KATHMANDU (TIP): The Indian government may have agreed to ease the transit of some trucks into Nepal but the annual Dasain (Dussehra) festival this year will be a subdued affair in the Himalayan country. Food and fuel are still premium items, while the K P Oli government is being asked to push through amendments to a constitution that would accommodate the aspirations of the Madhesis.
Nepal, which attracted praise from global activists for being sensitive to LGBT persons in the constitution, is now getting flak from human rights organizations for the indiscriminate killings in the Terai throughout August and September.In a new report, Human Rights Watch has said Nepali authorities “should immediately investigate and bring to justice those responsible for killings and other violations during ongoing protests over the constitutional debate”.
“While the drafting of a rights-respecting constitution is an emotional issue in Nepal, disagreements cannot be resolved by committing serious human rights abuses,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. The government sees some ray of hope after talks between the Indian leadership and foreign minister Kamal Thapa, who said, “Indian leaders have assured me that there will be no obstructions in the flow of trucks to Nepal from the points that are not blocked.” (Source TNN)
KABUL: At least 15 Taliban militants and six security force members were killed in clashes as the Taliban seized a district in Afghanistan’s province of Herat, the authorities said on October 22.
Afghan troops were meanwhile battling the Taliban in three districts in the southern Helmand province, on the other side of the country. A total of six army personnel were also killed in the 24-hour period, the statement said.
The Taliban militant group has yet to make comments. Hundreds of Taliban fighters attacked Ghoryan district and took control of the bazaar and government offices following heavy clashes in the province which has Herat city as its capital, 640 kms west of Kabul, Xinhua news agency reported. “A total of 15 Taliban terrorists were killed during the police operations,” Sediq Sediqqi, Afghan interior ministry spokesman, said in a tweet.
Six security personnel were also killed in the fighting, according to district officials. The Taliban has intensified attacks in Afghanistan over the past couple of months as the security forces assumed full responsibility from NATO-led troops since January 1.
ISLAMABAD (TIP): An earthquake of 5.3 magnitude was felt across Pakistan’s Punjab province on October 23, authorities said. The epicentre was 11 km north of Dajal town, Xinhua quoted the US Geological Survey as saying.
The tremors were felt in Multan, Lodhran, Dera Ghazi Khan, Jampur, Khairpur Tamiwali Tehsil, Ahmadpur whereas Rajanpur, Mailsi, Burewala, Rangpur and Jehanian were also shook by the quake, according to reports received from these areas.
Frightened people ran outside their houses and started reciting the Kalima. The epicenter of the earthquake was located at Monroe in D.G.Khan whereas its depth was recorded at 10 feet. According to rescue sources, no loss of life was recorded.
After the earthquake was over, people took to Twitter and started narrating their experiences. With #Earthquake trending at the top in Pakistan, here are some of the tweets:-
VATICAN CITY (TIP): Pope Francis on Thursday announced a new Vatican department on life and family issues, in his latest effort to streamline the central administration of the 1.2 billion-member Roman Catholic Church.
It will incorporate three existing departments into one -the Pontifical Council for the Laity, the Pontifical Council for the Family and the Pontifical Academy for Life.
Top Comment
Pope Francis is rational understands human behavior finds ways to improve the beaurcracy. A systems man with an analytic… Read Mores.v.l.narasimham
The pope announced his decision to participants at a meeting of bishops from around the world who are discussing family issues. The gathering, known a synod, ends on October 25.
Since his election in 2013, Francis has established an new office to oversee all economic affairs and set up a commission to study the streamlining of all of the Vatican communications departments.
Reform of the Vatican bureaucracy, known as the curia, and which many see as bloated and outdated, was one of the mandates given to the pope by the cardinals who elected him. (Source :AFP)
TORONTO (TIP): Welcoming the incoming Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau whose Liberal Party was swept to power October 19 major Indo-Canadian organizations have urged him to fast-track the long-pending free trade agreement with India.
Ajit Someshawar, chairman of the Canada-India Foundation (CIF), urged Trudeau to make a state visit to India as one of his foreign policy priorities and conclude the long-pending Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement(CEPA) and the Foreign Investment Protection Agreement (FIPA) between the Canada and India.
Canada and India have agreed to triple their trade to $15 billion, but the progress has been tardy even as the visit by Modi – the first by any Indian PM in 42 years – here in April and two trips to India by his Canadian counterpart have reinforced this pledge.
“The growth in bilateral trade between the two countries has still not reached its full potential and even the modest goal of $15 billion annually is still far away,” said the chairman of the Canada-India Foundation which has honored many great Indians such as former President APJ Abdul Kalam, Ratan Tata, Narayana Murthy and Deepak Chopra with its annual CIF Chanchlani Global Indian Award of $50,000 since its inception in 2008.
Someshawar also urged the new Canadian prime minister to reinforce the Canada-India Inter-parliamentary Friendship Group to bring parliamentarians of the two countries together. He also welcomed the new Family Class Reunification plan announced by the incoming government as it will help the 1.2-million-strong Indo-Canadian community to bring their dependents into Canada quickly.
Canada-India Business Council (C-IBC) vice-chairman Kam Rathee also urged the new Canadian prime minister to conclude the long-pending free trade agreement with India on a priority basis.
“The new prime minister should also set in motion a process to develop trade investment and services so that non-profit associations and organizations that promote Canada-India business get financial support,” added Rathee.
TEHRAN, IRAN (TIP): The Iranian government will begin fully implementing the landmark nuclear deal reached with world powers “with good will,” and the work will be done while keeping in mind concerns voiced by Iran’s supreme leader, President Hassan Rouhani said on Oct 22. A letter posted on Rouhani’s website, president.ir, addressed to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran will be keeping close watch to make sure other parties to the deal fulfill their obligations.
