The Indian Panorama

Year: 2015

  • GUJARAT: THE JEWEL OF WEST

    GUJARAT: THE JEWEL OF WEST

    On the western coast of India, the state of Gujarat is the “Jewel of the West” in India. In Gujarat, one of India’s most industrialized and prosperous states, you find the modern milieu and the age-old traditions happily married.
    The state derives its name from ‘Gujjaratta’ – meaning the land of the Gujjars, a tribe who migrated to India long back in 5th century AD. But some archeological findings from areas like Lothal, Dholavira, Rangpur, date back to the period of the Indus Valley Civilization. Since then, the state has seen the rise and fall of a number of mighty empires like the Mauryas, the Khiljis and other Muslim rulers, the Marathas till the British.

    The people of Gujarat reflect the vibrant culture of the state. They love to wear colorful dresses and the women prefer wearing a lot of ornaments. Most of the people speak in Gujarati. Hindi, Urdu, Sindhi and English are also spoken in Gujarat.
    Gujarat enjoys a more or less moderate climate throughout the year. However, some parts of the state like the Kutch region witness dry and extreme climate. The best time to visit the state is between the months of October and March.

    Places to Visit
    Mandvi Beach – Mandvi Beach is among the most beautiful Gujarat beaches. Situated along the Gujarat coastline in the port town of Mandvi, this is a private beach which once belonged to the erstwhile Maharao of Kutch. An ideal destination for a perfect holiday Mandvi Beach in Kutch is known for its pristine waters, sun kissed shores, enliven birdlife and enchanting fishing hamlets.

    Somnath Beach – The Somnath Beach is counted among the finest Gujarat beaches. It is situated 6Km to the east of Veraval. Veraval is a town in Gujarat which is well connected by air, road and rail way. Visited by a host of pilgrims who visit the Somnath Temple this beach in Gujarat is known for its peace and tranquility. Away from the common din of daily life the Somnath Beach is a hub for nature lovers and bird watchers.

    Ahmedpur Mandvi Beach
    Ahmedpur Mandvi Beach is situated between Junagarh and Ahmedabad. It is ranked as one the most popular beaches in Gujarat. Characterized by dancing waves, crystal waters, soft white sands and a wide variety of some of the finest bird life this beach in Gujarat is a definite once in a life time visit. If swimming is what you like then do not hesitate to step into the water as this is also one of the safest Gujarat beaches.

    Ahmedabad The city is associated with Mahatma Gandhi, Father of the Nation, whose simple Sabarmati Ashram on the banks of river Sabarmati is now a site of national pilgrimage. Ahmedabad is a great textile and commercial centre and known as the “Manchester of India”
    Steeped in history Ahmedabad is a city which ahs still been able to maintain its old world charm despite the rampages of modernization. Run into any corner of the city, you would find some or other monument, temple or mosque with a story to tell you.
    Ahmedabad basks in the memories of Mahatma Gandhi and freedom struggle. Apart from the historic appeal, vibrant festivities, exquisite art and crafts – the city has manifold charms to bowl you over. Travel to Ahmedabad during the time of Navaratra. The pulsating beats of Dandiya would have you swaying in the rhythms.

    Gandhinagar The city of Gandhinagar is located on the banks of the Sabarmati River in the north eastern region of Gujarat. This is the capital city of the western state of Gujarat. It is a part of the industrial hub of the region.
    There are several places of tourist interest in Gandhinagar. Some of the names are: Akshardham temple. Craftsmen’s Village and Sarita Udyan.

    Porbandar Travel to Porbandar is made easy by the presence of an extensive network of roads and railways. This coastal city of Gujarat can also be reached by air or by sea. Porbandar has a historical and mythological significance. The city has produced many famous personalities and has developed as one of the tourist destinations in the world. For the Indians this place is no less than a pilgrimage in terms of importance and reverence, as it is the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi.

    Vadodara It is a fascinating travel through Vadodara or Baroda, as it was earlier called, the former capital of the erstwhile princely state of Gaekwad. Baroda is an important cultural center of India and is known for its art galleries and museums.
    Baroda or Vadodara is also the industrial hub of Gujarat with many automobiles, engineering, chemical and other industries.
    The tourist attractions in Vadodara are many as Vadodara is known for its palaces, museums and parks like the Sayaji Bagh, the Vadodara Museum and Art Gallery, the Maharaj Fateh Singh Museum, the Laxmi Vilas Palace and the Naulakhi Well are worth visiting. Excursions from Vadodara can be made to the town of Champaner, Dabohi, Dakora and Bharuch with history trapped in its temples and ruins of forts. Vadodara city, 100 km north of Vadodara is known for its rich past and its association with Mahatma Gandhi.

    Junagadh
    Travel to Junagadh involves visiting the various attractions located in this ancient city of Gujarat.
    The city, which is also the headquarters of its namesake district, is located at the base of the Girnar Hills. A visit to Junagadh will include a visit to some of the following tourist attractions that dot the city:
    Ashok Shilalekh – This is an edict of Emperor Ashok inscribed on the surface of a rock, constructed as early as the 3rd century BC.
    Sakkarbag Zoo – This zoo is the oldest in Gujarat and the third oldest in the country. The famous Gir lions preserved in this zoo are bred and supplied to other zoos. Makabara – An excellent specimen of medieval structure, Makabara is a place where Nawabs were buried.
    Jain Derasar – This is an excellent temple on the Girnar Hill, located at an elevation of 3100 feet.
    Narsinh Mehta Choro – It is believed that Lord Krishna held a traditional Rasleela dance for his devotee Narsinh Mehta in this region. The tourist attraction is frequented by the devotees of Lord Krishna.
    Upperkot Fort – A visit to Upperkot Fort is an important itinerary during the tour of Junagadh. The strategic location of the fort helped the fort in surviving over 16 sieges in a span of 1000 years.

  • GLOBAL MEDICAL TOURISM MARKET TO RISE OVER $ 30 BN BY 2019: RESEARCH

    GLOBAL MEDICAL TOURISM MARKET TO RISE OVER $ 30 BN BY 2019: RESEARCH

    HOUSTON (TIP): Global medical tourism market will rise to $ 32.5 billion by 2019 on account of rising healthcare costs in developed countries, like the US and improved standards of healthcare technology and services in nations like India and China, a research says.

    The surging costs of healthcare and medical insurance in the US will give a rise to global medical tourism which will register a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.9 per cent from 2013 to 2019, according to the research titled “Medical Tourism Market (India, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Mexico, Brazil, Taiwan, Turkey, South Korea, Costa Rica, Poland, the Philippines and Dubai).

    The research has been conducted by Transparency Market Research (TMR), a US-based market intelligence company, which has pegged the current medical tourism market at $ 10 billion.

    Factors like ageing population, adoption of newer technologies to treat various products and better exchange rates in the economy as a whole push the case for its rise.

    The possibility of economic crisis in developed nations which has led to decrease in disposable incomes has also added to its growth.

    Better pricing for cosmetic surgeries and shorter waiting period for treatment is also likely to accelerate the growth in the sector.

    Besides escalating healthcare costs, many medical and surgical procedures are no longer covered by insurance. This has made it imperative for Americans to seek alternative, affordable options for their healthcare treatments.

    One such option is medical tourism or travelling to foreign countries that offer exceptionally good medical services at affordable rates.

    Today more Americans fly out to places like India, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore among others to get themselves treated in the high-tech hospitals at a fraction of costs demanded by hospitals in US, the research said.

    Hospitals and healthcare facilities in various south east Asian countries, especially India and China, often match or even surpass the quality of healthcare available in US-based hospitals, it added.

  • Nearly 38,000 firms set up in eight months of new Companies Act

    Nearly 38,000 firms set up in eight months of new Companies Act

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Spread across diverse sectors, nearly 38,000 new firms have been registered in the first eight months of the new companies law coming into force in April last year.

