The Indian Panorama

Tag: Chess

  • Radicalisation of Muslim Converts

    Radicalisation of Muslim Converts

    Terrorism, particularly Islamist terrorism, has been at the forefront of news coverage for over a decade. While print and television media have thrived on Islamist extremism content, one aspect of the discourse has been under-reported, namely, the radicalisation of Muslim converts and their engagement in terrorist activities. Academia has also turned a blind eye to this group, even as it has focused excessively on ‘Muslim’ radicalisation. Muslim converts especially in Europe and America pose a serious security threat. And the fact that a westerner with no real ties to Islam can embrace a radical form of the religion and engage in violent acts for the perceived benefit of the adopted community is indeed puzzling.

    Over the last decade, a number of terrorism cases involving Muslim converts have been seen in the West. In 2001, Richard Reid attempted to blow up a commercial flight in America but his attempt was foiled by co-passengers. In 2009, Michael Finton attempted to bomb a federal building in Illinois, United States. In 2010, Zachary Chesser was arrested for his attempt to join the Somalia based group, Al-Shabaab, as well as for his threats to the creators of ‘South Park’ for their portrayal of Islam. In 2013, Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale attacked a British Soldier, Lee Rigby, outside his base in Woolwich, United Kingdom. Also in 2013, Richard Dart was arrested and charged with terrorism offences for planning to attack Wootton Bassett, United Kingdom.

    The 2000s were not the first era to witness radical converts and their turn to violence. During the 1960’s and 1970’s extremist African-American converts engaged in terrorism as members of groups such as Nation of Islam, Black Panthers and Jaamat-ul-Furqa. In the late 20th century, Muslim converts also played a crucial role in conflicts in Afghanistan and Kashmir.

    The radicalisation process for a large number of converts does seem to originate from previous criminal record, although it would be wrong to identify prison as a conveyor belt. For instance, in the case of Richard Reid, criminal record increased his susceptibility to radical Islamism. And the reason for that lies in the fact that the principles of radical Islamism are essentially built on victimization, which resonates with individuals with a history of criminal activity. Prison serves as a medium to recruit criminals to the Islamist cause. Conversion to Islam in prison has been seen on multiple occasions; Richard Reid, for example, converted to Islam in Feltham prison. In Western countries, a sizeable section of the prison population is Muslim. Conversion to Islam guarantees protection and respect in an environment otherwise known to be extremely abusive. It is hard to see prisons as ‘breeding grounds’ in this context, but the threat does exist inside this seemingly secure environment. While it would be difficult to pin-point prison conversion to radical tendencies, post their release Muslim converts seem to gravitate towards a radical interpretation of the faith.

    Another significant factor with reference to convert radicalisation is contact with jihadists and extremists. Almost all converts have had contact with other jihadists, thus increasing their propensity to engage in acts of violence. Muslim converts with a limited knowledge of Islam draw knowledge and inspiration from these jihadists. For instance, Michael Finton corresponded with John Walker Lindh, an American Jihadist who fought for the Taliban and whom Finton idolised.

    Radical clerics such as Anwar al-Awlaki and Anjem Choudary also play a significant role in radicalising converts. Their rhetoric, which customizes Islamist concepts to western audiences, is particularly potent. In addition to this strong presence of the radical Muslim community as the principle agent of socialisation, the lack of a moderate Muslim influence to counter the Islamist influence reinforces the convert narrative. The influence of these charismatic preachers cannot be diminished by arrest or even death, given that their fiery speeches are recorded and shared freely on online platforms thus making them accessible anywhere, anytime.

    There is no doubt that the issue of identity is central to Muslim convert radicalisation. Individuals like Richard Reid and Zachary Chesser have struggled to identity with a social/ethnic group while growing up. Failure despite multiple attempts to ‘fit in’ result in alienation and isolation. For instance, Chesser, during his schooling years, had experimented with Japanese and Gothic sub-cultures before finding a home in Islamism. The ever-welcoming Islamist community accepts these individuals while giving them a chance to play the role of a vanguard for a global community of perceived victims.

    Poverty has long been disregarded as a factor in the radicalisation process. While rational and political motives for radicalisation have dominated the academic discourse, the lack of economic opportunities and success does, however, contribute to a sense of grievance. It is hard, therefore, to ignore the poor economic background of a section of converts. In this context, radical Islamism becomes a form of social protest and rebellion. Although a cause-effect relationship cannot be drawn, in the case of Richard Reid, Michael Finton and Michael Adebolajo, poor economic conditions did contribute to a sense of distress. Finton, for instance, worked as fry-cook in a restaurant and greater success was limited by his lack of education.

    Without arguing for a cause-effect nexus, in the case of many converts there are issues with emotional intimacy and familial friction in childhood and adolescence. This may not have contributed directly to radicalisation much later, but the fact that they have been observed in the case of a section of converts cannot be a coincidence. Richard Reid had a difficult childhood growing up, seeing his parents getting divorced and watching his father slide into a life of crime. Zachary Chesser shared a very difficult relationship with his mother and found it impossible to accept his mother’s choice of partners. Michael Finton had run away from foster care and showed serious behavioural issues in school even admitting to harbouring feelings of inadequacy.

    Converts are important from the terrorist outfit’s point of view too. Converts are often seen occupying crucial roles in these outfits and are the face of propaganda campaigns to gather support. The Islamic State has been soaking up all the conflict related attention in the last couple of years. Even as the number of foreign fighters from western countries increases, very little is known about the number of Muslim converts fighting in Iraq and Syria. But the fact remains that the radical convert influence is not limited to foreign theatres of conflict, but poses a serious home-grown threat in Europe and America.

    The campaign against Islamist terror has involved both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ power, military operations and counter-narratives. These measures need not be tailored to the Muslim convert issue, but the threat must be acknowledged. The measures that should be taken to address this risk are not different from the inherent duties of the Government. However, convicting radical preachers who, under the guise of free speech, spread hate and extremist narratives and monitoring high-risk criminals post their release from prison could prove useful. At the moment, the radical Muslim convert threat does appear to be limited to Europe and America, where the converts are ‘less visible’.

    Surya Valliappan Krishna is a post-graduate student at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. His areas of research are counter-terrorism, radicalisation and South Asian security. He is a lead researcher for the project on ‘Islamic State in South Asia’ at Mantraya.

    Views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IDSA or of the Government of India

    Source: IDSA Website

  • Indian American Chess Whiz Akshat Chandra from NJ wins the US Junior Chess championship

    Indian American Chess Whiz Akshat Chandra from NJ wins the US Junior Chess championship

    New York Aug 13 (TIP): Indian American Chess whiz Akshat Chandra, a 15-year-old International Master, from New Jersey, won the United States Junior Chess Championship (an invitation-only event reserved for the highest ranked juniors under 20 in the U.S.).

    The nine-round tournament was held at the prestigious Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis from July 6 to July 15.

    The tense race for first place remained undecided until the final round when International Master Akshat Chandra emerged victorious. Chandra, playing with supreme confidence and refined chess technique, racked up 5 wins and 4 draws for 7 points. Chandra outpaced his nearest rival, Grandmaster-elect Jeffery Xiong by one and half points.

    By winning the U.S. Junior Championship, Chandra takes home $6,000 and he is automatically seeded into the 2016 United States Chess Championship.

    Chandra’s exciting game versus Arthur Chen was one of the hardest-fought in the tournament. Former world chess champion Vishy Anand recently made popular the solid 6.d3. This move is a pragmatic way to avoid an array of Black main lines against the Ruy Lopez, like the Marshall Attack.

    This eloquent and modest 15 year old New Jerseyan has managed to quickly progress as a junior and is enroute to becoming an elite player. He is automatically seeded into the 2016 United States Chess Championship.

    Some of his accomplishments:

    • Highest Rated 15-year old US Player
    • US Junior Champion 2015 (under 21-years, Top Juniors invitational only tournament)
    • #1 ranked Rapid Player in the US Junior Section (under 21-years)
    • Leading Blitz Player in the US Junior section
    • US Chess National High School Champion for 2015
    • US Chess National High School Blitz Champion for 2015
    • US Chess National K-9 Middle School Champion for 2013 (SuperNationals)

    Know more about Akshat on his blog : http://www.questtogm.com

  • WORLD HOROSCOPE

    WORLD HOROSCOPE

    Ganesha says my devotee Bejan Daruwalla is cut to the bone. He is truly devastated. He is shattered. The blowing to smithereens of innocent lives, specially children, religious intolerance, violence, are the main causes for it.

    By Western Astrology, Saturn will be in Sagittarius from December 25, 2014 to December 19, 2017, and THAT WILL REALLY DECIDE WHETHER GENUINE SPIRITUALITY AND TOLERANCE OR BIGOTRY, VIOLENCE, FANATICISM, HATRED WILL WIN. WE ARE AT THE CROSS ROAD OF THE FUTURE.

    Blind, senseless hatred will start lessening and withering and reducing from October 2016 to October 2017, thanks to the relationship of Jupiter, the good guy with Saturn. Your Ganesha devotee takes his stand here. He owes it to himself and to humanity. These words are written on February 3, 2015. May all the Energies go with it? I repeat the fate of the world hinges on Saturn between December 25, 2014 to December 19, 2017.

    There is also a very positive side to Saturn in Sagittarius by Western Astrology. Saturn is karma and dharma. Saturn is, ‘Duty, the stern voice of the daughter of God’. By Modern Astrology Saturn is a key planet for universal consciousness. Universal consciousness helps us to evolve and be what we are capable of becoming. Saturn in Sagittarius can launch us to salvation itself is my prediction in the name of Ganesha.

    Success in law, foreign affairs, aviation and space research, meditation, yoga, neuroscience, brain, output of genes. Susy is the nickname of Supersymmetry, the Higgs Boson, which will crunch time for humanity’s understanding of the universe. Research into Susy will be made, thanks to Saturn.

    Tourism, Pilgrimages, mountaineering, rituals and rites connected with fire and light and explosives, great showmanship in truly practical as well as spiritual matters and a mountain load of money will all go together.

    If I marry Saturn in Sagittarius with Jupiter in Virgo, Western Astrology, the health scene for the whole world will improve tremendously. The saying ‘cleanliness is next to godliness’ will be close to the truth. Gyms, health clinics, health resorts, alternate medicine, all forms of healing such as reiki and yoga and acupuncture and breathing systems will get a new and different impetus and promotion. Wellbeing will be the motto of the world. Therefore we have much to look forward to as Saturn will be in Sagittarius from December 25, 2014 to December 19, 2017.

    [quote_box_center]Other salient features for all of us:[/quote_box_center]

    1. Narrowness and excessive caution will actually stifle your relationships.
    2. Your greatest lesson is to deal with the other’s point of view. Master key.
    3. Like those with Saturn in Libra, you too will have to deal with the real world, though, in all fairness, you can be idealistic.
    4. Communication- gaps will be your undoing.
    5. Try not to fight over property matters, as it will make you writhe in agony. Settle it judiciously.
    6. Travel with your friend/ mate/ business associate is your best bet to happiness.
    7. By December 19, 2017, we should be rid of attack from terrorists and bigots and the self-righteous who think that they alone are right and everybody else completely wrong. In short we can expect people to keep an open mind.

    Once again I am giving the landmarks of the important years for humanity and extending it a little more at considerable energy and cost. Actually it drains me out. The other important points start from number 7.

