Music will create magic at the hallowed walls of Purana Qila when several rock bands from SAARC region will perform at 8th edition of South Asian Bands Festival which is scheduled to be held from 7th – 9th November 2014. 

The 3-day music festival is presented by Ministry of External Affairs, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and Seher. The Festival will feature 14 popular rock bands from eight countries which are members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) -Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Observer country – France and host India.

The popular rock bands from across SAARC region are all set to perform on a common stage at the 8th edition of the South Asian Bands Festival (SABF) at the Purana Quila, Delhi.

Music has no boundaries, with the same ideology this festival aims to bring together Asian countries. It also provides a rare opportunity for the Indian audience to enjoy and appreciate the music created across the subcontinent.  “Started in 2007, the festival has become one of Delhi’s most eagerly awaited cultural extravaganzas and year after year people of all ages look forward to the best bands from the South Asian region to be showcased at the festival. Coming together of some of the most talented musicians on one platform at the magnificent Purana Qila is the best and truest representation of regional integration through Culture.

This platform brings together the finest acts from the SAARC countries.  This year the festival features performance by Alobo Naga and The Band (ANB) from Dimapur, Nagaland formed in 2010, they won the Best Indian Act at a European music awards ceremony in 2012. 

Pakistani singing sensation Zebunissa Bangash popularly known as Zeb, who recently made her foray into Bollywood with her hit tracks in films like Madras Café and Highway.  She gained popularity though her collaboration with Indian musician in Coke Studio is going to mesmerise the audience through her rich and textured soundscapes and melodies.

The festival will also feature a band from France – ‘Success’ as a Guest Country Band, which is also the Observer to SAARC. The electro-rock band from France consists of vocalist Yann Chéhu, guitarists Julien Richer, Dan Voisin on the Electronic keyboard and drummer Joel Daventry, are known for their unique style of contemporary rock performance combined with traditional heavy metal, rock n’ roll and electro rock.

Apart from them, the audience will be enthralled by the electronic-rock band formed by popular Bombay film composer Vishal Dadlani “Pentagram”. The band’s music has evolved over the years from what used to be described as Alternative to what is now Progressive Alternative Pop.

Schedule 7-9th November 2014

6.00pm onwards Friday, 7th November 2014

Kabul & Rock veda (India), 

Chirkutt (Bangladesh),

Nemesis (Sri Lanka), 

Mrigya (India) 

And

Zebunissa Bangash (Pakistan)

6.00pm onwards Saturday, 8th November 2014

The Forsaken (Bhutan),

Alobo Naga and the Band (India),

The Ska Vengers (India) 

And

Pentagram (India)

 6.00pm onwards Sunday, 9th November 2014

 Band (Afghanistan),

 The Kinetic Operations (Maldives)

 Donn Bhat+ Passenger Revelator (India)

 Mukti & Rivival (Nepal)

 and

 Success (France)

About the Participating bands

Day 1

Kabul & Rock Veda (India)

 This India based Progressive Fusion Band, presents a deep-rooted mix of Classical, Sufi and Ghazal in their music. Kabul & Rock Veda connects with the youth by stylishly blending the traditional Ragas, Thumris, Bandish and their own compositions with much preferred rock and contemporary music. Their performances have always been well received by the audience as they dance to their tunes, irrespective of the age group, be it their own composition, a Bollywood number or a classical bandish with a special Rock Veda twist.

 In the past, this band has created magic through their music at prestigious festivals like Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2014-Mumbai, Storm Festival 2014-Bangalore, Jaipur Literature Festival, World Sufi Spirit Festival-Jodhpur, JT PAC- Kochi and Spring Fever Festival-New Delhi.

Chirkutt (Bangladesh)

Formed in 2002, Chirkutt gained popularity in the last 3 years with their energetic live performances and powerful lyrics. Chirkutt’s eclectic compositions defy genre or classification, and they have eventually come to be described as an ‘Epic Fusion’ band, one that has brought radical changes to the modern music industry of Bangladesh. The band member consists of Pavelareen on Drums, Percussion & Sound producer, Emon Chowdhury on Guitar, Banjo, Mandolin & Ukulele, Sharmin Sultana Sumi on Vocals, Lyrics & Tune, Pintu Ghosh on Vocals, Violin & Flute, Didar on Bass and Tamal on Rhythm Guitar.

Chirkutt’s fame has transcended the borders of Bangladesh and reached foreign shores, thanks to their performances at various reputed international music festivals, such as the India Music Week-2012 and the Jaffna Music Festival-2013, Sri Lanka, where they have represented new dimensions of Bangladeshi band music to critical acclaim. And later during the end of 2013, Chirkutt embarked on a grand tour ofNorway with Norwegian rockers Casa Murilo. Both the bands toured through 6 cities – Oslo, Bergen, Molde, Trondheim, Bodo, Salvaer.

