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Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

VOL 39. ISSUE 32

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11th December to 17th December 2010

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Rajapaksa faces Tamil protests

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Carla wants a son from Sarkozy, they make a wish at Fatehpur Sikri

Thousands of Tamils protested the visit of President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa to the UK, to deliver a lecture at University of Oxford, invited by the Oxford debating society.

One of such protests were held opposite Dorchester Hotel in Park Lane where thousands gathered without worrying about the subzero temperature and snow all over the UK. More than 500 Tamils also gathered at

London’s Heathrow airport as the Sri Lankan Airlines flight UL509 landed on Monday, 29th November at around 9:50 pm.

The protesters questioned the war crime situation in Sri Lanka and

PM David Cameron meets President Rajapaksa

The dargah became famous after its peer Sheikh Salim Chisthi had blessed Akbar with a child.

The Sarkozys were welcomed by Peer Zada Rais Mian Chisthi, the Sajjadanashin of the dargah, along with his two sons.

Both Sarkozy and Bruni then walked barefoot to the dargah, where Rais Mian helped them offer the specially made 5X4 feet long 'chadar' of roses.

Continued on page 26

“TV anchor among naked men, women ‘killed’ by Lanka soldiers on video” Report on page 22

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Sri Lankan Tamils protest at the Heathrow airport

the human rights of thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils who have been continuously mistreated.

Many of them had to flee Sri Lanka losing family members seeking asylum in Britain.

Asian Voice had reported extensively about Sri Lankan Tamil genocide and the protests outside Westminster in 2009, Continued on page 26

On Sunday, the French President and his wife prayed and offered obeisance like normal devotees at the dargah of saint Salim Chisti in Fatehpur Sikri, near Agra in north India.

Nicolas Sarkozy and wife Carla Bruni sought and got the blessings for having a son.

They walked barefoot with their heads covered and prayed for a son just like Mughal Emperor Akbar did centuries ago.

The French first couple got married in February 2008.

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Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

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Vaz meets with BBC Chairman over threat to Asian Network Labour MP, Keith Vaz met with BBC Chairman, Sir David Lyons this week to discuss the future of the BBC Asian Network.

Mr Vaz raised concerns over plans for regional channels to replace the national radio station, arguing that regional stations would leave swathes of the country unrepresented and would act as a barrier to promoting home grown Asian talent. He has tabled an EDM in support of the station and noting the pivotal role it has had in giving a plat-

form to minority interests.

The national radio station that started in Leicester in 1988 is due to be scrapped under BBC management plans.

With 500,000 listeners across the country talk of a closure has stirred up strong oppositions from the Asian community.

Keith Vaz MP said: “BBC Asian Network’s presence is crucial to promoting and representing British Asian content in the UK. Not only does it provide a national platform for British Asian culture, but it also helps

People ■

Hundreds of friends braved the bitter cold and packed into the Golders Green crematorium to attend the funeral of the very lovely Chitra Sethia the wife of Nirmal Sethia last week. A Who’s Who of Britain’s Asian community were there including, Anita Goyal, Arjun Vekaria JP, Lakshmi Mittal, GP Hinduja, Lord Swraj Paul, Yogesh Mehta, Harish Patel, Vinu Bhattessa, and Joginder Sangar . The hall was decorated with huge photographs of Chitra.

The ashes were be taken by private plane to Haridwar to be scattered in the Ganges.

■ promote new unknown artists.”

“I fully support the station's unique position

at the heart of the Asian community and will be launching a campaign to save the station”

Poor SP Hinduja has had a fall two days before his 75th birthday. He spurned his chauffer driven car “SP1”! and decided to

make the journey on foot instead. Down he went. No legal action is planned against Westminster City Council.

■ Lord Khalid Hameed has hosted this year’s Halloween Ball for another worthwhile cause but what

Lord Khalid Hameed

has happened to Lord Ara Darzi? Answers on a postcard to Asian Voice.

Bollywood wannabe Dixit Shah, jailed for £15m fraud at Southwark Crown Court Dixit Shah, 49, of High Mead, Harrow, masterminded a string of frauds which saw banks and businesses across Europe and Asia conned out of more than ￡15 millon.

The would-be movie mogul ploughed the stolen cash into a succession of failed film projects in

tinsel town, India's Mumbai.

Shah spent years on the run after his first major fraud was exposed in 1999, living in the lap of luxury in India and the UK. He was found with chequebooks in 70 different names at a gym in

Harrow earlier this year and arrested for his latest scam, a ￡2.8m mortgage fraud.

D e t e c t i v e Superintendent Bob Wishart, from City of London Police, told the Harrow Times: “By bringing Shah to justice we have curtailed his career

He told his victims he could arrange employment for them in Britain if they paid him an advance fee but simply pocketed the money, leaving them jobless when they arrived here.

He later used their identities to make fraudulent mortgage applications when he returned to London via Ireland in 2006 under a false name.

Shah was arrested at Dublin Airport en route to Britain after he was caught in possession of false passports and credit cards but jumped bail and successfully ran the mortgage con for another three years.

Shah was initially granted legal aid at taxpayers' expense but fired four different sets of lawyers and eventually it was stripped from him by the judge. He then allegedly hired another top silk, this time paying out of his own pocket, and was jailed at Southwark Crown Court.

Speaking about the saga in July, Judge Peter Testar said: “...He is an intelligent man and a former solicitor, and he has brought this situation on himself. “It would be a scandalous waste of money if I granted him further legal aid.”

Killer hacked mother to death 'because she wanted to divorce husband'

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in films and, much more importantly, removed a ruthless and calculated fraudster from the streets whose criminal gang struck fear into people living in the UK and India.”

Once safely ensconced in India, Shah set out to live his Bollywood dreams, blowing all the stolen cash on a series of film productions and an extravagant lifestyle.

At the same time, Shah boosted his income by running credit card frauds in India, Pakistan and Dubai and set up a new scam targeting students wanting to study in the UK.

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A mother-of-two was brutally hacked to death with a machete on the orders of her jealous husband because she wanted a divorce. Geeta Aulakh was murdered by a teenager and his illegal immigrant accomplice.

Such was the ferocity of the attack, the 28-yearold’s hand was severed as she tried to defend herself.

Her estranged husband Harpreet Aulakh, 32, offered £5,000 for her to be killed.

Just days before the murder, he was caught on CCTV buying the 14-inch machete for £13.99 in a shop.

Hard-working Geeta, a radio station receptionist, was killed by the two assassins after stepping off a bus and was just minutes away from picking up her two sons, now nine and ten, from their childminder in Greenford, West London.

The man said to have wielded the machete was

were convicted.

Aftab Jafferjee QC, prosecuting, said behind the 'savage and determined' attack was Aulakh’s 'chilling' reaction to his wife’s desire to leave him.

'Geeta Aulakh was in the process of divorcing him and that would not be tolerated.

Geeta with husband Harpreet during 'No one else in happy days the world could possibly have wished Aulakh’s friend Sher this utterly innocent and Singh, 19. He flew into hard-working woman and the UK from India four mother any harm.' months before the murder Jobless Aulakh, on a student visa. described by Mr Jafferjee The third killer, 30as 'smug and utterly unreyear-old Jaswant Singh pentant', spent his days at Dhillon, was an illegal home drinking, smoking immigrant who entered and playing computer the country in 2002. games.

All three men were He had thought he found guilty at the Old was in the clear because Bailey of murdering Geeta he made sure he was capon November 16 last year. tured on CCTV in a pub Geeta’s sister Anita at the time of the murder.

Shinh, 30, sobbed as they

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

COMMENT

Making the 'special relationship' fit for purpose The Anglo-American 'special relationship', came into its own, as it were, during the Second World War. Gravely weakened by the killing fields of World War I, Britain was at a disadvantage confronting the Axis, Nazi German and fascist Italy in Europe, and Imperial Japan in the Far East and South East Asia – her material and financial resources were depleted, and it soon became brutally self-evident that without American financial aid and supplies of badly needed materiel for her hard-pressed forces, Britain's lone struggle against Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy would be put beyond repair. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had his hands bound by Congress in its determination to stick to America's traditional policy of isolation. He got around this by artfully constructing Lend Lease to Britain: British bases in the Caribbean and British money for US military aid. The US president, despite his winning ways, drove a hard bargain. As a consummate politician (he won four presidential elections at a time when there was no two-term constitutional bar),for Roosevelt US interests came first every time. America's 'special relationship' with Britain was good for America, the kinship of the English speaking peoples he left to the romantic imagination of his British partner Winston Churchill, although it should be recognised that he, too, was aware of the role of realpolitik in the bonding.

But for Prime Minister Churchill the British Empire, particularly in India, was sacrosanct. Not so for Roosevelt, who believed fervently that the British Empire and all European empires in the east were irrelevant to the needs the new global order, which he wished to construct in America's name. There was considerable Anglo-American tension on this issue.

Furthermore, Roosevelt well understood the Soviet Union's paramount role in the defeat of Nazi Germany and its emergence as the world's second superpower. An understanding with Moscow was therefore vital and he went about achieving a relationship of trust with Stalin. Churchill described himself sitting next to the great Russian Bear on the one side and to the great American Buffalo on the other.

It was the Big Two who presided over the birth of the United Nations, on which venture Roosevelt expended immense political capital, recalling, as he did, the failure of the League of Nations after World War I and

the consequences arising therefrom for world peace.

Roosevelt died on the eve of the Allied victory and the wartime coalition broke down, giving rise to the Cold War, which ended two decades ago. The old divisions may have disappeared, but there remains still a trust deficit between the great powers, for which reason there is as yet no true peace dividend.

The US is today mired in Iraq and AfghanistanPakistan with no discernible exit strategy in sight.

The Blair government instead of offering the wise and honest counsel of a trusted friend decided to tail after the George W. Bush administration in Washington and enter a perilous Middle Eastern misadventure constructed on specious grounds. The 'special relationship' was transformed into one that was servile and brought British policy into disrepute. Senior Conservative ministers are now falling over themselves proclaiming their undying loyalty to the United States, oblivious of past follies perpetrated by the Labour government.

There is significant diplomatic and strategic space in the post-Cold War era. International relations are more fluid today than they were two decades ago when the Berlin wall stood erect. Washington is certain to broaden its relationships; it seeks to engage more closely with India and China and consult more frequently with Berlin and Paris. It has reset the Russian button, even as the Nato Secretary General proclaimed Russia to be a partner and no longer an adversary. Geostrategic realities have forced this change of direction. Islamist terror is perceived as a common threat. Is the wartime coalition reinventing itself? Time, or WikiLeaks, will tell. Britain must surely keep the 'special relationship' with the US in good working order. But this is best achieved under contemporary conditions with Britain carving an autonomous niche for herself in the evolving 21st century global equilibrium.

Feel the winds of change blowing about us. When the year ends India will have played host to all the leaders of the of the five permanent members UN Security Council: in order, David Cameron, Barack Obama, Nicolas Sarkozy, Wen Jiaobao and Dmitry Medvedev. This is New Delhi's response to transformational developments on the international scene.

Faced with similar opportunities, Britain too must respond to the challenge.

Cricket and football carry a message for England The news from Australia is heartening. Having trounced Australia by an innings and 71 runs in the Second Test at Adelaide, the visitors have their truculent hosts on the run. Apart from the opening day of the First Test at Brisbane, England have been ensconced in the box seat. With three Tests to come and Australia limp, the Ashes are virtually in England's bag, bar the shouting. They need only a drawn series to retain the Ashes, but they have done better by bearding the Australian kangaroo in its own habitat and come up trumps. England have out-batted, out-bowled and out-fielded their opponents with an ease few thought possible before the series began. English cricket has been doing the talking where it matters most – on the playing field.

This is so munch more convincing than conducting a media campaign of barbed comment and innuendo against, say, the workings of the International Cricket Council (ICC). There are those who hanker for the days when international cricket business was part of the white man's burden, hence was confined to the masonic lodge of Lord's. The victory over Australia should dispel imperial angst.

England can win, and win handsomely whatever the governing dispensation of the international cricketing order.

This surely carries a lesson for English football administrators and scribes alike. Their reactions to

FIFA's decision to award the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively have smacked of childish petulance and xenophobia.

Sepp Blatter the FIFA President has become a target for character assassination, the air dense with charges of bribery and corruption and rules stacked against England. There are loud calls for a change in voting proceedures and much else besides.

The telling fact that England won a solitary vote in the first round and was eliminated from the contest, despite being promised widespread support from various quarters, point surely to a withering contempt and coruscating dislike of English condescension and the innate desire to patronise lowly foreigners. The foreigners hit back with the nearest weapon to hand - their votes.

England's international image as a football power took a huge hit in South Africa during the last World Cup, so there was no convincing critical mass to sway FIFA delegates in England's favour.

When England's soccer teams perform as creditably as their cricketing compatriots a more favourable current is likely to emerge. Reforms in the domestic football structure are more urgent than ever. They should take precedence over hallowed strains of Russophobia and dismissive slurs on Qatar's supposed inability to host the games.Time to grow up, gentlemen.

Is anti-terror strategy taking shape?

A little over a week ago, a news item from Brussels told of the capture and arrest of 26 al Qaeda operatives and their Chechnyan comrades-in-arms. They were allegedly planning to launch a series of attacks in Belgium and Holland. Peter Power, a British security expert, told a French television network that the West appeared to be taking on board the Russian contention that terrorism and terrorists had to be seen as a single problem and a threat to all societies considered to be infidel entities. To play off one group against another in the search for questionable profit was self-defeating and Western states at last were convinced of this reality. Mr Power went on to say that the present cooperation between Russia and the West was now hugely significant if largely covert,

something that was 'unimaginable' less than a decade ago.

A dysfunctional and increasingly jehadist Pakistan, with the Taliban in Afghanistan working its insurgent ways, and the Pakistan Taliban doing the same across the border, Nato allies, led by the United States, are in a quandary. But that is not all. The Islamist insurgency is taking hold in Central Asia, notably in Tajikstan and Uzbekistan, not to speak of the north Caucasian region of Russia. Non-jehadic states in the area and beyond must stick together or hang separately in the face of this growing menace.

This is not a time for faint hearts or those given to politicking for short-term gains. It is time to stand up and be counted.

www.abplgroup.com

Thought for the Week You've got to search for the hero inside yourself. Search for the secrets you hide.

Search for the hero inside yourself - until you find the key to your life.

- British pop group M People

Bob Blackman, MP Harrow East

A Visit to Krishna Avanti School aKrishna Avanti School in Edgware is a credit to the education system of the United Kingdom. It was developed with the approval of Conservative-run Harrow Council against opposition from other political parties. Although the development of the school was not universally accepted by all the people living locally, the end result has been excellent facilities and excellent teaching for children attending.

Hopefully, the school will shortly expand to allow even more children to gain from the ethos of the school.

I have always supported the right of parents to choose a faithbased school for their children and so I was delighted when the first State-sponsored Hindu Primary School opened in my constituency.

I was pleased to be present at the ground-breaking ceremony and also at the Summer Fete earlier this year. Ofsted has also given the school an excellent review.

On Friday 3rd December, I visited the school and saw at first hand the excellent work undertaken to build a state of the art school incorporating the Hindu ethos. The development combines eco-friendly buildings with sedum roofs and interactive white boards and computer access. Apart from the modern gym, there is a purpose built marble temple and large outdoor courtyard.

The school has created facilities for all sports and an opportunity for the

wider community to use adjoining sports facilities. The landscaping provides a pond, wildlife gardens and an outdoor amphi theatre. The purpose built kitchen provides fresh, hot, healthy meals for the children and I was pleased to taste the excellent products!

Background music plays constantly in the corridors. This is soothing and encourages good behaviour.

The teaching staff come from a wide range of backgrounds. They communicate all that is best in a wide-ranging curriculum. The children gain knowledge of all the world religions and understand all of the various festivals that are held. The children are smartly dressed in their school uniforms and use the opportunity to learn to their best advantage.

The school is a worthy addition to all the other excellent schools in Harrow.

I look forward to:Krishna Avanti increasing in size shortly to allow even more parents who want their children to have the same opportunity to learn at Krishna Avanti School.

Helping achieve the development of the first State-sponsored Hindu Secondary School in the country.

Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, coming to visit the school and conducting the official opening.

ASIAN VOICE is published by Asian Business Publications Ltd Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, (Off Coronet Street) London N1 6HW. Tel: 020 7749 4080 Fax: 020 7749 4081 Email: aveditorial@abplgroup.com www: abplgroup.com © Asian Business Publications

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UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

Leicester Voice

By Kartik S Raval

Do you have any comments, news or photographs about Leicester? If you do, please send them to Leicester Voice at

Eyes on the Olympics An Olympics Fencing hopeful has received a vital boost to his sporting ambitions after receiving sponsorship from the University of Leicester.

Economics student Gaurav Gupta has received support from the ViceChancellor of the University of Leicester, Professor Sir Bob Burgess, as well as the University’s Sports and Recreation team, among others at the University.

The sponsorship will cover the costs of weekly private training lessons with a professional coach, Tomek Walicki, in London. This will allow Gupta to increase his training to further his skills and should produce better results in competition.

In addition to the sponsorship, Gupta has free personal training sessions at the University gym, which enables him to train during his time in Leicester and prepare for competitions.

Gupta has represented India in the Asian Championships and the World Championships, won India’s Championship in 2009, was a runner-up in 2010 and most recently achieved an eight place in the Commonwealth Fencing Championships in October. His next big competitions are the University Championships and India’s Championship in January 2011 and Gupta aims to represent India in the London 2012 Olympics with qualifications taking place in 2011.

Gupta’s family are originally from Uttar Pradesh in Northern India but he has lived in England all his life. He got involved with Fencing as an after-school activity when he was 12 years old but after showing potential took it more seriously. Since then, he has progressed

progress my Fencing skills.”

Director of Sport, University of Leicester Colin Hide said, “There’s a synergy between world class performance and study at a top university as to be successful at both requires discipline, application, good coaching and talent all managed within excellent time management environment.”

He added by saying “I wish him every success in achieving his goals.”

Vi c e - C h a n c e l l o r, Professor Sir Bob Burgess, commented “Gupta is a talented fencer and I am delighted that the University is able to support him in his endeavors to take part in the Olympics Gaurav set to showcase his fencing skills at Olympics 2012. I believe it is important to support Qualification 2011 students who are highly rapidly and achieved high results at able in other activities, as well as in national and international competithe academic arena, as it provides tions. them with valuable transferable However, in order to avoid losing skills that will be of benefit to the focus from academics, Gupta has them after their time at been participating only in key sportUniversity.” ing events. Gaurav reveals, “I’m Looking forward to achieve the focusing only on the big competiset targets, Gaurav says, “I’m very tions now. Although I lose the expethankful to the University, the rience of smaller competitions, eduVice-Chancellor, the Department cation comes first. Also, this gives of Economics, the Student me more time to train and with the Development Zone, the Fencing support I receive from the Club, my friends and family for University, I can maximise available their continuing support and time for training and studies and encouragement.”

Hunt for illegal workers goes on More illegal workers were discovered by UK Border Agency officers, this time in two Berkshire restaurants after night time raids.

The enforcement operation was carried out as part of an ongoing nationwide campaign to tackle immigration crime.

Following intelligence tip-offs, the officers visited the Mikado on London Road in Sunninghill, Ascot, and Asian Fusion on Bath Road in Littlewick Green, Maidenhead, to carry out checks on staff to ensure they had the right to work in the UK. At Mikado a 40-yearold Chinese man and a 42-year-old Malaysian woman were arrested for being in the country illegally after their visas

expired. They both face removal from the UK. A large quantity of cash was also seized from the Chinese man. If it is found that he earned the money through working illegally it could be seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act. A third member of staff was found to be a failed asylum seeker who had no right to work in the UK. He was granted immigration bail while the the border agency secure a travel document for him so he can be sent back home.

At Asian Fusion a 32year-old Bangladeshi man was arrested for overstaying his visa and was detained pending his removal. Two other members of staff who were also found to be working illegally were granted immigration bail.

Both Mikado and Asian Fusion could now face fines of up to £30,000 each unless they can prove to us that they did the legally required checks on staff.

Follow the growth: Go to India Many businesses are having a hard time to cope with the on-going recession and sky scrapping inflation rate in the UK. Regardless of the business size; small, medium or large, all enterprises are seeking ways to tackle the burden of the falling economy. This has called for a need to target booming Asian markets, especially eye India and China to seek growth options.

The UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) roadshow that has been going on around the entire UK reached Leicestershire and it held a conference in Hinckley with the local businesses in an effort to encourage them to take their business to the sub-continents in Asia, where the growth is.

Hundreds of businesses took part in an open conference to share experience and take suggestions from UKTI about the best means and methods to seek growth in countries like India, China and Singapore.

The conference was built

on the central idea that billions of people across the Asian continent are developing a taste for Western goods and consumerism and hence were urged to seek growth in this massive opportunity in order to fight the recession in the UK. Hogarth, UKTI's international trade director for the East Midlands seemed to be of a logical belief, "If you want to grow your business, you go where the growth is.”

Moreover, with lots of businesses in Leicestershire ran by people with Asian background, a better sense of Asian market prevailed and other businesses got an adequate and significantly appropriate idea of the growth. Many Asian economies are growing by 10-12 percent, with Singapore's growth marked at 15 percent.

This rate of growth seems highly tempting for the companies that has suffered a major blow in the last few years because of UK's suffering economy.

Other benefits to the businesses were also spo-

kartik.raval@abplgroup.com

The biggest football unions invest £1.1m in the grass roots of Leicester

Keith Vaz with players and members of Leicester Bharat FC

Members of Bharat Football Club celebrated the opening of their new £1.1m clubhouse. Club’s new base in Rushdey Mead, Leicester acclaim improved playing fields, boastful six changing rooms, two referee rooms, a club room with other modern facilities.

This investment in football is a part of a £11.2m project to raise footballing qualities right from the scratch at 11 sites across the city, one of the biggest footballing hubs of the world. A plan supported by European Football commission UEFA, English Football unions Premier League, the FA, Leicester council and also the NHS and Government of England.

Leicester East MP Keith Vaz, Alan Birchenall and a number of other dignitaries joined the club's players and coaches to kick start this initiative. Leicester Bharat FC chairman Pradip Dullabh said the clubhouse was very important to the community and hoped it will encourage more children to take up football. With new state-of-art facilities in place, Leicester Council is hopeful that it will see more parents wanting to send their kids to learn Football and involve with the community through sports from a very young age.

The Football club has six regular teams apparently and plans to add two more in the coming year and also wants to focus on getting a strong regular girl’s team. Rickesh Kaira, player and under-10s manager, described the new and old facilities as "worlds apart". here are about 150 players at Bharat FC but they want to add to the strength by focusing on youth and teach them the sport from a very young age in order to see a stronger footballing club in the soon coming new decade.

Mr Vaz at the opening said, "I am excited about the new facilities for the club. Leicester Bharat FC is a real benefit to the local community and it is extremely popular with young people. The impact of improved facilities will be very positive, particularly when considering the health benefits for local children involved in sport. The people involved have created something that will last a very long time.”

Previously a new complex was opened by Aylestone Park FC and the project spent £1.35m at this development at the Mary Linwood playing fields, off Saffron Lane. New College in New Parks has also been transformed with new fully floodlit grass and allweather pitches worth £1.6m. ken about in details as it was pointed that by taking the business to Asian continent, one is significantly reducing the threat to business through all the major shifts in currency rates.

Delegates were also told that European products were considered far superior and sold much better in China than local products, despite costing around three times.

Leicestershire businesses will be attending another conference, specifically aimed at agri-tech businesses wanting to work in China.

First ever Asian to join Leicestershire CCC board Shahid Sheikh has made history as no Asian ever before was present on the Cricket Board of Leicestershire. Though it is now that he joined the board, he has been constantly engaged with the club's activities and is well-known amongst the players and the members.

Mr. Sheikh has been involved with the club since 2006 when he supported the tour match at Grace Road against Pakistan. In 2007 he cosponsored Leicestershire's pre-season tour to Sri Lanka and was named the club's cultural ambassador.

