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India Culture Center of Houston, in association with other Indian American organizations, presents IFest 2014 on Saturday, Feb. 1 at Stafford Center, 10505 Cash Road in Stafford from 11 a.m. until 6:30 p.m.

The event, marking the 65th Republic Day of India, is free and plenty of free parking is available.

Honoring the fl ags, a colorful parade and a guard of honor will form the formal part of the program, while a vibrant cultural program will be staged throughout the day.

The cultural program will include patriotic and colorful items, including dance numbers by children and music by talented singers.

Magic show, moonwalk for kids, varieties of food stalls and a veritable Indian bazaar for goods will keep the visitors engaged. Educational and community programs will be showcased as well. The magic show is tentatively scheduled at 12 noon, while the parade is expected around 12:45 p.m.

P.V. Patel, president of ICC, said “ICC is proud to host the celebrations commemorating the Republic Day of India. I invite everyone to participate in this traditional event. I extend a special welcome to the youth and children.”

“I urge all parents from the Indian community to bring their children so that they can get exposure to our great Indian heritage and culture.

A young child can learn a lot even by observing this kind of events. It is a free event and parking is free as well. All that is needed is your enthusiastic participation in the IFest. Please come and show your solidarity with the ICC and the Indian American community in the greater Houston area, Patel said.

For more information call Prasad Kalva, event chair at 979-240-9533, Ramesh Akarapu, event co-chair, at 832-754-4754 or P.V. Patel at 832-754-7596, Mahesh Wadhwa (Vice President) at 832 868 6561 or Charlie Patel(Booths and Sponsorships) at 832 423 7979.

Also, visit www.icchouston.org.

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Left, Legendary Tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain will lead other masters of percussion in a concert in Houston at the Jones Hall at 8 p.m. on March 18. It is the fi rst event of Indo-American Association’s 2014 season. For IAA’s full calendar of events see Page 6.

Bal and Rita Sareen, donors, stand in front of the clinic named after them at India House. The 7,500 square-foot clinic in partnership with the Harris County Health System, was opened on Jan. 24.

See story on Page 10.

Consul-General P. Harish unfurls the Indian national fl ag at his residence in Houston on the occasion of India’s 65th Republic Day on Jan. 26. After the ceremony, the consul-general read the message given by the President of India on the eve of the Republic Day. President Pranab Mukherjee, in his message, said “Whoever wins (the next general election) must have an undiluted commitment to stability, honesty and the development of India,” and predicted 2014 will be India’s year of resurgence. Photo BIJAY DIXIT. More on Page 13.

PAGE 2 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

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Arati & Prasada 10:00 pm - 10:30 pm

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ICC’s new executive committee (from left) Phalguni Gandhi (Treasurer), Harshad Patel (Vice President), Chan-drakant (Charlie) Patel (President), Prakash Patel (Past President) and Manisha Gandhi (Pro-tem Secretary).

ICC elects executive committee for 2014

India Culture Center (ICC) Houston held elections for its 2014 Executive Committee on January 26, 2014 at India House.

The elections were monitored by the Election Committee com-prising Ashok Dhingra, Satish Jh-ingran and Ramesh Anand.

The new Executive Commit-tee which takes offi ce on Febru-ary 1, 2014, is led by Chandra-kant (Charlie) Patel as President, Harshad Patel as Vice President, Falguni Gandhi as Treasurer and Manisha Gandhi as Pro-tem Sec-retary. Prakash Patel will be con-tinuing as Past President in the Executive Committee for 2014. All were fi lled unanimously.

Charlie Patel, a young, energet-ic man with a pleasant tempera-ment, has been volunteering for

the ICC and has been a director since 2010.

Charlie has always been stage and limelight shy. He has been a dedicated Director and has put lots of hours, working very well quietly, at various ICC events in the planning, background and logistics areas. Originally a resi-dent of Bhiwandi in Maharashtra, he has been in Houston for the last 14 years and runs a chain of successful gift & card stores in Downtown Houston. He brings with him fi nancial, and business experience and still is totally pas-sionate about non profi t organiza-tions.

Charlie has volunteered with other organizations in past like Gujarati Samaj and Hindus of

Greater Houston and Interna-tional Hindi Association. While accepting the premier position of ICC, Charlie Patel promised to work closely with the ICC Board, Trustees and the artnering organi-zations. He spoke about enhanc-ing ICC’s work and adding two more events during 2014 in addi-tion to the ICC Signature events.

The present ICC Board of Di-rectors at Large are Charlie Patel, Harshad Patel, Falguni Gandhi, Manisha Gandhi, P V Patel, Col Raj Bhalla, Rajiv Bhavsar, Prasad Kalva, Sridhar Dadi, Nirmala Pa-tel, Mahesh Wadhwa, Jasmeeta Singh, Hemant Patel, Nisha Mira-ni, Ajit Patel and Girish Naik.

For more information visit www.icchouston.org

PAGE 4 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

India HeraldIndia Herald (USPS 017-699) is published every Wednesday (for a

subscription rate of $25 per year) by India Herald Inc, 13643 La Concha Lane,Houston TX 77083-3438. Tel: 281-980-6746. Periodical postage paid at Houston,Texas and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes toIndia Herald, P.O. Box 623, Sugar Land, TX 77487.India Herald welcomes articles, letters for publication. Website: www.india-

herald.com Email: editor@india-herald.comPublisher: Seshadri Kumar. Executive Editor: Rajeev V. Gadgil.c India Herald. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part of any

material herein, without permission, is prohibited. India Herald assumes noliability resulting from action taken based on the information included herein.

TOPIC OF THE WEEK

THE LIGHTER SIDE

Sudh

ir Ta

ilang

VOICES

By Suhamoy Chakraborty

Envy and resentment at rela-tive prosperity blended with age-old prejudices and unspeakablebrutality when a girl was raped by13 men on the orders of a kanga-roo court in Birbhum on Tuesday,Jan 21, according to accounts byseveral villagers.

The girl, now 20, had left homefor Delhi to toil as a constructionlaborer, the fruits of which appearto have fed the indignation that ledto the savagery at Subalpur vil-lage in Labhpur, around 25km fromSantiniketan.

The suspects accused of anatrocity that belies some of thepopular labels associated with ru-ral life are aged between 18 and48 — the oldest being the villagehead who ordered the gang rape.

The girl, who was allegedlygang-raped by 13 men on the di-rective of a “salishi sabha” forhaving an affair with a mason fromanother village, had been the tar-get of the morol (village head) andhis coterie for some time, villag-ers said.

The principal reason for theresentment appeared to be thecondition of her house — unre-markable in an urban area but astandout in this Birbhum villagebecause a part of it was built us-ing bricks and mortar, unlike othermud-wall and thatch-roof huts.

She also has two material pos-sessions: a small television set witha foldable screen and a music sys-tem — objects of envy in this vil-lage of day laborers and farm-hands.

She is in hospital now and the13 suspects, including the villagehead, have been sent to jail, not topolice lock-up — that has madethe police superintendent’s con-tinuation an uncertainty. InSubalpur, bitterness towards thegirl had started building up yearsago, according to the villagers.

“She is a primary school drop-out and went to work as a con-struction laborer in Delhi whenshe was only 12. She was the onlygirl from here who went to Delhito work, which was not liked bymany villagers. After returningfrom Delhi two years ago, she builtwith her money a brick-and-mor-tar house right next to her parents’home. Recently, she had pur-chased a small television set anda music system which also at-tracted attention,” said a villagerwho did not want to be named forfear of retribution.

A few houses in the village dohave television sets but not simi-lar to the small one the girl hadbought.

A construction labourer is un-likely to be the subject of jealousyin many places. But in Subalpur, itdid matter. A local labourer earnsRs 180 a day but the same workfetches between Rs 400 and Rs450 in Delhi.

After returning from Delhi, thegirl was working as a helper tothe mason with whom she is saidto have developed a relationship.Her job involved carrying mortar-filled tubs on her head and spread-ing mortar for bricks to be placed.

The villagers painted a picture

of a girl who kept to herself —which was construed as a sign ofarrogance. “The girl’s attitudemade the morol and others thinkthat she did not care much forthem. She went to work early inthe morning. Or she stayed insidethe house with the music systemand small television set. For thevillagers, it was a matter of an-guish. They were trying to catchher,” said a villager.

The angry retort of another vil-lager suggested that some foundthe resentment normal. “Whyshouldn’t some villagers feel an-gry? She was a very young girl,went to Delhi to work and sentmoney regularly to her parents bymoney order,” the villager said.

One of the few villagers will-ing to be named cast aspersionson the girl. “Her way of life wasnot liked by the morol and otherelders,” Paplu Soren, a 20-year-old farmer, said.

A morol, who has the last word,is selected from the oldest familyliving in a particular tribal village.An annual puja of Maran Guru, adeity of tribals, held in the Bengalimonth of Magh (which followsPous and starts in mid-January),forms the backdrop for selectingthe village head. Either a newmorol is chosen or the old oneasked to continue.

The salishi sabha, or villagecourt, does not have a fixed num-ber of members. All villagers cantake part in proceedings and givetheir opinion but the final ruling isdelivered by the morol. On Jan 22,there was no one at the girl’shouse, which was bolted. HenaMaddi, a 50-year-old womanwhose two sons were arrested onthe charge of raping the girl, said:“She went to Delhi for a job andhad relationships…. Our villagerspunished her for her way of life.”

On Monday night, the villagers

claimed, they caught the girl alongwith the mason, in his late thirties,at her house, tied their hands andlegs and kept them in the house.

“Later, we informed the eldersand the morol, Balai Maddi, or-dered us to tie them to a palm treein the morol’s courtyard,” said ayouth. The morol held the sabhaproceedings in his courtyard as thegirl and the mason remained tiedto the tree. The morol ruled thatthe girl would be “gang-raped” andthe mason would have to pay afine of Rs 25,000.

“The girl was taken to a hut onthe morol’s premises and gang-raped till Tuesday dawn. She waslater brought out and tied to thepalm tree again. The girl was al-lowed to go in the morning. Butthe mason was kept tied to the tree.He was released when his elderbrother came and paid Rs 25,000to the morol,” said a villager.

At the mason’s village, his wifesaid: “We had to hurriedly sell our15-year-old daughter’s jewelleryto raise Rs 25,000.”

The girl was brought back againon Tuesday afternoon to themorol’s house for a second roundof salishi, where she was askedto pay Rs 3,000. “She was al-lowed to go home. On Wednes-day evening, she lodged a com-plaint with the police,” a villagersaid. Some villagers claimed thata Trinamul panchayat memberwas present at the second roundof salishi. The panchayat mem-ber was not found at his home ina nearby village and his phone wasswitched off.

