SSPKanwardeep Kaur, held a meeting with railway au-thorities and inspected Phagwara railway station/tracks to review security arrangements to ensuresmooth running of trains, which are likely to re-sume any time now, after having remained off-tracks for two months due to rail-roko agitation offarmers against Central government's agri-laws.

Phagwara railway Station SuperintendentGyan Chand was also present in the meeting.

Talking to newsmen after the inspection, Khatrasaid since there was positive development afterinteraction between Punjab government, farmers,Central government and Railway ministry, thetrains were likely to be on tracks soon.

"Local police, GRP and railway authorities willhave proper communication for ensuring hurdle-free plying of trains without any fear of sabotageor obstruction", said the DIG.He said the trackshere were clear and the trial run by railway au-thorities was already done.

Railway sources said that goods trains arelikely to be resumed first.

When told about farmers' ongoing dharna out-side Sugar Mill near railway track here, Khatrasaid it was a local issue and was not connected atall with the rail-roko agitation.

"Local civil and police administration, will bein touch with sugarcane growers for resolvingtheir issue of pending payment", added DIG.

Later, recently appointed Kapurthala SSP,Kanwardeep Kaur visited city police station onher maiden visit to Phagwara.She had joined hernew office only a day before.

Jalandhar Range DIG of Police R. S. Khatra talking to media

after inspecting Phagwara railway station and tracks.

Kapurthala's recently appointed SSP Kanwardeep Kaur and

Phagwara Station Superintendent Gyan Chand are also seen

JASWANT SINGH GANDAM / RAMAN NEHRAIndia Post News Service

PHAGWARA: Advisor Health, Medical Education andResearch Dr. K. K. Talwar has said that Punjab is fullyprepared to beat the second wave of novelcoronavirus if it hits state in the coming days, an offi-cial release said.

Presiding over a meeting with district officials, doc-tors from Shaheed Babu Labh Singh Civil Hospital and51 private hospitals which are offering Covid treat-ment, Advisor Dr. Talwar said Punjab has acquired a lotof knowledge from the first wave of the deadly virusduring eight-months of this year.

He added if the second wave surfaces, we will bein a better position to deal with the virus as we havenow strengthened health infrastructure, manpower,improved ICU care facilities, and availability of ventila-tors, oxygen, and other necessary resources.

Dr. Talwar said the Punjab Government is commit-ted to saving every precious life from novelcoronavirus and this time, special emphasis is beinglaid to ensure dedicated ICU facilities for level-III pa-tients by sharing best medical practices, learnt fromfirst wave in Punjab, among doctors of governmentand private hospitals.

He asked the doctors of private hospitals to ensure

quality treatment to the level-II patients in their pre-mises during the golden period (one-week) so thatthey do not get converted into level-III and can becured at an earlier stage.

The Advisor also told them to ensure every patientgets treated properly and asked them to contact himor, the administration without hesitation, in case theyneed any kind of support.

He further appealed to the private hospitals to ini-tiate mask distribution drive among the people andeducate them about the importance of wearing masksat present; Mask is the only available vaccine to tacklethe novel coronavirus.

Giving reference to countries like Japan, Hong Kongthat witnessed fewer cases as people have adoptedfacemask culture, Dr. Talwar asked the people followthe SMS (Social distancing, Mask and Sanitization) prin-ciple in their routine life to contain Covid in Punjab.

He further said the people must undergo an RTPCRtest immediately in case they develop influenza-likesymptoms so that early treatment can be started andmortality can be brought down.

Managing Director Punjab Health Systems Corpo-ration Tanu Kashyap said that the health departmentis already carrying out the massive recruitment driveof MBBS doctors, specialists, nursing staff, lab techni-

cians, and others which will prove instrumental indealing with the pandemic in the state.

She said that the health infrastructure in the localCivil Hospital is already improved and soon, the workof the oxygen generation plant would start there.