    1. 2021, watermark for technology.
    2. 2033, important for technology and genetics.
    3. 2035-2037, crucial for chemicals and experiments about life and living, Jupiter in Cancer, Saturn in Virgo.
    4. 2040, relationships taken to the next level, Jupiter and Saturn in Libra, year marks justice for the whole world .Yes, Ganesha says this is my devotee’s mighty prediction.
    5. 2045, another unimaginable breakthrough in technology, space travel, brain mapping, time warp galaxies, Jupiter in Aquarius, Saturn in Sagittarius.
    6. 2047, all of the above will be superbly analysed, organized, methodized, mapped out in complete detail and most importantly put and harnessed to the greatest use for the greatest number of people. It is the high point or the tipping point for the service to the wide cosmos.
    7. 2049 is excellent for managing your life intelligently and calculatedly
    8. 2053 to 2055 thanks to chemicals and radiation and light. God will introduce himself in a totally unique way. Yes this is my vision. I may be right or wrong
    9. Surprisingly enough just as I was writing about this vision the badge with the holy number 786 popped out of my American ephemeris. This has given me conviction and confidence. I cannot explain it logically.
    10. From February 2080 to 2090 nature will reveal herself in a totally different way and manner. It is as if nature will be wearing clothes of a different fashion and colour. More than this I cannot say.
    11. The year 2100 shows Jupiter and Saturn in the sign Libra by Western Astrology. This means poise, balance, equilibrium, joy and above all the beginning of an era of peace and plenty. It also marks a period of remarkable evolution in the next 100 years. This is certainly the limit of my vision as granted to me by my Lord and Master Ganesha. His is the last word.
    12. Ganesha says my devotee Bejan has worked his heart out for the prediction that between March 23, 2020 and March 8, 2023 consciousness will win over ignorance, freedom will win over captivity, law and order will win over anarchy, open mind will win over closed mind and narrowness, comfort and security and speed will win over air crashes and pilot errors.

    Many truly amazing events will happen. For example, the Ganges will be cleansed. Thought transfers and healing by and through the mind, germ and bacteria free world, devi worship, very surprisingly there could be a cleansing of our mind itself. Artificial implants of new memories, climate control. The secret of having a smooth, delightful, trouble free and joyous relationships will be discovered. That to me is more important than evolution itself. The many layers of consciousness will be explored and laid out before us so that we can choose according to our personal frequencies, layers of knowledge and intuition and finally it could lead to the very existence of God. These predictions will hold true between December 25, 2014 to March 8, 2023. I agree that this is a long shot. But events happen in a chain reaction over a period of time. I admit I am human. All the predictions will certainly not come true. But it is the wish and command of my Lord and Master Ganesha that I should lay my predictions before you.

    [quote_center]

    Special note:

    Brain hecking, putting on a “thinking cap” to increase brain power, is also another wondrous and awesome technological possibility of our Aquarian age.

    [/quote_center]

    RUSSIA

    Your Ganesha devotee is writing this forecast on March 18, 2015. Putin had simply disappeared for the last 10 days and has surfaced today March 18, 2015. Putin is a Libra. But he is totally unpredictable because of Pluto, the planet of power in Leo, the sign of power. This makes Putin powerful but dogmatic, wilful and ready to play all sorts  of games. The next 4 years will mark the end of Putin the politician. Russia however will be able to make some progress economically and socially. Russia has staying power which is perhaps the key to survival and success. Russia under Putin comes under Gemini, Aquarius and Scorpio. Not a very easy time for it. Conditions and strong disciplinary action will take a huge toll. I report it as I see it. Like my great Hanuman I too am humble and submissive. No pretentions to greatness. Russia might have a money squeeze.

    INDIA

    As you know dear readers I have met Narendra Modi twice and predicted his premiership. India will go from strength to strength. From September 2015 to December 20, 2017 India will be zooming ahead despite terrorism, jealousies within the BJP, Hinduvata and all the fanaticism regarding all the religions. The enemies of Modi will be within his own party. Modi is a man with a vision. At the same time Modi must teach the minister in his party to be open, tolerant and fair minded. Yes our economic situation will improve vastly, the Ganges will be cleansed (I admit that to me also the Ganges is holy and mighty). The common man as well as the industrialists will thrive under the leadership of Modi. At the same time your Ganesha devotee  openly and humbly admits that from December 22, 2017 to March 23, 2020 there could be a complete overhauling of values and power and politics in India. IT IS THIS PERIOD WHICH WILL FINALLY DECIDE THE FUTURE OF INDIA. There may be a complete change in the attitude of the Indians and the way the world looks at India. But the final result will be a mighty powerful India which will take its rightful place in the world. It is during this time that India will definitely be the super power of the world. At the same time India will pay the price for it. I am 83 years old. Nothing comes without a price. It will be spirituality and the tolerance of Indian culture which will finally make India very powerful but very human. I openly admit that all my predictions do not come true. Tolerance is the key.

    Ganesha warns that for, both India and America, air crashes, natural calamities, undercover activities, espionage, secret enemies, riots and rebellion could take a heavy toll. This is a nasty and ugly picture. But, there is also, as said earlier a brighter side to it. Both of the predictions are very possible. That’s real life. Life and politics is complicated and convoluted (complex). There are no easy answers. March, June, September and December are the tough and critical months.

    PAKISTAN

    Nawaz Shariff is good for Pakistan. This Capricornian is practical and therefore open to reason and has commonsense. Pakistan is a Sagittarian country. The military leader of Pakistan is a Gemini. Around 2017 I see a good future for Pakistan. After 30 long years I had been to Pakistan in 2014, thanks to my patron Byram Avari. I found the people very friendly and hospitable.

    ISRAEL and IRAN

    Prime Minister Benjamin is a Taurus and Israel is a Taurean country. Therefore he got re -elected recently. Benjamin must learn to let go a little and be flexible. Iran has a new leader in Hussain Rohan. Rohan is a Scorpio the exact opposite of Benjamin who is a Taurean. But I believe given compromise and understanding peace is possible. If I could I would lock both these leaders in a room and tell them very sweetly, do not come out till you have signed a peace treaty. This might be my fantasy. I admit it.

    America, Russia, Brazil and Africa: Cancerian country America(Born July 4) will have sinew and muscle power. China will not be able to get better of America. Leo Obama will prove his mettle. For America I take three signs Cancer, Gemini and Sagittarius. The actual mix is my very own. America will lead the world. That says it all. Obama is a Leo. Ganesha says that this will be a great and glorious period for Obama and America. But America will be involved in many skirmishes and attacks by terrorists. Yes America has many enemies. America must never drop its guard. America must always be completely alert. For all its faults and foibles America is the best bet for a safe world.

    Brazil and Africa are the surprise packages, not China.Yes strange as it may seem, there is a possibility of a compromise among Afghanistan, USA, Pakistan and India. This may seem like pipe dream. But if the Israeli leader Ben could go to Chancellor Addenhaur of Germany after the holocaust, the Taliban too can sit across the table and come to some sort of understanding. With the given time and the right climate, the impossible can be made possible. This is very possible by 2018, latest. 2017 could well show the way.

    GERMANY

    I go with my gut feeling. The gut feeling is something like a powerful brain in the stomach. My gut feeling is that the Cancerian German chancellor Merkel has a very important role to play on the chess board of politics. I am convinced that she is a woman of destiny. This is what I have to say to her, “Listen sweetheart, you are more brilliant and powerful than you think and therefore shoot straight and fast. Victory is yours.”

    (The author is an internationally acclaimed astrologer and has predicted correctly on men and matters; on nations and issues; on events and happenings. He can be reached at info@bejandaruwalla.com and on phone no.(011) – 91-98-25470377.)

  • Jitu Rai crowned TOISA Sportsperson of the Year

    Jitu Rai crowned TOISA Sportsperson of the Year

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Ace marksman Jitu Rai was on May 7 declared the Sportsperson of the Year’ at the Times of India Sports Awards in a glittering ceremony that was graced by the legendary Carl Lewis.

    ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh received the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ from the ‘Olympian of the century’ and Times Group MD Vineet Jain in a ceremony that was attended by the who and who of India’s sporting fraternity.

    Besides Lewis and Milkha, prominent figures from the sporting world included former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, Olympic bronze medallists boxer MC Mary Kom, shuttler Saina Nehwal and CWG gold medallist squash player Dipika Pallikal.

    The jury panel comprised of former Davis Cupper Ramesh Krishnan, Olympic gold medallist hockey player Zafar Iqbal, World championship bronze medallist long jumper Anju Bobby George and Ganguly.

    While Jitu, who won an unprecedented seven medals in the last one year, was the jury’s choice, champion cueist Pankaj advani bagged the Popular Choice Award.

    Young shooter Malaika Goel won the Emerging Players’ Jury Award along with five others while weightlifter Sanjita Chanu won the Popular Choice Award. Test captain Virat kohli got the Popular Choice Award while Harmanpreet Kaur won the Cricketer of the Year Award.

    Saina Nehwal was named the ‘Youth Icon of the Year’.

    List only Jury awards:

    Sportsperson of the Year: Jitu Rai; Youth Icon: Saina Nehwal; Cricket: Harmanpreet Kaur (women); Football Sunil Chhetri; Badminton: PV Sindhu; Billiards: Pankaj Advani; TT: Achanta Sharath Kamal; Shooting: Jitu Rai; Athletics: Vikas Gowda, Wrestling: Yogeshwar Dutt; Lifetime Achievement Award: Milkha Singh; Squash: Dipika Pallikal; Golf: Anirban Lahiri; Chess: Viswanathan Anand; Hockey: Rani Rampal (women) and PR Sreejesh (men); Boxing: L Sarita Devi and MC Mary Kom; Tennis: Sania Mirza, Weightlifting: Satish Sivalingam, Emerging Player Awards: Malaika Goel, Khushbir Kaur, Amit Kumar Dahiya, A Chikkarangappa, Sanjita Chanu and Vinesh Phogat.

  • Time running out for Viswanathan Anand

    Time running out for Viswanathan Anand

    World Chess Championship:

    Magnus Carlsen had to eschew his pride and taste the ‘draw medicine’ forced by Viswanathan Anand. But if the latter doesn’t find enough inspiration in the next two of the remaining three games, the thinking behind this half a point can always be questioned. Anand, a challenger at 44, trails Carlsen 4-5 in the World Chess Championship match in Sochi. The Indian, who plays with white pieces on Friday, is expected to trouble the reigning champion with sharper and more offensive play.

    The ninth game on Thursday was over in just 20 moves lasting just an hour and Carlsen was left explaining how a player who believes in playing over the board much longer even for half a point allowed the Indian challenger gain the ‘black result’ so quickly. “Considering the match situation, I’m okay with the draw,” said Carlsen. “I won’t like to get into details about what surprised me. “Of course, it’s always better to be able to press with white.

    But on the other hand, every half a point brings me closer to six and a half points needed to win the title. It’s not too bad… not a disaster. It’s a tough match. Right now, it looks like it is going the distance (12th game is on Tuesday). “It’s more comfortable to play these kind of endgames when you are leading the match. In general, I try to play positions which I consider to be good and suit my style. But he was better prepared today than I was.” When Anand, playing black, opted for the quieter Ruy Lopez as against the generally-sharper Sicilian, it was expected that he had prepared well in the main lines.