Labhpur MLA and localTrinamul leader Manirul Islamsaid: “I don’t know whether hewas present at the salishi as I wasin Calcutta. He may have beenpresent but the morol’s word is thelast word at a salishi sabha.”

— The Telegraph

Bengal rape: Envy becomes savagery

Put A.P. Bifurcation on HoldThe issue of bifurcating Andhra Pradesh has split the ruling Con-

gress party’s legislators, in the Centre and the state, and predictablyso. Their concerns are a mixture of political expediency and genuineworries about the basis and design of the bifurcation to form the twostates of Telangana and Seemandhra. In fact, tension cutting acrossparty lines and adhering to geographical loyalties has been evidentsince the Centre’s surprise December 2009 announcement onTelangana.

However, Monday’s scenes from the Andhra assembly are alarm-ing, and must counsel a rethink at the Centre about legislating on thesplit so late in the life of this Lok Sabha. Events have given the processof meeting the regional aspirations of Telangana an unstoppable mo-mentum, but from here on, rushing headlong, without bringing all par-ties together on a joint, coherent plan of action, threatens to provokemore animosities than needed. The Centre has taken bifurcation to bethe first step, presuming that once the deed is done, the nitty-gritty willbe sorted out. This is wrong and irresponsible. Bifurcation must followfrom a confidence-building consensus.

On Monday, MLAs from the Telangana region, including DeputyChief Minister C. Damodar Raja Narasimha and other ministers, dis-rupted the state assembly, forcing repeated adjournments. Their irewas directed at Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy for issuing anotice to the speaker to move a motion to return the Andhra PradeshReorganisation Bill, 2013, to Delhi. Clearly, divisions on the issue mustbe managed politically. Basic points of contention, especially relatingto Hyderabad, revenue and water sharing, have not been sorted out tobring the proposed Seemandhra and Telangana on the same page. Itmust be emphasised that this divisive stalemate stems from a lack ofeffort and political adroitness on the Centre’s part. If the Congress atthe Centre cannot bring on board its own flock of MLAs and assuagetheir concerns, how responsible would it be to legislate bifurcation andleave the possibly divisive aftermath to a future government to handle?

Parliament has extraordinary powers to legislate on state reorgani-zation. But it would be foolhardy for this Lok Sabha to do so whileignoring the deep-rooted and legitimate anxieties in the state legisla-ture. — The Indian Express

Decoding the President’s Message In his address to the nation on the eve of Republic Day, President

Pranab Mukherjee seemed intent on tempering hope with caution andidealism with pragmatism. But what caught everyone’s attention wasthe political undertone of what he himself noted was his last addressbefore the next government takes office. For someone who made asmooth transition from being a Cabinet Minister to becoming the Presi-dent, Mukherjee was surprisingly forthright in his warning to the politi-cal class. Justifying people’s anger at the weakening of democraticinstitutions, he said: “If we hear sometimes an anthem of despair fromthe street, it is because people feel that a sacred trust is being vio-lated.” For those looking for a warning to the Congress, Mukherjeehad more than a few words on corruption. If Indians are enraged, hesaid, it is because they are witnessing corruption and waste of nationalresources. “If governments do not remove these flaws, voters willremove governments.” But the veiled attack on the Aam Aadmi Party,the reference to “populist anarchy”, now associated with its leaderArvind Kejriwal, captured more mind space. Arguing that populistanarchy cannot be a substitute for governance, the President said:“False promises lead to disillusionment, which gives birth to rage, andthat rage has one legitimate target: those in power.” If the referenceto communal forces is taken as thumbs down to the Bharatiya JanataParty, Mukherjee appears to have spared none in his address.

Whether read as notes of caution to the Congress, or as articulationof dissatisfaction with the ways of the AAP or the BJP, these remarksassume added importance in the current political context. PresidentMukherjee clearly wants it to be known that he is on the side of thepeople and democratic institutions, not blindly supportive of govern-ments and certainly not sympathetic to those in power. Curiously,Mukherjee also wanted the people to vote in a stable government.True, as he noted, a fractured government, “hostage to whimsical op-portunists,” would be an unhappy electoral outcome. But to ask thepeople to vote for a stable government can mean little more than toask them to vote for a party widely seen as the front-runner. Whetherthis could be taken as an endorsement of the BJP in the current con-text is debatable. So far, Mukherjee has played by the book as Presi-dent. The political sub-text of his lines and their varying interpretationsnotwithstanding, the address provides no indication that he is about tochange his approach as the President of the Republic. — The Hindu

Some of the 13 villagers accused of raping the tribal girl in Subalpurare lined up before being produced in the court.

Indian Music Society of HoustonA 501 ©(3) Organization Promoting Hindustani Classical Music

2014 Calendar of Events (Partial list)

Individual Tickets $25 • Available online at www.tickets2events.comFor Information, call Govind Shetty 713-922-2501 • or Suresh Shenoy 281-935-4653Please visit our website www.imshouston.org

April 5 (Sat) Hindustani Vocal 7:30 PMRajendra Kandalgaonkar(Disciple of Bharat Ratna Late Pt Bhimsen Joshi)Prashant Pandav on Tabla;Umesh Purohit on HarmoniumJones Hall Univ of St Thomas*

April 26 (Sat) Concert of Late Morning Ragas 2:00 PMAshwini Bhide DeshpandeSanjay Deshpande on TablaMilind Kulkarni on HarmoniumJones Hall Univ of St Thomas

May 24 (Sat) Hindustani Vocal — Mrs Gauri Pathare 7:30 PM(Disciple of Padma Talwalkar)Harshad Kanetkar on TablaUday Kulkarni on HarmoniumJones Hall, Univ of St Thomas

Sept 6 (Sat) Hindustani VocalPt Kumar MardurPt Ashish Sengupta on TablaSri Satish Kolli on HarmoniumJones Hall Univ of St Thomas 7:30 PM

Programs are subject to change for reasons beyond the control of Indian Music Society of Houston.IMS Programs are partially funded by a grant from Houston Arts Alliance.* University of St. Thomas is located at 3901 Yoakum Blvd. Houston TX 77006

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014 • PAGE 5

March 1 (Sat) Hindustani Vocal — Morning Ragas 9 AMPt Rajan & Pt Sajan MishraPt Ashish Sengupta on Tabla;Shri Vyasmurthy Katti on HarmoniumJones Hall Univ of St Thomas

3901 Yoakum Blvd. Houston

PAGE 6 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

COMMUNITY NEWS

Indo-American Association,which last year completed 20years of bringing top class Indianartists — musicians, dancers, ac-claimed stage plays and danceballets — will start its 2014 sea-son with a classic: Ustad ZakirHussain and his band of percus-sionists on the Kanjira andClaypot, Drums, Dholki andDholak as well as a sitarist andsarangi player and a Kathakdancer, Antonia Minnecola, whois Zakir Hussain’s wife.

To start the third decade ofIndo-American Association, wehave also brought in three genera-tions of the maestro’s disciples inour Legacy of Ravi Shankar se-ries,” said Dr Hari Dayal, execu-tive director of IAA.

The series includes a concertby Pandit Ravi Shankar’s daugh-ter Anoushka Shankar with otherinstrumentalists.

“IAA also will give a 50 per-cent discount on all ticktet levelsto students. We want our youngergeneration to learn to appreciateand savor our classical arts,” hesaid.

The 2014 season has nineevents which cover a wide spec-trum of Indian arts — Hindustaniand Carnatic music, classicaldance, fusion music andBollywood music. The followingis the list of events for 2014:

Tuesday, March 18, 8 p.m.,Jones Hall: ZAKIR HUSSAINand Masters of Percussion fea-turing Zakir Hussain (Tabla), V.Selvaganesh (Kanjira andClaypot), Steve Smith (Drums),Niladri Kumar (Sitar), DilshadKhan (Sarangi), Vijay Chauhan(Dholki), Deepak Bhatt (Dhol),and Antonia Minnecola (Kathakdance).

Sunday, April 13, 7 p.m.,Wortham Center (Cullen).THE LEGACY OF RAVISHANKAR, tribute by maestro’sdisciples I: featuring Grammywinner Pandit Vishwa MohanBhatt (Mohan Veena), PanditDaya Shankar (Shehnai), PanditTarun Bhattacharya (Santoor),and Bikram Ghosh (Tabla).

Sunday, April 20, 7 p.m.,Wortham Center (Cullen).FARID AYAZ Qawwals. The in-ternationally renowned Qawwalsfrom Pakistan have Delhi rootsthat can be traced all the way toHazrat Amir Khusro. TheirQawwali singing is totally basedon classical ragas and their widesecular repertoire includes greatSufi poets of Urdu, Farsi, Hindi,Brij, Purbi, Punjabi, and Sindhi. Anevening of soul-touching music notto be missed!

Saturday, May 10, 8 p.m.,Wortham Center (Cullen). THELEGACY OF RAVISHANKAR, tribute by maestro’sdisciples II: featuring Pandit RonuMajumdar (Flute), ShubhendraRao (Sitar), Partho Sarathy(Sarod), and Abhijit Banerjee(Tabla).

Saturday, June 21, 8 p.m.,Wortham Center (Brown):BOLLYWOOD RISE- a spec-tacular East-West dance fusionfrom Hollywood’s Karmagraphy.Featuring a large multiculturaltroupe of professional dancers,singers, and acrobats - Asians,Caucasians, African Americans,Hispanics - Bollywood Rise con-nects Indian tradition with a vari-ety of Western styles. With amaz-

ing and eclectic choreography,Karmagraphy sets these diversedances to popular Bollywoodtunes, and the audience walksaway exhilarated and energizedby the most entertaining danceconcert experience!

Saturday, July 12 @ 8 p.m.,Wortham Center (Cullen):CARNATIC VIOLIN featuringDr. L. Subramaniam (violin), AmbiSubramaniam (violin), SandeepDas (tabla), Mahesh Krishna-murty (mridangam), and Satyasai(morsing, ghatam).

Saturday, September 6 @ 8p.m., Wortham Center (Cullen).REKHA BHARDWAJ LIVE INCONCERT. The three-time win-ner of best playback singer award,bollywood sensation RekhaBhardwaj sings her first love-timeless sufi poetry and ghazals.

