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New Delhi: Nearly a decade afterit denied him a visa and blacklisted him, the US is practically prepar-ing to roll out the red carpet for Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is set to hold a summit meet-ing with President Barack Obama in Washington in September-end this year.
According to official sources, Modi has expressed his keenness to give a push to the flagging Indo-US ties and has accepted Obama’s invite to visit Washington.
After the swearing-in of Modi, who led the BJP to a spectacular victory in the general election,
Obama in a message vowed to work closely together with the new Indian prime minister “for years to come”. Obama was quick to acknowledge Modi’s “resounding” victory in the election and extend-ed an invitation to him to visit Washington, DC – effectively end-ing the visa ban on him.
Obama is believed to be keen to patch up the damage to Indo-US ties as fast as possible. His meeting with Modi will be the second with-in the span of a year with an Indian prime minister. He had met Manmohan Singh in September
Modi-Obama
summit in
Sept. to reset
India-US ties
PM Narendra Modi has accepted President
Obama’s invitation to visit Washington in Sept.
Continued on page 4
Washington, DC: With their wins
or second place finishes in California's "jungle" primaries, four Indian-Americans — Neel Kashkari, Ro Khanna, Ami Bera and Kamala Harris - are set to compete in four key election races in November.
In California's open or "jungle" primaries, top two finishers
advance to the general elections irrespective of their party affilia-tion.
Kashkari, 48, a former Bush administration official, overcame rival Republican Tim Donnelly in the governor's race late Tuesday night. Kashkari, who ran the $700 million bailout program after the 2007-2008 financial crisis, will
find it tough to beat Democratic Governor Jerry Brown, who led with 55 percent of the vote. Brown is California's longest-serving gov-ernor, having served three terms.
In California's 17th District, known as Silicon Valley, which is the only Asian American-majority district in the US, Democrat Ro
Four Indian-Americans advance to key Nov election races
By Parveen ChopraNew York: The South Asian
Times, the leading newspaper serving the South Asian popula-tion in the USA, bagged an award for "Best Investigative / In Depth Story" at the Ippies Awards 2014 held Thursday at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism in New York. Jinal Shah (Associate Editor), won the third place in the most competitive and prestigious category for her article -‘Languishing in the golden cage’. The three-page report, published last November, brings to light the plight of H4 visa holders – indi-viduals who come on H1B1 dependent visa, mostly women, highly qualified and experienced. The article talks about their mis-eries – that ranges from being totally dependent to being subject-ed to domestic violence - while trapped in a golden cage. It also
highlights the efforts both from the community as well as legal sources to bring to table the less controversial piece of the immi-gration reform bill.
Organized by the Center for Community and Ethnic Media
(CCEM) at the CUNY Journalism School, Ippies are the only awards that pay tribute to excellence in journalism in the ethnic and com-munity press in the New York City area. According to CCEM
The South Asian Times wins top journalism award
(from left) Kamlesh Mehta (Publisher, The South Asian Times), Jinal Shah (Awardee), Jehangir Khattak (of CUNY) and Parveen Chopra (Managing Editor) at the Ippies Awards ceremony.
Neal Kashkari will take on incumbent Jerry Brown for California
Governor in Nov.
California Attorney General Kamala Harris has easily outpolled her
competitors
Rep. Ami Bera won 49 percent of the vote in
the primary
Ro Khanna received only 27% vote to Mike
Honda’s 49% in California’s 17th district
Continued on page 4
June 7-13, 2014
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June 7-13, 2014
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TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Washington, DC: Even as BJP won a land-slide in the general election in India, Hindu American Political Action Committee (HA-PAC) based here publicly endorsed a slate of candidates for US House of Representatives in the primaries that took place on June 3.
Leading the list of candidates winning sup-port from the HAPAC is Democratic Con-gresswoman Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii, a self-professed Hindu, who, HAPAC said, "has consistently stood by the Hindu-Ameri-can community on every major domestic and international issue."
"She has not shied away from her Hindu faith and identity, has attending many events in the Hindu-American community, has met Hindu leaders outside the US and India to share thoughts about problems worldwide, and has inspired many Hindu Americans to be proud of their identity," the committee said, in broadly defining the litmus test for their support.
Also winning HAPAC endorsement are California Republican Ed Royce, chairman of the house foreign relations committee and co-chair of the India caucus, and Democrats Brad Sherman, Joe Crowley, Eric Swalwell,
and the lone Indian-American lawmaker Ami Bera, who is not a Hindu.
Royce and Sherman were recognized for opposition to house Resolution 417 that was seen as anti-pluralist and anti-India while masquerading as one that upholds India's di-versity. Crowley and Swalwell were praised for helping push the FBI into tracking anti-Hindu hate crimes.
HAPAC also endorsed Indian-American Democratic candidates Manan Trivedi and Swati Dandekar, fighting primaries in Penn-sylvania and Iowa respectively. Swati polled 18%, losing to Pat Murphy who got 37 % vote.
HAPAC activists acknowledged that this is the first election cycle they have been active in although the community has been con-tributing to (and thus endorsing) candidates since the fall of 2013.
"With a number of primary elections com-ing up on June 3 in different states, we felt it would be a good idea to collate all of those endorsements together for voters heading to the polls," chairman of the HAPAC board Rishi Bhutada told The Times of India.
While HAPAC is nowhere near as powerful
as the famed American Israeli Political Ac-tion Committee, which US politicians of
every hue try to court, Hindu Americans say theirs is a modest beginning.
New York: In another instance of Bollywood meeting Hollywood, a South Asian dance group
will perform live on ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ popular show on Fox 5 on June 11 at 8pm. It would also showcase India’s vibrant heritage and culture to the main-stream audience, the Wanted Ashiqz team said, adding ina press release. “Our main goal has always been to give our audience a great entertain-ment experience and we can't wait to show America a side of Bollywood they have never seen before.”
Even as they audition for the show, the only way to vote for them
afterwards is through Twitter, they informed. The double episode on June 13 will be introduced by Justin Bieber.
Wanted Ashiqz have stood out in numerous dance competitions. In 2011, they went on to become the first ever Bollywood team to not only compete, but to also win 2nd place at the World of Dance, a renowned Hip-hop competition. They also became the first Bollywood dance team to win the grand prize at the Kollaboration NY 2011. Recently, they won 1st place 3 consecutive times, at Prelude New England 2014, a prominent Hip-Hop competition.