Former minister Mann questions Badal'ssilence on EVM statement

JASWANT SINGH GANDAM / RAMAN NEHRAIndia Post News Service

PHAGWARA: Questioning the silence of Akali DalPresident Sukhbir Singh Badal over the recent state-ment of Acting Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib GianiHarpreet Singh, the former Punjab Minister and Chair-man of Punjab Agro Industries Corpo-ration, Joginder Singh Mann said thatBadals were mum for pleasing theirformer political ally.

In a statement issued here, Mannsaid that Jathedar Sri Akal Takht Sahibwas completely correct that BJP ledby Narendra Modi had formed thegovernment at center by hackingthe Elec tronic Voting Machines(EVMs).

He said that Akal is who werepart and parcel of the sins of NDAwere tightlipped on the issue andneither Sukhbir nor his wife hadmade any comment on the issue.

Mann said that Giani HarpreetSingh was the religious leader ofthe Sikhs and the statement made by him, thoughfactual ly correct , should have come from themouth of the President of Akali Dal, which claimsit to be a political outfit of the panth.

He said Giani Harpreet Singh was highly re-

vered leader of the Sikh community and he shouldguide the community in various religious issuesbeing faced by the community. Adding, the mys-terious silence of the Akali leadership over theissue reflects some clandestine understandingbetween the Akalis and BJP on the issue.

He also said that probably theAkalis and BJP were playing a friendlymatch over the farmers issue and thepossibility of their reunion aftersome time could not be ruled out.

Daring the Akali leadership tocome clean on the issue, he askedSukhbir Singh Badal to make thestand of Akal i Dal c lear on thestatement made by the Jathedar ofSri Akal Takht Sahib.

It may be mentioned here thatthe Jathedar had alleged on 17 No-vember that Central governmentwas an EVM government and that2019 Lok Sabha polls were rigged. Hesaid this during his address on the oc-casion of celebrations of completion

of 100 year of SGPC formation.His statement has stirred up a hornet's nest and BJP

leaders, especially Sukhwinderpal Singh Grewal, tookhim to task for making a baseless political statementthough his post was religious.

Joginder Singh Mann

November 27, 2020www.indiapost.com33 India Post

1 Taaron Ke Shehar: Taaron Ke Shehar

2 Naach Meri Rani: Naach Meri Rani

3 Teri Aankhon Mein: Teri Aankhon Mein

4 BurjKhalifa: Laxmii

5 Care Ni Karda: Chhalaang

6 Baby Girl: Baby Girl

7 Dil Chahte Ho: Dil Chahte Ho

8 BamBholle: Laxmii

9 Aabaad Barbaad : Ludo

10 Ae Mere Dil: Ae Mere Dil

TOP TENHINDI FILM SONGS

Actor Rakul Preet Singh will co-starwith Amitabh Bachchan and Ajay Devganin the thriller drama, Mayday. The film is di-

rected and produced by Ajay Devgan.She will be seen in the role of a pilot. This is her sec-

ond film with Ajay after "De De Pyaar De"."I have worked with Ajay sir in the past and (I am)

extremely thrilled to be working with him yet again ashis co-pilot in a film where he is not just my co-star butdirector too," Rakul said.

"When I decided to be an actor like all the other as-piring actors I had a dream to work with Mr. Bachchanand I am glad that with this film my dream to sharescreen space with him will come true," she added.

Rakul will begin the shoot of "Mayday" mid-Decem-ber in Hyderabad.

It is said that Ajay will be seen playing a pilot. Detailsabout Big B's character are being kept under wraps.

IANS

Bollywood superstar AkshayKumar has served a Rs 500-crore

defamation suit against a YouTubernamed Rashid Siddiqui,a civil engi-neer from Bihar, who brought up hisname while spreading fake news inthe Sushant Singh Rajput case.

Siddiqui was earlier arrested forspreading fake news and draggingthe name of Maharashtra Chief Min-ister Uddhav Thackeray and his son,

minister Aditya Thackeray, in thecase.