Saturday, October 18 @ 8p.m., Wortham Center (Cullen):TARANG, a cross-cultural blendof melody and rhythm by a groupof innovative musicians, is a pre-sentation of traditional Indian clas-sical music wrapped in Westernform. The concert features Japa-nese percussionist Kenny Endo(Taiko drum and more), Cubanpercussionist John Santos (Timbaland more), Indian percussionistAbhijeet Banerjee (Tabla andPakhawaj), Snehashish Majum-dar (Double Neck Mandolin), andKala Ramnath (Violin)

Sunday, November 2 @ 6p.m., Wortham Center (Cullen):THE LEGACY OF RAVISHANKAR, tribute by maestro’sdisciples III: ANOUSHKASHANKAR IN “TRACES OFYOU”. Showcasing the multi-genre ensemble comprised of Si-tar, Indian percussion, Hang per-cussion, Cello, Vocals, Shehnai,and Keyboards, the concert fea-tures pieces from Anoushka’s sev-enth CD ‘Traces of You’. Havinglost her father and guru, RaviShankar, during the making of thisalbum, it was inevitable that herloss became the main focus of thesongwriting.

This album is the most congru-ent synthesis of Anouska’s clas-sical Indian roots, her sitar play-ing skills, and her composition andsongwriting talents.

All IAA events are supportedby generous grants from the Cityof Houston through Houston ArtsAlliance.

To become a member, call281.648.0422 or visit www.iaahouston.com. To encourage stu-dent participation, IAA is offering50% discount to all students on alltickets to all concerts in 2014.

Ustad Zakir Hussain and theMasters of Percussion kick off IAA’s2014 season which also featuresdisciples of Pt. Ravi Shankar whoare carrying on his legacy ofexcellent music - AnoushkaShankar (above center) and Pt.Vishwa Mohan Bhat (above right).Also included in the nine events isBollywood’s Rekha Bharadwaj(right) will sing timeless sufi poetryand ghazals.

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ASIE inaugurates 2014 boardBy Dinesh Shah,MBA, PE

American Society ofIndian Engineers(ASIE), a Houstonbased organization forengineers, architects,designers, and engineer-ing technicians orga-nized, a first time ever“2014 InaugurationEvent” on January 23 atSankalp restaurant.More than 60 technicalprofessionals partici-pated to welcome the2014 new ASIE Boardand Board of Advisorsand also to express theirthanks to the 2013Board and Board of Ad-visors.

After the registrationand social networking,the dinner was servedand the meeting wascalled to order. Eachmember made a briefself-introduction.

Vishal Merchant, out-going ASIE Presidentwelcomed all attendeesand introduced his boardmembers — KarthikBalasubhramanium,Amal Dutta, SekharAmadapuri, ShowriNandagiri, MadhuKilambi, RajeshTolikonda, Raj Basava-raju, and Chetan Vyas.

He thanked them fortheir service and gave a plaque as a token of gratitude.

Under Merchant’s leadership, ASIE hosted guests such as Hous-ton Mayor Annise D. Parker, Consul General of India P Harish andDirector of Public Works and Engineering Daniel W. Krueger.

He accomplished one of the best outreach efforts of mailing outinformational membership flyers to over 1800 engineering profession-als in the Houston area, increasing awareness of the organization.

ASIE was also instrumental in giving away more than $12,000 inscholarships to students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degreesin engineering programs from public universities in the Greater Hous-ton Area; also organizing its first ever Awards Ceremony to honorsenior engineers and architects for their accomplishments.

“The vision of ASIE is to expand and provide benefits of the expe-rienced and well established present generation to the new, young anddynamic generation of the future by supporting initiatives in engineer-ing and architecture, including Science Fair, Mathcounts, and E-Weekprograms. Thus a solid foundation has been laid for the future, andnow ASIE and all the incoming Presidents has to decide to take theorganization to the next level and focusing on Building the Future to-gether with the younger generation” said Merchant.

Later, he introduced the Board of Advisors, including Dinesh Shah,Hasmukh Doshi, Mahesh Wadhwa, Virendra Bansal, and SrinivasChintalapati. He offered a plaque to each one for his appreciation fortheir valuable guidance. As a surprise item, he had chosen two mem-bers and presented a Special President’s Award to Dinesh Shah, aBoard of Advisor and a 2014 Chairman, who helped organizing spon-sored events for members. The second award was given to RajBasavaraju, a board member for helping in increasing the ASIE mem-bership.

As a part of PDH credit requirements, a 30 minutes seminar on“Leadership” was presented by H.H. Doshi.

Later, Merchant introduced the incoming President, SekharAmadapuri who told the gathering, “I am honored to be elected thePresident for 2014. We have had an excellent year under the leader-ship of Vishal. My board and I will try our level best to keep up themomentum.”

Amadapuri congratulated 2014 elected Board Members — ShowriNandgiri - VP, Raj Basavaraju - Treasurer, Rajesh Tolikonda - Secre-tary, Harshad Patel, Naresh Kolli, Mahendra Korivi, Sai Gowthami,and Raghu Dass. He also introduced the Board of Advisors - DineshShah, Chairman, Vishal Merchant past President, Ram Gupta, MaheshWadhwa, and Joseph Abraham. Further, in his brief remarks,Amadapuri noted the importance of 2014 for ASIE - its 20th year ofesblishment.

The event was sponsored by HDR Engineering, Shah Companies,ARKK Engineers, and Geotest Engineering.

Outgoing president of ASIE VishalMerchant (left) presents a certificate ofappreciation to Dinesh Shah, chairman ofthe Board of Advisors

Ram Gupta (left) presents a memento toVishal Merchant.

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014 • PAGE 7

COMMUNITY NEWS

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Houston Maharashtra Mandal(HMM) jumpstarted the new yearwith the celebration of “MakarSankrant” on January 25.

Every year the Maharashtriancommunity in Houston celebratesSankrant in the month of Januaryto coincide with the Sun’s transitto Capricorn.

On this occasion, families gettogether and greet each other withsweets made of sesame seedsand jaggery (“Til-Gul”) wishingeach other year full of sweetness.

The event was organized atCross Point Church in Katy. Morethan 350 families attended the cel-ebration that included variety offood stalls, games and activities forchildren and presentation of up-coming events. Ladies weregreeted upon arrival with tradi-tional “Haladi Kunku” and a giftbag.

The fun fair hosted variety offood stalls by Houston MarathiFamilies. The Taste of India in-cluded popular chat items fromWestern and Northern India likebhel, pani-puri and all-time favor-ite vada pav.

One of the reasons for popu-larity of Sankrant event has alwaysbeen the traditional Maharashtrianfood like Puran Poli, Gul Poli andSolkadhi.

The savoring and mouth-wa-tering food presented visitors witha nice decision-making dilemma.The variety of food not only tookvisitors to India but it also empha-sized that the Maharashtrian fami-lies living in Houston area havebought their rich cultural heritageand culinary skills with them.

Kids enjoyed many fun filledactivities and games and later oneven adults joined them at the spe-cial round of musical chairs.

A special “Bor Nahan” (show-ering with jujube berry andsweets) was organized for tod-dlers.

Raffle drawings took placethroughout the evening presentingvisitors with many gifts generouslysponsored by local businesses.

HMM President Megha

Houston Maharashtra Mandal celebrates Makar Sankrant

Ozarker introduced the 2014 com-mittee members and providedplans for upcoming activities andevents by HMM. One of the ma-jor up taking of HMM is the “VastuProject”. HMM plans to con-struct a community center andGanesh temple in next two years.

HMM has been seekingpledges from members and non-

members alike to support thisnoble cause. Anil Gokhale,Sameer Karandikar and ShirishKulkarni provided the status up-date for the project. Anotherproject by HMM is MarathiSchool. HMM has launchedMarathi school for children inHouston area.

Vaishali Khandekar presented

the activity report for school. Mrs.Khandekar mentioned that allthree branches of school havereceived an excellent responsefrom community and children andshowing tremendous prospect inlearning Marathi Language.

The event concluded with voteof thanks by HMM PresidentMegha Ozarker to the attendees,

stall owners, volunteers, andHMM website sponsors (i.e. KTBombay Bazzar - Platinum Spon-sor, Maharaja Bhog - Gold Spon-sor, and Vishala Grocers). Thenext event of HMM is showingof Marathi Film “MangalashtakOnce More” at AMC Dunvale.For details about HMM activitiesvisit www.hmmhouston.org.

HMM President Megha Ozarker introduced the 2014 committee members. Photo: Rajesh Thatte

Dinesh D’Souzaindicted

NEW YORK: Conservativeactivist Dinesh D’Souza has beenindicted by a federal grand juryon charges of violating campaignfinance laws in contributions to aSenate candidate.

D’Souza was charged withmaking $20,000 in illegal campaigncontributions to an unnamed can-didate, which carries a maximumsentence of two years in prison.

In 2012, D’Souza reimbursedpeople who he had told to con-tribute amounts totaling $20,000 toa candidate’s campaign, accord-ing to the indictment. The candi-date was not named in the indict-ment.

In 2012, D’Souza supportedWendy Long, New York’s Repub-lican candidate for the Senate.Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand wonre-election. New York electionsrecords show D’Souza donated toLong’s campaign in 2012.

D’Souza is also charged withcausing false statements to bemade to the FEC, which carries amaximum sentence of five yearsin prison.

PAGE 8 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

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Bayer: Cancer drug not for IndiansNEW DELHI: Global medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres

slammed Friday a statement by Bayer's chief executive that the giantGerman firm only developed its cancer drug Nexavar for people whocould afford the medicine, not “for Indians.”

India's controller general of patents angered Bayer in March 2012when he authorized a local drugmaker to produce a generic copy ofNexavar, saying the German company charged a price that was toocostly for most Indians.

“We did not develop this medicine (Nexavar) for Indians," Dekkerssaid at a little reported pharmaceutical forum last month, according tothe January 21st edition of Businessweek. “We developed it for West-ern patients who can afford it,” Dekkers said, and called the Indianregulator's action “essentially theft.”

Bayer said the statements attributed to Dekkers were accurateand forwarded written comments made later by the German chiefexecutive seeking to explain his remarks.

Dekkers said the comment had been a “quick response” at theindustry forum to the Nexavar issue and added Bayer wants “all peopleto share the fruits of medical progress regardless of their origins orincome.” But Dekkers added in the written comments he had been"particularly frustrated" by the Indian regulator's decision, which markedthe first time a so-called compulsory licence of a patented drug hadbeen awarded in India.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said Friday that the Bayer chief'sremarks summed up "everything that is wrong" with the multinationalpharmaceutical industry.

“Bayer is effectively admitting the drugs they develop are deliber-ately going to be rationed to the wealthiest patients,” ManicaBalasegaram, executive director of MSF's Access Campaign, said.