South Asian group to perform on
popular Fox 5 dance show
New York based Wanted Ashiqz will perfrom live on ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ Tulsi Gabbard: A shoo-in from Hawaii
Swati Dandekar: Lost in Iowa
By Jinal Shah
New York: The Gujarati Samaj of New York on Wednesday announced a 3-day festival showcasing Gujarat’s rich culture, heritage, and its phenomenal growth in recent years to mark the organization’s 40th anniversary. It will be held at St Anthony's Conference Center in Melville, NY. Incidentally, Narendra Modi, credited for being the architect of modern state of Gujarat, has just led his party to a landmark victory in Indian elections.
The Gujarati festival and its website were kicked off at the Indian Consulate in the presence of Consul General Dnyaneshwar Mulay and prominent members of the Gujarati community. Praising Gujarat and Gujaratis for their business acumen and achievements both in India and in the US, Amb. Mulay said, “Gujarat is not only known for its culture and Narendra Modi but also its business minded people.” He urged the commu-nity to showcase the vibrant Gujarat to the second gen-eration Gujaratis as well as mainstream America, and added. “Make political representatives accountable, ask them questions on immigration laws, especially H1B1 visas, what they are doing for Indian Americans.” The Cultural Festival of Gujarat (CFG) on August 8-10 will include Garbo, Bhavai, Dayro, fashion show, comedy shows, art auction, award ceremony and also classic Gujarati movies and authentic Gujarati delicacies. “I urge all Indian community members to join us and the business community to support and make it a grand suc-cess,” said Harshad Patel, president of Gujarati Samaj. The festival will hold seminars in Hindi-- for women living in the US, on business, political awareness and also on immigration. Although it is a ticketed event
($50), organizers are working on discounts for senior citizens along with buses from New Jersey and Long Island. “Attraction for second generation Gujaratis include: a raffle with giveaways such as BMW car, Rolex watch, and gold coins; matrimony and rass garba,” said R.D. Patel, chairman of board of trustees.
With speculations rife over Modi’s US visit in September, Dr Navin Mehta, one of the trustees of Gujarati Samaj, announced a grand welcome for India’s new prime minister: “Nine years ago, US officials denied Modi a visa to travel to New York to address Indian-Americans in Madison Square Garden. If he comes in September, we will organ-ize a huge program at the Giants Stadium in New Jersey to felicitate him.”
Grand welcome planned for Modi
(From left) Bharti Desai, Ambassador Mulay, R.D. Patel, and Harshad Patel, president of Gujarati Samaj of New York. (Photo courtesy:
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New Delhi: In a show of solidari-ty with victims of sexual assaults in India, students of Indian origin graduating from Ivy League uni-versities in the US wore a red tape on their graduation caps dur-ing convocation ceremonies this week. Later, several students from Columbia, Harvard and Brown universities participated in a peaceful protest against the rise in sexual violence in India, espe-cially in Uttar Pradesh.
“Respect for a women’s dignity is respect for humanity. And that respect starts at home, spreads through communities, extends across university campuses to nations around the world. An assault on one woman is an attack on the entire human race,” Arnab De who completed his PhD from the Columbia University Medical Centre and also served as the stu-dent representative of the Public Safety Committee at Columbia,
said over phone from Washington.
“There is nothing anyone can do to bring the bravest Nirbhaya (Dec 16, 2012, New Delhi rape victim) back. But if I can invoke her memory to educate people, I would be very proud. In this regard, I am glad that the Nirbhaya trust was recently launched to help victims,” he added.
Social media Buzzfeed quoted a spokesperson for Columbia University as stating that it was “a hallmark of Columbia’s values to support and encourage the rights of students to express their views through such peaceful, symbolic speech”.
The event was conceived by Indian-American Rakhi Agrawal, a student at Columbia. She asked graduating students to put red tape on their graduation hats to show solidarity for such victims.
“As a student of this great uni-versity, I felt it was my responsi-bility to stand up for the basic rights of others. I am happy that our efforts have multiplied and graduates from other Ivy League universities like Harvard University and Brown University wore red tapes during their grad-uation convocation too,” Rakhi, who is originally from New Delhi, said in an e-mail.
Washington, DC: As two young-sters of Indian descent spelled his-tory by jointly winning the covet-ed Scripps National Spelling Bee for a record seventh year in a row, they also stirred storm of racially charged comments in the US.
The fact that Sriram Hathwar and Ansun Sujoe last week night kept up the victory run of Indian-Americans that began in 1999 pro-ducing a dozen champions in the last 16 years, proved too much for some. Sujoe, 13, a 7th grader from Fort Worth, Texas and Sriram, 14, the lone repeat finalist of Painted Post, New York were declared co-winners after a grueling duel in the final of a contest that attracted 281 spellers from eight countries. It was “for the first time in more
than 50 years, two young word-smiths were declared co-champi-ons” as the Washington Post noted. “However, some on social media seemed more preoccupied with their heritage than their way with words.”
Among the tweets cited by the Post were: “Where are our American kids?”
And: “Nothing more American than a good spelling bee... Oh wait all the Caucasians are eliminated – Cale Pieczynski (@CalePie).”
The Post also cited other com-ments on social media arguing “race has nothing do with where these spellers were born.”
“wow that blows the spelling bee ends with a tie thats so friggin un-American no wonder the kids
that won it are Indian,” tweeted Chris Uhl Jr from Massachusetts.
Journalist Jeff Chu collected the tweets and commented; “Why did the tweets hit me hard? I was a bee kid-’91, lost on “rimur.” And I want those kids never to be asked, “Where are you really from?”
Another commentator Ezra Klein tweeted “Turns out spelling bees bring out a lot of racists: http://bit.ly/1kPI0n3.” “….so according to these geniuses, only Caucasians are “American” when it comes to the spelling bee?” responded Nicole Forbes from Austin, Texas. “Just because the face on the screen isn’t white, it doesn’t make the #spellingbee finalists any less American, com-mented Rebecca Hong.
Modi-Obama summit to reset ... Continued from page 1
last year during the former prime min-ister’s visit to Washington en route to the UN General Assembly.
The proposed June 8 visit of US Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Desai Biswal, the Obama administra-tion’s point person for South and Central Asia, to New Delhi is an indi-cation of the urgency with which the US is keen to mend ties with the Modi government. Modi, whose move to reach out to South Asian neighbors during his swearing-in has been laud-ed, gave an indication of his foreign policy thoughts in interviews before coming to power. He had said that individual incidents should not be allowed to cloud bilateral relations – an apparent reference to the visa ban on him by the US. Bilateral ties, which had seen a cooling off during the latter years of UPA-II, suffered a setback with the handcuffing and strip search of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade last year for alleged visa fraud and underpaying her nanny.
