The Indian Panorama

Year: 2014

  • Shaadi Ke Side Effects

    Shaadi Ke Side Effects

    STORY: Sid & Trisha have moved beyond dating days. They’ve survived multiple lovers’ tiffs and overcome PMS (read: pre-marriage syndrome). Bravo! Now they are a happily married couple. Wait! Only until a ‘pregnant’ pause changes it all.

    REVIEW: He says it. She disagrees. He reacts. She overacts. He makes mistakes, he says sorry. She makes mistakes, ‘he’ says sorry. So there! Even geniuses like Socrates and Einstein couldn’t crack a fool-proof plan to a ‘happy marriage’. Even novel cosmic concepts like Men are from Mars and Women are from all over the place (lol!) can’t explain this ‘heavenly’ intervention. So then? Let’s take a look at Saket Chaudhary’s insightful story of shaadi and its shocking effects. Sid’s (Farhan) married life seems to be rocking with his adventurous wife Trisha (Vidya), until a chance ‘unprotected’ moment of pleasure lands them with a ‘bundle’ of unwanted problems.

    He puts his musical ambitions to rest, from composing jingles to singing lullabies for his little girl (even breaking into ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ – Wake up, Guns ‘n’ Roses! Hilarious!). Trisha turns into an idiosyncratic, full-time mommy and Sid is left missing their lovely ‘twosome’ life. Pillow talk turns to potty talk and spousal spasms crawl into their shaadi, leading Sid to seek advice from bro-in-law (Ram Kapoor, lending good support). Does the quick-fix save-the-shaadi solution create more cracks, or stoke the chemistry? The best part is that Sid and Trisha don’t ‘fake’ it.

    Ever! They are believable characters living real life situations. Yet, their quirkiness leaves you with delightful guffaws. Saket’s story (sequel to ‘Pyaar Ke Side Effects’) pulls everything together skillfully, with conversations that turn into epigrams and chemistry that exudes wit and lovability. There’s nothing schmaltzy or superficial about it. The director strikes a fine balance between humour and emotion in this slice-of-marriage story.

    The first half takes a while to catch up, but the dialogues (Arshad Sayed) provide ample laughs, while giving wisdom for wedded bliss. Vir Das in his funky avatar is a riot. Vidya is brilliant and hits a high note in the emotional scenes. The film belongs to Farhan who stuns you with his straight-faced witticisms and plethora of expressions that amuse and move dramatically. Single or married, this film will have more of a ‘special effect’ than ‘side effect’ on you.

  • Irremediable Indian inequalities

    Irremediable Indian inequalities

    Inder Malhotra cites the example of frequent parole to Sanjay Dutt to pinpoint Indian inequalities

    All honor to the Bombay High Court for putting its foot down on the ease with which actor Sanjay Dutt, a convict for his role in the horrendous 1993 serial blasts in the western metropolis, has been able to get extension after extension of his parole, initially granted only for a month.

    The honorable judges have underscored that since going to Yerwada jail last year, he had spent 40 per cent of the time out of it because he was earlier allowed a month’s furlough. Obviously, all this has happened simply because of his clout and influence while the parole applications of sons of a lesser God have been gathering dust in one government office or the other.

    No wonder the court directed the state government to set up a committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary to revise the existing rules for parole and furlough so that all prisoners could be treated fairly and equitably. Of course, no one knows how long the revision of the rules would take, especially at election time, and how effective the revised regulations would be.

    Meanwhile, under the existing rules that require only a favorable report by the police and its approval by the Divisional Commissioner, privileged convicts would go on getting a bonanza of paroles and furloughs. While the hearing of the PIL on the parole issue was in progress, Sanjay Dutt intervened, through his lawyer, to plead: “I am not alone to be on parole”.

    He was both profoundly wrong and partially right at the same time. He was utterly wrong because, according to the court’s record, 600 applications for parole had been pending for various lengths of time while the film actor’s parole was being extended from month to month. As if this wasn’t enough the Nagpur Bench of the High Court was driven to making some justifiably sharp remarks on the subject. Another convict in the same case, imprisoned in Nagpur, had petitioned the court that his daughter had died some time ago but the authorities were neither giving him parole nor denying it, thus dragging their feet.

    “Is there no humane consideration in such matters”, observed the judges, “or is such consideration reserved only for film stars?” And Sanjay Dutt is right only to the extent that in that he is not alone in enjoying the kind of parole privileges available to him. Others belonging to his class are doing equally well. For instance, a convicted murderer serving a life sentence in Delhi’s Tihar jail, a son of a powerful politician, also manages to be out of prison either on parole or on medical grounds whenever he likes.

    He is often seen attending marriages or dining in fivestar hotels. All protests against this state of affairs have been of no avail so far. It must be added that after his first trial this young man was set free. Only after huge protests in Delhi on behalf of the young lady he had shot dead a retrial was ordered. What an irony it is that at a time when even the richest and most powerful countries have woken up to the problem of great and growing inequalities and are trying to do something about it, the “Secular and Socialist” Republic of India – to borrow words from the amended Preamble of the Constitution — is a glaring exception.

    Here the governing doctrine among the privileged classes is that inequalities are meant to be preserved, and indeed expanded further. Nothing should happen to “people like us” for any reason whatsoever, and to hell with the rest. They deserve whatever they get. To be sure there has been some criticism of the too frequent paroles to Dutt, but among the movers and shakers of Indian society his critics have been denounced, even abused roundly for being “insensitive”.

    “Don’t these idiots realize that Sanjay’s wife is suffering from TB and needs his presence by her side?” said a socialite the other day. When asked whether the same consideration would apply to other convicts, she scornfully added: “They don’t matter”. The truth is that what is going on now is a relatively low-key repetition of the “our-poor-Sanju” lament that rent the sky exactly a year ago when the final judgment on the 1993 outrage was delivered by the Supreme Court 20 years after the ghastly blasts.

    There was a howl by not only movie moguls and Sanjay’s fans but also from crème de la crème of Indian elite demanding that the “great actor” must not be sent to jail even for a day; the sentence – mandatory in the case of his offence, according to the apex court — must be cancelled or commuted. In this cacophony, nothing else about the horrifying case was discussed, not even the inability of the Indian state to bring to book the mastermind of the massive slaughter and destruction of property, Dawood Ibrahim, who was merrily strutting around in Pakistan most of the time, while making short visits to Dubai.