    The queens were exchanged on the eighth move denying a chance to castle for Black. The Norwegian deviated first from their Game 7 on the 11th turn. Even that didn’t deter Anand much. Soon, it appeared that Carlsen was not ready for the ensuing positional struggle in the middle game. A couple of minor pieces were exchanged quickly. Though Carlsen had some activity in the centre files, he decided not to continue in rooks and knights vs rooks and bishops ending (six pawns each). The champion went for perpetual checks and attained a draw after a threefold repetition.

    After getting what he wanted – an easy, no-sweat draw with black pieces – Anand was not ready to let media question his choice. “You have to play the positions you get, the situations you get. I can count, I know the score.” When asked on the subtleness behind the opening sequence of moves, he said: “This I would rather not explain.” Is being less prepared than world No. 6 Anand is a huge concern for Carlsen? “It has also been the opposite a couple of times,” said the world No. 1. “A disappointment of short draw with white pieces is easier to swallow when you are leading the match.” Anand said: “The game was quite reasonable. An easy draw with black. I just need to try harder with white.” Carlsen was more forthcoming on certain issues about his display. “My play has been quite inconsistent both in terms of preparation and over the board play. But we will see.”

  • Tiger on loose spotted near Disneyland Paris

    Tiger on loose spotted near Disneyland Paris

    PARIS (TIP): French authorities say a young tiger is on the loose near Disneyland Paris, one of Europe’s top tourist destinations, and have urged residents in three towns to stay indoors. The town of Montevrain sent out a news alert on its Facebook page Thursday saying a young tiger was spotted in the brush behind some tennis courts and a soccer field. The field is about 9 kilometers (5 1/2 miles) from Disneyland Paris.

    Around 60 police, fire and other security forces were trying to track the tiger, said Cedric Tartaud, chief of staff for the Montevrain mayor. The tiger is estimated to weigh around 70 kilograms (154 pounds), Tartaud said. Police were using a helicopter to help search for the animal, and a wolf-catcher was also drafted in to aid in the search, Seine-et- Marne authorities said. Police and rescue squads at the scene have roped off a security perimeter, authorities added and urged people living in Montevrain, Chessy and Chalifert to remain indoors. If they had to travel, police advised them to stay in their cars.

    The Parc des Felins, a wild cat animal park about 18 miles from Montevrain, said in a statement on its web site that all of its animals were accounted for and the escaped tiger didn’t come from there. EuroDisney, the operator of Disneyland Paris, said it has no tigers in the theme park, so the errant cat could not have come from them either. It wasn’t immediately clear if any extra precautions had been taken inside the park. Disneyland Paris calls itself Europe’s No. 1 tourist destination with 14.9 million visits in 2013.

    Police hunt for tiger on the loose near Paris Police and firefighters were desperately hunting for a tiger on the loose near Paris Thursday after a local resident spotted the fearsome animal in a car park and sounded the alert, authorities said. Backed up by a helicopter overhead, firefighters armed with tranquilising guns were mobilised for the search in the Seine-et- Marne district near the French capital. “We have been running after it since this morning, police officers are trying to intercept it,” a police source said.

  • Pregnant Duchess Kate makes first public appearance

    Pregnant Duchess Kate makes first public appearance

    LONDON (TIP): Prince William’s wife Kate attended her first official royal engagement here on October 22 to greet the president of Singapore since it was announced that she is pregnant with her and the Duke of Cambridge’s second baby. The Duchess of Cambridge, who is just over 12 weeks pregnant, displayed her baby bump in a silver Alexander McQueen coat and Jane Taylor hat as she arrived at a central London hotel with her husband William as part of a historic state visit by Singaporean President Tony Tan Keng Yam.

    She has been suffering from another bout of the rare form of morning sickness, hyperemesis gravidarum, and a series of royal engagements had been cancelled as she recuperated. Kensington Palace had issued a statement on Tuesday confirming that her second royal baby is due in April, 2015 and that the Duchess is now well enough to attend royal events again. Kate, along with William, second-in-line to the British throne, greeted the President and his wife Mary at the exclusive Royal Garden Hotel close to their Kensington Palace home, in central London, on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II.It is believed the last time the two couples met was in September, 2012 when the Duke and Duchess visited Singapore during their Diamond Jubilee tour of southeast Asia and the south Pacific.

    The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh also formally greeted the foreign leader and his wife at Horse Guards Parade. William alone will later join guests as the Queen hosts a private lunch at the Palace afterwards, followed by a tour of an exhibition of Singapore-related items, from the Royal Collection, in the palace picture gallery. It is the first time William and Kate have taken part in a state visit to this extent. The couple will not be at this evening’s state banquet, with the Duchess instead attending the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014 awards at the Natural History Museum. Tan is the first Singaporean head of state to make a state visit to Britain and he will spend his four-day trip conducting a busy round of meetings, visits and hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister David Cameron.

  • Pot clubs: Is Barcelona the new Amsterdam?

    Pot clubs: Is Barcelona the new Amsterdam?

    BARCELONA (TIP): On a recent evening, two vacationing German college students, armed with addresses they had gotten off the internet, were trying to get into one of Barcelona’s new marijuana clubs. They were not members. But no matter. They quickly found a club near the city’s central boulevard, La Rambla, that was willing to ignore the rules, helping them choose from a dozen strains of marijuana for sale in plastic bins before letting them settle into the cushy lounge area to light up. Forty-five minutes later, they were back on the street, smiling.

    “It was very nice,” said one of the students, who had researched cannabis clubs before choosing Barcelona as a holiday destination. “We will go back tomorrow.” The number of cannabis clubs that have opened in Barcelona recently has some experts saying this city will soon challenge Amsterdam as the go-to destination for vacationers who want to get high in peace. Even as Amsterdam has wrestled with drug tourism in recent years, reducing the number of coffee shops where it is legal to buy and smoke marijuana and hashish, about 300 new cannabis clubs have opened in Barcelona and the surrounding Catalan region, a result, at least in part, of enterprising Spaniards looking for new ways to earn a living, experts say.

    It is not that Barcelona officials have given their blessing to this new phenomenon. The clubs are operating under decades-old Spanish laws that allow anyone to grow and smoke marijuana in private or to band together with others to form a cannabis club, as long as it is a nonprofit organization for members only, something like a chess or a cooking club. But in the last three years, new clubs have opened, maily in tourist areas like La Rambla, in many cases circumventing the spirit, if not the letter, of the law. While some clubs refuse walk-in customers like the German students, many of them offer membership (about 20) over the internet or by phone.

  • NYS’ largest Grocery Workers’ Union endorses John Liu for State Senate

    NYS’ largest Grocery Workers’ Union endorses John Liu for State Senate

    Following IUOE and HTC, The United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1500 Endorses Surging Liu Campaign

    QUEENS, NY (TIP): Citing Liu’s effective leadership as a true progressive Democrat, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 1500, New York State’s largest grocery workers union with 23,000 members, today announced its endorsement of John Liu to be the next State Senator for the 11th District.

    “Working families in Northeast Queens need an honest, hardworking, and aggressive fighter for the community that is true to the Democratic Party and will stand up for a strong, progressive agenda in Albany. John Liu will fight against wage theft, work hard to keep Wal-Mart out of New York City, and stand alongside our members to raise the wage of the working class in the district,” said UFCW Local 1500 President Bruce W. Both.

    “As New York City Comptroller, John Liu fought hard for low-wage workers and the middle class.We are confident that John will be aggressive in defending the American Dream and the values of the Democratic Party,” said Anthony Speelman, Secretary Treasurer of UFCW Local 1500. “As we begin this campaign in earnest, I am humbled by the incredible support we are receiving from our brothers and sisters in the labor movement.

    It’s an honor to have the endorsement of the hardworking men and women of UFCW Local 1500,” said progressive Democrat John Liu. “UFCW has been a leader in the fight to bring better jobs to our city, raise the minimum wage and defend the hardworking families of our city. Together, we can finally bring real progressive change in Albany on behalf of the people of New York.”

    The UFCW endorsement comes days after progressive Democrat John Liu officially kicked off his campaign for State Senate. He has already picked up the endorsement of the New York City Coalition of Operating Engineers,

    which represents 18,000 crane and heavy equipment operators (Locals 14 and 15); stationary engineers (Locals 30 and 94); school custodians (Local 891); and New York City building inspectors (Local 211). Liu also earned the coveted endorsement of the New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council, AFL-CIO (HTC) with 50,000-plus workers and retirees, and is known for its highly sophisticated political operation.

    UFCW 1500 promotes progressive policies such as demanding Wal-Mart be held accountable for it’s unethical business practices, supporting the expansion of supermarkets into underserved communities, and creating good food, good jobs and good health for all New Yorkers. Other issues of importance to Local 1500 members include aggressive wage theft prosecution, demanding labor standards be attached to corporate subsidies and raising the federal minimum wage.

    The Local union represents over 23,000 members in New York City, Long Island, Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess Counties and is based out of Westbury, NY. Members of Local 1500 are employed by Pathmark, King Kullen, Stop and Shop, Gristedes, Fairway, D’Agostinos, Key Food, and Shoprite.

  • Homeland Security announces arrest of 71 child porn consumers, including Rockland County Boy Scout leader

    Homeland Security announces arrest of 71 child porn consumers, including Rockland County Boy Scout leader

    NEW YORK (TIP):

    A senior official from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) announced Wednesday, May 21, the arrest of 71 individuals for crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children in Operation Caireen, the largestever enforcement operation in New York targeting predators who possess, produce or distribute sexually explicit images of children. Included in the arrest is Jonathan Silber of Suffern, a man who had taken part in activities with youth, including as a Boy Scout leader and a Little League coach.

    As part of Operation Caireen, which began April 4 and ran until May 15, HSI special agents, New York City Police Department detectives and other law enforcement partners surreptitiously infiltrated peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing networks to identify users in the New York City metropolitan area who sought to acquire or distribute known or suspected images and videos of children engaged in sexually explicit activities.

    Throughout the course of the operation, investigators identified nearly 150 distinct Internet Protocol addresses actively involved in trading sexually explicit images of children registered to users in the New York City. metropolitan area. In addition to the 71 arrests, investigators lawfully seized nearly 600 computing devices during the execution of 87 search warrants, including desktop and laptop computers, tablets, smartphones and thumb drives containing more than 175 terabytes of data that includes tens of thousands of sexually explicit images and videos of children. Some of the defendants arrested possessed libraries of sexually explicit images and videos of children numbering in the thousands.

    One of the defendants had been previously convicted of sexually abusing a child; another is charged with producing and distributing child pornography involving her own young child. Several of the defendants facing charges held positions of public trust, including two police officers, two registered nurses, a paramedic, an au pair, and Silber, who served as both a den master with the Boy Scouts of America and a little league baseball coach. “The sheer volume of confirmed and suspected instances of individuals engaging in the sexual exploitation of children identified through Operation Caireen is shocking and the professional backgrounds of many of the defendants is troubling.

    We can no longer assume that the only people who would stoop to prey on children are unemployed drifters,” said James T. Hayes Jr., special agent in charge of HSI New York. “Clearly, this criminal activity has reached epidemic proportions and ICE HSI will continue to partner across jurisdictions to target those adults who egregiously violate the children of our communities.” Police Commissioner William J. Bratton said, “The individuals identified today allegedly utilized the Internet to possess, distribute and promote horrific acts against defenseless victims. The indictments represent a strong collaborative effort between law enforcement partners, sending the message to sexual predators that abuse against children is beyond reproach and violators will be vigorously sought and brought to justice.”