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Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

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Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

House of Lords expenses magnified - Kartik.S.Raval Following the suspension of Lord Bhatia, Lord Paul and Baroness Uddin from the House of Lords, a lot has been speculated about the wrongly claimed expenses and allowances by the Members. A need has been witnessed in the community to assess these expenses which Wethe common people pay through Tax. The inquiry held into the notorious activities of these three Members revealed that Lord Bhatia had wrongly claimed £27,446 in the time span from 1st October 2007 to 1st January 2009, Lord Paul between late 2005 till July 2006 wrongly claimed £41,982 and Baroness Uddin was found to have claimed £123,349 in the period between May 2005 to January 2010 which she was not entitled to. The investigation into these accounts witnessed loopholes in the reimbursement system through which Members of the House of Lords could claim their expenses and hence the parliament did the needful on 1 October 2010, by changing the procedure and the system through which allowances can be claimed and put a new scheme in place.

According to the old system, Members could claim the allowances on the days they attend the parliament without producing any receipts under the main categories of Daily subsistence which would include the cost incurred for meals, parking, taxi journeys and travel within five miles of Westminster; Overnight subsistence for the expenses of the members whose main home is outside Greater London; Accommodation Maintenance Allowance for the Members who maintained a second residence in London and Office Costs to cover the expenses of office administration, assistance, stationery and alike.

Each of these cate-

The notorious trio: Lord Bhatia, Lord Paul and Baroness Uddin

There are of course concerns about this limit as £174 for one night seems too lavishly priced by many. However, with new scheme of claiming allowances in place as recommended by the Review Body on Senior Salaries (SSRB), the first three categories of allowances in the table has been scrapped and a flat rate attendance allowance of either £150 or £300 can be claimed for each day of attendance. Members has the responsibility to choose whether they want to claim 0, £150 or £300 and again no receipts will be asked to be provided as this is strictly allowances.

So the major concern here remains whether the new system addresses the

issue or it will be just a matter of time that some Members will find new loopholes to extract monetary benefits and use Taxpayer's money for their own luxuries.

There is also a need for people to know that all these allowances and expenses claimed by the Members of the House of Lords are 100% tax free as in the words of Parliament, 'membership of House of Lords is neither an office nor employment and therefore not liable for income tax.'

(The research done is based on the information provided by the House of Lords and we are open to any amendment or suggestion over the issue that relates to all.)

members attending gories were accompanied massively exceeds the Parliament on Monday maximum allowance by a maximum amount limit. When Asian Voice that each member can morning and hence the asked for more informaclaim. However, Travel cost would go up. While tion on these figures from cost for the Members of the office cost can not the Parliament, it defendthe House of Lords could only be claimed for the ed the expenses claimed also be claimed for travel days attended but also an by its Members by saying fares between Member's extra of 40 days per year the Overnight expenses main home and just to keep the office can also be claimed for Westminster, although administration running in the Sunday night for this was reimbursed on their absence. producing the bill of the journey.

Residential No.of days Overnight Day Office Travel Total Asian Voice Name Location Attended Subsistence (£) Subsistence (£) Costs (£) Costs (£) expenses has compiled a table of figures that reflect the Baroness Afshar Yorkshire 11 2262 865 750 1115 4992 expense of each and every Asian Lord Ahmed South Yorkshire 24 4672 2076 1800 816 9364 Lord or Baroness London 14 Nil 1211 3150 168 4529 for the first Lord Bhatia Quarter of 2010 Lord Bhattacharya Birmingham 15 Nil 1298 1125 1428 3851 (1 April 2010- 31 July 2010)in order Lord Billimoria London 16 Nil 375 2975 Nil 3350 to give its readers 0 Nil Nil Nil Nil 0 an in-depth Lord Chitnis knowledge of how 3230 London 22 Nil 1730 1500 Nil and where their Lord Desai tax money is being Lord Dholakia West Sussex 24 5046 2076 1800 322 9244 spent. But it is to Berkshire 19 3132 1557 1350 156 6195 be remembered Baroness Flather that there are also 8 Nil Nil Nil Nil 0 many Non-Asian Lord Hameed Members of the Lord King Sandwell 25 5742 2163 1875 840 10620 House of Lords who have claimed Lord Parekh East Yorkshire 8 600 680 600 203 2083 equal or more Lord Patel, Blackburn Lancashire 22 2958 1817 1575 1232 7582 allowances.

For each day of Lord Patel, Bradford Yorkshire 15 2262 1211 1050 990 5513 Parliament attended, mem- Lord Patel Perth & Kinross 12 1566 952 825 1053 4396 bers were allowed Buckinghamshire 20 696 1730 1575 24 4025 to claim Lord Paul M a x i m u m 5 Nil 270 160 Nil 430 Allowance for Baroness Prashar D a i l y Lord Rana Northern Ireland 8 1044 519 450 2548 4561 Subsistence£86.50, Overnight Lord Sheikh 4176 1557 1350 123 7206 Hertfordshire 18 (+3) SubsistenceLondon 25 Nil 2163 1875 Nil 1038 £174.00 and Baroness Uddin Office Cost0 Nil Nil Nil Nil 0 £75.00. In this Baroness Vadera first quarter the Baroness Verma Leicestershire 24 696 260 225 170 1351 Parliament sat for 25 days.

Baroness Warsi 20 3132 1730 Nil Nil 4862 Looking at the (Account of Lord Bagri has not been mentioned as he voluntarily ceased to be a member following ill health while table one can easily highlight some Lord Dolar Popat, Lord Tariq Ahmed, Lord Qurban Hussain, Lord Raj Loomba and Lord Gulam Noon were all includOvernight and ed in the House of Lords after the first Quarter of 2010.) office costs that

Honeymoon murder: Seeking the truth The latest news that broke out on early Tuesday about Anni's husband's involvement in her murder has shocked the whole community. Those who have known Shrien personally are insistent that he cannot be involved in murdering his own wife, whom Shrien has described as his perfect 'soul mate'. Asian Voice has been contacted by several readers on hearing this wide allegation over

television and other forms of media. Some of them have known Shrien very closely for years and they have openly claimed their disgust at this news, stating it is a conspiracy or a stitch up by the South African government, to cover up for the huge security gap they have in their system especially for their tourists.

BBC states that Western Cape High Court heard taxi driver Zola

Tongo had alleged he was offered 5,000 rand (￡460)

by Mr Dewani, 31, from Bristol, to kill his wife.

The Daily Telegraph reported Shrien had allegedly offered 15000 rand (￡1300) for killing his wife. Guardian reports that Tongo said Shrien Dewani offered 50,000 rand each (￡4,595), but paid only 1,000.

Mr Dewani's family described the allegations as "totally ludicrous".

Tongo, 31, from Bothasig, has been jailed for 18 years after agreeing a plea bargain. He was charged with murder, kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances and perverting the course of justice. Xolile Mnguni, 23, and Mziwamadoda Qwabe, 25, face charges of murder, aggravated robbery and kidnapping.

It is perhaps obvious that if Zola is not responsible for the conspiracy,

then without Shrien being tried in the court he would not have been sentenced for 18 years. Probably Zola Tonga's allegation was totally aimed to reduce his own sentence by a few more years.

Max Clifford, the spokesman for Shrien told Asian Voice, "Shrien is wholly innocent of any involvement in this heinous crime. These allegations are totally ludicrous, extremely conven-

ient for South Africa and very hurtful to a young man who is grieving the loss of the woman he loved, his chosen life partner.

The South African Police have not even sought to speak to Mr Dewani regarding the allegations.

Instead two weeks has been spent “negotiating” this confession from the Taxi Driver Continued on page 7

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

Honeymoon murder: seeking the truth Continued from page 6 whilst the others Accused have complained of torture and forced confessions.

Mr Dewani remains in the UK where he is receiving medical treatment."

The daily medias all over the UK have reported that Mrs Dewani’s father, Vinod Hindocha, flew in from his home in Sweden to hear state prosecutor Rodney de Kock outline the case on Tuesday morning.

The dramatic twist came as Mr de Kock allegedly outlined the terms of a plea bargain deal agreed with Zola Tongo, the taxi driver hired by Mr Dewani to drive the couple around on Nov 13.

The Daily Telegraph reports that he told Judge President John Hlophe:

"The deceased was murdered at the instance of her husband."

Mr Dewani, 30, and his Swedish, 28-year-old wife of just two weeks, were hijacked on the evening of Saturday Nov 13, just a few days into their luxury South African honeymoon.

They were driving back to their five star hotel in central Cape Town when they agreed to take a detour through Gugulethu, which is one of Cape Town’s most impoverished townships.

But within three minutes of leaving the motorway, two gunmen hijacked the taxi with the couple still inside.

According to Mr Dewani, after they had robbed the couple of all their valuables, the men kicked him out of the taxi. His wife’s body was discovered sev-

eral hours later in the back of the abandoned taxi. She had been shot in the neck.

Hasmukh Shah Veji, (Director, Per-Medic limited), who knows the Dewani family and Shrien personally, told Asian Voice, "Shrien Dewani is innocent. A conspiracy to defame him is hatched up between the three accused and the SA Police succeeds to frame him, just to save the Tourist Industry from a free fall in the godforsaken, damned and violent South Africa and it has happened exactly as it was predicted two weeks ago as a foregone conclusion.

Responsible media should expose this scandal for what it is and save many more innocent British Tourists meeting the same fate.

Remember Madeleine

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Shrien. Aren't you? It can easily have been you or one of your loved ones."

Kajal Valani, President, NHSF (UK) told Asian Voice, "It amazes me how the world resorts itself to gossip, scandals and distorting facts. We will never know details of what happened, but the NHSF (UK) parivaar, which included Shrien, Shrien and Anni Dewani after their wedding ceremony in Mumbai includes Shrien and will always McCann and the incomWorld Cup in SA, the include Shrien believes in petent Portuguese Police journalist who wrote his loss, and has faith in blaming her parents for about incompetence of all accounts given by him. her disappearance? The SA police security proviSatyameva Jayate nanBritish Football fan who sions was arrested rtam – Truth alone wins, broke into the changing because he exposed their not untruth (Mundaka incapabilities! rooms of the English team Upanishad Chapter I know Shrien is innoto remonstrate its poor Chapter III Verse 6)." cent. We are with you performance during the

INDIA VISA APPLICATION CENTRE !

The new online application form, which will need to be completed when submitting documents for a visa to India, begun from 23rd November 2010 across the United Kingdom and will be mandatory for all applications made at the India Visa Application Centers (IVAC) on behalf of the High Commission of India (London) and the Consulate General of India (Birmingham and Edinburgh).

From this date onwards, the new format of the visa application form shall be available on the VFS website for the India Visa Application Centers, http://in.vfsglobal.co.uk. If there is any information that you would require – please email us on info.inuk@vfshelpline.com .

All applications made on and after 23rd November 2010 would require applicants to follow the new application form and duly sign on the same.

Applicants are required to submit two photographs along with their applications – a) one photograph pasted on the application form and b) second photograph stapled on the reverse of the form. No new handwritten application forms will be accepted at any of the India Visa Application Centers effective from 23rd November 2010. The existing application form will be unavailable on VFS Global’s website after 23rd November 2010, except

! the additional information forms (Non-UK form, Colombo form, Beijing form and Additional information form for Employment Visa etc).

Internet kiosks are available in the IVACs for easy access to the online form.

# Please ensure to note the interim unique reference number generated at the start (and seen on each page) of the online application form Please record/ note the final reference number that is generated upon completion of your application Provide an email address in your application so that information on your unique reference numbers can be sent Applicants are advised to schedule an appointment through the website though this is optional Please submit a confirmed and detailed itinerary if applying for a double/triple entry visa. However, this does not guarantee the issuance of a visa and the decision would still remain subject to the discretion of the High Commission of India (London) and the Consulate General (Birmingham and Edinburgh).

Applications MUST be signed by the applicant him/herself and not by any representative For Postal Applications – please allow 10 to 15 days, from the date it is posted,

!

before the application can be processed Before submitting your visa application, please check your passport(s) to ensure there is no valid visa for India All fields on the Online Application Form must be completed in as much detail as possible.

When entering address information, please ensure that you provide the Post Code as well.

# Offline/handwritten application forms will not be accepted at the IVACs for applications made on or after 23rd November 2010 Photographs with colored background will not be accepted. Photographs only with a white / off white background will be accepted at the IVACs Please do not staple both photographs to the application Form. One must be pasted to the front of the Form while the second must be stapled to the reverse side Please ensure all applications requiring additional documents are completed prior to submission at the IVACs. Information to this effect is given on the website http://in.vfsglobal.co.uk In case you wish to use the SMS service (optional additional service at a nominal charge) the format of the number that you would enter must be as per the instructions given against that field. Please note that the SMS would not be

triggered if the format of the number is incorrect

Log on to the website http://in.vfsglobal.co.uk Click on the link to begin filling an online visa application form Please note the interim Unique Reference Number located at the start, and on each page, of the Online Form once you begin. Guidance notes are also provided Complete all the required fields as specified.

Upon completing and saving the Online Application Form, applicants will receive an email with details of the final Reference Number, providing an email address has been given while filing the Form.

Applicants will also have the option to Download/Print the application form at this stage Upon clicking Save, applicants would be redirected to the module that allows selection of the center for submission, mode of collection and the option of SMS At this stage, applicants will also have the option to make an appointment or make an online payment. Both of these are optional services and one can also submit the documents without an appointment or make a payment at the IVAC Upon completion, applicants

" will receive another email with details of the application made All applicants will be required to download and sign a Declaration Form, which is made available on the website http://in.vfsglobal.co.uk and submit it along with the application at the Visa Center.

Please submit all documents at the IVAC along with all other required documents

Under normal circumstances, most visa applications will take a minimum of 2-3 working days to process. This may vary for specific visa categories, non-UK passports and certain nationalities, where the turnaround could be much longer. This decision is at the sole discretion of the High Commission of India and its Consulates.

All visa seekers are recommended to confirm their travel plans only after obtaining the visa.

For more information please visit http://in.vfsglobal.co.uk VF Services (UK) Limited will be responsible only for accepting and processing applications. All applications will continue to be assessed by the High Commission of India, London and its Consulates General in Edinburgh and Birmingham. Timelines for turnaround of visas are as per the discretion of the authority.

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Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

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Man wins legal battle over turban joke A Sikh man who brought 44 different allegations against eight of his colleagues, all of which were investigated by his employer, Jobcentre Plus, has won his case, three years on and following an 11-day hearing in Birmingham, for religious harassment.

Rewind to November 2007 when colleagues joked about landing a remote-controlled helicopter on Mojhinder Bal’s turban. One colleague, Amid Uddin, began flying the toy round the office ‘landing’ the device on desks and cabinets, at which Mr Bal laughed.

But he took offence when another colleague, Sue Ramjan-Coley, suggested Mr Uddin land the device ‘on Mo’s turban – he’s got a flat surface’. Mr Bal told

Ms Ramjan-Coley she was ‘obsessed’ with his turban and suggested she get one for herself. To this she allegedly replied ‘I could do with one, I’m having a bad hair day’, though the tribunal concluded that this comment was not made in an offensive way.

Mr Bal also accused Ms Ramjan-Coley of being ‘degrading’, ‘offensive’ and ‘intimidating’, after she asked him if he slept with his turban on and if he took it off in the show-

Greedy pair preyed on old women Two pyramid sellers from Wolverhampton who tricked elderly women into losing thousands of pounds have been ordered to cough up the cash. Suman Mahmi, 44, and Leith Shakes, 68, pictured, told their clients no men were allowed to join the scheme.

They then tricked them into handing over £500 each, claiming they could turn their investment into £3,500.

They were each ordered to pay £2,500 compensation to the seven victims and £2,200 costs. Judge Nicholas Webb at Wolverhampton Crown Court further fined Mahmi £3,250 and Shakes £3,000. Sean Sidhu-Brar, for Mahmi, said: “The shame she has brought on herself and her family is something she will have to live with for the rest of her life.”

Sisters in bank fraud A Birmingham bank manager, two sisters and a man are accused of stealing almost £500,000 from an unsuspecting customer. Parminder Bhachu, 42, Pushpaben and Niranjanaben Patel, aged 35 and 32, respectively, and Satwinder Ghattaura, 42, appeared at Birmingham Crown Court last Tuesday. All four each deny a charge of conspiracy to steal. Shenaz Muzaffer, prosecuting, said: “The primary focus of this trial concerns an agreement between all four defendants to steal from Barclays bank. A total of £480,000 was fraudulently transferred from the account of a known bank-holder, a genuine customer, into an account that had been set up as part of the conspiracy.”

Men pledge to protect women Men in Sandwell have joined an equality crusade by wearing white ribbons as a symbol of their pledge never to commit, condone or remain silent about domestic violence against women. To find out more visit www.whiteribboncampaign.co.uk

Recycling food leftovers Wolverhampton City Council is about to embark on a £100,000 “communications” drive to try to convince 98,000 households to recycle their food scraps.

And in the plan the council officers are told “ensure the message targets the female head of the household.” Call this sexist?

Salt in demand Sales of rock salt are up by 1,600% compared with this time last year, according to B&Q. Tesco reported a 113% leap in sales of de-icer last week. Up to 92,000 tons of salt a day are being used by councils and the Highways Agency, but the three mines that supply Britain produce only 10,000 tons a day.

er but the tribunal concluded that ‘no such query was made’.

Although Ms RamjanColey denied suggesting the helicopter be landed on the

claimant’s turban, the judge ruled against the Jobcentre, and found that the comments were ‘inherently racist’. But the judge at the Birmingham tribunal threw out several other claims of race and religious discrimination, indirect race and religious discrimination, victimisation and failure of the Jobcentre to properly investigate the grievance, according to a Daily Mail report.

In fact the Jobcentre investigated 44 different allegations brought by Mr Bal against eight members of staff, producing a 170page document described as ’one of the largest investigations’ they had ever undertaken. Mr Bal had claimed the Jobcentre’s investigation had left him feeling ‘victimised and harassed’, but the tribunal concluded it was conducted reasonably although they were ‘surprised’ that the helicopter incident was not deemed to be harassment.

The tribunal also said that despite Mr Bal, a devout Sikh, claiming honesty was one of his core values they pointed out he was the only witness giving evidence who had a dishonest record, when in 2004 he had received a three year

written reprimand and a one year promotion ban for racking up hundreds of pounds in 22 hours of unauthorised private calls from work.

They said that some of his evidence was ‘not credible’ whilst describing a witness, Cynthia John, who said that Mr Bal was trying to create a race issue within the team as ‘credible and robust’. Mr Bal, who has been a Jobcentre employee since 1992, was represented by a trade union rep.

The tribunal also found that other discussions between Mr Bal and Ms Ramjan-Coley about his turban were ‘positive enquiries about the wearing of a turban and were not derogatory, intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive in their nature’.

Mr Bal took a period of absence between December 10, 2007 and January 31, 2008 for paternity and then special leave, after becoming a father. But in January he began formulating the grievance, which he sent to the West Bromwich branch of Jobcentre Plus.

Commenting on the case outcome on a social networking forum, one respondent said: “I’m a Sikh and I wear a turban and I actually found this quite funny, not racist. This guy is pulling the race card for some extra cash in his back pocket.” Another said: “Crying racism does appear to be a tool used by minorities with a chip on their shoulder, or looking for a route to free money.”

Mr Bal, who still works at the Jobcentre, is now set for a payout at a remedy hearing in February next year.

Donations distributed Remaining funds raised from an inaugural Muslim charity walk were distributed to representatives from various Midland charities at a thanksgiving function held in Birmingham on Sunday a fortnight ago. The walk last year, organised by Majlis Ansarullah, a veteran arm of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association UK, had raised £161,000. Since, a further £37,500 was collected. Beneficiaries included Age Concern, Cure Leukaemia and British Heart Foundation. Regional coordinator Syed Imtiaz Ahmed said: “Unfortunately, the Muslim community in particular is often vilified in the media for the extremist views and activities of some of its fringe elements which overshadows a lot of the good work being done. It is important for all communities to come together, do good deeds and wipe out extremism and negative forces at work in all sections of our society.” Photo: Muna Chauhan from Sparks receiving cheque.

News in Brief Charity cheat in dock A serial fraudster from Birmingham who stole charity boxes from shops has been given “one last chance” by a judge at the city’s Crown Court. Instead, drug addict Farooq Saeed, 32, from Handsworth, was given a two-year community order. He had previously admitted charges of fraud and burglary with intent to steal.

Keep warm The Met Office estimates that for every onedegree drop in temperature below 18C, winter deaths rise by 1.4%. The recommended living room temperature is 21C.

OAP benefits cheat caught out Birmingham pensioner Shanta Pallan who fiddled over £34,000 in benefits has been ordered to pay the £1,688 costs of the prosecution out of money she was saving for her funeral. Pallan, 60, from Edgbaston, lied to benefits bosses for more than six years telling them she was not related to her landlady when in fact she was her sister.

Officer saluted for bravery Sergeant Khizra Dhindsa has been commended by the West Midlands Association for Women in Policing.

She was recognised for her “outstanding bravery, professionalism and duty of care” in dealing with a knife-wielding 18-year-old male suffering from a mental breakdown who had threatened to take his own life. Aware of the risk to her own safety, Sgt Dindsa, pictured right, spoke to the man and persuaded him to drop the knife and walk towards her. Sgt Dhinda joined West Midlands Police in 2001.

Love thy Neighbour It was truly touching to receive a phonecall last week from reader Narottambhai Rajabhai Patel from Mombasa after reading about my grandmother’s recent death in Asian Voice. He had picked up a copy of our publications, as he does he said, at the East African town’s Hindu Union. He shared remarkable memories from the Fifties and Sixties of his time with my grandparents and family, as their then neighbour, and of the “best-ever” life as was then in Mombasa.

As they say, memories cannot be stolen or taken away.

Reporter scoops award Congratulations to Mehdi Hasan, pictured, who was recognised for his influential role in current affairs who, at 29, became the youngest editor in commissioning at Channel Four. He is currently senior political editor at the New Statesman. This Media award was one in 11 categories in this year’s Mosaic Awards which celebrate the hard work and determination of young British Muslims across the country.

For more information visit www.mosaicnetwork.co.uk

Koran-burning teen released

A Midland schoolgirl accused of burning an English language copy of the Koran on school premises and posting it on Facebook has escaped prosecution. The girl, 15, from Sandwell, who cannot be named, was arrested last month on suspicion of inciting racial hatred.

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

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YOUR VOICE

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Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

Harrow Council's Adult Care

NRI's plight and direct flight

I was delighted to see that the Care Quality Commission has rated Harrow Council's Adult Care service as the most improved in London, as the Council has made fantastic progress in this area in recent years.

In 2006, our administration inherited a service that had been rated as 2 stars with "uncertain prospects" for 5 years running. In 2008, a great deal of hard work was recognised with the service's prospects moving to "promising". And in 2009, the service moved to a 3 star rating (with "promising prospects”) for the first time ever. It is fantastic news for all Harrow's care users that the service has once again improved this year.

It is important to recognise that this improvement was a collaborative effort.

CQC said that the Council has "strong leadership" and “good political and corporate support” of which, as a member of the administration during the bulk of the survey period, I am personally very proud. More importantly, this is also a sign of the professionalism and dedication of the Adult Services staff, who continue to do sterling work.

“Continued good partnership working” was also cited as a reason for the improvement, and is well evidenced by the Council’s award-winning work with Shop4Support – our personalisation partner. Personalisation is all about giving greater choice and control to our service users over their care provision.

And last, but by no means least, CQC praise Harrow’s carers and care users for “actively contribut[ing] to the development and change of services”.

So much of the improvement in Harrow is down to these individuals being engaged, willing to try new things, and embracing concepts like personalisation and reablement. Though there is always more than it can be done, everyone involved with Adult Services in Harrow should feel very proud of the excellent progress they have made. Long may it continue.