“The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran will start `full implementation’ of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with good will and based on Your Excellency’s considerations and requirements and the decisions of the Supreme National Security Council and the Parliament,” Rouhani said in the letter.
“The other side’s fulfillment of its obligations will be vigilantly monitored and the Supreme National Security Council will adopt the needed decision to take the proper course of action,” he said.
Khamenei on Wednesday endorsed the deal but warned the government to be vigilant, saying the United States cannot be trusted. He also said the agreement “suffers from multiple structural weaknesses and ambiguous points that can lead to present and future great harms to the country in the absence of precise and constant vigilance.” He added that “any remarks saying the structure of sanctions will remain in place are considered a breach” of the agreement.
The agreement reached in July with the U.S., Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany curbs Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for lifting crippling international sanctions. Western nations have long suspected Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons alongside its civilian program, charges rejected by Tehran, which insists its program is entirely peaceful. The agreement has been the subject of fierce debate within Iran, with hard-liners arguing that the negotiators gave up too much ground. They also fear the agreement could lead to a broader rapprochement with the United States, which they deride as the “Great Satan.”
WASHINGTON (TIP): US President Barack Obama vetoed a $612 billion defense spending bill Oct 22, saying it prevented the closure of Guantanamo Bay prison and wasted money on unwanted programs.
Making a rare public show of rejecting a law, Obama said the text agreed by the Republican-controlled Congress “falls woefully short” in key areas.
Obama said the bill did “a number of good things,” including reforming military retirement and funding cyber security, but “resorts to gimmicks” and funded unwanted programs.
He zeroed in on provisions that would restrict the transfer of prisoners from Guantanamo Bay on the tip of Cuba, to the United States.
“This legislation specifically impedes our ability to close Guantanamo,” he said.
“Guantanamo is one of the premier mechanisms for jihadists to recruit, it is time for us to close it. It’s outdated, it’s expensive.”
After embarrassing false starts, Obama is making a final push to close Guantanamo prison.
But to fulfill that glaringly incomplete campaign promise he faces unpalatable compromises and internal resistance.
But the fate of those deemed too dangerous to release — but too difficult to prosecute — has stymied his efforts.
The administration is looking at military facilities like Fort Leavenworth, Kansas or the Navy Brig in Charleston, South Carolina as possible destinations for inmates.
But Congress wants to have control of any transfer and to ensure that prisoners do not have full rights afforded to American civilians.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which has campaigned for the prison’s closure, welcomed the move.
“The president clearly did the right thing by rejecting the bill’s restrictions on transferring Guantanamo prisoners who have been locked up without charge or trial for years on end,” said executive director Anthony Romero.
“Now Congress needs to send back the president a bill that will let him close Guantanamo and end indefinite detention, and he needs to take decisive action to make his promise to close the prison a reality.”He needs to do this soon, before his legacy is irreparably tarnished by the stain of Guantanamo.”
Obama also said the budget “prevents a wide range of reforms that are necessary for us to get our military modernized.”
“We have repeatedly put forward a series of reforms eliminating reforms that the Pentagon does not want, Congress keeps stuffing ’em back in,” he said. (Source: AFP )
WASHINGTON (TIP): Republican lawmakers spent more than eight hours aggressively questioning Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday, seeking to build a case that the former secretary of state had been derelict in her duty to secure the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, in the months before the 2012 terrorist attacks that killed four Americans.
Clinton was questioned about about the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, in the months before the 2012 terrorist attacks that killed four Americans.
The marathon hearing began at 10am and, with breaks, lasted until 9pm.
The questioning gave Mrs Clinton her first opportunity since early 2013 to respond directly to her fiercest critics.
Billed by Republican leaders of the select House committee investigating the Benghazi attacks as a critical moment in its inquiry, the long-awaited appearance by Mrs Clinton, the leading Democratic presidential candidate, served largely as a replay of highly contested arguments from previous congressional hearings, press examinations and Sunday-morning talk shows.
“Why were there so many requests for security equipment and personnel, and why were those requests denied in Washington?” Representative Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, the committee chairman, demanded to know as he opened the hearing on Thursday morning. “What did our leaders in Washington do or not do, and when?”
But the long day of often-testy exchanges between committee members and their prominent witness revealed little new information about an episode that has been the subject of seven previous investigations, and that Republicans have long seen as a blemish on Mrs Clinton’s record that could be exploited as she sought the presidency.
Held in the ornate room that is home to the House Ways and Means Committee, the marathon hearing began at 10am and, with breaks, lasted until 9pm. It provided Republicans with a national audience as they questioned Mrs Clinton, often using her own words from thousands of pages of emails obtained by the committee. But it also gave Mrs Clinton her first opportunity since early 2013 to respond directly to her fiercest critics, and she used the platform to offer lengthy explanations of her diplomatic efforts around the world and her actions before and after the Benghazi attacks.
Perhaps stung by recent admissions that the pursuit of Mrs Clinton’s emails was politically motivated, Republican lawmakers on the panel for the most part avoided any mention of her use of a private email server. Still, Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio did raise the issue late in the hearing, accusing her of repeatedly changing her account of the server and why she had used it. In a heated exchange, Mrs Clinton repeated that she had made a mistake in using a private email account, but maintained that she had never sent or received anything marked classified and had sought to be transparent by publicly releasing her emails.
But committee Republicans focused mostly on accusations that Mrs Clinton had ignored security needs in Benghazi in the months before the attacks, a charge she repeatedly rejected.