    Out of the total such entities, more than 1,100 are one-person companies, according to the latest data available with Corporate Affairs Ministry.

    Most provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 — that replaces the nearly six-decade old legislation governing corporates in the country — became effective from April 1, 2014. Interestingly, in the first month of the new law coming into effect, the number of new companies registered touched a low of 765.

    Latest data compiled by Corporate Affairs Ministry reveals a mixed trend in terms of the number of new companies being set up every month since April 2014.

    As many as 37,878 new companies have been registered during the nine-month period from April to November 2014.

    In this period, the highest number of new entities in a single month touched 7,229 in July, climbing significantly from the June figure of 4,801.

    Since July, the count of new entities has been varying with November witnessing registration of 5,471 companies, higher than 4,283 freshly set up firms in October.

    With regard to economic activities, the new companies are spread across divers sectors, including business services, manufacturing, trading, construction, real estate and renting.

    Among others, the new Act introduced the concept of One Person Companies (OPCs).

    Till end of November last year, a total of 1,124 OPCs were registered with collective authorised capital of Rs 25.21 crore.

    In terms of activities, the maximum number of OPCs are registered in the business services category at 646, followed by community, personal & social services (134), trading (96) and manufacturing (89).

    OPCs are expected to facilitate easier access to funding sources for entrepreneurs.

  • SEBI WIELDS NEW POWERS; RECOVERS DUES IN OVER 100 CASES

    SEBI WIELDS NEW POWERS; RECOVERS DUES IN OVER 100 CASES

    NEW DELHI(TIP): Using its enhanced powers, capital markets regulator Sebi has managed to recover dues in more than 100 cases over the past one year out of the 500 cases in which attachment orders were passed against various defaulters.

    In those 500 cases, Sebi initiated more than 1,700 attachment proceedings and its efforts appear to be yielding results in many of them.

    In terms of amount, the regulator has been able to collect about Rs 25 crore from various defaulters.

    Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) began initiating attachment proceedings against defaulters, including individuals and companies, in October 2013 as part of greater powers granted to it by the government.

    Since then, the regulator has launched 1,756 attachment proceedings for recovery of penalties imposed in as many as 525 cases.

    These cases involved recovery of collective penalties totalling close to Rs 2,000 crore, imposed on various entities in matters related to violations of capital market norms.

    A senior official said the market regulator has released attachment orders in cases where dues have been paid by the defaulters, while de-freezing the bank and demat accounts, among other assets.

    Recovery proceedings by Sebi involve attachment of bank accounts, movable and immovable properties, shares and debentures, among others, against those having defaulted on paying penalties or refund investors’ money.

    Under the new powers granted to Sebi by Parliament, the regulator can pass orders like search and seizure, attachment of properties, arrest and detention of defaulters.

    So far, Sebi has also detained three defaulters and one individual has been sent to civil imprisonment.

    Besides bank accounts, Sebi has also, in various proceedings, ordered depositories — NSDL and CDSL — to attach the demat securities accounts of the erring entities.

    Apart from that, the regulator has also initiated auction process for sale of attached properties in some cases, including those related to Pyramid Saimira scam and a few found to have raised public funds through illicit schemes in West Bengal.

  • 7 militants killed in Pakistan blast inside militant hideout

    7 militants killed in Pakistan blast inside militant hideout

    ISLAMABAD (TIP): At least seven militants were killed inside their hideout on Friday in a high-intensity explosion in Pakistan’s restive tribal region, officials said.

    The blast occurred in a compound in Sundana Teera area of Khyber, one of the seven tribal districts in the country, where Taliban militants have their hideouts.

    An official from the area confirmed the blast and the casualties.

    He said the exact nature of explosion was not known but added that these kinds of blast are usually caused by explosives stored illegally without following safety measures.

    Parts of Khyber are controlled by Mangal Bagh of Lashkar-e-Islam militant outfit.

    The provincial government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa which borders the tribal region has announced a bounty of Rs 10 million on Bagh.

    Pakistan Army launched an operation in the areas last year and so far had killed more than 200 militants.

    The military is also focused on banned Lashkar-e-Islam, which has so far claimed over 300 lives in the area, and surrendering of more than 400 militants.

  • Egypt sets parliamentary poll dates as Sisi cements grip

    Egypt sets parliamentary poll dates as Sisi cements grip

    CAIRO (TIP): Egypt said January Thursday it is to hold parliamentary elections from March 21 but analysts said the new legislature will offer no meaningful opposition to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s iron-fisted rule.

    The elections, which will be held in phases culminating on May 7, will be the first since Sisi overthrew his Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi on July 3, 2013.

    But with Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood crushed in a crackdown that has left hundreds dead and even secular opposition groups hit by jail terms, the elections are likely to be dominated by Sisi loyalists.

    “It is difficult to see there being much in the way of opposition on issues relating to governance and human rights from within any new parliament in this current environment,” said H. A. Hellyer of Centre for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution.

    The vote will be held under a complex electoral system that was originally designed to produce as representative a parliament as possible.

    Some of the 567 seats will be contested on nationwide party lists. Others will be fought on a first-past-the post basis in individual constituencies, where second-round runoffs will be held where necessary.

    But critics say the process has been emptied of meaning now that the main opposition groups have been outlawed. The top leaders of the once dominant Muslim Brotherhood are all on trial on charges that could carry the death penalty. Even verbal expressions of support have been punishable by heavy jail terms since the movement was declared a terrorist organisation in December 2013.

    Tough restrictions on the right to protest have also seen several secular leaders of the Arab Spring uprising that toppled veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak in 2011 sent to prison.

    “The president has crushed his political opposition with military force and not political. We are witnessing a political scene that cannot produce any opposition to the president,” said Ahmed Abdel Rabu, professor of political science at University of Cairo.

    Sisi remains popular among the many Egyptians who applaud his pledge to restore order after four years of political turmoil and economic chaos.

    The Arab world’s most populous nation has been hit by a mounting wave of violence by jihadist groups since Morsi’s ouster that the former army chief has vowed to crush with a rod of iron.

    It is a rhetoric that most candidates are likely to emulate as they seek to win election to parliament on Sisi’s coattails.

    “The parliamentary hopefuls are already using the language of his regime, such as regaining the state’s prestige and war on terrorism,” said Abdel Rabu.

    But the polls are important to Sisi as he seeks to cement a thaw in relations with Western governments that had condemned his overthrow of Egypt’s first freely elected president.

    The United States delivered 10 Apache helicopters last month after lifting part of a freeze on aid as mounting turmoil across the region underlined Egypt’s importance as an ally.

    The United States annually allocates some $1.5 billion in aid to Egypt, including $1.3 billion in military assistance.

    That was frozen in October 2013 pending the enactment of democratic reforms.

    After ousting Morsi, Sisi announced a political roadmap that envisaged adopting a new constitution, to be followed by presidential and parliamentary elections, and Western governments have called on him to see it through.

    The new constitution, which expanded the powers of the military, was adopted in a January 2014 referendum with a 98 percent yes vote.

    The presidential election, which Sisi won with 97 percent of the vote on a 47 percent turnout, was held in May.

  • FRENCH POLICE FEAR ANOTHER ATTACK

    FRENCH POLICE FEAR ANOTHER ATTACK

    PARIS (TIP): French anti-terrorism police converged on an area northeast of Paris on January 8 after two brothers suspected of behind an attack on a satirical newspaper were spotted at a petrol station in the region.

    France’s prime minister said on Thursday he feared the Islamist militants who killed 12 people could strike again as a manhunt for two men widened across the country.

    Two police sources said that the men were seen armed and wearing cagoules in a Renault Clio car at a petrol station on a secondary road in Villiers-Cotterets some 70 kilometers from the French capital.

    Amid French media reports the men had abandoned their car, Bruno Fortier, the mayor of neighboring Crépy-en-Valois, said helicopters were circling his town and police and anti-terrorism forces were deploying en masse.

