Asian Voice

Bengali Girl becomes US National Spelling Bee champion

FIRST & FOREMOST ASIAN WEEKLY IN EUROPE

VOICE

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Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

VOL 40. ISSUE 6

Questioned: 'Right to family life' role in asylum scandal The decisions of the Coalition government are often disjointed and incongruent.

While British citizens are not allowed to invite their families over for weddings and funerals, with the right of appeal scrapped, tens of thousands of asylum seekers have been awarded British residency under a controversial human rights law which allow foreigners to stay because they have a partner or children in the country.

Recently (May 2011) a convicted Sri Lankan robber was allowed to remain in Britain under the European Convention on Human

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Rights section 8, guaranteeing his right to family life, as his girlfriend lived in Rocky Gurung Britain.

I n January another news reported that Rocky Gurung, from Nepal, who killed a man by throwing him into the River Thames, persuaded judges that it would breach his "right to family life" if he were sent back to his homeland - even though he was a single adult with no children, Continued on page 5

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11th June to 17th June 2011

From red carpet to midnight arrest Baba Ramdev denies rift with Anna Hazare-led team

Ruling out any difference between him and Anna Hazare, yoga guru Baba Ramdev dismissed suggestions of a rift with the Anna Hazare-led team and said he has asked his supporters to join the day-long fast by the social activist and his aides in New Delhi on Wednesday.

"We are with Hazareled group. There is no difference between Anna and me," Ramdev said.

"Thousands of our activists will go to Delhi to partici-

Baba Ramdev

pate in the Anna movement. We do not have any hope with this govern-

ment," he said. Hazare and other civil society members of the Lok Pal

drafting committee will sit on a day-long fast to protest the crackdown on Ramdev's fast against corruption. Ramdev said he would not end his fast till the government accepts his demands to curb corruption and black money.

"Our fast is on from June 4. There should not be any confusion about it as the fast will continue till this whole country is united against corruption and black money.

Continued on page 26

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Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

one to one Keith Vaz MP with

And the worst?

Hanif Lalani OBE, Investment Ambassador in India for Northern Ireland Hanif Lalani has developed a portfolio of roles during 2010 that includes Investment Ambassador to Northern Ireland, Non Executive Director at Easynet, on the Advisory board of Morgan Franklin and as a Senior Deals Advisor to a variety of Private Equity companies.

Hanif moved to Northern Ireland with his family in 1998 to take up the post of Finance Director BT Northern Ireland. A year later, he was appointed Chief Executive of BT Northern Ireland and Chairman of OCEAN Communications (BT’s subsidiary in the Republic of Ireland). Hanif returned to London and in January 2003, he was awarded the OBE for his services to business in Northern Ireland.

He is married to Sharmin and has a young family and is a very keen Leeds United supporter.

What inspired you to begin your association with Invest Northern Ireland?

My family and I enjoyed 5 fantastic years in Northern Ireland. It was a period in our past that we will always have fond memories of and one where we made some great friendships. It was therefore natural to want to go back and work with people in the region with those who shared the same values, the same great moments and to work with people of similar minds.

It’s a wonderful place to work and bring up a family.

What are your proudest achievements?

My most proud moment was, like a lot of people, the birth of my first daughter, Imam.

Academic and business achievement has played a big role in my life. An

Honorary Doctorate from Essex & Bedford University and an OBE for services to business in Northern Ireland rank amongst my most proud moments. I’m so proud of the progress that has been made in Northern Ireland, particularly relating to the number of Indian businesses that now operate there.

Praise from my father after 43 years was something I cherished too!

Please tell us about your current position?

I spent 26 years of my career working for BT, having left, I now find myself with the chance to do everything that I couldn’t because I simply didn’t have time.

There are a number of things keeping me busy now. I work with Private Equity companies and have invested in a number of start-ups with friends. I also became an

I feel that my current role is one that can help touch communities and improve people’s lives.

It’s a powerful feeling.

I find that because I am working in so many different roles, I do miss that sense of belonging that I had with BT for example. I suppose with greater freedom, comes greater responsibility and greater choice.

These things perhaps may take time for me to get more used to!

What are your long term goals?

Very simply, to put my family first and live a fulfilling a life as possible.

If you were Prime Minister, what one thing would you change?

Investment Ambassador for Invest Northern Ireland, helping Indian companies not only to become more global in outlook, but to forge closer business ties with Northern Ireland.

What has been the biggest obstacle in your career?

I found in my early career, a lack of clarity around what I wanted in life. This lack of a clear view was something I struggled with, but as I matured as a businessman I got a much clearer idea about what success looks like, in both a personal and a professional sense.

Who has been the biggest

influence on your career to date?

I don’t think I can pinpoint a particular individual as being hugely influential on my career, but I certainly believe that my experience in Northern Ireland gave me a solid foundation to create my own brand and reputation business, which is ultimately something that I believe is one of my finest achievements.

What is the best thing about your current role?

It really is the feeling of freedom. I work when I want, with whom I want, it really is down to me to shape my future as I want.

Being Prime Minister must be one of the hardest jobs around and certainly one that generates discussion amongst people about how they might do things better, but I think the first thing I would do is divert all government spending to the people of the UK first and foremost.

If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figures would you like to spend your time with and why?

I have this fascination for great leaders and great adventurers, so I’d very much hope to spend my time marooned with Tipu Sultan, Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great. Between the four of us, I’m sure we’d have a story or two to tell!

Kensington Palace Gardens crowned as Britain's most expensive street According to a new league table prepared by property experts, London's Kensington Palace Gardens has been termed as Britain's costliest street with properties being sold at 93 times more than the national average property rates. A single square foot of land on the street is worth £1,193.

Thus the street, which is just half-a-mile in length, has been rightly coined as Billionaire's Row, housing some of the richest people in the world. Indian steel tycoon and

Britain's richest man, Lakshmi Mittal purchased an 18-bedroom mansion in 2004 from Formula 1 President and CEO, Bernie Ecclestone for a staggering £57million. The street seem to have suited him quite right as he went ahead to buy two more houses, just a few hundred yards apart, for his son Aditya and daughter Vanisha for about £117million Mittal residency: Bought for £57m in 2004, valued at £250m in 2010 and £70million respectively.

Members of Saudi Royal family after extensive work, and also possesses one of the neighconsidered as world's most bouring house to Mittal's resiexpensive private home.

dency.

Other than serving as an extravagant residential street for multi-billionaires, the street also has international embassies and ambassadorial houses. The Russian embassy is located on the street and so is the official residence of the ambassador of France. During World War Two the British government used a residence on Kensington Palace Gardens to house its infamous MI19 intelligence office, known as the London Cage.

People ■ Miriam González Durántez, the wife of the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will be the guest of honour at the launch of the 60-4-60 Charity that

Miriam González Durántez

aims to give 60 wheelchairs to hospitals in the Queens Jubilee year. Anita Choudhary the Founder of Paths to Success will preside.

■ Lord Chancellor Ken Clarke has been honoured by his old college with a Bursary is his name. After the

Ken Clarke

month he has had it was all smiles as Britain’s most senior legal figure in hush puppies was properly feted.

■

Nominations have closed for the premier competition of South Asian Restaurants at the House of Commons.

Home Secretary Theresa May will go head to head with Barry Gardiner for the 2011 Tiffin Cup. Amin Ali of the Red Fort and Sanjay Anand OBE will head the judging panel.

Domestic violence by women doubles The number of women convicted over domestic violence in England and Wales has more than doubled in five years.

Figures from the Crown Prosecution Service and Mankind, the men’s domestic abuse charity, show that nearly 4,000 women were prosecuted last year compared with fewer than 1,500 in 2005.

Mark Brooks, chairman of Mankind, told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast, which obtained the data, that there was not enough support for male victims. “The help for male victims is very sparse,” he said. More than 55,000 men were prosecuted in 2010, compared with more than 28,700 five years earlier.

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

COMMENT

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3

Thought for the Week

New Delhi's heavy-handed clampdown on peaceful protest an outrage Baba Ramdev is a popular Indian guru with a considerable national following. Like many figures in the country's public life he is greatly exercised by the recent scams that have disfigured Indian politics and brought it into disrepute. Baba Ramdev is a revered yogi devoted to good causes. He and his followers assembled at Delhi's Ramlila grounds to register their peaceful, anti-corruption protest. As an Indian citizen he had every right to do so, particularly as no violence and threat to public order was involved.

Ministers initially met with him in an apparent endeavour to persuade him to call off his declared fast to death. Their efforts failed and plainly someone in high authority lost his head and gave the order to use force. Tear gas was used in a confined space, which included women and children; and it was fortunate no deaths or serious injuries resulted from this action.

It should be said that hunger strikes and fasts at the drop of a hat cause (and have caused) enormous inconvenience to the public. These have sometimes been done for self-serving ends. Medha Patkar and her fellow agitators took recourse to such tactics in their bid to halt the progress of the Sardar Sarovar multi-purpose irrigation project in Gujarat, from which the people of the state have

drawn huge benefit.