Throughout the day, Democrats on the committee portrayed Republicans as the leaders of a partisan crusade against Mrs Clinton, while Republicans responded angrily that Democrats were seeking to block a legitimate inquiry into fatal security lapses at an American diplomatic outpost. Shortly before the committee broke for lunch, a shouting match erupted between Mr. Gowdy and two Democrats, Adam B. Schiff and Elijah E. Cummings, over the focus on Mrs Clinton’s email exchanges with Sidney Blumenthal, a former aide to her husband and a friend.
Late in the evening, Mrs Clinton had a coughing fit that stopped testimony for two minutes. Hoarse and visibly tired, she responded testily to comments by Mr. Gowdy questioning the independence of a Benghazi review led by Thomas R Pickering, a retired diplomat, and Mike Mullen, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
WASHINGTON (TIP): Former UN general assembly president John Ashe was indicted on Tuesday by US authorities on charges of accepting more than a million dollars in bribes from Chinese real estate developers.
Ashe, from Antigua and Barbuda, president of the assembly from September 2013 to September 2014, is accused of accepting money to promote the construction of a UN conference center in Macau.
The 61-year-old is charged with accepting more than $1.3 million from 2011 to 2014 from a group of five people, according to the indictment filed by Preet Bharara, the US attorney for the southern district of New York.
Ashe is accused of hiding more than$1.2 million in his income tax return.
Four other people were also charged on Tuesday, including the main suspect in the corruption ring, Ng Lap Seng, a wealthy Chinese real estate developer.
Another is Francis Lorenzo, a UN deputy ambassador from the Dominican Republic, who heads South-South News, a UN-accredited media outfit that reports on development issues.
The indictment alleges that the corruption ring relied on Ashe and others to nail down the construction of a UN-sponsored conference center in Macau at the cost of billions of dollars, as well as real estate projects in Antigua and Barbuda.
Ashe presented the UN secretary general with a report stating that a conference center in Macao was needed. It was never built. (Source: AFP )
WASHINGTON (TIP): A group of 130 police chiefs, prosecutors and sheriffs from around the United States called for reforms that would to reduce the US prison population.
The top cops are adding their voice as a group to others – including President Barack Obama – who want to lower the incarceration rate, which is the highest among developed countries.
“We can say from experience that we can bring down both incarceration and crime together,” said Chicago police department superintendent Garry McCarthy, speaking at the group’s first meeting in Washington.
While the US population has increased by 30 per cent since 1980, the country’s prison population jumped 800 per cent during the same period, largely due to sentences that are disproportionately harsh compared to other countries.
US prison cells are often packed with drug addicts, non-violent petty criminals, or prisoners with psychiatric problems, and are serving sentences that are so long that they often lose any chance for rehabilitation.
“Those individuals that can be saved, that want to do something positive to not recidivate and keep going to jail or prison – we’ve got to have an avenue to allow them to do that and for them to become productive members in our society,” said Houston, Texas police chief Charles McClelland.
“It is cheaper to keep someone out of jail and prevent a crime. In the state of Texas, it costs almost USD 60,000 a year to keep one inmate locked up,” he said.
Several members of the group, which includes the police chiefs of Washington DC, New York and Los Angeles, will meet with the president today.
The United States is preparing to release in November thousands of prisoners considered at low risk of returning to crime, as part of an effort to ease prison overcrowding and redress overly harsh sentences.
The release comes after the US Sentencing Commission, which sets policy for federal crimes, reduced its sentencing guidelines for drug possession.
In his weekly radio address on Saturday, Obama urged reforming the US criminal justice system, saying much of it “remains unfair” and that punishments should correspond to the severity of crimes. (Source: AFP )
WASHINGTON (TIP): Marijuana use in the US more than doubled between 2001 and 2013 – from 4.5 to nearly 10%, according to new research. Laws and attitudes about marijuana are changing, with 23 states having medical marijuana laws and four of these states having also legalised marijuana for recreational use, researchers said.
Bridget F Grant of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and coauthors used nationally representative data on past-year prevalence rates of marijuana use, marijuana use disorder and marijuana use disorder among marijuana users in the US.
The prevalence of past year marijuana use climbed to 9.5% of adults in 2012-2013 from 4.1% in 2001-2002, with increases particularly notable among women and individuals who were black, Hispanic, middle-aged or older, the authors said.
The prevalence of a diagnosis of a past-year marijuana use disorder (abuse or dependence) also increased to 2.9%in 2012-2013 from 1.5% in 2001-2002, implying nearly 3 of every 10 Americans using marijuana in the past year had a diagnosis of a marijuana use disorder (approximately 6.8 million Americans).
Among marijuana users, the prevalence of marijuana use disorder decreased to 30.6% in 2012-2013 from 35.6% in 2001-2002.
Because there was no increase in the risk for marijuana use disorder found among users, in fact there was a decrease, the increase in prevalence of disorders can be attributed to the increase in marijuana users between the two surveys, the authors said. (Source : PTI)
WASHINGTON (TIP): : A Chinese immigrant who pleaded guilty earlier this month to the meat-cleaver killings of five relatives, including four children under 9 years old, was sentenced on Tuesday to 125 years to life in prison. State Supreme Court justice Vincent Del Giudice accepted a plea deal on Oct 7 under the condition that Mingdong Chen “be incarcerated until the day he dies.” Chen was sentenced to three terms of 25 years to life for murder and two terms of 25 years to life for manslaughter.
“This defendant’s vicious and sadistic attack makes him completely unfit to remain in society, and he will now spend the rest of his life behind bars,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson.
A lawyer for Chen, 27, declined comment. Authorities say the man confessed in Mandarin to killing his cousin’s wife, 37-year-old Qiao Zhen Li, and her children, 9-year-old Linda, 7-year-old Amy, 5-year-old Kevin and 1-year-old William Zhou in October 2013.