    “It’s an incessant waltz of police cars and trucks,” he told Reuters, adding that he could not confirm reports the men were holed up in a house in the area.

    A policewoman was killed in a shootout in Paris earlier in the day, but police sources could not immediately confirm a link with Wednesday’s killings at the Charlie Hebdo weekly newspaper that marked the worst attack on French soil for decades.

    National leaders and allied states described the assault on Charlie Hebdo, known for its lampooning of Islam and other religions as well as politicians, as an assault on democracy. The bells of Notre-Dame cathedral rang out during a minute’s silence observed across France and beyond.

    Many European newspapers either re-published Charlie Hebdo cartoons or mocked the killers with images of their own.

    Montrouge Mayor Jean-Loup Metton said the policewoman and a colleague were attending a reported traffic accident when Thursday’s shooting occurred. Witnesses said the assailant fled in a Renault Clio and police sources said he wore a bullet-proof vest and had a handgun and assault rifle.

    But one police officer at the scene told Reuters he did not appear to resemble the Charlie Hebdo shooters.

    Prime Minister Manuel Valls was asked on RTL radio after an emergency cabinet meeting with President Francois Hollande whether he feared a further attack.

    “That question is entirely legitimate, that’s obviously our main concern, and that is why thousands of police and investigators have been mobilized to catch these individuals.”

    “ARMED AND DANGEROUS”

    Police released photographs of the two French nationals still at large, calling them “armed and dangerous”: brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi, aged 32 and 34, both of whom were already under watch by security services.

    Late on January 7, an 18-year-old man turned himself into police in Charleville-Mézières near the Belgian border as police carried out searches in Paris and the northeastern cities of Reims and Strasbourg. A legal source said he was the brother-in-law of one of the main suspects and French media quoted friends as saying he was in school at the moment of the attack.

    French social media carried numerous reports of police helicopters across northern France. Police tightened security at transport hubs, religious sites, media offices and stores.

    There were scattered, unconfirmed reports of sightings of the assailants and police increased their presence at entry points to Paris. One police source talked of a type of “psychosis” setting in with various reports and rumors, but police had to take each of them seriously.

  • US TRAINS IRAQIS FOR HOUSE-TO-HOUSE BATTLE AGAINST ISLAMC STATE

    US TRAINS IRAQIS FOR HOUSE-TO-HOUSE BATTLE AGAINST ISLAMC STATE

    TAJI BASE, Iraq (TIP): A team of camouflage-clad Iraqi soldiers lines up near the door of a one-storey house north of Baghdad with rifles ready, preparing to enter and search it.

    For now, there are no militants inside, and American and Iraqi instructors are on hand to tell them how to position themselves, where to look when they enter and how to hold their Kalashnikov assault rifles.

    But these are skills the soldiers, who are some two weeks into a six-week training programme at the massive Taji base complex, may soon need to employ against foes who shoot back.

    The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group led a sweeping militant offensive last June that overran large areas north and west of Baghdad, and multiple Iraqi divisions collapsed during the assault.

    A US-led coalition is carrying out air strikes against IS, and is also providing training aimed at rebuilding the Iraqi forces and readying them to fight.

    The aim is to eventually train 5,000 federal soldiers and Kurdish fighters at five sites every six to eight weeks — a tight timeline, especially for newly recruited troops.

    There are four Iraqi battalions, of roughly 400 soldiers each, being instructed in infantry skills at Taji by a combination of US and Iraqi trainers.

    Around 80 more are receiving tank training. Most are recent recruits who volunteered after the IS-led offensive began, knowing that they would likely see combat. Before this course, they received just a few months of basic training. Now they are being trained for the house-to-house fighting that will be necessary to recapture the cities, towns and villages that IS holds. The recruits will have to make split-second distinctions between militants and civilians if they are to avoid casualties among residents whose support will be vital in the long run if IS is to be defeated.

    Knowing how to approach, enter and clear a building are key skills that theywill need. The exercise begins with small teams of Iraqis rushing across open ground, going prone to avoid simulated enemy fire, then moving to take cover behind makeshift obstacles, including wooden doors. The training programme is still in its infancy and some improvisation is necessary. To mimic the sound of gunfire as the exercise unfolds, one American soldier has the unenviable task of repeatedly hitting a piece of metal with a hammer.

    When they reach cover, the Iraqi soldiers are supposed to ready their assault rifles to fire — saying “bang” to simulate shooting, as they are not using blank ammunition — and then put the safeties back on before advancing again.

    The second step is periodically forgotten, and US instructors yell “put your safety on” at the errant trainees, sometimes accompanied by profanity. The Iraqi soldiers then reach the building they will clear and “stack,” lining up one behind the other along the wall with rifles ready, before moving inside. The exercise also includes simulated casualties, with some soldiers being declared “wounded” so others can practise battlefield first aid.

    “It’s really taking a lot of the training from throughout the last couple weeks and kinda combining them into an event that… brings it all together,” says Captain David Neveau. The units training at Taji have a shortage of experienced officers and non-commissioned officers, so they are being selected from the ranks during the course.

    “From a newly formed unit, they don’t really have a bunch of NCOs and a bunch of officers, so we’re trying to pick leaders from the group,” Neveau says.

    There is training for officers focusing on leadership, but another aim is to spread responsibility down the ranks.

    We “actually have some of the commanders off to the side… letting some of the soldiers take their squads and teams through,” says Command Sergeant Major Tony Grinston, who is overseeing the training programme.

    “We’re just trying to take small steps so that when… a leader goes down, the mission continues,” he says.

    But the key question is whether the Iraqi army will continue the training after the course is over — something that US soldiers say was not done after American forces departed in

    “If you… teach them and then stopped doing it for a year or six months, you can’t expect them to be good at it,” Grinston says.

  • China punishes 17 officials after Xinjiang attack

    China punishes 17 officials after Xinjiang attack

    BEIJING (TIP): China punished 17 officials in Xinjiang for security lapses surrounding deadly explosions and riots in September, state media said, as the Communist Party boss in the western region warned the fight against “terrorism” had entered a “more intense” phase.

    Dozens were killed near Xinjiang’s Luntai county in the unrest after explosions killed six people, triggering a shootout with police. Police shot dead 40 rioters, some of whom were seeking to blow themselves up, said state media at the time.

    The incident was one of a series of deadly attacks that have rocked the region in recent years. The government has blamed the violence on ethnic Uighur separatists, who it says want to form an independent country called East Turkestan. It is difficult for foreign journalists to report in Xinjiang, rendering it almost impossible to reach an independent assessment of the security situation. After an investigation into the Sept. 21 incident, Xinjiang’s Communist Party committee gave 17 officials “party and government disciplinary” punishment for lapses including those related to security and publicity duties, news website www.ts.cn, which is run by the committee, said late on January 8.

  • 7 MILITANTS KILLED IN PAKISTAN BLAST INSIDE MILITANT HIDEOUT

    7 MILITANTS KILLED IN PAKISTAN BLAST INSIDE MILITANT HIDEOUT

    ISLAMABAD (TIP): At least seven militants were killed inside their hideout on Friday in a high-intensity explosion in Pakistan’s restive tribal region, officials said.

    The blast occurred in a compound in Sundana Teera area of Khyber, one of the seven tribal districts in the country, where Taliban militants have their hideouts.

    An official from the area confirmed the blast and the casualties.

    He said the exact nature of explosion was not known but added that these kinds of blast are usually caused by explosives stored illegally without following safety measures.

    Parts of Khyber are controlled by Mangal Bagh of Lashkar-e-Islam militant outfit.

    The provincial government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa which borders the tribal region has announced a bounty of Rs 10 million on Bagh.

    Pakistan Army launched an operation in the areas last year and so far had killed more than 200 militants.