    A former judge of the Supreme Court, then heading the Press Council, spent most of his time pleading for the remission of the punishment meted out to “Poor Sanju”. He wrote letters to the Governor of Maharashtra and the Government of India demanding that under no circumstances should “Sanju” be sent to prison.

    Almost all the movie moguls of Bollywood and “Sanjay fans” joined the outcry. One particularly loud boss in Indian filmdom argued that he had “reprimanded Sanjay sharply” and that should be enough! The most ridiculous argument for the immediate grant of pardon to Dutt came from the high and mighty among the elite. The famous actor, they said, had become a symbol of “Gandhigiri”. Therefore, he should be left free to continue playing this useful role.

    That was when some people were enraged enough to ask: “When Sanjay was visiting Dawood Ibrahim and his gang regularly and bringing in and storing deadly weapons for them, was he spreading the Mahatma’s message?” They also underscored that of the weapons brought in for D-company’s murderers, the actor had kept to himself three AK-56s. Having failed to get the sentence passed on Sanjay Dutt remitted, the movers and shakers are now busy ensuring that he stays out of jail for the maximum possible time by hook or by crook. Under these circumstances, please forget Article 14 of the Constitution that ensures every citizen complete equality.

  • BRUISES, SCRATCHES WORTH IT FOR ‘RAGINI MMS 2’: SUNNY LEONE

    BRUISES, SCRATCHES WORTH IT FOR ‘RAGINI MMS 2’: SUNNY LEONE

    Actress Sunny Leone enjoyed shooting action sequences for the climax of her forthcoming film “Ragini MMS 2”, and says she feels getting bruised during the shoot was “worth it”. “I love action and it was definitely not easy. Towards the end I shot some action scenes. I worked the hardest for those scenes,” Sunny said. “It was physically very demanding with bruises and scratches all over the body, but it was worth it,” she added.

    Known for her bold image, the Indo-Canadian porn star says that she is open to performing explicit scenes only if a role requires it. “I believe in a role and whatever is required in it that’s what I need to do. If the role requires it, then I will do it,” she added. Directed by Bhushan Patel, “Ragini MMS 2”, will hit screens March 21. It also stars Divya Dutta, Parvin Dabas and Sandhya Mridul.

  • MALLIKA SHERAWAT OFFERED ROLE IN TOP PRIME-TIME SHOW

    MALLIKA SHERAWAT OFFERED ROLE IN TOP PRIME-TIME SHOW

    She has been shuttling between the US and India for a while. However, it seems likely that Mallika Sherawat will be spending a few more months in the Hollywood countryside. According to a statement, the American broadcast network CBS has offered the Bollywood actress a role in one of their top primetime shows. Mallika will join the cast of Hawaii Five-O, a top-rated American TV show.

    The part that she will be playing on the show is being kept secret, but it has been reported that due to her contractual obligation, she had to cancel a previous engagement at the Oxford University where she was scheduled to participate in a debate. Post her rather strong comments at Cannes, Mallika has been invited to the university to speak about women’s rights & equality, but she had to refuse it at the last minute due to the American TV series. Mallika will soon leave for Honolulu, where she will shoot for a couple of weeks for Hawaii Five-O.

  • AAP-BJP clashes- Police failure, bias to the fore

    AAP-BJP clashes- Police failure, bias to the fore

    Almost every newspaper headline on March 6 said the same thing: “Kejriwal’s detention sparks AAP-BJP clashes”. The media, including TV channels, focused on three things: the detention of Arvind Kejriwal and attack on his car in Gujarat; AAP workers’ protests outside the BJP offices in Delhi and elsewhere leading to violent clashes.

    In Delhi 13 AAP activists and 10 BJP supporters were injured. Jhansi, Kanpur and Allahabad also witnessed a similar backlash. This was the day when the Election Commission announced the Lok Sabha poll schedule. It is an ominous beginning. Violence in any form by anyone is unacceptable.

    Arvind Kejriwal’s Gujarat visit would not have attracted the media attention that it did had the Gujarat police not detained his cavalcade. There were protests against his visit to Narendra Modi’s home state and his car was attacked.

    Why was no police protection provided to the former Chief Minister of Delhi? Yet the detention and the attack gave AAP workers no right to resort to protests, that too violent, without prior permission of the authorities when the code of conduct had come into force. The police in Delhi, Lucknow and elsewhere waited for clashes to happen before taking action.

    Why were the workers allowed to gather outside the centrally located BJP office in Delhi? Finally, since the clashes involved workers of both parties, why did the police single out AAP workers for registering cases of rioting and damage to public property against them? Obviously, the police in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat have a lot to answer.

    In the war of words that followed Wednesday’s developments BJP spokespersons were all full of sound and fury, while Arvind Kejriwal, a cool-headed master media strategist, apologized and asked his party workers to maintain calm. Narendra Modi, who is still the Chief Minister of Gujarat, has preferred to keep quiet. Perhaps, he does not want to involve himself in a slanging match with a challenger he calls too small to matter.

  • MIRANDA KERR STRIPS FOR COMMERCIAL

    MIRANDA KERR STRIPS FOR COMMERCIAL

    Supermodel Miranda Kerr has flaunted her curves in shoe company Reebok’s Skyscape advertisement. In the ad, Kerr illustrates what happens after she gets home from a workout by stripping down as she gets ready to take a shower, reports eonline.com.

    She walks through her home, takes off one single piece of clothing – her top, yoga pants and lingerie, at a time. Kerr is seen naked in the shower until she realises she forgot to take off her shoes because they’re “so comfortable, you forget you have them on.”

  • Indian-American scientist creates world’s first 3D fingerprint

    Indian-American scientist creates world’s first 3D fingerprint

    MICHIGAN (TIP): A team of Michigan State University computer scientists led by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur alum Anil Jain have built the first threedimensional model of a human fingerprint.

    This development will not only help today’s fingerprint-matching technology do its job better, but could eventually lead to improvements in security, according to information posted on MSU website.

    What Jain, a University Distinguished Professor of computer science and engineering, and his team did was develop a method that takes a two-dimensional image of a fingerprint and maps it to a 3-D finger surface. The 3-D finger surface, complete with all the ridges and valleys that make up the human fingerprint, is made using a 3-D printer.