Another point to consider is the issue of security. India, like Britain, is on constant high alert against the possibility of terrorist attack. If Indian intelligence had intimation that such an attack was being planned to coincide with Baba Ramdev's meeting this information should be shared under camera with the Supreme Court, which has asked the country's Home Ministry and police to give reasons for their actions.

This broad canvas is simply meant to pinpoint the possibilities; it is not designed to make excuses for serious wrongdoing. On the available evidence the Indian authorities were wrong to behave in the way they did. If there were mitigating circumstances they should tell us what these were.

Otherwise the guilty must be brought to account and punished.

A final word. Certain Congress party spokesmen, Digvijay Singh principally, made rude and uncouth references to Baba Ramdev and his alleged links with the RSS. But Anil Shastri, the son of former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, and a Congressman himself, said tellingly that the decision to remove Baba Ramdev by force was a government and not a Congress Party decision.

This split is not without significance.

Theresa May's warns against Islamist recruitment on university campuses Home Secretary Theresa May's warning of Islamist recruitment on university campuses in Britain in the face of complacency by university authorities is timely. The London terror bombings of July 7, 2005 was a wake up call for Britain. Like the US, the UK was no longer immune to a threat which it had previously chosen to ignore on the mistaken premise that such things only happenned in far-off countries. Both countries have paid a heavy price for keeping their heads buried in the sand.

It is never too late to learn from the errors of the past. No man is an island in our globalized world.

What occurs in Bali or Mumbai can resonate in Madrid, London and New York. Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist squad is at full stretch coping with a threat that shows no sign of diminishing. The British people are alive to the need for upholding the rule of law and the cherished liberties that underwrite it, even as their awareness deepens of the threat in their midst that seeks to undermine and destroy these values and replace them with a clericalist absolutism.

Universities are places where the young learn to think and speak freely, where they learn to subject received wisdom to close critical scrutiny, yet through this process they learn also to respect intellectual divergence as an essential element of civilized life. These freedoms, like all good things, are open to abuse. Impressionable minds can be manipulated and brainwashed, distorting the personality and leaving civil society open to danger. A Daily Telegraph report on Islamist intimidation and bullying of Bangladeshi women in the London borough of Tower Hamlets puts the spotlight on the problem.

To get the balance right between protecting society and maintaining civil liberties is not always easy.

Nottingham University was remiss when it reported two young Muslim students of impeccable credentials, who were engaged in post-graduate research on Islamist extremism, to the police. There was needless harassment of the pair before they were released from detention without charge. This is not to accept the contrarian position that the authorities are surrendering to Islamophobia and that members of the Muslim community in the UK are under persecution. This is far from true. Such reckless and irresponsible accusations do not further Muslim community interests; they merely poison inter-community relations.

Islamist extremism and its terrorist face are facts of life in today's world; they are self-evident truths for the most part. The previous Labour government's organisation Prevent, was set up to garner all-round support from every section of British society to combat the extremist menace. Money was liberally distributed among Muslim organisations and groups to bring them on board, but subsequent investigation reveals that these measures were implemented in haste and have brought nonthing tangible to the table.The present Coalition Government is therefore revisiting the issue in the public interest. It is right to do so. To say this is not to accept the formulation of British foreign policy on Iraq or Libya as wise or correct. We are confronted by complexity wherever we go, but terrorism in the name of religious faith is unacceptable. It is a scourge that threatens the peace and prosperity of the human race and must be eliminated.

Sri Lanka on road to militarisation The travails of Sri Lanka show little sign of disappearing anytime soon. President Mahinder Rajapaksa's government in Colombo may have won the war against the Tamil Tigers but it is a long way from winning the peace. He talks a good line on the need to build a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka in which every community has equal rights, but his words and deeds remain at odds with each other.

Majority Sinhalese nationalism continues to display a triumphalist edge and those challenging it are given short shrift. There are courageous voices from among the Sinhalese community protesting the current political drift but such individuals have been stamped upon by the authorities with disturbing ruthlessness in clear violation of the rule of law.

Worse, the Buddhist clergy are playing a significant role in this nationalist xenophobia, the anti-Tamil undertones being clearly understood. The cocktail of politics and religion demeans both and brings no profit to the nation at large.

As troubling is the new role of the country's military in the day-to-day running of affairs. The war may be over but the Sri Lankan army keeps grow-

ing. Perks and perquisites have made it an economic power in the land. The military's business footprints are formidable and extend to the hospitality sector in Tamil-populated Jaffna to the north.

The military are poor arbiters of economic realities. Special privileges bring greed and corruption and reduce its efficiency as a fighting force. The end game is the military's reduction to parasite status. These perils appear to be growing with the enlarged role of the military in the public space.

Perhaps the Sri Lankan authorities perceive the military as an instrument of employment among the country's rural youth. The result is a bloated army – the strongest and most numerous arm of the military – whose tentacles, like those of an octopus, are spreading to every corner of national activity.

This is an augury for future woes. Political change buttressed by essential constitutional reform are the strongest guarantees of an enduring and stable future for Sri Lanka. There is no other way. Time is running out for President Rajapaksa and his colleagues.

All the masterpieces of art contain both light and shadow. A happy life is not one filled with only sunshine, but one which uses both light and shadow to produce beauty.

- Billy Graham

Political Sketchbook Alpesh Patel’s India’s Second Independence Movement "The British government in India has not only deprived the Indian people of their freedom but has based itself on the exploitation of the masses, and has ruined India economically, politically, culturally and spiritually....

Therefore... India must sever the British connection and attain Purna Swaraj or complete independence.”

These words were Nehru’s Declarations of Indian Independence in 1930 on behalf of India. I wonder if anyone asked him who funded Gandhiji? Whether when meetings happened at the now Imperial Hotel in Delhi, why they were in ‘5 star’ surroundings?

I mention this as I write to you from Delhi and because as Baba Ramdev goes on fast to protest against corruption in Indian life, these are the questions being asked by the Congress Party. In particular the Congress Party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi, who I have met on several occasions, seems to have lost the plot like the party for whom he speaks. The next time I see him I will tell him he should be ashamed of himself.

I say ‘lost the plot’ because instead of addressing the issues raised, they are trying to discredit the messenger.

The Congress party sounds like the British pre-1947.

Stalling. Using every excuse not to give way. So it is that India has come full circle. The party that stood for freedom have become the Imperial masters. Delaying. Just as the British had so many excuses as to why Independence would be a bad thing. It would be undemocratic. The people behind it cannot be trusted (half naked fakir remember), it would be holding His Majesty to hostage. So it is Congress repeats the same arguments: Ramdev is a half-naked fakir, the Government cannot be held hostage, things should move more slowly…all in good time.

While you're at it, Govt of India: here are a few other things the British did before Independence you may want to do to the anti-corruption movement: 1. lathi charge 2. Beat and attack the protesters 3. arrest for sedition 4. try to divide the movement 5. agree with them, but tell them 'all in good time' 6. claim hidden agendas of protesters for fear of the message 7. tell them they don't have the correct licences (eg for a salt march or a political protest). 8. call the people 'undemocratic'!

Then it was the British, now it is an Italian. Maybe there is preference to be ruled by foreigners? For an old country - it ain't half immature. I was reading Orwell's Animal Farm where he warns of the seekers of Independence becoming themselves corrupt and masters all over again...same old pigs - I refer to the characters in the book of course.

Oh and the mighty intellect that is Shah Rukh Kahn adds a yoga guru should stick to yoga. And an idiotic actor should not ask how his movies are funded. Or maybe a barrister should not get involved in the Independence movement?

Then you have the liberal do-gooders. The so-called Civil Society. The intelligentsia. Well they’re in favour of the status quo. Remember Gandhiji rid his western clothes and explained the need to Nehru. So too the yoga guru is threatening to the vested interests who don’t want to make a personal sacrifice for the nation.

Continued on page 13

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LEICESTER VOICE

Leicester clothing store adhere to new code of practice After an ongoing debate over growing sexism in clothes designed for kids, British Retail Consortium has passed strict guidelines in order to stop the practice by advising retailers on what is considered as appropriate wear for children under 12.

Asda's clothing label, George, which has its headquarters in Lutterworth, and Next, which is based in Enderby are the two Leicestershire high street clothing companies among nine other retailers to be the first to agree to these new notions

of protecting kids from inappropriate exposure to sexism.

The code says, "Fabrics and cut should provide for modesty, and slogans and imagery must be age appropriate without undesirable associations or connotations, for example sexually suggestive, demeaning or derogative material.”

It also states, "Collections should enable children to be confident about their developing bodies and enjoy play and physical activity while maintaining modesty.

'Asian Mr Leicester' is no more Abdul Haq, one of the first Asians to settle in Leicester has died at the age of 93. Haq came to the UK from India in the 1930s, almost four decades before the high tide of migration in 1970s.