He named Akshay on severaloccasions in his videos and lev-eled various allegations. Heclaimed Akshay was unhappywith Sushant getting big films

like "MS Dhoni: The UntoldStory", and alleged the actor

had "secret meetings" withAditya Thackeray and the

Mumbai Police.Siddiqui had also

linked Akshay withlate actor Sushant'sgirlfriend, actressRhea Chakraborty,claiming that the ac-tor helped Rhea to es-

cape to Canada. IANS

On International Men'sDay, Bollywood actress

Kajol gave a shout-out to allthe men in her life and said sheis proud of them.

"Women raise men, Let's do it theway we want to be treated. To all myguys, so proud of you#InternationalMensDay @ajaydevgn@daanish_gandhi #amangandhii #YugDevgan," shewrote while sharing a picture of her son Yug, husband AjayDevgn and nephews Aman and Daanish.

On the work front, Kajol is all set to enter the digital spacewith "Tribhanga", a drama set in Mumbai.

The OTT film will weave a complex story of a family while go-ing back and forth through three generations, from the late 1980sto present day. The film, directed and written by veteran actressRenuka Shahane, also stars Tanvi Azmi and Mithila Palkar. IANS

34 November 27, 2020India Post

www.indiapost.com

Classifieds

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NEWSon yourdesktop

35OP-EDwww.indiapost.com

November 27, 2020 India Post

Recognition, an Inversionof Consciousness

Franklin Merrell-Wolff

Recognition and Liberation areattained by turning the attentiontoward the subjective pole andaway from the objective

50 SPIRITUAL APPETIZERSVinod Dhawan

“It’s a lovely book. It feels en-

ergetically clear and light. It’s

easy to read, dip in and out and

most importantly it offers infor-

mation without fluff! Blessings

on this project.”Jac O’Keeffe

Spirituality teacher based inUSA.

Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal to the author

Philosophy

Available on AMAZON, FLIPKART Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal to the author


The government announced lockdown in

the third week of March, resulting in the

closure of education institutions pan-India

resulting in the disruption of teaching and

examination schedules, re-crafting a new

examination methodology and timetable

FRANKLIN MERRELL-WOLFF

The ordinary subject-object conscious-ness may be regarded as a flow of con-

sciousness from the subject to the object.The awareness is focused upon the objec-tive content of consciousness. This contentmay be the sensibly given world, but is notrestricted to that, for ideas may equally wellserve as objects of consciousness.

Likewise, even in introspection, in theusual sense, consciousness is focused uponan objective material, even though in thiscase the object is of a more subtle character.We may say, therefore, that characteristi-cally subject-object consciousness has anobjective vector value, to borrow a termfrom mechanics.

Growth of consciousness is commonlyconceived as development in the sense ofthe objective vector. Hence we ordinarilyconceive of evolution or progress as anelaboration in terms of form, a movementfrom homogeneity to heterogeneity, or adevelopment from simples to complexes.This is revealed in the tendency of all cul-

tures to become more and more complexwith the passage of time.

Growth in complexity implies decreasein stability and increase of entanglementand confusion. This fact is well illustratedby the differences between inorganic andorganic nature. The inorganic substancesare characteristically of relatively simplecomposition and are highly stabile, whileorganic forms are highly complex and veryeasily subject to decomposition.

Likewise, the analytic study of inorganicforms readily leads to knowledge of a highdegree of dependability, whereas muchuncertainty attaches to the determinationsin the biologic sciences.

An error, very commonly made by thestudent who is seeking to understand themeaning of 'Recognition', 'Illumination'and Liberation', is to regard these states ofconsciousness as the apogee of conscious-ness developed in the sense of the objec-tive vector. But, in point of fact, all suchmovement leads to increase of instabilityand of bondage through entanglement.

The apogee is never reached, as all ob-jective elaborations of consciousness pre-pare the way for still greater elaborationswithout limit. Hence, great knowledge inthe objective sense may actually serve as abarrier to Liberation.