Nemesis (Sri Lanka)

Nemesis, which was formed in the year 2005, is one of the few Sri Lankan rock bands to be successful in the Srilankan Rock music arena. With the likes of Tharindu Mathew, Loshaarn Bastian, Mihindu Ariyarathne, and Sithija Dilshan, Nemesis boasts of consisting some of the most brilliant musicians in the island performing under its name. Since the inception, Nemesis has strived tirelessly to promote and improve the standards of rock music in Sri Lanka.

Their first album “Chakithaya” brought Nemesis in to the mainstream music scene. Nemesis became the first Rock/Metal act in Sri Lankan history to be featured on MTV desi and MTV Iggy. The video of “Chakithaya” was nominated for several awards in the Derana Music Awards 2010, including the nomination for the Best Rock Video in 2010.

Mrigya (India)

Mrigya is one of India’s most premier and prodigious World-Fusion bands, hailing from New Delhi. Formed in 1999, the band has blossomed into a fascinating contemporary world music band venturing to stretch the boundaries of Indian classical music becoming the harbinger of a unique fusion band offering a rich blend of Blues, Funk, Folk, Latin, Indian Classical and Jazz. The Band member includes Sharat Chandra Srivastava on Violin, Sachin Kapoor on Keys, Indraneel Hariharan on Bass & Vocal, Karan Sharma on Guitars, Rajat Kakkar on Drums and Gyan Singh on Tabla & Percussion.

Mrigya aims to evolve, share the cultural nuances, and promote the Indian ethos through its music in a global way – drawing attention and inviting one to explore the Indian heritage. The band has toured extensively around the globe winning accolades and representing India at various international festivals.

Zebunnisa Humayun Bangash (Pakistan)

Zebunissa Bangash is one of the most loved vocalists in Pakistan and has been singing since she was eight-year old. She has been trained under some of the eminent musician of the country, currently Ustad Naseer Uddin Saami is helping her develop the semi classical Thumri to further enrich her musical repertoire. As an artist with a truly global sensibility, Zeb has the talent to learn and draw from music from all over the world. In particular she feels an affinity with music from the Central Asian and ‘Indus Valley’ regions. She is working closely with musicians from these areas. She is especially interested in exploring Pakistan’s forgotten rich cultural heritage and it’s linkages through music and song.

Day 2

The Forsaken (Bhutan)

Forsaken or officially known as The Forsaken (Bhutan), is a Bhutanese Heavy Metal band from Thimphu Bhutan. Originally formed temporarily for one fest on May 2013, and after winning the “Battle of Bands” in 1st position the band decided to continue. Each member of the band is from various origin bands, namely The Low Profile Sunday (Punk/Hard core), Demon Nomad (Thrash Metal), Sanctum (Metal core) and Axis 6 (Heavy Metal). At present the band is working on their upcoming EP (Extra Play – Broken Delusion) and so far the band has completed their originals. Although the band mostly plays cover songs of well known rock bands and fewer times their original, the band is best known for their presence, interaction and showmen ship onstage. And As of now, the band is under process in releasing official lyrical video of their debut Single “In His Name” from the EP.

Alobo Naga and The Band (India)

Winner of 2012 Best Indian Act at MTV Europe Music Awards – Alobo Naga & The Band (ANTB) is an Indian rock outfit from Dimapur, Nagaland, formed in 2010. Since 2010, the band has consisted of members Alobo Naga(lead vocals, songwriter, and keyboards), Lima (lead guitar, backing vocal), Fung Walling (bass guitar, backing vocals), Sumika Yepothomi (Turntables) and Theja (Drums). The band rose to fame in 2011 with their video single ‘Painted Dreams’ which was an instant hit; it was premiered in August 2011 at VH1. The popularity of the video also helped the band to earn themselves MTV Europe Music Awards 2012 nominations under Best Indian Act/Worldwide Act.

To date, Alobo Naga & The Band have released one four song extended play– Painted Dreams (2010), hit video single ‘Painted Dreams’ in 2010 and extended dub step version of ‘Painted Dreams’ ft DJ Ina in 2012. The band long play or full-length studio effort will be released by January 2015.

Alobo Naga & The Band’s music has been associated mostly with progressive rock because all the five members like different genres and their music reflects the progression of influence from all genres. Their lyrics are mostly based on youth, society and love.

The Ska Vengers (India)

The Ska Vengers is a new Delhi based band who blend ‘ska’ rhythms with elements of dub, punk, jazz and rap to come up with a form of music that is refreshingly different, energetic and highly danceable. Keys man, Stefan Kaye rounded up a few of his musician friends to form the band in the fall of 2009. The band was put together since there was a lack of energetic, harder edged dance based live music in India.

All members are highly experienced performers in their own right. Nikhil, Stefan and Tony also play in both post rock/disco group Emperor Minge and theatrical jazz outfit The Jass B’stards . They are regular performers on India’s first touring cabaret show ‘The Stiff Kittens’ Medicine Show’. Samara is also an actor and equally well known as a TV presenter on NDTV Good Times. Delhi Sultanate has garnered much praise for his highly skilled, socially conscious rap with drum ‘n’ bass team BASSFoundation and also his own project Word, Sound, Power. Raghav is also known as selecta with DJ collective ‘Reggae Rajahs’.