He was well known in the community and often referred to as Asian Mr Leicester. Mr Haq died of a heart failure and pneumonia last week. He was a co-founder of Leicester's first mosque, in

Sutherland Street.

His son, Zuffar Haq said, “At that time he was one of the few Asian faces in the city and people regarded him as a bit of a curiosity. People didn't know anything about India. He was a source of information about a faroff place – a window to the world. People were always stopping him in the street, shaking his hand and inviting him to dinner."

Razzaq signs for Leicestershire Leicestershire CCC has signed Pakistan's allrounder, Abdul Razzaq for the Friends Life t20 tournament. Razzaq, who has played 26 t20 internationals for Pakistan, was part of the Hampshire Royals side that won the tournament last summer.

The 31-year-old has been one of the most consistent player for Pakistan on the international platform and often created havoc with both, bat and ball. He has a career t20 strike rate of 143.63 in 71 games and has claimed 79 wickets in that time.

Razzaq’s economy rate in t20 internationals is under seven runs per over and he has often opened the bowling for Pakistan.

On domestic platform, Razzaq has a t20 hundred to his name and is renowned for his power hitting and reverse swing bowling at both ends of an innings. The Foxes will certainly be looking to gain from his massive international experience

Abdul Razzaq signed up by Foxes

as he has 46 test matches, 262 ODIs, three ICC World Cups and two ICC World twenty20 Cups.

Spokesperson for Foxes said, “The all-rounder brings a wealth of knowledge and quality to Grace Road and Leicestershire CCC is thrilled to have Razzaq on board.”

Abdul Razzaq is set to make his debut in the televised game against unbeaten Lancashire Lightning at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

Man accused for exploiting trafficked maid Zubeda Ali, who was brought to the UK from Tanzania to work as a maid has told Birmingham Crown Court that she was forced to work 19 hours a day, without breaks for a Birmingham family and was paid just £2.50 in ten months.

It is alleged that Shafiq Shariff, 48, lured Zubeda Ali into the city from Tanzania with a promise of a well paid job. He is also alleged to help get her a false passport when he met her in Dar e Salaam in 2007.

But a father of three, who lives on Esme Road, Sparkhill, denied charges of trafficking a person for exploitation and assisting unlawful immigration.

Zubeda Ali, who is a mother of three told the court through a Swahili interpreter, “I worked seven days a week and I started at 6am and finished at 12am or 1am. I felt terrible because the work was very hard

Accused: Shafiq Shariff

and there was no money. I was not given days off or breaks. I was expected to cook, clean, do the ironing, wash the clothes and look after the children and the elderly grandmother, who was also living in the house.”

She added, “I kept asking for my salary. But I was told that I would be paid after two years. After a few months I was sent out to work for other people. I cooked food that was sold by the couple. I was sent out to clean houses and to iron clothes.”

The court also heard that Miss Ali was arrested for shoplifting in December 2007, that she appeared in court under her passport name and that the Shariff family paid the £300 fine.

She said, “They told me I would have to work even harder to pay off the debt. The work became too much for me, so I decided to run away.”

Two weeks later, on Boxing Day 2007, she ran away from the family home and lived in asylum hostels before a police investigation was launched after she made a complaint in February 2008.

100 Birmingham council jobs to be outsourced to India Birmingham City Council is set to become the first local authority to outsource jobs to Pune, India with an aim of cost-cutting. The move has sparked anger amongst the unions as the Conservative-led council has come under severe criticism.

Some IT professionals from India have already arrived and are learning the essential aspects of the tasks they will be expected to carry out for Birmingham Council.

Britain's and Ireland's largest union, Unite claimed that there has been no consultation with the public or unions.

Unite national officer Peter Allenson said, “This is a major betrayal to the people of Birmingham and the loyal staff who serve this city. This is an outra-

Birmingham City Council is the largest local authority in the UK

geous decision and Unite will fight tooth and nail to stop this Tory-led council from exporting these valuable jobs overseas.”

He added, "Unite is demanding that Birmingham City Council halts its plans. We fear this could be just the tip of the

Family who owned ten homes sentenced A family conned taxpayers out of almost £100,000 - even though they had ten homes worth £1million. Mother-of-one Anuysa Parmar received £100 a week for seven years despite her family's wealth.

The 51-year-old from Leeds admitted falsely claiming £36,938 and avoided jail after Leeds Crown Court heard she was the only family member able to be sentenced.

Her mother was declared unfit to plead and her three brothers, who owned the houses and made false claims, had died.

Parmar was ordered to do 100 hours' community service and was given a 24-week prison sentence suspended for two years. She was told she was 'very fortunate' not to be jailed.

iceberg and other councils could follow suit.

Thousands of public sector jobs could go. Once these jobs go they will not come back."

Capita and Birmingham City Council will lead the outsourcing project together, in a joint

venture called Service Birmingham.

A spokesman for Service Birmingham told a national daily, "We are exploring how we could utilise some overseas expertise to help deliver a cost-effective addition to our existing Birmingham operations.

We are talking about a limited number of back-office technical roles. No customer-facing staff will be affected.”

On the other hand, more than 10,000 Birmingham City Council workers have started to vote for strikes over changes required in the pay package. The council which serves a population of nearly 1.1m faces a ￡ 300m budget cut by 2015 with more than 7,000 jobs set to be axed or transferred to co-operatives.

Actress Shobna Gulati racially abused ITV soap, Coronation Street star, Shobna Gulati (Pictured) has been a victim of racism and has received numerous hate messages on her twitter account over the last two weeks.

The Indian descent actress, who plays Sunita Alahan in Coronation Street posted a message on the site saying, “Surprised at the racial abuse and desire to try and hurt people for no reason. I think I'm giving twitter a wee rest..gobsmacked."

However with the growing

intensity of racism, Shobna has now decided to quit the site altogether, telling her more than 18,000 followers, "Thanks for the banter, I've enjoyed my time on twitter. Over and out."

Shobna, has been campaigning against racism and intolerance and used Twitter to spread information about her campaigns.

She also set up an account in support of the Sophie Charity, in honour of Sophie Lancaster, 20, who was murdered in Bacup in 2007.

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

Questioned: 'Right to family life' role in asylum scandal Continued from page 1 and lived with his parents.

A recent report reveals that out of 161,000 foreigners allowed to remain in Britain as part of the Government's "back door amnesty", a significant number were ruled to have a case under Article 8.

In many cases, initial Home Office delays in processing the claims will have been the factor that allowed asylum seekers who entered Britain as young single people the opportunity to start families. Many of the UK BA staff who helped to clear the asylum backlog were told in March that up to 760 jobs in their unit would now be lost.It proves the incompetence of this government- as they choose criminals over revenue providers.

A senior UK Border Agency (UKBA) official confirmed that officials generally decided not to refuse applications where the asylum seeker had a case under Article 8, regardless of how weak the other aspects of their claim might be. The Sunday Telegraph has asked for Article 8 to be reviewed, with a view to removing the family life measures from legislation.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "Some of these cases date back

more than a decade.

"The UK Border Agency was always clear that because of the length of time many of these individuals have been in the country there would be no alternative to granting them leave to remain."

Out of the 400,000 to 450,000 backlog cases, officials were unable to trace about 74,500 applicants. It is not known whether they are still in the country, have departed voluntarily or are deceased. Only 38,000 have been removed.

Ministers denied that granting 161,000 people permission to stay in Britain had been an amnesty.

But the select committee report last week concluded: "In practice an amnesty has taken place, at considerable cost to the taxpayer."

Rt. Hon Keith Vaz, Chairman of the Home

Keith Vaz, MP

Affairs Select Committee said: “Though progress has been made it is clear that the UK Border Agency is still not fit for purpose. While there is no doubt that individual caseworkers are dedicated and hard-working, there are serious concerns over the agency’s ability to deal with cases and respond to intelligence swiftly and thoroughly.

The Government is set on reducing immigration to the tens of thousands and effectively controlling immigration. It will have to ensure that the UK Border Agency begins to focus on the outcome rather than the processes of their work. It is disappointing that it is still without a permanent head after five months.

The processes need to be efficient and fair in dealing with genuine students and those filling skills shortages, but tough and uncompromising to those who seek to abuse the system and stay illegally."

Steve Pound, MP for Ealing north said, "This sorry story tells us far more about the chaotic organisation of the UKBA than it about the defensibility or appropriateness of the Human Rights Act. In my experience every

Steve Pound, MP

single case is different and the cause of the good is ill served by the use f sensational and atypical examples.

Where the problem will continue to lie is with the lengthy appeals processes which could have been designed to create a circumstance in which an Article 8 defence could be made yet whenever anyone talks about restricting the appeals process the cries of fury drown out any chance of sober debate."

Lord Navnit Dholakia said, "There is a need for an honest approach to immigration and asylum matters. Too often policies are introduced which have little bearing on the reality of the situation...