Recognition and Liberation are at-tained by an inversion of the vector of con-sciousness. This means that the focus of at-tention must be turned toward the subjec-tive pole and away from the objective con-tent of consciousness. The effort must beto attain a consciousness without objec-tive content. Such a consciousness is theultimate of simplicity and very difficult todistinguish from sheer unconsciousness.

It may be likened to a light in a spacethat contains no objects. It is the medita-tive consciousness without a seed. This isthe primeval consciousness which is indis-tinguishable from unconsciousness.

From the standpoint of Recognition thewhole value of the objective developmentof consciousness lies in it's arousing theconsciousness of being conscious. This self-consciousness is the prime characteristicwhich differentiates human from animaland other lower forms of consciousness.

But self-consciousness must becomevery acute and strong before it can recog-nize pure consciousness apart from con-sciousness of objects. Pure Liberated Con-

sciousness is consciousness in a void. Theconsciousness of all creatures is groundedin this, but only at the culminating stage ofhuman consciousness is it possible to beconscious of this consciousness in a void.In general, it requires ages of evolution toattain this power.

The void is such when conceived fromthe standpoint of objective filling. In therelative sense, Liberated Consciousness isconsciousness of nothing, but it is not cor-rect to say that It is a consciousness whichis nothing.

Excerpted from website of The FranklinMerrell-Wolff Fellowship. Franklin Merrell-Wolff (1887 ? 1985) was an American phi-losopher, author, and spiritual teacher.

India needs to address challenges ineducation as a national imperative

AMIT DASGUPTA

The raging pandemic has had adevastating impact on the edu-cation sector in India. It is, how-

ever, early stages for a credible evi-dence-based study to report on theintensity and extent of disruption ithas had on students, the teaching andadministrative community, and oneducational institutions.

This has truly emerged as one ofthe grand challenges for India com-ing, as it does, on the back of the ex-isting crisis in Indian education. In-deed, it would be fair to say thatIndia's education sector has been ona ventilator for decades because ofpolitical apathy and systemic neglect.

Wasted decades resulted in educa-tion, in both schools and colleges, go-ing into free fall. A lack of basic infra-structure, absence of qualified teach-ers/faculty, leaking of question pa-pers, rampant corruption, and cheat-ing, mushrooming of dubious and fly-by-night educational institutions, anobsolete pedagogy, and curriculum, ahorrific demand-supply mismatch, aclear divide between the rich kids

and the marginalized are only someof the ills that defined our educa-tion sector. Small wonder then thatour graduates were unemployablein their respective areas of special-ization.

The quality of a nation's humancapital impacts its GDP and indeed, itsglobal reputation. India took greatpride in its young population and rev-eled in the idea of a demographic divi-dend that would allow it to meet theglobal demand for a professionalworkforce. Such an eventuality is en-tirely conditional on a robust and con-temporary education system, whichIndia sorely lacks at present.

Pandemic has crippled educationTragically, even before the current

ills could be addressed meaningfully

through transformative policy re-forms, the pandemic struck. It has fur-ther crippled the struggling and be-leaguered sector.

Consider some basic facts: Thegovernment announced lockdown inthe third week of March, resulting inthe closure of education institutionspan-India resulting in the disruptionof teaching and examination sched-ules, re-crafting a new examinationmethodology and timetable, the in-troduction of online study, a sharploss in revenue, the closure of severaleducational institutions on financialgrounds and also, de-hiring of teach-ers and administrative staff inschools and colleges. It is crediblyestimated that schools and collegesare not likely to open for face2faceclasses at least till the end of the yearand possibly well into 2021.

One of the positive fallouts of thepandemic have been the forced in-troduction of online education thathas totally disrupted and trans-formed the teaching landscape.There are, of course, significant chal-

lenges. Manyconfuse onlinestudy as beinganother name fora correspon-dence course.Teachers andstudents are un-familiar withonline teachingand learning

triggering resistance and a viewthat online study is inferior to class-room learning.