    “The law enforcement community is committed to eliminating the horrific market for child pornography, one defendant at a time,” said U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch, Eastern District of New York. “The arrests and seizures announced today send an unequivocal message to those who engage in trading child pornography – if you exploit our children, and their abuse, you will be investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.” Manhattan U.S. Attorney PreetBharara said: “Crimes involving the exploitation of children are particularly disturbing because they victimize the most vulnerable members of our society.

    This includes the possession and distribution of images of child pornography. Such images are not merely photos or videos; they are evidence of the physical and psychological abuse of children. Today’s announcement shows the commitment of federal and state prosecutors and investigators to protect children from exploitation.” Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said, “My office is committed to the vigorous prosecution of those who sexually exploit children through the use of the Internet and peer-to-peer networks.

    It must be remembered that the images involved in these cases are of real children being sexually abused and that each time an image is viewed, traded, printed or downloaded, the child in that image is being victimized again.” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R.Vance, Jr., said: “Images of child sexual assault capture real crimes being committed against real children. Each time that one of these recordings of a violent sexual assault is downloaded and viewed by a stranger over the Internet, that child is being victimized all over again. Crimes against children are unforgivable, especially those perpetrated by individuals in positions of trust.

    I thank our partners in law enforcement for their commitment to stopping the abuse of children.” Kings County District Attorney Kenneth P. Thompson said, “This case underscores the crucial importance of Internet surveillance initiatives by law enforcement to protect children from sexual predators. Each of these defendants – five of whom presently have cases pending in Kings County – is responsible for revictimizing the children who appear in these despicable videos each time they view or share the files. These are real children whose abuse and victimization has been videotaped for the entertainment of an unfortunately large population of twisted individuals.

    I commend Homeland Security Investigations for initiating Operation Caireen.” Richmond County District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan, Jr., said, “The confiscated videos are nothing more than sadomasochistic snuff films showcasing a defenseless child – be they an infant, a toddler or a teen – being repeatedly raped and/or sexually assaulted. These are videotaped crime scenes watched by predators lurking in the shadows of the Internet. I want to thank my assistant, Ann Thompson, and the agents of ICE-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for bringing these crimes to light and the defendants to justice.”

    “Our success in this case and other similar investigations is a result of our close work with our law enforcement partners,” said Brian Swain, acting special agent in charge, United States Secret Service, New York Field Office. “The Secret Service worked closely with HSI, the NYPD, and other law enforcement partners to share information and resources that ultimately led to the arrest of 71 individuals. This case demonstrates there is no such thing as anonymity for those engaging in child exploitation and unlawful acts.”

    “The Department of Homeland Security is asking for the public to be watchful, to help identify those individuals responsible for child pornography, and we’re counting on those with information to come forward,” said Otis E. Harris Jr., special agent in charge of the Coast Guard Investigative Service, New York Field Office. “No bit of information, no matter how seemingly insignificant, is too small. Each piece moves us forward toward justice and disrupting the crime of child pornography.

    It is extremely important to contact authorities with any information regarding child pornography.” “We applaud the efforts of HSI New York for the outstanding results of Operation Caireen,” said John Ryan, president and CEO of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. “The success of this operation highlights the importance of collaboration between law enforcement agencies on largescale investigations. Their tireless work helps ensure that the most vulnerable in our society – our children – can be safer.”

    Arrests predicating Operation Caireen:

    On January 23, HSI agents arrested Brian Fanelli, chief of the Mount Pleasant Police Department in Valhalla, New York. Fanelli has been charged with federal child pornography violations in the Southern District of New York. On March 5, HSI agents arrested Samuel Waldman, a rabbi and an instructor of Judaic studies, at his residence in Brooklyn.Waldman has been charged with possession of child pornography in the Southern District of New York.While utilizing the P2P file sharing system, agents identified Waldman’s IP address as one that offered for dissemination videos of child pornography.

    High profile arrests during Operation Caireen:

    On April 8, Kenneth Gardner, a registered nurse at Westchester County Medical Center, was arrested at his residence in Astoria and charged with violations of New York State Penal Law 263.15, promoting a sex performance of a child under age 17; 263.11, possessing an obscene sexual performance by a child; and 263.16, possessing a sexual performance by a child. On April 17, Eduardo SalcedoUrzola, who was working as an au pair, was arrested at his residence in Brooklyn and charged with possession of child pornography under federal law.

    This arrest followed the execution of a search warrant issued by a U.S. magistrate judge in the Eastern District of New York. While utilizing the P2P file sharing system, agents identified an IP address at a residence associated with SalcedoUrzola’s that made known images and/or movies of child pornography available for distribution. On April 28, Aaron Young, a paramedic, was arrested at his residence in Queens and charged under New York State law with possession of child pornography.

    This arrest followed the execution of a state search warrant issued by a judge in Queens County.While utilizing the P2P file sharing system, agents identified an IP address at Young’s residence that made known images and/or movies of child pornography available for distribution. On April 28, Yong Wu, a police officer, was arrested at his residence in Ozone Park and charged with possession of child pornography under state law. This arrest followed the execution of a search warrant issued by a judge in Queens County.

    While utilizing the P2P file sharing system, agents identified an IP address at Wu’s residence that made known images and/or movies of child pornography available for distribution. On May 9, Jonathan Silber, a Boy Scout den leader and Little League baseball coach, was arrested at his residence in Suffern and charged under New York state law with possession of child pornography.

    This arrest followed the execution of a state search warrant issued by a judge in Rockland County.While utilizing the P2P file sharing system, agents identified an IP address connected to Silber that made known images and/or movies of child pornography available for distribution. SAC Hayes thanked the United States Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York; the District Attorney’s Offices in Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Manhattan, and the Bronx, New York; the District Attorney’s offices in Putnam, Dutchess, Sullivan, and Rockland counties in New York and the Hunterdon County prosecutor’s office in New Jersey for their exceptional legal analysis and for prosecuting the charges.

    SAC Hayes thanked the New York City Police Department, United States Secret Service, United States Coast Guard Investigative Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, New York State Police, the Dutchess and Rockland County sheriff’s offices, and the police departments in Kent, Spring Valley, Carmel, Haverstraw and Suffern. SAC Hayes also thanked HSI New York Deputy Special Agents in Charge Glenn Sorge and Gabriel Garcia; Assistant Special Agents in Charge Michael Szrama, Joseph LeStrange and Michael Buckley; Group Supervisors Anthony Decrescenzo, Regan Madonia, Chris McClellan, and John Mirandona, Jr.; and the men and women assigned to the HSI New York Child Exploitation, Computer Forensics and Special Investigations units for their diligent and thorough investigative work and their commitment to the Homeland Security mission.

    Arrests by county:Manhattan 6; Bronx 7; Brooklyn 17; Queens 23; Staten Island 6; New Jersey (Hunterdon) 1; Putnam 2; Sullivan 1; Rockland 1; Duchess 1; Nassau 4;Westchester 2. Special Agent in Charge James T. Hayes, Jr., head of the HSI New York office, made the announcement in Manhattan with Queens County District Attorney Richard A. Brown, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth P. Thompson, Richmond County District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan, Jr., New York City Police Department Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division for the Eastern District of New York Lisa Kramer, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division for the Southern District of New York Joan Loughnane, Special Agent in Charge for the United States Coast Guard Investigative Service Otis E. Harris, Jr., Special Agent in Charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Thomas J.

    Cannon, Assistant Special Agent in Charge for the United States Secret Service Michael Seremetis, Chief of the General Crimes Section for the Eastern District of New York Patrick Sinclair, Chief of the Rockland County Sheriff’s Office William Barbera, and Putnam County District Attorney’s Office Senior Investigator Henry Lopez.

  • Computers can now nail people faking pain

    Computers can now nail people faking pain

    WASHINGTON (TIP): In the ever-expanding contest between artificial intelligence and the ordinary human mind, you can chalk up another one for the computer. Scientists have developed a computer system with sophisticated pattern recognition abilities that performed much better than humans in differentiating between people experiencing genuine pain and people who were just faking it.

    In a study published in the journal Current Biology this week, human subjects did no better than chance — about 50% — in correctly judging if a person was feigning pain after seeing videos in which some people were and some were not. The computer was right 85% of the time. Why? The researchers say its pattern recognition abilities successfully spotted distinctive aspects of facial expressions, particularly involving mouth movements, that people generally missed.

    “We all know that computers are good at logic processes and they’ve long out-performed humans on things like playing chess,” said Marian Bartlett of the Institute for Neural Computation at the University of California-San Diego, one of the researchers. “But in perceptual processes, computers lag far behind humans and have a lot of trouble with perceptual processes that humans tend to find easy, including speech recognition and visual recognition.

  • 2013: ENTERTAINMENT ROUNDUP

    2013: ENTERTAINMENT ROUNDUP

    2013 has been an eventfull year for the entertainment industry whether it be for our own Bollywood or all the way to Hollywood. From Shah Rukh Khan-Salman Khan hug to Miley Cyrus turning all wacky, from Ranbir-Katrina’s trip to Ibiza to Angelina Jolie’s double mastectomy, the year was full of such events. We take a look at a few controversies, celebs, films and all things that made 2013 the year that it was.

    This year has been a blockbuster year for Bollywood. While 8 films entered Rs.100 crore club this year and 3 amongst them made it to Rs.200 crore club. It was a record breaking year, Chennai Express became the biggest grosser of all time leaving behind 3 Idiots, but soon Krrish 3 was the one to mint maximum money and then came the Hurricane Dhoom 3 which is still going strong. Adult film like Grand Masti also made it to Rs.100 crore club.

    Shah Rukh Khan-Salman Khan hug
    5

    It was a Kodak moment for Bollywood, infact for India when Bollywood’s arch rival superstars hugged each other and apparently patched up. Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, who had fallen out over some unknown issue during Katrina Kaif’s birthday party five years back, hugged each other at the Iftar party hosted by Congress leader Baba Siddique in Mumbai on July 21. But the question was is that hug really a patch-up or was just a compulsion out of courtesy. And soon the answer was clear for world to see, both the stars on separate occasion made it clear that they can never be friends again. Sigh!

    Miley Cyrus and her wacky antics
    6

    This year was clearly of pop sensation Miley Cyrus, who shook off that Disney princess image and became the pop phenomenon. She started making news in 2012 after she chopped her hair and in 2013 the series of Miley’s antics started with the infamous appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards. Dressed in a bear-inspired leotard, Miley not only stripped down to latex lingerie, she also gyrated, showed the middle finger, and stuck out her tongue (a lot) and twerked with Robin Thicke.

    Then came the video of her music video Wrecking Ball. Miley wore just her favourite boots and climbed atop a wrecking ball. She also licked a sledgehammer. If that was not all she also smoked weed at MTV EMAs. Apart from all these antics, sticking out her toungue, twerking, spanking became a regular part of her performances throughout the year. Well, all her moves paid off as she became the most searched celebrity of the year and her singles Wrecking Ball and Bangerz did extremly well. Lets see how she will shock or surprise us on 2013.

    Ranbir-Katrina’s trip to Spain
    Their relationship was a secret that everybody knew but was still under the wrap till the pictures of Katrina in a white and red bikini and Ranbir in a pair of bermuda holidaying together on a beach in Ibiza went viral. Later, Katrina wrote an open letter to the media stating that she felt upset, distressed and this was an invasion of her privacy. But after that the couple became a little less and were spotted together many times in parties, movie dates etc.