Pentagram (India)

Few Indian artists have been as crucial to the change in India’s musical landscape as Pentagram. Fewer have been able to represent it better. Easily India’s biggest and most popular act, Pentagram has defined an almost cultural transformation – a metamorphosis, if you may, of a community and an art that’s as vital to India as cricket and movies. Pioneers and protagonists of a scene desperately seeking its own heroes, Pentagram has, since its formation in 1994, been the champion of an important movement; an underground that they’ve carried into our nation’s collective consciousness.

Fronted by the inimitable Vishal Dadlani, the band is a collaboration of some incredibly talented musicians. Randolph Correia, one of the most prolific guitarists in the country, is at the steering wheel of this monster truck, breaking boundaries and conceptions of genres on a path that several have tried to follow. Bassist Papal Mane lays the foundation of this measured assault while Shiraz Bhattacharya, stoic behind the drum kit, is the backbone of this power packed high energy electro rock act.

The band’s debut album We Are Not Listening (1996) was as much a statement in title, as it was in impact – listed by legendary Mumbai music store Rhythm House as India’s fastest selling rock album. The band went on to win every single major competition in India. Their sophomore effort Up (2002) saw the band’s sound evolve to a deliberate, definitive electro rock; a digital progression well ahead of their peers and their time. The album sold over 15,000 copies and signalled the acceptance of a sound that wasn’t derivative of an international trend or a fleeting, one-hit-wonder-esque series of singles. With the release of its third album It’s OK, It’s All Good (2007), Pentagram soared into stratospheric heights previously occupied solely by movie stars and cricketers. Having toured around the country and the world (the band was the first Indian act to perform at the Glastonbury festival in England), the band firmly established itself as India’s premier rock act.

Day 3

Sunday, 9th November 2014

Band (Afghanistan),

The Kinetic Operations (Maldives)

Started as the Sifainge Music Group 20 years ago, the band changed its name to SMG The KOPS and later as The Kops Band. Since 2013, the band has been rebranded to Kinetic Operaations, K-OPS Band. The band has been performing for generations representing as the official band of Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF). The Kops Band regularly performs for all official delegates and at official functions of the Government upon request.  The band is also in to forefront of all public and Charity Shows.

In addition to these official performances the Kops Band have performed with major leading artists of this nation on their events including Fasy Live, Easa, Unoosha, Zara, Kayano, Mishy Athif, Ammadey, Ritte to name a few.

Kops Band has also performed in Mr. MNDF Show in 2009, 2010 and 2011. In One Nation Raajje Tour, the band has performed in Fuahmulak, Male’ City, H Dh. Hanimaadhoo. The band also performs in official events of MNDF and in Banquets during visits of Head of Foreign Countries, including Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and Nepal. For the last four years, the band performed in the reception to celebrate the Fourth of July, Independence Day of USA. They also perform in Chinese New Year Celebrations in Maldives. In addition, they performed in many official dinners of High-ranked Army Officers of many Asian countries.

Donn Bhat+ Passenger Revelator (India)

Mukti & Rivival (Nepal)

During early 80s Kathmandu was still going through hangover of hippie era, it had a strong western music influence in the air. A local who grew up near the hippies’ hang out popularly known as freak streets was not spared. Mukti Shakya picked up guitar, joined one of the most popular bands “Redium” as guitarist and a singer. Mukti was soon regarded as an inspiration to the up coming musician and idol to many musicians of the valley. His fans belong to different age groups from teenagers to old folks still singing his tunes and swinging to his rhythms all over the world. In mid 80’s Mukti went to Spain with his wife, where he played and toured with different other bands.

Mukti came back to Kathmandu in early 90’s. Noticing the change in the scene he decided that he needs to revive the old musical charm. Thus, he collected his old friends and started the Revival. He’s been able to sway many music lovers with his tune. From performing for a crowd of 15000 at Kathmandu Durbar Square to 100’s at small bars and venues, Mukti and Revival’s music has never failed to mesmerize the crowd.

Having performed all over America, Europe, Australia, Canada and Asia, With 4 albums and numerous hits and awards under their belt, Mukti & Revival holds a prominent space in Nepali Rock Music Scenario.

Success (France)

This rock and electronic music band known for its absolute crazy performances gained popularity with their hit number “Girl from New Orleans” that was spotted by RCA / Colombia in the UK underground music of Manchester. Then came the second hit “Hard to come back” which appears on the Box Office next to Mozart and Metallica.