He was envious of his relatives’ success and had been fired from restaurant jobs, according to authorities and his relatives. Li called her mother-in-law in China on the night of Oct. 27, 2013, to say Chen was threatening her family with a knife, prosecutors have said. The mother-in-law then called other relatives in New York after hearing children crying in the background, they said.
MEXICO CITY (TIP): Patricia is strengthening and is expected to hit the coast of Mexico as a dangerous major hurricane.
On Oct 22, Forecasters from the National Hurricane Center in Miami warned residents in the area to prepare. The forecasters say Patricia should reach the Mexican coast on Friday.
Patricia’s maximum sustained winds increased Thursday to 100mph (155kph). Patricia is centered about 240 miles (385 kilometers) south-southwest of Lazaro Cardenas with movement toward the west-northwest at 17mph (28kph).
A hurricane warning is in effect for the Mexican coast from Cabo Corrientes to Punta San Telmo, a stretch of coastline that includes the port city of Manzanillo. Other areas are under hurricane watch, tropical storm warning, or tropical storm watch. (Source : AP)
The fifth generation of CCP leadership under Xi Jinping has de facto abandoned the Deng doctrine of keeping low profile internationally. China has become more ambitious of becoming a superpower and has been extending its sovereignty claims on the land and the sea. As a rising hegemon, China has started to challenge the existing international strategic order. China has been in the news recently for building artificial islands with air-landing strips in the South China Sea. It has demanded 12 nautical miles exclusive economic zone around these artificial, man-made reefs. China is a signatory to the law of the Seas (UNCLOS). Chinese attempts to claim the bulk of the South China Sea goes against both the letter and the spirit of the law of the sea. Beijing will invoke its EEZ for its own economic benefits while denying the same rights to other claimants. Brushing aside the ASEAN Code of Conduct in the SCS, China claims sovereignty over all of the SCS which is disputed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
For the last several years, Chinese official media has been harping on safeguarding China’s “Ocean Sovereignty”. The PLA navy’s goal is to have a “Thousand Ships Navy”. This stated “TSN” Goal is to further Chinese supremacy in the Indo-Pacific region and exploit the mineral & hydrocarbon wealth in the international sea-beds. PLAN has been entrusted to fight future wars for China’s security as per the former President Hu Jintao. On December 6th 2011, while addressing the PLA Navy, Hu Jintao pronounced that PLAN should make “extended preparations for warfare in order to make greater contributions to safeguard national security”. China unilaterally declared an air-defense identification zone in the East China Sea in November 2013. Recently, a Chinese admiral declared similar intentions of setting up an air defense identification zone in the future above the disputed areas of the South China Sea if Beijing thought it was facing a strategic threat.
China has created not only facts on the ground but also facts on the Ocean in a very predictable manner of claiming sovereignty with the “Chinese Characteristics”. China always makes maximalist claims against other countries, disputes sovereignty, and alters the facts on the grounds of medieval history or economic reasons, bullies the smaller adversaries into submission, demands mutual concessions while later on sending its armed forces. China has constructed a couple of lighthouses in the South China Sea to provide a fig-leaf for its naked hegemony and sea-resources grabbing activities. China has successfully converted the South China Sea into a virtual private lake affecting the freedom of navigation for the entire world. India has vital maritime interests in the South China Sea. 55% of Indian maritime trade passes through the South China Sea. China has objected vehemently to ONGC’s oil drilling in collaboration with Vietnam in the South China Sea and PLAN ships have started to harass the Indian drilling rigs.
Once the heat of the South China Sea is gone and Beijing has de facto acquired the marine resources of the South China Sea, the dragon will spread its strategic tentacles into the Indian Ocean. Warning bells are already ringing in the Indian Ocean. PLAN started its naval forays in Indian Ocean up to the Gulf of Aden in 2010 under the garb of anti-piracy operations to control Somali pirates. China’s string of pearl initiative got absorbed in the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. China did acquire significant naval facilities in Hambantota, Chittagong, Maldives, and listening & communication facilities in the Coco Islands in Myanmar besides building the naval port in Gwadar. Incidentally, India has gifted the Coco islands to Myanmar in Nehru’s realm. Gwadar port was offered to India by Oman but Nehru declined and Pakistan became the owner and the beneficiary. China also acquired naval facilities for recuperation and re-fueling in Seychelles in December 2011. China has already signed an agreement with the UN backed International Seabed Authority to gain exclusive rights to explore poly-metallic sulfide ore deposits in 10,000 square-kilometers of international seabed in Indian Ocean for 15 years. China has been sending nuclear powered submarines to Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Pakistan will receive eight Chinese nuclear powered submarines effectively neutralizing the Indian second strike capabilities in case of a nuclear attack on India. China plans to buy an island from the Maldives for $ 1 billion under the current Maldivian Government of President Abdulla Yameen.
China’s response to Malabar naval exercises in 2007 when trilateral format included Japan was very negative leading to non-invitation to Japan later on after 2007. India plans to invite Japan in the upcoming Malabar exercises and Chinese reaction would be worth watching. China remains very paranoid about the US “Pivot to Asia” doctrine. Chinese paranoia about the Asian Quadrilateral led to Australia pulling out of that mechanism for maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
China had sent trial balloons to US for a G2 condominium by which US will take over the Atlantic Ocean whereas China will have rights over the Pacific Ocean. Unlike Tibet, Indo-Pacific is too important to be given to China on a platter. As a trading nation with vital economic and maritime interests, India will have to safeguard the sea-lanes of communication, ensure freedom of navigation and take the strategic ownership of her maritime interests.