    A year of controversies
    From weeing in a bucket while yelling “F**k Bill Clinton!” to becoming a wanted criminal for vandalism in Australia, it seems the pop star did everything wrong this year. The singer has been though a break-up, been criticised for his poor performances, had more than a few run-ins with the paparazzi. He was snapped coming out from a brothel in Rio de Janeiro, he was photographed spitting over a Toronto hotel balcony onto besotted fans waiting below the list goes on. And then he broke hearts of many Beliebers when he announced his retirement from music. Bieber told in an interview: “Um, I’m actually retiring man. I’m just gonna take some time. I think I’m probably gonna quit music, I’m quitting everything.” His manager then did a damage control and confirmed that his ‘artist’ was “just kidding”. Not letting the fiasco die down, Justin Bieber tweeted “My beloved beliebers I’m officially retiring” on Christmas Eve. Followed by a tweet: The media talks a lot about me.They make a up a lot of lies and want me to fail but I’m never leaving you, being a belieber is a lifestyle. We can’t wait to see what Justin will be upto in 2014.

    Clebrities breakup
    7

    The year 2013 saw a number of relationships coming to its end. The most shocking was Hrithik Roshan and Sussanne Roshan’s seperation. The two couples decided to part ways and instead of allowing nasty speculation about their relationships, they chose to make dignified announcements. Hrithik Roshan sent out a statement to all the media houses about how his wife Sussane and he have mutually decided to part ways; pleading for “some privacy”. Kalki Koechlin and Anurag Kashyap too officially announced about their seperation.

    “We are not filing for divorce, we are taking time off from each other to sort our issues,” she announced. Among Hollywood celebs the most prominent splits were of Justin Bieber- Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus-Liam Hemsworth. Selena Gomez confirmed her split from Justin Bieber to friends at the Golden Globes this year. Miley and Liam finally called their relationship off after being engaged for a year in September. It was long rumoured, but Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom parted ways in October officially. Nicole Scherzinger and Lewis Hamilton ended their five year on-off romance in July this year. On and off couple Rihanna and Chris Brown finally parted ways in April.

    According to reports the split was Rihanna’s choice, as the 25-year-old singer wanted to focus on her business and career opportunities. Rihanna had given Brown, 23, a second chance despite fears among fans that he could mistreat her again after he battered her in a pre-Grammy row in 2009.

    Angelina Jolie’s double mastectomy
    8
    In an op-ed in the New York Times, Angelina Jolie revealed about the preventive double mastectomy she had undergone. Her decision to go public about her medical treatment was brave, bold and appreciated by everyone. Angelina Jolie was talked and wrote about a loty for her decision to go public with her medical decisions and to create awareness among women.

    Sanjay Dutt behind bars
    9

    Sanjay Dutt was sentenced to five years imprisonment in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case in May this year. Sanjay had already spent 18 months behind bars and was ordered to surrender within four weeks to serve the remaining sentence. Dutt is currently out on parole as her wife Manyata Dutt has a tumour in her liver. Dutt was granted parole earlier also on medical grounds for himself.

    SRK’s baby AbRam and other celebs parents of 2013
    Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan confirmed the arrival of their third child AbRam in July this year. AbRam was born through surrogacy and prematurely by several months. A complaint was also filed against SRK and his wife Gauri for allegedly having a pre-natal sex determination test done on their unborn child. The couple wasl later given a clean chit by BMC. Other celebs who became proud parents this year are: Kim Kardashian gave birth to a baby girl on June 15.

    Kanye West and Kim named their daugther North West. Prince William and Kate Middleton became parents to a baby boy, weighing 8lbs 6oz. The Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to the royal couple’s first child at St Mary’s Hospital in London on July 22. Halle Berry is officially on diaper duty again. The Oscar winning actress gave birth to a baby boy in Los Angeles in October Bollywood actor Fardeen Khan and wife Natasha Madhwani have been blessed with a baby girl, Diani Isabella Khan this month.

    Ayesha Takia who made her debut with Bollywood film Tarzan recently delivered a baby boy in December. Colombian singer Shakira gave birth to her first child – a boy – in a Barcelona hospital on Jan 22.

    Nigella Lawson
    Nigella, famous TV celebrity chef, known for her show by her name became a big example of what is wrong with being a silent victim in a marriage. Her husband and advertising tycoon Charles Saatchi of Saatchi & Saatchi was seen grabbing her neck in public during a casual lunch.

  • The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

    The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

    PLOT: Katniss finds herself battling anxiety issues a year after winning the 74th Hunger Games. Her nightmares come true, when she is once again targeted by the Capitol, in an attempt to crush an oncoming revolution. Will the odds be in her favour this time around? REVIEW: Catching Fire picks up where The Hunger Games (2012) left off. By winning the previous season, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark ( Josh Hutcherson) are on the radar of the Capitol, for instilling a sense of hope among the oppressed people of Panem.

    Fearing, the two may spark a rebellion, the Capitol decides to clip their wings and move them around like chess pieces. A twist in the games by President Snow, throws them back into the bloodthirsty arena. Can they identify ‘who the real enemy is’? If you like ‘grim dystopian sci-fi films’, Catching Fire is a spectacular ‘edge-of-the-seat’ thriller, which is unnerving, emotionally intense and immensely engaging. Unlike most sequels, Francis Lawrence ensures that his installment is not just a remake. While the first focussed on the deadly games, this one’s more about the political moves and strategies.

    The film is strangely unsettling and uplifting at the same time. An early scene in the film shows Katniss, sitting alone in a train compartment, staring out the window. She reminds you of a bird trapped in a cage. Its metaphors, unsaid emotions like these that make the film brilliant. ‘There are no victors, just survivors’. The story has an acute relevance to contemporary society, where we are expected to be pawns in our day-to-day lives. Can you put your life on the line for others? Suzanne Collins’ teenage-pawn-turned-rebel protagonist Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) fights her own battles, making her one of the best role models of young adult fiction.

    All performances are solid but Jennifer Lawrence is the soul of the film. She makes you want to raise your fingers (District 12 sign) in respect of her incredible understated performance. Spine-chilling cinematography evokes that much required eerie feeling throughout. Dramatic costumes are another highlight. The film makes our hopelessness pit against our own indomitable spirit of survival. Who wins?

  • New Zealand’s Eleanor Catton wins Man Booker Prize

    New Zealand’s Eleanor Catton wins Man Booker Prize

    LONDON (TIP): Eleanor Catton has become the youngest writer to ever win a Man Booker prize. The 28-year-old New Zealander’s book The Luminaries – an 832-page murder mystery based on the gold rush in the 19th-century is also the longest novel to ever win the coveted literary prize. Catton who started writing the book when she was 25- years-old was given the £50,000 by the Duchess of Cornwall at London’s Guildhall on Tuesday evening. The judges picked Catton’s audacious take on an old form, the Victorian “sensation novel”. The youngest ever winner before Catton was Ben Okri who was 32 when his work The Famished Road won the Booker prize in 1991. The Luminaries is Catton’s second novel after The Rehearsal, which was shortlisted for the 2009 Guardian first book award. Catton is just the second New Zealander to win the prize, the first being Keri Hulme with The Bone People in 1985. The Luminaries, set in 1866 during the New Zealand gold rush, contains a group of 12 men gathered for a meeting in a hotel and a traveller who stumbles into their midst; the story involves a missing rich man, a dead hermit, a huge sum in gold, and a beaten-up whore. There are sex and seances, opium and lawsuits in the mystery too. The multiple voices take turns to tell their own stories and gradually what happened in the small town of Hokitika on New Zealand’s South Island is revealed. The novel had been up against Indian-American writer Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Lowland – a story of a young man’s tryst with the Naxalite movement at the cost of his family. Set in Kolkata, the Lowland was among six books shortlisted for the prize. One of the favourites to win was the shortest work ever to be shortlisted – Colm Toibin’s 30,000 word The Last Testament of Mary.

  • 2nd India Day Parade Of Hicksville : A Show Of Strength

    2nd India Day Parade Of Hicksville : A Show Of Strength

    HICKSVILLE,NY (TIP): The 2nd India Day Parade USA, in Hicksville, was taken out Sunday, August 11, 2013 under a benign Sun god who was pleased to bathe the participants in His silver light. Mercury hovered at around 80 but the heat was not oppressive, and let people venture out in thousands. There was enthusiasm writ large on the faces of the people who had come out to celebrate India on a fine August day.

    The route from Patel Plaza on South Broadway to the destination in front of Asa Mai Hindu temple saw the presence of hordes of people who chose to stay at one point to look at the passing parade. At the head of the parade that started from Patel Plaza around 1 P.M. were the Grand Marshal Miss USA 2005 Chelsea Cooley, the not so well known film artist from Bollywood Aarti Chhabria, and the ever present and cherubic Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano, legislators, judges, officials, among others.

    The parade with 17 ( as per list provided by the organizers) tastefully decorated floats and people in varied clothes from formals to casuals looked impressive all along. It moved on South Broadway across Old Country Road to North Broadway and terminated in the open grounds in front of Asa Mai Hindu temple where a stage was erected to showcase guests and deliver comments.

    A little ahead one could get the ambience of an Indian fair, with 32 stalls (as per list provided by the organizers) selling or displaying all kinds of ware from food of different varieties to jewelry and modern gadgets, mostly cell phones and notebooks. On a specially erected spacious stage, singers and dancers performed to the great delight of the audiences who took the day long cultural program as a rare gift in their otherwise daily struggle for making money for today and tomorrow, for here and for back home.

    Certainly, a relief to most people who hardly ever find time for such exotic cultural extravaganza. The performances rightly drew the applause of an appreciative audience. The BQ girls as also the Punjabi folk dancers drew repeated applause. DJ Kutcha, as usual, was at his best. Not only did he play the right tunes, he played the master of ceremonies with aplomb.

    This young Sikh will go far should he continue to be so amiable and alert The Indian Panorama spoke with a number of gathered people to elicit their comments on the parade. Most felt happy to be at the parade. Nobody complained of any mismanagement or inconvenience. They all seemed to be satisfied with arrangements to provide water all along the route. Though we have recordings of their comments, we will not be able to publish them all here.

    However, we are grateful to all we spoke with for their cooperation. Here are the pictures of some we spoke with. The common moan was the organizers downplayed the contribution of their benefactors. They did not recognize all the companies, businesses, organizations who had paid handsome amounts for each float. They were naturally disappointed that their contribution had not been recognized. In stead, “those in the good books of the organizers were not only mentioned or recognized, some were extolled to skies”, some said.

    Certainly, a discriminatory attitude and practice, unworthy of a public organization. The promised Parade journal in which many had paid handsome money to advertise never showed up, to the disappointment of many advertisers I spoke to. One gentleman, upon condition of anonymity, told me he was expecting the journal to be distributed amongst thousands at the parade which would have brought him return for the amount he had invested in advertising but was disappointed. He said it amounted to cheating.

    A journalist was upset to find that the promised plaques were not presented to the media. He said he had no plans to stay back until 3 P.M. but thought he would pick up his plaque. He wondered at the casualness of the organizers.

    Whatever else, the India Day parade, the idea of which was conceived by a couple of residents of Long Island some 2 years ago, is believed to have been hijacked by Bobby Kumar, aka Karan “Bobby” Kumar, (I have heard many people naming the Hicksville India Day Parade “Bobby Parade”) a man who had risen from utter poverty in India and in USA to become a symbol of Indian American power and prosperity in the nineties and who then committed, in 2001, a mistake of faking his kidnapping for which he pleaded guilty and paid a fine to avoid a jail term.