    The military is also focused on banned Lashkar-e-Islam, which has so far claimed over 300 lives in the area, and surrendering of more than 400 militants.

  • LAKHVI GRANTED BAIL AGAIN, BUT WILL REMAIN IN JAIL

    LAKHVI GRANTED BAIL AGAIN, BUT WILL REMAIN IN JAIL

    ISLAMABAD (TIP): An Islamabad court on January 9 granted bail to Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the mastermind of 2008 Mumbai terror attack, in a six-year kidnapping case. The court granted bail to Lakhvi against surety bonds worth Rs 200,000.

    On January 7, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had overturned the high court order suspending Lakhvi’s detention under a public security act which evoked a strong reaction from India and ordered that he remain in jail.

    The apex court also referred the case back to the high court for a “complete hearing” before giving a final decision. The case will be heard again on January 12.

    Lakhvi was arrested in February 2009 and was indicted along with six others on November 25, 2009, for planning and helping to carry out the Mumbai terror attacks.

    The six other men facing trial for their alleged involvement are Hammad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Younas Anjum, Jamil Ahmed, Mazhar Iqbal and Abdul Majid.

    At the time of the attacks, Lakhvi was believed to be the operational head of the banned Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT) that has been accused by India of being the perpetrator.

    The 2008 attacks, which saw 10 Pakistani gunmen rampage through Mumbai and then lay seige to a five-star hotel for three days totally killing 166 people, sent bilateral relations into deep freeze. India blamed the Pakistan-based militant group LeT for the attack and handed over intercepts to use as evidence in the Lakhvi case.

    One Pakistani terrorist, Ajmal Kasab, caught alive was tried and convicted of the attacks, and sentenced to death by a special court in Mumbai. He was executed on November 21, 2012.

  • Bob McDonnell, ex-governor of virginia, jailed for 2 years for corruption

    Bob McDonnell, ex-governor of virginia, jailed for 2 years for corruption

    RICHMOND (VIRGINIA) (TIP): Former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell has been sentenced to two years in prison for taking money and gifts in exchange for promoting a dietary supplement while he was in office.

    McDonnell, a Republican, was once on the short list to be Mitt Romney’s vice-presidential running mate in 2012. He was sentenced Tuesday after being convicted of 11 counts of corruption.

    The former governor and his wife, Maureen, were found guilty in September. She was convicted of eight counts and will be sentenced in February.

    Lawyers for the former governor asked a judge to order three years of community service. Prosecutors recommended a sentence of at least 10 years in prison.

    The six-week jury trial exposed details of the former first couple’s strained marriage and shaky finances.

  • Cop fatally shoots man at US airport amid confrontation

    Cop fatally shoots man at US airport amid confrontation

    COLUMBUS, OHIO (TIP): A Columbus airport official says a police officer fatally shot a man during a confrontation just outside the terminal.

    David Whitaker, a Columbus Regional Airport Authority vice-president, says the man was shot by the officer at about 1pm on Wednesday outside the departures area of the terminal. The officer was not injured.

    Whitaker didn’t have details of the confrontation but said the officer was responding to a threat. He didn’t have the name of the man who was shot. The man did not fire at the officer. The departures area was blocked off Wednesday afternoon, but the airport said flights were running as scheduled. Departing passengers were directed to enter through the arrivals area.

  • Obama visits French embassy after Charlie Hebdo attack

    Obama visits French embassy after Charlie Hebdo attack

    WASHINGTON (TIP): US President Barack Obama visited the French embassy in Washington on Thursday to honour the 12 victims of the Islamist attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris.

    Obama, fresh from a trip to Phoenix, Arizona, signed a book of condolence at the embassy after Wednesday’s attack in the French capital that has sparked an ongoing manhunt for two suspected gunmen.

  • Vistara airline to launch on January 9

    Vistara airline to launch on January 9

    MUMBAI (TIP): Tata Group is set to launch its full-service Vistara airline on 9 January, more than 60 years after the Indian government nationalised the group’s airline business and following two previous aborted attempts to start an airline. The airline said in a statement it will start accepting bookings for tickets from January 8 night. Vistara will start with the Mumbai-Ahemedabad route and expand to other cities later.

    The name Vistara comes from Vistaar in Sanskrit, which means limitless expanse, and draws inspiration from the brand’s domain—the limitless sky. Headquartered in New Delhi, Vistara will begin operations with its fleet of brand new Airbus A 320-200s with 148 seats. Vistara aircraft will have a three-class configuration with 16 business class seats, 36 premium economy class seats and remaining economy class.

    There will also be a frequent flyer programme—Club Vistara—based on money spent by passengers, not on miles. In 2000, Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines Ltd abandoned a joint attempt to buy a 40% stake in full service airline Air India—an airline which the group founded as Tata Airlines in the 1930s before it was nationalized in 1953. Political resistance and corporate rivalries were blamed for the Tata group abandoning the project. An earlier attempt by the two companies to start an Indian airline with 40%equity contribution by SIA was also aborted. On Monday, Vistara received the air operating permit from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which was the last regulatory approval needed by Vistara to operate in India.

    TATA SIA Airlines Ltd, known by the brand name Vistara, is a joint venture between Tata Sons Ltd and Singapore Airlines with Tata Sons holding the majority stake of 51% in the company and SIA holding the remaining 49%. Tata Sons has an ongoing joint venture with AirAsia Bhd for a low-fare airline AirAsia India, which is already flying. Vistara’s takeoff comes at time when its potential rival airline SpiceJet Ltd had briefly ground its fleet owing to financial crisis. Early this week, as a temporary relief, the ministry of civil aviation had permitted SpiceJet to accept bookings till March-end, asked banks to give short-term working capital loans worth Rs.600 crore and requested state-owned oil companies to extend a credit line for jet fuel for two more weeks. With Delhi as its hub, Vistara will initially offer flights to Mumbai and Ahmedabad, Vistara said in a statement. Seats for all three classes are on sales and there will not be a separate fuel surcharge, the statement said. Phee Teik Yeoh, chief executive officer, Vistara, said, “I am very excited as this day is the culmination of many months of hard work. The activation of distribution channels is our first interface with our customer and with this, we embark on a journey to fulfill our brand promise of seamless travel experience”. Vistara’s technology partners—Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), Wipro Ltd and Amadeus—will be responsible for its customer support system and IT services, it added. Meanwhile on Thursday, India’s second largest airline by passengers carried Jet Airways (India) Ltd said it is introducing over 12 additional daily flights on domestic routes as part of its winter schedule effective 23 December 2014.

    Jet Airways capacity expansion comes at a time when rival SpiceJet Ltd cut its fleet by one-third and gave its airport slots to other airlines owing financial crisis. Naresh Goyal promoted Jet Airways said it will deploy wide body Airbus A330 and narrow body Boeing 737 aircraft to meet the heavy demand during the ensuing festive season. The airline is operating additional frequencies on the routes such as Delhi-Bengaluru, Chennai-Kochi, Delhi-Udaipur, Goa-Mumbai and Mumbai-Kolkata.

  • INVESTING IN INDIA | A conversation with Charles R Kaye

    INVESTING IN INDIA | A conversation with Charles R Kaye

    NEW YORK CITY (TIP): The Consulate General of India, New York, held its 11th Media India Lecture on Friday December 19, 2014, with the guest speaker Charles R Kaye, Co-CEO of Warburg Pincus.

    Consul General Dnyaneshwar Mulay opened the discussion by encouraging entrepreneurs and investors to explore the possibility of business in India, given favorable political environment. In attendance were several distinguished Indian and American businessmen, in addition to those interested in expanding their companies to the subcontinent.

    Kaye has been working with Warburg Pincus since 1986, and has been jointly responsible for the management of the firm since 2000. Kaye overseas investment policy strategy and decisions, leadership of executive management group, and the coordination of limited partner communications. Kaye was instrumental in the Hong Kong launch and development of Warburg Pincus’ Asia operations. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, co-chairman of the Partnership Fund for NYC, and on the International Advisory Board of the Center for the Advanced Study of India. He is the Chairman Emeriti of Asia Society and the US-India Business Council. He is also on the Board of Directors of the NY Genome Centre.