China’s foreign exchange reserves were at the peak of almost $4 trillion in June 2014. Despite a recent decline in Chinese economy, China’s foreign exchange reserves totaled $3.514 trillion at the end of September 2015. China still has the largest foreign exchange reserves in the world. China will continue to extend its strategic footprints under the much enlarged One Belt, One Road (OBOR) project because it has plenty of spare cash. China also proposes to use the Beijing sponsored AIIB as the financing arm for the OBOR which will ultimately require $ 1.4 trillion in investments. China has already sanctioned$46 billion on China-Pakistan Economic corridor as part of the OBOR connectivity without taking India’s sensitivities about CPEC passing through the POK. While India has cooperated with China in the BCIM (Bangladesh, China, India, and Myanmar) Corridor project, the GOI has been deliberately silent about any synergistic cooperation with the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road project.
Virender Sehwag, who announced his retirement from international cricket on Tuesday, was a throwback to the days when sport at the highest level was still played primarily for fun. There was a time when being an amateur in sport was honorable, when those who played sport for money were seen with disdain, and the phrase “playing like an amateur” was not derogatory. In his 14 years in international cricket, Sehwag seemed to be the only cricketer around who played with the spirit of the amateur – he was there to have fun and entertain the spectators. His natural game was to hit the ball from the outset, and that’s the way he played right to the end. Unlike his illustrious teammates, universally acknowledged as greater batsmen, Sehwag didn’t become a nervous wreck when batting in his 90s – he would step out of the crease to hit sixers even when batting in his 290s.
He continued in this vein even when Sourav Ganguly converted him into an opener. His lack of anxiety, his indifference to high numbers made him the first Indian to hit a triple century in Test cricket. In fact, he scored two triple centuries and was once out at 293. Fourteen of his 23 Test centuries exceeded 150 runs. This is really remarkable, for conventional wisdom suggests that a man with such a high-risk, attacking game can’t play very long innings. The pace of his innings was scintillating – he scored the fastest Test triple century on record, and five of the 10 fastest double centuries in Tests. His quick scoring gave the Indian bowlers time to dismiss the opposition and score a win, as at Multan in 2004 and Mumbai in 2009.
Sehwag’s game was based on a quick eye and quicker reflexes, supplemented by a wide range of strokes and fearlessness. As age dimmed his eyesight and dulled his reflexes, his game declined. His last century for India came three years ago, and he hadn’t played for India for 30 months. At 37, he knew he was now good only for one of those T20 leagues.
RUTHERFORD, NJ (TIP): One of the largest distributors of Natural Stones, INDO AMERICAN is celebrating their 10th anniversary on Nov 7th 2015 at the Renaissance in Rutherford, NJ. Felicitating their key associates and partners in the growth of the Company
INDO AMERICAN has acquired their new warehouse located in Kearny, just outside of Manhattan, comprising of 88000 sq ft warehouse of natural and artificial stones.
They began their journey in 2005 from just one row of basic granite procured locally; the company has grown to one of the largest distributors of natural stones in the country with over 250 shades of colors from around the world.
We directly import Material from all over the world, such as Italy, Brazil, China, India, Spain, Turkey, etc., and it is stored in our own warehouse and distributed to places around the country
One long-term goal is to establish remote locations in North America and set up factories in (at least three) the exporting countries to facilitate material acquisition, processing and self-export onward to North America.
To stay ahead of the curve, INDO AMERICAN is investing heavily in capital expenditure on its indoor and outdoor products. We are also continually expanding our fleet of trucks and manpower to extend the beat services to our clients.
In addition to our current 2,400-square-foot office space and an equally spacious ‘state of art’ new showroom is being created for high-end designers and architects, which would be one of a kind in the Tri State.
“The growth of the company could be largely attributed to the excellent teamwork, focus and 100% commitment of our key members and hence our team needs to be fighting fit, both physically and mentally” believes Mr. Devraj N Aiyar, CEO of the organization. Hence their new location is also being outfitted with a gymnasium and an indoor games room.
“Work is Play” is the motto at Indo American.
INDO AMERICAN delivers materials to destinations over 250 miles away, which is a testament to its commitment towards customer service and competitiveness. The company prides itself on maintaining a steady stream of loyal customers by offering quality products and service.
According to Usha “The key ingredients to our growth are maintaining a client base with strong credit and keeping close tabs on receivables.”
INDO AMERICAN is celebrating their 10th anniversary on Nov 7th, 2015 at the Renaissance in Rutherford, NJ felicitating their key associates and partners in the growth of the Company.
MANHASSET, NY (TIP): Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano
(7th left) joined in the grand opening celebration of Ophthalmic Consultants of Long Island’s (OCLI) 11th office. The state of the art facility located at 1355 Northern Boulevard offers a wide range of eye care services. OCLI locations house the most advanced technology available to patients including routine eye examinations and sophisticated LASIK surgery.
County Executive Mangano stated, “Local businesses are vital to our community- they create jobs, stimulate economic growth and serve our residents. With local employers contributing to the economic base and connectivity of our local communities, we must help raise awareness about the role they play to promote a business-friendly Nassau that attracts suppliers and distributors in similar industries. To improve the business climate, I have assembled a team of economic development professionals and business resource partners who are ready to assist employers looking to relocate or expand their business in Nassau County. In doing so, the County has experienced growth in jobs and I pledge that my administration will continue to do all it can to improve our economic climate. I am certain that OCLI’s new state of the art facility will be a meaningful addition to the Manhasset community, providing the highest quality of care and medical services for all vision needs and expanding their ability to better serve their patients. I am honored to be here today as OCLI’s eye care group has opened another fine establishment in Nassau County.”