I am very grateful that Asian Voice had a meeting with leader of opposition party of Gujarat State Mr. Shaktisinh Gohil who came to London- Brussels and Welsh to attend commonwealth Parliamentary Seminar and raised concern about direct flight to Ahmedabad from London. I have sent my below e-mail to Asian Voice on 10th Septmber, 2010 was printed in your publication.

I also had opportunity to meet Mr. Shaktisinh Gohil more than once this time in London and glad to hear that he is personally taking interest on behalf of many UK residents who regularly travel to Gujarat.

Mr. Narendra Bhai Modi our CM is doing so much for Gujarat and you hear from media by inviting global investors to Gujarat. During month of January Gujarat having 4th Vibrant Gujarat Global Business hub taking place by inviting other Indian states to invest. I have seen few articles about properties investments in Gujarat so Indian origin people who are living in UK and other part of world can make good investment in Gujarat. CM also invited bollywood stars to promote Gujarat but I can not understand why he can not manage to have Air India direct flight to Ahmedabad from London.

Are our politicians telling us the truth or just giving us false statements? After listening politicians for many years it seems that meaning of politician in my view is that “Don’t tell truth and never tell lie” but do what is best for them self.

Many of our entrepreneurs are having good times during functions in Gujarat by guest of Gujarat State and hope that they take this burning issue with them.

Cllr. Barry Macleod-Cullinane Deputy Leader, Harrow Council Conservative Group

India a safe country There have been claims suggesting Shrien could be the murderer of Anni Dewani. I have not personally known Shrien but I strongly believe Shrien could not be the murderer. Simple logic applies here. What will be Shrien's benefit if he kills his wife?

The South African government is probably trying to cover up for the major loophole in their security system. Why don't people go to India for their honeymoon?

India has some fantastic venues. India may be a vast country, but it poses less threats to security of the thousands of tourists who visit India every year. I think people should learn from their mistakes and go to familiar lands to avoid mishaps like Anni's murder.

Anand Iyer Via Email

FIRST & FOREMOST ASIAN WEEKLY IN EUROPE

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Good governance The recent election results in the Indian state of Bihar has shown that good governance and a leader who is honest and sincere is the basis for the success for winning the election. Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar ran a clean government with development and law and order in mind and it is not surprising that combined JD(U) and BJP parties won more than 80 per cent of the seats.

In Bihar the Congress party always supported the corrupt Lalu Prasad Yadav's jungle rule and hence the party got only four seats. In spite of the fact Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi addressed several election meeting costing crores of Rupees, the party did not win one seat where they campaigned. In this election women from villages voted in large numbers since they were given police protection to turn up to the polling station.

Rahul Gandhi's magic did not work in Bihar, since he talked about secularism and appointed Muslims for top positions and also nominated Muslims as candidates ignoring the wishes of the majority people. There is no such thing called social engineering and their is no place for caste or minority appeasement under Nitish Kumar rule.

As in the case of Gujarat a honest leader with clean image with focus on development for all sections of the society irrespective of their religion and caste is the key to the success in Bihar elections. There are only two chief Ministers in India namely Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar who come under this category.

Chickens, Drugs and Football When the Indian company that supplied chickens to KFC, etc. and also had interests in pharmaceuticals purchased the English Premier League Club Blackburn Rovers, a journalist asked why? The answer was because “Rovers footballers ran like headless chickens and were into drugs”.

That was just a joke. It is promising for future Asian footballers. Thatcher’s children did run like headless chickens to Zurich to lobby individual FIFA members for support. That was unsavoury practice by leaders who should have known better.

Bhaichung Bhutia, the captain of the Indian National Football Team, is going to launch his own chain of soccer schools all across India. John Abraham is helping him (http://www.goal.com/enindia/news/136/india/2010/10/28/21859 07/specials-bhaichung-bhutia-emulatesdavid-beckham-as-he-is).

In 2005, BB wrote his life story titled “To Compete on the World Stage, the Hunger to win” was vital. It is a very informative article about what Indian federations, clubs, Sports Authority of India and Indian footballers should do [Page 319 in “India Empowered – Change Agents speak on an idea whose time has come” – Penguin India Books].

Nagindas Khajuria Via Email

Bihar taking Gujarat route

Following the defeat to bring the FIFA World Cup games home for 2018-2022 against Russia and Qatar, England is seeking all the possible factors to blame this embarrassing moment and seeking ways to take out their frustration. From the investigative report of The Times to BBC's Panorama, from FIFA to corruption by Qatar, England's football association FA has blamed them all but yet running out of answers that how exactly their perfect bid boosted by David Beckham and Prince William went in vain down the drain.

But, I think Russia deserves to be the host of a World Cup keeping the massive and a flamboyant state of art facilities all around the country. Russian football, though as not as old as English football has constantly showcased superiority and of course physicality in last one decade in the wake of players like their captain Andrei Arshavin who is a prime asset to one of the biggest English Football club, based in North London – Arsenal.

I am not a great football fan. Never have been as I do not see any merit in 22 grown up men kicking the life out of a rubber ball! But after seeing the various football stadia first hand while on a visit to South Africa earlier in the year, I felt wouldn’t it be lovely if England could host such an event here. But this was not to be.

England invented football. England won the world cup in the sixties and has produced great footballers like Bobby Moore and the Charlton brothers. It already has the infrastructure in place. It was represented in Zurich by none other than Prince William, the Prime Minister and David Beckham and yet the privilege to host the 2018 world cup goes to Russia! What do we read into this? Some would blame it on our hell and high water attitude or that the Panorama programme undermined the bid. Whatever it was, the media are now attempting to establish whether the voting process itself was flawed or that this was more of a bigger political issue.

It is a great credit to Gujarat, under the stalwart leadership from CM Narendra Modi who has transformed Gujarat from a backward agricultural based economy to a dynamic industrial wonderland, a sweetheart for every wealthy investor, from Tata, Birla to Ambani brothers.

Bihar, once a lawless domain of LaluRabri has followed into the footsteps of Gujarat and gave NDA a thumping majority, some 85% of the seats in the recently held Bihar Assembly elections, practically wiping out Congress with just four seats, even surpassing Modi’s achievement at the last assembly elections in Gujarat.

The assembly elections in Punjab and Gujarat are due within the next year or two where NDA is expecting to repeat its Bihar triumph.

One question such election results raise is why BJP fails so badly at the national level where its percentage of votes and number of seats have gone down at the last two general elections.

One common factor is that the BJP old guards the like of Advanis’ are unwilling to step down and let the young blood, Modi, Varun Gandhi and the youth wing take over the main responsibility. It is a pity that there is no retirement age in politics, especially in Bharat where only death parts them from power.

Abhishek Mahapatra Via Email

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford

Bhupendra M Gandhi Via Email

Arun Vaidyanathan Via Email

Mahendrasinh Jadeja Via Email

England a sore loser

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!

(Off Coronet Street)

Cricket crazy Indians for the first time was seen so euphoric on Monday morning, as they expected a couple of Oscars. British Indians in the UK, Dharavi slums, the shanty township of Mumbai, a village in Uttar Pradesh and almost the entire Bollywood waited in expectation, glued to their TV sets. They burst into celebrations as one by one, their heroes, the actors of the British Indian film and the music maestro, A R Rahman bagged the top awards in the world of entertainment.

British actress Kate Winslett also won the Oscar after having missed it almost five times earlier.

‘Smile Pinki’, a short documentary on a cleft-lipped Indian girl in Uttar Pradesh directed

by American director Megan Mylan, won the Oscar for the Best Documentary (Short).

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EDUCATION

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

Dear Readers, I am glad to introduce to you the Ahmedabad University, as a member of The its Board of Governors.

Ahmedabad Education Society is a 75 years old venerable institution in Western India. It was established by visionaries like Shri Kasturbhai Lalbhai (noted industrialist and philanthropist) and Ganesh Vasudev Mavlankar (the first speaker of Lok Sabha in independent India); and with inspiration from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (the first Deputy Prime Minister of India) in 1935.

It sponsored Ahmedabad University in 2009 by transferring five of its most reputed colleges with a view to develop global quality higher education and innovative programmes. Our objectives are to deliver “Global Education at Local Cost, Context and Ethos�.

As a part of its expansion plans, the Amrut Mody School of Management, a constituent of the University, is launching a one-year, comprehensive Executive MBA Programme for Family Driven Businesses from January 2011.

For this, the University has entered into collaboration with the Judge Business School Executive Education, University of Cambridge. The Programme will focus on imparting specialized training to the owners and the executives of the family driven businesses.

Family businesses contribute significantly to the output, trade and employment in all economies across the world. These businesses have a different ethos and management culture as compared to multinationals, public sector and non-family driven businesses.

At the same time, they face typical issues relating to governance, succession, management control, growth and diversification, innovation, etc. Such a focus is completely missing in the conventional commoditized MBA programmes. The Programme is uniquely designed to address such special concerns of family businesses.

The participants will get the benefit of mentorship offered by the faculty beyond the duration of the programme, to guide them in implementing their growth and expansion plans successfully. In fact, apart from the experienced subject

experts from the University, the faculty also includes a galaxy of the most reputed management experts from India six former and abroad, including deans/directors of IIMs. A carefully designed six-week immersion programme at the University of Cambridge, wherein the participants will attend sessions on international business and entrepreneurship, is another important feature of this programme. I may also point out that you will be able to avail a contextually designed world class programme at nearly 1/4th cost of

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attending such a programme in any equivalent western business school.

In all, the participants will have an to enhance their opportunity entrepreneurial and decision making skills as well as network with the owners and executives of other similar businesses, which will help them in the development of their business.

Yours sincerely, Dr. Mohan Kaul

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12

MEDIA WATCH

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

Scrutator’s Unlike evil, the good that men do is oft interred with their bones, wrote William Shakespeare, so appropriate notice should be taken of two noble specimens of Indian humanity: Dr E. Sreedharan and Wipro Chairman, Azim Premji, who are attracting attention during their lifetime. First, Dr Sredharan, the principal architect of the hugely successful Konkan railway and the Delhi Metro, each a marvel of engineering and management, who was awarded this year's Attumalil Georgekutty Merit Award instituted by the Mar Thoma Church at the Dr Akexander Mar Thoma auditorium in Thiruvalla, Kerala.

Delivering an address, “Delhi Metro Rail, a success story,” Dr Sreedharan, an engineer by profession, told of the lessons learned from the experience of the 17-kilometre Kolkata Metro, which took 22 years to build, whose cost was 14 times the original estimate (he was too polite to mention the gross mismanagement and ineptitude of the Communist state government of West Bengal!); the Delhi project was constructed on different lines, so that it could be completed on budget and within the targeted timeline. Hence the first phase of the Delhi Metro project, entailing 65.1 kilometres , was completed in seven years and three months, nine months ahead of schedule without cost escalation.

DMRC's scale Dr Sreedharan said the Government grant to the Delhi Metro project was only onethird of the total estimate and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had borrowed the remainder of the funds from Japan, with the

work thus far has concentrated on districts in Rajasthan, Uttarkhand and Karnataka. Mr Premji says, “I am committed to supporting the larger ambition of creating the required social change. All our efforts, including the university we are setting up, are focussed on the underprivileged and disadvantaged sections of our society Our experience of the past 10 years has motivated us to scale up our initiatives....”

Kaiga-4 goes critical

E. Sreedharan

responsibility to service and pay back the loan. The third phase of the Delhi Metro, he assured his audience, would be completed in 2016 and the fourth in 2020, by which time the Delhi Metro would be the fifth-largest in the world.

Dr Sreedharan and his wife live off his pension, his DRMC salary is paid into a charity he set up in the name of his mother. The Mar Thoma Award of Rs 100,000 went to his charity (The Hindu, November 29).

Azim Premji initiatives The largest act of philanthropy in India, involving $2 billion, belongs to Bangalore-based Wipro Chairman Azim Premji, whose Azim Premji Trust will dispense the money for the improvement of school education through the Azim Premji Foundation, which oversees educational projects.

The Foundation's

The fourth unit of the Kaiga Generating Station (KGS) – India's 20th nuclear power reactor achieved criticality a little over a week ago. With this unit now operational, India ranks sixth in the production of nuclear energy in the world, the other five powers being the US, Russia, France, Japan and South Korea.

Addressing reporters at Kaiga, S.K.Jain Chairman and Managing Director, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL), said criticality, in nuclear terms, signalled the start of the self-sustaining nuclear fusion chain reaction in the reactor core, which leads to the production of energy.

The new unit will generate 250 MWe of nuclear power to be distributed among the country's southern states. Mr Jain said units 5 and 6 would raise

Azim Premji

Visiting French president Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni Sarkozy (far right) with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Mrs Singh (far left) in New Delhi. Full report next week

India's installed capacity of nuclear power from the current 4,560 MWe to 4,780 MWe. Kaiga-4 is in an indigenous Pressurerised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR).

Dr Jain said two Light Water reactors of 100 MWe each, at Kudankulam and a fast breeder reactor of 500 MWe at Kalpakkam, were at advanced stages of completion. Srikumar Banerjee, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission said units 5 and 6 would come at Kaiga in the next couple of years and the site would be selected by a committee of the NPCIL. The capacity of each new unit would be 700 MWe and the project would come up on land already owned by the NPCIL, he said.

PepsiCo in Russia PepsiCo, whose CEO is Indiaborn Indra Nooyi, took a step closer to her goal of of expanding revenues from the company's nutritional offerings from $10 billion this year to $20 billion in 2020. PepSi seminal step forward was its $5.4 billion acquisition of Wimm-BillDann, an American company like itself, which has a signifiant footprintb in Russia.

The deal, whose formalities should be completed by June 2011, will catapult Russia ahead of Mexico as PepsiCo's top international market and far ahead of India and China.

Financial Times reporters Greg Farrell and Louise Lucas (December 3) write: “Consumer goods companies, virtually all of whom have teams of bankers scanning the so-called BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China for potential deals - as well as smaller emerging markets – are looking on with some envy..

The move would see PepsiCo leapfrog rival Coca Cola in Russia....the US duo now dominate the Russian juice market with PepsiCo controlling more

than half and Coca Cola 35 per cent.”

Indian travails The Economist (December 4) saw India through its glass, darkly. It had reason to do so.

Despite posting 8.9 per cent GDP growth for the second quarter, which confounded supporters and critics of the government and the government itself, The Economist lauded the performance but bemoaned the current telecoms scam that appears to have brought parliament to a standstill and aborted hopes of further legislative measures to speed the country's economic reform process.

The report referred to an a Washington-based firm which pronounced on the cancer of Indian tax evasion, its tone suggesting that this phenomenon was confined to India.

Such people wear blinkers without being aware of it, poor souls. It's as if the the Wall Street and UK banking crisis took place on Mars, with the ill-gotten gains of the guilty salted away on Saturn. The Economist warned that India's corruption travails were scaring away foreign investors.

Such investors were not put off in the slightest when the Tiemnanmen Square massacre in Beijing claimed 300 China lives, but that is a paradox to which cynics have been long accustomed. You can bet The Economist's greedy investors will queue up on India's doorsteps come howling wind, driving snow and very high water. You can bet dream of big bucks will dispel such fears.

WikiLeak revelations The Guardian (December 1) produced a WikiLeak item telling of Anglo-American apprehensions over unsecured nuclear weapons in Pakistan, which could fall into the hands

of Islamist terror groups. One must wonder what Washington was doing when rogue scientist A.Q . Khan was purloining nuclear secrets from a Dutch gas centrifuge plant in the 1970s. The US was then Pakistan's foremost protecter and friend. And what was Uncle Sam doing when China handed Islamabad a complete nuclear bomb after testing a model in their Xinjiang testing grounds?

The recently departed US envoy in that country, Ann Patterson, had warned that not all the gold in the world would convert Pakistan into a trustworthy US ally, as India held centre stage in Islamabad's threat perceptions. She and the Guardian leader writer suggested that India be brought to heel on Kashmir and Afghanistan in a bid to mollify the Pakistan military. Fat chance. India is not a banana republic, whatever its domestic woes.

LCA gets teeth The Hindustan Times (November 30) reported that India's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Tejas, had successfully tested its R-73 missile on the eve of plane's induction into the Indian Air Force. The R-73 close combat missile is integrated with the supersonic aircraft's on -board Digital Stores Management System and Open Architecture Mission and Display Computer “The flight test demonstrated important requirements for the user safe separation of the missile from the test aircraft, no missile plume-effect on the engine operation, avionics and weapon system functionality and safety interlocks, aircraft handling quality assessment during missile release,” said an official statement.

India is located in an arc of crisis and conflict. Deterrence can thus be a guarantor of peace. That at least is the hope.

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

A selfless day to serve - Kartik. S. Raval

and then distributed to the homeless.

Vice Chairman for the Curry Project John McGhie said, “The Curry project were fortunate enough to participate in National Sewa day in partnership with a number of the local Hindu temples across Bradford. Under the banner

ing tree. The aim is to improve the health of the Food and clothing collecarea by providing free fruit tion for the homeless, tree in season, colour and planting for a better enviwildlife benefit during flowronment and spending time ering and improvement in with 4 year old child sufferthe outlook of what is a ing from Leukemia took the very rundown and deprived driving seat on the National estate, thus increasing peoSewa Day with the support ple’s pride in their garden of Curry Project. and in the area and encouraging people to do more in their front garden and take care of it. Rachel Deadman, Joint Community Space Challenge Coordinator, City of Bradford YMCA thanked National Sewa Day to taking up an initiative to give people National Sewa Day: Planting a better and a healthier future a better environment to live in as The event kick started “Be the Change”, groups of now the residents wait for at the Laxminarayan Hindu volunteers across the city the seeds planted by the Temple and Sai Centre worked tirelessly to collect volunteers grow into flowLidget Green. About 36 food and clothing donaers and fruits. volunteers managed these tions for homeless and The group also manlocations and received the deprived people. aged to raise an enthusiasneedful to make the day a A total of 18 Volunteers tic, hardworking and talsuccess. The community went to the Lower Grange ented team of 14 replied with a fantastic Volunteers, who visited a estate, Allerton on the outresponse to an initiative of family in Swillington in skirts of Bradford City giving hundreds of people Leeds where there is a 4 where 21 holes were dug the basics of life. 450 tins of year old suffering from for planting fruit or flowervegetables, over 35 packets acute lymphoblastic ing trees in the front garof rice, 20 boxes coffee and leukemia. The volunteers dens of houses which tea, 67 Black Bin liners full made the best out of this belong to two local of coats, trousers, shirts, Housing Associations. The opportunity by sharing a bedding plus many more residents have been given good time with the child items. These were all taken the opportunity to apply to and also made their day down to St Mary Centre off ‘Adopt a Tree’ and to worthwhile as they promBarkerend Rd where the choose whether they want ised to keep up the good Curry projects runs from an apple, pear or a flowerwork every year.

13

India Realty Corner Vikram Goyal, Managing Director

Legal Safeguards for Landlords Understanding your rights within the Indian legal system When we think of letting our property, the first thing that occurs to us, “What if the tenant does not vacate my property?” In the past, this was a valid fear. The older law, The Bombay Rent of 1947 protected the tenant from eviction and rent increases. This led to landlords losing control of their property. Finally in 1999, the Maharashtra Rent Control act was passed– this time to protect both parties involved.

Most people still cling to the old notions of the Indian legal system. Mr. Patel from Harrow who owns a flat in South Mumbai, put it best, “I know that all tenants are not bad but what if I let my flat out to a tenant who then refuses to vacate. I have heard that filing a court case in India takes years. I don’t want to spend 5 or 10 years paying legal fees and appearing in court. I want my flat available when I need it.” It is true that a legal case can take longer than anyone would wish, but there are alternative solutions.

Unesta have formulated an agreement to cover the right of recovering possession under the relevant sections of both the Bombay Rent Act and the Maharashtra Rent Control Act. We have also included clauses of arbitration in case of dispute. Our Leave and License Agreements are valid for 11 month periods and are duly registered. We also submit the tenant’s details to the local police station.

If the tenant does not vacate, we assist by issuing notices on behalf of the landlord. If that does not work, we file a police complaint. The police then assist in evicting the tenants. In majority of the cases, this is all that is necessary to reclaim the property. The last resort is to go to the small causes court armed with the registered agreement. Typically such cases are decided within 15 working days with all the right documentation.

The Indian real estate market and the Indian legal system are safe and fair for the majority of law abiding citizens. Unesta ensures that landlords are protected, making their property ownership a joyful experience. If you have any questions about our services or would like to receive a no obligation valuation for your property in Mumbai, please call or write to us.

Unesta Property Services 79 College Road, Harrow HA1 1BD Ph: 0207 125 0425 Fax: +44 207 125 0426 Email: marketing@unesta.com Website: www.unesta.com

14

COMMUNITY NEWS

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

Sun Mark receives Queens award for Enterprise Sun Mark Ltd celebrated receiving the Queens Award for Enterprise for consecutive years 2009 & 2010 in style on 20thNovember 2010 at the Radisson Hotel, Portman Square, London.

The celebration was attended by many Members from both the Houses of Parliament and European Parliament including Baroness Verma, Baroness Prashar, Lord Popat, Lord Sheikh, Lord Rana, the Rt. Hon Dominic Grieve MP, Attorney General, Mr. Richard Harrington MP, Mr. Bob Blackman MP. Mr. Mike Freer MP, Mr. Stephen Pound MP, HE the High Commissioner of India, Mr. Nalin Surie, the Deputy High Comissioner Mr Rajesh Prasad and Minister Coordination at the High Commission, Mr Asif Ibrahim, Dr Charles Tannock MEP and Mr Syed Kamall MEP all graced the occasion with their presence.

Many overseas clients, suppliers who are some Britain’s blue chip companies and other prominent members of society attended the spectacular event. The entertainment was provided by Karan of K Spark Entertainment.

The Queen’s Lieutenant, Mr. Robert Leader DL, on behalf of

cial thanks went to Sun Mark’s General Manager, Mr. Mohan Khurana, who he said was the architect of the business and his son in law and Head of Operations, Harmeet Ahuja, who had taken the business to the next level. He thanked Ray Perkins and the staff of his shipping Company Sea Air & Land Forwarding Ltd for all their hard work in working on the documentation involved for the shipping of over 6000 sea containers of goods to 92 countries. He Robert Leader DL presenting the award to praised the British sense of tolRami Ranger erance and fair play which Her Majesty the Queen, presented allowed an ordinary man like him Dr. Ranger with the two awards to realise his ambitions and and praised him and the company become an asset for the nation. for such a coveted honour, not Rami’s eldest daughter, Reena once but twice in a row. He said Ahuja, hosted the evening in a that this was indeed a rare achieveconfident, articulate and witty ment as this award represented the manner. She managed to hold the “best of Britain” and there were attention of over 450 guests only 21 companies like this in the throughout. whole of London.

A sumptuous meal was served Upon receipt of the awards Dr.

by Laguna catering. The DJ was Ranger addressed the guests and the famous Tonni Patti and the paid tribute to his late mother for dance floor was heaving to the beat instilling the right values in him so of English and Bollywood music as he could succeed. He thanked his guests danced into the early hours wife, staff and suppliers. His speof the morning.

Sri Lankan High Commission Celebrates Deepavali Sri Lankan High Commission in London celebrated Deepavali Festival last month with the participation of Sri Lankans living in the UK representing Hindu as well as Christian, Buddhist and Muslim faiths.

The event commenced with the lighting of traditional oil lamp.

Hindu religious observances were performed by His Holiness K u r u k k a l Ganeshamoorthi Sami Sarma.

High Commissioner Justice Nihal Jayasinghe addressing the gathering highlighted the signifi-

Justice Nihal Jayasinghe, Sri Lankan High Commissioner with His Holiness Kurukkal Ganeshamoorthi Sami Sarma

cance of Deepavali and said that he was pleased to see the number of Sri Lankans who had gath-

ered in the evening to celebrate this most important event in the Hindu calendar.

Recalling H.E. the President's Deepavali message he said that the Hindus in Sri Lanka can now join the Hindus world over in joyous celebrations, sharing the spirit of festival, in an environment of tranquillity of peace. Ms. Miti Desai, a leading artist from India adorned the evening with a splendid cultural performance. A reception with traditional Hindu cuisine followed in honour of the guests.