    In a fireside chat with Paritosh Bansal, who oversees Thompson Reuters’ financial services coverage in the Americas, Kaye outlined the growth of his company in India since the 1990s and the change in the investment cycles of different businesses in India. Kaye asserted that one of the reasons that his company was so successful in India was because they did not attempt to impose external business models and working methods for Indian industries. He was glad that his company was one of the first to enter India when markets were just opening up, giving him and his company the competitive edge to learn the commercial landscape.

    “The Indian entrepreneur dreams bigger now,” said Kaye about the major difference between doing business in India twenty years ago, and doing business now. “It is much easier to do business now in India, because India is the place where the impossible becomes possible,” said Kaye, referring to the change in the political climate since the last elections, and the willingness of the new administration to facilitate foreign investors. Most importantly, he said, watching the growth of Indian entrepreneurs and businessmen as they took financial risks that eventually paid off, was extremely rewarding. “In all emerging markets,” he concluded, “you make a bet on the people — it’s the people of the country that drive the success of the business”.

    INVESTING IN INDIA A conversation with Charles R Kaye1

  • KARUNANIDHI RE-ELECTED DMK PRESIDENT FOR ELEVENTH TIME

    KARUNANIDHI RE-ELECTED DMK PRESIDENT FOR ELEVENTH TIME

    CHENNAI (TIP): A general council meeting of the DMK here on January 9 unanimously reelected former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi as party president for the eleventh time.

    The general council also reelected K Anbazhagan as party general secretary and Karunanidhi’s son M K Stalin as treasurer.

    The month-long organizational polls covering party’s 65 districts have come to an end with the elections to the key posts.

    The members erupted in joy by clapping hands and raising slogans in praise of the trio, when senior leader and party election commissioner Sarguna Pandian announced the election results.

    Later, Karunanidhi announced the appointment of his daughter and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi as women’s wing secretary.

    Former PWD minister and DMK leader S Duraimurugan has been elevated as principal secretary, hitherto held by senior leader Arcot N Veerasamy.

    Sarguna Pandian, V P Duraisamy, I Periyasamy and Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan have been made deputy secretaries.

    The party has also announced Trichy N Siva and former telecom minister A Raja as its propaganda secretaries.

  • Additional spectrum case: Relief to Sunil Mittal, Ravi Ruia

    Additional spectrum case: Relief to Sunil Mittal, Ravi Ruia

    NEW DELHI (TIP): In a relief to Bharti Cellular Ltd CMD Sunil Bharti Mittal and Essar Group promoter Ravi Ruia, the Supreme Court on January 9 set aside the order of the special court summoning them as accused in a corruption case related to allocation of additional spectrum during NDA rule in 2002.

    “The legal principle has been wrongly applied. We set aside the order of the special court,” a bench comprising Chief Justice H L Dattu and justices Madan B Lokur and A K Sikri said.

    The bench said, “We are giving liberty to the special judge that if at any stage any material is found, he has every right to summon them (as accused).”

    The apex court had on December 4 last year, reserved the verdict after hearing counsel for corporate honchos and the CBI.

    Earlier during the arguments, senior advocate F S Nariman, appearing for Mittal, had told the apex court that the trial court erred in summoning his client despite the fact that the CMD was not named as accused in the charge sheet by the CBI.

    Nariman had told the bench that there was “nothing unusual” in the alleged assertion that Mittal had meetings with then Telecom Minister Pramod Mahajan and then Telecom Secretary Shyamal Ghosh.

    Earlier, CBI, which had not charged Mittal and Ruia, had defended the decision of a Special CBI judge to summon them as accused.

    The apex court was hearing petitions seeking setting aside of the order of a Special CBI Judge by which Ruia and Mittal, whose name did not figure in CBI’s charge sheet as accused, were summoned on March 19, 2013.

    The lower court had said that there was “enough material” to proceed against them in the case.

    Earlier, Essar Group promoter Ravi Ruia had said that he was not connected with the day-to-day affairs of the accused company Sterling Cellular Ltd and he was wrongly summoned in the case.

    Besides Mittal and Ruia, the lower court had also summoned Asim Ghosh, the then Managing Director of accused firm Hutchison Max Telecom Pvt Ltd. Ghosh was also not named as accused in the charge sheet.

    The trial court had said that Mittal, Ghosh and Ruia used to chair board meetings and “were/are prima facie in control of affairs of the respective companies” and “they are/were ‘alter-ego’ of their respective companies”.

    CBI had filed the charge sheet against former Telecom Secretary Shyamal Ghosh and three telecom firms Bharti Cellular Ltd, Hutchison Max Telecom Pvt Ltd (now known as Vodafone India Ltd) and Sterling Cellular Ltd (now known as Vodafone Mobile Service Ltd).

    The lower court, while taking cognisance of the charge sheet, had issued summons to Mittal, Ruia and Asim Ghosh, saying they were “prima facie” in “control of affairs” of their companies named in the charge sheet by CBI in the case.

    CBI had booked Shyamal Ghosh and the three telecom firms for the offences of criminal conspiracy (120-B under IPC and under Prevention of Corruption Act.

    The probe agency said the three accused telecom companies were allocated additional spectrum resulting in an alleged loss of Rs 846 crore to the exchequer.

    Regarding Ghosh, CBI had said that in the alleged conspiracy with the then Telecom Minister Mahajan and the accused telecom firms, he had allegedly abused his official position to show undue favour to the firms causing a loss of Rs 846.44 crore to the exchequer.

  • Ban appoints Khare as under-secretary-general

    Ban appoints Khare as under-secretary-general

    UNITED NATIONS (TIP): UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday, January 7, appointed a veteran Indian diplomat and UN official, Atul Khare, as the Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, making him one of the two highest-ranking Indians at the UN.

    Khare will join Vijay Nambiar, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Myanmar, on the world body’s Senior Management Group.

    He succeeds Ameerah Haq of Bangladesh as head of the UN Department of Field Support, which backs up the extensive network of peacekeeping and political field missions.

    India’s UN Mission welcomed his appointment and said it “has full confidence that Dr. Khare will discharge the important responsibilities entrusted to him with complete distinction.”

    In earlier UN assignments, Khare was chosen to head the Change Management Team tasked with finding ways to reform the organization’s operations and improve efficiency. He has been the assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping operations and the Secretary-General’s special representative for Timor-Leste.

    A medical doctor by training, Khare graduated from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences before joining the Indian Foreign Service in 1984. He also has a master’s degree in management from the University of Southern Queensland.

    During his Indian diplomatic career, Khare obtained experience in many troubled spots in Africa where the UN has extensive involvement. As the Charge d’affaires of the Indian embassy in Senegal he was concurrently accredited to Mali, Mauritania, Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde.

    He also served as the Deputy High Commissioner in Mauritius, a Counsellor at India’s UN Mission, the director of the External Affairs Ministry’s UN Division, and the Director of the Nehru Centre in London. He also did a stint as the Chef de Cabinet of the Foreign Secretary .

  • Hanukkah Celebrated at the Indian Consulate

    Hanukkah Celebrated at the Indian Consulate

    NEW YORK CITY (TIP): The Consulate General of India, New York, celebrated the Indian – Jewish festival of re-dedication and the miracle of oil, Hanukkah, on Tuesday 23rd December, 2014. Several eminent members of the Indian, American and Israeli Jewish community came together for the occasion. This is the third year the Consulate has celebrated Hanukkah in the Indian – Jewish tradition.