The reality has hit the Government hard. Over 161,000 asylum seekers and others have been allowed to settle here. The intention of the “back

door amnesty” has been denied but the effect is precisely the same.

Immigration and asylum matters have generated emotional outbursts. It is time we moved away from the numbers game and seriously consider what is in the interest of Britain.

Migrants make an important contribution to social, economic and political life of this country.

Lord Navnit Dholakia

Those who fear persecution, those people fleeing war, and those who have set their roots in this country should be allowed to stay. I am glad Article 8 of the Human Rights Act gives limited protection.

We should go beyond that and make it explicit that genuine asylum seekers have nothing to fear. They should be allowed to settle and contribute towards the economic life of this country."

5

Food chain at risk Manufacturers and retailers have been told that their sector is vulnerable to attacks by ideologically and politically motivated groups that may seek to cause widespread casualties and disruption by poisoning food supplies. The warning has come from the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure [CPNI].

Asian Voice spoke to Mahendra Jadeja, National Councillor for NFRN about the precautions retailers should take. He said, "Agroterrorism and bioterrorism threats are always on card by some maniacs which was quoted in Afghanistan media. In Europe we have threat from maniacs who don’t care about them self, let alone other human lives destroyed. UK government has to educate all (including general public) by issuing some better understanding guide line and publish through all media if government think it is a serious threat to the country.

Shopkeepers are responsible and they do their best level to keep their eyes open but they need full guide line from government.

At the same time the token buyers should follow some guide line on what government intends to give to them."

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Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

Kapil’s

KHICHADI

By Spriha Srivastava

by Kapil Dudakia - email: kapil@abplgroup.com

Tete-a-tete Tell us in brief about yourself?

I am Shalini Austin based in Stamford, Lincolnshire. I am a selftaught jewellery designer working mainly with wire, pearls and semiprecious gemstones which my husband and I cut and polish ourselves as far as possible. My aim is to offer unique handcrafted Jewellery & wire sculptures at affordable prices to my customers. I am very passionate about supporting and encouraging hand-made crafts in my local area and coorganise hand-made craft events to support local artisans in & around Stamford.

How did you start this work and what hurdles did you face?

It all started as a hobby. My husband bought me a wire jewellery tutorial and I was hooked! I fell in love with wire and enjoyed what I could create with it. My creations were well received and I set up Jewellery By Shalini in November 2008.

My biggest frustration is the lack of understanding among people about the true value of hand-made items. I put in a lot of effort and time in creating my pieces but at craft fairs people

make jewellery.

I come from a family of academics, civil servants & military officers. I was not from the artisan class! I was not there to make the crafts!

Here background does not matter, what you do does!

Finally, how do you promote your work?

My online showroom can be seen here: expect to pay nothing for my work, yet are happy to go into a high street chain store and pay a lot of money for some mass produced, poorly finished items.

How would you compare the working environment in UK to India?

It’s a totally different work culture in the UK. In India I worked in the crafts sector for years but I was employing people to do the work while I marketed it. Making things was never even an option. I don’t think it would have gone down well with the family if I said I am going to work in a jewellery shop to

http://www.jewellerybyshalini.co.uk/ I also sell at local craft fairs. My jewellery is available for sale at the Stamford Arts Centre Tourist Office Shop and Greensleaves Florists in Stamford too.

I actively promote my work through my blog, Facebook page and twitter. I do get a lot of word of mouth business and I thank everyone who has referred me. My customers give me new ideas and the motivation to create new things and I welcome everyone to my Facebook page to come & join the conversation.

JoSH comes to UK Fusion band JoSH is here in the UK to promote its latest album “Beyond Kismet.” The band consists of two singers, known as Rup, originally known as Rupinder Magon and Q, otherwise known as Qurram Hussain. Their songs showcase both modern and traditional bhangra beats and music, but are strongly influenced by hip hop and pop music.

The band has received international acclaim after releasing over 4 major albums worldwide, selling more

than 2 Million records.

With collaborations with international artists such as Nelly Furtado, Apache Indian & Rafaqat Ali Khan, JoSH have an incredible global fan base and have become the most widely recognized Indo-Pak-Canadian band on the globe.

The band will be travelling to the UK after sell out arena tour in Pakistan and Bangladesh before they go to perform at the IIFA 2011 in Toronto.

Rup and Q initially started this band along with three more singers in 1995 when they played cover music. In 2001 they launched their first album – “Main hoon tanha” after which they started producing original music tracks. The band is now looking at performing in concerts around the world.

Shahnaz speaks at Oxford & LSE Shahnaz Hussain, the pioneer of herbal and ayurvedic products worldwide, was invited

by Oxford University to lecture on “Entrepreneurs and Women Entrepreneurs of India” on May 28th. She has also been invited to give a lecture at the London School of

Economics on June 9th.

Shahnaz is looking to promote her newly launched Platinum range of products. This was recently launched at a Beauty exhibition held in Birmingham earlier this month. Platinum is considered the single most powerful way of rejuvenating the skin and

enhancing its beauty. The Platinum range of products actually uses the precious Platinum metal in skincare in combination with Herbal / Ayurvedic products including shea butter, rose water, aloe vera juice etc that produces instant rejuvenating results for the skin.

Let us know what you think.

Email Spriha at spriha@abplgroup.com

Tiananmen Square comes to Ramlila Maidan The right to fast, and to do so in a peaceful manner was established by our Bapu, Mahatma Gandhi. Bapu utilised this expression of a peaceful act in order to concentrate the minds of the masses, and of those who ruled India.

Swami Ramdev ji embarked on a crusade to uproot corruption that is so manifest in India today. The elite ruling classes, over many decades, have looted the nation mercilessly with billions of Dollars stashed away in their off shore accounts in Europe and other countries.

The actions of the Indian Government to forcefully evict Swamiji and his supporters with some 8000 police officers, armed with sticks, water jets and tear gas shows clearly that it has lost all sense of proportionality and justice. Why should a Government feel so compelled that it needed to take such drastic action in the full glare and publicity of the modern media? What was it that they needed to hide that was so private that it warranted such action to protect their self interest?

There is a saying, ‘that when commonsense does not match the actions you witness, then that which is irrational, no matter how absurd, will no doubt be the answer.’ With billions of Dollars at stake, power in jeopardy and with nothing less than a lifetime of imprisonment awaiting many of them – is it any wonder that the elite took the only action that they could. Some say,

and genuinely believe, that it showed a clear intent to assassinate Swami ji.

Maybe someday the real truth will come out, but for the time being it is quite obvious to this writer that Swami ji’s life is now is serious danger and I for one would not be surprised if in the coming weeks/months we receive such bad news.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is now in the dock. How can anyone justify the actions of the Delhi Police?

Have people forgotten the atrocities that took place under the British Raj, or even their own recent history of emergency rule that resulted in the wholesale civil rights being quashed.

And now in the land of the Mahatma you can't even go on a peaceful hunger strike without having your legs broken.

Let us not forget the core issue – the eradication of corruption. So why would any political party oppose this?

Look at the recent scams such as 2G licences, Common Wealth Games scandal, Air India fiasco, Housing scandal in Mumbai, food and fuel scams and the list my friends, appears to be unending. These scams alone have cost India in excess of $50 Billion Dollars.

Surely a democratic India is better than a China that so openly violated the human rights of its own people in Tiananmen Square. Don’t allow the lessons of Ramlila Maidan go to waste.

Celebrating a remarkable life at the Nehru Centre

By Premen Addy London's Nehru Centre celebrated the life and work of Cornelia Sorabji, among the most remarkable women of her time in India and in Britain, last week on June 1. The auditorium was packed to overflowing, with visitors sitting on the aisles and some denied entry for lack of space. The audience of Britons and Indians listened with rapt attention to an array of arresting speakers who dwelt on the many facets of Cornelia Sorabji's career and its significance for her contemporaries in the UK and India. The proceedingss revolved round the release of a truly magnificent volume of Sorabji's letters, complete with splendid photographs, the entire work beautifully edited by Kusoom Vadgama, whose devotion to her subject has been a labour of abiding love and admiration. An Indian Portia: Selected writings of Cornelia Sorabji 1866 to 1954 is the title of Kusoom Vadgama's collection, the likeness to Shakespeare's heroine especially telling.

The head of the Nehru Centre Monika Mohta was warmly welcoming and set the scene.

Joshua Rozenberg, the BBC's Law Correspondent, took the chair and presided over a most eventful evening. He

biographer of Dadabhai Naoroji, the first Indian to be elected to the British Pa r l i a m e n t (in 1892), Professor Dr Alice Prochaska, Joshua Rozenberg, R i c h a r d Kusoom Vadgama and Monika Mohta Sorabji, a was followed by Kusoom nephew of Cornelia, who Vadgama, who spoke of her taught Classics at King's discovery of Cornelia College London, Jyoti Sorabji, born into a family Munsiff from Shell, were of Christian Parsees, and the other speakers. They her determination to were followed by Dr Alice reveal Cornelia's story Prochaska, Principal of from its beginnings as a Somerville College student of law in Bombay Oxford, where Cornelia to her subsequent arrival Sorabji was once a stuin England and enrolment dent, spoke of at Oxford University to Somerville's pride that continue with her legal she, the first woman lawyer was in residence there, as was Indira Gandhi, the first woman prime minister, and Margaret Thatcher, the first British woman prime minister.