The High Commission premises were decorated with traditional oil lamps and illuminations.

Ramsay competition restaurant doubles workforce and sales Prashad, the Bradford Indian vegetarian restaurant which featured in the final of Channel 4’s Ramsay’s Best Restaurant, has more than doubled its workforce and sales since the first programme was broadcast in late September.

The initial team of

seven, including four family members, has grown with three new waiters and three new kitchen staff already on board and up to four more people actively being recruited.

To cope with growing demand Prashad has already expanded from 22 covers to 40 covers and

All the paid subscribers will receive an issue of 'Khana Peena Gaana Naachna' along with this week's paper.

KPGN magazine is our attempt to make your December vacation happening, as we mention things you can do within your budget and choice to celebrate Christmas and New Year with friends and family.

demand for bookings has substantially increased.

Owner Bobby Patel said: “Apart from the quality of our food, the staff are what makes Prashad special. We have a happy and passionate team and everyone works together with great communication and chemistry between the front of house function and the kitchen.

“We strongly believe in empowering our employees, and testament to that is Imran, originally a parttime waiter and now our restaurant manager.

Appearing on Ramsay’s Best Restaurant has enabled us to create these opportunities and we are very grateful for that.”

Prashad is benefiting from business advice and support from Bradford Council’s enterprise serv-

ice Kickstart, which has led to the firm securing funding for professional services.

Bobby added: “The advice and assistance of Peter Briggs, our Kickstart business growth adviser, has been paramount in the expansion of the business.”

Cllr David Green, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Regeneration and Economy, said: “It is great to see Kickstart playing a part in business success stories like Prashad and everyone there should be very proud of reaching the final of such a high-profile competition.

“Kickstart has helped hundreds of businesses in recent years and I am delighted the support for Prashad is leading to new jobs being created.”

Alpesh Patel’s

Political Sketchbook: The Upper House For those of Indian origin in the UK it’s been a tumultuous time for the House of Lords; we’ve lost Lord Paul due to suspension and his friend, peer and Peer, the dear Lord Bagri has outright resigned his membership of the House. But in no small measure we have replenishment through the accomplished Lords Popat, Loomba and Noon. They follow in the traditions of the Indian origin Peer who fronted them all – the oft-neglected Baroness Flather (she who can count as her accomplishments the Commonwealth Gates commemorating the contribution of Commonwealth soldiers to the World Wars) – who not only was ennobled in the 80s, but as a woman in an age of greater discrimination, let alone Asian woman, will hopefully herald and highlight many more Baronesses.

So as a citizen and barrister appreciating the work of the legislature – what would I advise the new Peers?

First, expect the media to pour over every aspect of your life.

It makes great reading for Guardian and Mail readers alike.

And colour adds colour to their investigations.

Expect them to contact you to ask about every expense, every source of income, frankly everything you’ve ever done.

Second, power.

Remember you are part of the legislature. Whilst various Parliamentary Acts ensure the unelected Chamber can no longer influence legislation in the manner the Commons can, nevertheless your appointment is for the purpose of applying breaks when needed to sometimes illconceived, populist, or indeed unpopular legislation. The role of legislation is not to satisfy popularity but to fulfil the national interest.

What interests the nation is not necessarily in the national interest.

Your experience, expertise and wisdom is meant to provide through debate sobriety to the content of our laws. Remember these laws invariably carry the sanction of criminality on the citizenry. They are no trivial matter.

One missed debate and the unintended consequences flowing from a hurried clause could see a citizen imprisoned.

Third, patriotism.

Yours is to raise issues of national importance and of national interest.

Your speeches will need to be well thought through and researched.

The level of analysis will have to be commensurate with that you’ve applied in your businesses and professions that led you to this lofty seat.

Fourth, honour. You will be asked to honour many functions, open many receptions and buildings and offices.

Do as much as you humanly can. You are not in the Lords entitled ‘Honourable’ but you are ‘Noble’. And it is for the honour of nobility bestowed upon you that your fellow citizens wish your attendance. The greatest honour bestowed upon you will flow from the ‘ordinary’ people wanting your attendance.

Fifth, leadership.

This is not a destination, but the start of your journey. As it says at the Library of Congress, ‘What is past is prologue’. Returning to Baroness Flather, once ennobled she worked tireless to leave behind the monument of the Commonwealth Gates outside Buckingham Palace. Not for that Peer to sit in ermine in the warmth of the clubby Palace of Westminster.

Use your title, your new status and stature to leave behind legacies for generations. Not just through your contribution to laws and policies but to the fabric of society on a scale of many multiples beyond what you’ve done to date. We, the citizens expect nothing less.

Sixth, maintain the humility which saw you rise to the role. You are part of the legislature of a great democracy. The burden of responsibility to the heritage of this role, the ethnicity you represent, and the citizens you impact should be in your every action and word. Well, you wanted this role.

Finally nobility.

Forgive the patronising advice you will be given from all quarters...including this column.

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

15

Bollywood

16 Asian Voice Saturday 11th December 2010

Madhuri showers praise on Hrithik Prabhu Deva is like my big brother, says Hansika Motwani Hansika Motwani is carving out quite a career for herself in the South Indian film industry. But a news on her relationship with “Engeyum Kadhal” director Prabhu Deva, has hit her badly.

According to media reports, Prabhu is fond of the young actress that it has adversely affected his relationship with his girlfriend Nayantara.

If media reports are anything to be believed, Prabhu Deva and Hansika Motwani were spotted sharing an intimate moment inside a hotel in Hyderabad. It has also been reported that Nayantara gave him a slice of her heart, when she was spotted confronting Prabhu at a five star hotel. But now Hansika has come to the rescue of Prabhu by calling him big brother!

Genelia’s everlasting smile!

Aware of the perky nature of South Indian and Bollywood actress Genelia D’Souza and we know how she keeps smiling all the time. But did you know the reason behind that everlasting smile?

Well, Genelia reportedly has a perpetual smile on her face because of the love that is showered on her by her fans. Recent media reports about the actress’ claim that she is very popular among her fans because she always greets them with her trademark bubbly smile! In fact, Genelia’s smile is so much talked about these days that most of her fans want to see her smile rather than take her autograph!

Recalling an incident which took place at the Coimbatore airport, The actress shares that as soon as she entered the airport, a horde of fans surrounded her. But contrary to her thoughts that she would now have to start signing autographs for all assembled, her fans only wanted their favorite actress to pass on her sweet and infectious smile to them. And it was this that made the actress very happy. We guess that she smiled all the more! It was through her homepage on social networking site Twitter that Genelia shared this incident with the world.

Arya not ready to accept defeat It seems Aarya is not prepared to sit back and accept defeat. The actor, who is in the controversy for showing his displeasure on Kollywood, says that he has never spoken any ill on Tamil film industry and that he has been framed in a case of which he is not guilty.

The actor is presently busy with the post production work of his upcoming Tamil flick “Chikku Bukku.” At the same time, he has also sought the help of the Nadigar Sangam to help in his endeavor to prove himself innocent.

Aarya says that Kollywood is the industry in which he has worked for such a long period of time in his career and it is also the industry in which he has invested his own money. Therefore, it is practically illogical that he would make wrong comments about the Tamil film industry.

Aarya has been alleged of belittling the Tamil film industry in an international platform at Dubai at an event arranged by a Malayalam network. However, Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI) has disassociated itself from actor Aarya’s controversy.

The first film Madhuri Dixit-Nene watched after landing in Mumbai recently was her ‘Devdas’ director Sanjay Leela Bhansali's ‘Guzaarish.’

She has come away impressed with Hrithik Roshan's portrayal of a quadriplegic in the film. She called him to shower praises on him saying it was one of the best performances she had seen in a long time.

A source close to Hrithik discloses, "He was shocked and thrilled when Madhuri called him and chatted with him for 20 minutes about how much she had loved his performance.

She told Duggu that Ethan was the most difficult character she's seen on celluloid and his portrayal blew her mind. " Hrithik has

great regard for the Dhak Dhak girl and her words meant the world for him.

Mads complimented him on everything from his voice, to the look in the eyes and told him that she found

Hrithik's dance sheer poetry.

She admits, "Yes I did call up Hrithik to praise him on his brilliant performance in the movie. He played a quadriplegic and it's so diffi-

cult to do such a role as there's no body language.

He emoted with his eyes so convincingly. I've heard that he really worked very hard on his role. I told him that he was unbelievably good and he said he could now retire! Even Aishwarya and all the actors have done a good job. Sanjay has made a beautiful film."

Madhuri reminisces, "I remember when I was shooting for his dad's film ‘Kishan Kanhaiya’ I heard Hrithik (who was assisting Rakesh Roshan) saying Anil's dialogues loudly in front of the mirror. I felt he had lot of potential and told him so. Of course he was embarrassed. I had discovered the germ of Hrithik's talent and sincerity even then. He is still the same as hard-working as ever!"

Tabu in Life of Pi Lee’s adaptation of Yann Martel’s 2001 bestseller is likely to have the actor play the role of Pi’s mother There is more development to our report on newcomer Suraj Singh playing the protagonist in Ang Lee’s adaptation of Yann Martel’s bestseller “Life Of Pi.” The latest buzz is that while the Academy Award winning director is auditioning actors like Sushant Singh and Sonu Sood to cast Pi’s father, he has apparently signed Tabu to play the role of Pi’s mother in the film. The makers of the film will start shooting in Pondicherry in January 2011.

Our source says, “Ang Lee was in Mumbai some days ago and stayed in a five star hotel in Bandra. His casting director and he had shortlisted some actors who were called for auditions.”

Confirming this, Sushant Singh said, “Yes, I met Ang Lee and his casting director. I had sent them a tape and they called me to

meet them. They have shortlisted a couple of people and I am one of the contenders. I am hoping for the best.”

Meanwhile, Lee apparently also met Tabu and signed her for the role of Pi’s mother. Tabu has been very selective with her choice of films of late. She was last seen in “Toh Baat Pakki” earlier this year and in “Cheeni Kum” in 2007.

Though the actress has worked in a couple of films down South, she has not signed on any new Bollywood films in the meantime.

Another source close to the film says, “Ang Lee had been watching Tabu’s work and was very impressed by her acting abilities.” Though Tabu did not revert to any of our messages, we wish her luck for her new venture.

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

17

Aishwarya to stay at home to help ‘bhabhi’ producers, organisers and media manager about the situation." She will play the doting bua to the hilt in real life now.

Says a source close to Aishwarya, "She deliberately finished all her film assignments by October. And she has not signed any film after ‘Guzaarish.’

She will finalise her next batch of films with Vishal Bhardwaj, Shyam Benegal and Madhur Bhandarkar after two months."

C o n f i r m s

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has decided to stay at home for two months and help her bhabhi (brother Aditya's wife) Srima with her baby boy, who was born on November 26.

She will avoid most public appearances in the next couple of months, as she wants to spend as much time as possible at home. She will only attend those she had previously committed to.

Says a source, "PostGuzaarish, she missed the promotions so she could be with her sister-in-law.

Everyone is very excited about the baby, Ash more so. She had warned all her

Aishwarya, "I've just been travelling and shooting, of late. Now I'm taking time off to be with my sister-inlaw and her baby."

About her plans for 2011, she adds, "I don't think too far ahead. Every time I plan, I end up not implementing it. When I did ‘Devdas’ in 2002, I had promised myself I'd work in a more phased manner. I am yet to live up to that promise. If you remember, I married in the middle of my career. After that I took time off for my family. I had technically kept three months off. It turned out to be six months of no movies."

I always crave for a big hit, says Akshay Akshay Kumar’s last two outings - “Khatta Meetha” and “Action Replayy” failed to make the cash registers jingle. This hasn’t dampened the Bollywood star’s spirit but he admits he is craving for a big hit and hopes his “Tees Maar Khan” will hit bull’s eye.

“If you follow my career graph, there have been a lot of ups and downs. It doesn’t matter. I am not desperate, but, yes, I crave for a big hit all the time because I work very hard. I release around four films a year. I work very hard in each and every film,” Akshay said in an interview.

His last release was “Action Replayy” and the 43-year-old star feels either the screenplay or his retro look in “Action Replayy” couldn’t connect with the audience.

“Action Replayy didn’t work. It couldn’t connect

with the audience. I tried to reason out and I think it would be because of the look or because of the screenplay,” said Akshay,

who is also known for his comic timing.

He tickled the funny bone with movies like “Hera Pheri”, “Singh is

Kinng” and “Namastey London”.

Right now he is looking forward to his actionpacked fun film “Tees Maar Khan”, which is scheduled for a Christmas release.

Director Farah Khan is presenting him as a conman.

“This is a fun character, full of enjoyment. He (the character) is a conman and so there is a lot of mischief.

The character is actually very shrewd. He always tries fooling people because he wants to make it big. He never does anything himself; he makes people do things for him. I haven’t done such a fun and frolic role for a long time,” said Akshay.

“If you ask me whether I would like to do a serious film, yes, I would love to do serious roles, serious characters. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work. No one comes to see serious films.

All look for fun films.”

No Problem A comedy flick produced by Anil Kapoor in a joint venture with multiple production banners, No Problem features the most promising comedy players in Paresh Rawal and Shakti Kapoor.

Yash and Raj are small time crooks and childhood buddies. Raj wants to lead an honest life, but alas, Yash always manages to do something, that jeopardizes Raj's chances of turning over a new leaf. When Yash robs the First Village Bank, the innocent bank manager Zandulal also falls under suspicion.

In Durban, Arjun Singh is a bungling, ham-handed cop, married to Kajal, the daughter of the commissioner of the police. Kajal has a split personality - one moment she's a loving wife and mother, who for 10 minutes everyday, transforms into a terrifying maniac intent on murdering her husband!

Jointly produced by Eros Entertainment, Anil Kapoor Films Company, Rawail Grandsons Entertainment and Software Pvt. Ltd. and Spice Enfotainment, the film is directed by Anees Bazmee.

He also shares the credits for story, screenplay and dialogues. The jumbo star cast consists of Anil Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Akshaye Khanna, Suniel Shetty, Kangna Ranaut, Neetu Chandra, Sushmita Sen, Paresh Rawal, Saloni Daini, Shakti Kapoor, Mukesh Tiwari, Vishwajeet Pradhan, Ranjeet and Suresh Menon. For screenplay, the other credits go to Rajiv Kaul, Rajan Agarwal and Ikram Akhtar while dialogues credits are shared by Rajiv Kaul, Nisar Akhtar and Ikram Akhtar.

Shabbir Ahmed, Kumaar and Anand Raj Anand have penned the lyrics. Sajid, Wajid, Anand Raj Anand and Pritam Chakraborty have set the music. Play back has been rendered by Wajid, Suzanne D'Mello, Kamaal Khan, Master Saleem, Hard Kaur, Kalpana, Suraj Jagan, Anand Raj Anand, Sunidhi Chauhan and D J Suketu.

New Hindi movies releasing this week 1. Band Baaja Baaraat 3. No Problem

2. Mirch

Top 4 Bollywood movies for the week No. 1 2 3 4

Film Break Ke Baad Guzaarish Golmaal 3 Allah Ke Banday

Lady luck smiles on Abhi

Mira Nair plans to return to India

SRK caught kissing a man!

Ranbir is ignoring Katrina!

Tarun Mansukhani's 'Dostana' sequel was supposed to go on floors in October but the film has been delayed and will start shooting next year.

And one person happy about the delay is Abhishek Bachchan.

The actor was finding it difficult to allocate dates for 'Dostana 2' as he had the schedule of Abbas Mastaan's 'Players' lined up. 'Players' is a remake of Hollywood flick 'Italian Job' and the shooting began last month.

Speaking about 'Dostana' sequel Abhishek said, "We were supposed to start shooting in October but Tarun Mansukhani wasn't happy with the second half of the film. He is still working on it. We will start shooting next year."

Now that helped Abhishek manage his dates for both the big projects. Lady luck never seems to leave Abhishek's side it seems.

Renowned US-based filmmaker Mira Nair is planning to return to India and, looks forward to contributing in imparting training to the upcoming filmmakers in the country for making cinema better and rich.

The 41st International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2010, in its Retrospective Section, has featured the works of Ms Nair. She was present on the occasion in Panaji, Goa, along with some cast and crew members of her debut film “Salaam Bombay.”

At a press conference, Ms. Nair said the idea was to set up a training school on the lines of her Maisha School of Film Teaching in East Africa, where students were given an opportunity to work with the young, experienced and senior filmmakers. She stressed need to enhance content, message and value in screenplay writing to usher India into an era of world class filmmaking. “India has tremendous talent in all areas of filmmaking, which needs to be supplemented with more impetus on providing thought provoking stories, subjects and themes,” she said, adding that script formed the real foundation of a film.

Shah Rukh Khan took his homosexual image to a whole new level when he was caught kissing a man full on! The actor, who never shies away from enacting gay comedy in films and at events, raised many eyebrows after this new pic of him smooching a man emerged on Internet.

In the pic, SRK is seen in a tight lip lock with another man. The authenticity of this picture is debatable.

SRK’s man - to - man lip lock has taken the social networking sites by storm as the pic is doing the rounds on Facebook and other websites.

Reports confirm that this picture is from the Jonathan Ross show where SRK went as a guest. The man kissing SRK in the picture was the second guest on the show, John Barrowman.

Buzz is that this episode, which was telecast long back, had SRK at his wittiest best. He performed many funny bits but this particular clip has never been telecast.

Is Shah Rukh taking the homo jokes starring himself much too seriously or is this yet another Photoshop joke? Only SRK would have the answer!

Even before she's hit the big screen, “Rockstar” actress Nargis Fakhri has been creating a buzz in Bollywood, and it's not hard to see why.

The former Kingfisher model, who's never acted in a film before, was first reported to be spending lots of time with her director Imtiaz Ali. But while those in the know brushed this aside as an actor and director relationship, the buzz about her proximity to co-star Ranbir Kapoor refuses to die.

Media had earlier reported about her birthday celebrations at a Bandra nightclub, where the two were seen getting cozy (admittedly in the presence of several unitwallahs), recently other media reported about a fight between Ranbir and his other favourite co-star Katrina Kaif. It's been reported that Katrina was rather miffed Ranbir wouldn't take her calls while on the “Rockstar” shoot abroad, and more recently in Delhi.

Last Week Total Weeks New 1 1 2 2 4 New 1

Himachal prefers Preity to Dalai Lama The Himachalis clearly know a lot more than growing very good apples.

When it came to deciding between Nobel laureate Dalai Lama and Bollywood actor Preity Zinta as their brand ambassador to promote tourism, they pitched for the starlet.

And for good reasons. Zinta was born and educated in Himachal Pradesh before she went on to establish herself as an actor.

True, the Dalai Lama and his Tibetan Buddhist community have attracted, arguably, even more famous personalities like Hollywood icon Richard Gere.

What got the Himachal government really keen on Zinta was her concern for environment, for which she has become known internationally as a member of Save Tiger campaign.

18

Asian Voice -

Alpesh Patel Consultant Editor Financial Voice Dear Financial Voice Reader, “Can you advise me where I can get a good return but with no risk?” I probably get asked this question more than any other. I always expect the person questioning to ask me if I know how to turn lead into gold too.

Well in an age of 1-2% bank interest and an aging population of course they are keen for good, but safe returns. Fortunately I sit on the Investment Committee of some charities and we have to ensure our funds generate safe but good returns. For instance, with Chatham House and formerly as Governor of Luton University, I couldn’t just say ‘invest in India, Apple, Tata Motors, Goldman Sachs and Taiwan, Korea and Malaysia index trackers.’ Great advice that is for the more risk loving person.

So choice 1: Structured products proving capital protection. Uh what??? When I was on the Investment Advisory Committee of ICICI’s Private Bank Division my role was to advise on the products being created by the bank for the global Indian.

Let’s give an example from a recent Barclays Bank offering. They create a basket of investments, say commodities. They lock you in for say 5 years. Some products for a lesser period. The longer the lock in the better the potential rewards usually for the risk you are taking. They offer ‘multiple upside participation’.

This means if the basket rises, say, 50%, your investment rises 100% ie double, if you have 200% participation. Moreover such products also often have 100% capital protection at the end of the lockin. So if the basket has fallen in value you get your money back.

Now you don’t need to worry about how banks do this. Just know they do and they make profit from it.

If you were sophisticated enough to do it yourself with options then you would make more potentially.

Second, are corporate bonds. For instance ‘Lloyds Banking Group 7.6% Enhanced Capital Notes 2020.

These yield 9% to maturity. Now you should understand tier 2 bonds, subordination, non-deferrable coupons, fixed redemption dates and contingent conversion features. Your stockbroker should be able to explain and offer these and those advertising in this paper are a good a place as any to start.

In short, if the banks continue doing as they have done you will have no problem. If they do have problems your returns will be affected. The point is banks have issued ‘loan notes’ or bonds to seek money from the public to shore up their capital. The returns they are giving you is better than what they are giving you on deposit accounts.

Now it is important to understand risks and rewards with these. And so it is vital you speak to a stock broker. But essentially if you are looking for 8%+ with limited risks in the kinds of products banks are issuing you can get access.

The key trend is private investors are asking for the kind of investments charities usually seek. That is fine and a good idea if you are nearing retirement. Not that retirees are charity cases, but have the same characteristics – inflation beating returns for no risk. It is possible. Just copycat the bigger players.

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Saturday 11th December 2010

IT firms feel heat of high costs, risks in India Most outsourcers go for multiple options, with atleast one outside India Global Information Technology (IT) firms have started feeling the heat of cost escalation in India.

That apart, the Mumbai terror attack of 2008 and other issues have led outsourcers going for atleast two different locations in India plus another location outside India.

Described as ‘India plus one’, the term has evolved after Satyam scam and other issues, with outsourcers feeling that they should derisk their out-

sourcing business by spreading to at least one more country. Some also prefer that the service provider in India should be offering two locations, one in some major cities like Bangalore, Chennai etc. and another in a smaller centre.

India currently dominates the outsourcing market. A survey by Capgemini, in partnership with Harris Interactive, which was released in September this year, found

that more than 60% of the US companies surveyed were outsourcing to India.

China came in second at 27% and Latin America at 25%. Most estimates indicate that India has well over a 50% share of the total outsourcing market.

But current trends suggest this figure will come down. John C McCarthy, VP and principal analyst in Forrester Research, says clients are increasingly looking at an India-plusone strategy to hedge

geopolitical risks.

Amongst alternative countries, a popular destination is China.

Forrester recently put out a list of countries that are potential offshore alternatives to India. That list comprises of Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Eastern Europe (Baltics, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungry, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Ukraine), Egypt, Russia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam and China.

Azim Premji races ahead in Indian philanthropy Wipro chairman pledges Rs. 88.46 bn to improve school education

In a giant leap forward, Azim Premji, the founder and chairman of Wipro has announced his pledge to donate Rs. 88.46 bn ($2 bn) for improvement of school education in India.

This is the biggest charity by an Indian till date.

Wipro is one of the prominent Indian IT companies, with business interests in a few other sectors too.

Azim Premji is ranked third in the Indian rich list with a net worth of $18 billion.

The Wipro boss will transfer 213 mn equity shares of Wipro Ltd., held

by a few other entities under his control to Azim Premji Trust.

Azim Premji Foundation (APF), an entity that mainly works with schools in rural India will have the financial support from the Trust.

Previously too, Azim Premji had transferred more than Rs. 7 bn to the APF. He also said more may come in future. “I’m completely committed to supporting the larger ambition of creating the required social change.”

Wipro’s former strate-

gy chief K R Lakshminarayana will be its chief endowment officer. A $2-billion endowment even at a conservative return of 8%- 12% should generate annually returns of $160-250 million (Rs 7.50-11.50 bn), which will be used to run APF initiatives, including the Bangalore-based Azim Premji University.

“We believe that good education is crucial to building a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society. We want to contribute significantly towards improvement of

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education in India, and through that towards building a better society,” he said.