    The ceremony was opened by a lighting of the Menorah by Mr. Nissim Reuben of the American Jewish Community, Consul General Ambassador Dnyaneshwar Mulay, Deputy Consul General of Israel Mr. Amir Sagie, and Assemblyman Raj Mukherjee of the New Jersey Legislature. This was followed by a traditional Indian-Jewish invocation in Hebrew, and translated into English by Mr. Reuben and Mr. Sagie.

    Ambassador Mulay welcomed the gathering for the third Hanukkah celebrations at the Consulate, and outlined the lesser-known history of the Jewish community in India, that had been living in relative isolation in India till the 17th century. He attributed their peaceful stay in the country to India’s values of religious tolerance and acceptance. Buzz Warren, chair of India Outreach, American Jewish Committee New Jersey was also present among the distinguished speakers at the ceremony. All speakers echoed sentiments of promoting peaceful co-existence and sustainable democracies free of terrorism in India, USA and Israel.

    For the year of 2014, the eight day festival of Hanukkah began on 16 December and ended in the evening of 24 December. The festival is typically celebrated by lighting of the menorah and eating fried foods. The ceremony was followed by dinner and exchange of greetings.

  • 2015 Community and Citywide Education Council Elections launched

    2015 Community and Citywide Education Council Elections launched

    NEW YORK CITY (TIP): New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña announced, January 8, the launch of the 2015 Community and Citywide Education Council elections and encouraged parents across the city to participate and have an impact on their children’s education. Parents interested in becoming members of a Community or Citywide Education Council should visit NYCParentLeaders.org for more information. They can start applying on February 11.

    The Community and Citywide Education Councils provide parents a voice in public education and an opportunity to make a grassroots-level impact on education policy. Elections take place every two years, and this year, the DOE is engaging in a citywide effort to reach all parents and raise awareness of these leadership roles, reflecting the Chancellor’s ongoing commitment to engaging parents and families in the important work of educating our children.

    Parents serve two-year terms on 36 Councils throughout the City, including the Community Education Councils (CEC), Citywide Council on High Schools, Citywide Council on English Language Learners, Citywide Council on Special Education, and the Citywide Council for District 75. CECs in each of the City’s 32 school districts are responsible for approving school zoning lines, holding hearings on the capital plan, and providing additional input on important policy issues. Citywide Councils evaluate and advise on school policy concerning their areas of focus.

    “Members of Education Councils have a unique and critical opportunity to help shape education policy and become transformative leaders in their communities,” said Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña. “I encourage all parents to consider applying for a seat to become even more involved in their child’s education and make a difference in their school district.”

    Parents interested in learning more about the application process and Education Council responsibilities should attend an Education Council Information Session. The first of a series of information sessions will take place at Tweed Courthouse on January 26 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

    After applications have been received, candidates will engage parents and parent leaders at forums planned between March 18 and April 18. Officers of each school’s parent or parent-teacher association will cast ballots online for their preferred candidates between April 19 and May 8. On May 12, the results will be posted online at NYCParentLeaders.org. Elected parents will receive trainings and leadership development sessions, ensuring they are able to use their positions effectively to make their voices heard, advocate for students, and form functional Councils.

    Each applicant for a CEC position must be a parent of a student enrolled in a district elementary or middle school, while applicants for the Citywide Council on High Schools must have a student in high school and applicants for the other Citywide Councils must have a student receiving the relevant services.

    “Serving on a Community Education Council is one of the best ways for parents to lend their voice to education issues impacting public schools,” said Rashidah White, Co-chair of the Education Consortium Council (ECC). “Now more than ever, we need active and engaged parents to assume these important roles.” The ECC is comprised of Citywide and Community Education Council members and was recently created to foster dialogue among education councils.

    “We are committed to cultivating parent leaders across all school districts,” said Nancy Northrop, Co-chair of the Chancellor’s Parent Advisory Council. “Volunteering on Education Councils is a great way for parents to become involved and make a real difference in their communities.”

    As part of the broader Community and Citywide Education Council selection process, borough presidents appoint two members to each Community Education Council. They too urged parents to participate.

    “Through Community Education Councils, parents can shape and support their neighborhood schools and influence decisions that affect the entire school system,” said Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer. “I strongly encourage parents to apply for seats on their district CECs. Their insight, experience, and energy are crucial to improving our schools.”

    “Parent leaders who are part of Community Education Councils advocate for those most deserving of your time and attention – our students,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. “Even with all the challenges, there is no greater honor than representing your community and making Brooklyn a better place to live, work, and raise a family.”

    “Education Councils are a great way for parents to become more invested in their children’s education and their future,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. “These leadership roles give families an opportunity to share their expertise, support their child and help their community.”

    “CECs are meant to ensure parental input in our school system,” said Queens Borough President Melinda Katz. “It is critical to have parents be an integral part of the decision-making process to shape and set education policies. As a mom of two young boys, I can attest firsthand to the impact that parental involvement has on our education system. Queens parents are some of the most active, vocal and effective in the city, and the difference is clear. The nexus of collaboration between families, educators and surrounding community is the key to the success of our schools.”

    “I believe in the importance of civic engagement,” said Staten Island Borough President James Oddo. “One of the best ways that parents of public school students can get civically engaged is through participation on the CEC. I encourage those parents who want to be involved to consider sharing their talents and experiences by running for the CEC.”

    New York City schools are also deepening their commitment to parent and family engagement with the Chancellor’s citywide parent conferences and the UFT contract, which includes 40 minutes each school week for one-on-one time with teachers and families. School communities across the City have used this time innovatively and productively, soliciting ideas from parents, scheduling parent-teacher home visits, and even hosting activities like a “homework diner” where educators and parents share strategies over dinner and bilingual parent breakfasts that allow for discussion of their concerns in their native language.

    For more information, parents can visit NYCParentLeaders.org, a key resource for understanding the structure and roles of the Education Councils. Information available on this website includes eligibility guidelines, key dates, and frequently asked questions.

    The Councils
    Community Education Councils (CEC)
    The CECs work closely with the district superintendents, approve school zoning lines, hold hearings on the capital plan, and provide input on instructional and policy issues. Each CEC has nine members who are parents of students currently in grades K-8 in district schools, and two Borough President appointees.

    Citywide Council on High Schools (CCHS)
    The CCHS advises on education policy and issues involving high school students. The CCHS has 10 elected members, two from each borough, who must be the parents of students currently attending a public high school.

    Citywide Council on English Language Learners (CCELL)
    The CCELL advises on education policy and issues involving students in bilingual or English as a Second Language (ESL) programs. The CCELL has nine elected members, who must be parents of students currently or recently classified by the DOE as English Language Learners.

    Citywide Council on Special Education (CCSE)
    The CCSE advises on education policy and services for students with disabilities. The CCSE has nine elected members, who must be parents of students receiving special education services paid for by the DOE.

  • GHAR WAPSI AND MODI’S UNPARALLELED SUCCESS

    GHAR WAPSI AND MODI’S UNPARALLELED SUCCESS

    We are publishing this humorous piece at a time of heightened communal tension in India. Ever since the new government of Narendra Modi came in to power, Hindu extremists have repeatedly said that all Muslims and Christians in India need to get back to Hinduism. This “conversion” they term as “gharwapasi” which means homecoming. Hope, Mike’s mild humor will please our readers and also give them an understanding of the issue. -EDITOR

    Ghar Wapsi – i.e. homecoming. It is the biggest news in India. That is ,bringing Christians and Muslims back into the fold of Hinduism – through allurements and or coercion.

    Religion is for sale now – it takes 5 lakh Rupees to convert a Muslim to Hinduism and 2 lakh Rupees to convert a Christian to be a Hindu.

    Times of India reports, “Dharam Jagran Samiti, an RSS offshoot, has distributed pamphlets in Aligarh seeking donations for converting Christians and Muslims to Hinduism. The pamphlet says it costs Rs 2 lakh to convert a Christian and Rs 5 lakh to convert a Muslim. It has set December 25 as the date for a major conversion ceremony and put down an annual target of 2 lakh conversions – 1 lakh Muslims and 1 lakh Christians.” (1 lakh is 100,000).