    It creates what Jain’s team called a fingerprint “phantom.” Imaging phantoms are common in the world of medical imaging. For example, to make sure an MRI machine or a CT scanner is working properly, it needs to first image an object of known dimensions and material properties. “In health care, a 3-D heart or kidney can be created,” Jain said.

    “Because the dimensions are known, they can be put into a scanner and the imaging system can be calibrated.” In this case, the ultimate goal is to have a precise fingerprint model with known properties and features that can be used to calibrate existing technology used to match fingerprints.

    “When I have this 3-D fingerprint phantom, I know its precise measurements,” said Jain. “And because I know the true dimensions of the fingerprint features on this phantom, I can better evaluate fingerprint readers.” While the 3-D model doesn’t yet have the exact texture or feel of a real finger, it could advance fingerprint sensing and matching technology.

    “Tools like this would help improve the overall accuracy of fingerprint-matching systems, which eventually leads to better security in applications ranging from law enforcement to mobile phone unlock,” Jain said. Members of Jain’s team include Sunpreet Arora, a computer science doctoral student, Kai Cao, a research associate in computer science and engineering and research collaborator Nick Paulter at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

    Jain, who has a B.Tech degree from IIT Kanpur and MS and PhD degrees from Ohio State University, has six US patents on fingerprint matching and has written a number of books on biometrics and fingerprint/facial recognition. Additionally, Jain has also received a number of prestigious awards for contributions to pattern recognition and biometrics.

  • KATIE HOLMES ENDS PARTNERSHIP WITH STYLIST JEANNE YANG

    KATIE HOLMES ENDS PARTNERSHIP WITH STYLIST JEANNE YANG

    Katie Holmes has ended her five-year partnership with stylist Jeanne Yang in their fashion line ‘Holmes and Yang’. Sources revealed that the former wife of Tom Cruise ended the deal on the eve of the Oscars due to an “interpersonal conflict” which has soured things between them, the New York Post reported. Sources added that line, which was launched in 2009, was also having difficulty because its creators live on different coasts and reports suggested that Yang was leaking information about Holmes and Cruise following their divorce.

  • DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

    DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

    STORY: The film is the real-life story of Rodeo cowboy Ron Woodroof, a homophobic electrician, who was diagnosed with HIV in 1985 and given just 30 days to live. Unable to come to terms with his condition, he decided to fight not just the disease, but also the complacent American health-care system.

    REVIEW: A film on an AIDS-stricken protagonist (who, in order to prolong his life, becomes an accidental entrepreneur-crusader-activist) could easily emerge as a melancholic piece of socio-medical drama. Instead, Jean-Marc Vallee uplifts and inspires by just showcasing Ron’s (an emaciated Matthew McConaughey) relentless resilience without glorifying his bigoted views or outrageous (drugs-prostitutes-beer) lifestyle. He is the unlikely hero who knows he is fighting a lost battle. He lives in a trailer park and hates ‘faggots’, who according to him are the only ones to contract AIDS.

    After his friends shun him owing to the ‘disease’ and the doctors give him 30 days to put his affairs in order, instead of succumbing to depression, he becomes his own physician. He discovers and smuggles unapproved but effective drugs into the US from Mexico and other countries for himself and to make money. But somewhere down the line, he also ends up reaching out to those abandoned by society like Rayon (Jared Leto), a transgender woman addicted to cocaine and infected by HIV. Their deep bromance forms an integral part of the story and is far more interesting than the insipid love track between Ron and Dr Eve (Jennifer Garner). What seems like a standard plot is elevated to excellence by the lead actors’ remarkable performances.

    There’s more to McConaughey than the drastic weight loss and an author-backed, Oscar-friendly role. From getting the Texan mannerisms, swagger and his character’s juvenility right, to producing a range of emotions, he reinvents himself and gives the performance of his career. It would be a shame if he doesn’t bag the much-coveted Oscar for it. Leto is a revelation too and deserves the accolades coming his way. Ron died in 1992, seven years after he was diagnosed with HIV. This is his incredible life story, told with a dash of humour and an empathyevoking narrative. Brilliant would be an understatement.

  • Indian Americans Preet Bharara & Mindy Kaling to speak at Harvard Class Day

    Indian Americans Preet Bharara & Mindy Kaling to speak at Harvard Class Day

    WASHINGTON (TIP): Indian Americans Preet Bharara and Mindy Kaling have been selected as speakers for this year’s Class Day ceremonies at Harvard Law School.

    Bharara is the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and has been in the news frequently for his crackdown on securities fraud on Wall Street and his initiation of legal proceedings against Devyani Khobragade, the former Indian Deputy Consul General in New York.

    Of late, his activities led to the arrest and subsequent conviction of Indian American hedge fund manager Mathew Martoma, and started a diplomatic feud between the US and India that still has not been fully resolved. Mindy Kaling, on the other hand, is involved in much lighter affairs. The comedienne is perhaps best known for her hit FOX TV sitcom, “The Mindy Project.”

    Additionally, she has had roles on TV shows such as NBC’s “The Office,” and has featured in hit movies like The 40 Year-Old Virgin and No Strings Attached, in which she played the best friend of Oscar-winner Natalie Portman’s character. Bharara is alum of Harvard, having graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1990 before going on to Columbia University, where he earned his J.D. degree in 1993 and was a member of the Columbia Law Review.

    Before his current job, Bharara was chief counsel and staff director of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts, and also served as the Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York. Kaling is a native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, not far from where Harvard is located.

    She went to rival Ivy League school, Dartmouth College, graduating in 2001. She became an avid cartoonist and stand-up comedian during her time in school, eventually going on to break barriers for south Asian women in Hollywood. Class Day is part of the larger Commencement ceremonies at Harvard Law School; Bharara and Kaling will speak on Wednesday, May 28.

  • BAGGAGE RULES TIGHTENED TO CHECK GOLD IMPORT

    BAGGAGE RULES TIGHTENED TO CHECK GOLD IMPORT

    NEW DELHI (TIP):
    Seeking to check gold smuggling, the government, on March 6, tightened baggage rules, requiring inbound Indian passengers to provide details such as source of funds for importing the metal as well as their air tickets. According to a Revenue Department circular, the baggage receipt issued by the Customs will now include the engraved serial number on gold bars and the item-wise list of ornaments. “Wherever possible, the field officer, may ascertain the antecedents of such passengers, source for funding for gold as well as duty being paid in the foreign currency, person responsible for booking of tickets, and the like,” it said, adding that the decision is aimed at preventing misuse of the gold import facility.