Enterprise Asia honours Rajesh Kamat with ‘Outstanding Entrepreneur of Asia-Pacific’ award

Enterprise Asia, a non government organization for entrepreneurship, named Rajesh Kamat, Chief Executive Officer – COLORS and Group COO – Viacom18, as one of the ‘ O u t s t a n d i n g Entrepreneurs of Asia Pacific for 2010’. The award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated entrepreneurial attributes, including the tenacity and perseverance to continue innovating and making a difference even in tough business environments. Noted lawyer, and Member of Parliament, Mr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, conferred the honors to Kamat in an event last month in New Delhi.

This award is recognition for Rajesh’s efforts to spearhead COLORS to the leadership position in a category that was crowded with more than 10 players.

Rajesh Kamat, in his response, said: “I am deeply honored and humbled to receive the Award, by Enterprise Asia.”

FINANCIAL VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

19

Property Focus Suresh Vagjiani Managing Director of Sow & Reap, a Property Investment & Financing company.

The Wave is Still Rising In Nal Safari This week has been a marathon week for Sow & Reap. We will have had 5 seminars this week from Birmingham on Sunday to Northwood on Thursday. All but one has been about the famous Nal Safari project we have been selling for over 3 years now.

Rather than reaching saturation it is still being received with fresh enthusiasm. There is good reason for this.

The Guajarati is not an island, what he buys he will share with friends and family. It is in fact near impossible for us to sell one plot to one Guajarati.

They will inevitably get into groups

scheme and therefore the price increases are justified.

The current price of Rs 3500 per Sq yard is cheap for Ahmadabad standards where a 2 bedroom apartment in prime locations can sell for over Rs 1.5 crores. This is a sq yard price the sq ft is less then Rs400 which is very cheap.

We have been selling from when the price was Rs 900 per Sq Yard. The development has done tremendously well for two main reasons. Firstly as always is the location. The area of Sanand has been brought into the lime light with Tata Nano setting up their plant in this location and the area has been earmarked as a hot spot. The second is the uniqueness of the develop-

maturity.

This is a good place to start your investment from India from, these plots have full NA, which means a Non Resident Indian can safely purchase them. This is not the case with

many plots advertised, and it a superb investment and you can purchase and resell without leaving your living room.

Call now for more information: 0203 384 5323

There’s more than one way to skin a cat This week we are looking to exchange on a deal for £237,500 it’s a one bedroom duplex flat close to Edgware station.

The plan is to redevelop the property over the Christmas period into a two bedroom property. As a two bedroom the property will be worth a minimum of £290,000. As a two bedroom property the flat can be rented for £500 per week.

The property is being purchased with a mortgage rate of 3.64% this is a very good rate and means the monthly payment will be £520. This is deceptive as the arrangement fee is a wapping 3%. The reason why this product was chosen is because it does not have a redemption penalty. The aim is to either to resell the property at the £290,000 or remortgage it after a period of 6 months which will release £217,500 which will mean there will only be £30,000 buried into this deal, allowing £10,000 for conversion costs. The new mortgage payment assuming an interest rate of 5% will be £906 pm against a rental income of £2166 pm. This will give a net income of £1260 pm.

In a nut shell the original input is £60,000 plus a further £10,000 for conversion.

The two scenarios are as follows: Option 1 The property will either be resold instantly at £290,000 which means there will be £42,500 gross profits within a couple of months.

Option 2

and by several. This is the Indian Nature.

As they have bought during subsequent seminars plots have been selling at higher prices. This demonstrates the prices have risen and are being sold at the higher prices. Often developers are accused of creating a bubble economy meaning that they set the price of the development not the outside market as the plotting scheme is unfinished and therefore the developer has a monopoly over selling these plots. As the Nal Safari has been selling for many years there already does exist a secondary market for this

ment, the theme of a Safari has been implemented well and now is nearly fully developed with the club house nearing completion. A 1 Km water body and with over 90 houses has been constructed.

The reason investors are still plugging into this scheme is because the wave is still rising in Nal Safari. The current rate of Rs3500 will easily reach Rs 4000 by March 2011. This I am confident will happen, this represents over a 10% rise in 3 months. This is a confidence which comes from having invested into the project personally and seeing the project manifest from its beginning stages to its current

The property is not sold and instead is refinanced after a 6 month period to release £217,500 releasing £40,000 of the original £70,000. Under this option the £30,000 buried in the property will be earning £15,120 per annum. This will represent a return of 50.4% return on the £30,000 left in there. This takes no account of the capital appreciation the property will experience due to its central location.

This is an actual deal which is about to be exchanged this week. We have been writing about investing in central London properties for many months now.

Naturally people are motivated to reply and express their interest in obtaining one; however when we bring something to their attention there seems to be a lot of procrastination.

It’s only when they realise that they have missed a good deal that they spent too long ‘considering’ that they then act quickly to secure the next deal we present to them.

Call us now to find out more 0207 706 0187.

n Mortgages n Commercial Finance n Property Sourcing n Gujarat Properties - Sale & Resale T: 0207 706 0187 F: 0203 014 8484

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20

Financial voice

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

Leadership Matters Maria Fernandes maria@abplgroup.com

Death by a thousand cuts: the immigration cap This Government like the last one is more concerned about form than substance. It has finally announced the end of Tier 1 applicants other than 1000 which are reserved for those with “exceptional talent”. The points based system was supposed to end subjective decision making and introduce objectivity. This provision does not do that.

There is also to be a reduction of Tier 2 visas to 20700 from around 23000. The UKBA used last years figures to base their reduction.

The total reduction will be around 15%. This is clearly not a decision that will reduce numbers but it will have a devastating effect on businesses particularly the smaller ones which from around 90% of total businesses. The large companies have been exempted from the cap and they can continue to bring in staff at will with very few restrictions. Most of the larger companies bring in IT staff.

Consider these figures provided by the Migration Advisory Committee in its recent report.

16,839 IT Professionals ( by far the largest group)qualified from June 2009 to July 2010.

During the same period 2412(or1.7%) came in as chefs and 1844 came in as care workers. Under the new system chefs and care workers will be caught by the new restrictions.

The vast majority of IT professional will not as they are largely in the UK on intra company transfers.

The other more worrying trend is that the salary requirements are being raised substantially. Raising salaried is not magically going to result in the local population being trained in these fields.

The reason why there is a shortage in the first place is that the jobs involve

long and antisocial hours and there is not infrastructure( which involves the Government spending money) to provide training.

The final assault is the fact that only graduate level jobs will qualify. The Migration Advisory Committee has been asked to provide a list of jobs which are at graduate level. It also means that the chefs and care workers are unlikely to qualify as the vast majority rely on experience for their skills.

These are not acquired by studying at an academic University. These skills take absolutely years and a raw talent to acquire but under he new proposals will count for nothing.

The winners as always are the big businesses. They have lobbied hard and because of their buying power they have secured their future. They are safe. The small businesses will have try to recruit local staff who according to employers will take these jobs until something better comes along thus creating an uncertain environment. In the meantime the quality of food and of care of the vulnerable is likely to go down as a result. The worst part of the changes are the fact that the Government have not achieved their aim to cut numbers. They appear tough but the figures of reduction speak for themselves. The damage to small businesses (and particularly ethnic businesses) will be substantial and irreversible.

Maria Fernandes has been in practice exclusively in immigration for the past 25 years and is accredited in Immigration Law by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Fernandes Vaz is based at 87 Wembley Hill Road Wembley in Wembley and can be contacted by telephone on 020 8733 0123.

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By Amit Patel

When Hope Overcomes Fear Following the failure of England’s bid to host the 2018 world cup many people are wondering what all the fuss is about.

Some say that there was no point in bidding as we were never going to win.

Now if you were in Rio de Janeiro you would see a very different attitude to football. There, people put more emphasis on playing the game with style than on winning.

Perhaps this is why there is a false perception of Brazil being a country of care free people who give more importance to flair rather than hard work.

Brazil has a history of financial problems corruption scandals, the pinnacle coming in 1998 when the IMF had to rescue the economy. The future looked bleak. In 2002, upon the news that Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was likely to become President, the financial markets panicked and the currency hit an all time low. Lula did not fit the stereotype of a leader

who could save the economy. He only learnt to read when he was 10 and dropped out of school at 12 to work as a shoe shiner. Seen as a socialist union leader many wondered what he would do with Brazil’s ailing economy.

Today the BBC profile for Brazil states, ‘Brazil is South America's most influential country, an economic giant and one of the world's biggest democracies.’ Brazil not only repaid its debt, in 2008, she gave the IMF $10 billion to help developing nations.

Under Lula, Brazil has become the 8th largest economy in the world.

He reduced spending which eliminated the deficit and actually built a budgetary surplus after just two years.

While this is something we are just starting to do the UK, there was one thing Lula did which Cameron should take note of, he gave people hope.

Amit Patel has over 15 years experience in the field of Leadership and Human Resource Management Hope that just like its footballers who have become the best in the world; Brazil had the ability, all it needed was self belief. The way they play football actually reflects the psyche of both countries; England plays a defensive style so not to concede goals fearful. Brazil plays an attacking style to try and score goals - hopeful.

Lula took the hope and style of Brazilian football and instilled it into his government. But he doesn’t stop there, ‘My greatest desire is that the hope that has overcome fear in my country will help vanquish it around the world.’

Gold, Silver scale new peaks In India, Yellow metal touched a record high of Rs. 21,050 on Tuesday.

Silver prices witnessed a spurt for the second straight day, ruled at Rs. 45,500 on the day after it recorded a level of Rs. 45,200 on Monday. The spurt in prices of both the precious metals is attributed to worries over

Europe’s sovereign debt problems as well as speculation on continued monetary easing by the US Federal Reserve. This apart from the brisk purchases by jewellers and retailers also pushed the prices.

Earlier, on Monday silver prices witnessed a record high. White metal recorded a rise of Rs. 500

per kg, breaking the Rs. 45,000 mark, with the prices at the end of day being Rs. 45,200. For Silver coins, the spurt was Rs. 2,200 for 100 pieces, at Rs. 49,000.

Firm global trends and brisk purchases by jewellary makers as well as industrial units led to the record prices.

Kingston crowns 11 businesses with Awards Genuine Solutions Ltd. wins ‘Best Business Award’

Local business champions in Kingston enjoyed their first own ‘Oscar’ celebration, developed to reward and celebrate the many innovative and hard working businesses in the borough.

A glittering event at the Holiday Inn, Kingston, took place on recently, culminating in the announcement of 12 winners in the inaugural Kingston Business Awards, run by South London Business and sponsored by Antoinette Hotels.

Paul Buzasi, owner of Antoinette Hotels said: "Antoinette Hotels are truly excited about being the main sponsors of The Kingston Business Awards. We are rich in the diversity and number of both small and large businesses in the borough, which all deserve our applause for making a hugely important contribution to the future wellbeing of our Kingston upon Thames."

This year’s awards attracted registrations

from over 150 companies across the Borough. More than 200 guests nervously anticipated the award announcements introduced by radio broadcaster Henry Bonsu.

The highly coveted overall Business of the Year award was won by Genuine Solutions Ltd, a mobile phone accessory distributor. The company’s founder Christian McBride also claimed the Entrepreneur of the Year award. Accepting the Business of the Year Award on behalf of Genuine Solutions Ltd., Mr Majithia said: “I am absolutely gobsmacked, thank you very much for voting us Business of The Year. The success of Genuine Solutions has truly been a team effort, and I am delighted our hard work and achievements have been acknowledged.

Thank you very much” Sir Bob Scott, Chair of South London Business, said: “The event has been an extraordinary success.

However while we had a number of deserving winners, for me all the businesses that took part in the competition, including the 63 that were shortlisted, are contributing to the success of businesses in Kingston and in the wider area of South London. By celebrating success we can generate even more success.”

Other winners include: Best SME Business - All Areas Security Ltd; Best Equalities Business Hao2.eu Ltd; Best Retail Business - Imagine Florist; Best Business for Customer Service Pitman Training; Best Commitment to the Community Rose Theatre; Best Business for Training and Development & Best Business for Marketing - Malcolm Johnson & Co. Solicitors (winners in 2 categories); Best Business for Sustainability - Smart Training; Best New Business - 7dots Ltd and Best Employee - Gloria Ntnuli, Imagine Florist.

FINANCIAL VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

21

Foreign Exchange Rajesh Agrawal is the Chairman & CEO of RationalFX, Currency Specialists.

For any further information call 020 7220 8181 or e-mail info@rationalfx.com

Will VAT Rise Halt Growth in UK ?

The BOE have in their recent predictions as to regards inflation promised a steady downturn next year towards their target 2% level. They state that growth in the UK will continue but at a slower pace than we have experienced this year. One of the main factors in their theory is that the impending rise in VAT due at the start of January will stifle inflation and get in on a more even keel. In theory this should be a good prediction in their assessment of how they see things going this year.

Many dealers will look at these predictions and monitor the data each month as it is released to see how much of a major factor inflation is actually in relation to economic growth in the UK. They will also have to assess what effect that will have on Sterling in the foreign exchange markets. In recent months what has happened in the UK hasn’t necessarily determined where Sterling has traded on the currency markets. There has been much wider issues elsewhere that has governed much of the volatility that we have seen.

The weakening of the US Dollar on the lead up to their stimulus package in November was a big factor. Also with the

year we are currently trading around the mean average of the year for the pairing at the moment. Where we go next is not clear although my take on it may be that the UK have less problems at the moment than the Eurozone as a whole and in the near term which if the Dollar holds steady may see the Sterling/Euro edge up in the early part of the New Year. As always though the market is driven by speculation of what might happen more than when it actually happens.

Dollar so weak the Euro probably overperformed on the exchanges around that time causing Sterling/Euro pairing to ease off.

Since then however we have seen the problems in the Eurozone come to the fore with Ireland taking a bailout and a few others apparently knocking on the door for assistance from the ECB. With the Sterling/Euro rate ranging between 1.09 and 1.24 this

Weekly Currencies As of Tuesday 7th December 2010 @ 1pm GBP - INR = 70.651 USD - INR = 44.59 EUR - INR = 59.56 GBP - USD = 1.5778 GBP - EUR = 1.1812 EUR - USD = 1.3359 GBP - AED = 5.5869 GBP - CAD = 1.583 GBP - NZD = 2.0621 GBP - AUD = 1.5867 GBP - ZAR = 10.86 GBP - HUF = 328.923

www.rationalfx.com Information provided by RationalFX. None of the information on this page constitutes, nor should be construed as financial advice. The exchange rates used are the commercial foreign exchange rates provided by RationalFX. For a live quote or to find out more about how RationalFX can help you, call us on 0207 220 8181.

22

Pakistan-Bangladesh-sri Lanka

In focus Blast derails India-bound train in Pak

Karachi: A blast on railway tracks near Karachi early on Saturday derailed two bogies of the Thar Express, which was travelling from Karachi to Rajasthan in India, Geo TV reported. No casualties were reported.

The train with 155 passengers, including 50 Indians, on board derailed due to the blast triggered by the explosives planted on the up-track near Dhabeji, 67 km from Karachi. No loss of life or injury was reported, sources said. Pakistan Railways said the service would soon be resumed after the completion of repair work at the track. Traffic on the down track was uninterrupted. The train set out at 11.55 pm from Karachi and was running late by around one hour due to unknown reasons. It was headed to Bhagat Ki Kothi in Rajasthan. Rescuers who arrived at the incident site, confirmed the blast was aimed at hitting the Thar Express. A bomb disposal squad has seized parts of the damaged rail track and explosives found from the scene and further investigations were on, police said.

Pak allows AQ Khan to attend public functions

Islamabad: Disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan has been allowed by Pakistani authorities to attend public functions after being kept in "protective custody" for the past six years following his acknowledgment that he ran a clandestine proliferation network. Khan attended the convocation of a private university recently and was seen sitting on the dais alongside education minister Aseff Ahmed Ali. Restrictions on Khan's movements were lifted by the Lahore High Court recently.

Pak cleric offers reward for killing Christian woman

Peshawar: A Pakistani cleric has announced a 500,000-rupee-bounty on Aasia Bibi, the Christian woman who has been sentenced to death on blasphemy charges. Maulana Mohammad Yousaf Qureshi, a cleric of the historic Mohabat Khan mosque, made this announcement while addressing a protest demonstration staged by Jamaat-e-Islami and JUI in connection with amendment in the Blasphemy Act, The Nation reports. While demanding that the government execute Aasia, Qureshi said the administration of Masjid Mohabat Khan was ready to award the bounty to any person, belonging to the Taliban or any other group, for killing the blasphemy accused.

Suicide bombers kill 50 in Pakistan

Ghalanai (Pakistan): At least 50 people were killed and 60 others injured, as two suicide bombers disguising as policemen attacked a government office at Ghalanai in Pakistan’s restive tribal northwest on Monday. The attackers struck as local officials were preparing to meet volunteers of a militia created to fight the Taliban. “The toll could rise, as 25 of the injured are in a critical condition,’’ said an official, Amjad Ali, who was one of the targets of the attack. He said the two bombers were on foot. “The first bomber blew himself up inside the office of one of my deputies, while the second one set off explosives when the guards caught him.’’ Around 140 people were inside the building when the attackers struck.

Pakistani sues US for drone death of son & brother

Islamabad: A Pakistani man whose brother and son were killed by what he said was a US drone strike is on an ambitious courtroom quest to get $500 million in compensation and end attacks Washington launches against top militants. Kareem Khan said a CIA-operated drone fired missiles at his house in Pakistan's North Waziristan on the night of December 31 2009, killing his son Zaenullah, 18, and brother Asif Iqbal.

India-Sri Lanka ferry service gets green signal

Chennai: The Indian government last week cleared the proposal for a passenger ferry service between India and Sri Lanka that will strengthen economic and cultural ties. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed soon between India and Sri Lanka for providing a joint mechanism for passenger transportation between the two countries, said G K Vasan, India’s shipping minister said. According to a statement, it is proposed to start the passenger ferry service initially between Tuticorin and Colombo and subsequently extend it to other destinations, namely Rameswaram and Thalaimannar. The shipping ministry has directed the Tuticorin Port Trust for the creation of infrastructure for the commencement of the service. The distance between Colombo and Tuticorin is about 152 nautical miles and the duration of the journey will be about 10 to 12 hours. The passenger fare will be significantly cheaper compared to the air fare between these two destinations, the statement said.

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

TV anchor among naked men, women ‘killed’ by Lanka soldiers on video Chennai: As Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa toured the UK, Britain’s Channel 4 aired stomach-churning footage of men in uniform alleged to be his soldiers executing naked, unarmed, tiedup and blindfolded men and women said to be members or sympathisers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The pro-LTTE Tamilnet website identified one of the women as Shoba alias Isaippiriya, a journalist. Channel 4 said the video was shot shortly before the final triumph of the Sri Lankan army over the Tigers in May 2009, and is an extended version

of another video it aired last year.

The video, apparently shot with a cellphone camera - one of the frames has a soldier holding up a cellphone - shows naked prisoners with their hands tied behind their backs being shot from behind by soldiers with assault rifles.

The killings take place in a field littered with naked, bloody corpses, some with their heads blown off.

The soldiers are heard talking among themselves, and Channel 4 said the “lewd and callous comments seem strongly to suggest that sexual assaults took place before their deaths.”

“...We have received hundreds of photographs and many more shocking videos depicting summary executions and rape,” Channel 4 News Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Miller said.

“We’ve now sent this fiveminute 30-second video to the UN panel convened to determine whether or not there should be an independent international war crimes inquiry.”

The Sri Lankan High Commission in London issued a statement saying it “categorically denies that the Channel 4 News TV video is authentic”.

Agency reports quoted president Rajapaksa

telling the British media, “I deny this whole thing.

Most of the civilians were killed by the LTTE. Sri Lanka never killed any civilians as such. Our instructions were, ‘You must not touch any civilians. This is a humanitarian operation’.” The airing of the footage coincided with the release by WikiLeaks of a secret cable written by the US Ambassador to Colombo, Patricia A Butenis, on January 15, 2010, in which she said that “responsibility for many of the alleged (war) crimes rests with... president Rajapaksa and his brothers and General Fonseka”.

I won’t come to India ever, says Musharraf Former Pakistan president was denied visa by the Indian govt New Delhi: The former Pakistan President and Army chief, who was denied a visa by the Indian government, says he doesn’t believe it was because New Delhi believed he was the main person behind Kargil. He also asks why he was reassured time and again that he would get a visa before the denial came.

“I have no words to explain my disappointment,” Musharraf said from Dubai.

“Meri ummeedon pe paani fer

diya aapki government nay (Your government has dashed my hopes)... I think it shows a lack of confidence on the part of India to face me.”

Pointing out that he had met both former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh after Kargil, the former General said he didn’t believe his role in the war prompted the move.

“I mean, that’s a very silly reason... All this rapprochement that I initiated has been washed down

the drain. Why was I allowed to come three times between Kargil and now if that is the case?”

He says he is yet to be communicated the official reason for the denial of the visa. “I think the denial has come from either India’s ministry of interior (home) or foreign ministry. If it is interior, they were wary of the law and order situation, or my comments on terrorism, Kashmir perhaps. Or could it be what I said on Muslim extremism being

on the rise in India? I frankly don’t know.”

Even his comments on India’s role in Balochistan another reason being cited - are not new, Musharraf says. “I have been saying this for quite some time. If you read WikiLeaks, you’ll know... It’s not based on hearsay. Nawab Akbar Bugti’s grandson Brahamdagh Bugti is being supported by India, I’ve known that for years and I told Bush about it. I told Karzai about it. What’s new now?”

Nobel laureate Yunus accused of diverting funds Dhaka: Bangladeshi Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been accused of stashing some $100 million originally for microcredit operations of his Grameen Bank to his another venture in 1996, breaching agreements with donors and violating the country’s financial rules.

Norwegian national television aired a documentary recently alleging that Yunus drew off nearly $100 million in aid for poor borrowers of Grameen Bank to another of his company, BDNews24 news agency reported. It said the media investigation titled ‘Fanget i Mikrogjeld’ or ‘Caught in

Muhammad Yunus

Micro Debt’ showed Yunus transferred the money to Grameen Kalyan, a voluntary healthcare programme of poor, “which was in no way involved with microcredit operations.”

Seventy-year-old Yunus,

whose experiment of poor men’s banking earned Bangladesh the repute of being the home of microcredit, was unavailable for comments as he is on a tour abroad.

The documentary quoted professor Jonathan Morduch of New York University saying that Grameen Bank received $175 million in subsidies through Norwegian aid agency Norad for offering tiny loans to ultra poor people.

“When the Norway embassy, Norwegian aid agency Norad and the economic relations division in Bangladesh demanded that he return the money to Grameen Bank, the

microcredit guru gave back less than some $30 million of the $100 million.

The remainder remained with Grameen Kalyan,” the report said.

The report, however, acknowledged that the money was transferred under an agreement between Grameen Bank and Grameen Kalyan in 1996. Director of the film Tom Heinemann said he failed to speak to Yunus for comments despite his repeated attempts while the microcredit guru in his desperate effort to conceal the anomaly from being made public wrote a personal letter on April 1, 1998 to the then CEO of the Norwegian aid agency.

Khaledia Zia's son indicted on money laundering charge Dhaka: A Dhaka court has indicted main opposition BNP chief Khaleda Zia's younger son Arafat Rahman Koko in absentia on money laundering charges, court officials and reports said last week.

Special Court judge Mozammel Haque framed the charges against Koko, now in Singapore, and another person and fixed January 4 to start trial of the money laundering case.

"The trial against (Koko and co-accused Ismail Hossain Saimon, son of former Shipping Minister late Akbar

Hossain) will continue in their absence," a court official quoted the judge as saying. Koko was arrested in 2007 on graft charges under emergency rules during the past military backed interim government and was paroled for treatment abroad in July 2008.

The incumbent government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina scrapped his parole and ordered his return from Bangkok earlier this year but the Supreme Court stayed the order in October allowing him to stay for six more weeks abroad.