The policy paralysis of the previous UPA government is seen to have crept into its bilateral ties as well, with little headway on many ticklish issues.
The US is keen to get started with implementation of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, which is stuck over India’s civil nuclear liability laws. The US is also keen to increase its defense ties with India, a major market, and also keen to push trade with India from the current around $100 billion annual-ly to $500 billion by 2015.
The South Asian Times wins top... Continued from page 1
census of New York City’s ethnic and community media, there are 270 publi-cations that serve the immigrant and minority populations, published in 36 languages.
Former CBS Correspondent Randall Pinkston, now with Al Jazeera America, emceed the ceremony and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist turned filmmaker and immigration activist Jose Antonio Vargas delivered keynote
address. Vargas is the founder of "Define American", a non-profit organ-ization intended to open up dialogue about the criteria people use to deter-mine who is an American.
The Ippies competition attracted 158 entries this year across 10 categories from 46 community and ethnic news organizations.
The citations were given away by Jehangir Khattak, Communications Director, CCEM.
Four Indian-Americans advance... Continued from page 1
Khanna will take on fellow Democrat Mike Honda, who has been a member of the House since 2001. Honda led with 49 percent, followed by Khanna, a former Obama administration offi-cial, at 27 percent. Both Republican candidates, Indian American Vanila Singh and Joel Vanlandingham, failed to make the general in this race.
Khanna entered the race more than a year ago and grabbed national atten-tion with a team of former Obama campaign staffers and endorsements from big Silicon Valley tech CEOs and a series of big fundraising hauls.
The lone Indian-American House member Democratic Ami Bera will face Republican Doug Ose in California's 7th District in November. Bera won 49 percent of the vote, and Ose won 26 percent, with 54 percent of precincts reporting in the Sacramento-area battleground district, according to Politico. Bera defeated Republican House member Dan Lungren for the seat by three points in 2012, while President Barack Obama carried the district by four points.
California's first female Indian-American and African-Indian-American Attorney General Kamala Harris, who is widely expected to seek higher office in coming years, easily out-polled her competitors.
Harris, a Democrat, had 54 percent of the votes in early returns. She faced four Republicans, each of whom received less than 14 percent in early returns. Whoever among the four fin-ishes second will face Harris.
Indian students in US condemn assaults on women back home
Spelling Bee wins draw racially charged comments
The spurt of sexual violence in India, especially in Uttar
Pradesh, is spurring the protests.
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June 7-13, 2014
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
By Jinal Shah
New York: Breaking the proverbial glass ceil-ing and tearceil-ing down the stereotypes, Nina Davuluri made history when she became the first Indian American to be crowned Miss America last year. Following her footsteps now is the 19 year old Indian American – Emily Shah who is set to compete with 49 other mod-els at the Miss USA title on June 8 in Louisiana. If Shah is crowned Miss USA, she will not only become the youngest and first New Jersey title-holder to wear the US national crown but also be the first Indian American representing Amer-ica on an international platform- Miss Universe. Shah was the first Indian American to wear the tiara atop her perfectly coiffed hair in the miss USA pageant, the same year Davuluri won the Miss America ti-tle. Although both the pageants give out titles, tiaras and scholarships, the Miss America and Miss USA pageants are completely different. While the former, much older (began in 1921) is most-ly known for its
scholarships the latter, relatively new (began in 1952), not only gets a scholarship but also a shot at Miss Universe and some other perks, like one year of free rent in Trump Tower on 5th Avenue in New York.
Following vicious cyber-attacks questioning Davuluri’s ‘American-ness’ all eyes are on Shah to win the national title. Many Indian Americans are pinning their hopes on Shah to see her on an international level representing America, its diversity in true sense. So who is Emily Shah? Originally from Rajkot, Gujarat, her great grandfather was an advisor to Mahat-ma Gandhi. Emily’s resume goes considerably deeper than even her heritage. A native of Edi-son, New Jersey, Shah has shuffled between In-dia and America and dabbled in cinema, having acted in both Bollywood and Hollywood films. She featured in Hollywood movies like 'The Great New Wonderful' with Naseerudin Shah and Bollywood films such as 'Out of Control' alongside Riteish Deshmukh, 'Ta Ra Rum Pum', 'Jaaneman' among others. Shah plans to work as an action actor and to learn that she chose to as-sist stunt director in movies like Captain Amer-ica, Fast and Furious 7 and even assisted Clint Eastwood in Jersey Boys. Her passion for act-ing stems out of the fact that her father, Prashant Shah, who emigrated from India years ago is a producer and distributor in Los Angeles and has been associated with several Bollywood pro-duction houses such as with Karan Johar's, Rakesh Roshan and Shahrukh Khan, in various capacities. Emily is not only proud to be from Edison but extremely proud of her Indian back-ground. “Wow I will be the first Gujarati on the Miss USA stage,” She said via Twitter.
Drug case against
Vikram Chatwal
dismissed after rehab
New York: A felonydrug-trafficking charge against hotelier Vikram Chatwal, 43, was dismissed by a Florida judge because of the intensive year-long re-habilitation the Indian-American businessman un-derwent.Chatwal, son of hotelier Sant Singh Chatw-al, could have faced 20 years in prison for being caught with drugs like co-caine and heroin on his
per-son at Fort Lauderdale airport in Florida last year. Chat-wal posted bail and came back to New York to undergo a vigorously scrutinized drug treatment program.
The 17th Circuit Court of Broward County, FL, “to-tally dismissed” the case recently, the New York Post reported. The founder of Dream Hotel in New York, completed a rigorous drug-rehabilitation program which included substance abuse counseling and drug testing, the Post quoted Chatwal’s attorney Mark Heller saying. “Vikram earnestly strove, this past year, to ad-dress addiction issues, and thankfully the Broward County judicial system recognize that Vikram’s arrest was not the product of criminal conduct, but rather the unfortunate medical by-product of substance depend-ency,” Heller is quoted saying.
New York: The Devyani Khobragade case came up for a discussion at Harvard Law School with India-born US prosecutor Preet Bharara telling the graduating class that the "intense" criticism and accusation hurled at him for charging the Indian diplomat with visa fraud had upset him.
Bharara was invited to address stu-dents and faculty at the prestigious law school on its 2014 Class Day cer-emony last week.