• Samantha Cameron dazzled in a royal blue sari with a detailed gold trim
• The Camerons were attending Diwali party put on by Tories in Westminster
• Five-day Hindu festival of lights is celebrated in autumn each year 

• It is known as the Festival of lights – so Samantha Cameron made sure she dazzled.
• The Prime Minister’s wife arrived at a Diwali party in London last night wearing a beautiful flowing royal blue sari with a detailed gold
• The 43-year-old’s colourful attire certainly stood out against her husband David Cameron’s rather more austere blue suit
• The couple were attending a bash put on by the Conservative party in Westminster to celebrate Diwali, the five-day Hindu festival celebrated in autumn every year.
• The couple lit a candle to begin the celebrations, before David Cameron gave a speech on the contribution that the eight million Hindus in the UK had made to the country.
• Attendees said he told the audience that the Conservatives would be the first political party to have a British Asian Prime Minister, before quipping ‘but not immediately’.
• At the event, Mr Cameron also launched the new Encyclopaedia of Hinduism, an 11-volume project about the religion involving 1000 contributors.
• For Hindus, Diwali is one of the most important events in the year, with fireworks and lamps used to create a riot of colour to celebrate the victory of good over evil, sweets are traded and new clothes bought.
• Lamps are lit and kept on during the night and families come together to carry out traditional tasks such as cleaning the house to honour the goddess Lakshmi.
• The Prime Minister also hosted an annual Diwali party at Downing Street last Friday.

Refugees and human rights organizations react with anger as minister says saving people encourages others to risk voyage Rescued migrant: ‘I feel for those who were with me. They got asylum in the sea’ Britain will not support any future search and rescue operations to prevent migrants and refugees drowning in the Mediterranean, claiming they simply encourage more people to attempt the dangerous sea crossing, Foreign Office ministers have quietly announced. Refugee and human rights organizations reacted with anger to the official British refusal to support a sustained European search and rescue operation to prevent further mass migrant drownings, saying it would contribute to more people dying needlessly on Europe’s doorstep. The British refusal comes as the official Italian sea and rescue operation, Mare Nostrum, is due to end this week after contributing over the past 12 months to the rescue of an estimated 150,000 people since the Lampedusa tragedies in which 500 migrants died in October 2013. The Italian operation will now end without a similar European search and rescue operation to replace it. The Italian authorities have said their operation, which involves a significant part of the Italian navy, is unsustainable. Despite its best efforts, more than 2,500 people are known to have drowned or gone missing in the Mediterranean since the start of the year. Instead of the Italian operation, a limited joint EU “border protection” operation, codenamed Triton and managed by Frontex, the European border agency, is to be launched on 1 November. Crucially, it will not include search and rescue operations across the Mediterranean, just patrols within 30 miles of the Italian coast. Human rights organisations have raised fears that more migrants and refugees will die in their attempt to reach Europe from the north African coast. The hard-pressed Italian navy will be left to mount what search and rescue operations it can. The new European operation will have only a third of the resources of the Italian operation that is being phased out. British policy was quietly spelled out in a recent House of Lords written answer by the new Foreign Office minister, Lady Anelay: “We do not support planned search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean,” she said, adding that the government believed there was “an unintended ‘pull factor’, encouraging more migrants to attempt the dangerous sea crossing and thereby leading to more tragic and unnecessary deaths”. Anelay said: “The government believes the most effective way to prevent refugees and migrants attempting this dangerous crossing is to focus our attention on countries of origin and transit, as well as taking steps to fight the people smugglers who wilfully put lives at risk by packing migrants into unseaworthy boats.” The Home Office told the Guardian the government was not taking part in Operation Triton at present beyond providing one “debriefer” – a single immigration officer – to gather intelligence about the migrants who continue to make the dangerous journey to Italy. Other EU countries have responded to the call for help with two fixed-wing aircraft and three patrol vessels. It is understood that Britain does not rule out providing further support later for an operation it says will be limited to “border management”. As it does not involve search and rescue missions it will not be covered by British government policy which regards the rescue of desperate migrants as only encouraging others to make the hazardous journey. The home secretary, Theresa May, was among justice and home affairs ministers who agreed earlier this month to the ending of the Italian search and rescue operation and to deploying Operation Triton without delay in order to “reinforce border surveillance in the waters close to the Italian shores”. European interior ministers acknowledged that the situation in the Mediterranean was of the greatest concern “as there are indications that the current trend will continue and the situation even risks deteriorating further”. As well as deploying “Task Force Mediterranean”, which includes two fixed-wing surveillance aircraft and three patrol vessels in Operation Triton, ministers agreed a series of North African measures including finding ways of curtailing the supply of vessels from Tunisia and Egypt used by people smugglers. May told the Commons the meeting had agreed “the prompt withdrawal of the Mare Nostrum operation … and for all member states to comply fully with their obligations under EU migration and asylum [policies].” Admiral Filippo Maria Foffi, the commander in charge of the Italian naval squadron involved in Mare Nostrum, is expected to spell out on Tuesday the impact of its cancellation. The British Refugee Council chief executive, Maurice Wren, responding to the Foreign Office refusal to take part in future search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean said: “The British government seems oblivious to the fact that the world is in the grip of the greatest refugee crisis since the second world war. “People fleeing atrocities will not stop coming if we stop throwing them life-rings; boarding a rickety boat in Libya will remain a seemingly rational decision if you’re running for your life and your country is in flames. The only outcome of withdrawing help will be to witness more people needlessly and shamefully dying on Europe’s doorstep. “The answer isn’t to build the walls of fortress Europe higher, it’s to provide more safe and legal channels for people to access protection.” Tony Bunyan, director of Statewatch, which documents European justice and home affairs policies, added: “The government’s justification for not participating in Triton is cynical and an abdication of responsibility by saying that not helping to rescue people fleeing from war, persecution and poverty who are likely to perish is an acceptable way to discourage immigration.” Amnesty International wrote to the home secretary last month criticising the woeful response from European countries to the unacceptable scale of the loss of life from the influx of refugees and migrants on boats across the Mediterranean.