The Indian government gave local pharmaceutical house NatcoPharma a licence to produce a copy of Nexavar, used to treat liverand kidney cancer, at a 97 percent discount to the original selling priceof the Bayer product in India. Global drugmakers say India’s power-house generics industry and strict patent filtering reduce commercialincentives to produce cutting-edge medicines.

Rahul Gandhi confident of Congress victory

Rahul too confused, says BJPNEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi's much talked about interview seemed

to have only buoyed the opposition further with BJP slamming theCongress vice-president for talking only in generalities and ignoringthe specifics. Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley saidRahul seemed confused as he tore into the Congress leader for hisstatement that he was against dynastic politics.

"What has Rahul Gandhi to offer to this country? He is too con-fused to get into specifics and therefore goes into generalities," Jaitleysaid. "Surely Mr Gandhi, you don't expect India to believe you on that,"he said further, responding to Rahul's comment that he was againstthe concept of dynasty. Jaitley described the comment as the moststartling statement of the interview.

Jaitley also sought to know from where Rahul got the idea thatthere was no participation of the state in the 1984 riots. "In 1984, aslogan 'khoon ka badla khoon' started in the afternoon of 31st October1984 at AIIMS where Mrs Indira Gandhi's body lay. Congress leaderswere seen leading the mobs. Sikhs were massacred at thousands ofplaces. Nowhere did the police fire a single bullet to disperse the mobs.Cases were not investigated. A commission of inquiry was constitutedwhich came out with a sham report. The judge heading the commis-sion was subsequently made a Congress party member of the RajyaSabha. Justice evades the victims even now," he said.

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NEW DELHI: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Mon-day stated that his party will de-feat the BJP in the 2014 elections.

Gandhi in his first major TVinterview to Times Now said: "Ithink we will defeat the BJP inthe next elections."

To a query by Times Now edi-tor in chief Arnab Goswami onwhether he feared a direct battlewith BJP prime ministerial candi-date Narendra Modi, Gandhi said

he does not like what he sees inIndian politics and that the "sys-tem in the country" needs tochange.

He also dwelt on the pain ofthe circumstances in which hegrew up - witnessing the assassi-nation of his grandmother, thenPrime Minister Indira Gandhi, andhis father, former PM RajivGandhi.

"In my life, I have seen mygrandmother die, I have seen my

father die, I have seen my grand-mother go to jail and I have actu-ally been through a tremendousamount of pain as a child whenthese things happen to you. WhatI had to be scared of, I lost. Thereis absolutely nothing I am scaredof. I have an aim. I have a clearaim in my mind and the aim is thatI do not like what I see in Indianpolitics, it is something that is in-side my heart," he said.

But Gandhi drew a lot of criti-cism when he made a distinctionbetween the 2002 Gujarat riotsand the 1984 anti-Sikh riots say-ing that while the violence inGujarat was aided and abetted bythe Narendra Modi state govern-ment, in the 1984 riots the gov-ernment tried to stop the violence.

Asked why certain Congressleaders like Sajjan Kumar andJagdish Tytler were facing courtcases if the Congress government,indeed, tried to stop the 1984 ri-ots, Rahul didn't respond directly,but eventually acknowledged thatsome Congressmen were prob-ably involved in the riots.

Covering considerable groundin a detailed, freewheeling inter-

view, Rahul indicated that he hada role in Congress's decision tosupport the Aam Admi Party; hesaid he did not want to be formallynamed PM candidate because ofhis respect for the Constitution butexpressed confidence about win-ning the polls.

After initially fending off ques-tions on Modi, Rahul denied hefears losing to Modi, saying, "Ihave seen my grandmother die ...my father die ... there is absolutelynothing I am scared of." Rahulrefuted the suggestion that Con-gress might already be knockedout of the 2014 contest, saying heis "reasonably confident" of win-ning the election and will, as partyvice president, accept responsibil-ity if the party fails.

On being closely questionedabout whether he agrees withManmohan Singh's criticism ofModi for presiding over a "massmassacre", Rahul said, "TheGujarat riots took place, peopledied. Mr Narendra Modi was incharge of Gujarat at that point."

He responded to questions

about Modi disparagingly referringto him as "shehzada (prince)" bycriticizing BJP for concentratingpower in the hands of one indi-vidual. “I fundamentally disagreewith that (concentration ofpower), I believe in democracy ...I believe in giving power topeople. We have fundamentallydifferent philosophies,” Rahulsaid.

He came across as committedto the long term in politics andsought to counter the impressionof being a reluctant politician, say-ing that he was "thinking deeplyand in the long term".

Rahul Gandhi

COMMUNITY NEWSPAGE 10 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

PPRESENTS

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Flag Honoring Ethnic Delicacies Parade

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Magic Show at 12 (noon)

Grand Parade at 12:45 pm

Cultural Programs at 1:30 pm

Vendor Booths with Ethnic wear and Jewelry

India House inaugurated the Sareen Clinic at an event attended by two U.S. Con-gresspersons, Al Green and Sheila Jackson Lee, Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, Consul General Parvathaneni Harish and several other local and state offi cials.

The program, which was held at India House on Friday, Jan 24, and was attended by over 300 guests, started with an invocation by Chinmaya Mission Acharya Gaurang Nanavaty. The clinic, a part-nership between India House and Harris Health System, was hailed as a fi ne example of public-private partnership in opening remarks by David S Lopez, President and CEO of

Harris Health System. Dr Ericka Brown, adminis-

trator of Harris Health Ambu-latory Care Services, described Sareen Clinic as the fi rst free clinic which will provide walk-in care for patients 18 months and older. She also introduced several offi cials of Harris Health who had worked on the project.

As reported earlier, this clinic will operate all week, including half day Saturday. It will be serviced by full time physicians, nurses, medical assistants and administrative staff. On two days, it will open at 7 a.m. and on two other days it will close at 7 p.m. thus help-ing those individuals who can come only early morning or

late evening. One unique ser-vice in the Sareen Clinic will be Physical Therapy (P.T.) and Occupational Therapy (O.T.) which is available today at only one of many clinics run by Harris Health System.

Dr Virendra Mathur, a trust-ee of India House, said the Sareen Clinic was a great en-hancement for the mini clinic and well-woman clinic that India House already operates with the help of volunteer doc-tors. He thanked the major do-nors of India House, the Jindal family and Choudary and An-gela Yalamanchili, who had each given a million dollars. Mathur said it took two years for the idea to become reality and thanked Emmett and Har-

ris Health offi cials for their help and guidance in the pro-cess.

After a short video of India

House activities, Judge Em-mett addressed the gathering describing the clinic as a com-ing together of two great orga-nizations. He said the clinic will go some way in lightening the burden on the county’s hos-pital system. “This is humanity at its best, something I don’t get to say often. This will pay more dividends in the future than anything we have done,” he said.

Consul General Harish con-gratulated India House saying such micro-level initiatives go a long way in creating a healthy society. He suggested such a program could be repli-cated in other parts of the state and country with help from the Indian community.

Dr Durga Agrawal, a trustee of India House, introduced Bal and Rita Sareen, who live in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and had a long association with Houston through the Hindu Worship Society and the Pun-jabi Culture Cub. Sareen, an engineering graduate of Ranchi University who also taught at IIT Delhi, runs a company that makes shell and tube exchang-ers used in the petrochemical industry. Replying to the fe-licitation, Sareen, the major donor for the clinic along with the Yalamanchilis and Ra-jinder and Sandeep Soni, spoke warmly of his close association with the late Dr M Paul Mehta, who introduced him to India House. “He suggested I join India House and I couldn’t say no,” Sareen said. “Others have worked tirelessly for the clinic and are giving me the credit and I am taking it,” he quipped.

Congressman Al Green re-peated the India House slogan -My house, your house - and said we must all support and sa-lute India House as this same-day facility will be a relief to Ben Taub and other hospitals in the area. “Healthcare in the richest country in the world should not become wealthcare. It should be available to all who become ill,” he said. He took on the job of cheerleader and emcee, recognizing all elected offi cials and their rep-resentatives. “This is a biparti-san event,” he said and invited them all for photographs.

A tour of the facility and re-freshments were given after a short entertainment program featuring students of Natraj School of Dance.

— Rajeev Gadgil

India House inaugurates Sareen Clinic

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett presents a memento to Rita and Bal Sareen. Others are U.S. Rep Sheila Jackson-Lee, left, andU.S. Rep. Al Green and Consul-General of India, P. Harish, right.

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY,JANUARY 29, 2014 • PAGE 11

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INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014 • PAGE 13

COMMUNITY NEWS

Maha Shivratri Celebration at Sanatan Shiv Shakti Mandir of HoustonThe First Jyotir Lingam, a Replica of GOD Somnath & Maa Shri Ambaji, in Houston.

Please Come with your family and Friends and pray at Our New Temple.Mahapuja at 5:00 PM. Arati 7:00 pm. Four-Praharpooja will continue till 6:00 a.m. on Feb 28List your name for Pooja with the Priest.Mrutyunjaya Japa Yajna will continue for the whole day.For Mahapooja, a donation of $201.00 is appreciated;For Abhishek during daytime a donation of $21.00 is appreciated, and Milk for Ab-hishek & Prasad is welcome.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Maha Pooja – 5:00 pm To 7:00 pm First Prahar pooja – 9:00 To 12:00 am Second Prahar pooja – 12:00 To 2:00 am Third Prahar pooja – 2:30 To 4:00 am Fourth Prahar Maha Arati - 4:30 to 6:30 am

New Temple is located at:6640 Harwin Drive • Houston, TX 77036For more information or to participate as Yajman, call Pandit Virat Mehta 713-784-5500 or Hardik Raval 361-243-6539Temple Tel: 713-278-9099

Above, India’s Consul-general in Houston, Parvathenini Harish reads the President od India’s message delivered on the eve of India’s 65th Republic Day on Jan. 26 at the consul-general’s residence in Houston. A cross-section of the community attended the fl ag-hoisting ceremony and the reception that followed.Top left, Kruti and Keerthana Bhatt joined by Mrs. Nan-dita Harish sing the National Anthem of India after un-furling the fl ag.

India House in Houston celebrated India’s Republic Day with a fl ag-hoisting ceremony. At left, a section of the community members and children who attended the Re-public Day celebration.A group of children sang the U.S. and Indian national anthems. Dr Virendra Mathur read out the President of India’s speech given on the eve of Republic Day.India House will celebrate its annual fund-raising gala at the Hilton Hotel on Post Oak Blvd on Saturday, Feb 15, from 6:30 p.m. To become a sponsor of the gala, call Yolanda Benoit at 713-929-1905.