The top US attorney in Manhattan spoke about the criticism he faces from all quarters as well as from vari-ous governments because of his work.
He added that he has even "been banned from Russia." Raising the Khobragade case, Bharara said he got the most flak for prosecuting the for-mer Indian deputy Consul General even though the case was initiated and investigated by the US State Department and seasoned law enforcements officials.
"(It was) not the crime of the centu-ry but a serious crime nonetheless, that is why the State Department opened the case, that is why the State Department investigated it. That is why career agents in the State
D e p a r t m e n t asked career prosecutors in my office to approve criminal charges. That case basically caused an inter-national inci-dent," he said. Bharara said he became "per-sonally aware" that Khobragade
would be arrested only a couple of days before the arrest was scheduled.
He became bothered by the "line of attack" made by the Indian govern-ment and media that he brought the case to "serve his white masters, pre-sumably (US Attorney General) Eric Holder and (President) Barack Obama", both of whom are black.
"That is an example of criticism that is stupid," he said, adding that as the criticism got "increasingly intense" over time, it bothered his parents and this made him upset.
"That was tough because it bothered them," he said. He was also concerned when he had to explain the
accusa-tions made against him to his young daughter, he said.
"Indian critics were angry because even though I hailed from India, I appeared to be going out of my way to act American and serve the interests of America, which was odd because I am American and the words US are in my title," he said.
He said, "putting aside disputes about the merits of the case," the Indian government and media decided that the case was brought by an Indian-American "for all manner of bad personal reasons, never mind that the case was initiated and investigated by career law enforcement officials."
Will Miss New Jersey Emily Shah be next Miss USA?
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Was upset over 'stupid' criticism in
Khobragade case:
Preet Bharara
Indian critics were angry because even though I hailed from India, I appeared to be going out of my way to act American and serve the interests of America, which was odd because I am American and the words US are in my title”
-US Attorney Preet Bharara
Vikram Chatwal
If crowned, she’ll be first and youngest Miss Jersey to win the title and
first Indian-American to represent America in Miss Universe pageant
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June 7-13, 2014
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
IN BRIEF
N
ew York City May-or Bill de Blasio has appointed Indi-an AmericIndi-an physiciIndi-an Dr. Ramanathan Raju to the city’s new Task Force on Behavioral Health and the Criminal Justice System.Raju will serve on the Task Force’s executive committee, along with 18 other individuals hand-picked by Mayor de Blasio, as well as five “expert
advi-sors” from various institutions around the country.
The purpose of the Mayor’s new Task Force will be to “develop a strategic, action-able plan to transform the city’s criminal jus-tice system, so that it addresses the needs of individuals with behavioral and mental health issues more appropriately and
effec-tively,” according to a press release issued by the May-or’s office on Monday.
The Mayor’s office’s press release implies that the new Task Force will be-come operational immedi-ately, and will hopefully lead to far better assess-ment of assess-mental illness in crime in the coming years.
Mental illness has be-come an increasing concern throughout America in the wake of recent mass shootings, such as the one perpetrated in Santa Barbara last month, and Raju will help lead the charge to control the problem in the Big Apple.
In January Raju became the new President and CEO of New York City’s Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), a position he currently holds.
A
lawyer for hotelier Sant Singh Chat-wal, who has pleaded guilty to ille-gally donating thousands of dollars to American political campaigns, has re-quested a US court to adjourn the sentencing date to October from July to prepare neces-sary legal briefs.In a submission before US District Judge I Leo Glasser, lawyer Jonathan Sack requested an "adjournment of the sentencing" from July 31 to around October 23 citing the need for more time to gather relevant information for Chatwal's pre-sentence report and sen-tencing submissions on his behalf.
Sack said Chatwal has lived in India, Ethiopia as well as the US and "gathering in-formation about his background and substan-tial activities in these locations has proven
time- consuming."
Sack said the alternate date in October is agreeable to federal prosecutors.
Chatwal, 70, a Padma Bhushan awardee and major fundraiser for former US Secre-tary of State Hillary Clinton, had pleaded guilty in April to conspiring to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act by making more than $180,000 in federal campaign do-nations to three candidates through straw donors who were reimbursed and to witness tampering. Chatwal is free on a $750,000 bail and has surrendered his passport. The charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 25 years but under the plea deal with the gov-ernment, Chatwal could be sentenced to a lit-tle more than five years and would have to pay $ 500,000 in fines.
I
n keeping with its theme, “Building a Better Community, One Step at a Time,” the BAPS Charities 15th annu-al wannu-alkathon was held on May 18 in New York City. Over 475 members of the com-munity participated in this year’s walkathon.Coming together to walk for a singular purpose, participants of all ages joined hands and raised funds to support this year’s local beneficiary, Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC. “Walking for such an ex-emplary organization and cause is a great honor,” said Hasmukh Patel, BAPS Volun-teer. “Being able to organize and bring to fruition this kind of event is always an ex-citing opportunity for BAPS Charities. Walkathons unite members of the commu-nity, no matter the age, to serve other caus-es. The enthusiasm behind this event is re-ally the driving force to ensuring the suc-cess of the today’s event.”
“Not only is it amazing how everyone can come together to support one cause, it is also great to walk with others who be-lieve in building a better community,” said Mr Parth Adhia, Walkathon Project Lead of BAPS Charities, NYC. “Benefiting an
organization that helps and mentors our children is a great way to bring the com-munity together and getting a chance to walk with a big group of people who feel the same way is a fun way to get some ex-ercise!”
Big Brothers Big Sisters is a national or-ganization with local roots that aims to provide mentoring and guidance to chil-dren. “We appreciate BAPS Charities for choosing us as the beneficiary of the walk and it means so much to us,” said Mr Schroder from Big Brothers Big Sisters NYC.
Mangano honors community members at Indian American Night
I
ndian American Forum presented Indian American Night on June1 at Harry Chapin lakeside Theatre, Eisenhower Park, East Meadow, Parking Field 6 & 6A. Program start-ed at 4.00PM by Yoga teacher Elena. Several members learnt and participated in Yoga.Kite Flying Festival started at 5.00pm. Gob-ind Munjal event co-chairperson organized the kite flying competitions. Whole Park was full of colorful kites, children men, women and even grandparents enjoyed flying kites. Weath-er was extremely beautiful and kites wWeath-ere fly-ing all over the park. Jaya Bahadkar Cultural chairperson presented beautiful cultural pro-gram reflecting dances from different parts of India. Students from local dance schools par-ticipated. Vocal performances were organized by Sunita Sadhnani of Glamorous Event Plan-ners the Melody Group from Tri state area con-sisting of 10-12 singers who entertained the audience with their memorable songs.