Between these speeches Pauline Grayson gave studies. The road was hard renderings of three of and the quest far from Cornelia Soranji's letters, easy, but Cornelia, made of the one which described sterner stuff, weathered her meeting with her trials and tribulations Mahatma Gandhi in with an Oxford degree, the London holding the audifirst woman, Indian or ence in thrall as they hung British, to accomplish the on her every word. feat. Thereafter, she devotSorabji, very much her ed her best years to the own woman, refused to emancipation of Indian become one of his disciwomen, cabined, cribbed ples, remaining a doughty and confined by Purdah. figure right up to the end.

Zerbanoo Gifford,

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

Doctor's jealous wife makes hoax bomb call A jealous wife told police her husband's mistress was about to bomb a flight from Heathrow Airport and had helped plot the 7/7 attacks.

Salma Nasir, 42, told the lies to get back at a woman known as Camille, who she claimed was about to walk onto a flight with explosives.

Nasir, whose husband took a 'second wife', which is permitted under Islamic law, maliciously called police after she had found flight tickets to France for her husband and Camille.

Salma Nasir, of C a d d i n g t o n , Bedfordshire, moved to

In her defence Nasir, who pleaded not guilty, told B e d f o r d Magistrates' Court on Wednesday her husband had divorced Camille.

But District Judge Mellanby found Nasir 7/7 bombing at Tavistock Square guilty and ordered her to pay ￡965 the UK 25 years ago after in costs and fines. marrying Dr Mohammed A national daily Nasir, an anaesthetist at reported that speaking Luton & Dunstable from their family home in Hospital.

Chaul End Village, Luckily her call was Bedfordshire, Dr Nasir discovered to be a hoax said: 'We don't want to and no delays were made comment. It's a very perto the outgoing flight. sonal matter.

'New generation' Islamic militants radicalised in back streets A new generation of British Islamic militants is being radicalised in back streets, counter-terrorism experts have warned.

Feeding the process are jailed militants, such as Abu Hamza (pictured), who is still exerting an influence from his prison cell on impressionable Muslim youngsters susceptible to his violently anti-Western rhetoric.

A new report shows that the success of antiradicalisation measures in many of Britain's mosques has pushed militants underground, making

them harder to detect by both community leaders and police.

Details of the report emerged ahead of imminent release of a key government review of its counter-terrorism strategy, expected this month.

The review of the

"Prevent" strand of the strategy – which aims to stop the radicalisation young British Muslims – is expected to make good David Cameron's promise to expel foreign "preachers of hate", such as Hamza, from the UK. It is also set to bring in a new link between nonviolent extremist groups and violent ones – building on the Prime Minister's speech in Munich earlier this year in which he vowed a tougher line and hit out at the "state policy of multi culturalism".

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Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

Midland Voice Contact: Dhiren on 07970 911 386 or dhiren.katwa@abplgroup.com

Dancing the night away with Lord Krishna In Kaliyuga, the era of darkness, according to Hindu tradition, the Hare Krishna mantra is the solution to all problems. Just by chanting the holy name, it destroys all our material sorrows, a senior teacher from the Hare Krishna Movement told devotees at a round-the-clock musical event in Birmingham a fortnight ago.

The event, Sounds for the Soul, organised by the Birmingham branch of the Hare Krishna Movement brought together hundreds of devotees, of all ages, from all over the UK. This remarkable gathering also saw our publications praised for its longstanding support to the Movement.

Held at the Shri Balaji Temple in Dudley, the largest Hindu temple in Europe, the annual 24hour “kirtan” song and dance event, now in its 12th year, was a roaring success, yet again. The evening began with a vibrant procession, fronted by devotees carrying a “rath” chariot, which snaked around and inside shrines within the temple ground.

Then, a ceremony in which coconuts and clay pots were cracked, as a mark of good luck, was performed.

For the first time, selected VIPs were invited, and hosted by ardent devotee Dr Harsadbhai Desai. VIPs included Temple Chairman Dr Narayan Rao, Consul General of India in Birmingham Mr C Gururaj Rao, Carl Shaffery, a station commander with West Midlands Fire Service, and his partner Helen, MP Adrian Bailey (Lab; West Brom West), two uniformed representatives from West Midlands Police and myself, representing Mr CB Patel, editor and publisher of Asian

Voice and Gujarat Samachar. We were given a temple tour before being asked to sit in a row in the main hall.

Each VIP was garlanded on being introduced by compere Ravi Prabhu, who overlooked one VIP but quickly rectified the moment after being nudged by Dr Desai. Then, a call for silence to attendees, most of them sat cross-legged on the floor, with many chair-seated, came from Ravi Prabhu as he introduced keynote speaker, Sachinandana Swami.

Globe-trotter Swami, a

senior teacher with the Movement since 1971, began by asking the cooks in the kitchen, whom he and everybody else could see, “to cook softly, not like a volcanic eruption”, quickly adding, “I’m sorry, that was somewhat a little rude.” In his 45minute inspirational address, Swami, who said he doesn’t “go to small events, big events only”, shared several gems of wisdom. “We have cold hearts for God, but hot hearts for ‘maya’ materialism. Make your heart a temple in which the Lord can appear,” he told devotees as “material life only offers us a coffin at the end.” He urged devotees to “concentrate on

Father-to-be MP Byles Congratulations to former Army officer Dan Byles, Conservative MP for North Warwickshire & Bedworth, who has announced he and his wife Prashanthi, a family GP, are expecting their first baby.

The pair, pictured, who had met at a mutual friend’s wedding in 2005, were married twice – once in England and once in India.

accompanied by the sounds of the table, dholak, cymbals, tambourine and harmonium, the atmosphere fast became glorified. As time ticked on, the mood developed into an intensely jovial, spiritual and mesmerising one. It was awesome.

Hats off to the organisers, in particular to staunch, young devotee from Birmingham Mohan Nandi, aka Mayapur Madhava Das, Braj Rajsharan, left, talks to MP whose entirely selfless Bailey about Save the Yamuna and longstanding service project as Harsadbhai Desai to citizens from all walks listens on of life deserves full credit.

Krishna” and said that The Hare Krishna “eagerness” was a key Movement, otherwise “qualification” for success. known as ISKCON, or the The event was streamed International Society for live via the internet.

Krishna Consciousness, He read out a poem, was founded by Swami Don’t Cry, dedicated to his Srila Prabhupada in New Berlin-based secretary who York in 1966. His mission recently lost her life to liver was to enlighten people sclerosis. Separately, he about their true relationtalked about a major projship with God – the aim to ect, Save the Yamuna, and discover what life is really introduced Braj Rajsharan, about, beyond all bodily, a key international project sectarian and nationalistic coordinator. The project motives. The Movement (www.brajdhamsewa.org) has its UK base, aims to clean up one of Bhaktivedanta Manor, in India’s most holiest rivers Hertfordshire, a mansion which has suffered from gifted to the organisation acute pollution and has

by George Harrison of the affected around 150 million Beatles. In the early people. Mr Rajsharan urged Nineties, history was made devotees to spread the when the editor and pubword about the project and lisher of our publications, said he was seeking supMr CB Patel, who remains port from ethnic media in a good friend to ISKCON, Britain. Indian media, he ran a major campaign to said, had not been supportsave Bhaktivedanta Manor ive due to ‘corruption and which was, at the time, political issues’. under threat of closure due Eventually, just after to environmental and relat6.30pm on the Saturday, ed issues. To find out more the kirtans began. In addiabout ISKCON tion to a main team singing Birmingham visit through microphones, supwww.krishnatemple.com ported by a chorus, and

How sexy is your MP? A new website is asking people to name the MPs they find most attractive. Top ranking MP from the West Midlands is Daniel Kawczynski, pictured, (Con Shrewsbury and Atcham), tallest MP in the Commons at 6ft 8 inches, who is ranked 25th. To vote in the poll visit www.sexymp.co.uk

Black women ‘less attractive’ Still on attractiveness, an academic who specialises in stirring up controversy has been at it again, suggesting that black women are “far less attractive” than those of other races. Satoshi Kanazawa, an evolutionary psychologist at the London School of Economics, made the claim on the Psychology Today website.

Neighbour attack, man caged

Benefit cheat nabbed

A paranoid schizophrenic who attacked his neighbour with a crowbar has been ordered into psychiatric care for the rest of his life. Mask-clad Devendra Chahaya, 26, hit Carol Ann Crowhurst repeatedly in Edgbaston, Birmingham, saying he would kill her. Chahaya has been sent back to Jupiter House, a secure unit in Chichester.