PAGE 14 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

COMMUNITY NEWS

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At the 2014 Houston Marathon, Lost Creek Park Half Marathon group with bibs ready to start the race: Left to Right – Nachiappan, Neeta Balsaver, Pankaj Desai, Shibani Balsaver, Vimal Kothari, Kanchan Kabad, Riddhi Desai and Sesh Bala.

Indian Americans at the 2014 Houston Marathon

It was a beautiful day, clear and crisp, temperature about 50 de-gree at 7 a.m. start of the Houston Marathon. A determined group of Indo Americans made their presence felt at the 42nd anniver-sary of the Houston Marathon on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014.

The Chevron Houston Marathon is a world-class event right at our doorsteps and attracts athletes from around the globe. This year there were 13,000 in Full Marathon (26.2 miles) and 12,000 in Half Marathon (13.1 miles) runners registered.

The 5K race was held the previous day for better crowd control and management. There were thousands of volunteers and over 250,000 spectators.

The Marathon starts and ends at the George R. Brown conven-tion center in downtown Houston. Each year the organizers do a better and better job, and this year was no exception.

This year the route was quite different and included stretches on S. Shepherd, San Felipe, Upper Kirby, Bissonnet and the mu-seum district. The organizers received high praise for the selec-tion of the route.

The feeling and excitement when you complete a marathon is unparalleled. You do not remember the pain or the weather but al-ways cherish how thrilling it was completing the course, the tim-ing, the adventure, in all a very exhilarating experience. Besides, you have earned bragging rights!

A casual scanning and observation suggested the participation from the Indian American community at marathons is steadily growing but can be more. There defi nitely should be a greater participation not only in running and walking, but in volunteering and being spectators.

The Houston Marathon is very popular but has limits on how many can sign up. There is a lottery system in place for the last 4 years. Chances of getting selected are better if you enter as a group of 10 rather than as individuals.

As a group, everyone is in or everyone is out! The Lost Creek Park Group of Indo Americans was lucky to get selected for the half marathon, third year in a row now.

The Lost Creek Park group that ran included Nachiappan, Neeta Balsaver, Pankaj Desai, Shibani Balsaver, Vimal Kothari, Kanchan Kabad, Riddhi Desai and Sesh Bala.

For Sesh Bala, this year was the 12th consecutive Half Mara-thon, and for Pankaj Desai his 7th. The veteran marathoner Mal-likarjun Shintri skipped this year but is looking forward to 2015. All completed the half marathon successfully.

Please look out for information on the 2015 Marathon at the site www.chevronhoustonmarathon.com, and consider partici-pating in it. Organizations like USA Fit and Fort Bend Fit will help you get trained for it.You can send an email to SeshBala@hotmail.com to learn more about Marathon participation.

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Filmfare Awards 2013

Best Actor (Male) in a leadingrole goes to Farhan Akhtar forBhaag Milkha Bhag.

Best Actor (Female) in a lead-ing role goes to DeepikaPadukone for Goliyon kiRaasleela – Ram Leela.

Best Debut (Male) Award goesto Dhanush for Raanjhanaa.

Best Debut Female Awardgoes to Vaani Kapoor forShuddh Desi Romance.

Best Actress Award (Critics)goes to Shilpa Shukla for BAPass.

Sony Trendsetter award goesto Chennai Express

Best Actor in a Supporting Role- Nawazuddin Siddiqui wins forThe Lunchbox.

Best Actress in a SupportingRole - Supriya Pathak Kapurfor Goliyon Ki Raasleela - Ram-Leela.

Best Music Award JeetGanguly, Mithoon & AnkitTiwari for Aashiqui 2. RD Bur-

man Award for Upcoming NewMusic Talent SiddharthMahadevan. Best Playbacksinger (Male) Arijit Singh - Tumhi ho from Aashiqui 2

Lifetime AchievementAward to Tanuja.

Remembering his associationwith the actress, AmitabhBachchan said, “She was my firstleading lady (in the film Pyaar kiKahaani) and it is my honor topresent her an award today. Shewas the brightest star then, whileI was just a struggler.

Tanuja got emotional and said,“I want to dedicate this award toall the spot-boys, makeup artists,technicians, directors and produc-ers of my time. We were all like afamily then.

“Thank you very much for allthe lessons I've learnt. It has mademe the person I am.”

Best Playback Singer (Female)Monali Thakur for Sawaar Loonfor Lootera.

Farhan Akhtar (Best Actor) Deepika Padukone (Best Actress)

ANR: Telugu cinema titanLegendary thespian

Akkineni NageswaraRao, who strode theTelugu film world likea colossus in the 60sand 70s and had a stat-ure on par with N TRama Rao, was instru-mental in bringingTelugu film industry toHyderabad.

Nageswara Raodied on Jan 22 at theage of 91.

Born in a humble agrarian family in Krishna district of coastal AndhraPradesh in 1924, he had a brush with theatre at a tender age beforemaking his debut in early 1940s with the film 'Dharmapatni', in whichhe enacted the role of a woman.

His mortal remains were cremated amid police honors as scores offilm personalities, including Union Tourism Minister Chiranjeevi, andhundredsw of fans bade him an emotional farewell on Jan 23.

Nageswara Rao's two sons Venkat and actor Nagarjuna and otherfamily members lit the pyre at the Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad,established by the thespian himself.

Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa expressed grief over thedemise of Nageswara Rao. The chief minister said Rao's death hadleft a void that could never be filled. "In his passing, India has lost oneof its greatest actors and his demise is an irreparable loss to the filmindustry," she said, while recalling her work with the actor in manyfilms, including her first film Manushulu Mamathalu.

Amitabh Bachchan and melody queen Lata Mangeshkar remem-bered Rao as a “wonderful human being.”

“Another great iconic legend of cinema passes away. NageshwarRao, a most affable considerate human! The legend of Telugu cin-ema, who formed the incredible duo with another legend, NTR, leavesbehind an incredible legacy,” Bachchan, 71, tweeted.

Mangeshkar remembered meeting Nageshwara Rao during anaward show four years ago. “I am deeply saddened by his passing.He was not just a great artist but a wonderful human being. I had theopportunity to meet him four years ago… I had received an awardfrom him. May god bless his soul and I pray for his family,” Mangeshkartweeted.

A stalwart in his own right, he went on to act in around 250 films,including some in Tamil and Hindi, in a career spanning seven de-cades and was the recipient of several coveted awards including theDada Saheb Phalke Award.

Nageswara Rao, a contemporary of towering south Indian heroeslike M G Ramachandran and Sivaji Ganesan, had gained the statureequal to that of N T Rama Rao in Telugu film industry.

While N T Rama Rao was popular with the mass audience,Nageswara Rao made a name for himself by playing a variety ofroles, which were liked by the educated middle-classes, besides doingmythological and folk films.

He started off with playing female roles on stage and in films in theearlier stage of his career as women were not allowed to act in thosedays. Nageswara Rao had played a key role in the Telugu film indus-try shifting its base from Chennai to Hyderabad.

A strict disciplinarian in real life, Nageswara Rao earned kudos forhis poignant portrayal of an alcoholic and jilted lover in films like'Devdas', 'Prem Nagar' and 'Premabhishekam'.

Kareena: Bombay Samurai a wacky filmActress Kareena Kapoor, who is ex-

cited about working with Farhan Akhtarin the film Bombay Samurai, says itwill be a very wacky one and she willbe seen in a role unexpected from her.

"The director is from New York whohas made slightly international cinema -Dev Benegal. So, it's a very interestingconcept," the 33-year-old said here dur-ing the making of a green tea ad film.

"It's not a thriller, it's a very whackyfilm, something which my fans wouldnot expect me to do," she added. Benegalis known for films like Road, Movie, SplitWide Open and English August.

Kareena added that Bombay Samurai will be the first of its kindfilm which will have both an international and a commercial release.

"I am doing a very interesting film which is going to star FarhanAkhtar and me. I have never worked with Farhan, he directed me inDon when I did the song. It's also going to be an international filmwhich is going to be the first of its kind, which will get an internationalrelease apart from releasing in mainstream cinema here," she said.

Farhan and Kareena play a couple like no other seen before in ourfilms. They are wacky and unpredictable. The two actors will have aball playing their outgoing zestful characters, says an insider.

Kareena is currently shooting for Rohit Shetty's Singham 2.

**** Aamir Khan-starrer 3 Idi-ots has been nominated for the37th Japan Academy Awards inthe best Outstanding Foreign Lan-guage Film category.

According to the awards' offi-cial website, 3 Idiots, mentionedas I'm sure, go well, has beennominated with Hollywood mov-ies Captain Phillips, Django Un-chained, Gravity and LesMiserables.

**** Pakistani actress VeenaMalik has formally announced herretirement from commercial films.Malik, who tied the knot withDubai-based Pakistani business-man Asad Bashir Khan, revealedthat while films have seen the lastof her, she will still be part of wel-fare projects.

Praise for Parineeti

So far, her role in Hasee TohPhasee has been the most chal-lenging for Parineeti Chopra, whoplays a 'weird' scientist.

"I am shown having moodswings. My behavior and bodylanguage keep changing andpeople around me are constantlytrying to figure out what is wrong.To show quirkiness without over-acting and looking fake was diffi-cult," says Parineeti, further add-ing, "I had to stay very focused. Itis very easy in a romcom to eitherplay a shy or a bubbly girl with alove story in the backdrop alongwith lovely songs and climax. Thisfilm hooked me completely."

Parineeti was director VinilMathew's first choice for the role."I felt that only she could pull offthe quirkiness that the characterrequired,” he says. Adds producerKaran Johar, “This is Parineeti'smost unusual role till date.”Hasee Toh Phasee releases Feb-ruary 7.

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SPORTHUMORINDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014 • PAGE 17

AUCKLAND: RavindraJadeja very nearly pulled off a sen-sational victory with some lustyhits but could not take India homein the last over as the third one-dayer against New Zealand endedin a nail-biting tie on a good bat-ting track on Jan 25.

Chasing New Zealand's stifftarget of 315, largely built aroundopener Martin Guptill's 111, Indiacame back from the dead to tiethe game, riding on R. Ashwin's65 and Jadeja's 45-ball unbeaten66 to save themselves the blushesof another overseas ODI seriesdefeat.

In the thrilling dying momentsof the game, India needed 18 offCorey Anderson's last over for avictory but Jadeja and last manVarun Aaron could get 17. Indianeeded just two runs off the lastball but Jadeja could manage justa single. The tie also ensured thatIndia remained in the number oneposition in the ICC ODI rankings,having regained it on Friday fol-lowing Australia's defeat to En-gland in the fourth one-dayer.