In November 2008, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) formally accused Koko of siphoning 28.84 lakh Singaporean dollars and USD 9.32 lakh out of the country.

His co-accused Saimon was declared fugitive as he was on the run since the installation of the erstwhile army-backed government in January 2007. This charge came as the ACC carried out the probe teaming up with the US and British authorities to recover millions of dollars stashed by Koko and several other high-profile

suspects in Singapore banks.

Singaporean authorities in December 2008 froze assets worth USD 1.6 million associated with a company Koko established in 2004.

ACC sources said they obtained many an essential document from Singapore. Last week, Finance Minister A M A Muhith said that Bangladesh would enact a new law to recover siphoned off money as officials earlier estimated that millions of dollars were siphoned off the country during the past one decade.

World

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

Hillary calls world leaders to express regret over WikiLeaks Washington: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has spoken to 12 world leaders, including the Presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan, in the recent past to express her regret over the embarrassing release of secret diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks.

On Thursday last, Clinton spoke to Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari and president Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina.

“They did talk about the importance of our relationship in both cases. She did express regret to both presidents for the release of classified documents," State Department spokesman P J Crowley said. In both conversa-

tions, they continued to look forward, and in both cases, president Zardari and president Fernandez de Kirchner continued to express the importance and friendship that these countries have with the United States," Crowley said. Clinton had termed

Kabul: Both British Prime Minister David Cameron and American president Barack Obama made unannounced visits to Afghanistan on Monday and Friday last respectively. While Cameron said troops could start withdrawing from the country as early as next year, Obama praised American troops for “important progress” against militants in Afghanistan.

Cameron, who arrived on Monday, shrugged off

US and Afghan criticism of the troops' performance, saying it no longer held true. Cameron and Chief of the Defense Staff General David Richards, the head of Britain's armed forces, both painted an upbeat picture of progress in training the Afghan army.

Both Cameron and Richards said improving conditions could allow British troops to start withdrawing next year.

Cameron has passionately

Hillary Clinton

the release of classified US documents by WikiLeaks as an attack not just on the US, but the international community. The whistleblower site released 250,000 US documents last week.

According to the list provided by the State Department, Clinton has also called president Ellen Johnson Sirlef of Liberia, China State Councilor Dai Bingguo, Canada foreign minister Lawrence Cannon, Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi, German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle, new French foreign minister Michelle Alliot-Marie, British foreign secretary William Hague and Saudi

foreign minister Saud AlFaisal.

Clinton also called the Japanese and the South Korean foreign ministers but these were not in the context of WikiLeaks.

"On Friday, she talked to leaders of China, Germany, France, the UK, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia. On Saturday, she talked to Canada. On Sunday, she talked to China again.

"Now, I would say in both cases of her conversations with foreign minister Yang and councilor Dai, the majority of those conversations related to North Korea. But Wiki did come up as part of both," Crowley said.

defended his deadline of having no British troops in combat operations by 2015.

Obama’s planned helicopter trip to Kabul to meet Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai was cancelled because of bad weather, and instead the two leaders spoke only briefly by telephone.

Obama's second visit to Afghanistan as president came as the White House prepared to release a review of the war strategy and the day after leaked cables

detailed deep US concerns about Karzai's abilities and widespread fraud.

"Today we can be proud that there are fewer areas under Taliban control," Obama said, in a speech filled with tributes to sacrifices of serving troops and their families back home.

"We said we were going to break the Taliban's momentum and that's what you're doing, you're going on the offense, tired of playing defense," he told US troops.

Cameron, Obama make hasty visits to Afghanistan

23

IN FOCUS India to attend Nobel fete, ignores China's boycott request

Oslo: Most invited countries, including India will attend Friday's Nobel peace prize ceremony in Oslo for jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, Nobel Institute director Geir Lundestad said on Tuesday, contradicting a statement from China. "You only have to look at the figures.

The vast majority of countries invited will be represented," said Lundestad. According to the Nobel Institute, 44 embassies have accepted invitations to the event while 19 have refused "for various reasons" and two have not replied. China said earlier that the vast majority of countries would not attend the ceremony in honour of Liu, described by Beijing as a criminal.

Sri Daya Mata, Hindu groups leader, dead

Los Angeles: Sri Daya Mata, who for more than five decades was the leader of one of the most influential Hindu groups in the United States and an ardent advocate of the healing power of meditation, died last week at the group's retreat for nuns in Los Angeles. She was 96. Her death was confirmed by Lauren Landress, a spokeswoman for the group, the Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India, which is based in what once was an elegant hotel on Mount Washington in Los Angeles. From 1955 until her death, Sri Daya Mata - her name means "true mother of compassion" in Sanskrit - was the society's president and spiritual leader.

Uganda remands 17 in World Cup blast case

Kampala: Uganda dropped charges against 18 people related to suicide bombings that killed 79 people watching the World Cup final on television, but remanded 17 others in custody to face trial, defence lawyers said.

The twin suicide blasts at a restaurant and a sports club on July 11 were the first attacks on foreign soil by militants of Somalia's al Shabaab group, which claims links to al Qaeda.

7 held in Spain for suspected Mumbai terror links

Madrid: Six Pakistanis and a Nigerian, suspected of providing forged passports to the Lashkar-e-Taiba and groups linked to the al-Qaeda and, in particular, to those behind the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai, were arrested by the Spanish police, the country's interior ministry said last week. Three others - two Pakistanis and a Thai national - were held in Thailand as part of “Operation Kampai,” it said.

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www.incredibleindia.org

INDIA

24

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

India’s Nicole Faria is Miss Earth It’s a first for India in the 10-year history of the Miss Earth beauty pageant. Last week, Miss India Earth 2010 Nicole Faria was crowned Miss Earth at a sparkling ceremony in Vietnam. The 20-year-old from Bangalore had been tipped as a favourite winner even before her arrival.

“I am ecstatic,” Nicole said from the coastal tourist town of Nha Trang, where the contest was held. “It feels wonderful to have won from among 84 contestants, but more than that I will cherish the experience of having met some wonderful girls from a confluence of cultures. It was especially nice to have my parents and other familiar faces by my side during the time it was all unfolding.”

Jennifer Stephanie Pazmino of Ecuador came in second, winning the Miss Air title. Miss Water went to Miss Thailand

Lions to get a bigger home in Gir Proposal of the Government of Gujarat for expansion of the Gir sanctuary, the only home of Asiatic lions has finally been accepted. Planning Commission of India recently approved funds worth Rs. 2.62 billion for rehabilitation of families to shift them away from the forest areas. Gir sanctuary will be expanded and also new areas in Bhavnagar and Porbandar districts declared as lion sanctuaries.

The project, ‘Greater Gir’, was envisaged by Gujarat government for conservation of the Asiatic lion.

This was revealed by Union minister of forest and environment Jairam Ramesh in Lok Sabha recently. The funds would be released to the state government over a period of five years.

In divine light

By Rajen Vakil

Pride and Vanity Miss Earth 2010 Nicole Faria (2nd L) of India poses with crowned Miss Earth Air, Ecuador's Jennifer Pazmino (1st L), crowned Miss Earth Water, Thailand's Watsaporn Wattanakoon (2nd R) and crowned Miss Earth Fire, Puerto Rico's Yeidy Bosquez

Watsoporn Wattanakoon while Miss Fire was won

by Miss Puerto Rico Yeidy Bosques. Nicole wore a white gown with Swarovski crystals for the pageant. “I didn’t try anything jazzy for the night - I kept it simple but elegant,” she said. Adding modestly, “Anybody would have looked gorgeous in what I wore.”

The clincher came in

the final round of questions where the judges asked Nicole what hour of day she preferred, sunrise or sunset. Sunrise, she answered, given that she was young and keenly awaited the hope that each new morning brings.

“Or something to that effect,” she laughed. “I am so excited I can hardly remember the exact words.”

Supreme Court asks CVC to explain his continuance

The Supreme Court of India last week asked controversial bureaucrat P J Thomas to explain his continuance as Central Vigilance Commissioner despite facing a corruption case in a Kerala court.

The apex court, which examined the file relating to Thomas' appointment as CVC, sought the explanation, issuing him notices on various petitions which contended that he did not fulfill the criteria for holding such an important and sensitive post. A bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia issued the notice also to the government on various petitions challenging the appointment of Thomas as CVC despite having been chargesheeted in Palmolein oil import case in Kerala.

Thomas, who was appointed as CVC on September 7 this year, was issued notices on petitions

filed by NGO, Centre for Public Interest Litigation(CPIL) and some other eminent persons, including former Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh, against his appointment.

"We have gone through the file. We will keep the matter for final hearing," the bench also comprising justices K S Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar said while posting the matter for hearing on January 27.

"Let them file their affidavit," the bench said, while also asking them to complete the process of filing replies and counter replies and other written submissions by the next date of hearing.

Attorney General G E Vahanvati accepted the notice on behalf of the government but declined to accept it on behalf of Thomas.

Sarkozy calls on Pak to prosecute Mumbai attackers

France supports India for UNSC membership; two nations sign nuke deal French President Nicholas Sarkozy extended support to India for bid to secure permanent membership at the UN security Council.

He also called upon Pakistan to prosecute those involved in the conspiracy of Mumbai attack.

Terrorism emanating from Afghanistan and Pakistan was among the issues that were discussed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and French President Nicolas Sarkozy with both expressing concern over the continuing existence of safe havens and sanctuaries for terror groups in these countries.

“With the tragic losses suffered in the November 2008 terrorist attacks in

Mumbai particularly in mind, we call for the active prosecution of the authors of such crimes and their accomplices, and urge that they be brought to justice expeditiously,” a joint statement, issued after the meeting, said in an apparent reference to Pakistan.

Addressing a joint media interaction with Dr. Singh, Mr. Sarkozy said Pakistan should fight terrorism “determinedly“.

Terrorism strikes not only the people and the interests of our two countries but also imperils peace and stability of our respective regions and the world.

Nuke deal signed; Mirage upgrade deal to be concluded later India and France

signed a multibillion agreement on Monday to build two nuclear power plants in India as French President Nicolas Sarkozy worked to drum up business for his nation during his four-day visit here.

The agreement, valued at about $9.3 billion, was signed in the presence of Sarkozy and Indian PM Manmohan Singh.

The deal to upgrade Mirage fighter jets at a cost of $2.1 billion deal has almost been finalized, but it may take a few weeks for the pact to be signed. The deal has been finalized, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said at a joint press interaction with PM Manmohan Singh.

Let us once again touch on the subject of pride and vanity. For the student of spirituality these two emotional giants must be studied and observed over a very long period of time. Both of them are great friends of our sense of ego, also called self-love. What is the difference between pride and vanity? Pride can be useful. If someone is excelling in life, then pride can make me put in extra effort towards my goal. Vanity is something entirely different. In vanity, I create a picture of myself and then fall in love with that very picture. Also, connected with vanity is the idea of making an impression on another, the need to have and please the audience.

I may have studied medicine and become a doctor and I sincerely believe that I am a good doctor – this is pride, just a picture of me. But, when someone criticises me as a doctor and throws a stone at this picture of mine, and I run to defend myself, to somehow convince him of my ability as a doctor, and feel the need to protect this picture of myself that I have now fallen in love with – this is vanity.

We create so many pictures of ourselves throughout our lives, and our consciousness gets trapped in these pictures.

All these pictures are imaginary but they bind us and we must work to be free of them such as ‘I am generous, helpful, and always speak the truth’. One can see this picture manifesting in small things in life, say, a person has a self-picture that he is a very important person in life; this picture can be observed when he walks along the road greeting people, acknowledging their nods, or maybe stopping to chat with the milkman. Not only do we have pictures about ourselves, but about others too. We say ‘he is selfish’ or ‘he is greedy’ or ‘he is a good politician’, all these are pictures and truth means to be free of such pictures. We are slaves to two pictures simultaneously – for instance when I say that he is selfish, at the same time it is implied that I, in some manner, consider myself generous. We love our pictures, they feel so sweet, and when someone

praises these pictures, it feels as if we have eaten a sumptuous chocolate.

In Greek mythology, there is the story of Narcissus (coming from the Greek word ‘narke’ to sleep). Our pictures put us in the sleep of imagination. Narcissus was full of vanity and he fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. Not realising it was his own reflection, he wasted his life away. We spend our whole lives living in one such picture or another.

In the Mahabharata, King Shantanu marries the fisherwoman Satyavati and makes her his queen. They have two children, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. Before they reach puberty, Shantanu dies and it is left to Bhishma to bring up the two children.

Chitrangada, even though young, is crowned as king. He grew up to be a brave, learned youth.

He was very proud of his bravery and felt that no other king could defeat him. Once he went into the forest hunting and he met a Gandharva (celestial being) with the same name as his. The Gandharva did not like it that someone else had the same name as his and attacked King Chitrangada. They fought for three years on the plains of Kurukshetra.

The Gandharva was adept in maya or magical war tactics and in the end, he killed the young king. This story is similar to the one of Narcissus.

‘Chitra’ means a picture and ‘angada’ means an adorning armband – a picture we wear on our arm. The arms symbolise doing, so all our doing is ruled by pictures.

Gandharva comes from the root ‘gandha’ or smell; like we smell a wonderful fragrance and imagine a beautiful woman. The Gandharvas represent the celestial space of imagination and daydreaming. This story shows how our consciousness becomes a victim of day-dreaming and imagination. Daydreaming is a continuous leakage of energy within us and it starts at a young age and continues till we die. This is symbolic of the Gandharva defeating the King (or Raja), raja

symbolising consciousness.

They fight their battle on the plains of Kurukshetra where later on, the great Mahabharata war would be fought. ‘Kuru’ means to do and at this young age or puberty when the sex consciousness is being formed, our doing is controlled by dreams and imagination.

We dream and fantasize all the time about what we would like to be rather than working from where we are. Because of dreaming, we never live in the present moment but always somewhere in the past or the future. When we fall in love, it is just the meeting of two forms of imagination and slowly as imagination changes to fact, pain and misery is the result. Sometimes when we hear people talking of movie-stars or celebrities, we can notice people’s enslavement towards their fantasies sad, jealous, happy, or miserable.

In our dreams and fantasies, we continuously lose energy and this is valuable sex energy, the highest our body- brain system makes. When Chitrangada dies, his younger brother, Vichitravirya, comes to the throne. ‘Vichitra’ means strange and ‘virya’ means sex energy. Here, the sage Vyasa is telling us that with uncontrolled day-dreaming, the quality of our sex energy is affected. In our present age, the number of cases of infertility and sexual problems has increased geometrically because rather than taking sex as a small fact of life, people dream about it all the time. As old age comes, our sex energy gets depleted and that is why we forego many of our dreams as we grow older.

Our illusions about life weaken and we make an involuntary adjustment with fate.

All students must work to free their consciousness (raja) from the throes of the Gandharva or daydreaming; otherwise, our own name in the form of dreams will kill us much before physical death.

(Edited by Chintu Gandhi)

All past articles on the Mahabharata can be accessed from http://epaper.asianvoice.com or from http://www.3stepbreath.com/mahabharata.html

INDIA

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

Gujarat going all out to promote tourism, aviation Special incentives for large hotels announced

Aiming to garner a sizeable chunk of tourism business, Gujarat has already spelt out special incentives for new Hotel projects in the state, while under a new aviation policy, on the anvil and expected to be out before the Vibrant summit next month, even airlines will get attractive incentives for services in the state.

At a seminar on ‘Exploring investment opportunities in tourism and aviation’ organised by the state government, Gujarat Tourism minister Jaynarayan Vyas said new hotels coming up in Gujarat will get conces-

sion in electricity tariff and interest subsidy, as the hotels business is very capital intensive.

He said all the new hotel projects will be treated on par with industries. This will cut their power cost by Rs 1.50 per unit, he said, adding that they would also get interest subsidy with a ceiling of Rs 5 million on new projects.

Vyas further said that the government grants would be given to the institutions offering courses in

As the fifth edition of Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit (VGGIS) 2011 is poised to take a giant leap forward, 80 countries from all over the globe and 12 other states from India have already confirmed their participation. Final touches are being given for the mega event scheduled for January 12 and 13 next.

On Monday, chief minister Narendra Modi met captains of industries in

Gujarat.

Speaking to business leaders from different parts of Gujarat, he said that the road shows held by the Gujarat government in Delhi, Mumbai, C h e n n a i , Bangalore, Hyderabad and other places had evoked positive response from trade and industry.

He said the Summit, to be organised at Mahatma

tourism related training.

New airports at Dwarka, Ambaji Vyas said government is considering development of 12 airports, airstrips and helicopter services on the private-public-partnership model.

Tourism Secretary Vipul Mittra said there are plans to develop airports at temple towns of Dwarka and Ambaji in the next two years. “The proposals (for these projects) are in an advanced stage,” he said, adding that

Kolkata-based SREI Infrastructure would invest in developing airstrip at Dwarka and the work may take around one and a half years. For the Ambaji project, the government has acquired land for developing an airport and is now scouting for a private developer, he said.

Ventura Air Connect is planning flights to connect 7 cities in Gujarat and will become operational soon.

Gujarat government is also trying to put Surat on Ahmedabad – Mumbai and reverse flights, exploring the option of a Surat halt for Kingfisher and Jet flights.

Mandir in Gandhinagar, has now become an event of global importance and added that the rapid transformation of the state in providing world class

infrastructure has lent further credence to Gujarat's ability to lead the country's industrial progress.

Modi said the government had undertaken schemes to give facelift to 50 urban places in the state by providing better civic facilities. He also outlined the state's new solar energy and the seaside water desalination policy.

Vibrant meet to play host to 80 countries

NDDB chief Amrita Patel elected to IDF board Twelve years after it emerged as world’s largest milk producer, India has now got its representation on the board of International Dairy Federation (IDF).

Chairman of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) Amrita Patel, a Gujarati woman, will now be India’s face in the IDF board. She is the first Indian and also the first woman to be elected to the board.

Established in 1903, IDF is one of the strongest sector federations fostering development and innovation that provides scientific and technical expertise to all stakeholders of the dairy sector

globally having membership of 57 countries that accounts for nearly 86 per cent of world’s total milk production.

Announcement regarding Dr Patel’s election to the board was made at the recently concluded 98th general assembly of IDF in Auckland, New Zealand.

IDF board consists of nine members and a director general.

Reacting to the development, Patel said that her joining the board would provide a balance as she would be bringing issues relevant not only to dairying in India, but other developing nations also.

US award for Nadiad doc Gujarat-based doctor Sujata Mohan Rajapurkar, an organ transplant coordinator, has been selected for the prestigious CNSW (Council of Nephrology Social Workers) International Social Worker Award by the National Kidney Foundation in the US. “She has collected $2 million for the benefit of underprivileged kidney patients in India, and has created funds for various categories of disease so that every patient receives help,” a report from the National Kidney

Foundation said recently.

In the letter of nomination of Rajapurkar, William G Couser, managing director of International Society of Nephrology, said: “Mrs Rajapurkar has a vision and dedication to serve the poor in her country and that is truly inspirational. Because of her tireless efforts... she has attained the status of something of an angel in her area in Gujarat, becoming almost a member of the many grateful families she has helped.”

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Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

Now land scam in Chennai, DMK faces the heat After Mumbai and Karnataka, a land scam has been exposed in Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu. The scam has put the M Karunanidhi lead DMK government under scanner.

An RTI enquiry reveals that several top ranking officials in the state including high court judges, IAS officers and police officials have been alloted prime land under the Tamil Nadu Housing Board Scheme.

15% of housing board scheme is reserved as discretionary quota by the government.

Documents show that the land was alloted in violation of many condi-

tions. The RTI reveals that the beneficiaries are people with proximity to power. They include sitting judges of the Madras high court, top police officials, bureaucrats and even MLAs. Jaffar Sait, IGP, Intelligence was allotted land under 'unblemished' government servant category. Jaffar got the land in daughter's name and then transferred to his wife Parvin, who along Durga Sankar, son of an IAS officer commissioned a builder to construct a multi-storey complex there. Congress MLA from Kancheepuram D Yasodha was allotted the plot as active social worker.

CBI to investigate Rs 350 bn food grain scam in UP Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati on Saturday last decided to hand over the Rs 350 billion food grain scam, which took place between March 2004 and October 2005, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh told reporters that an “extremely perturbed chief minister” has said those guilty of diverting the food grains, which was meant for satisfying the

hunger of the poor to foreign countries must be traced and should be severely punished. The report has also unearthed the involvement of highlyplaced state and central government officers.

The state government had earlier constituted a special investigation team to investigate the scam. As per the primary investigation report of the SIT, it has emerged that this scam is very extensive and multi-dimensional.

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One killed, 25 injured in Varanasi blast A two-year-old girl was killed and around 25 others, including a couple of foreigners, were injured when a low intensity blast ripped through a crowded bathing ghat in the holy city of Varanasi on Tuesday.

Terror outfit Indian Mujahideen(IM) claimed responsibility for the blast and said it was in retaliation for the court verdict on Babri Masjid.

Home secretary G K Pillai said the Government believed that the blast, which also led to a stampede, was a terror strike.

Some people were injured

in the stampede, police said.

The girl identified as Swastika Sharma, who was with her mother, died at Marwari hospital after the blast, according to IG (Varanasi) R P Singh. It was not immediately known whether she suffered injuries in the explosion or in the stampede.

An Italian and a French national were among the injured.

The blast occurred at around 6:20 pm when thousands of devotees and some foreign tourists had assembled at the Dashashwamedh ghat for having darshan of the

Ganga Arti ritual, police sources said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appealed for calm. Several cities including the national capital were put on high alert.

Additional Director General Law and Order Brijlal told reporters in Lucknow that the blast took place due to "some explosive material" kept on the stairs of the ghat.

The blast occurred at a spot some two km away from Sankatmochan Temple which was targeted by terrorists in 2006.

LeT planned to eliminate Gujarat CM Modi Pak based terror outfit expanding bases in Lanka, Nepal

expanding LeT network in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

The cable is marked 'NOFORN', shorthand for not to be shared with for-

eign governments.

'India - LT member Shafiq Khafa possibly preparing for operations: Tearline reports, & Hussein, an India-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) member, continued operational planning on three tasks in early June,' the secret intelligence cable relating to terrorist activities around the world read.

'The tasks were associated with a possible operation against Gujarat chief minister Narendar Modi, the establishment of a

training camp, and unspecified work involving a car. Hussein would coordinate his activities with an India-based colleague identified as Sameer,' it said.

'Separate tearline indicates, &Pakistan-based Shafiq Khafa prepared in mid-June with India-based associate S J for possible operations in India. Khafa was looking for information on possible training sites in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala,' it said.

Continued from page 1 requesting the UK government to interfere in the Sri Lankan government's killings.

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group all continue to argue for an independent War crimes investigation in Sri Lanka.

Many allege that under the current president Tamils are continuing to be killed and raped.

An Oxford Union spokesman confirmed to Asian Voice that the speech was cancelled on Thursday, citing security concerns over planned protests by Tamil groups who are trying to have him arrested for war crimes.

He said, "Due to security concerns surrounding Mr Rajapaksa's visit which have recently been brought to our attention by the police, the Union has regretfully found that the talk is no longer practicable and has had to can-

cel his address."

Mr Rajapaksa expressed regret after the Oxford Union cancelled the scheduled speech amid security concerns, his office said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Justice on last Wednesday published an amendment to a law that puts visiting officials at risk of arrest for alleged war crimes.

The bill, which will be debated in parliament in the coming weeks, proposed that any arrest warrant for war crimes under universal jurisdiction provisions must be approved by the government’s chief prosecutor.

Calls for a war crimes inquiry also intensified following President Rajapaksa's arrival in Britain as up to 50 MPs signed a letter to David Cameron, the prime minister, calling for a war crimes inquiry.

William Hague, the

Foreign Secretary, has demanded a transparent investigation into war crime allegations against the Sri Lankan government. Up to 10,000 civilians were killed in the last months of the war.