    The Customs apprehend that some unscrupulous elements were smuggling gold by hiring eligible passengers to import gold on their behalf. The norms have been tightened following ‘a spurt in import’ of gold by eligible passengers through various airports in the recent past across the country. Eligible passengers are allowed to import gold up to 1 kg by paying 10 per cent customs duty in foreign currency. Eligible passenger means Persons of Indian Origin or an Indian returning to India after a period of six months of stay abroad.

    The government and the Reserve Bank of India had been expressing concern over spurt in gold import following the curbs, which were imposed to reduce the widening current account deficit (CAD). The curbs included higher import duty (10 per cent) and linking the imports to exports under the 20:80 scheme of the RBI.

  • FLIPKART HITS $1 BILLION IN SALES

    FLIPKART HITS $1 BILLION IN SALES

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Indian e-tailer Flipkart has hit the $1 billion in sales– a feat that it has managed to achieve before its own target and in roughly the same time it took online giant Amazon to do the same in the U.S. “In March 2011, we announced that we wanted to hit $1 billion in gross merchandise value by 2015. At that point, our run rate was $10 million,” said Sachin Bansal, co-founder, Flipkart, in a message. “Today we are proud to announce we have hit a run rate of $1 billion GMV, which means we have grown 100 X in the last three years,” he added.

  • DAIMLER TO SET UP BUS FACTORY AT ORAGADAM

    DAIMLER TO SET UP BUS FACTORY AT ORAGADAM

    CHENNAI (TIP):
    Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) on March 6 laid the foundation stone for a bus-making facility at its existing plant in Oragadam, near Chennai. The new facility will become operational in the second quarter of 2015. It will receive an investment of 50 million (around 425 crore) and will manufacture 1,500 fully built buses a year. “We can scale it up to 4,000 buses a year,” Markus Villinger, head – Daimler Buses India, said. The chassis of the fully built buses – mounted with a front engine and badged as BharatBenz – will be provided by DICV while the body will be built by Wrightbus.

    The Daimler group has consolidated all its bus-making facilities at the Oragadam plant. Its existing range of Mercedes Benz with rear engine will also be made near Chennai. “We believe in India. We believe the growth story of India is intact with all those (sluggish market) hiccups we are having now. In the long term, India can grow at 6%,” Wolfgang Bernhard, Daimler AG, board member, responsible for Daimler Trucks and Buses, said.

    “We will develop a new front engine school and staff bus in partnership with Wrightbus,” Hartmut Schnick, head – Daimler Buses, said. Initially, buses will be made for private purchases and not state transport corporations which are the biggest bus buyers in the country, officials said. The Indian bus market’s size is nearly 40,000 buses a year, which is expected to double in a decade.

  • Indian-American Physicians to bring Issues before Lawmakers

    Indian-American Physicians to bring Issues before Lawmakers

    WASHINGTON (TIP): An influential body of Indian- American physicians is holding its annual legislative day on Capitol Hill March 26-27 to bring issues facing the community before U.S. lawmakers.

    Association of American Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), the largest ethnic organization of physicians, representing over 100,000 physicians of Indian origin, wants to make their voices heard on Capitol Hill and around the nation, it said.

    AAPI’s Annual Legislative Day conference will discuss medicare sustainable growth rate, immigration reform, combating obesity, implementation of affordable care and growing U.S.-India relations, according to a media release.

    Indian-Americans constitute less than one percent of the country’s population, but they account for nine percent of the American doctors and physicians. One out of every seven doctors serving in the U.S. is of Indian heritage, providing medical care to over 40 million of U.S. population.

    Several key lawmakers including Ed Royce Republican chairman of House Foreign Affairs Committee and Joe Crowley and Peter Roskam, Democratic and Republican co-chairman of Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans respectively have confirmed their attendance.

    “AAPI has been seeking to collectively shape the best health care for the people of U.S. with the physician at the helm, caring for the medically underserved as we have done for several decades when physicians of Indian origin came to the U.S. in larger numbers,” said Jayesh Shah, president of AAPI. “AAPI is once again in the forefront in bringing many burning health care issues facing the community at large and bringing this to the Capitol and to the U.S. Congress,” said Sampat Shivangi, Co-chair of AAPI Legislative Affairs Committee.

    As part of comprehensive immigration reform, AAPI has urged the Congress to include international medical graduates also along with international students graduating with degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) for being fasttracked for Green Cards. This proposal would enable highly-skilled workers to remain in the U.S. after receiving their higher education in Am.

  • SAFARICOM, AIRTEL BID FOR ESSAR’S YU

    SAFARICOM, AIRTEL BID FOR ESSAR’S YU

    NAIROBI (TIP): Kenya’s two biggest telecoms operators, Safaricom and the local unit of Bharti Airtel, have made a joint bid for the smallest operator, Indian group Essar Communications’ Yu, the industry regulator said. The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) said it had received applications from the firms to allow the transaction that will see Safaricom and Airtel spend a combined $100 million.

    Local newspaper reports said Safaricom, which is 40% owned by Vodafone, will get Yu’s infrastructure such as base stations in a bid to improve the quality of its network. Meanwhile Airtel is expected to acquire the subscriber base that Yu has built up since entering the Kenyan market in 2008, said The Sunday Nation newspaper. Bob Collymore, CEO of Safaricom, said they would make a formal announcement when the deal is finalised.

  • JLR TO INVEST 100 MILLION POUNDS IN SAUDI ARABIA FOR NEW PLANT

    JLR TO INVEST 100 MILLION POUNDS IN SAUDI ARABIA FOR NEW PLANT

    LONDON (TIP):
    Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is planning to invest 100 million pounds into a new factory in Saudi Arabia to make 100,000 cars a year to meet the booming demand in the Middle East region. The UK-based luxury car maker is close to signing a deal with the Saudi government to build an assembly factory in the east of the country, according to ‘The Sunday Times’. The plant will initially make a new version of its popular Land Rover Discovery and is eventually expected to employ 4,000-5,000 people. It will be JLR’s third big foreign expansion after deals to open factories in China and Brazil were finalised. The Saudi government is also expected to invest in the plant as it seeks to develop its automotive industry.