Put into bat for the third time ina row, New Zealand piled up 314with Guptill scoring his fifth ODIcentury and useful contributionsfrom Kane Williamson (65) andLuke Ronchi (38). The scorecould have been much bigger hadthere not been not a minor collapsetowards the end of the inningswhich pegged the Kiwis back tosome extent.

The Indians got off to a fairly

Mirza-Tecau lose in Australian open finalMELBOURNE: India's Sania Mirza and her Romanian partner

Horia Tecau failed to clinch the Australian open mixed doubles title asthey lost to French-Canadian combination of Kristina Mladenovic andDaniel Nestor in straight sets in the summit clash on Sunday, Jan 26.

Sania, who was gunning for her third mixed doubles Grand Slamtitle and second in Australian Open, and Tecau lost 3-6, 2-6 against theFrench-Canadian duo in a 58-minute contest at the Rod Laver Arena.

The French-Canadian pair were clearly the better side in all depart-ments of the game. Sania and Tecau, seeded sixth in the tournament,could not match up their opponents in service, return and rallies thoughthey had lesser number of unforced errors.

Bollywood lens on political actorsRecently, the Shiv Sena said that

Arvind Kejriwal was an item girl andcompared him with Rakhi Sawant, anitem girl who has pretty much fallenoff the 'item' radar of Bollywood.

It's widely accepted that Bollywood,politics and cricket are the three cor-nerstones of Indian society.

We can do without food, and water,but we cannot do without the sedativeof Hindi cinema, shrill politicians andoverpaid cricketers.

The fantasies of cinema keep us offthe streets.

They also provide a glue to this di-verse nation. We transfer our own corruption and guilt onto politicianswhom we have reduced to caricature. This makes us feel better aboutourselves - we are good; they are evil. Cricket, of course, is whatmotivates the nation.

Our productivity goes up when we win.So it doesn't come as a surprise that the Sena chose a Bollywood

star to compare Kejriwal with. Let's push this analogy further.Let's tumble-dry cricket, cinema, political parties and leaders and

see what we can come up with.If the Congress were a movie, it would most certainly be one di-

rected by Manmohan Desai. Ties of blood are paramount, and themotherson relationship towers above all others.

There is the token secularism of the hospital-ICU song. When theson is in the hospital, the mother bursts into song.

She prays to all gods possible, just as the Congress does.Arvind Kejriwal, the great provincial hero, is a mix of Ravi Kishen,

the famous Bhojpuri actor, the 'gamcha' in his case being replaced bythe muffler, and Amitabh Bachchan from Ganga Jamuna Saraswati

We get shots of churches, temples and gurudwaras, which areshown spinning around 360 degrees on screen, reflecting the turbu-lence of the mother's mind.

The BJP is a combination of a Sooraj Barjatya film and Sunny Deolof the late 1990s. It projects joint Hindu family values that films fromthe Barjatya stable do. Children with tikas on their foreheads touchtheir elders' feet. There is a temple in the house.

The son always returns to his native village or small town afterstudying abroad.

In Narendra Modi, the BJP has its Sunny Deol - a decisive, potentstrongman who gets things done, and if need be, can get rabidly ag-gressive when it comes to Pakistan. National security is paramountand the threat is always from without than within.

The AAP is a more complex entity.It is a combination of Manoj Kumar-style patriotism ('This great

nation comes first; we are mere servants of India'), and the angryyoung man Amitabh Bachchan starrers of the 1970s, where one manwas ranged against a callous System, and always imploded with rage.

Kejriwal, the great provincial hero, is a mix of Ravi Kishen, thefamous Bhojpuri actor, the 'gamcha' in his case being replaced by themuffler, and Amitabh Bachchan from Ganga Jamuna Saraswati.

The film flopped but the muffler was the real star of that film, goingon to become the biggest fashion statement in the small towns of northIndia since the invention of the foldable back-pocket comb.

If we look at these three parties in terms of the cricketing world,then the Congress is like the Australian team under Steve Waugh,unbeatable in the past, but floundering now.

The BJP is like a resurgent England, which lost its way for decades,but is a feared team now.

The AAP is like Kenya which, in one cricket World Cup, coachedby Sandeep Patil, shocked everyone by reaching the semi-finals.

All three have different sartorial styles - Modi and his Modi kurta,Kejriwal and his bomber jacket and Rahul in his sports day Congress- blame the outsider for all ills, and where possible block the outsider.

So 'Bahar se aaye badmash log' (read Africans) sell drugs to our'yuva peedhi' and destroy them.

The language is as rough and rabble-rousing as the Shiv Sena's:'Tumko janta maregi' (reference to politicians from other parties) and'Aise logo ke mooh par to thookna chahiye'.

There is a proposal to block the bulk of seats in Delhi governmentcolleges for students belonging to Delhi. Ideas like this work for theSena because its ambitions are limited to one city.

The AAP has national ambitions; what works for them in Delhi willend up alienating its middle class base elsewhere.

They speak different languages - there's Modi's chaste school mas-ter Hindi; Kejriwal's auto driver Haryanvi idiom ('Ye de diyo/ Vo kardiyo'); and Rahul's Doon School Hindi.

Together these three form the scalene triangle of Indian politics.Ideologically too, these parties have their clear dividing lines with theBJP being right-of-centre and the Congress being left-of-centre.

It's the AAP that is the most confused, veering between extremeleft and extreme right, and national and regional ambitions.

Right-wing In its extreme left avtar, the AAP has blocked the entryof IKEA and Walmart into Delhi; it has also returned to the populistsubsidy model of the socialist years. In its extreme right avatar, itresembles the Shiv Sena. — The Daily Mail

Jadeja enables India to tie 3rd ODI

New Zealand wins fourth ODI by 7 wickets Ross Taylor struck his ninth

ODI century to enable NewZealand seal the five-match se-ries against India — winning thefourth game on Tuesday by sevenwickets and taking an unassailable3-0 lead.

In a must-win encounter, India,batting first, put up a competitive278 for five in 50 overs.

The Indian batsmen were ledby Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whoremained unbeaten on 79 off 73balls while Ravindra Jadeja scored62 not out off 54. Opener RohitSharma made 79 off 94 balls.

The Indians, however, lost thegame because of their erratic fastbowling, negating the good workdone by spinners Jadeja andRavichandran Ashwin.

The Kiwis achieved the targetwithout any hiccups with 11 ballsto spare. Ross Taylor hit an un-beaten 112 off 127 balls while cap-tain McCullum remained not outon 49. Kane Williamson alsostruck a valuable 60.

Jesse Ryder (19) and MartinGuptill (35) gave the hosts a fly-ing start and they reached 50 inthe seventh over. Williamson andTaylor made sure that the bound-aries kept flowing. They added130-runs for the third-wicket be-fore Williamson was run out byJadeja’s direct hit.

Taylor and McCullum then tookthe team home safely with their92-run unfinished stand. Taylordealt only in fours hitting 15 ofthem while the captain hit threesixes and four fours in his 56-ballknock.

Earlier in the day, Rohit Sharmastabilized the innings up the orderwhile Dhoni and Jadeja struck aquick unbeaten 127-run stand forthe sixth-wicket to power India towhat looked like a good total.Dhoni and Jadeja smashed theKiwis to all parts of Seddon Parkfor 100 runs in the last 10 overs.

India opened with Sharma andVirat Kohli, who was promoted upthe order in place of ShikharDhawan, who made way forAmbati Rayudu.

Both Kohli (2) and AjinkyaRahane (3) perished playing thepull shot again.

Sharma, who was dropped byTaylor on 14 at slips off Southee,made the most of the opportunityand brought the innings back ontrack with Rayudu (37).

The duo added 79 runs for thethird-wicket and played some daz-zling shots. Rayudu struck threefours and two sixes while Sharmahammered four maximums and sixfours.

Just when it looked that Indiahad recovered some ground, they

suffered a mini batting collapse,from 101 for two they were downto 151 for five. Dhoni and Jadejathen took control of the proceed-ings and blasted their way throughto fiery half-centuries.

India 278 for 5 in 50 overs(R Sharma 79, Kohli 2, Rahane3, Dhoni 79, Rayudu 37, Jadeja62; Southe 2 for 36, Mills,Bennett, Williamson 1 wkt each)

New Zealand 280 for 3 in48.1 overs (Guptill 35, Ryder 19,Williamson 60, Taylor 112 n/o,McCullum 49 n/o; Shami andAaron 1 wkt each)Ross Taylor

good start but Shikhar Dhawan(28) and Rohit Sharma (39) againsquandered the start to let theteam down badly.

The quick dismissals of the in-form Virat Kohli (6) and AjinkyaRahane (3) were a huge jolt forthe visitors who suddenly slumpedto 79 for four from 64 for no loss.Dhoni (50) and Suresh Raina (31)stitched 67 runs for the fifthwicket to keep India in the hunt.Ravichandran Ashwin and Jadejathan put on 85 runs for the sev-enth wicket to raise hopes of astunning victory.

New Zealand 314 all out in50 overs (Guptill 111, Williamson65, Ronchi 38, Southee; Jadeja 2for 47, Shami 2 for 84, one wkteach B. Kumar, Ashwin, Varun).India 314 for 9 in 50 overs(Dhawan 28, R. Sharma 39,Raina 31, Dhoni 50, Jadeja 66 n/o, Ashwin 65; Anderson 5 for 63,Bennett 2 for 41)

Jadeja hit 4 sixes and 5 fours inhis knock

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By Osho

We have not yet come to thepoint where governments can bedissolved. Prince Kropotkin wasagainst the government, the law.He wished to dissolve them.

I am also an anarchist, but in atotally opposite way. I want toraise our consciousness to thepoint where government becomesfutile, courts remain empty, andnobody is murdered, raped, tor-tured or harassed. Do you see thedifference?

Prince Kropotkin’s emphasis is:dissolve governments.

My emphasis is: raise our con-sciousness to the point where gov-ernments become, of their ownaccord, useless; to the point thatcourts start closing, that policestart disappearing because thereis no work, judges are told, “Findsome other job.”

I am an anarchist from a verydifferent dimension. First letpeople be ready -- and govern-ments will disappear on their ownaccount. I am not in favour ofdestroying governments; they arefulfilling a certain need.

Man is so barbarous, so ugly,that if he is not prevented by force,society will be in chaos. PrinceKropotkin is not an anarchist; heis in favour of chaos.

I want human society to be-come a harmonious whole, a vastcommune all around the world:

People meditating, without guilt,with great serenity, silence; peoplerejoicing, dancing, singing; peoplewho have no desire to competewith anybody; who have droppedthe very idea that they are specialand have to prove it by becomingthe president of America; peoplewho are no longer suffering fromany inferiority complex, so nobodywants to be superior, nobody bragsabout his greatness.