Professor Kopan Mahadeva is FounderDirector of the ‘non-profit’ publishing enterprise called Century House; ExChair of Cannon Poets Poetry Group of the Midlands Arts Centre; Founder of Century Poets; and a Founder and Patron of Eelavar Literature Academy of Britain [ELAB] told Asian Voice, “Yes, most Sri Lankan Tamils cannot be fond of the President now. They have valid reasons. The ‘Oxford Address’ episode was sad and ill timed. I do feel sorry for him. But I am ten times more sorry for the Tamils. They deserve to be treated humanely. Self-rule powers must be devolved to

Tamil areas by Constitution without any more delay. All innocent Tamil prisoners must be released now, unless charged. All war- displaced Tamils must be settled back in their homes immediately. He does have an uphill task. But Tamil leaders will willingly cooperate if he is fair and sincere.

He must communicate direct with Tamils in Tamil – a language he knows well. His vision looks great on paper. But actions speak louder than words.

He must not lose Sri Lanka’s international reputation further. He can win it back with speedy solid actions back at home. He must become a President of the entire country, not only of his majority Sinhalese people. I still believe that he could solve the ethnic problem soon.

But he must set his mind to it as a top priority, above economic development.”

Continued from page 1

having a son.

The couple does not have children.

But, Sarkozy has three sons and Carla one through their previous marriages.

Sarkozy and Carla even tied the thread, known as 'Kalava', the symbol of their wish, after asking Rais Mian to blow his breath on it.

A short 'qawali' programme was also organ-

ised inside the premises of the magnificent fort, as per the wishes of the first couple.

The couple, who spent about 20 minutes at the dargah later left for Agra, about 40 kms from here.

Rais Mian said that it was the first time that a head of the state had informed much before the visit that he personally wished to offer the chadar

at the dargah.

"They followed all the customs and seemed very happy. It was an informal visit and they were very pleasant," he said.

Sarkozy, while he was leaving, said he was blessed to have been welcomed by the direct descendant of Chisthi, Faridi said. Earlier on Saturday, they also visited the famous Taj Mahal.

Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), blamed for Mumbai terror attack, had planned to assassinate Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and use Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu as a strike base in southern India, a leaked US diplomatic cable reveals.

A June 19, 2009 secret State Department cable signed (Secretary of State Hillary) Clinton released

by WikiLeaks also suggests a dangerously

Narendra Modi

Tamils protest Rajapaksa visit to Britain

Carla wants a son from Sarkozy, they make a wish at Fatehpur Sikri

"I told them this dargah grants wishes to jobless, non married and even childless. He asked me to pray for him and wish him success. While they were tying the thread, Carla said she wants a son and I prayed for them," Rais Mian said.

He said even as the couple was leaving, Bruni again talked of her wish of

WOMEN & BEAUTY

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

How do we achieve 100% results every time

From Boardroom to Beauty - Rupanjana Dutta

- Mona Vora

AV: Shahena, tell us about yourself.

SA: I was born in London and grew up in Essex. Coming from a Bangladeshi background, to this day I find it an incredibly rich resource to tap into. I think it’s wonderful to be able to combine both the British, Bangladeshi and Indian cultures together as each has so much to offer not only in their rich heritage but also in their beauty tradition.

I’ve been lucky to have access to all of that and try and intertwine these aspects in my work as well as personal life. I grew up in a family which valued education above ‘creative’ roles however, and I think this has pushed me to be inquisitive about different fields such as business and science, as well as the natural ingredients used traditionally in beauty treatments across the world throughout history; as a result I have combined these interests together in The Powder Lounge brand to create innovative beauty solutions that contain all these different elements..

AV: What made you leave a city professional life and sought after a career in beauty?

photo courtesy: www.JoePaulimages.com

Asian Wedding Exhibition 2010 showcases the cream of the British Asian industry

Asian Wedding Exhibition in Europe, showcased 143 exhibitors some travelling from Pakistan and India exclusively to showcase their products at the event creating a unique opportunity for British consumers. The exhibition’s Jaguar sponsored catwalk unveiled the latest in the new sea-

because they are not satisfied with their looks?

Formerly a Bond Fund Manager, 33 year old Shahena Ali left her 6 figure salary in The City to set up cult beauty brand The Powder Lounge and pursue her lifelong interest in Beauty. Finalist for the Beauty Specialist of the Year Award at the Professional Beauty Awards 2010 and located in flagship Topshop and Debenhams stores across the UK, The Powder Lounge has quickly become a key player in the UK and international beauty market since it was first launched in 2007.

Shahena spoke to Asian Voice about herself, developing her skills and ultimately becoming a fashion name in Britain.

There is nothing worst than worry about the most important outfit for the most important day of your life. I would like to take this opportunity to explain our strategy for the overseas clients. As we deal with most important day and most important outfit of your life, we make sure that your experience at Mona Vora is the design so you can see stress and trouble free. As the actual progress and all the orders are made in how the design is shaping our own factories, we are up. At this stage, if you able to give our 100% wish, you can make minor attention to every details amendments to the existso you enjoy our designs ing design. to the most.

When the outfit is When the order is ready for stitching, and if placed, we would get you you feel that you may have to send the measurements changed your measureon which your outfits will ments, we would like you be made. The measureto send fresh measurement sheet that we send ments so the outfit can be you, comes with full adjusted before it is instructions. despatched. This way you You will be sent may not have any adjustswatches of the ment to deal with when fabric/colour and a swatch you receive your order. of the actual embroidery.

The orders are never This takes away the usual delayed. The despatch problems associated with date is fixed when the the mail order. You will get order is placed. The orders an exact idea of the fabric, are sent by secured couricolour and the embroiers with full insurance and dery. professional packaging.

Once the outfit is in Your own designs are welproduction, you will be come too. receiving email copies of Contact: UK Mona Vora Couture Bridal Unit C - Queens Road, Barnet, Herts EN5 4DG Phone - 020 8449 1734 India:- 84-85 Chinubhai Towers Ashram Road, Ahmedabad, 380 009 Phone - 00 91 79 265 74729 www.monavora.com, Email: designs@monavora.com

The annual Asian Wedding Exhibition 2010 was held at north London’s iconic Alexandra Palace, a few weeks back.

The PureJewels sponsored event welcomed between 8-10,000 visitors from across the UK to the show over the weekend.

Now in it’s 18th year, the longest running

27

SA: I worked as Bond Fund Manager in an Investment Bank in the city and did find that rewarding but not creative enough for me. I decided to make the leap away from Finance after noticing a gap in the market for a beauty brand that could offer something that was not available at the time to busy women who wanted to access and experience quick and convenient beauty treatments, and also use innovative and effective ‘solution-oriented’ beauty products, with a glamorous packaging that would also look great on their dressing table in the bedroom. The Powder Lounge was created as a solution to the problem of locating a High Street outlet which specialises in the art of Threading & Lash Enhancement.

AV: What is the concept of The Powder Lounge? sons couture collections for brides and grooms.

Marking a shift in the fusion of both eastern and western wedding trends, the event attracted a diverse mix of visitors from both south Asian and non-south Asian backgrounds all looking for the best in wedding services including award winning henna artist Ash Kumar who’s

SA: Cosmetic surgery is an individual preference and can’t be ruled out as it depends upon so many factors, as well as the individual case at hand. However, there are so many innovative and effective nonsurgery routes that a person can take, which are just as effective in creating an even better, more natural look than surgery could possibly do.

AV: How did it feel to be a finalist in the Beauty Specialist of the year award?

Shahena Ali

SA: One of the first Brow & Lash Bar’s in the UK, born out of a love affair with convenient and effective beauty treatments and unapologetic femininity, quick, affordable and accessible to all, The Powder Lounge Brow & Eyelash Bar is an original concept offering women in Britain quick, effective and affordable brow eye & lash treatments which will be the quickest route to glamorising and beautifying their eyes in the space of a few minutes. The Powder Lounge has also launched several ‘solution-oriented’ beauty products which target common beauty problems that women experience today; combining cutting-edge ingredients with the science of nature, The Powder Lounge brings you beautifully packaged unique and effective beauty solutions.

AV: It is believed beauty is a matter of within. Tell us how does the concept of emancipating it through make up works?

SA: As Sophia Loren says ‘There are no ugly women, only those who do not try’. It’s purely a case of looking after yourself simply for your own happiness, before taking into account that you may be doing it all for someone else.

Looking good will of course, make you feel good. Why not take care of yourself with a quick slick of lip gloss, some fluttery and well groomed arches for brows? A little bit of effort doesn’t cost much time or money and goes a long way towards feeling a million dollars!

AV: If you are given a choice to open a beauty boutique in India, where will you open it?

SA: I would of course choose Mumbai, glamour capital of India!

The beauty culture is huge there, particularly with the film industry spurring on and creating new looks and keeping up with the latest trends in fashion and style.

AV: How much do you believe in cosmetic surgery? Do you think one should change his/her face just

worked with Madonna and Julia Roberts.

One visitor expressed how ‘refreshing and informative’ it was to see and speak to a hand picked exhibitors without the distractions of celebrity and gimmicks.

PureJewels presented their six engagement and wedding ring collections Passion, Honesty, Grace, Virtue, Honour, and

SA: It’s very rewarding to experience the fruits of your labour in such a way! It’s nice to see my team’s hard work acknowledged and I and my team member’s found it incredibly fulfilling!

AV: Give us some quick tips to look fresh and pretty- especially for our youths.

SA: Your eyes can instantly show the world if you’ve had one too many late nights or any lack of sleep. Try these secret tips to obtain that well-rested, refreshed look for your eyes:-

l To give your eyes a more wideawake look, keep a couple of metal teaspoons in the fridge and apply them to the eye area for 30 seconds on days when you need to send those under-eye bags packing. You can even try storing your usual eye cream or eye gel in the fridge and use the chilled cream or gel as a luxurious alternative! l To make eyes look less bloodshot and to make your eyes look instantly wider, brighter and more sparkly, apply a cream-coloured or flesh-toned eye pencil to the inner rim of the upper and lower eye-lid.

This reduces the effects of latenights, lack of sleep and is a great short-cut to faking a good night’s sleep, creating the illusion of wider, brighter eyes. l Apply a light, cream coloured, pale pink or lilac, pearlescent eyeshadow, and then a smudged light or dark brown eyeliner to the upper eyelid to ‘lift’ the eyes and create a brighter, fresher look, which will divert attention away from any signs of tiredness underneath the eyes. l Avoid using mascara or eyeliner on the lower lashes if your eyes are looking tired as this will create shadows and emphasise any puffiness. l If you have puffiness underneath the eyes, try not to use a highlighter or concealer lighter than the skin on the cheeks or chin as this will emphasise the puffiness even more.

Adoration and also welcomed the latest in diamond tension technology with collections from Christian Bauer.

Yogesh Kanani, founder of the AWE says, “The seeds of the exhibition were sown after seeing an advert in the local newspaper promoting an English Wedding show.

My fiancé and I were planning our wedding

and realised that there was nowhere for us to visit similarly for Asian weddings. We took this up as a challenge and the Asian Wedding Exhibition was born. For the first exhibition in 1994, we secured 30 exhibitors, Wembley conference centre and attracted 3,000 visitors.

The rest as they say is history”.

28

LIFESTYLE/IMMIGRATION

UK Immigration:

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

The tale of

Rules that will change lives - Rupanjana Dutta UK government has now declared a new of set rules that not only put restrictions on the free inflow of students in the UK but also cuts off the possibility of highly skilled immigrants to fill up the gaps that cannot be otherwise filled in by the Britons.

Similarly we fail to understand how the government proposes to fill up the gaps in a curry house with a Polish cook or a high street restaurant pay hundreds for getting skilled cooks from India or Bangladesh or even Pakistan, sponsoring their visa with thousands of pounds? It is practically impossible!

The foreign students, according to the new laws are expected to go home after their course is over without any British experience. The question that persists is- why will one pay thousands to come and read in a university for an year and leave, when she or he deserves to gain some UK work experience, that is equally important on a CV. Currently under the Post Study Work Route, degree graduates are able to remain in the UK a further two years to find a job, which can then eventually lead to permanent settlement.

of what they are ruling.

Any foreign student from Commonwealth countries are forced to take IELTS exam to qualify or rather meet the UK standards of education. There are very few students who come to the UK to study English. It is mostly East European and other European nations who have people migrating to the UK to study English.

Immigration Minister Damian Green told the Asian Voice: "I believe attracting talented students from abroad is vital to the UK but we must be more selective about who can come here and how long they can stay.

"People imagine students to be those who come here for a few years to study at university and then go home - that is not always the case. Too many students coming to study at below degree level have been coming here to live and work, rather than studying. We need to stop this abuse.

"Today's proposals follow a major review of the system, and are aimed at a more selective system and, crucially, reducing the numbers to meet our target of reducing net migration to sustainable levels."

The Home Secretary also announced on 23 November 2010 a number

Students

Damian Green, the immigration minister, announced that the route is to be closed as part of a major review of student visas that will also prevent up to 100,000 fewer foreigners coming each to study every year.

The Daily Telegraph disclosed on Monday that students will only be allowed to come to study at degree level following concerns that up to half come to attend lower tier courses, such as vocational or A-levels, at private colleges. The language requirement for students will only be raised to that of GCSE level. We are not sure if the government before making laws think

of changes to immigration policy in respect of Tiers 1 and 2 of the points-based system, designed to deliver the government's commitment to place a limit on non-EU economic migration to the UK. Further details of these changes will be published before they are implemented in April 2011.

Tier 1 (General) route will be closed while Tier 2 will continue to be open to migrants working in these fields.

The Tier 2 (General) route will be subject to a limit of 20,700 places for 2011/12.

Tier 2 (General) applications will be restricted to graduate-level vacancies.

Damian Green MP

For settlement, there will be a new criminality threshold, requiring all applicants applying for settlement to be clear of unspent convictions.

Skilled and highly skilled migrants will need to meet the salary criteria that applied when they last extended their permission to stay.

All migrants in an economic route will be required to pass the 'Life in the UK' test prior to gaining settlement. If they do not pass the test, they will have their application for settlement refused and they will be required to leave the UK. The ability for new entrants in the Intra Company Transfer route to extend their leave beyond five years will be removed.

Amit Kapadia, Executive Director of HSMP Forum said, “It is important to note that the government did not conduct any consultation for the immigration cap itself.

MAC was appointed to conduct consultations as to what the numbers for such a cap should be and upon its application. What is even more surprising is that the government is contradicting with Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendations.

This proves that the government is not really interested in listening to what the stakeholders think but is rather only interested in fulfilling its own political agendas. We believe the cap is not good for British economy and especially it is not wise to introduce such experimental measures when the country is still trying to recover from the economic downturn. The coalition government seems to be compromising on what is good for the British economy when it comes to its own political agendas. We believe such measures at the least should be postponed until the economy fully recovers.”

A city immigration lawyer told Asian Voice, "I do not think the changes to Tier 1 will stand a chance and it may be open to judicial review."

wide, colorful borders The beautiful quilting stitch has added Baiton kantha are square wraps used on to the beauty of the seven yard drape. for covering books and other valuables.

Popularly known as kantha stich saris They have elaborate borders ctually the stitch is simple running Durjani/thalia these are quilted walstitch. It is the way it has been used that lets made out of rectangular kantha makes it extra ordinary. The cloth was pieces given layers that were kept together by Lep kantha are rectangular wraps the stitches. The cloth had multiple heavily padded to make warm quilts. uses. It could be used to sleep on or as a The whole piece is stitched in a wavy light blanket. Kantha for the Bengali pattern. Simple embroidery is done on folk means embroidered quilt. Kantha is the finished quilt. Oaar kantha are pilsaid to be dorukha meaning turning the low covers in simple designs. A decoraworn out and old textiles and fabrics to tive border is sewn afterwards. things of beauty.

Sujani kantha are decorative quilted The Kantha Embroidery is predomikantha used as blankets or spreads durnantly the most popular form of embroiing religious rituals or other occasions. dery practised by the rural women. The This started in 18th century in Bihar traditional form of Kantha embroidery Rumal kantha are used as absorbent was done the soft dhotis and saris. The wipes or plate coverings. They also feathread for this craft was drawn out of ture a central lotus with ornamented borthe borders of the used cloth. Fewer layders. The various patterns are called jaal, ers of the cloth are used to make clothes jhod, jhinga phool, dhan chori, golak for other purposes. The outer layers of dhaga and many others all created by difthe cloth comprises of white or light colferent placements of the running stitch. ored clothes which made the embroidery Kantha Embroidery Stole perceptible. The embroidered cloth is Kantha shawls are made in West used as stoles for women and shawls.

Bengal. The characteristic feature of the The clothes also find use as covers for Kantha shawl is the intricately embroimirrors, boxes, pillows etc. The entire dered shawls featuring various geometcloth is covered with running stitches rical and traditional patterns. and usually has beautiful folk motifs, Embroidery on the Kantha shawls is floral motifs, animal and birds figures done with fine needlework. This gives a and geometrical shapes. Themes from rich sensuous look to shawls. day to day activities are also a common Kantha embroidered shawls are subject for the embroidery. Such stitchfamous for their unique color combinaes on the cloth give it a slight wrinkled tion and patterns. Kantha stole are made wavy effect. The contemporary Kantha completely by hand with stitches over is not necessarily done on old multiple the hand loomed silk. The designs and layered saris or dhotis. It can also be rich texture that are commonly made on seen on the present day garments like the fabric are lively design of flowers, the sarees, dupatta, shirts for men and vegetables, fish forms leaves, floral prints women, bedding and other bedding and and vines climbing up this shawl. Kantha other furnishing fabrics. For these fabis not just a piece of craft but also an rics and dresses the base fabric used is essential female creation. It is expressive cotton and silk. Kantha evolved out of putting forth a volley of emotions. necessity to drape or protect against cold. Kontha on Sanskrit means rags. It can rightly be called the recycling art.

The precious silks and & , )" & $& # ' ( ! '$# $ muslins when became $& # ' ( ! + $' worn-out, women instead of throwing them away, % &" # #( & '' # # ' &" ! piled them in layers and $ (, ' $ * & )# ! stitched. Another legend ) & ( # %& ' #(!, & ' # ( relates kantha origin to lord Buddha and his disci$&( & $!! '$#+ , ples. It is said that they $# $# & , * #$( $ used to cover themselves ", #( #( $# ($ # ", # " with the thrown away rags patched and stitched ')&# " ($ , $& # # # together.

The Process involves laying the worn clothes in layers and stitching them together.

The thread of the stitches is drawn from the old saree borders. The design is first traced, then covered over with running stitches. Kantha, has limitless designs, for every woman who works on it can make almost any innovations that she fancies.

But some basic traditional design usually figure in the work. Another style DIMPLE SELF DRIVE HIRE LTD of Kantha has a border with a repeat design Competitive prices done in darning stitch Mini Bus (8-17 Seater) No hidden extras giving it almost a weave.

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Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

health watch

29

Coffee with sugar is a boost for brain power, memory Can that morning cup of coffee increase your attention span, memory, judgment and reasoning throughout the day? A recent study conducted at the University of Barcelona confirms that coffee with sugar does help. Forty subjects recently participated in a study to reveal if caffeine and glucose can have beneficial effects on cognitive performance.

Participants in this study were right-handed, healthy, low caffeine-consuming subjects who received one of the following beverages: plain water, water plus 75 grams of glucose or natural sugar, water plus 75 miligrams of caffeine, or water plus both 75 grams of glucose and 75 miligrams of caffeine. Participants underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before and 30 minutes after consuming the beverage, and a continuous performance test was

used to assess the attention span of each person.

Subjects who received the combination of caffeine and glucose produced a similar performance to the others but had a decrease in activation in the bilateral parietal and left prefrontal cortex, which are the parts of the brain responsible for attention and memory.

This may suggest that the caffeine/sugar combination was providing an artificial attention and memory boost in the brains of the subjects who consumed it.

Thus, the study concludes a combination of

caffeine and glucose could increase a person's attention span.

"In theory, caffeine and glucose could work together if caffeine activates cells and sugar provides the energy to fuel the activation," Dr. Richard Lipton, professor and vice chair of Neurology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and a member of the American Academy of Neurology, told AOL Health after reviewing the Spanish study.

This is a great fix to a drowsy morning; however, overuse of caffeine does have its drawbacks.

"One or two cups a day may increase alertness and productivity, but, taken in excess, caffeine tolerance develops," says Lipton.

"That means you need more and more caffeine to get the same effect."

Overuse of caffeine can lead to gastritis, headaches, and irritability.

Green vegetables reduce risk of diabetes too

Leafy, green vegetables offer more than one type of health benefits. A new study even shows that consuming more of these stuff reduces the risk of Type 2 diabetes. The authors have though cautioned that more investigation is needed to confirm the benefits.

A team led by Patrice Carter at the University of Leicester, central England, reviewed six studies involving 220,000 people that explored the link between fruit and vegetable consumption and Type 2, or adultonset, diabetes. The study is published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

Eating one and a half extra servings of green leafy vegetables cut the risk of diabetes by 14 per cent, but eating more fruit and vegetables combined had negligible impact, they found.

Type 2, the commonest form of diabetes, has spread fast from rich countries to fast-developing economies as fatty, sugary diets and sedentary lifestyles take hold.

More than 220 million people worldwide are afflicted with the disease, which kills more than one million people every year, according to

By Radhika Madlani

Family Values There is a saying that we often use to express our frustrations with our families; “You can choose your friends but not your family!” As silly as it seemed to google the definition of ‘family’, I am glad I did. “Two or more people who share goals and values, have long-term commitments to one another”. Hmm...

Look around you as read this paper and ask yourself whether those you live with have the same goals and values as you?

If not, this might explain why our friends mean more to us than family.

I feel embarrassed at how proud we claim to be of our family values yet I see examples in daily life where we could not be bigger hypocrites.

I guess some of this may be down to the society we live in and the change in our lifestyle. When it matters the most, who do you turn to? Your friends or your family?

Like most to-be parents, I used to have a rose-tinted view of the ‘family values’ I wanted to raise my children with but when I look around

me now, I find that we spend most of our time with friends that share common goals and values and not the extended family. Is it because it is harder for us to raise our children with the family values that we were raised with or is it because our families don’t necessarily share the same values? Is it because our friends appreciate us more than our family? Is it because we are too scared to care for those that can hurt us? Is it because there are no expectations from friends but too many from our family? Or is the real reason because those unwanted friends of ours, ‘pride’ and ‘ego’ stop us from asking our family for help but make it easier to ask our friends? I guess modern living makes it more convenient to ask friends or even strangers for help by paying them rather than turning to our family for help and support.

After all, you never know when those favours from family will come back to haunt you, it might be prudent to

pay someone to fulfill their duty without future repercussions. What a sad reality to live in.

What is the point in holding our heads up high at social functions and giving each other bear hugs when in reality, family members cannot be there for each other in times of need?

It is definitely something to think about over the coming holiday season.

I do want Ria to have friends to support her when she is older but I desperately hope that in her times of need, she can turn to her family just as much as her friends. It is after all in good times that friends are always present but in bad, isn’t it family that always surround you with support? That has certainly been my experience which I am eternally grateful to my family for.

“Don’t judge yourself with the number of friends you can invite to a party, judge them by the number you can turn to in your time of need.”

– Advice from a wise man (my father)

Should you have any comments or want to get in touch with me you can email on avmamaria@gmail.com

the World Health Organization (WHO).

Nutrition and exercise are known factors in prevention, but which foods work best and why remain disputed because so few good-quality studies have been carried out.

Carter's team suggests that green leafy vegetables are useful because they are high in antioxi-

dants and magnesium, but more work is needed to establish the findings.

In a separate study published in the British Journal of Pharmacology, Chinese scientists said a compound extracted from various Chinese herbs helped reduce the impact of Type 2 diabetes in mice.

The product, known as emodin, inhibits an enzyme called 11-Beta-HSD1, which plays a role in resistance to insulin, the hormone that helps clear excess sugar from the blood.

Emodin can be extracted from Chinese rhubarb (Rheum palmatum) and J a p a n e s e k n o t w e e d (Polygonum cuspidatum) among others, the paper said.