AMARILLO, TX (TIP): Dr. Neel Kanase recently joined a select group of business experts and entrepreneurs from around the world along with Best-Selling Author® Jack Canfield originator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series to co-write the book “The Soul of Success Vol.2 : The World’s Leading Entrepreneurs and Professionals Reveal Their Core Strategies for Getting to the Heart of Health Wealth and Success”. The book was released on September 10th 2015 by CelebrityPress™ – a leading business book publisher.
On the day of release the book reached best-seller status in six US Amazon categories – reaching as high as #1 in the
“Direct Marketing” category. The book also reached #7 in “Marketing” #16 in “Marketing and Sales” #22 in ” Entrepreneurship” and
#25 “Small Business and Entrepreneurship” categories. The Soul of Success became an international best-seller reaching #10 in
“Direct Marketing” on Amazon in Canada. Dr. Neel Kanase contributed a chapter titled
“Transformations From The Inside Out-Inspiring Others Through Your Passions.”
Since 2005 Dr. Neel Kanase has been the owner of American Laser Med Spa. He started out with one clinic and now has six clinics total five located throughout Texas and one in New Mexico with over twenty-five employees total. It’s through this exciting avenue of cosmetic medicine that he’s found his home and calling helping clients find more self confidence to do what they love to do best.
After moving from India in 1995 with a Degree in Medicine and Surgery (M.D.) which he received from the University of Bombay Grant Medical College Neel moved to Texas and made his home in the panhandle where he attended Texas Tech University to receive his Masters of Science Degree in Food and Nutrition and then completed his Residency in Family Medicine at Texas Tech University and was given prestigious recognition by his colleagues as Outstanding First Year Resident (1998-1999) Outstanding Resident Teacher (1999-2000) Resident’s Choice Award (2000-2001) Resident Teacher Award (2000-2001) and Outstanding Resident of the Year Award (2000-2001) as well as being named Chief Resident for the Texas Tech University HSC Family Medicine Residency Program.
The book: Success is a concept universally embraced but individually defined. Our definition of success truly depends on our individual goals. For example your goal might be monetary a physical accomplishment or a moral achievement. To flesh out this topic we are adding a few comments made by famous and successful people in diverse fields – similar and familiar concepts to those put forward by the Premier Experts® in this book.
Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.
Booker T. Washington You can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.
Napoleon Hill The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength not a lack of knowledge but rather a lack in will.
Vince Lombardi Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.
Thomas Jefferson In our New Economy the acquisition of success has been reformatted somewhat by business and industry even though its principles remain the same. The Electronic Revolution has changed the economic landscape as much as the Industrial Revolution. We now live more and more in “real time” and expect others to do the same. This era of instant communication has changed the ways in which we communicate and expect responses.
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WASHINGTON (TIP): Another Indian American kid has created history by becoming the first person to earn a second time Global Finalist award in the 2015 Google Science Fair. But what made this accomplishment even more special was the shout-out to this kid by US President Barack Obama at White House Astronomy Night where bright young kids were present.
US President Barack Obama has lauded a budding Indian-American astronomy buff who has the distinction of being the first person to be a Global Finalist in Google Science Fair twice. The Astronomy Night was held Monday, Oct 19, at the White House.
“Pranav was a global finalist in the Google Science Fair — not once, but twice. So you know he’s going to do some important things. Give him a big round of applause,” Obama said.
Pranav at the Astronomy Night at the White House, October 19.
Pranav, 15, was chosen out of only 10 students in his age category, 7 Americans, and 20 total students worldwide to make the finals of this year’s Google Science Fair. His research addressed resolvable image configurations of quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, allowing him to identify 109 new high probability quasar candidates. Pranav has also won the Astronomical League’s National Young Astronomer Award, two National Semi-finalist awards in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science, and Technology, taking second place in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
“When Pranav Sivakumar was six years old, he found an encyclopedia about famous scientists lying around the house.
At least he thinks it was lying around there. Actually, his parents probably were setting it out hoping he was going to run into it,” Obama said.
“And he’s been fascinated with outer space ever since. For years, every Saturday morning, his parents drove him an hour to an astrophysics lab for ‘Ask-A-Scientist’ class. And before long, he teamed up with researchers he met there to study the ‘gravitational lensing of quasars’. That is not what I was thinking about at his age,” the US President said.
An eighth grader at the Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora, Illinois, Pranav is one of 20 teens from across the world to be named a finalist in Google’s online science and technology competition.
He received the Virgin Galactic Pioneer Award last month for researching objects called quasars that appear unusually bright in the night sky.
Pranav, a runner up in the 2013 National Spelling Bee, is working to find galaxies dominated by dark matter with a professor at the University of Chicago.
As part of winning the Virgin Galactic Pioneer award, he gets to tour the company’s Mojave Air and Spaceport to meet the company’s engineers, and also gets a personal tour of Virgin Galactic’s new spaceship.
“It has been an exciting journey,” Pranav, who hails from Obama’s hometown of Chicago, said in a recent press release.
“I plan to continue this research for many years, hoping to contribute at least a little to our understanding of dark matter and dark energy, which make up 95 per cent of the universe and determine its future,” he said.
CHICAGO (TIP): The principal of a USDA-approved lender ‘First Farmers Financial LLC “sold phony loans to transfer over $4.5 million to himself and fund his “extravagant lifestyle,” the firm’s asset receiver claimed in court. In a complaint filed in federal court on Monday, Oct 19, Patrick Cavanaugh, receiver First Farmers Financial LLC, claimed the lender’s principal, Timothy Fisher and Nikesh Patel, engaged in a “massive fraud”.
Patel and Fisher invented ‘borrowers’, printed phony loan documents, forged the signatures of USDA officials on guarantees, sent the fraudulent loan documentation and sold portions of those loans through asset managers and/or investment advisors, including a company named Pennant Management Inc.