In addition, equity issues have sig-nificantly prevented access to theplatform since the majority of stu-dents come from underprivilegedfamilies who do not have access tothe internet. Furthermore, theinternet itself is not widely availablepan-India.

The recent suicide of a brightyoung student from a prestigiouswomen's college because her par-ents could not afford the tuition feesand the cost of a laptop are a sober-ing reminder that equity is a genuineproblem. South Asia Monitor

Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal to the author

He warned that Afghanistan risks becoming again

the center of international terror with the Islamic

State (ISIS) moving there to rebuild "the terror

caliphate it lost in Syria and Iraq

For detailed stories visitwww.indiapost.com

36 OP-EDwww.indiapost.com

November 27, 2020India Post

FINAL LAP FOR VACCINEAs reported by World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan-

demic has infected approximately 57M people globally, withmore than 250,000 deaths in US alone, followed by India 130,000 atleast,until last week. More than 1.3M lives have been lost aroundthe world.

According to WHO's, Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelera-tor, is being spearheaded by the Coalition for Epidemic Prepared-ness Innovations (CEPI); Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; and WHO. Thegoal is to work with vaccine manufacturers from across the globe,to offer low-cost COVID-19 vaccines. Currently, CEPI's candidatesfrom companies Inovio, Moderna, CureVac, Institut Pasteur/Merck/Themis, AstraZeneca/University of Oxford, Novavax, University ofHong Kong, Clover Biopharmaceuticals, and University ofQueensland/CSL form part of the COVAX initiative.

"The study results mark an important step in this historic eight-month journey to bring forward a vaccine capable of helping toend this devastating pandemic. We continue to move at the speedof science to compile all the data collected thus far and share withregulators around the world," said Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizer Chair-man and CEO. "With hundreds of thousands of people around theglobe infected every day, we urgently need to get a safe and effec-tive vaccine to the world." Based on current projections, the com-panies expect to produce globally up to 50 million vaccine doses in2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses by the end of 2021What still needs to be done?• Trials must show the vaccine is safe• Huge-scale development must happen for the billions of poten-tial doses• Regulators must approve the vaccine before it can be given• Researchers need to find how long protection will last

Offering a glimmer of hope, India's Bharat Biotech InternationalLimited, which is conducting phase three trials of its vaccine candi-dates in the country, has said it plans to enroll 1,000-2,000 volun-teers each in metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kolkata.America's Pfizer Inc. and Germany's BioNTech SE have also appliedfor emergency use authorization in the United States for their jointvaccine candidate.

Encouraging results on Coved-19 vaccine trials by frontrunnersin November have raised hopes that a first generation ofcoronavirus antidotes is likely to receive approval as soon as De-cember end or, early 2021.

Ongoing late-stage human trials of mRNA vaccine candidatesdeveloped by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Inc. have pointed toefficacy rates as high as 95 per cent, fuelling hope across the worldin this battle that has claimed 1.3 million lives and upended econo-mies everywhere.

Serum Institute of India, which is conducting Phase III trials ofthe vaccine in India, said the Oxford vaccine (named Covishield inIndia) should be available for healthcare workers and elderlypeople by February 2021 and by April for the general public. SII CEOAdar Poonawalla said 30-40 crore doses of the vaccine will be avail-able by the first quarter of 2021. The Pune-based firm is likely toapply to India's drug regulator next month for emergency approval.

In the coming months, we hope for good news with a vaccinefor COVID-19. But initially, when supply is limited, priority must begiven to vaccinating essential workers and those most at risk - theelderly, healthcare and frontline workers, volunteers and those withunderlying conditions.

Trump's decision to cut troops in Afghanistangives Pakistan the upper hand

ARUL LOUIS

President Donald Trump'sdecision at hisadministration's sunset

to pull back US troops from Af-ghanistan and Iraq is among hisfinal attempts to keep his origi-nal campaign promise, but cre-ates a policy vacuum and com-plicates the transition to Demo-crat Joe Biden in January.