    The company is likely to begin by assembling cars from components made in Britain, and progress to taking more parts from Saudi companies. The Middle East expansion will be another step in the car maker’s success story since being taken over by the Tata Group in 2008. A new 500 million pounds engine plant in the West Midlands is set to begin production next year. Jaguar confirmed a 240 million pounds agreement late last year to build a factory in Rio de Janeiro, and is also opening a plant in China in a 1 billion pounds joint-venture with the Chinese car maker Chery. The firm sold a record 425,006 vehicles in 2013, up 19 per cent on a year earlier, setting new sales records in 38 markets and recording strong growth across all the big regions.

  • Indian-origin hedge fund manager seeks to overturn conviction

    Indian-origin hedge fund manager seeks to overturn conviction

    NEW YORK (TIP): Indian-origin hedge fund portfolio manager Mathew Martoma, convicted for his role in the most lucrative insider trading scheme in US history, has asked a court to overturn the verdict or give him a new trial as jury bias “tainted” the ruling.

    Martoma, 39, said his conviction should be thrown out because “unrelated” information about his dismissal from Harvard Law school biased the jury against him and the government failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he traded on material, non-public information. Alternatively, he said in a 45-page motion filed in a federal court here that he should face a new trial.

    The motion by the former portfolio manager of CR Intrinsic Investors, a division of SAC Capital, seeks “a judgement of acquittal on all counts”. Martoma, convicted on February 6, will be sentenced on June 10. He was found guilty by a federal jury for his role in the USD 275 million insider trading scheme after a monthlong trial on one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and two counts of securities fraud related to a clinical trial involving Elan Corp and Wyeth, now part of Pfizer Inc, for an experimental drug to treat Alzheimer’s.

    While the maximum prison sentence on all the three counts is 45 years, Martoma could face up to 15 to 20 years in prison based on federal sentencing guidelines, which will take into account the gains reaped by SAC from the trading. Martoma also faces a fine of over USD 5 million on the charges. In his motion, Martoma said the government failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he committed any of the crimes he was charged with and that he obtained non-public information from two doctors who knew about the clinical trial.

    The government also could not prove that the two doctors obtained a personal benefit from sharing confidential material with Martoma, the motion said. The prosecutors could not prove that Martoma agreed with the doctors who knew of the information about the clinical trial to commit insider trading or had the “requisite criminal intent to do so”, it said.

  • Gold, oil prices rise as tensions build in Ukraine

    Gold, oil prices rise as tensions build in Ukraine

    London (TIP):
    The price of gold is the highest it’s been in four months as tensions escalate over Russia sending troops into Ukraine. Traders often consider gold a safer investment in times of political or financial turmoil. Crude oil prices also rose sharply over worries that Russia’s oil exports could be disrupted if the situation gets worse and Western governments impose economic sanctions on Moscow.

    The actively traded April contract for gold rose $28.70, or 2.2 percent, to $1,350.30 an ounce Monday, the highest price since October. Silver also rose. Crude oil rose $2.33, or 2.3 percent, to $104.92 a barrel. Wheat futures also rose sharply. The May contract rose 29.25 cents, or 4.9 percent, to $6.315 a bushel. Corn futures rose as well, while soybean futures edged lower.

  • Success story or struggle? Portraying Indians in US

    Success story or struggle? Portraying Indians in US

    WASHINGTON (TIP): Indian-Americans have won plaudits for achievements in science and swept 11 of the last 15 national spelling bees, while others in the community have faced discrimination and even violence.

    As the Smithsonian, the US national complex of museums, portrays the Indian- American experience for the first time, organizers have faced hard questions about how to portray a diverse — and occasionally argumentative — community of nearly three million people.

    The exhibition, “Beyond Bollywood: Indian-Americans Shape the Nation,” opened February 27 at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington for a one-year run, with plans afterward for the project to tour the United States through 2020.

    The exhibition — which takes up everything from yoga to cuisine to hip-hop — features artifacts including the trophy of the first Indian-American spelling bee champion in 1985 and a gown worn by First Lady Michelle Obama that was designed by Indian- American Naeem Khan.

    Masum Momaya, the curator, said that planning for the exhibition involved intense debate among Indian-Americans on whether to showcase success stories or to delve into their struggles. “I think that, throughout, there was this seesaw in the community with some people saying, ‘No, take out anything that’s related to achievement,’ and others saying, ‘There’s so much stuff about discrimination; that seems so heavy and sad,’” Momaya said.

    “It was definitely an ongoing tension and I think this will be reflected in people’s reaction to it — and live beyond the exhibition,” she said. Momaya said that the debate often went along generational lines, with older Indian- Americans more eager to highlight achievements. Younger Indian Americans often had a different take, with some faulting the exhibition for reinforcing a stereotype of an overachieving model minority.

    Momaya said she tried to balance the two sides and also make an exhibition accessible to non-South Asian audiences visiting the museum, which receives more than eight million visitors a year. “I didn’t want this to be a ghettoized space in the museum where people say that this isn’t about me or my community,” she said.

    Through Indian-American eyes Setting the atmosphere, the exhibition’s entrance features a shoe rack, showing how South Asians traditionally walk barefoot at home. To Momaya’s surprise, a number of visitors — both of Indian descent and not — have slipped off their own footwear upon spotting the tray. The visitor immediately hears the music of Bollywood movies from the 1960s and 1970s, representing how many Indians — moving as the United States liberalized its immigration laws — brought with them records which they presumed they would not find.

    The exhibition invites guests to experience, in small ways, the life of an Indian immigrant. At one point, a visitor stands in the footsteps of an Indian motel owner, looking out on a lobby with all- American images such as a crucifix and a sign, “No Pets, No Checks, No Refunds.” Meanwhile, a table out of customers’ views is cluttered with images of Hindu deities and VHS videotapes of Indian movies.

    The exhibition does not shy away from discrimination against South Asians. It features a video interview of a Sikh taxi driver who shared his occasional fears of customers and also highlights South Asian activism on behalf of gay, lesbian and transgender Americans. In one of the most striking displays, the exhibition features the turban of Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh gas station owner in Arizona killed days after the September 11, 2001 attacks. South Asians faced growing violence after the al-Qaida attacks, especially Sikh men — who wear turbans but have no connection to radical Islam.