Governments will evaporatelike dewdrops in the early morn-ing sun. But till that momentcomes, governments are needed.

It’s simple; if you are sick,

medicines are needed.Prince Kropotkin wants to de-

stroy medicines. I want you to behealthy so you don't need medi-cines. Automatically you willthrow them -- what will you dowith all those medicines?

I am not against medicines; Iam against sickness which makesmedicines necessary. I would likea healthier humanity – and there-fore there will be no need formedicines. Yes, I am an anarchist,my anarchism is totally different.The words remain the same, theyjust acquire new meanings.

I want one world, one lan-guage, one religiousness, one hu-manity, and when humanity is re-ally grown-up in consciousness,one government.

Government is not somethingto brag about. It is an insult. Itsexistence says to you that you arestill barbarous, civilisation has nothappened; otherwise what is theneed of a government to rule you?

If all crimes disappear, if allfears that others can exploit you,murder you, disappear, what willyou do with this whole bureau-cracy of government? You can-not continue it, because it is a bur-den on the economy, a big bur-den, and it goes on becoming big-ger and bigger.

Hierarchies have a tendency tobecome bigger and bigger, for thesimple reason that everybodywants not to work, everybodyhates work. So everybody needsmore assistance; the work isgrowing.

I am a category in myself, be-cause my approach is totally dif-ferent. I am not against govern-ment; I am against the need forgovernment. I am not againstcourts; I am against the need forthe courts. Some day, some time,I see the possibility that we willlive without any control -- religiousor political -- because we will bea discipline unto ourselves. —Condensed from From Miseryto Enlightenment, CourtesyOsho Iternational Foundation.

A different kind of anarchistBy Marguerite Theophil

Many ‘harmless’ habits thatwe over-indulge in like nail-biting,shopping, web-surfing, continuoustexting or checking for messages,overworking, procrastinating, gos-siping, watching too much televi-sion, and too many cups of tea orcoffee, can become what arecalled “soft addictions” that limitour potential, ultimately draining usof both energy and self-respect.

Unlike hard addictions, whichare usually related to a chemicalsubstance, you don't die from softaddictions.

"But you don't really live, either,"said Judith Wright, author of TheSoft Addiction Solution, who la-beled this phenomenon.

Soft addictions begin as normal,everyday, soothing activities, butcan end up numbing your feelingsand leaving you drained of energy.Some addictions like televisionzone you out; others like shoppingbring temporary ease.

Overeating or overusing gad-gets are the adult equivalent ofthumb-sucking. Though these feellike solutions to a problem, theycan get in the way of leading amore fulfilling life.

They can also often have long-term consequences. Stress snack-ing can cause you to be constantlyunhappy about how you look, howyour clothes don’t fit, and worse,get you to an unhealthy weight.

A runaway shopping addictioncan destroy your finances, or atleast cause you to lie about it.

Excessive caffeine intake cancause headaches, insomnia, irri-tability and anxiety.

Too much TV on a regular ba-sis, especially at night, makes itboth hard to sleep and hard towake up.

Thought to be patterns that be-gin innocuously in early life,Nathalie Anderson’s fairytale takeoff poem on the subject humor-ously yet painfully reveals the truthabout soft addictions:

“… And so it's been. The primprincess royal, gifted with itty–bitty knitted booties, now acquiresshoes — so many, she'll never goslip–shod or round–heeled, a pairfor every coloured thread in ev-ery Persian carpet…

There's a prince who bets onponies. There's a prince who mar-ries show–girls. There's a princesswho reads twelve mysterieswhenever she's down…”

Because they seem so benign,and we even sheepishly admitthem or laugh them off, often, it’sfriends, family or colleagues whopoint out when this gets in the wayof our work, relationships or otheraspects of our lives.

Try to overcome your soft addictionsIf people tease you about always being late, your friends get mad

when you are texting while seeming to engage with them, your hus-band complains that you spend more time with your online friendsthan him, if your wife points out you are becoming a couch potato -these are warnings of a soft addiction.

Also pay attention to those little feelings of discomfort that softlybut persistently nag you when you’re off track.

You have to recognise that there is a deeper need or hunger underthe soft addiction. You need to make the distinction between what youwant and what you hunger for.

As Wright said, "You might want a new designer dress, but you'rereally hungry to feel good about yourself."

The first step to beating a soft addiction requires making a commit-ment to higher quality of life. When we pay attention to where our softaddictions are getting in the way of our well-being, daily functioning,our intimacy, and ultimately our dreams, we can regain hours of wastedtime, choose health-supporting options, save money wasted on com-fort-shopping, and restore a sense of meaning and purpose in our lives.

In defence of the GitaI read with great

interest MeghnadDesai's views onthe Bhagavad Gita,as expressed in hisinterview withNarayani Ganeshrecently.

I do not wish toengage directlywith the views ex-pressed, rather tooffer a somewhatdifferent view ofthe Bhagavad Gita,a view whichwould hopefullysatisfy both the re-ligious and secularreadings of the Bhagavad Gita.

The Gita is no doubt a world classic, a literary and philosophicalcreation and one of the Indian literary treasures.

Let me leave aside the question of composition, i.e. whether it hasbeen compiled by one author or more, and let me leave aside thequestion of it origin; whether its source is divine or human.

Let me focus on its coherency, and ask, is the Gita a coherenttreatise? Does it make sense as a religious, theological or philosophi-cal work? Moreover, does the Gita have a potential for further devel-opment, perhaps becoming more influential in India and beyond?

To my mind the answer to all these questions is simply "yes". TheGita is indeed coherent, makes sense and to my mind carries a greatfuture potential.

Like yoga which has its origin in India, but was later discovered bythe world, I believe that the Gita too, having its origin in India, will belater discovered by the world for its unique structure and far reachingideas. The Gita's main doctrine is the doctrine of Karma Yoga, or thedoctrine of the yoga of action. This doctrine takes as its point of depar-ture action, but not any action, rather action which is according todharma. Having promoted this type of action, i.e. action which is ac-cording to dharma, it then starts to sublimate or refine it, thus cleansingit from ulterior motivations.

As such it gradually turns into a yogic type of action, it becomeenriched by jnana, i.e. Upanishadic knowledge of moksha, and turnsinto Bhakti or loving devotion to the supreme lord. Having this richcomposition, it satisfies yogis, jnanis and bhaktas, as they all find thefulfillment of their faith in it.

The Gita also has the ability to connect East and West, as it relatesto Western culture through it idea of monotheism, or the divinity ofKrsna. At the same time, it relates to Eastern Culture and specificallyChinese, through its naturalistic aspects, such as the idea of the gunas,derived from Sankhya philosophy and prevailing the text, which issimilar to the Chinese idea of yin-yang.

In summary, I believe that the Bhagavad Gita is not only a scriptureof the past, but of the future as well. — By Dr. Ithamar Theodor

The body sacredOur body is precious. It is our vehicle for awakening. Treat it with

care. — Gautama BuddhaHere in this body are the sacred rivers: here are the sun and moon

as well as all the pilgrimage places... I have not encountered anothertemple as blissful as my own body. — Saraha

Hallow the body as a temple to comeliness and sanctify the heartas a sacrifice to love; love recompenses adorers. — Khalil Gibran

Human beings protect the purity of manmade temples. Similarly,looking after the sanctity of this human body, a temple created by God,should become a spiritual endeavour that is of utmost importance. —Rameshbhai Oza

Your emotions are your inner guidance system. They alone will letyou know whether you are living in an environment of biochemicalhealth or in an environment of biochemical distress. — ChristianeNorthrup

INDIAINDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014 • PAGE 19

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Alagiri, ousted, predicts DMK rout

Maharashtra leads in attacks on Christians,says Catholic forum report

Boycott Salman callMUMBAI: A section of cler-

ics has asked Muslims to boycottSalman Khan's films and the prod-ucts he endorses till he apologizesfor saying Narendra Modi neednot express regret for the 2002Gujarat riots.

Angry voices have risen fromthe community after the actor flewkites with the Gujarat CM recentlywhile publicizing his latest movieand seemingly endorsed the BJPleader's push to be the next primeminister. After calling Modi a"great man" in Ahmedabad,Salman told a news channel lastweek that there was no need forthe CM to apologise for the riotsas the judiciary had given him aclean chit.

"Salman's statement has hurtthe sentiments of Muslims and thecommunity should boycott theactor's present and future filmsand the products he endorses un-less he apologises," said MaulanaEjaz Kashmiri, a member of theAll India Ulema Council and animam at a mosque in Bhendi Ba-zaar in Mumbai.

MUMBAI: Maharashtra haswitnessed among the largest num-ber of communal attacks on Chris-tians in 2013, second only toKarnataka, says a recently-re-leased report by the CatholicSecular Forum (CSF), an organi-zation chaired by Justice MichaelSaldanha, former judge at theBombay and Karnataka highcourts. Across the country, thereport points at 4,000-odd offensesaimed at Christians, with 400clergy and 100 churches attackedin a year.

While Karnataka may havehad a higher number of attackson Christians over the last year,the report suggests thatMaharashtra is the next Hindutvalaboratory. "The new governmentin Karnataka is sensitive to theattacks on Christians. However,in Maharashtra, the police and thelower levels of state administra-tion are highly saffronized," saidJoseph Dias, author of the reportand general secretary of CSF.

From the desecration of a heri-tage cross in Mumbai and a statueof Jesus at Mangaon to violentattacks on priests and nuns acrossthe state, Dias says few otherminorities would have been as tol-erant to such attacks as Christianshave been. "We're looked at aseasy targets as we do not fightback. We are taught to turn theother cheek."

Growing attacks on India'sChristian minority form the unre-ported story of communalism inIndia, says Harsh Mander, socialactivist.

"Attacks on Christians are of alow intensity, though very wide-

spread. You don't have the sort oflarge outbreaks that you see incase of Hindu-Muslim clashes,and hence attacks on Christiansoften do not attract the same at-tention.

“However, there is a patternemerging when it comes to attackson Christians. The hate propa-ganda about conversions, how-ever, is not backed by evidence toshow any large increase in India'sChristian population," saidMander.

HYDERABAD: A wannabepilot, eager to send a message ongrowing social inequality in Indiaand widespread corruption, car-ried out one of the biggestjewellery heists in recent timesand cheerfully surrendered beforeflummoxed cops who were grop-ing for clues across the country.