A Birmingham man who fraudulently claimed £25,000 in benefits while studying for a degree in criminology has been jailed for three months. Shaheed Malik, 36, from Stoke Heath, Coventry, stole £18,543 in housing and council tax benefit, and a further £6,754 in jobseekers’ allowance, between 2005 and 2010. Malik admitted a total of 12 charges at Coventry Crown Court.

News in Brief Stressed employees Workers in the West Midlands are some of the most stressed in the country. Research by Sovereign Health Care named the region as the fifth most stressed out in the UK.

Expenses cheat, Lord caged The Birmingham peer jailed for 12 months after fiddling his Parliamentary expenses has vowed to work for charity once he is released. A “distraught” Lord Taylor of Warwick, 58, pictured, was sentenced for falsely claiming £11,277.80 from the taxpayer for travel and accommodation.

Faiz Ahmed: 100 years on…

A series of events have been organised in Birmingham to mark the centennial birth anniversary of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, a renowned Urdu poet. The programme, which runs from 9 to 18 June at The Drum will include a documentary, symposium and musicals to celebrate the life of award-winning Faiz, who also edited journals and newspapers. To find out more visit www.the-drum.org.uk

‘This is Your Life’ Cornelia A new book dedicated to Cornelia Sorabji, a social reformer, writer and the first woman in the world to read law at Oxford, has just been released.

The book has been authored by multitalented Dr Kusoom Vadgama, 79, pictured, who came to London in 1953 from her native Nairobi, Kenya, to study optometry. The 704-page book, An Indian Portia, is available at £30 each from Gillian Hawkins on 01342 893029.

Media database struggle The press team at India House might want to consider setting up a decent database of media contacts, to avoid panic when the need arises, as has done. The fact that one is not in place, still, after all these years is astonishing. Perhaps Ms Subhashini, India House’s outgoing press and information minister, took the database with her? Please, somebody at India House, help Sanjay K Bihani who is seeking ‘e-mail Id’s of local media in various cities of the UK excluding London.’

Men’s Health Week Sandwell Leisure Trust is encouraging more men to get active and take part in a variety of sports and fitness classes. This call comes as part of Men’s Health Week, which starts on Monday (Jun 13). To find out more visit www.slt-leisure.co.uks

Cricketer fired Police are investigating exWorcestershire batsman Adrian Shankar who is accused of lying on his CV about his career achievements and his age. Worcestershire had signed Shankar, 26, only last month but have now sacked him. Shankar, pictured, had even put himself up for auction at India’s lucrative IPL league, but failed to register a single bid for his services.

Worcestershire said: “It quickly became evident that documents provided in order to satisfy the club’s obligations to the England and Wales Cricket Board were unacceptable.”

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

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YOUR VOICE

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Swami Ramdev standing upto justice In accusing Swami Ramdev of being unscrupulous, Kapil Singhania is maligning any person who may be standing up for justice and fair play.

It takes people like Swami Ramdev to mobilise people on such a scale, against the debilitating corruption that takes place in India and all over the world. In India millions are suffering due to the greed of certain sections of society.

Mr Singhania must have perfect health, unlike many of Swamis followers who are looking for natural solutions as opposed to exploitation by drug companies. Swami is trying empower the masses who have the true owners of India's current progress. Jesus was crucified, mud is being thrown at Sathya Sai Baba, this is Kali Yuga, one should not be surprised at this accusations. I suggest one looks at the masses who follow seekers of justice, and compare them to the greedy self serving people who only look to gather more material wealth and consequently destroy many lives, unlike what Swami Ramdev is doing.

Krishna Lathia-James Via Email

Swami Ramdev and Anna Hazare Mr Kapil Singhania’s vicious criticism of Swami Ramdev is naked, shameless display of atavistic and slavish sentiment scorched on Hindu minds by Moguls and British Colonials. Critics, some bollywood actors and Indian government must hang their heads in shame for midnight Ravanlila and dispersal of honest and patriotic congregation at Ram Lila grounds.

Government of India would shiver in its boots before perpetrating similar atrocity on a gathering of non-Hindus?

Foolish politicians, by treading where angels fear to tread have acknowledged their involvement in corruption to the extent of losing the cool and taking a hasty and impulsive action.

Now even a blind baboon can see that honest and scrupulous Hindus can be pilloried whereas convicted and death sentenced Kasab and Afzal Guru enjoy pampered life. Brutal dispersal of honest campaigners is mockery of Ahimsa, democracy, and similar to atrocities of Jalinwalla Bagh, Tiananmen Square and Jasmine Revolution UPA government has increased face value of Ramdevji by 1000%, but signed its own death warrant and also the beginning of death throes of Congress.

It is pathetic that Indian government who is the master of international diplomacy, slave of a handful Kashmiri separatists and a paragon of patience with Pakistan cannot talk to a Hindu sadhu.

Ramesh Jhalla Via Email

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

Jallianwala Bagh II You may have read about Jallianwala Bagh or even seen documentary on it.

General Dyer, who ordered the firing on innocent people on 13 April 1919 “had been obliged to teach a moral lesson to the Punjab”. It is beyond comprehension as to how someone can order such action against innocent, unarmed civilians. Well, now you have seen it for yourself how it is done - on 4 June 2011 at Ramlila Maidan Sibal, Digvjay Singh and others like them talk about democracy. India may be the largest Democracy but what kind of democracy is it? A democracy where votes are bought even though it is illegal and then when in power, the politicians and corrupt industrialists fill their pockets and make a mockery of the legal system. The ordinary people pay a heavy price for the small gifts. No less than 20,000 children die everyday of malnutrition. Excuse but what democracy are you talking about?

If it was not for Dr Swamy, who exposed the 2G and other scams, we would have never come to know about them. If it was not for Anna Hazare, the Lokpal committee would not have been set up even though the government has been promising it for decades. If it was not for the Swami Ramdev and others like him, the poorest people of Bharat would never get justice or fair share of wealth of the country. Thank god that this time round the media was there to record the events on Saturday otherwise the likes of Sibal would have denied that it ever happened.

Swami Ramdev has put his life and reputation on the stake. It is now upto the “am admi” to come out in their millions to show support and demand action.

Narendra Patel Birmingham

The Global Food System Like the IMF, the global food system is also run like a monopoly or oligopoly of a few multinational companies or countries.

Commodity trading revenues accounting for 75% to 90% of the world grain trade in 2010 was controlled by two private companies [Cargill and Dreyfus revenues $108b and $34b] and two public companies registered in tax havens [ADM revenues $62b and Bunge $47b].

50% of global seed sales are controlled by four companies [Monsanto, DuPont, Syngenta and Limagrain].

75% of global agrochemicals [e.g. fertilisers, etc.] market is controlled by six companies [Monsanto, DuPont, Syngenta, Dow, Bayer and BASF].

These companies have entered into strategic partnerships, again like the IMF, with each other that may amount to anticompetitive practices.

A Global Competition Commission needs to be formed to counter any such practices if they exist. One change over the years has been in feeding animals grain instead of

Health threats for British Muslims

Scrapping of Right to Appeal

I read your article "Health Threats for British Muslims?" with interest. The article deals with a subject which I have been deeply concerned about for some time.The first cousin marriages amongst mainly the Pakistanis from Mirpur area.There was a Dispatches programme on Channel 4 which actually showed the extent of disability amongst children of such marriages as well as the statistical and medical information available.The reporter spoke to one of the Imams but he didn't accept the information which she presented on the spot but said he would consider it.

This is one of those taboo subjects which nobody likes to talk about because people get accused of racism or focusing on one particular group. My only concern is for the children who are much more prone to disabilities than the rest of us who never marry first cousins. Clearly if you continuously marry first cousins you are bound to narrow your gene pool and this cannot be the best way for the future.

I know that there is a lot of pressure on the parents of boys and girls growing up here to marry a first cousin from Pakistan whether it is a girl or a boy, it is the brothers and sisters of the parents who put this pressure so that their son or daughter can come to England. The immigration aspect is not my concern but the children certainly are and I think we are reaching the time when this subject should no longer be taboo and the statistics should be made public for the sake of the children. In other words I entirely support Professor Steve Jones.

Baroness Shreela Flather Via Email

I am glad Mr. Keith Vaz MP has raised concern with the Immigration Minister on the issue of his proposals to deny the family visitors the right to appeal in the face of the fact that 70,000 of the 420,000 who applied were denied the visas.

What should concern Mr.Vaz most is the fact that the fees once collected are never refunded to the visitors where the visa have been refused.

In his written Ministerial statement made on the 28th February 2011, the immigration Minister announced increase in the visa fees “that are set at levels above normal administrative costs of the service on the basis of the value of the service” Mr. Vaz should enquire of the Minster as to the total amount annually collected by the Overseas Posts, particularly in India and how the total costs incurred for processing the applications compare with such fees.