    Momaya said she had just started to work on the exhibition in August 2012 when a white supremacist attacked a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, killing six worshippers. Momaya said she was struck how Sikhs, long part of the United States, felt obliged to defend themselves as patriotic. The attack led her to steep the exhibition in the “contemporary conversations on race and immigration.” “Who belongs? Who is an American? I think those are particularly poignant questions for an exhibition in Washington,” she said.

  • NASA EYES EUROPA: COULD THE OCEANS OF JUPITER’S MOON BE HIDING EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE?

    NASA EYES EUROPA: COULD THE OCEANS OF JUPITER’S MOON BE HIDING EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE?

    LONDON (TIP):
    We’ve yet to find definitive evidence of life on Mars but for Nasa the search is continuing further afield. In its latest budget request the US space agency set aside funds to explore a mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa, often described as one of the solar system’s best bets for hosting alien life. Nasa’s annual federal budget request of $17.5 billion (down by $1.2 billion from its 2010 peak) has set aside $15 million for “preformulation work” on a mission to the moon, with plans to make detailed observations and possibly sample its interior oceans.

    Scientists believe that underneath Europa’s icy exterior is a single, massive ocean that contains almost twice as much water as is found on Earth, kept liquid by the gravitational pull of Jupiter – a force that creates tidal swells 1,000 times stronger than those caused by our own Moon. Although for many years it was believed that the existence of life was dependent on absorbing energy from the Sun, in the last 40 years scientists have discovered that microbial life can thrive even in the most extreme, sun-less environments. These include the discovery diverse organisms including tube worms and shrimp found around the deep-sea hydrothermal vents known as ‘black smokers’.

    In addition to the possibility of life under the ice, observations made late last year by the Hubble telescope suggest that enormous jets of water some 200 kilometres tall (that’s twice as high as Earth’s atmosphere) are spurting from Europa’s southern pole. This would mean that the Europa Clipper — a concept space probe that Nasa has been developing for just such a mission — could conceivably fly through these plumes of water vapour, collecting samples from Europa’s interior without having to face the cost and difficulty of landing on the surface. Although the 2015 proposed budget is the first time funding to study Europa has been explicitly requested, Nasa has has stressed that all of this work is extremely preliminary.

    Europa is a very challenging mission operating in a really high radiation environment, and there’s lots to do to prepare for it,” Nasa’s chief financial officer Beth Robinson said to reporters on Tuesday. “We’re looking for a launch some time in the mid-2020s.” And while the $15 million set aside for research on a Europa mission is tiny compared to the total budget, space enthusiasts should not be downhearted – more than of the proposed budget was allocated for “human exploration operations”, aka getting humans off the planet.

    Nasa is currently working on a new crew vehicle (the Orion spacecraft) as well a heavy-lifting rocket designed “to take astronauts farther into the solar system than we have ever gone before.” Both of these craft will be instrumental in the space agency’s plans to send astronauts to an asteroid by 2025 and to Mars some time in the 2030s. So even if we don’t find extraterrestrial life elsewhere in the Solar System, it seems we’ll at least have escaped the boundaries of our own planet.

  • Asteroid passing Earth will be closer than Moon

    Asteroid passing Earth will be closer than Moon

    CAPE CANAVERAL (TIP): An asteroid is headed this way. But even though it will come closer than the moon, astronomers say it will pose no danger. The newly discovered asteroid, called 2014 DX110, will hurtle between the moon and Earth on Wednesday. DX110 will pass an estimated 217,000 miles from Earth. That’s approximately nine-tenths of the distance between the moon and Earth. The asteroid is an estimated 45 to 130 feet across. Relatively close approaches like this occur all the time, although DX110 is extra close.

  • Indian arrested in US for sexually assaulting fellow passenger

    Indian arrested in US for sexually assaulting fellow passenger

    WASHINGTON (TIP): A 61-year-old Indian national has been arrested in the US on charges of sexually assaulting a fellow woman passenger aboard a domestic flight.

    Devender Singh, who lives in Baton Rouge, was arrested on Sunday by the FBI after the plane arrived in Newark. He appeared in New Jersey Court yesterday to face a complaint charging him with one count of abusive sexual contact.

    If convicted, Singh faces a maximum potential penalty of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gain or loss from the offense. According to the filed complaint, Singh was seated next to a woman who occupied a window seat on a United Airlines flight from Houston to Newark. The woman did not know Singh.

    While the plane was in the air, the woman fell asleep. Prosecutors said Singh allegedly kissed her face and sexually assaulted her while she was sleeping. “After pushing Singh off of her and telling him to get away, the woman went to the back of the plane and told a flight crew member what had happened, asking that the police be present when the plane landed,” federal prosecutors said. Federal government has exclusive jurisdiction over all sexual abuse cases that occur on aircraft in flight in the United States. Britain explores India-British film heritage.

  • LOW-COST CLEAN METHANOL HOPE FOR CHEAPER FUEL

    LOW-COST CLEAN METHANOL HOPE FOR CHEAPER FUEL

    NEW YORK (TIP): Here comes a potentially clean and low-cost way to convert carbon dioxide into methanol – a key ingredient in the production of plastics, adhesives and solvents and a promising fuel for the future. Scientists have identified a new nickel-gallium catalyst that converts hydrogen and carbon dioxide into methanol with fewer side-products than the conventional catalyst. “Methanol is processed in huge factories at very high pressures using hydrogen, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide from natural gas,” said Felix Studt, a staff scientist at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, US. We are looking for materials than can make methanol from clean sources under low-pressure conditions, while generating low amounts of carbon monoxide, he said.

    “Eventually we would also like to make higher alcohols, such as ethanol and propanol, which, unlike methanol, can be directly added to gasoline today,” added co-author Jens Norskov, a professor of chemical engineering at the Stanford University. Once the team understood methanol synthesis at the molecular level, they began the hunt for a new catalyst capable of synthesising methanol at low pressures using only hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The most promising candidate turned out to be a little-known compound called nickel-gallium. The team turned to a research group at the Technical University of Denmark. The Danish team carried out the task of synthesising nickel and gallium into a solid catalyst. In lab tests, nickel-gallium produced more methanol than the conventional copper-zinc-aluminium catalyst and considerably less of the carbon monoxide byproduct.

    “You want to make methanol, not carbon monoxide. You also want a catalyst that is stable and does not decompose. The lab tests showed that nickel-gallium is, in fact, a very stable solid,” said Ib Chorkendorff from the Technical University of Denmark. The ultimate goal is to develop a large-scale manufacturing process that is non-polluting and carbon neutral using clean hydrogen, the authors said in the study that appeared in the journal Nature Chemistry.