The government on Monday disclosed before the Supreme Court eight more names including that of Pradip Burman, one of Dabur India promoters, a bullion trader and Goa miners against whom it has started prosecution for allegedly stashing blackmoney in foreign banks.

Rajkot-based bullion trader Pankaj Chimanlal Lodhya and Goa-based mining company Timblo Private Limited and its five directors were among the names that figured in the list which was filed in the Supreme Court by the government.

The affidavit, filed days after the government came under attack from political rivals that it was chary of revealing names, said that these names have been received from French authorities and other countries.

Promising to disclose more names of black money holders who have come under its scanner, the government said that all foreign bank accounts cannot be termed as “illegal”.

The additional affidavit on the black money issue was filed on Sunday in furtherance of its affidavit recently when it had said that names of account holders in foreign banks cannot be disclosed till there is evidence of tax evasion against them and prosecution is launched in India.

While Burman’s name was received from French authorities the names of Lodhia and others have been received from “other countries”.

The list names Timblo Private Limited and its directors Radha Satish Timblo, Chetan S Timblo, Rohan S Timblo, Anna C Timblo and Mallika R Timblo. It was not clear whether the account holder is the company or its directors.

Shortly after the disclosure in the Supreme Court, Dabur India promoter family, Burmans said the account complied with all legal requirements.

“We wish to state that this account was opened when he (Pradip) was an non-resident Indian, and was legally allowed to open this account,” a Dabur spokesperson said in a statement.

“We have followed all the laws and the complete details regarding the account have been voluntarily, and as per law, filed with the Income Tax department and appropriate taxes paid, wherever applicable,” he added.

Lodhiya denied having a Swiss bank account. “We have already declared in the income tax and there is nothing…we don’t have any Swiss account that is the only thing which I can say,” he said.

Radha Timbo declined to comment on her name being mentioned in the affidavit, saying she has to first study it before commenting.

The government in its 10-page affidavit submitted that it cannot disclose all the information and names of account holders in overseas banks, received from foreign countries, unless there is a “prima facie” evidence of wrongdoing for launching prosecution for tax evasion.

“The government is committed to disclose names of persons holding illegal money abroad. However, every account held by an Indian in a foreign country may not be illegal and the fundamental right of citizens to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution cannot be ignored and has been recognised by this court,” it said, adding the names and information/documents cannot be disclosed even under proceedings under Article 32(1) of the Constitution.

It submitted the apex court to clarify its earlier order directing it to reveal even the names of foreign bank account holders against whom no evidence was found for stashing black money saying the government would have a problem entering into tax agreements with other countries.

“There is absolutely no intention on the part of the government to withhold information, including names of persons who have stashed black money abroad, but only to seek certain clarification that will enable the government to enter into agreements with other countries under which information relating to unaccounted money lying abroad can be obtained,” it said.

“The information received under these tax treaties and agreements will be disclosed after following the due process of law, in all cases where evasion of tax is established. The intention of the present government is clear and unambiguous. The government is keen to unearth black money held abroad and for that purpose it will use all diplomatic and legal means and also all investigating agencies to obtain information that can assist in such unearthing,” the affidavit said.

Swiss authority willing to disclose information

The Centre also told the Supreme Court that the Swiss government has indicated its willingness to provide information on “stolen data” containing names of Indians who had allegedly stashed black money in banks there.

The government said the “development” is very significant as the Swiss government had refused to provide any information regarding it. “Switzerland has indicated willingness to provide information in respect of cases where investigations have been carried out by the IT Department independently from what Swiss government considers as stolen data. This development is very significant because there are several cases of account holders which were investigated by the department independently.”

The government said the Swiss Federal Tax Administration has agreed that their counterpart authority would assist India in obtaining confirmation of genuineness of bank accounts.

BIRMIMNGHAM, Alabama — Protests continued today in the heart of Downtown Birmingham as hundreds gathered outside the Alabama Theatre where the Dalai Lama took part in an interfaith “Beyond Belief” moderated discussion.

Their chants could be heard beyond the intersection at 3rd Avenue North and 19th Street where they convened this morning in support of religious freedom for those who pray to the Buddhist deity Dorje Shugden.

“False Dalai Lama! Give religious freedom!” they chanted. Bold red and black signs danced in the hands of the more than 200 protesters along to the rhythm of beating drums. Words like “hypocrisy,” “ostracism” and “stop lying” pierced the blue sky.