I find it totally unjust for firstly charging exorbitant visa fees and secondly for the visitor to forfeit such fees where the visas are denied.I believe very few know about the industry run by the Home Office generating millions in visa fees not only from visitors, but from students, nationality applicants, work permit holders, business people and others.

The Petition AV proposes would be limited to your readers only, whereas, this daylight robbery should be a concern for the entire nation.

Gulab Mistry Via Email

Attempted mayhem in Delhi No doubt Gujrat Samachar and Asian Voice provide a great number news about our country- India and serves Indian community abroad a great deal.

Recent incident in Delhi and almost murder of Baba Ramdevji is a matter of grave concern to all Indians living abroad. One must find out the truth behind such attempted mayhem.

P J Acharya Via Email grass that has made meat cheap and plentiful but has encouraged people to eat twice or three times the amount of meat they need to eat nutritionally speaking.

That is a very unhealthy way of living.

In addition, what is at stake here is the entire eco-system of the planet as we know it in and the culture of food growing and eating habits around the world.

Nagindas Khajuria Via Email More on page 13

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Nuclear Disaster In the wake of the Fukushima disaster, Japan is to close down its nuclear plants and Germany is to follow suit by shutting down all its 17 nuclear plants by 2022. What are we in the UK doing?

Especially after the explosion at the Chevron oil refinery in Pembrokeshire in Wales. As of January Britain, Europe’s leading utilities, have 19 nuclear power plants with a capacity of 10,137 MWe and has brought land to build more.

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan created havoc and disaster to an unprecedented scale. The damage to property and the lives lost is similar to what happened to Japan some sixty years ago when Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombarded by allied forces towards the end of the Second World War. The disaster and carnage then was man-made, so was what happened in Japan - man made! This is the price Japan and other countries are paying for being heavily industrialised with nuclear reactors belching out poisonous gases into the atmosphere. It is time we learn to respect Mother Nature and protect the environment or else the world as we know it now will no longer exist for the posterity. Japan has learnt its lesson the hard way. It is time other countries in possession of nuclear plants should take a leaf out of Japan’s book and stop inflicting wounds on Mother Nature before it is too late!

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford

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‘Smile Pinky’ too gets the Oscar Boyle says Mumbai dwarfed the statuette

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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 / UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

Al-Qaeda recruiting from elite UK universities A government report prepared by Whitehall officials has revealed that UK universities have become a breeding ground for hardline extremism and terrorism. The report also identifies 40 universities in the country where ‘there may be particular risk of radicalisation or recruitment on campus’.

The report warns that hardline Islamic groups are specifically targeting universities which have large number of Muslim students in order to form large groups and inculcate a message of extreme hatred within them. The soon to be published Whitehall report has raised serious concerns within the government as it states, 'more than 30 per cent of people convicted for Al Qaeda-associated terrorist offences in the UK are known to have attended university or a higher education institution. Another 15 per cent studied or achieved a vocational or further education qualification.'

The document asks serious questions over the reforms required in the education system as many students are engaging in terrorism and related activities while at university and the universities are not taking adequate steps to respond to this threat to national security.

It also states that fewer than half of universities engage or work together with the police.

The report has highlighted and raised an alarm over the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) as it says, 'there are several examples of students engaging in terrorism or related activities while

UK graduates recruited by Al-Qaeda: Abdulla Ahmed Ali: Considered to be the leader of the 2006 plot to blow up transatlantic planes using liquid bombs graduated from City University, London with a degree in engineering. He developed a dream of dying in a jihad or a holy war developed during his tenure at City University. He was convicted in 2009 of conspiring to activate bombs disguised as drinks.

Assa Sarwar: Often considered as Ali's co-conspirator, Sarwar was also convicted of the same charge. Born and brought up in High Wycombe, he studied Earth Sciences at Brunel University. He conducted in-depth research on possible targets across Britain, including evert major power stations and oil refinery.

Taimour Abdulwahab AlAbdaly: The Iraqi immigrant was a suicide bomber who blew up a car in Sweden, injuring two people last December. He had left Sweden at the age of 19 to study Sports Therapy at Luton University. He was exposed to years of radicalisation in the UK before he returned to Sweden eight years later.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab: Umar is a Mechanical engineering graduate at one of the most eminent university of the UK, University College of London (UCL). After the degree he moved to Yemen, where he allegedly had terrorism training. The son of a prominent Nigerian businessman is now in US custody accused of trying to blow up a transatlantic plane on Christmas Day in 2009. members of university societies affiliated to FOSIS.' The student visa route has once again come under scrutiny as ten out of the 11 Pakistani nationals seized on suspicion of plotting an atrocity in the North-West in 2009 had student visas. The alleged ringleader of this plot – Abid Naseer – was a computer studies student at Liverpool John Moores

New £18,000 a year university to compete with Oxbridge Leading academicians of the UK and other parts of the world have launched a new British University which is aimed to compete with Oxford and Cambridge. New College of Humanities (NCH) will be based in Bloomsbury, central London, and will be open from September 2012.

The privately-funded University will charge fees of £18,000 a year and offer the “highest-quality” education to “gifted” undergraduates, according to its creators.

Philosopher, AC Grayling, who will be the university's first teacher, has secured millions of pounds of funding from investors to set up the institution. The private institution will initially offer eight undergraduate humanities degrees and

also prepare undergraduates for degrees in Law, Economics and humanities subjects including History, Philosophy and English Literature.

There are 14 professors behind the project, including evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and eminent historian Sir David Cannadine.

NCH chairman Charles Watson said, ''Higher education in the UK must evolve if it is to offer the best quality experience for students and safeguard our future economic and intellectual wealth. New College offers a different model - one that brings additional, private sector funding into higher education in the humanities when it is most needed, and combines scholarships and tuition fees.''

University.

Whitehall officials are also concerned that Mr Gove’s flagship ‘free schools’ policy, where parents can obtain state funding to open and run their own schools, could be targeted by extremists.

Home Secretary Theresa May will demand universities do more to confront this threat. She also wants more action to deport preachers of hate.

Universities Minister in the line of fire Oxford dons are preparing a shocking vote of no confidence in David Willetts, the Universities and Science Minister, following rising concerns and anger over the Coalition's “chaotic and unsustainable” education reforms.

Around 170 Oxford chiefs signed the no confidence motion in May and they are now set to put it to a vote of the university's ruling congregation.

Oxford University is to become the first in the country to formally demand Willetts resignation. However, their academic rival Cambridge University will also discuss a similar motion later this month.

The vote of no confidence is also backed by Willett's former economics tutor at Oxford.

11

The decline of Gujarati teaching in Britain Jayantilal Tanna, Retired Principal Education Adviser and Inspector At a recent meeting reported in this newspaper, there was a discussion on the decline of Gujarati.

However, one of the most important reasons for the demise of Gujarati community schools, in my view, was sadly missing. It was poor teaching!

While we had good attendances in earlier years at these schools, it was mainly because in spite of the poor teaching, the parents themselves were able to fill the gap by supporting their children’s speaking, listening, reading and writing. However, in later years, the younger parents were lacking in their Gujarati skills to be able to support their children. In fact, in my own school, parents used to request that I conducted the Gujarati School parents’ meetings in English as they did not understand Gujarati!! So we started classes for parents too!

The next group of parents in the middle to late 1990s were even less literate in Gujarati. They quickly realised that their children would benefit more from other forms of extra curricular activities

at week ends rather than attending the boring old Gujarati school. It would also give parents some respite from having to force their unwilling children to go to a Gujarati school where teaching was so poor.

The idea of having strategies for teacher development to support curricular development very rarely entered the heads of these community schools. They could not see that you could not get bright sophisticated youngsters to accept the poor teaching of Gujarati community school teachers when the children’s experience of mainstream teachers was so much superior. So although there were some good teachers, most had no formal training of teaching in the UK. The community schools rarely made an attempt to link with mainstream schools or training institutions to train their teachers.

As an OFSTED inspector, one of the best teaching of Gujarati I observed during my inspections was at a mainstream school in Leicester.

The Gujarati teacher was very well supported and developed in the Modern Languages Department.

She used a variety of

teaching approaches including visual, aural and kinesthetic. She used excellent assessment techniques in her lessons and the progress that pupils made in all four skills and the enjoyment of their learning was easy to see in her lessons.

The idea of conducting research into why Gujarati schools declined is a welcome one but it will not bring anything new to the table other than what has already been discussed.

This includes visits to India (like schools take children to France), higher status to and focus on Gujarati speaking and writing by Gujarati families and community groups, better support from parents, more and better resources, trained volunteers, etc.

While all that is important, I believe we need to develop excellent professional teachers and Headteachers of Gujarati.

The politics of the community ‘neta’ should be left outside the school gates. Only then can we re-engage our children into our language, our heritage, our ‘Asmita’. And we can then reclaim our mother tongue, our identity, our pride, for our future and that of our children’s future too!