    That is part of the history now. He was written off by most people, including some of his friends. But Bobby rose, like phoenix from ashes, and repositioned himself in body social and political. I must admit, my admiration for the man grew, when I found him parading dozens of judges at event after events to sing his praises.

    I wondered there must be something extraordinary in the man that judicious judges choose to attend his events. The Nassau County officials appear to be under his magic spell; not to speak of the lesser Indian American community leaders who probably find in Bobby a model to emulate. And surely, while others who contributed to the founding of the 2 year old India Day Parade USA sulk at being pushed back and ignored, Bobby Kumar enjoys his resurrection, albeit, with the hard work, imaginative planning and dedication of many.

    It reminds me of Shakespeare’s words in Julius Caesar that may aptly express the feelings of many who are envious of Bobby, “Why man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a colossus; and we petty men walk under his huge legs, and peep about to find ourselves dishonorable graves.” Nearer our times and area of common experience, it reminds me of the gang war in Mumbai, depicted so beautifully in many Bollywood movies, particularly in Ram Gopal Verma’s Satya, where gangs fight to edge each other out to have control over human and material resources with a view to wielding power.

    They fight with brawn and brain. And here you witnessed a chessboard fight with brain alone which eliminated nearly all and left one and only one Bobby to claim the crown. Is there another Bobby Kumar?

  • SIAEA Organizes A Fun Filled Cruise

    SIAEA Organizes A Fun Filled Cruise

    NEW YORK (TIP): The annual cruise of Society of Indo American Engineers and Architects has always been pure fun. It is an occasion for members, officials and politicians to come together for a little fun together. The SIAEA President Mihir Patel ensured all had good fun on a good weather day. The drinks and the food aboard World Yacht Duchess were excellent. The DJ kept all happy and dancing.

    The gathering included India’s Consul General Mr. Mulay and his deputy Devyani Khobragade, her father, Uttam Khobragde, a retired IAS office of Maharashtra cadre, politicians and executives of various companies. A few guests of honor were presented plaques amid thunderous applause coming from the gathered merrymakers. Here are some pictures of the event.

  • India Wary As Haqqanis May Join Peace Process

    India Wary As Haqqanis May Join Peace Process

    A prospective Afghan political deal crafted by US secretary of state John Kerry and Pakistan army chief Ashfaq Kayani threatens to sink Afghan president Hamid Karzai. As the Taliban set up an office in Doha to start peace talks with the US, dressed up in their old flag and named the Islamic emirate of Afghanistan, in one fell swoop, the gesture marginalized Karzai, presaged a future Taliban role in Afghan government and revived Pakistan’s political fortunes with the US.

    The new situation has profoundly negative implications for India’s security, particularly if the Haqqani network is added to the talks as Pakistan desires. India has promised to take up the issue with Kerry during the strategic dialogue to be held here next week. In Baghdad, foreign minister Salman Khurshid said, “We have from time to time reminded all stakeholders about the red lines that were drawn by the world community and certainly, by the participants (these) should not be touched, should not be erased and should not be violated.”

    The ‘red lines’ included a renunciation of Taliban’s links with al-Qaida and an acceptance of the Afghan constitution. However, its been a couple of years since the US has abandoned all preconditions for talks with Taliban. India is one of the largest donors to Afghanistan’s stabilization, but it has a minimal role in the political chess-game currently under way, which will minimize India’s security concerns in the larger transition. Officials in Kabul said despite repeated assurances to Karzai by the US, the Taliban went ahead to set themselves up almost as a government in exile.

    Their initial statement said, as an afterthought, that they could even talk to “Afghans”, but not the government.With the Taliban also opening talks with Iran as well as with the former Northern Alliance, the US, helped by Pakistan, could be preparing the way to bring the Taliban back into government in Kabul, a decade after they were removed from power by the US invasion.

    For the present, the Taliban in Doha, with the blessings of the US and Qatar, is more than an Afghan insurgent group. Just by the very fact that they are not in Afghanistan, its very easy for them to scale up their international profile to position themselves as a challenger or alternative Afghan government.

  • Chidambaram, Aamir In Time’s 100 Most Influential Global List

    Chidambaram, Aamir In Time’s 100 Most Influential Global List

    NEW YORK (TIP): Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and actor Aamir Khan have been named by Time magazine among the 100 most influential people in the world in its annual list of global achievers that also includes teenaged Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai and US President Barack Obama. Describing Indian politicians as typically being “warm and fuzzy, chronically late and terribly imprecise”, Time says Chidambaram, 67, is “detailoriented, works from 8 to 8 and has a reputation for getting a lot done.” Noting that Chidambaram’s experience is unsurpassed, the magazine said, as Commerce Minister in the 1990s, he played an important role as India opened its economy while as Finance Minister, he presented a pathbreaking budget in 1997.

    In a profile of Khan written by Academy award-winning musician A R Rahman, the 48-year-old actor has been described as a “straightforward” man and a “man of his word” in a “world of false diplomacy and evasiveness.” Rahman said Khan’s movies are commercial successes but they also display a sense of social responsibility by tackling important themes like poverty and education. His TV show, ‘Satyamev Jayate’, is ‘part journalism and part talk show’ and confronted India’s deepest social ills, from sexual abuse to caste discrimination. ‘He uses his gifts as a charmer to give his audience the most bitter medicine. Hypnotised, we take it without complaint. That’s Aamir’s magic at work,’ Rahman said.Khan’s debut TV show was not intended to provide solutions but to ask hard questions that the society is often reluctant to address. ‘By showing the courage to ask those questions, Aamir has started a movement that will help change the world in which Indians live. Jai Ho,’ Rahman wrote. Also making it to the Time 100 list are US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.

    In her profile for Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said when he was first elected, the world saw the realisation of the American Dream. ‘Today, they see a leader who delivers – whether its ending the war in Iraq, imposing crippling sanctions on Iran or reasserting our role as a Pacific power and building a world with more partners and fewer enemies.’ Others on the list are, Indianorigin Attorney General of California Kamala Harris, Indian human rights lawyer Vrinda Grover, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Myanmar’s pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, US popstar Beyonce and Britain’s Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton.

    Activist Malala Yousafzai, 15, is the youngest to have made it to the list. Writing for Time, Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Hillary and former President Bill Clinton, wrote that the Taliban almost made Malala a martyr but they ‘succeeded in making her a symbol’. Yousafzai is now writing a memoir to raise awareness about the 61 million children around the world who are not in school. This ‘indicates she accepts that unasked-for responsibility as a synonym for courage and a champion for girls everywhere. However Malala concludes her book, her story so far is only just beginning,’ Clinton wrote.

  • Movie Review-Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns

    Movie Review-Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns

    Cast: Jimmy Sheirgill, Mahie Gill, Irrfan, Soha Ali Khan Direction: Tigmanshu Dhulia
    Genre: Drama Duration: 2 hours 25 minutes

    STORY: A royal saheb grapples with disability and betrayal, his estranged biwi dabbles with daaru and political demons. The gangster wages a war for pride and honour.

    MOVIE REVIEW
    Mind you, this is not regular gangsta film; with usual showcasing of arms, ammunition, bangs and blasts. Yes, it has explosives of another kind – ‘bangs’ (it’s a total ‘bed’-bangers ball, what gall); Weapons of Mass Seduction and politics of bistar and beyond. This sequel, a strange mix of foul games and passionplay, unfolds with a crippled Saheb (Jimmy) holding onto the last vestiges of his shrinking Kingly pomp and glory. His boisterous biwi, Madhavi devi (Mahie), mostly depressed and drunk, lives as Chhoti Rani in the same haveli, but the couple share nothing but extreme hate and contempt for each other.

    Biwi, is a ruling MLA who knows little about rajneeti but mixes it brazenly with saucy traits and seductive moves to stay on top. Enter, gangster Indrajeet Singh (Irrfan), with a mission to topple Saheb (to avenge his family’s lost royal honour), while his love-interest Ranjana (Soha), vulnerably falls prey to the political chess. Tigmanshu Dhulia has created an intriguing world with rajas fighting for their kingship; politicians watching porn, gangsters sleeping with the enemy, and women unapologetic about adultery in the ballroom and bedroom. The setting and story is vibrant, dramatic, dark and humourous at the same time.

    Once again, he scores with his characters – intelligently sketched, with dichotomous layers – dark, brooding, loving and lustful. The editing and the screenplay in the second half lose steam, and the item number (courtesy Mughda Godse) punctures the pace. The climax passively surrenders without the satiating feel of bittersweet revenge. Irrfan is absolutely terrific; he shows fury, passion, envy, pride with such utter conviction that you crave to see more of him onscreen. He’s undoubtedly one of the finest performers we can boast of.

    Jimmy is excellent as the poignant, wheel-chair bound saheb exuding power. Mahie Gill is volatile as the unfulfilled woman desiring more, though her drunken drawl often leaves us more dry than high. Soha plays her part with subtlety and sophistication. This may not be Tigmanshu’s best, but it’s a movie with more balls than most cinema can flaunt.

  • Indian Nurse Blames Australian RJs For Suicide

    Indian Nurse Blames Australian RJs For Suicide

    LONDON (TIP): The Indian-origin nurse, who committed suicide after a prank phone call to the hospital treating the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge, left a suicide note telling the two Russ behind the prank that they were responsible for her death. In one of the three notes, the 46- year-old Jacinta Saldanha expressed her deep anger at the Australian radio presenters and blamed them for her death, the Daily Mail reported Sunday, December 16. Saldanha was found hanging at her accommodation at the King Edward VII’s Hospital in London. The daily said one of the RJs telephoned the hospital again within an hour of the first call and spoke to Saldanha again, telling her they had played a prank which they were about to broadcast.

    The revelation is believed to have left Saldanha feeling confused and agitated. DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian have apologized for the tragic repercussions of their prank. They pretended to be Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles seeking information about the duchess’s condition. In another, onepage letter, Saldanha criticized the hospital staff, and particularly blamed two individuals. Although the hospital said no senior member of staff blamed Saldanha for falling victim to the prank, the daily said she may have been reprimanded by colleagues by email. A friend of the nurse’s family told the daily that Saldanha may have tried to commit suicide more than once in the 72 hours between the prank and the moment her body was discovered. The nurse may have attempted to slash her wrists before she died by hanging herself. “She may have tried to kill herself more than once – that’s why there are three notes,” the friend said. In her final letter, Saldanha is believed to have asked to be buried in her home village of Shirwa, near Mangalore, India.

  • Emma Stone crowned Best Dressed Woman of 2012

    Emma Stone crowned Best Dressed Woman of 2012

    Emma Stone has pipped Kristen Stewart and Tom Cruise’s daughter Suri, to be named as the best dressed woman of 2012 by InStyle magazine.

    Stone was closely followed by Diane Kruger, while Kristen Stewart took third place, the Daily Mail reported. Alexa Chung, Victoria Beckham, the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Moss and Florence Welch, all secured five of the top ten places.

    The youngest to make the list was six-year-old Suri, who came in at number 9. No stranger to best dressed lists, the budding fashionista tops the polls regularly in both child and adult categories

    Also making the list was Pixie Geldolf who came 23rd in the list. One-time chart topper Cheryl Cole took 42nd place while Emma Watson took 48th. Men making the list included, David Beckham, Andrew Garfield, Ryan Gosling, Robert Pattinson and Eddie Redmayne. “From Emma Stone to Frieda Pinto, Instyle’s top 50 best dressed women, men (and little girls) each have a very individual inspirational style,” Eilidh MacAskill, Editor of InStyle, said.