The protesters — brought together by the California-based non-profit International Shugden Community (ISC) — claim that the Dalai Lama has persecuted the members of that group and caused them to be mistreated and ostracized in Tibetan exile communities around the world, including India and the United States.

Many have traveled around the world following the Dalai Lama on his various tours, said ISC spokesperson Len Foley, who himself flew in from California with his family to take part in the protest.

“We are here on behalf of a silent majority of millions of people who have felt the pain of religious persecution,” he said. “This is the most important issue in our lives.”

Members of the Shugden sect, said Foley, have been barred from many businesses, monasteries and hospitals in Tibetan communities. Signs hang outside business throughout India, he said, that forbid entrance to anyone who practices Dorje Shugden.

The group, he said, is asking the Dalai Lama–who they call the “worst dictator in this modern day”–to accept the following four points:

• To allow anyone who wishes to practice Dorje Shugden the freedom to do so.
• To stop completely the discrimination against Shugden practitioners
• To allow all Shugden monks and nuns who have been expelled to return to their monasteries and nunneries, and to receive the same material and spiritual rights as non-Shugden practitioners
• To write to Tibetan communities throughout the world telling them that they should apply practically the three above points

Foley said protests will continue this afternoon at Regions Field, where the Dalai Lama is scheduled to give a talk on the “Secular Ethics in our Time.” From here, many of the protesters, he said, plan to follow the Dalai Lama when he travels to the Northeast to the areas of Princeton, Boston and New York.

SÃO PAULO—Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff faces two pressing challenges after winning re-election by a narrow margin on Sunday: mending a divided electorate following a rancorously partisan campaign and reviving her nation’s stagnant economy.

Ms. Rousseff, of the leftist Workers’ Party, defeated Aécio Neves of the conservative Brazilian Social Democracy Party, or PSDB, by 52% to 48%, the tightest presidential race in the nation’s history. The contest, marked by bitter rhetoric and harsh accusations on both sides, left Brazilians split along economic and regional lines.

In her 27-minute victory speech at a hotel auditorium in Brasília, the capital, Ms. Rousseff offered some conciliatory notes for the nation as a whole, calling for “peace and union.”

Still, she didn’t mention either Mr. Neves or his party by name, nor did she refer to Marina Silva, the Socialist Party candidate, who finished third in Oct. 5 first-round voting and was eliminated from the race.

nstead, Ms. Rousseff repeatedly thanked her still-popular predecessor and mentor, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who stood on stage beside her, and heaped praise on her supporters and colleagues with the Workers’ Party, known as the PT.

“Her speech may have been better than the pessimists expected, but it was below what the optimists expected,” said Carlos Melo, a political scientist and professor at Insper, a São Paulo-based education and research center.

For his part, Mr. Neves alluded to the theme of reconciliation in a brief concession speech minutes before Ms. Rousseff spoke. Addressing supporters at a hotel in Belo Horizonte, in his native state of Minas Gerais, a smiling but subdued Mr. Neves said he had phoned Ms. Rousseff to wish her government success.

“And I highlighted that the greatest of all priorities should be to unite Brazil around an honorable project that dignifies Brazilians,” Mr. Neves said.

Ms. Rousseff’s other, equally formidable task is to persuade investors that her administration can work with businesses to reset Brazil’s economy. A commodity boom that fueled robust growth on Mr. da Silva’s watch fizzled during Ms. Rousseff’s first term. Brazil fell into recession this year and is dogged by high inflation, rising debt and low productivity. Standard & Poor’s in March downgraded the nation’s sovereign debt to one level above junk.

In her speech, Ms. Rousseff vowed to combat inflation and take measures to boost industrial output.

“I will promote actions in the economy to resume our growth speed [and] ensure high levels of employment,” she said.

But Ms. Rousseff so far has shown little willingness to tackle big structural overhauls, such as changing Brazil’s tax system and cutting red tape, moves economists say are needed to put Brazil on a faster growth path. Her administration instead has leaned heavily on state-owned institutions to extend credit and dole out subsidies to consumers and businesses, measures economists say are unsustainable.

“The reforms that are needed to reinvigorate the economy require moving Brazil from a consumption-led to an investment-led growth model,” Neil Shearing, an economist at Capital Economics, wrote in a release last week. “This in turn means shifting income from ordinary workers—which form Dilma’s core support—to companies, and will thus require her to take on vested interests within her political base. All of this seems a tall order.”

The president also pledged to “fight corruption,” “strengthen regulators” and “end impunity,” an apparent reference to a series of scandals that have bedeviled the Workers’ Party. Ms. Rousseff and Mr. Neves relentlessly attacked each other’s integrity in the campaign’s concluding days, including a bruising final debate on Friday evening in which they traded barbs about a deepening corruption scandal at state-owned Petroleo Brasileiro SA, PETR4.BR -11.53% Brazil’s largest company.