Acting Defense SecretaryChristopher Miller's announce-ment that the US troopstrengths in those two countrieswould be reduced to 2,500 eachby January 15 - just five days be-fore Biden takes over - creates apolicy vacuum there.

Miller said, "In the comingyear, we will finish this genera-tional war and bring our menand women home."

Winding down of 2001 warThe war that began in 2001

to root out the Al-Qaeda thatcarried out the 9/11 attack onthe US, and the Taliban than al-lowed to operate from Af-ghanistan, has claimed about

2,350 US lives and left morethan 20,000 wounded.

Trump had promised in his2016 campaign to bring all UStroops home.

The troops remaining in Af-ghanistan and Iraq are to de-fend the US diplomatic andother facilities there.

There was a confluence ofviews between Trump andsome Democratic leaders andopposition from Republicansand the NATO.

The House of Representa-tives Armed Services Commit-tee Chair Adam Smith, a Demo-crat, said, "Reducing our for-ward deployed footprint in Af-ghanistan down to 2,500troops is the right policy deci-sion. At the same time, this re-

duction must be responsiblyand carefully executed to en-sure stability in the region."

But the committee's Repub-lican leader Mac Thornberrywarned Trump, "These addi-tional reductions of Americantroops from terrorist areas area mistake."

"Further reductions in Af-ghanistan will also undercutnegotiations there; the Talibanhas done nothing - met no con-dition - that would justify thiscut," he added.

The peace agreement withthe Taliban, which was seen as aprecondition for troop with-drawal, has yet to materializeand the terrorist group has con-tinued attacks in Afghanistan.

Price of troop withdrawal "The price for leaving too

soon or in an uncoordinatedway could be very high," NATOSecretary-General JensStoltenberg said in Brussels.

He warned that Afghanistanrisks becoming again the cen-

ter of international terror withthe Islamic State (ISIS) movingthere to rebuild "the terror ca-liphate it lost in Syria and Iraq."

While Biden has committedto end the "forever wars in Af-ghanistan and the Middle East"and to "narrowly focus our mis-sion on Al-Qaeda and ISIS," nei-ther he nor his transition teamhas reacted to the preemptivemove by Trump.

Trump's action would makepolicy-making and implemen-tation difficult as soon as hetakes over. It is compoundedby him and his transition teambeing cut out of briefings anddenied access to officials andinformation.

As vice president, Biden hadbeen skeptical of his President

Barack Obama's troop surge inAfghanistan, when the force-strength was increased fromabout 30,000 when he assumedoffice in 2009 to nearly 100,000in about a year as he attemptedto decisively crush the terroristsin hope of a pullout.

Pakistan's leveragePakistan has been a key fig-

ure in the region, playing allsides. It has benefited from theUS invasion of Afghanistan af-ter the 2001 attacks on the USthe Al-Qaeda, which was pro-tected by the Taliban andIslamabad, which gave thatgroup's leader Osama BinLaden asylum.

Pakistan Prime MinisterImran Khan visited Kabul forthe first time recently - a visitAfghan President Ashraf Ghanitermed as "historic" - a day af-ter the US announced thetroop cutback, but accordingto reports did not say anythingabout it.

The US-backed Kabul gov-ernment has been suspiciousof and critical of Pakistan for itsbacking of the Taliban.

But now Ghani will have tocome to terms with Islamabad,which had facilitated thepeace between the Talibanand the US, with nominal par-ticipation of the Kabul govern-ment in the process.

As the patron of the Taliban,Pakistan will wield more directinfluence over Afghanistan asWashington winds down its in-volvement.

But on the other hand, whenthe US involvement is mini-mized and troops are nolonger active beyond the pro-tection of US resources,Islamabad's leverage is also re-duced because US troopswould no longer be vulnerableto cross-border terrorism andterror attacks by Pakistan'sproxies and therefore will nothave to be deferential to it.South Asia Monitor

India Post 37www.indiapost.com

November 27, 2020

India Postwww.indiapost.com

November 27, 202038

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