This program is part of 2014 summer
con-cert series sponsored by Nassau county De-partment of Parks, Recreation and Museums. Indian American Night is a showcase of Clas-sical Indian music and folk dances from all re-gions of India. Nassau county Executive Ed-ward P Mangano , Nassau County Park Com-missioner Brian Nugent, Legislature Kevin Abrahms, Town of Hempstead Clerk Nasrin Ahmed, Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby and several other elected officials and communi-ty leaders were present. Nassau Councommuni-ty Exec-utive Honorable Edward P Mangano wel-comed everyone and commended the Indian American community for their outstanding achievements. Following members of commu-nity were presented with Nassau County Awards: Dr. Surekha Patel, ARCH Founda-tion,Ajay Batra, IVS TV,Mrs. Bhupinder Kaur Thind, noted social worker in Punjab,Sonia Bawa, community worker and Occupational Therapist,Sunita Sadhnani, Glamorous Event Planners Kirit Panchamia, Herricks Group.
Community came together to sup-port this year’s local beneficiary,
Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC Dr Ramanathan Raju is
NYC’s Health Commissioner
Dr Ramanathan Raju appointed to NYC’s health
and criminal task force
CHI Spring Luncheon raises $25,000 for NY's homeless
BAPS Charities hosts annual walkathon
Sant Chatwal's lawyer seeks adjournment of sentencing date
Nassau County Executive, Edward P. Mangano with honorees. (LtoR)Mohinder Singh Taneja, Sunita Sadhnani, Ajay Batra, Bhupinder Kaur Thind,
Ed Mangano, Sonia Bawa, Kirit Panchamia, TOH Councilwoman, Dorothy Goosby, Dr. Surekha M. Patel, Indu Jaiswal.
CHI board members with Madhur and Sakina Jaffrey who received the Women of Distinction Awards. (Photo by BNB Photography)
C
hildren's Hope India (CHI) Spring Luncheon at Water's Edge in Long Island City, Queens, raised $25,000 on May 7.A highlight of the spring luncheon was the presence of the noted culinary authori-ty and actress Madhur Jaffrey and her daughter, actress Sakina Jaffrey who is popularly seen in 'House of Cards.' Both received the CHI Woman of Distinction Awards and made some insightful remarks about succeeding as women in the world of the arts in America. Madhur Jaffrey, who is an advisory board member of Children's Hope, spoke about her long career in food and cinema, the challenges of balancing family and career in a new country and the increased opportunities for the next gener-ation. She showed how much boldness and persistence count in achieving success.
Sakina Jaffrey spoke about the new
op-portunities for young Indian-Americans, and the power of education. "I have no doubt that at some point every one of you has had to reach back to your education to validate your ticket in life. It’s a security blanket that not everyone enjoys. But by giving time, energy and money to places like Children’s Hope, we can extend that opportunity to others. We can help launch that essential journey of validation for the children who most need it."
Dina Pahlajani, CHI board member, talked movingly about the cause of home-less children in NYC, the invisible children who number over 22,700 and shuttle be-tween school in the day-time and shelters at night, living in difficult surroundings. Children's Hope is working with city or-ganizations to identify how the funds raised from the luncheon can best be used to improve their lives.
7
June 7-13, 2014
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
United Nations: To commemorate the Inter-national Day of United Nations Peacekeep-ers on 29 May, the Permanent Mission of In-dia to the United Nations hosted a somber function for all the recipients of the 106 Dag Hammarskjold Medals awarded this year by the United Nations. The function was held in the Dag Hammarskjold Library Building of the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
The eight Indian peacekeepers, who laid down their lives while serving on United Na-tions Peacekeeping OperaNa-tions, were spe-cially remembered on this occasion.
In April 2013, five Indian peacekeepers, Lt-Col Mahipal Singh, Naik Subedar Shiv Kumar Pal, Havildars Hira Lal and Bharat Sasmal, and Lance Naik Nand Kishore Joshi laid down their lives in protecting the man-date of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). They were part of a 32-member Indian troop contingent escorting five UN vehicles from Gumruk to Bor in the volatile state of Jonglei of South Sudan. The convoy was ambushed by 200 members of an armed militia, who used rocket propelled grenades and small arms to attack the con-voy. Led by Lt-Col Mahipal Singh, the Indi-an peacekeepers engaged in a fierce battle which lasted for over an hour while protect-ing the convoy. Five injured Indian soldiers, including a Captain, were subsequently evacuated to the capital city of Juba in three UN helicopters for medical treatment. A UN
spokesman said that the fierce resistance put up by Indian peacekeepers forced the rebels to withdraw and saved the lives of many of the civilians. In July 2013, UN Security Council Resolution 2109 called on the Gov-ernment of South Sudan to complete its in-vestigations in a swift and thorough manner and bring the perpetrators to justice.
In December 2013, former Indian rower Subedar Dharmesh Sangwan, an Asian Games silver medalist, Asian Championship gold medal winner, and rated among the best rowers India has ever produced, along with Subedar Kumar Pal Singh, were the two In-dian peacekeepers killed in cross-fire while protecting civilians sheltering in a United Nations compound in Akobo, South Sudan.
A third Indian peacekeeper, who received a chest wound, was evacuated to the UN-MISS facility in Malakal. 43 Indian peace-keepers, six UN police advisers and two UN civilian staffers were present at the base when an estimated 2,000 heavily armed youth surrounded the UN base in Akobo, and opened fire on the civilians seeking refuge inside. In December 2013, UN Security Council Resolution 2132 condemned the at-tack on the Indian peacekeepers, and stressed that efforts to undermine UNMISS’ ability to implement its mandate and attacks on United Nations personnel would not be tolerated.
Sepoy Rameshwar Singh died in February 2013, while on escort duty in North Kivu as
part of the Indian peacekeeping contingent of MONUSCO, the United Nations Peace-keeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
At India’s initiative, and in a symbolic trib-ute to those who have collectively given their lives in pursuit of international peace and security, the photographs of the 8 Indian peacekeepers were placed alongside a gold-framed board, listing all the 106 peacekeep-ers from Member States of the United Na-tions who had lost their lives during the past year. Candles were lit in their memory on the occasion to demonstrate the solidarity of the United Nations peacekeeping community, and the collective debt owed by the interna-tional community to these brave souls.