A prominent weekly news magazine, Veja, reported last week that Ms. Rousseff and her predecessor, Mr. da Silva, knew of a vast bribery scheme in which Petrobras funds allegedly were diverted to secure political favors, charges Ms. Rousseff and her party have adamantly denied.

Finally, Ms. Rousseff must reckon with an opposition that, despite losing Sunday’s election, seems to have been invigorated by its strong showing in a close race.

“What is called opposition in Brazil is a very large force,” said José Serra, a former governor and the PSDB’s presidential candidate in 2002, when he lost to Mr. da Silva. “We are going to use that force in benefit of Brazil, of its unity, and to overcome the problems we’re experiencing in the economy, in education and in health.”

Delhi Dynamos fired three stunning goals and scored another one from the penalty spot to outplay Chennaiyin FC 4-1 to record their first win in the Hero Indian Super League on Saturday.

Wim Raymaekers and Mads Junker scored in the second and 21st minutes before Bruno Arias and Gustavo dos Santos found the net in the 79th and 90th minutes for the Dynamos at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.

Brazilian World Cupper Elano Blumer pulled one back for Chennaiyin in the 69th minute with another brilliant goal through a free-kick on the night of four stunning goals.

Dynamos were searching for a win after a goalless draw in their opening match against Pune City FC and 1-1 stalemate against table leaders Atletico de Kolkata and they were the deserved winners as they had more possession and more shots at the goal.

Captain Alessandro Del Piero did nothing extraordinary but Dynamos midfield of Bruno, Hans Mulder, Steven Dias and Shylo Malsawmtulanga controlled the middle of the park to give the home side upper hand.

Chennaiyin came back a better side in the second half after off-colour captain Bojan Djordijic was replaced by Colombian John Mendoza as they had more shots at Dynamos goal but tasted their first defeat after back-to-back wins.

With today’s win, Dymanos are now on fourth spot in the table with five points while Chennaiyin remained on third with six points.

Former India international Dias found a place for the first time in the Dynamos starting line-up in place of injured Morten Skoubo and he made an impact with a perfect assist that led to the home side’s second goal.

He had another fine overlapping run at the right flank but his attempt at the goal got the outstretched hands of Chennaiyin goalkeeper four minutes into the second session.

Even as the weekend crowd was yet to settle down, central defender Wim Raymaekers scored a stunning goal in the second minute to give the home side an early lead.

Del Piero took a short corner towards Malsawmtulanga who passed the ball to the Belgian fullback Raymaekers whose booming shot from the top of the box landed in the top right corner of the Chennaiyin net.

Dynamos had another chance in the 13th minute but Junker, instead of taking a shot in front of goal off a fine curling pass from Dias, sent it for a pass only to be cleared by a Chennaiyin defender.

Junker, however, made amends for his mistake eight minutes later with the second brilliant strike of the night. Del Piero’s corner came back to him after a clearance from a Chennaiyin defender and the Italian legend passed it to Dias whose inch-perfect floater was met by a diving Junker’s head and goalkeeper Gennaro Bracigliano dived to his left in vain.

For Chennaiyin, Harmanjot Khabra’s low shot in the 12th minute beat Dynamos goalkeeper Kristof Van Hoult but went wide.

Chennaiyin brought in John Mendoza at the beginning of the second half in place of off-colour Djordijic and that gave them the much needed boost in their attack.

Mendoza had a fine left-footed low shot from inside the box but the lanky Dynamos keeper Hout was quick to dive to his left for a corner. Again in the 76th minute, Mendoza had another go at the Dynamos goal but Hout was at it again to deny him.

Before that Brazilian star Elano scored from a set piece yet again in the 69th minute for his third goal of the tournament with a fine curling effort that beat the Dynamos goalkeeper to the stunning silence of more than 15,000 strong home crowd.

Arias took the match out of Chennaiyin’s reached as he stepped up to score from the spot in the 79th minute after Shouvik Ghosh was brought down by Harmanjot Khabra inside the box.

The match ended with another brilliant goal with Dos Santos scoring just before final whistle with a solo effort just a minute after he came to the field in place of Malsawmtulanga.

The Brazilian beat a host of defenders after getting the ball midway the opposition goal before sending past the Channaiyin goal-keeper to the wild celebration of Dynamos fans at the stand.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran hanged a woman on Saturday who was convicted of murdering a man she alleged was trying to rape her, drawing swift international condemnation for a prosecution several countries described as flawed.

Reyhaneh Jabbari was hanged at dawn for premeditated murder, the official IRNA news agency reported. It quoted a statement issued by the Tehran Prosecutor Office Saturday that rejected the claim of attempted rape and said that all evidence proved that Jabbari had plotted to kill Morteza Abdolali Sarbandi, a former intelligence agent.

The United Nations as well as Amnesty International and other human rights groups had called on Iran’s judiciary to halt the execution, which was carried out after the country’s Supreme Court upheld the verdict. The victim’s family could have saved Jabbari’s life by accepting blood money but they refused to do so.