Nearly 48 hours after the sen-sational robbery at the Tanishqshowroom, 23-year-old G KiranKumar said he stole jewelleryworth Rs 6 crore from a store inthe heart of Hyderabad to pay forhis pilot training course and alsoget a corrective surgery done onhis polio-stricken cousin, before the'aam aadmi' in him had a changeof heart.

"I am fed up with the way thesystem is functioning these days.Politicians are thieves who loot usfor five years and I became a thiefjust for a night to show the worldthe growing inequality in the coun-try," Kumar, who has intermedi-ate level education, said.

"If given a chance, I can servethe society better than any politi-cian," said Kumar, who has fourbrothers and a widowed motherat home to feed from the paltrymoney he earns as a mason. "Ifyou are poor, no one cares aboutyou," said Kumar, underscoringhow in India the rich-poor dividehas widened to an all-time high inurban areas.

Kumar, the prime accused,

walked into a local televisionchannel's office late on Sundayand told the receptionist that hewas the one who had carried outthe heist.

"My cousin Anand needsmoney to undergo a surgery. Wetried to get help, but no one cared,"he told the police later.

Ten special teams of theHyderabad police were search-ing for professional offendersacross the country and were at aloss for words when confrontedabout how the two rookies pulledoff a heist in a high-security areaclose to the chief minister's campoffice.

Kumar took the police to hishome in suburban Hyderabad andshowed them the booty, neatlypacked in a travelling bag.

"On questioning, Kumar initiallyclaimed that he alone committed

the burglary to expose loopholesin the security apparatus and so-ciety in general. But when con-fronted with CCTV evidence, heconfessed to the involvement ofhis cousin, Anand," Hyderabadpolice commissioner AnuragSharma said.

During interrogation, a smilingKumar, who hails from Gunturdistrict, said he too, like thousandsof other youth had landed inHyderabad to pursue his dreams.

Kumar, who broke into thestore on Friday night, Jan 24,through a 'soft spot' in the rearwall, said. According to their plan,the duo carried out a recce ofTanishq a few times and on Janu-ary 22 night they began chisellingthe rear wall. They finished remov-ing most of the brick that night it-self and returned home. The nextday, Kumar again went to theTanishq store and discovered thatno one had noticed the drilling andreturned there with Anand onJanuary 24 night for the burglary.

After entering the shop, Anandbroke shelf locks and stole 15.5kg of gold ornaments and valuablegems worth Rs 5.98 crore. Afterputting the loot in a bag, they qui-etly walked all the way back toRasoolpura, as they had no moneyto pay for an auto or cab.

To fox sniffer dogs from de-tecting their scent, they sprinkledchilli powder at the scene of of-fence, he said.

Based on his confession, policerecovered 528 gold bangles, 40bracelets, 33 necklaces, 89 pen-dants, 58 ear studs, 98 rings, colourstones and emeralds, all worth Rs5.75 crore.

The police are now on the look-out for Anand, who left the citywith three gold bangles. On Sun-day, police had said that the secu-rity guards were from ISS agency,but later clarified that they actu-ally belong to SIS security agency.

Police recovered gold bangles,bracelets, necklaces, pendants,ear studs, rings worth Rs. 5.75crore.

Jewel thief seeks social change, surrenders on TV

G. Kiran Kumar

CHENNAI: Former UnionMinister M.K. Alagiri, who wassuspended from the DMK, saidhe would not contest the LokSabha election this year.

Asked whether he would fieldrival candidates against officialDMK candidates in the LokSabha polls as he did in the 2001Assembly elections, Alagiri saidthere was no need for him to doso as they would bring about theirown defeat.

To a question whether he wassuspended from the party for re-fusing to accept the leadership ofhis younger brother and party trea-surer M.K. Stalin, he said he wasnot aware of it, but his suspensionwas a planned move.

Alagiri added that his suspen-sion was a prize given to him bythe party leadership for seekingjustice. Alagiri said when five ofhis supporters were suspendedfrom the party, he took up the is-sue, especially the complaints ofKottampatti Rajendran, with partyleader M. Karunanidhi. “Rajen-dran brought to my notice the ir-regularities in the organizationalpoll. When I took the complaintsto the party president, he prom-

ised to investigate the matter inconsultation with the organizationsecretary. But, it was a falsepromise. Democracy is dead in theDMK,” he said and added, “I willreveal details about the irregulari-ties at a media conference onJanuary 31 in Madurai.”

Refuting allegations that he wascreating chaos in the party orga-nization, Alagiri wonderedwhether putting up posters was il-legal. “Let them explain what kindof trouble I have created. Wherewas the general secretary, whohas self-respect, when postershailed Mr. Stalin as future ChiefMinister and future of the partywhen the party president is alive,”he said.

M.K. Alagiri

Apex court refuses toreview gay sex verdict

NEW DELHI: The SupremeCourt on Tuesday, Jan 28, refusedto revisit its verdict criminalizinggay sex. A bench of Justice H LDattu and Justice S J Mukhopa-dhaya, in chamber proceedings,dismissed several petitions filed bythe Centre and gay rights activ-ists against its December 2013verdict declaring gay sex an of-fence punishable up to life impris-onment. In a big setback to theLGBT community, the SupremeCourt had on December 11 setaside the Delhi high court judg-ment decriminalizing gay sex andthrown the ball into Parliament'scourt for amending the law.

The judgment revived the pe-nal provision making gay sex anoffence punishable with life impris-onment in a setback to peoplefighting a battle for recognition oftheir sexual preferences. Seek-ing a stay on the operation of thejudgment, gay rights activists hadsubmitted that criminalizing gaysex violates the fundamental rightsof the LGBT community.

PAKISTANPAGE 20 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

Six guards of Spanish cyclist killedQUETTA: Gunmen shot dead at least six guards who were es-

corting a Spanish cyclist through Pakistan's volatile Balochistan prov-ince. They were about 31 miles west of the provincial capital Quetta,in the district of Mastung, when they were ambushed.

Cyclist Javier Colorado was slightly hurt after falling off his bike.A message on Facebook said he intended to continue his trip from

Europe on into Asia and the rest of the world.Colorado had arrived from Iran on Tuesday evening, Jan 21. He

was urged by the authorities to spend the night at a local police stationbefore being assigned a 12-man armed escort, in two vehicles, for hisonward journey. Soon after setting off, a group of armed men at-tacked the convoy, shooting dead at least six of the guards and woundingfive others. Colorado was unhurt in the attack. A BBC correspondentsays, “It seems bizarre that the Pakistani authorities would allow aWestern tourist to cycle through the region, particularly in light of twoCzech women, who were kidnapped last March as they traveled fromIran through Balochistan, are still missing.”

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Malala’s book launch scrubbedPESHAWAR: An event to launch activist Malala Yousafzai's mem-

oir was cancelled after pressure from local officials in Peshawar, or-ganizers say. Tuesday's book launch in Peshawar could not go aheadafter "direct intervention by the provincial government", Dr KhadimHussain told BBC Urdu. Police and provincial officials said it washalted over security concerns.

But Imran Khan, whose PTI party runs the province, said he wasat a loss to understand the decision.

Malala Yousafzai was 14 years old when she was shot in the headby the Taliban in the north-western Swat valley in October 2012 be-cause of her campaign to promote girls' education.She and her familynow live in the British city of Birmingham where she has been receiv-ing treatment. She was not expected to attend the launch.

Malala has described the memoir, I am Malala, as her own story.The book launch had been organized by Peshawar University's

Area Study Centre in collaboration with the Bacha Khan EducationTrust (BKET), a non-profit education network set up by the secularPashtun ANP party, and a civil society NGO called StrengtheningParticipatory Organisation (SPO).

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Shah Farman told theAFP news agency that the local government had indeed halted theceremony. "It is true that we stopped them and there were manyreasons for that."

Bilawal favors waron Taliban

KARACHI: Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Chairman of the PakistanPeoples Party (PPP) and son offormer prime minister BenazirBhutto has called on the country’spolitical leadership to wake up tothe threat posed by militant groupsincluding the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pa-kistan (TTP).

Speaking to the BBC's LyseDoucet in an interview, Bilawalsaid some of the country’s politi-cal leaders were afraid to take aclearly defined position on the is-sue of talks with the Taliban.

The PPP chairman said “weare failing” as the country’s bravevoices were dying out one afterthe other, adding that if we actedin unison, the Taliban would notbe able to challenge us.

On talks with the Taliban,Bilawal said Pakistan shouldmaintain a strong position and forthat the militants must first be de-feated and subdued. There wasno consensus in the country, hesaid, on the issue of holding talksand whatever consensus hadbeen developed was wasted bythe politicians who calledPakistan’s war America’s war.

Sharif pushes for another bidfor peace talks with Taliban

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced Wednes-day that his government would pursue peace talks with Taliban mili-tants despite a recent spate of attacks, naming a four-member com-mittee to facilitate the talks.

Addressing a session of the National Assembly after a span of sixmonths, Sharif said the government wanted to give peace anotherchance.

The premier announced the constitution of a four-member team –comprising his Advisor on National Affairs Irfan Siddique, veteranjournalist Rahimullah Yusufzai, former ambassador and expert on Af-ghanistan affairs Rustam Shah Mohmand and former ISI official Major(Retd) Amir Shah – to holds talks with the militants.

He said that Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan would as-sist the committee.

Sharif also called on the militants to observe a ceasefire in the tele-vised speech. He said that he would personally supervise the perfor-mance of the committee, adding that he was sincerely trying to restorepeace in the country and expressed his hope that the other side wouldreciprocate in a similar manner.

The announcement came the same day Taliban militants targetedparamilitary soldiers, killing at least three Rangers personnel in sepa-rate bomb attacks in Karachi.

Speaking to Dawn.com from an undisclosed location via telephone,Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Shahidullah Shahid claimedresponsibility for the attacks. Shahid said the Taliban have convened ameeting of the Shura (council) to “assess the committee formed bythe federal government for peace talks.”

“Taliban are united under Fazlullah and rumors about rifts are base-less,” he said. Sharif long has supported talks as the best way to endthe years of fighting with the Pakistani Taliban. But after a spate ofattacks in January, he has been under pressure to take steps to bringthe country’s violence under control.

His speech came amid speculation that the government would soonauthorise a large-scale military operation against militants.

Speaking to parliamentarians on Wednesday, Sharif said the entirenation – including all state institutions – stand united if the governmentdecides to react to terrorism with full force. “Since the other side hasshown intent to negotiate, we also wish to give peace yet anotherchance,” he said, adding that bitter experiences of the past propelledthe government to hold peace talks to bear fruit.

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014 • PAGE 21

PAGE 22 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

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