People, particularly smoker often say they light up cigarettes to tackle anxiety, depression or ease pressure situations. And though smoking has many health hazards, a new study even suggests that quitting the butt makes people happier.

Researchers tracked the symptoms of depression in people who were trying to quit and found that they were never happier than when they were being successful, for however long that was.

Based on their results, the authors recommend that smokers embrace quitting as a step toward improving mental as well as physical health, said Christopher Kahler, corresponding author and research professor of community health at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

Quitting is not, as some smokers may fear, a grim psychological sacrifice to be made for the sake of longevity.

"The assumption has often been that people might smoke because it has antidepressant properties and that if they quit it might unmask a depres-

sive episode," said Kahler.

"What's surprising is that at the time when you measure smokers' mood, even if they've only succeeded for a little while, they are already reporting less symptoms of depression."

Kahler and colleagues from Brown, The Miriam Hospital, and the University of Southern California studied a group of 236 men and women seeking to quit smoking, who also happened to be heavy social drinkers.

They received nicotine patches and counseling on quitting and then agreed to a quit date; some also were given specific advice to reduce drinking.

Participants took a standardized test of symptoms of depression a week before the quit date and then two, eight, 16, and 28 weeks after that date.

All but 29 participants exhibited one of four dif-

ferent quitting behaviors: 99 subjects never abstained; 44 were only abstinent at the twoweek assessment; 33 managed to remain smoke-free at the twoand eight-week checkups; 33 managed to stay off cigarettes for the entire study length.

The most illustrative and somewhat tragic subjects were the ones who only quit temporarily.

Their moods were clearly brightest at the checkups when they were abstinent.

After going back to smoking, their mood darkened, in some cases to higher levels of sadness than before. The strong correlation in time between increased happiness and abstinence is a tell-tale sign that the two go hand-in-hand, said Kahler, who is based at Brown's Centre for Alcohol and Addiction Studies.

Subjects who never quit remained the unhappiest of all throughout the study. The ones who quit and stuck with abstinence were the happiest to begin with and remained at the same strong level of happiness throughout.

30

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

Due to power cut the CB Live program was off the air last Thursday.

This week on CB Live - By public demand, the entire program is available to the viewers of MATV to have their views and dialogue with C.B in Gujarati (if fluency is a problem- in Hindi or English)

Sneh Joshi - 020 8518 5500

If you do not have a tv, go to www.tvunetworks.com and watch CB Live on TVU Player Channel 75203

To ask questions please call on: 020 8963 1001

Don't miss !!!

For more information e-mail: cblive_matv@yahoo.co.uk

Only on CB Live - MATV Sky 793 - Thursday 7:00pm to 8:00pm

Asian of the year 2010 held at Dorchester Hotel, London A leading NRI entrepreneur has been chosen for the Asian of the Year 2010 Award for his outstanding success in making a Christmas decorations business into a multi-million pounds industry.

Cherie Blair, wife of former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair presented the award to John Athwal at a gala function organised by the Asian Who's Who International at Dochester Hotel in London on Monday.

Receiving the award, 57-year-old Athwal, managing director of Premier Decorations Ltd said, "I

Mr J S Sachar Editor of Who is who giving a speech

and stable backgrounds that we could only have dreamt of."

He dedicated the award to his mother and father, "who brought us into this country to give us a better start in life."

Other recipients of the awards were Dalip Puri, head of Multicultural Banking UK, HSBC Bank Plc (Asian Leadership in John Athwal receiving Asian of Diversity), Simi the year from Cherie Blair Choudhry (Asian Leadership in Charity), am very proud to be standTony Patti (Asian ing here representing the Leadership in Music and 2nd generation that have Culture) Arun Panchariya taken their forefathers (Asian Leadership in dreams and built on them Banking), Atul Pathak for the future.

(Asian leadership in Today's descendants Franchise) and Sheetal have a much better chance Kapoor (Asian Leadership to build even further, with in Europe). educational opportunities Editor: CB Patel Associate Editor: Rupanjana Dutta Tel: 020 7749 4098 - Email: rupanjana.dutta@abplgroup.com Senior News Editor: Dhiren Katwa Editorial Executive: Kartik Raval Freelance Correspondent: Rudy Otter Chief Financial Officer: Surendra Patel Tel: 020 7749 4093 - Mobile: 07875 229 220 Email: surendra.patel@abplgroup.com Accounts Executive: Akshay Desai Tel: 020 7749 4087 Email:accounts@abplgroup.com Advertising Managers: Alka Shah Tel: 020 7749 4002 - Mobile: 07944 151 893 Email: alka.shah@abplgroup.com Kishor Parmar Tel: 020 7749 4095 - Mobile: 07875 229 088 Email: kishor.parmar@abplgroup.com Media Consultant: Rovin John Goerge - Email: rovin.george@abplgroup.com Tel: 020 7749 4097 - Mobile: 07875 229 219 Business Development Managers: Urja Patel - Email: urja.patel@abplgroup.com Liji George Tel: 020 7749 4013 - Email: george@abplgroup.com Nikhil Gor - Email: nikhil.gor@abplgroup.com Tel: 020 7749 4009 - Mobile: 07875 229 200 Design and Layout: Harish Dahya & Ajay Kumar Tel: 020 7749 4086 Email: graphics@abplgroup.com Customer Service: Saroj Patel Tel: 020 7749 4080 - Email: support@abplgroup.com (BPO) AB Publication (India) Pvt. Ltd. 207 Shalibhadra Complex, Opp. Jain Derasar, Nr. Nehru Nagar

It seems that you will be in gregarious mood, intent on cultivating a wider circle of acquaintances. Mentally you will be in good form to make on-the-spot decisions and also get your ideas across to the right people. Ideas that you have been juggling with for quite some time will now be easily pulled into shape, allowing you to push ahead.

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20

Coming Events l Dec 12- Mirage Patidar House, Wembley Central.

Contact: 020 8795 1648 l Pankaj Sodha and Levenes Solicitors bring Never Before Never Again- "Zindagi Ka Safar"a live concert in tribute to Kishor Kumar by his sons Amit and Sumeet Kumar at Kenton, Harrow, HA3 9TE on December 10th and 11th, 7pm onwards. Contact: 020 8907 0116 l Anandabawa Seva Sanstha at Jamnagar, Gujarat, India Medical, Dental & Eye Camp January 2011, Sponsored By Indo-Africa Charitable Society (Canada), 10 Villages in Jamnagar District, January 24th - February 4th, 2011 Contact: Sarla Morton (H) +44 (0)1753 883295 Email: sjgoldmine@aol.com l Wednesday 15th December, 19:30 onwards : Nirvan day (Sardar Patel's death anniversary) @ Brent Indian Association, Harrow, HA0 4TH. Contact: 8903 3019 l Wednesday 15thDecember 14:00- 15:30 : Shradhan Sabha @ The Jungle Club, Leicester, LE4 5ER. Contact: 01162 532069 l Sunday 25thDecember 19:00 onwards : Xmas Eve- tribute to Mohd. Rafi @ The Millenium Suite, Romford RM5 28H. Contact: 0208 924 4000 l Friday 31stDecember 20:00 onwards : Bollywood New Years Eve @ The Millenium Suite, Romford, RM5 28H. Contact: 0208 924 4000 The correct answer for the competition "Zindagi Ka Safar" is c. Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi.

The winners are- Indira Patel and Harish Mandalia.

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21

Opportunities abound, professionally and socially, so make the right choices. You should enjoy a very popular phase in your life where everyone wants to invite you to parties. This will give you a chance to meet people and pursue any romantic liaisons. There will be excesses associated with splashing out on luxury items which sometimes we do not really require.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 Developments during this week are likely to make you feel rather restless, perhaps because you have allowed yourself to fall into a routine that is now becoming jaded. If so, then the hint of change will be extremely welcome, even if it might entail an element of disruption. Adaptable and versatile, as you are, it is unlikely that even a major change will faze you.

You stand to gain through partners, friends and others you may meet socially or on your travels. With Venus in your sign of love, this is a good time for your social as well as your love life. If you’re single you are likely to meet the person of your dreams and this could lead to a permanent relationship for some of you.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22

Do not kid yourself that emotional problems can always be solved by material means. This only covers the cracks and does nobody any good in the end. If love has left you feeling rather dejected or cynical, it looks as though soon events will pull you out of this mood of despondency.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

The fiery planet Mars is the moving force in regard to amorous experience, giving more than just a hint that links between lovers will be rather intense and passionate.

Your attitude to material interests is likely to undergo some deep change. On a material level the trend greatly favours anything geared towards establishing greater financial stability.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23 A great deal will depend on how you organise your priorities this week. This does not mean that you will have to compromise your ideals but you may be obliged to realise that sometimes a more flexible approach is needed. Your best line of action this week is to stick doggedly to familiar routines and avoid all distractions where possible.

Amorous affairs continue to be highlighted whether or not this leads to a lasting relationship depends much on your own personal maturity and circumstances.

Efforts to restructure and transform your lifestyle are more likely to meet with success. Experience you have built up in the past will now stand you in good stead.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22

With planet Mars in Capricorn, it is a time to get to grips with personal finances and put them on a solid footing. On the work front, too you may find yourself getting your affairs in order. The accent’s very much on relationships, you and a partner may become embroiled in financial arrangements or some other nitty—gritty aspect of your relationship.

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21

Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad Tel: +9179 2646 Fax: +9179 6061 Chief Executive Director: Kamlesh Amin Tel: +91 922 710 4308 Email: kamleshamin123@yahoo.co.in Editorial Co-Ordinator (BPO): Suresh Samani (M) +91 9898441330 Email: sureshsamani@yahoo.com Dy. Editorial Co-Ordinator (BPO): Nilesh Parmar (M) +919426636912 Consulting Editor (BPO): Bhupatbhai Parekh, Ahmedabad, Gujarat Tel: +91 79 2630 4142 Mumbai: Kanti Bhatt, Hemraj Shah (Jumbo Advertiser) Horizon Advertising & Marketing: 205 Shalibhadra Complex, Opp. Jain Derasar, Nr. Nehru Nagar Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad Tel / Fax: +91 79 2646 5960 (M) +91 9913346487 Email: horizonadvt2009@yahoo.in Neeta Patel, (Advertising Manager) (M) +91 98255 11702 International Advertisement Representative: Jain Group(South India) Tel: +91 44 42041122/3/4 Fax: +91 44 25362973 Mumbai: +91 222471 4122 Email: jainmedia@eth.net

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CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20

Social commitments are liable to increase considerably. At times this could lead to a conflict of loyalties and perhaps a degree of resentment that others are taking advantage of you. Make a very conscious attempt to stick to main priorities. Organise your time so that it is not taken up entirely by the demands of other people.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19

A good time for restructuring and rethinking your aims and interests. You now have an excellent opportunity to sort out where things may be going wrong. The hard part is that you will have to be honest with yourself. Do not get over-anxious if everything seems to be in slow motion - it is time to pull a few strings.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20

You’re likely to receive insights into where everything is going and this may shape your life for months to come.

There are opportunities to expand your sphere of operations and you and a partner could really go places.

Professional and financial pressures will begin to ease.

Sport worLd

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

Kochi survives as IPL team RR, KXIP cases may delay players’ auction IPL season IV is caught in a legal cobweb, as the arbitrator chosen by the BCCI itself has recused himself from the Kings XI Punjab case, while the BCCI has challenged the stay granted by the arbitrator to Rajasthan Royals before the Mumbai High Court.

The appeal by KXIP was postponed by the Mumbai High Court on Monday.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, the IPL governing council accepted the new set up – ownership pattern

of the newly awarded Kochi franchise after they managed to sort out amicably their differences virtually during the last 48 hours of deadline that ended on Saturday, 4th December.

The fourth season of the IPL gets under way on April 8, 2011.

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)

secretary N. Srinivasan said: “At their meeting on Sunday, 5th December 2010, the IPL Governing Council confirmed that the Kochi franchisee had satisfactorily responded to the notice issued to them by the BCCI, and decided that the franchisee, Kochi Cricket Pvt. Ltd., would play in the IPL from 2011 onwards.”

Stuart Broad returns home after injury Torn abdominal muscle forces him for a 10 week rest

Stuart Broad will be on his way back home Wednesday, leaving the Ashes tour midway.

A torn abdominal muscle injury has forced the England player a 10 week

rest and rehabilitation programme.

Broad suffered the injury on Monday afternoon, the fourth day of the just concluded second test match. Nick Peirce, the

chief medical officer of PCB confirmed Broad’s injury.

He is also likely to miss the earlier part of the ICC World Cup, starting on 19th February, 2011.

"Playing for England in an Ashes series in Australia has been something I've dreamed of for a long time so to have that cut short by injury is devastating," said Broad.

B’desh beat Zimbabwe in 3rd ODI On Monday, Bangladesh beat the visitors Zimbabwe again in the 5 match ODI series with a comfortable margin of 65 runs to take make it 2-1.

First, skipper Shakib Al Hasan helped the team put a challenging score of 246 runs. Later, Abdur Razzak and Shafiul Islam captured 4 wickets a piece to demolish the Zimbabwe batting, as the visitors were demolished in 48.1 overs, though the fate of the game was almost decided quite earlier.

2nd match In the previous match on Friday, none of the innings went on to the

on the 200 run mark. {Brief scores: 3rd ODI - B’desh 246 for 7 (Shakib 73, Mushfiqur 63, Utseya 4-38) beat Zim 181 (Utseya 67, Razzak 4-14, Shafiul 4-43) by 65 runs.

2nd ODI – B’desh 194 for 4 (Raqibul 65, Siddique 53) beat Zim 191 (Razzak 5-30, Shakib 4-39) by 6 wickets. 1st ODI - Zim 209 (Chakabva 45, Razzak 4-41) beat B’desh 200 (Shakib 63, Mpofu 325) by 9 runs}. stipulated 50 overs.

1st match In the opening game, played on Wednesday,

Zimbabwe did well to defend a very modest score of 209 runs, as the home team was bundled out just

said that the GC was of the view that they didn’t want to malign IPL by including tainted players. “At present seven Pakistan players are being probed for matchfixing. And we have no idea how deep-rooted the problem is. The entire team is under ICC anticorruption radar,” he said on condition of anonymity.

Three Pakistan players Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir are under provisional suspension by ICC after British tabloid News of

the World broke the spotfixing scandal during the Lord’s Test against England. More recently, allegations of wrongdoing were made against four more players — Umar Akmal, Wahab Riaz, Kamran Akmal and Imran Farhat.

Officially though, IPL Chief Executive Officer Sundar Raman said that it was too early to comment on the issue. “We are still under the process of recognising names of foreign players for IPL-4 auction.”

Lanka – West Indies 3rd test too a wash out Just 103 overs of play in 3 days, two days lost completely The three test series between touring West Indies and Sri Lanka ended in a completely rain marred contest, the last and final one at Pallekele being the worst affected.

The series ended without any result, though in the first test, West Indies had a bit of upper hand, while in the second outing, the honours were almost even.

But in the last encounter, the stadium at Pallekele could have scarcely had a worse

Russia bags 2018 Football World Cup

In a voting that stunned England, one of the top bidders, FIFA awarded the 2018 World Cup Football event to Russia, while the next event of 2022 went to Qatar, a tiny nation in the Gulf region. The winners were announced last week in Zurich. The bidding war was marred by allegations of corruption and illegal deal-making. The two countries have never hosted the prestigious event in the history of the game. 2014 World Cup is to be staged in Brazil.

Russia prevailed in the 2018 race, upsetting England and joint bids from Spain and Portugal and Belgium and the Netherlands. But the shock of the day came in the 2022 race, where Qatar beat off stiff competition from the United States, Australia and Asian rivals South Korea and Japan in a remarkable result. Qatar 2022 bid president Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Thani promised: “We won't let you down.

You will be proud of us, proud of the Middle East.”

Bookie Majeed names 4 more Pakistan players in fixing

Mazhar Majeed, the Pakistan origin bookmaker based in UK recently, in a new video, leaked last week has alleged that apart from the three already under suspension, he has four more Pakistan cricketer working for him in the match or spot fixing affairs.

The four, Kamran and Umar Akmal, Wahab Riaz and Imran Farhat have vowed to sue Majeed for defamation. Kamran Akmal was the last one to announce his intention of sending a legal notice to Majeed. The axed wicketkeeper said, “Majeed was just my agent and nothing more. For him to try to taint my name and reputation is not acceptable”.

EPL matches this week Saturday, 11 December Aston Villa v/s West Brom Villa Park Everton v/s Wigan Goodison Park Fulham v/s Sunderland Craven Cottage Stoke v/s Blackpool Britannia Stadium West Ham v/s Man City Boleyn Ground Newcastle v/s Liverpool St. James Park Sunday, 12 December Bolton v/s Blackburn Reebok Stadium Wolverhampton v/s Birmingham Molineux Tottenham v/s Chelsea White Hart Lane Monday, 13 December Man Utd v/s Arsenal Old Trafford

15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 17:30 13:30 13:30 16:00 20:00

Bangladesh celebrate the wicket of Hamilton Masakadza

Spot fixing blot ensures no Pakistani cricketer in IPL IV too The blot of spot fixing involvement and being under ICC anti-corruption radar has led IPL governing council deciding against taking any Pakistani cricketer into the fold for the season IV. This year, the decisions of IPL teams not to pick up any Pakistani players even though they were in the auction list had created a lot of controversy.

The issue had assumed the proportions of a diplomatic row.

A BCCI top official

31

debut. After five hours of incessant rain on the final day, on Sunday, play was finally called off without a ball being bowled - the second completely washed-out day during the match. On the three days that play was possible, only 103 overs were bowled.

West Indies made 303/8 after having been put in to bat by Kumar Sangakkara.

The entire series has been an incredibly disappointing one for fans,

players and broadcasters alike. The tour did not have full day’s play in any of the 15 days. It did have several individual performances shining out through this depressing excuse for a Test series.

Chris Gayle's fantastic triple-ton helped West Indies dominate the first Test, while Kumar Sangakkara's 150 in Colombo gave Sri Lanka control in the second.

Darren Bravo announced himself with three mature half-centuries.

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32

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th December 2010

England win the first Ashes battle In Adelaide, OZ go down by an innings and 71 runs

Graeme Swann’s spin was so unplayable on the final morning that hosts Australia could not even survive the first session, while they were aspiring to play out possibly the whole day to draw after having yielded a huge first innings lead to England.

Swann accounted for half of the OZ batsmen for 91 runs.

In 1986-87 Ashes contest in Australia too, England got the first upper hand in the series and they didn’t let it slip out.

Presently too, England hold the ashes urn and are most likely to hold it on.

Australia hasn’t tasted success in Test matches for five outings now.

Both the teams though face injury problems.

There will be changes for both teams at the WACA, with England forced to

Graeme Swann is mobbed by his team-mates

look to Chris Tremlett or Tim Bresnan, due to a series-ending abdominal injury to Stuart Broad.

Australia will have to find a new opener as Simon Katich's Achilles tendon problem has ruled him out of the rest of the series, while Xavier Doherty and Marcus North will also face a nervous wait to see

if they keep their places.

England wrapped up the contest before lunch.

They knew a thunderstorm was expected later in the afternoon, and after the initial breakthrough of Michael Hussey for 52, they tightened the noose on the remaining of the rival batsmen.

Hussey and North

resumed at 4 for 238, and it took only six overs for England to get a sniff of victory.

Hussey was dropped by Matt Prior off the bowling of Swann but didn't survive a second chance when he top-edged a pull off Steven Finn and was comfortably taken at midwicket by James Anderson.

Swann bowled outstandingly on the final day, and deserved his 5 for 91.

In the absence of Broad for much of the innings, he sent down 41.1 overs, and collected the final two wickets when he sneaked the ball under the bat of Doherty for 5 and then finished off Siddle. {Brief scores: England 5 for 620 dec beat OZ 245 and 304 (Clarke 80, Watson 57, Hussey 52, Swann 5-91) by an innings and 71 runs}.

Yusuf powers India to 4th win Even 315 was not defendable for NZ attack It was Yusuf Pathan’s day at Bangalore on Tuesday.

He first took three wickets without being very expensive and than blasted his way to his first ODI century to lead India to their fourth straight victory against New Zealand.

Earlier, a rain interruption raised the possibility of the dreaded D/W coming into play, but that luckily didn’t happen. In the New Zealand innings and quite upto the later stages of India innings, New Zealand looked like emerging winners, but Yusuf Pathan in partnership with Saurabh Tiwary ensured that India sailed with more than an over to spare.

Pathan scored an unbeaten 123, sending the ball 14 times across the fence – seven sixes and seven fours.

Rohit Sharma also had a key role in stabilising India after New Zealand

had strangulated the flow of runs.

Earlier, a resolute half century by James Franklin (98 not out) helped New Zealand to a formidable total. The visitors made 315 for seven in their stipulated 50 overs, in what was by far their best batting effort in the series.

(Brief scores: 4th ODI - India 321 for 5 (Pathan 123*, Patel 53) beat NZ 315 for 7 (Franklin 98*, Pathan 3-49) by 5 wickets. 3rd ODI - India 229 for 1 (Gambhir 126*, Kohli 63*) beat NZ 224 for 9 (Franklin 72*, Yusuf 2-27, Zaheer 2-31) by 9 wickets. 2nd ODI - India 259 for 2 (Gambhir 138*, Kohli 64) beat NZ 258 for 8 (Guptill 70, Styris 59, Sreesanth 4-47) by 8 wickets. 1st ODI - India 276 (Kohli 105, McKay 462, Mills 3-42) beat NZ 236 (Taylor 66, Yuvraj 343, Ashwin 3-50) by 40 runs.

Serbia emerge as new Davis Cup champs

Football & More Ltd. takeover Southall Football club Under the new owners, SFC has prospects of a bright new future!!

Southall Football Club announced last weekend that it has been taken over

by Football & More Limited and now has prospects of a much brighter future under a powerful new ownership team.

The club that has a long history having been founded in 1871 has been struggling both on and off the field in recent times.

The change of ownership and direction promises a bright new future!

Southall Football Club can point to a history that includes playing in the Southern League, the Isthmian League, the Middlesex Football League and the London Football League and playing in the 3rd round proper of the FA Cup. In headier times

Southall was watched by home crowds of over 19,000.

At the dawn of this ‘second innings’ the new owners of the club wish the people of Southall to know that this is "SOUTHALL" Football club a club that belongs to the people of Southall.

The new mission for the club is to combine an era of success on the field with a responsible role in

the community. The club will establish local facilities including an academy for developing youngsters that will in time extend beyond football into other sports.

The club looks forward to working with Ealing Council to play a full part in local regeneration as part of its commitment to ‘Community Citizenship’ New Chairman Tommy Taylor said “This is with-

out doubt one of the most exciting and demanding challenges I have been part of. There is a lot of work to do, but the interest and commitment shown by my colleagues on the Board and the people of Southall makes it a challenge that I am proud to be part of.”

Vice Chairman Charanjeet Singh Gill said “The new ownership team wants to be judged on delivering success not only on the football field but also being seen as a responsible and contributing part of our local community.”

Rajeshwar Gautam the new Director of Finance and Marketing added “We believe that there is a real opportunity for the people of Southall to engage in this new era for Southall FC.”

Bogdan Obradovic, Nenad Zimonjic, Novak Djokovic, Janko Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki of Serbia celebrate with the trophy

Sunday, 5th December witnessed a new chapter in Davis Cup and Tennis history, as Serbia emerged new champions in the team game finals at home, beating nine time champions France 3 – 2 in a very engrossing battle. Novak Djokovic and Viktor Troiki were instrumental in sealing Serbia's place in tennis history as their country defeated a talented French team in the 2010 Davis Cup final.

Serbia had their backs against the wall on Sunday in Belgrade as they needed to win their last two singles matches to claim victory from the French. With Djokovic defeating Gael Monfils 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 in the first match a climatic final match between Serbia's Viktor Troiki and France's Michael Llodra developed.