According to her 2009 sentencing, Jabbari, 27, stabbed Sarbandi in the back in 2007 after purchasing a knife two days earlier.

“The knife had been used on the back of the deceased, indicating the murder was not self-defense,” the agency quoted the court ruling as saying.

Britain, Germany, and a group of European parliamentarians, among others, condemned the execution, as did the United States.

“There were serious concerns with the fairness of the trial and the circumstances surrounding this case, including reports of confessions made under severe duress,” State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.

“We join our voice with those who call on Iran to respect the fair trial guarantees afforded to its people under Iran’s own laws and its international obligations,” she added.

IRNA said the police investigation found that Jabbari sent a text message to a friend saying she would kill Sarbandi three days before the deadly incident.

Iranian media reports say Sarbandi’s family insisted on their legal rights under the Islamic principle of “an eye for an eye” partly because Jabbari accused Sarbandi of being a rapist in what became a highly publicized media campaign.

In a statement ahead of the hanging Amnesty said the investigation had been “deeply flawed” and that Jabbari’s claims “do not appear to have ever been properly investigated.” The group is opposed to the death penalty and has long condemned Iran’s use of capital punishment.

The number of executions in Iran has spiked this year, with over 170 people executed already in the first quarter of the year, according to the United Nations.

Amnesty says 369 people were publicly put to death in the Islamic Republic last year. The majority of executions are for drug smuggling, which Iranian officials say reflects the large quantities of opium trafficked through Iran from Afghanistan to Europe.

Ahmed Shaheed, the U.N. Special Rapporteur for human rights in Iran, said in April that imposing the death penalty goes against the current international trend to encourage a moratorium on it and later abolish it.

He had strongly urged Iranian authorities to immediately halt executions.

Some photobooks strike you with the full force of their subject matter; others wend their way into your consciousness. For me, Max Pinckers’s self-published Will They Sing Like Raindrops or Leave Me Thirsty is among the latter. I’ve been mulling it over for weeks, and have decided that Pinckers has achieved something singular in his hybrid approach, which mixes documentary photography with staged scenes reminiscent of Bollywood movies.

The subject is love and marriage, Indian-style – both the extravagant imagery of Bollywood romance and the vexed topic of arranged marriage. Pinckers, a 26-year-old Belgian artist, spent four months travelling in India, shooting – and staging – the images of Will They Sing Like Raindrops … (The project won him first prize in this year’s

On first glance, it seems like a set of almost randomly sequenced images: couples relaxing, studio portraits, still lives, landscapes, lonely hearts newspaper ads, found images of posters and romantic inscriptions, and dramatic news stories.

But central to this rich visual narrative is a series of photographs of a four-man activist organisation called the Love Commandos. Based in Delhi, they operate on a shoestring from their small, cluttered office, manning a telephone helpline and website to provide advice and support – including safe rooms and shelters across India – for runaway couples who have fallen in love across the boundaries of caste or religion. The commandos have even sent out teams to rescue young people at risk of violence.

The main function of the Love Commandos,” writes Hans Theys in his introduction to the book, “is to allow people to do this in safety and in accordance with the laws of India, and to prevent honour killings happening to the young couples.”

Though there is something romantic, even Bollywood-glamorous, about the idea of the Love Commandos, their work is dogged and dangerous. Pinckers punctuates the narrative with excerpts from their blog, often frantic or plaintive messages from people trapped by family or caste. A newspaper cutting found by Pinckers recounts how “Pooja Rani (24) and Shambau (26) … were forced to elope to escape the ‘honour’ police hounding them for intending to marry outside their caste … Believing that dying is a better option than being chased by cops and kin, they were on the verge of committing suicide when the Love Commandos rescued them and gave them a place in one of their shelters.”

The straight reporting and dramatic description that runs though the news report is revealing, not least because it could be the plot of a Bollywood romance. (There is even a happy ending – the Love Commandos organised the couple’s wedding, thereby legalising their status, despite the families’ opposition.)

Rather than approach this culturally fraught issue as reportage or documentary, Pinckers walks a tightrope between the real and the fictional. The result is a layered narrative that plays with Indian culture’s extreme and conflicting notions of romance: Bollywood escapism versus the reality of young couples escaping the confines – and sometimes violent recrimination – of family, tribe and society.

Pinckers’s poetic vision has a density that makes it wonderfully elusive, or frustratingly so. (Why the opening image of a tower of ice in a room?) The series on the Love Commandos, alongside touchingly intimate shots of couples relaxing in safety, would make for a more direct photobook, but that is not Pinckers’s style. Instead, his narrative is both obvious and tangential, detached and controlled. The deadly serious and the kitsch sit side-by-side, as do the deftly observed and the highly stylised. His colour suggests film stills or the warmth of old Kodachrome; his scenarios seem real yet filmic.

Sitting between conceptual and documentary, while upending expectations of each, Pinckers is still emerging, but his already singular style draws you in. Bemusing and captivating, Will They Sing Like Raindrops or Leave Me Thirsty has become a book I return to like a puzzle.