BOSTON (TIP): An Indian-Origin doctor Rita Luthra was arrested on Thursday, Oct 22, in connection with allegedly accepting free meals and speaker fees from a pharmaceutical company in return for prescribing its osteoporosis drugs, allowing pharmaceutical sales representatives to access patient records and lying to federal investigators.
Luthra has been indicted on one count of violating the Anti-Kickback Statute, one count of wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information and one count of obstructing a criminal health care investigation by lying to federal agents and directing an employee to do the same. From October 2010 through November 2011, Warner Chilcott, a pharmaceutical company based in Rockaway, N.J., allegedly paid Luthra $23,500 to prescribe its osteoporosis drugs, Actonel® and Atelvia®. On 31 occasions, a Warner Chilcott sales representative allegedly brought food to Luthra’s medical office for her and her staff, and paid Luthra $750 to talk with her for 25-30 minutes while she ate. On another occasion, Warner Chilcott paid to cater a barbeque that Luthra hosted at her home for her friends. Warner Chilcott also paid Luthra $250 for speaker training, despite the fact that she never spoke to any other physicians, according to court documents reports WWLP-22News.
It is alleged that Luthra’s prescriptions of Warner Chilcott’s osteoporosis drugs increased during the time that she was paid by the company, and precipitously declined once she was stopped being paid. Luthra also allowed a Warner Chilcott sales representative to access protected health information in her patients’ medical files. She further provided false information to federal agents when interviewed about her relationship with Warner Chilcott, and allegedly directed one of her employees to also lie.
The charge of violating the Anti-Kickback Statute provides a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $25,000. The charge of disclosure of individually identifiable health information provides a sentence of no greater than one year in prison and/or a fine of $50,000 and one year of supervised release. The charge of obstructing a criminal health care investigation provides a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
ATLANTA (TIP): An elderly Indian-American couple has been shot dead in the US state of North Carolina and police have arrested a 20-year-old suspect in connection with the slayings.
Kantibhai Patel, 72, and his wife Hansaben Patel, 67 worked and lived at Best Western Point South were shot and killed on Sunday morning.
Hours later, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office arrested Joshua Lenard Poacher in connection with the slayings, Jasper County Sun Times reported.
Poacher was charged with two counts of murder in the killings of the Patels, it said.
Sheriff Greg Jenkins said Poacher was arrested without incident at a hotel in Ridgeland.
The Patels lived at the Point South-based hotel and had worked there for 10 years, according to the sheriff’s office.
“A beautiful couple, no doubt,” Jenkins said. “Lives were taken from them, senselessly. You could not give an account for such a tragedy; why an individual would do such a thing.”
Jenkins said they were able to track down Poacher after he tried to use credit cards taken from the Patels. Police also viewed surveillance footage and received tips via phone calls.It was not known what led to the homicides. Jenkins did not know if Poacher knew the couple.
“What led up to that, what was the relationship between the three individuals, we have no idea,” Jenkins said.
The Patels were found shot inside a room at the hotel. Jenkins said his office received tips that helped lead to Poacher’s arrest, but there were no eyewitness accounts, no reports of an argument, shouting or a fight.
CHANDIGARH (TIP): Protests continue in Punjab over incidents of alleged desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib even as the government deployed paramilitary personnel in four districts of the state.
Coming as they do so close to the farmers’ rail roko agitation, the protests have effectively grounded the state for over a fortnight and, Opposition leaders said, threatened to raise old ghosts of fear and instability.
The extent of the crisis was underlined by the dramatic appearance of a sombre Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, accompanied by five Akali heavyweights, at a press briefing called by the police this evening to announce the arrest of two brothers for the alleged desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib in Faridkot district’s Bargari village.
“My father, my family, the whole Akali leadership have been perturbed by the incidents and have been on a mission to nab the culprits. A conspiracy was hatched to set Punjab on fire and the faces behind it have come to the fore,” Sukhbir Badal said. His father Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal hinted at a cross-border hand in the incidents.
Announcing the arrest of the two brothers, a day after five other arrests, the police said they had solved five of seven incidents of desecration, and alleged a conspiracy hatched in Australia and Dubai. On Tuesday, the Punjab Cabinet passed a resolution condemning the acts of sacrilege in various districts and described it as “a deep-rooted conspiracy to disturb peace, amity, brotherhood and communal harmony in the state”.
With just about a year ahead of the 2017 elections and fighting growing public resentment, the state government finds itself pushed into a corner after protests got a fresh impetus today with yet another desecration complaint from Bathinda. Residents of Gurusar village blocked the Bhagta Bhaika-Bathinda rail route from 10 am to 1.30 pm after over 150 pages of the Guru Granth Sahib were allegedly found torn.
The incidents, and the initial use of force by police to disperse protestors that led to the deaths of two men, set off a flurry of resignations from the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee, which is controlled by the Akali Dal, and a handful from the party, and other positions as well. As many as 15 members of the SGPC have quit.
The latest resignations came from Mohan Lal Banga, a former Akali MLA, who stepped down from the Punjab Public Services Commission, while Mangat Rai Bansal, who left the Congress to join SAD two years ago, quit the party.
Sikh protestors, responding to cues from two little-known preachers and a clutch of radical Sikh groups, continue to keep the state on edge with road blockades lasting several hours daily in several parts of Punjab. Akali MLAs and other district-level leaders have been unable to reach out to them. After a few incidents in which protestors chased away Akali leaders, they have virtually gone into hiding.