    I urge the Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhist and Muslims of India, comprising roughly 200 Million to make a collective offer to the mis-representatives of Hinduism to come up with 500,000 x 200 Million Rupees, plus a job for each one to convert to Hinduism. We need to be Brahmins. All monies must be deposited into their bank accounts. Here is my offer; I will become a Hindu Brahmin for 5,000 Crore Indian Rupees.

    Prime Minister Modi’s Plan to have a bank account and jobs for Indians will be fulfilled at once. He will become the greatest leader on the earth with that achievement; creating 200 million jobs and opening 200 Million bank accounts, there is no parallel in the history, and indeed he would have matched the record of the Vedic times, restoring India’s glory of ancient Vedic Banking.

    The fascist trend to dictate what one eats or believes is eventually going to be bad for Hindus as well. The only way to save Hindus and non-Hindus from rogue Hindus is for good Hindus to speak up. So what if all Indian’s become Hindu? Will you be safe as a Hindu? Would the mistreatment of Dalits and other “untouchables” go away?

    Modi should thank Owaisi for doing his work. Modi is unable to control the happenings, the radical Hindus are hijacking his agenda, a guy like Owaisi will mirror their stupidities and hopefully, the nation will be back on the track. His stand will show how ridiculous both are. I have never liked Owaisi for his rhetoric, but I see him as instrument of bringing sanity to governance. If good Hindus cannot stop the extremists among them, Owaisi will do that.

    Here is my take on conversions; Let everyone drink, eat, wear or believe whatever the hell he or she wants to believe in the pursuit of his or her happiness. Every Indians should have the freedom to be lured by cash, offer of a job, home, education or whatever, and change his or her religion any number of times to the religions of the highest bidder. We change jobs for better money or benefits, proximity or safety, and some donkeys divorce their spouse for a better model (both ways), and the politicians change parties for position or money. Why shouldn’t a common man do the same? Offer me $5 Million, I will become a Hindu, Christian or a Jew – the offer remains open until I win a lottery of higher value.

    What Aurangzeb, Ghazni and other Kings did was wrong; noone in India is related to them now, even if they are, what have they got to do with the wrongs of his or her great great-great grandfather? A majority of North Indians carry the genes of Genghis Khan, does that make us all bad people? It is not religion that does wrong, it is individuals. The near annihilation of Jewish people cannot be blamed on today’s German Christians; the near annihilation of Native Americans cannot be blamed on today’s Americans; the near annihilation of Buddhism and Jainism in India cannot be blamed on today’s Hindus.

    Clean Kings – with a few exceptions, kings of the past, be it Christian, Muslim, Hindu or others had only one business – to annex the next door empire, tax the people, rob the wealth of neighbors, bring their women to their harems (Muslim, Hindu, Sikh or Christian). These guys were in war with everyone around them. If you find a good Hindu King, there will be a good Christian and a Muslim King and if you find a bad one in one, there will be in others too. The Discovery Magazine in an article writes about the genetic makeup of the kings, “The greatest joy for a man is to defeat his enemies, to drive them before him, to take from them all they possess, to see those they love in tears, to ride their horses, and to hold their wives and daughters in his arms.”

    If we care about India, we need to respect all Indiansregardless of what they believe. We cannot have two mouths to speak foul and good at the same time. The same blood runs through all of us. To an Average American, if he were to film us, he or she cannot distinguish between a common Hindu and a Muslim; we look the same, we dress the same, we eat our food with our fingers, and wipe our asses with water. On the social side, we all get angry with injustice; we all cry when someone dies, we beat up on a guy who wrongly touches a woman in a bus. We all like the same movies – that is why movies make it a big hit based on commonality and not religiosity.

    The film PK has outdone all Indian Movies in the last 100 years the film PK has many ideas that I wrote in teaching Pluralism.
    Thanks to the harassment by the right wing Hindus, more Indians have seen this movie because of the negative publicity. I urge them to do more protests, so more people can see the movie.

    MOVIE REVIEW PK

    The right thing for them is to go quite on it. Remember Salman Rushdie? The more the right wing Muslims protested it, the more copies of the books were sold, and Rushdie became a Rich man. I have learned something new about the film business – in the movie I am making, I will sure add the material to get the right wing Hindus and Muslims to protest and agitate to make my movie do well in the box office.

    The managers of every religion have abused the poor and innocent, it is the responsibility of the society to warn the public of such people, so they are not taken. I would have expected RSS to endorse the film, as Mr. Advani did; it separates the bad apples from the good ones. Unless Baba Ramdev is guilty, he should not be going against the movie but promoting it.

    What we need is education, all of us, who justify wrong doingof one or the other. A wrong is a wrong no matter who commits it. A rapist must be punished as rapist and not as a Hindu or a Muslim; a terrorist must be punished as a terrorist and not as a Muslim or a Hindu. Blame the individual and not the religion. You can punish the guy and restore justice in the society, but you cannot punish the religion, it is not a thing – and you cannot kill, kick, hang, beat up, shoot or bury the religion, then why bark at it like a stupid? Here is my poem in Hindi and English about blaming and punishing the wrong doer and not his religion. Site: www.UrduHindi.net Link:
    http://urduhindinet.blogspot.com/2015/01/a-mera-dharam-kahan-tha.html

    ghar

     

    We need to understand the wisdom of Vasudhaiva Kutumbukum of Hinduism, and from Islam, Christianity and Judaism, “We are all one family from a single couple; Adam and eve.” In a democracy what difference does it make if you are Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Jew or whatever?You mind your space, food and loved ones and I do mind my business. As long as I don’t take over your space, steal your food, or hurt your loved ones – what is it to you? We need to grow up and be mature, and then Hindustan will be on the path of pragati (progress) instead of getting stuck in religion. Prime Minister Modi has a great slogan, and he needs to control his men, otherwise they will dictate his agenda, and all of us would lose it in the end including Hindus.His election slogan, “sab ka sath, sab ka vikas” that is every one’s support, brings prosperity to all will become meaningless. Instead it will become, “Hindutva ka saaz BJP ki bakwas.” The right wing will play the music on BJP’s non-sense chatter.

     

    His election slogan, “sab ka sath, sab ka vikas” that is every one’s support, brings prosperity to all will become meaningless. Instead it will become, “Hindutva ka saaz BJP ki bakwas.” The right wing will play the music on BJP’s non-sense chatter.

    The Hindutva Generals are acting like brainless Pakistani leaders beating up on Kashmir; they cannot manage their own nation but want Kashmir and make a bigger mess of all. Instead of delivering safety and progress to Pakistan, they are getting the public hung up on Kashmir, how long can they do that? I hope Prime Minister Modi is not doing the same, impotent to produce jobs, bring black money back and build toilets instead of temples, he is letting the rogues from his party distract and mislead the Indian public to focus on communalism rather than sab ka vikas (every one’s prosperity).

    I hope you know the difference between hard core Hindutva and Hinduism, hard core Islamists and Islam, hard core Zionisist and Judaism, Neocons and Christianity… one is political and other is religious.

    Let every Indian is free to eat, drink, wear and believe whatever the hell he or she wants to believe.

    Thank you. Mike

    (The author is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator on Pluralism at work place, politics, religion, society, gender, race, culture, ethnicity, food and foreign policy. A staunch defender of human rights his book ‘Standing up for Others’ will be out soon, and a movie “Americans Together” is in the making.
    He is a frequent guest commentator on Fox News and syndicated Talk Radio shows and a writer at major news papers including Dallas Morning News, Huffington Post and The Indian Panorama. All about him is listed in 63 links atwww.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at www.TheGhousediary.com and 10 other blogs. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He can be reached at mikeghouse@aol.com and on 214-325-1916.)