  • NEOWISE SPACECRAFT SPOTS A NEW ‘WEIRDO’ COMET

    NEOWISE SPACECRAFT SPOTS A NEW ‘WEIRDO’ COMET

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Nasa’s NEOWISE spacecraft, which came out of a two year long sleep last year, has spotted a never-beforeseen comet —its first such discovery since coming out of hibernation late last year. The comet was spotted when it was 230 million kilometers from Earth. “We are so pleased to have discovered this frozen visitor from the outermost reaches of our solar system,” said Amy Mainzer, the mission’s principal investigator from Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. “This comet is a weirdo — it is in a retrograde orbit, meaning that it orbits the sun in the opposite sense from Earth and the other planets.” The new comet, officially named “C/2014 C3 (NEOWISE)”, has a tail about 40,000 kilometers long.

    Although the comet’s orbit is still a bit uncertain, it appears to have arrived from its most distant point in the region of the outer planets. According to Universe Today, the comet has a highly-eccentric 20- year orbit that takes it high above the plane of the solar system and out past the orbit of Jupiter. “Technically, with a perihelion distance greater than 1.3 astronomical units, comet C/2014 C3 does not classify as a near-earth object (and its orbit does not intersect earth’s.) But it’s still good to know that NEOWISE is looking out for us,” UT said.

    The mission’s sophisticated software picked out the moving object against a background of stationary stars. As NEOWISE circled earth, scanning the sky, it observed the comet six times over half a day before the object moved out of its view. The discovery was confirmed by the Minor Planet Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts, when follow-up observations were received three days later from the Near Earth Object Observation project Spacewatch, Tucson, Arizona other follow-up observations were then quickly received. While this is the first comet NEOWISE has discovered since coming out of hibernation, the spacecraft is credited with the discovery of 21 other comets during its primary mission.

    Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer or NEOWISE spacecraft was originally called the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). It was shut down in 2011 after its primary mission was completed. In September 2013, it was reactivated, renamed NEOWISE and assigned a new mission to assist NASA’s efforts to identify the population of potentially hazardous near-earth objects. NEOWISE will also characterize previously known asteroids and comets to better understand their sizes and compositions.

  • SRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB

    SRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB

    The seat of the inaccessible and infinite Lord is the highest of the high. Night and day, with your palms pressed together, with each and every breath, meditate on Him. When the Lord Himself becomes merciful, then we attain the Society of His devotees. || 9 || SHALOK, FIFTH MEHL: In this wondrous forest of the world, there is chaos and confusion; shrieks emanate from the highways. I am in love with You, O my Husband Lord; O Nanak, I cross the jungle joyfully. || 1 || FIFTH MEHL: The true society is the company of those who meditate on the Name of the Lord. Do not associate with those, O Nanak, who look out only for their own interests.

    || 2 || PAUREE: Approved is that time, when one meets the True Guru. Joining the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, he does not suffer pain again. When he attains the eternal place, he does not have to enter the womb again. He comes to see the One God everywhere. He focuses his meditation on the essence of spiritual wisdom, and withdraws his attention from other sights. All chants are chanted by one who chants them with his mouth. Realizing the Hukam of the Lord’s Command, he becomes happy, and he is filled with peace and tranquility. Those who are assayed, and placed in the Lord’s treasury, are not declared counterfeit again. || 10 || SHALOK, FIFTH MEHL: The pincers of separation are so painful to endure. If only the Master would come to meet me! O Nanak, I would then obtain all the true comforts.

    || 1 || FIFTH MEHL: The earth is in the water, and the fire is contained in the wood. O Nanak, yearn for that Lord, who is the Support of all. || 2 || PAUREE: The works which You have done, O Lord, could only have been performed by You. That alone happens in the world, which You, O Master, have done. I am wonderstruck beholding the wonder of Your Almighty Creative Power. I seek Your Sanctuary – I am Your slave; if it is Your Will, I shall be emancipated. The treasure is in Your Hands; according to Your Will, You bestow it. One, upon whom You have bestowed Your Mercy, is blessed with the Lord’s Name. You are unapproachable, unfathomable and infinite; Your limits cannot be found. One, unto whom You have been compassionate, meditates on the Naam, the Name of the Lord. || 11 || SHALOK, FIFTH MEHL: The ladles cruise through the food, but they do not know the taste of it. I long to see the faces of those, O Nanak, who are imbued with the essence of the Lord’s Love.

    || 1 || FIFTH MEHL: Through the Tracker, I discovered the tracks of those who ruined my crops. You, O Lord, have put up the fence; O Nanak, my fields shall not be plundered again. || 2 || PAUREE: Worship in adoration that True Lord; everything is under His Power. He Himself is the Master of both ends; in an instant, He adjusts our affairs. Renounce all your efforts, and hold fast to His Support. Run to His Sanctuary, and you shall obtain the comfort of all comforts. The karma of good deeds, the righteousness of Dharma and the essence of spiritual wisdom are obtained in the Society of the Saints. Chanting the Ambrosial Nectar of the Naam, no obstacle shall block your way. The Lord abides in the mind of one who is blessed by His Kindness. All treasures are obtained, when the Lord and Master is pleased.

    || 12 || SHALOK, FIFTH MEHL: I have found the object of my search – my Beloved took pity on me. There is One Creator; O Nanak, I do not see any other. || 1 || FIFTH MEHL: Take aim with the arrow of Truth, and shoot down sin. Cherish the Words of the Guru’s Mantra, O Nanak, and you shall not suffer in pain. || 2 || PAUREE: Waaho! Waaho! The Creator Lord Himself has brought about peace and tranquility. He is Kind to all beings and creatures; meditate forever on Him. The all-powerful Lord has shown Mercy, and my cries of suffering are ended. My fevers, pains and diseases are gone, by the Grace of the Perfect Guru. The Lord has established me, and protected me; He is the Cherisher of the poor. He Himself has delivered me, breaking all my bonds. My thirst is quenched, my hopes are fulfilled, and my mind is contented and satisfied. The greatest of the great, the Infinite Lord and Master – He is not affected by virtue and vice.

    || 13 || SHALOK, FIFTH MEHL: They alone meditate on the Lord God, Har, Har, unto whom the Lord is Merciful. O Nanak, they enshrine love for the Lord, meeting the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy. || 1 || FIFTH MEHL: Contemplate the Lord, O very fortunate ones; He is pervading in the water, the land and the sky. O Nanak, worshipping the Naam, the Name of the Lord, the mortal encounters no misfortune. || 2 || PAUREE: The speech of the devotees is approved; it is accepted in the Court of the Lord. Your devotees take to Your Support; they are imbued with the True Name. One unto whom You are Merciful, has his sufferings depart. O Merciful Lord, You bless Your devotees with Your Grace. Suffering, pain, terrible disease and Maya do not afflict them. This is the Support of the devotees, that they sing the Glorious Praises of the Lord of the Universe.