Earlier in the day, India’s Permanent Rep-resentative to the United Nations, Ambassa-dor Asoke Kumar Mukerji, joined other Per-manent Representatives and Military At-taches of Member States at a commemora-tive ceremony at the UN Peacekeepers Me-morial on the North Lawn in the precincts of the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The UN Secretary General oversaw the wreath-laying at the Memorial for the very first time. The proposal for this com-memoration had been made by India, sup-ported by several other Member States of the United Nations, in the C34 Peacekeeping Committee meeting, and endorsed by the 5th (Budget) Committee of the United Nations and the UN General Assembly last year. New York: High school
stu-dent Dhara Patel, a senior in Hillsborough County, Florida got a stunning 10.03 GPA.
A student from Plant City High School, the Valedictori-an's GPA was so high, the computer system couldn't rec-ognize 10.03, and defaulted it to a .031, dropping her rank from first in the class to last.
Since she was a freshman, Patel had been taking ad-vanced-placement courses. Throughout her high school career, she enrolled in more than 10.
During her junior year, her entire schedule consisted of AP classes. She studied all
dif-ferent subjects, including calculus, statistics, human geography, European history, psycholo-gy and more.
She was also dual-enrolled at Hillsborough Community College, adding even more weight to her GPA. She took so many classes at HCC that she also will receive her associate’s degree
of liberal arts in the spring, as well as her high school diplo-ma.
At HCC, she studied nutri-tion, astronomy, public speak-ing, among many others. She mostly took classes online but did attend some classes on campus after a full day at Plant City High School. Some even lasted until 9 p.m.
With the help of HCC pro-fessor and guidance counselor Sharlotte Henderson, Patel was able to orchestrate a schedule that would earn her an associate’s degree, the Plant City Observer reported. In addition to a full class schedule, Patel is also presi-dent of the Science Club, Civinettes and Future Business Leaders of America; treasurer for Best Buddies; on the board of Executive Council; and competes in science and math competitions. Patel will be attending the University of Flori-da in the fall to study microbiology. She hopes to one day become a dentist or an orthodontist. Washington, DC: American Sikhs have
hired a political consultant, who served as a strategist for Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, for the first-ever exploration of creating positive percep-tion about Sikhs among Americans.
Geoffrey Garin, who also served as the pollster and strategic advisor to Priorities USA, the super PAC supporting Presi-dent Barack Obama's re-election in 2012, will take an in-depth survey of feelings and misperceptions towards Sikhs for the newly formed National Sikh Campaign (NSC).
This research will lay the foundation for the largest promotion of Sikhs in the western world coordinated by NSC with messaging that will deliver new informa-tion and visuals that can positively change attitudes toward Sikhs.
Gurwin Singh Ahuja, executive direc-tor of NSC who was part of Obama's two election campaigns in Ohio, said, Sikhs have been part of American scene since they first immigrated to North America
100 years ago.
"There is no one better than Garin to properly conduct a study that can show how Sikhs can dispel the misperceptions about our community and portray us as part and parcel of American society," he said.
Dr. Rajwant Singh, chairman of Sikh Council on Religion and Education (SCORE), said, "Garin will head an un-precedented campaign that will examine Sikhism and its current place within the American psyche."
The study "will help us tailor our mes-sage effectively and help us launch the biggest PR campaign for Sikhism and Sikhs in America," he said.
"It will create a conducive environment for Sikhs to rise politically, socially and economically even more."
Currently president of Hart Research, Garrin has undertaken landmark policy research for many of the America's lead-ing foundations and educational institu-tions on a wide variety of issues.
US Sikhs hire Hillary strategist to
change perception
Dhara Patel
(Photo: Plant City Observer).
PMI observes International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers on May 29
Indian American teen scores unbelievable 10.03 GPA
Commemorative ceremony at the UN Peacekeepers Memorial in NY. The UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon oversaw the wreath-laying at the
Memorial for the very first time.
Eight Indian peacekeepers killed in South Sudan were specially remembered on this occasion.
8
June 7-13, 2014
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Washington, DC: President Barack Obama is appointing She-fali Razdan Duggal, a top Indian-American fundraiser of his 2012 re-election campaign, as a mem-ber of the governing board of trustees of the US Holocaust Me-morial museum that opened in 1993.
Political activist Duggal's ap-pointment to the 55-member US Holocaust Memorial Council for a five-year term was announced by the White House Tuesday with five other key administration posts.
"The extraordinary dedication these men and women bring to their new roles will greatly serve the American people," said Obama in a statement.
"I am grateful they have agreed to serve in this Administration and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come." At over 30, Obama admin-istration has more
Indian-Ameri-cans serving in high places than in any other previous administration. According to Razdan Duggal's website she is currently also a co-chair for the "Ready for Hillary PAC", an independent political action committee that is "encouraging" former Secre-tary of State Hillary Clinton to run for president in 2016.
Razdan Duggal is a member of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) National Finance Committee and is the DNC National Co-Chair for the Women's Leadership Forum, ac-cording to White House.
Previously, she was a member of the 2012 Oba-ma for America National Finance Committee, a Co-Chair for Obama Victory Trustees, and a member of the Northern California Fi-nance Committee.
US Telugu body creating funds for
Andhra, Telengana
T
he Telugu Association of North Ameri-ca (TANA) is creating two special ear-marked funds for the development of the new capital of Andhra Pradesh and for de-velopment of Telangana after the bifurcation of Andhra.The decision to set up Andhra Pradesh Cap-ital Development Fund and Telangana Devel-opment Fund was taken by TANA Executive Committee at the request of several TANA members who wanted to take a constructive role in the development of the two new states. TANA will consult with the respective state governments regarding the appropriate utiliza-tion and disbursement of these funds, TANA president Mohan Nannapaneni announced Fri-day. TANA board member Jayaram Komati TANA secretary Satish Vemana are working
closely with state and central governments in identifying the projects and needs.
Based on his conversations with members, Nannapaneni said North American Telugus are quite enthusiastic about helping the develop-ment of their motherland.
He anticipates that these members will con-tribute both their ideas and money to the de-velopment of both states.
If the two governments respond properly, this enthusiasm can result in millions of dollars for the development of both the states, Nanna-paneni said.
An additional incentive for donors in USA is that donations to these TANA funds are tax-de-ductible in USA.
Donations can be made to either one or both funds per donor's choice, TANA said.