  • 2014-THE YEAR THAT WAS

    2014-THE YEAR THAT WAS

    2014 has not been very different from its predecessors. It has been, like all other years preceding it, a year of mixed events of diverse hues.

    In India, on the political front, the year proved cruel for a 100 old Congress party. Also, it saw the emergence of a new political outfit-Aam Aadmi Party. More importantly, 2014 witnessed the emergence of a new national leader in Narendra Modi and found BJP being catapulted in to power as never before. It was after decades that a political party got a clear mandate to rule.

    On the economic front, the year has been troublesome for the common people of India. Inflation has been too much of a bother for them. However, because of falling prices of crude in international market, Indians were saved from rise in prices of gas, petrol and diesel. Also, it prevented price rise of commodities across the board.

    India did well in its space program. ISRO was successful in placing a low cost probe in to Mars’s orbit.

    India’s Kailash Satyarthi brought honor to the country by being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

    2014 saw India freeing itself from the scourge of Polio which had been devastating lives of hundreds of thousands of children every year.

    There was celebration for people of Telangana who got a new state carved for them in 2014.

    However, human tragedies, too, were around. The northern state of Jammu and Kashmir reeled under the worst floods ever. The September 2014 floods wreaked havoc in the State, snuffing out more than 250 lives, destroying more than 3.5 lakh structures, including 2.5 lakh residences, and rendering over 12 lakh families homeless.

    2014 has also been a year of social and communal tensions. The issues of Love Jehad and conversions or gharvapasi created an atmosphere of mistrust and, mutual hatred, to some extent among followers of different faiths. Obviously, it is not a good sign for the nation, prone to easy communal provocations.

    In the world theater, there has been more grief than joy. The Gaza massacre, the killing of school children in Peshawar, ISIS beheading of Western journalists, police killings of a young man in Ferguson and of another in New York, mounting tension between the people and the police in USA, the aviation tragedies involving two Malaysian aircrafts which left hundreds aboard dead, and the usual political rivalries of nations and internal disturbances and dissensions in countries of the world were enough to make people miserable.

    However, like in the past, we do not continue to look back for ever; we look ahead and move on.

    Good bye 2014!

  • NITI AAYOG repalces Planning Commission; Indian American Arvind Panagariya appointed vice-chairman

    NITI AAYOG repalces Planning Commission; Indian American Arvind Panagariya appointed vice-chairman

    NEW YORK (TIP): Columbia University economist Arvind Panagariya will be the first vice-chairman of the National Institution for Transforming India (Niti) Aayog, which will have two full-time members — economist Bibek Debroy and former DRDO chief VK Saraswat, a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said Monday, January 5.

    Panagariya, 62, is a professor of economics at New York’s Columbia University, a former chief economist at the Asian Development Bank and has also worked with the IMF, WTO and World Bank in various capacities.

    A staunch advocate of free-market economics, Panagariya has over the last two years been writing advisories to the BJP about how to manage the fiscal situation, sources said.
    The PMO also nominated home minister Rajnath Singh, finance minister Arun Jaitley, railways minister Suresh Prabhu and agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh as ex officio members.

    Transport minister Nitin Gadkari, HRD minister Smriti Irani and social empowerment minister Thawar Chand Gehlot will be special invitees of the Niti Aayog that replaces the 65-year-old Socialist-era Planning Commission.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi will head the body and its governing council will include all chief ministers and lieutenant governors, in line with the PM’s thrust on cooperative federalism that advocates involving states in the Centre’s decision making.

    However, two elected chief ministers — of Delhi and Puducherry — will not be members of the new Niti Aayog.

    The Article 239 of the Constitution defines both Delhi and Puducherry as Union Territories and therefore, their administrators — lieutenant governors — will be members of the panel.

    Under the article, a law providing for assembly in Delhi was enacted in 1991. “As per law, Delhi is a Union Territory. It has been rephrased as National Capital Territory,” said SK Sharma, former secretary of Delhi Legislative Assembly.

    Government sources said that three more members will be appointed to the Niti Aayog soon. In all, the government plans to appoint five full-time members and two part-time members, who are expected to be representative for the academic world.

    Panagariya and other full-time members are expected to join office at Niti Bhawan,erstwhile Yojana Bhawan, in a couple of days.

    Officials could be seen Monday sprucing the rooms, lying vacant for the last eight months, for the new members.

    The government, meanwhile, archived the website of the Planning Commission, and an announcement on Twitter handle Niti Aayog said: “Administrative reforms are underway.

    The NITI Aayog website will be ready in a few days. The process for Transforming India has begun!”

    A new website of Niti Aayog will be launched once the new vice-chairman joins office as officials in Yojana Bhawan does not have authority to issue directions, sources said.

    The reason is that the government has not notified new business of transaction rules for Niti Aayog.

    Officials said Niti Aayog will primarily be an advisory body without having power to allocate funds. The government has allocated the fund disbursement job to the finance ministry, which is also mandated to generate revenue.

    Before the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government came to power, the Planning Commission used to allocate funds to all central ministries and the state governments.

  • MARIO CUOMO LAID TO REST

    MARIO CUOMO LAID TO REST

    NEW YORK CITY (TIP): Former Governor Mario Cuomo was laid to rest in New York January 7 after a funeral and wake that was attended by prominent politicians, including former President and First Lady Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Vice President Joe Biden. The ceremony and the eulogy by his son, Governor Andrew Cuomo, focused on the personal as well as the political. Cuomo called his father “the keynote speaker for our better angels.”

    In a moving and at times emotional speech, Governor Andrew Cuomo portrayed his father as a political outsider from the
    “outer borough” of Queens, who always cared for those who were overlooked in life, who viewed a hard fought game of basketball as his “liberation” from the decorum he felt he had to present as a three term governor, and who hated the “tedium and absurdity of the bureaucracy.” Andrew Cuomo said his father called himself a “progressive pragmatist” whose soaring rhetoric was inspired not by what people wanted to hear, but what he needed to say. “And that, my friends was the essence of Mario Cuomo,” said Andrew Cuomo. “He was not interested in pleasing the audience.”

    Andrew Cuomo addressed his sometimes complicated relationship with his father and said those who try to “psychoanalyze” it have got it all wrong. He said he was devoted to his father, who he called his hero, best friend, confidante, and mentor, and that they reveled in each other’s political victories. He expressed regret that he decided to remain in Washington D.C. in 1994 when he was HUD Secretary and did not come home to New York to run his father’s final campaign, which Mario Cuomo ultimately lost. Andrew Cuomo, after one failed attempt, became governor 16 years later.

    “I loved winning the governorship more for him than for myself,” said Andrew Cuomo. “It was redemption for my father.”

    2014 election night was to be Mario Cuomo’s last public appearance. He died at age 82 on New Year’s Day, just after his son gave two inaugural speeches in New York City and in Buffalo to begin his second term. Andrew Cuomo said he had hoped his father could have attended and held the bible for the swearing in, but it was not to be. The elder Cuomo was by then too sick. The Buffalo speech began at 4 pm. Mario Cuomo died at 5:15.

    “He waited,” said Andrew Cuomo, his voice breaking. “And then he quietly slipped out of the event and he went home, just like he always did, because his job was done.”

    The funeral was held at St Ignatius Loyola Church on Park Avenue, near where Mario Cuomo and his wife of 60 years, Matilda have lived, on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, since the elder Cuomo left office 20 years ago.

    Parish priest George Witt, who said Cuomo was a “fundamentally a humble man.” said the former governor wanted a simple, local ceremony.

    “In the end, it was not so much the eloquence of his words that spoke to us, but the eloquence of his life,” said Witt.

    Outside the funeral, a phalanx of State Police stood at attention on the gray and snowy day as the former Governor’s coffin, draped in the New York State flag, was borne by pallbearers including his youngest child and CNN anchor Chris Cuomo.

    Mario Cuomo also left behind three daughters and fourteen grandchildren.