  • Kate crowned UK’s most beautiful

    Kate crowned UK’s most beautiful

    LONDON (TIP): The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton has been voted as the most naturally beautiful woman in Britain, beating Hollywood actresses Keira Knightley and Emma Watson. Kate, 30, came first in a ranking of stunning celebrities including Kelly Brook, Cheryl Cole and her own younger sister Pippa, a poll of 1,000 Brits found.

    The British royal won because of her English rose looks and glossy chestnut locks – usually blow-dried into big, bouncy curls – and well-groomed fuller eyebrows, a look copied by thousands of women. Recently, Kate’s pale grey dress by Beulah London with a draped head scarf had evoked memories of Princess Diana as she and Prince William made their first ever visit to a mosque in Malaysia.

    She was followed by ‘This Morning’ presenter Holly, 31 — who made headlines with a Twitter without make-up snaps earlier this year. Actress Keira Knightley was third, with model Kelly in fourth and Olympic champion Jessica Ennis in fifth. Kate’s sister Pippa managed the bottom spot in the top ten compiled by skincare company St Ives. ‘Celebrities without make-up is almost an alien concept in celeb land,’ Spokeswoman Leah Doherty said.

  • Gwyneth Paltrow named best dressed celeb

    Gwyneth Paltrow named best dressed celeb

    Actress Gwyneth Paltrow has been named the best dressed celebrity by People magazine. She tops the magazine’s list of “best dressed of 2012”. Earlier this year, Paltrow was crowned the ‘best dressed’ at the 2012 Oscars by fashion magazine Vogue after she attended the event in a white Tom Ford dress, reports digitalspy.co.uk. Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton is on number two on the list.

    People magazine’s Best Dressed of 2012

    • Gwyneth Paltrow – ‘The World Best Dressed Woman’
    • Kate Middleton – ‘The Classic Beauty’
    • Emma Stone – ‘The Red Carpet Ruler’
    • The Kardashian sisters – ‘Brunette Bombshells’
    • Miranda Kerr – ‘The Street Style Pro’
    • Reese Witherspoon – ‘The Hot Mama’
    • Rihanna – ‘The Risky Renegade’
    • Jessica Alba – ‘The Jean Queen’
    • Diane Kruger – ‘The High-Fashion Pro’
    • Jennifer Lawrence – ‘Best Rising Star’
  • Middle East: United States Strategic Chessboard in Disorder

    Middle East: United States Strategic Chessboard in Disorder

    By Dr Subhash Kapila

    Introductory Observations

    United States unipolar moment in the Middle East seems to have passed away and is being replaced by a power tussle between regional actors, erstwhile staunch military allies of the United States. Each one of these erstwhile US allies are embarked on striking independent trajectories or engaged in hedging strategies. Concurrently, they also seem to be pushing the United States into possible military interventions in the region.

    The United States strategic chessboard in the Middle East appears to be in disorder in 2013. More importantly, United States strategic formulations in the Middle East seem to be driven by Israel on Iran and by Saudi Arabia and Gulf Monarchies on Syria. On Iran, Saudi Arabia and Gulf States seem to be on the same page as Israel.

    Perceptionally, the United States seems to be no longer shaping strategic dynamics in the Middle East. Further, in the American security architecture in the Middle East, the traditional mainstays of US strategic formulations, namely, Egypt, Turkey, Israel and Saudi Arabia seem to have lost lustre and are no longer effective allies of the United States.

    The latest flashpoint to be added to a volatile explosive mix already existing is Syria in which local actors seem to be contriving situations and pushing the United States into a possible military intervention in Syria for a regime change. Nothing could be more ill-advised for US strategic decision-makers than to be goaded into a military misadventure by regional power-play.

    This Paper intends to examine the main theme under the following heads:

    • Egypt, Turkey. Israel and Saudi Arabia No Longer Furthering United States Strategic Interests in the Middle East
    • Syria: The United States on Path to Repeat Strategic Blunders of Iraq Military Intervention.
    • Iran: Congagement Not Conflict is Advisable Strategy for United States & Regional Contenders
    • United States: Inadvisable to Get Entangled in Islamic Sectarian Divisions in the Middle East
    • United States: The Way Ahead

    Egypt, Turkey, Israel and Saudi Arabia No Longer Furthering United States Strategic Interests in the Middle East

    Egypt which after Israel was the second-most beneficiary of US military and economic aid and a staunch ally of the United States can no longer be said to be so. The Arab Spring has brought about a regime change and the advent of trajectories independent of the United States. The new Egyptian President to drive home this point will be visiting Iran and China before he visits the United Sates. In terms of internal political dynamics, the Muslim Brotherhood not much favored by US partners in the Middle East seems to be establishing sway.

    Turkey though continuing as United States NATO Alliance partner has for a couple of years now been striking independent trajectories in carving a regional power niche for itself. However this drive is confronting complex challenges for it in Middle East power-play. As a moderate Islamic democratic and Western-oriented secular nation it now seems to be strategically in company of conservative Islamic nations like Saudi Arabia.

    Israel secure in the belief that the United States has no choice but to stand by its side for its security and stability has been driving a one-pint agenda of military strikes against Iran on the nuclear issue. This limits United States newer initiatives for strategic transformation of the Middle East power play more realistically in terms of strategic realities obtaining.

    Saudi Arabia cannot capitalize its geostrategic and geopolitical leverages on its own because of its significant limitations in terms of manpower base and Wahhabi Islam. Strategic greatness on it is a bestowal by the United States. In terms of its leadership of the Islamic Ummah, one needs to remember the yawning Sunni-Shia divide in the overall Islamic Middle East. Saudi Arabia can no longer be counted as a US strategic asset because of its hedging strategies in moving closer to Russia and China.

    In brief, the United States traditional military allies in the Middle East on whom the United States had invested exorbitant political and military capital have all ceased to be loyal foot- soldiers of US strategy in the Middle East.

    Syria: The United States on Path to Repeat Strategic Blunders of Iraq Military Intervention

    Syria is primarily being targeted by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States primarily to downsize Iran because Syria is strategically close to Iran. Also because in the perceptions of the countries named, Syria along with Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon could be establishing a ‘Shia crescent’ in the northern tier of the Middle East which could upset the balance of power being contrived by Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

    Saudi Arabia and Turkey more notably are all seemed to be engaged in pushing the United States towards a regime change in Syria for power-play reasons of their own. The United States so prodded has restrained itself from direct military intervention against Damascus but has not restrained itself from letting Saudi Arabia and Turkey funnel in sizeable quantities of advanced weaponry to the Free Syria rebel militia operating from Southern Turkey.
    Reminiscent of the run-up to United States military intervention in Iraq, the so-called US allies in the Middle East are calling for the imposition of ‘safety zones’ and ‘no-fly zones in Syria.

    In other words a civil-war seems to have been contrived forgetting the dangerous consequences of such an ill-advised step. Within the United States sane voices are sounding caution against such moves as would be evident from the excerpts from a recent piece in Foreign Policy Journal by Kenneth Pollack: “Civil wars like Syria are obvious tragedies for the countries they consume but can also be catastrophic for their neighbors. Long-lasting and bloody civil wars often overflow their borders, spreading war and misery”.

    Are Syria’s neighbors in the forefront to nudge the United States towards a military intervention in a contrived civil war in Syria listening?

    Further, in relation to the United States, the same piece opines that: “For the United States, these developments are particularly important because spill-over from the civil war could threaten America’s vital interests far more than a war contained within Syrian borders.”

    The United Sates would be ill advised to proceed with any direct military intervention in Syria or even indirectly by using its Middle East proxies.

    United States misplaced strategic aim of regime change in Iraq strategically distracted the United States from Asia Pacific for a decade facilitating China to come dangerously close to perceptionally downsize United States strategic stature in Asia Pacific. United States own losses in terms of loss of valuable military lives and bringing yawning deficits in the budget are well-known.

    While Saudi Arabia and Turkey may presently be engaged as US proxies against Syria, the ensuing dangers to the United States are multiple. It is easy to start a fire but difficult to put out the ensuing brush-fire. The United States would be unwillingly drawn into a military intervention in Syria to salvage and bail out its proxies when the going gets tough for them

    Secondly, what is the guarantee for the United States that once President Assad’s regime is toppled that peace and stability would automatically follow?

    Also, would the United States be prepared to handle the spill-over military effects from civil wars breaking out in Lebanon or an insurrection in Turkey by the Kurds? Can Saudi Arabia insulate itself against Arab Spring movements breaking out in its kingdom and in Bahrain where it snuffed out a regime change demand by the majority Shias in Bahrain?

    Iran: Congagement Not Conflict is Advisable Strategy for the United States & Regional Contenders

    United States and Iran have been in a conflictual mode for more than three decades now. The conflict between the two countries is marked by a singular distinctive feature and that is that the United States has despite its global military predominance and a multi-dimensional military superiority in the Middle East has not been able to be subdue Iran.

    Congagement is a strategic and political construct coined by United States policy establishment in relation to the strategy of dealing with a menacing China. It envisaged a mixture of containment and engagement strategy to handle China.

    There is no reason as to why the United States cannot employ the same congagement strategic approach towards Iran, to its consequent strategic benefits for the United States.

    The major problem inhibiting the United States in adopting congagement strategy towards Iran lies in the unremitting hostility towards Iran of Israel and Saudi Arabia. Lately, Turkey can also be said to be added to this list.

    Even if Iran submitted to US demands on rolling back its nuclear program, then too Saudi Arabia, Israel and Turkey would still continue to be hostile to Iran. New excuses and reasons would be invented by them to goad the United States into an avoidable armed conflict with Iran.

    Iran is the most dominant regional power in the Gulf Region and in coalition with Styria and its closely allied Lebanese armed militias extends its strategic influence from The Gulf to the Eastern Mediterranean. Strategically, both Saudi Arabia and Turkey perceive Iran and its allies as military threats.

    The United States needs to arrive at a bi-partisan political and strategic decision whether US long range strategic interests in the Middle East will be served by an unremitting hostility and conflict with Iran as the most dominant regional power or whether it would be more strategically advantageous for United States to accord strategic space to Iran within the overall strategic calculus of the Middle East, however distasteful it may be for US erstwhile military allies.

    United States: Inadvisable to Get Involved in Islamic Sectarian Divisions in the Middle East

    Deeply embedded within the regional power rivalries operating in the Middle East besides geopolitical and geostrategic factors is the Sunni-Shia Muslims divide within the Islamic World. There is also the Arab Muslims and the Non-Arab Muslims divide.

    Deeply disturbing in the present civil war in Syria fanned by external actors, are media reports indicating that Saudi Arabia has in some way or the other allowed the Al Qaeda to get involved against the Syrian established regime. Do religious sectarian rivalries or regional power struggles justify use of groups like the Al Qaeda as cats- paw to achieve Saudi Arabia strategic and political objectives?

    Jim Hoagland observations this month in The Washington Pot deserve attention:

    “The Sunnis of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations are putting all their chips in an effort to bring down Bashar-al Assad’s regime in Damascus and inflict a strategic defeat on Assad’s Shiite allies in Teheran.”