Indian-origin scientist Anil Kulkarni wins
Fulbright Nehru Fellowship
Washington, DC: Indian-origin scientist Anil Kulkarni, has been awarded with the highly competitive Fulbright Nehru Fellowship. Kulkarni is a professor in the department of surgery at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School and his academic and professional experience gathered during his travel to India earlier, to teach immunonutrition and functional foods in the global health era, helped him grab this honor.
He said that immunonutrition may be a modern term, but through the ages humans and an-imals have learned how to maintain and restore good health by modifying food intake that could enhance the body's defense system.
The fellowship will allow professor to work with four universities in India — Sikkim Ma-nipal University Institute of Medical Sciences, Amrita University Institute of Medical Sci-ences in Kochi, Deccan Education Society affiliated Pune University and its Fergusson Col-lege, and Haffkine Institute in Mumbai affiliated with the University of Mumbai.
He will also establish the first of its kind Center of ImmunonUTrition in Houston as a part of his scholarship, which will feature the development of basic and translational curriculum in this specific field.
Couple donates $500K to UT Medical
Center for diabetes research
Dallas: An Indian American cou-ple in Dallas, Texas, Satish and Yasmin Gupta, have donated $500,000 to the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas to sup-port genetic research on Type 2 diabetes among Indian Ameri-cans.
Asian Indians are a demo-graphic group predisposed to early onset of the disease, accord-ing to medical data. The research
will be done under Dr. Abhi-manyu Garg, chief of the division of nutrition and metabolic dis-eases at UT Southwestern.
Participants in the study will be Indian Americans who have ear-ly-onset Type 2 diabetes and their immediate families. In addition to genetic analysis, the study will examine dietary intake, physical activity, insulin resistance and the amount of body fat.
Pictured (left to right) with President Obama, are SB executives Arish Gupta, Yasmin Gupta, and Satish Gupta.
Courtesy sbisteel.com
Top Obama fundraiser Shefali Duggal
appointed to holocaust body
INDIA-US TIES
June 7-13, 2014
9
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
'Visa issue not to impact how
Modi deals with US'
Washington, DC: Modi led BJP’s stunning election victory had put behind the issue of US visa for Naren-dra Modi and it's unlikely to impact bilateral ties with the US, according to a not-ed Indian strategic expert.
After his election victory, the new Indian prime min-ister had made it clear that how India engages with US bilaterally would not be impacted by how an indi-vidual was treated, Com-modore (retd.) C Uday
Bhaskar, Distinguished Fellow, Society for Policy Studies, said. But Modi, whose US visa was revoked in 2005 for his alleged complicity in the 2002 Gujarat riots, was unlikely to visit the US in a hurry, he said in a talk on "India-US Ties Under Narendra Modi" at the Hudson Institute, a Washing-ton think tank.
In Bhaskar's view the UN general assem-bly session in September would be the first contact between the US and Indian leaders. Modi's first priority was the seven-nation SAARC and Japan. Modi has little foreign policy experience, yet he "hit the ground running" with an invitation to SAARC leaders to attend his swearing-in ceremony. "With that one act Modi has energized a moribund SAARC," Bhaskar said and he
expected the new Indian leader to do the same with "moribund" India-US relations.
Comparing the landmark India-US nu-clear deal to the Nixon-Kissinger opening to China, Bhaskar said it had not only "end-ed India's nuclear isolation but also brought India into the larger global politico-diplo-matic grid." He also expected the new Indi-an parliament to revisit the nuclear issue as India's tough liability law has practically stalled the deal.
Bhaskar was sure the two sides will be able to find a modus vivendi to resolve the issue. Modi was "very very aware of the global business environment," he said and knows India needs to engage with the US to regain its 8-9% growth rate from the current 4.4%.
Washington, DC: As the US reach-es out to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a dozen lawmakers have in-troduced a bipartisan congressional resolution committing to working with his government "to advance shared values and interests". Co-sponsored among others by lone In-dian-American House member Ami Bera and the first Hindu-American lawmaker Tulsi Gabbard, the reso-lution also seeks "to further strengthen our strategic partnership with India, including in the defense, trade, and security arenas".
The resolution "congratulates the people of India on holding the largest democratic exercise in histo-ry of the world".
Introduced by Republican Aaron Schock, the resolution's other co-sponsors included chairman of the House foreign affairs committee Ed Royce and the top Democrat on the panel Eliot Engel.
Schock and fellow Republican Cynthia Lummis, who had both vis-ited Gujarat before the elections, and a couple of other lawmakers also issued statements to voice their
commitment to "continuing to strengthen our strategic partner-ship".
The resolution "marks a shift in US policy and signals growing con-gressional support, puts forth the of-ficial position of the House of Rep-resentatives on this matter of na-tional and global importance", Schock said.
Meanwhile, State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki told
re-porters Monday that when Secretary of State John Kerry called new Indi-an External Affairs Minister Sush-ma Swaraj last week to congratulate her, he also invited her to visit the US at the earliest opportunity.
US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Nisha Desai Biswal, will be in New Delhi June 6-9 "to meet a range of officials". But Psaki did not have the details as yet.
Washington, DC: The United States is ready to give a special role to India in its "Asia-Pacific rebal-ance" strategy and is "flex-ible" to adapt itself to meet the Indian defense needs, a former US government of-ficial has said.
The official, who played a key role in India-US de-fense ties in past few years, hoped the Modi-led government with a decisive mandate would clear the high-tech projects that the two countries can co-produce for their respective armed forces.
He said the Obama administra-tion is ready to go that extra mile to help India realize its ambition of being self-reliant in defense R&D and production.
About 10 months ago, the then deputy secretary of defense Ash-ton Carter had submitted to the then UPA government a compre-hensive list of defense systems, which the US was ready to co-develop and co-produce with In-dia.
"Those were projects that our
industry would like to do with the Indian industry," the official said.
These projects cover a whole gamut of defense system from hi-tech information, command and control and reconnaissance and naval systems. The propos-als propos-also included various kinds of advance aircrafts and weapons systems for the two armies.
Many of these proposals are those, which the US wants to in-troduce for its own armed forces, the official said, referring to lev-el of high-tech items that the Pentagon wants to co-develop and co-produce with India in the coming years.
US House resolution commits to
working with Modi govt
'US flexible to adapt itself to
meet India's defense needs'
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Republican members of the House of Representatives, Aaron Schock, Cynthia Lummis and Cathy M Rodgers had met Modi in Gandhinagar with a delegation of business leaders in March 2013.
An archival picture of Narendra Modi (right) during a visit to Chicago in 1993.