    Forever and ever, day and night, they meditate on the One and Only Lord. Drinking in the Ambrosial Amrit of the Naam, the Name of the Lord, His humble servants remain satisfied with the Naam. || 14 || SHALOK, FIFTH MEHL: Millions of obstacles stand in the way of one who forgets the Name. O Nanak, night and day, he croaks like a raven in a deserted house. || 1 || FIFTH MEHL: Beauteous is that season, when I am united with my Beloved. I do not forget Him for a moment or an instant; O Nanak, I contemplate Him constantly. || 2 || PAUREE: Even brave and mighty men cannot withstand the powerful and overwhelming army which the five passions have gathered. The ten organs of sensation attach even detached renunciates to sensory pleasures. They seek to conquer and overpower them, and so increase their following.

    The world of the three dispositions is under their influence; no one can stand against them. So tell me – how can the fort of doubt and the moat of Maya be overcome? Worshipping the Perfect Guru, this awesome force is subdued. I stand before Him, day and night, with my palms pressed together. || 15 || SHALOK, FIFTH MEHL: All sins are washed away, by continually singing the Lord’s Glories. Millions of afflictions are produced, O Nanak, when the Name is forgotten. || 1 || FIFTH MEHL: O Nanak, meeting the True Guru, one comes to know the Perfect Way. While laughing, playing, dressing and eating, he is liberated.

    || 2 || PAUREE: Blessed, blessed is the True Guru, who has demolished the fortress of doubt.Waaho! Waaho! – Hail! Hail! to the True Guru, who has united me with the Lord. The Guru has given me the medicine of the inexhaustible treasure of the Naam. He has banished the great and terrible disease. I have obtained the great treasure of the wealth of the Naam. I have obtained eternal life, recognizing my own self. The Glory of the all-powerful Divine Guru cannot be described. The Guru is the Supreme Lord God, the Transcendent Lord, infinite, unseen and unknowable.

    || 16 || SHALOK, FIFTH MEHL: Make the effort, and you shall live; practicing it, you shall enjoy peace. Meditating, you shall meet God, O Nanak, and your anxiety shall vanish. || 1 || FIFTH MEHL: Bless me with sublime thoughts, O Lord of the Universe, and contemplation in the immaculate Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy. O Nanak, may I never forget the Naam, the Name of the Lord, for even an instant; be merciful to me, Lord God.

    || 2 || PAUREE: Whatever happens is according to Your Will, so why should I be afraid? Meeting Him, I meditate on the Name – I offer my soul to Him.When the Infinite Lord comes to mind, one is enraptured. Who can touch one who has the Formless Lord on his side? Everything is under His control; no one is beyond Him. He, the True Lord, dwells in the minds of His devotees. Your slaves meditate on You; You are the Savior, the Protector Lord. You are the Almighty Overlord of all; You bless us with Your Glance of Grace. || 17 || SHALOK, FIFTH MEHL: Take away my sexual desire, anger, pride, greed, emotional attachment and evil desires. Protect me, O my God; Nanak is forever a sacrifice to You.

    || 1 || FIFTH MEHL: By eating and eating, the mouth is worn out; by wearing clothes, the limbs grow weary. O Nanak, cursed are the lives of those who are not attuned to the Love of the True Lord. || 2 || PAUREE: As is the Hukam of Your Command, so do things happen. Wherever You keep me, there I go and stand.With the Love of Your Name, I wash away my evil-mindedness. By continually meditating on You, O Formless Lord, my doubts and fears are dispelled. Those who are attuned to Your Love, shall not be trapped in reincarnation. Inwardly and outwardly, they behold the One Lord with their eyes. Those who recognize the Lord’s Command never weep. O Nanak, they are blessed with the gift of the Name, woven into the fabric of their minds.

    || 18 || SHALOK, FIFTH MEHL: Those who do not remember the Lord while they are alive, shall mix with the dust when they die. O Nanak, the foolish and filthy faithless cynic passes his life engrossed in the world. || 1 || FIFTH MEHL: One who remembers the Lord while he is alive, shall be imbued with the Lord’s Love when he dies. The precious gift of his life is redeemed, O Nanak, in the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy. || 2 || PAUREE: From the beginning, and through the ages, You have been our Protector and Preserver. True is Your Name, O Creator Lord, and True is Your Creation. You do not lack anything; You are filling each and every heart. You are merciful and all-powerful; You Yourself cause us to serve You. Those whose minds in which You dwell are forever at peace. Having created the creation, You Yourself cherish it.

    You Yourself are everything, O infinite, endless Lord. Nanak seeks the Protection and Support of the Perfect Guru. || 19 || SHALOK, FIFTH MEHL: In the beginning, in the middle and in the end, the Transcendent Lord has saved me. The True Guru has blessed me with the Lord’s Name, and I have tasted the Ambrosial Nectar. In the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, I chant the Glorious Praises of the Lord, night and day. I have obtained all my objectives, and I shall not wander in reincarnation again. Everything is in the Hands of the Creator; He does what is done.

    Nanak begs for the gift of the dust of the feet of the Holy, which shall deliver him. || 1 || FIFTH MEHL: Enshrine Him in your mind, the One who created you. Whoever meditates on the Lord and Master obtains peace. Fruitful is the birth, and approved is the coming of the Gurmukh. One who realizes the Hukam of the Lord’s Command shall be blessed – so has the Lord and Master ordained. One who is blessed with the Lord’s Mercy does not wander.Whatever the Lord and Master gives him, with that he is content. O Nanak, one who is blessed with the kindness of the Lord, our Friend, realizes the Hukam of His Command. But those whom the Lord Himself causes to wander, continue to die, and take reincarnation again.