The desecration incidents came days after the Akal Takht controversially exonerated Gurmit Singh Ram Rahim, the head of Dera Sacha Sauda, from its own charge of blasphemy against him. The anger over the desecration incidents added to the unrest among panthic Sikhs over the pardon, for which the Akali Dal is widely blamed. A revocation of the pardon last week as a measure to mollify the protestors has not helped douse the anger against the Akalis.
Security forces taking out a flag march in Amritsar.
The government’s deployment of BSF personnel in the districts of Jalandhar, where Sikh protestors clashed with mostly Hindu shopkeepers, and in Ludhiana, Amritsar and Tarn Taran only seemed to underline its inability to bring the situation back under control.
President of the state Congress Pratap Singh Bajwa said it showed a “trust deficit” between the state police and Sukhbir Badal, who is also the Home Minister. AAP said it was an attempt to “create a fear psychosis” in the minds of the people and “raise the bogey of terrorism” in the State. The Congress has demanded President’s rule in the State.
Captain Amarinder Singh of the Congress asked Badal to stop blaming external forces, and demanded to know why the government had not acted on the theft of the Guru Granth Sahib in the Faridkot village when the complaint was first made in June.
After Monday’s Jalandhar incidents, the BJP, a partner in the ruling coalition with SAD, which had been a quiet onlooker through the last week, sprung to life. The state unit’s core committee including Union Minister Vijay Sampla and three BJP Cabinet ministers Madan Mohan Mittal, Surjit Kumar Jayani and Chunni Lal Bhagat met this afternoon. State BJP president Kamal Sharma made a carefully worded statement after the incident on behalf of the core committee, demanding the arrest of the culprits and “exemplary punishment” to them, plus an investigation into the conspiracy behind the incidents.
He said the core committee had made an appeal to Punjabis all over the world.. “The damage done in the black days of militancy has still not been undone in terms of economic progress. This hard-earned peace has to be maintained at all costs. My special appeal to the youth of the state is that we should not cause damage to the state in anger and spoil the atmosphere of brotherhood,” said Sharma.
Sharma described the Jalandhar incident as “unfortunate” and expressed the hope it would not happen again. “I will also request political parties not to do any politics over peace and brotherhood on the state,” he said.
SAN JOSE (TIP): A 72-year-old Indian-origin San Jose resident was killed in a hit-and-run accident and was later identified by the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office in California.
Inderjeet Sharma was walking near a road in San Jose on Tuesday, October 13 morning when he was hit by a pickup truck. The driver fled the spot.
Sharma was pronounced dead at the scene and his identity was revealed on Friday, October 16, San Jose Mercury News reported.
With the help of eyewitnesses and footage from a surveillance camera, the police identified and located the vehicle on Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (TIP): Vice-president Joe Biden will not run for president in 2016, he said on Oct 21, ending a month-long flirtation with a third White House campaign and setting him on a glide path toward the end of his decades-long US political career.
Biden’s decision finalizes the Democratic field of White House candidates and bolsters Hillary Rodham Clinton’s standing as the front-runner by sparing her a challenge from the popular vice-president.
In an extraordinary appearance in the White House Rose Garden, Biden said he always knew the window for a viable campaign might close before he could determine whether his family was emotionally prepared for another campaign so soon after losing his son, Beau Biden, in May. Biden said his family was prepared to back him, but that he nonetheless would not be a candidate.
“Unfortunately, I believe we’re out of time,” he said, flanked by President Barack Obama and Biden’s wife, Jill.
Encouraged by Democrats seeking an alternative to Clinton, Biden had spent the past several months deeply engaged in discussions with his family and political advisers about entering the primary. Yet as the deliberations dragged on, Democrats began publicly questioning whether it was too late for him to run, a notion that hardened after Clinton’s strong performance in last week’s Democratic debate.
Notably, Biden did not endorse Clinton or any of the other Democratic candidates. Instead, he used the announcement to outline the path he said Democrats should take in the 2016 campaign, including a call for them to run on Obama’s record. In what could have been a campaign speech, Biden deplored the influence of unlimited contributions on politics, called for expanding access to college educations and called on Democrats to recognize that while Republicans may be the opposition, they are “not our enemy.”
“While I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent,” Biden said.
Wednesday’s announcement was a letdown for Biden supporters who had pleaded with him to run, and in increasingly loud tones as his deliberations dragged on through the summer and into the fall.
For months, the 72-year-old Democrat made front pages and appeared on cable news screens as pundits mused about his prospects and Clinton’s perceived vulnerability. A super political action committee, Draft Biden, was formed with the explicit goal of getting him into the race.
At the White House, aides and longtime Biden loyalists had prepared for a potential bid, putting together a campaign-in-waiting should he decide to jump in. Last week one of those aides, former Sen. Ted Kaufman, wrote an email to former Biden staffers laying out the potential rationale for a Biden run and promising a decision soon.
Biden spoke personally to many supporters. As speculation about his plans reached a fever pitch, he kept up an intense schedule of public appearances, seemingly testing his own stamina for an exhausting presidential campaign. But he also continued to broadcast his reluctance amid doubts that he and his family were emotionally ready in the wake of Beau Biden’s death. In a September appearance on “The Late Show,” Biden told host Stephen Colbert he was still experiencing moments of uncontrollable grief that he deemed unacceptable for a presidential aspirant.
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One long-term goal is to establish remote locations in North America and set up factories in (at least three) the exporting countries to facilitate material acquisition, processing and self-export onward to North America.
US President Barack Obama has lauded a budding Indian-American astronomy buff who has the distinction of being the first person to be a Global Finalist in Google Science Fair twice. The Astronomy Night was held Monday, Oct 19, at the White House.
Coming as they do so close to the farmers’ rail roko agitation, the protests have effectively grounded the state for over a fortnight and, Opposition leaders said, threatened to raise old ghosts of fear and instability.