10
June 7-13, 2014
US AFFAIRS
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Washington: The Obama administration unveiled a plan on Monday to cut carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by nearly a third over the next 15 years, in a sweeping initiative to curb pollutants blamed for global warming.
The 645-page rule, expected to be final-ized next year, is a centerpiece of President Barack Obama's plans to tackle climate change and aims to give the United States more leverage to prod other countries to act when negotiations on a new international treaty resume next year. Under the plan, carbon emissions would be reduced 30 percent by 2030, compared to 2005 levels, putting in motion one of the most significant actions ever on global warming. The proposal sets off a complex
regulatory process, steeped in politics, in which the 50 states will each determine how to meet customized targets set by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The policy change, which will further diminish the role of coal in US electrical production, carries significant political and legal risks. Those were heightened by the EPA giving states beyond 2016 — in
some cases after Obama leaves office in early 2017 — to submit plans. That means even if the rules survive legal and other challenges, the dust won't likely settle on this transformation until well into the next administration, raising the possibility that political dynamics in either Congress or the White House could alter the rule's course.
The rule has already drawn intense scorn from Republicans — and even some Democrats waging difficult campaigns this year in energy-producing states.
Power plants are the largest source of greenhouse gases in the US, accounting for about a third of the annual emissions that make the US the second largest con-tributor to global warming on the planet.
New York: Meteorologists at
Accuweather.com are predicting another below-normal hurricane season for the Atlantic basin, with forecasters anticipating that two storms will make landfall in the eastern United States between June and late fall. Last year, two hurricanes, none major, formed in the Atlantic basin — the fewest number of hurricanes since 1982, and well below the six considered normal for the region. AccuWeather.com had forecast five last year. Should the upcoming hurricane season again fall short of normal, that would be just the fourth below-normal sea-son in 20 years, according to the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Accuweather.com said in a release today.
The onset of El Niño — a periodic phe-nomenon characterized by above-normal water temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean — would increase wind shear in the Atlantic and “thus suppress the develop-ment of tropical storms this season.”
"If we have a robust El Niño develop, then the numbers will be much lower and this could be one of the least active years in recent memory," senior meteorologist Dan Kottlowski said in the release.
Still, Kottlowski cautioned people to pre-pare for a bad storm. He recalled 1992
when Hurricane Andrew made landfall after a relatively calm early season. The Category 5 storm and its aftermath killed about 65 people and caused about $40 bil-lion in damage, according to the National Hurricane Center.
"All we need is one hurricane," Kottlowski said. "Just because we are say-ing this is gosay-ing to be an inactive season doesn't mean we couldn't have a couple of very intense hurricanes."
This season, areas from the central and eastern Gulf of Mexico up through the East Coast are considered most vulnerable to a tropical system, Accuweather.com said. Warsaw, Poland: For the first
time since his speech last Saturday in the White House, President Obama defended his administration's decision to secure the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl amid new questions about his capture in Afghanistan.
"Regardless of the stances, whatever those circum-stances may turn out to be, we still get an American soldier back if he's held in captivity. True. Full stop," Obama said Tuesday at a news conference at the Belweder Palace here. "We don't condition that. That's what every mom and dad who sees a son or daughter sent over into war theater should expect from not just their com-mander in chief but the United States of America.
"The United States has always had a pretty sacred rule. And that is we don't leave our men or women in uniform behind, and that dates back to the earliest days of our revolution," he said.
The president said the adminis-tration had consulted Congress in the past about the possibility of a prisoner exchange in order for the Taliban to release Bergdahl. The administration has come under
fire by lawmakers for not consult-ing Congress prior to the swap.
Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban in 2009, after, sources say, he walked away from his remote base, leaving his weapon behind. Taliban videos soon fol-lowed, showing the desperate young soldier pleading for free-dom.
That freedom came after nearly five years in captivity. The United States government agreed to a deal with the Taliban to release five prisoners held at the U.S. military facility in Guantanamo
Bay in exchange for Bergdahl’s freedom.
"We saw an opportunity. We were concerned about Sergeant Bergdahl's health. We had the cooperation of the Qataris to exe-cute an exchange, and we seized that opportunity," Obama said. "The process was truncated because we wanted to make sure we did not miss that window."
Obama acknowledged that the five Guantanamo detainees swapped for Bergdahl's release could pose a future threat to the country.
San Antonio, TX: The Miami Heat are looking for a three-peat, as they make their fourth straight NBA Finals appearance on Thursday night in San Antonio when they face the Spurs in a rematch from 2013.
Miami cruised to the reach the finals. In the Eastern Conference Finals, they defeated Indiana Pacers 4-2. In comparison, San Antonio barely made it out of the opening round, needing seven games to beat the No.8 seed Dallas Mavericks. They cruised in the second round, beating the Portland Trail Blazers in five games. In the Western Conference
Finals, they got past the Oklahoma City Thunder in six games. San Antonio will host the first two games, followed by two games in Miami. If necessary, Game Five will be in San Antonio, and Miami will host Game Six. The potential Game Seven will be played in San Antonio.
It almost goes without saying that James is the most important player in the series. If he performs up to his standards, the Heat will be very difficult to beat.
The health of the Spurs’ point guard Tony Parker is a concern as he is dealing with a sprained ankle.
President Obama with the parents of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in the White House in Washington, May 31.
Veterans affairs chief
resigns amid
healthcare uproar
Washington: President Barack Obama announced the resignation of the head of the department of
veter-ans affairs on Friday because of wide-spread problems plaguing the health-care system for mili-tary veterans. Obama said he accepted Eric Shinseki's resignation with "considerable regret" during a White House meet-ing, just two days after a scathing inter-nal report found broad and
deep-seat-ed problems in the sprawling health care system, which is struggling to keep up with the number of vets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Shinseki, a retired four-star general who had overseen veterans affairs since the start of Obama's presidency, had faced mounting calls to step down from congressional Republicans and Democrats. The controversy has ballooned into a top Washington issue since allegations surfaced that as many as 40 veterans may have died while awaiting care at the healthcare system in Phoenix, Arizona.
Obama defends deal with Taliban for
Sergeant release
Miami Heat likely to win NBA title
third year in a row
Below-normal hurricane season predicted for Atlantic coast in 2014
Move to cut carbon dioxide emissions from power plants
The Miami Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs in seven games in the 2013 NBA Finals. Now they have a rematch.
Eric Shinseki quit as Secretary of Veterans Affairs