    “An Iranian decision to escalate to save Assad, perhaps by retaliating against the Gulf Arabs, would push the borders back on the Obama Administration-in the middle of a heated presidential campaign—-to define and protect US regional interests more clearly and decisively.”

    The greater call is on the United States having been a victim of the heinous terrorists attacks by Al Qaeda suicide bombers in the 9/11 attacks in Homeland USA to restrain Saudi Arabia from using terrorism tools in the on-going civil war in Syria.

    The United States needs to learn from its Afghanistan experience, twice over in the 1980s and in 2000s and also in Iraq not to get involved in the sectarian divides within the Islamic World. The Sunni Muslim-Shia Muslim conflict within the Islamic World has gone on for centuries and the United States is hardly in a position to change that reality.

    More importantly, the United States strategic fulcrum in the Middle East has shifted to The Gulf Region. In The Gulf Region the United States must realize that sitting at the head of the Gulf is Iraq and sitting astride the entire Eastern littoral of the Gulf is Iran. Both are Shia Muslim majority nations sitting on huge reserves of oil. On the Western littoral of the Gulf are Saudi Arabia and the Gulf monarchies—–with Sunni monarchs ruling ruthlessly over the restive Shia Muslim majorities in their kingdoms.

    In such an explosive mix, strategic logic would dictate that the United States in its policy formulations adopts a more detached posture on the sectarian divisions within the Islamic World

    United States: The Way Ahead

    United States-Iran rapprochement for an effective embedment in the Middle East as an inescapable strategic imperative for the United States was being advocated in my Papers in the middle of the last decade. It was argued that if the United States could normalize relations with China which had fought a major war with USA, why America could not normalize relations with Iran which till 1979 had been a much vaunted ally of the United States. This however has stood thwarted all along under intense pressures from vested interests amongst US allies in the Middle East.

    Reading George Friedman’s recent book “The Next Decade” one felt gratified that similar suggestions from a reputed US strategic analyst now advocate the same approach. The excerpts of significance are as follows:

    ” “In the next decade, the most desirable option with Iran is going to be through a move that now seems inconceivable. It is the option chosen by Roosevelt and Nixon when they faced seemingly impossible strategic situations: the creation of alliances with countries that had been previously been regarded as strategic and moral threats.”

    ” “The alternative was a German victory in World War II. For Nixon, it was the Soviets using American weakness caused by the Vietnam War to change the global balance of power.”

    ” “Conditions on the ground put the United States in a similar position vis-à-vis Iran. These countries despise each other. Neither can easily destroy the other, truth be told, they have some interests in common. In simple terms, the American President, in order to achieve his strategic goals (In the Middle Eat) must seek accommodation with Iran,”

    ” “There will be several advantages to the United States. First, without fundamentally threatening Israeli interests, the move will demonstrate that the United States is not controlled by Israel. Second, it will put a generally unpopular country, Saudi Arabia—–a state that has accustomed to having its way in Washington—-on notice that the United States has other options. For their part, the Saudis have nowhere to go, and they will cling to whatever guarantees the United States provides them in the face of an American-Iranian entente.”

    While on the subject of the way ahead for the United States, one cannot forget the roles of Russia and China. Russia and China are the strong supporters of Iran and Syria. What would be their reactions and options to a US-Iran rapprochement?

    Then is the question of reactions of Turkey aspiring to emerge as the pre-eminent power in the Middle East? To what extent the United States would countenance an independent strategic stance in the Middle East, unmindful of US strategic sensitivities?

    Once again, one would fall back on Friedman’s prognosis and this time it is intriguing: “As a solution to the complex problems of the Middle East, the American President must choose a temporary understanding with Iran that gives Iran what it wants, it gives the United States room to withdraw, and that is also a foundation for the relationship of mutual hostility to the Sunni fundamentalists. In other words, the President must put the Arabian Peninsula inside the Iranian sphere of influence while limiting direct controls, and while putting the Saudis, among others, at an enormous disadvantage.”

    Concluding Observations

    United States global predominance in terms of power stand finely balanced in terms of equilibrium at two ends of the strategic balance, namely the Middle East and the Asia Pacific.

    While the United States has made a strategic pivot to the Asia Pacific, the United States strategic chessboard in the Middle East seems to be in disorder. This basically arises from change of policy stances of United States former staunch allies in the Middle East.

    The logical argument that so surfaces is that when US erstwhile allies in the region have adopted hedging strategies, is there any pressing imperative for the United States not to redefine its strategic calculations in the Middle East?
    The United States needs to go in for dramatic moves in the Middle East, the chief of which would be to arrive at a rapprochement with Iran, temporary or long-standing.

    In terms of balance-of-power strategies preferred by the United States, future perspectives would suggest that the United States biggest challenge would be to maintain a balance-of-power between Iran and Turkey.
    Nothing is inconceivable in international relations and power-play. Who knows that at some point in the future, the United States may be tempted to use Iran to check-mate a rising and powerful Turkey?

    (The author is an International Relations and Strategic Affairs analyst. He is Consultant, Strategic Affairs with South Asia Analysis Group.
    He can be reached at drsubhashkapila.007@gmail.com)

  • Jury Exonerates Shaver Maker in Fire, Death of Ishan Bose-Pyne

    Jury Exonerates Shaver Maker in Fire, Death of Ishan Bose-Pyne

    Ishan Bose-Pyne, 16, died Sept. 13, 2010, from burn injuries suffered 11 days earlier after shaving with an electric shaver made by the Wahl Clipper Corp. (Photo courtesy of the Bose-Pyne family)

    LOS ANGELES, CA (TIP): A civil jury here has absolved the manufacturer of an electric shaver and mustache trimmer of responsibility for the Sept. 2, 2010, flash fire that engulfed a promising 16-year-old Indian American high school student and led to his death 11 days later from third-degree burns.

    In a unanimous decision at the Edward R. Roybal federal building Aug. 31, the jury found Wahl Clipper Corp. “not guilty” of negligence in the accidental death of Ishan Bose-Pyne, then a student at Harvard-Westlake high school in Studio City, CA.

    The civil complaint was filed by the boy’s father and mother, Bedabrata Pain and Shonali Bose, of Los Angeles.
    Pain, a former senior research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is a film director who was shooting the soon-to-be released 2012 film “Chittagong” in northern Bengal at the time of the accident.

    Bose, the director of the film, “Amu,” told media that she had recently returned home to Los Angeles from India with Ishan and her younger son, Vivan.

    Jetlagged from the trip on the evening Sept. 2, 2010, she awoke suddenly to the sound of her two sons screaming at “the top of their lungs,” she told India-West in an exclusive interview.

    According to the lawsuit, Vivan had opened the older brother’s bathroom door and saw Ishan “engulfed in flames,” right after he had “heard a distinct electric buzzing noise immediately followed by a scream.”

    The older boy had been shaving with a Groomsman Beard and Mustache Trimmer manufactured by Wahl Clipper Corp. The complaint, filed in 2011, alleges the product was defective.

    “I ran down the stairs and saw Ishan on fire, running and screaming with Vivan behind him,” Bose said, adding that she desperately tried to put out the flames.

    Ishan ran out the front door, down the driveway and jumped into the family’s swimming pool. By that time his clothing had been burnt off his body and he was suffering from third-degree burns.

    After being transported to the Cedars-Sinai Hospital in West Hollywood, and later to the Southern California Regional Burn Center at the USC Medical Center, where he received two skin graft surgeries, Ishan died Sept. 13.
    “By the time I came to the United States, he was in the burn unit,” Pain told India-West. “Because he had 65 percent third-degree burns, there was no skin left on his body. No skin on his upper torso, his back, arms, and part of his neck and some parts of his leg.”

    Ishan was under heavy painkillers in the burn center and largely unable to communicate. The Wahl clipper used by Ishan had been purchased by his grandfather as a present for his 16th birthday, Pain said.

    Bose told India-West that her older son told her right after the fire that he had been shaving when there was a buzzing sound, a flash and then a fire. A paramedic confirmed Ishan gave a similar story in response to a question as to what happened.

    Fire investigators reported that there were four broken teeth on the six-month old shaver and that there were visible signs of melting on the handle.

    Attorney Arnold P. Peter, arguing the complaint by the Bose-Pyne family, cited scientific experts who hypothesized that “one of the blades of the trimmer broke off and created friction and interference that caused a mechanical spark” that started the fire. The blades also showed signs of roughness and scraping, according to experts.

    Peter said “the LA County fire investigators looked at the shaver” and “eliminated all other sources of fire.”
    Wahl Corp. has recalled at least nine products between 2003 and 2011, the complaint said, and the company had identified one of the recalled products, a hairdryer, as having the potential to result in “overheating or fire.”
    The defense team, led by attorney Warren L. Gilbert, argued that the shaver was “misused or modified” after its manufacture. He also claimed, “Other than (this) allegation, there has never been a lawsuit that anybody blamed a Wahl trimmer that caused a spark.”

    Ishan, Gilbert alleged, wanted to do an experiment with Axe body spray, which he intended to show on the Internet.
    “Wahl’s lawyers tried every dirty trick in the book,” IBNLive quoted Pain as saying. “They said Ishan was making YouTube videos of starting fires, that he was not responsible. They even suggested that now that Ishan was no longer there, we were financially better off as we did not have to pay for his tuition and upkeep.”

    “But the jury blasted them for this attempt at character assassination. So we are happy that the verdict, though not in our favor, exonerates Ishan. His name is cleared.”

    “We had eliminated every other cause of ignition in the bathroom, Pain told IBNLive. “Logic would say that the clipper was the only source of ignition. No plugs were unplugged. Nobody in the house smokes. So there were no lighters or matches at home either.”

    “We showed the clipper with the teeth missing and interference marks typically found when two pieces of metals strike against one another. We pointed out the serious design flaws. However, the jury did not find it enough,” Pain said.
    Gilbert in his closing arguments before U.S. District Court Judge Margaret M. Morrow asked the jury not to hold anything against his client regarding earlier statements he made in the trial.

    “What happened to Ishan is a tragedy. Kids aren’t supposed to die before you. If I did or said something disrespectful, don’t hold it against my client,” the attorney said.

    He also asked the jury to consider in their deliberations why the younger son didn’t testify during the trial.
    Asked why Vivan didn’t testify, Pain said that he and his wife “did not want to expose him to these gory details again. I don’t want him to relive that again. It’s both a fight for justice as well as protection of my sons,” he said.

    Family and friends described Ishan Bose-Pyne as “comfortable in his own skin,” an avid chess player, a good student, piano player and someone with an “infectious” smile.

    His father said the teenager had dreams to pursue a career in the physical sciences, because he was enthralled by the great mysteries of the world.

    “Anytime he heard injustice, that really rankled him. And that’s actually one of the reasons we are fighting this case because injustice is something that bothered him so much,” Pain said.

    When the filmmaker was shooting in remote areas of Bengal, he would Skype regularly with his son. They liked to discuss history, politics and philosophy.

    “Ishan was brilliant, funny and with a heart of gold – a boy who was there for everybody whenever they needed him,” Pain said.

    He added that he sent a letter to Wahl Corp. in 2010, asking them to conduct an investigation about the shaver, and when they didn’t respond, he and his wife initiated the lawsuit.

    “Justice would be to hold them accountable for their failure and that they make sure that they make products that do not suffer from these sorts of design defects,” Pain said. “People need to know that corporations cannot get away with putting unsafe products out in the market,” he said before the verdict was announced.

    Courtesy: India West