12

MEDIA WATCH

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

Scrutator’s German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to India last week, at the head of a high level delegation, reflected the rude health of the Indo-German relationship. This was underlined by their joint cabinet talks on a wide range of issues of mutual interest. Germany and India belong to the G4 group of nations, which also includes Brazil and Japan, who seek to enter the UN Security Council as permanent members. Germany, it would appear, is willing to settle for membership without veto rights, at least for the first decade, while India (and Brazil) favour immediate veto rights with membership. Also, Germany favours a Libyan peace predicated on the prior replacement of the Gaddafi regime, while India is for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire. Germany and India abstained on the AngloFrench resolution at the UN authorising London and Paris to impose a no-fly zone over Libya.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi

The German Chancellor expressed her country's interest in the possible Indian purchase of the Eurofighter Typhoon warplane, produced by a consortium which includes Germany along with the UK, Spain and Italy. Germany and India signed four agreements on vocational training, science and technology and research outreach between German and Indian institutions in specific areas such as biotechnology, nano technology and material sciences.

Chancellor Merkel was awarded the Jawaharlall Nehru award for international understanding by President Pratibha Patil, a significant gesture in this the Year of Germany in India.

Infosys in China Against the canvas of a deepening split between Maoist hardliners and liberal reformers in the Chinese leadership (a fullpage Financial Times analysis by its Beijing Correspondents, Kathrin Hille and Jamil Anderlini, June 3, hints at the difficult times that lie ahead for the country and its principal partners and rivals in the international community), a Times of India report (May 21) tells of India's IT major Infosys's plan to invest $125-150 million in its new campus in Shanghai, China.

It will be one of the largest investments (to be dispersed over three years) in the country by a software company, with the campus spread over 15 acres.

The site will employ an 8,000 workforce, will include facilities for software development, laboratories, data centres, training facilities, food courts, a 1,500 seater auditorium, gym and other recreational features.

Infosys chairman and mentor N.R.Narayana Murthy struck an optimistic note. “As the second largest economy in the world, China will lead the world in economic growth in the future and we see exciting times ahead. This large investment is a testimony to Infosys' commit-

ment to China. We will use our enhanced capacity here to deliver high quality consulting and software services to the global markets as well as to our clients in China.”

One must hope Infosys is aware of wider developments emanating from China such as cyber attacks on other countries including the US. Infosys knows what it is doing since the company already has footprints in the Shanghai Pudong Zhangjiangech Park, Hanzhou Binjiang Hitech Park and a global education centre in Jiaxing Science City.

Hackles rise in Birmingham According to a Financial Times report (June 3) by Brian Groom, the paper's Business and Employment Editor, hackles have risen among Birmingham City Council workers. Who have started voting on strike action over changes to pay and conditions, even as unions railed against a separate plan to 'export' up to 100 information technology jobs to India. Unions warned that this was “just the tip of the iceberg” and that other UK councils would outsourcer jobs to India in the bid to meet government spending costs.

Service Birmingham, a joint

venture between the council and Capita that runs the council's IT support and contact centre, is to shift posts to the western Indian city of Pune.

Service Birmingham is already hiring the first 18 staff in India and up to 100 post are expected to move by the end of the year, resulting in more than 70 redundancies at home.

Judith Barnes, partner at law firm Eversheds, said local authorities had a “difficult” balancing act to cut costs while at the same time maintaining frontline services. “Local authorities must spend within their means and need to cut their cloth accordingly and this is one way to save money for the benefit of all council tax payers.” (Daily Telegraph June 3)

cure Pakistan of its murderous Islamo-fascist malady. What can a further $1 billion achieve what the previous $20 billion fail to do.

Francis Elliot, writing from Lahore, in Pakistan, for The Times (May 30) sets the scene.

“Ashiq Bibi has learnt to be thankful for small mercies; he's grateful that that the mob did not kill his wife, grateful that, although condemned to death, she is now safe in a prison cell, grateful that once a month he can see her, albeit through a grille. He never tells anyone who he is going to see on the threehour journey to her jail. He knows it would mean a violent end for him and their daughters....Hidden by Pakistan's tiny Christian minority the family

reluctant to discuss the unfolding Pakistan-China military alliance and its likely impact on the region. They may say this is of little consequence for the UK. Maybe so. But it is a primary Indian security concern for reasons that are self-evident. In the context of the prevailing jungle law in international relations it is wise to have the necessary deterrence in place, hence India's Air Chief Marshal P.V.Naik's visit to Russia to view the demonstration flight of the prototype of the fifth generation fighter aircraft which will be jointly developed and produced by Russia and India was a reminder of New Delhi's longterm defence planning. The Air Chief Marshal also witnessed the flight of the IAF's upgraded Sage advice MiG-29UPG. New avionic systems Max Hastings, the former developed by editor of the Daily Telegraph Indian companies now reincarnated as a H i n d u s t a n Financial Times Contributing Aeronautics and editor, dispenses the lofty Bharat Dynamics wisdom befitting a postare part of the imperial sage. Mr Hastings upgrade.. suggests (FT May29) that the M i k h a i l most advisable road to peace Pogosyan, CEO of in Afghanistan would be for the Sukhoi and the US to give broken MiG Corporation, Pakistan $1billion, so putting Islamist Humpty Indian Navy took control of a new 4,900-tonne Talwar class said: “For the this steatlh frigate in Russia United Aircraft Dumpty together again.

Corporation Easier said than done. moves from town to town every Russian-Indian cooperation is Here is the voice of Solomon six months or earlier if they susa long-term partnership based reborn: “What matters now is pect someone may have idention a fifty-year long interacthat the US administration, fied them. tion.” Senior Russian and instead of focusing narrowly on 'I have no friends, I talk to no Indian officials were present the politics of a summer troop one and my daughters have (The Times of India May 24). withdrawal, fulfills the promise learnt never to speak of their of Mr Obama's latest pronouncemother,' he said, close to the safe ments and throws in his energies Naval build-up house to which he agreed to be into promoting a regional settleinterviewed for the first time ment. India could play a key role The Indian Navy took control since his wife Asia was convictin curbing Pakistan paranoia, if of a new 4,900-tonne ed and condemned for blasphepersuaded to behave less indulTalwar class steatlh frigate, my.” gently.”

'Trikand', built by Russia at the The Economist (June 4) Yantar Shipyard in the coundescribes the horrific death of try's Baltic enclave of What price blasphemy Pakistani journalist Syed Saleen Kaliningrad. Ira Malhotra, wife Shahzad following his kidnapof the newly appointed Indian What on earth does Sir Max ping. The finger of suspicion Ambassador Ajay Malhotra, mean by 'indulgently'? Was points to Pakistan's notorious launched the frigate, the last of Indian outrage at the PakistanInter Services Intelligence (ISI). three – the others being 'Teg' sponsored terrorist assault in The dead man had shared his and 'Tarkash' - built in Russia Mumbai (26/11/08) in which for the Indian Navy. some 170 innocent Meanwhile, India's indigeIndian citizens died nous ship building continues and also four apace. The 6,200-tonne stealth Americans and three frigate INS Satpura will be Israelis perished, a commissioned in June-July. It form of self-indulwill be followed in six months gence? Or is it the time by INS Sahyadri. The usual underhand reffirst India-built stealth frigate erence to Pakistan's INS Shivalik was commisclaim to Kashmir? sioned in April 2010. These Neither Kashmir nor warships are being built (as Afghanistan will be was Shivalik) at the Mazagon handed to Islamabad Docks near Mumbai. They augon a plate, as ment India's 'blue water' capaCzechoslovakia was bility. to Nazi Germany in Finally, the Indian govern1938, courtesy ment, according to a Britain and France.

Hindustan Times report (May Prime Minister STRENGTHENING TIES: Afghanistan Defence 29), has agreed to fund the Manmohan Singh’s Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak with his Indian India Space Research counterpart A.K. Antony during a guard of recent visit to Kabul, Organisation's development of honour in New Delhi and the Afghan the world's fastest computer by Defence Minister Abdul Rahim fears of possible death at its 2017. ISRO will join forces Wardak’s visit to New Delhi carhands with friends and confiwith the Indian Institute of ried a message of Indian intent. dants.

Science, Bangalore, in the projPakistan is deeply sick, sufSir Max Hastings would do ect.

The projected computer fering from a similar strain of well to digest these reports and will be equipped to handle 132 disease that characterised Nazi ponder its implications. quintillion floating operations Germany. Fistfuls of dollars per second (quintillion has 18 could not have prevented the zeros, a million has six).

Deterring aggression death camps of Auschwitz and It's economics, science and Buchenwald, any more than the technology, stupid.

British scribes are noticeably recommended $1 billion can

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

YOUR VOICE

Baba Ramdev and police action

Control over destiny

I totally condemn the action of police to break a peaceful demonstration at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi organised by Baba Ramdev. The tactics used by police would make all Indians ashamed. The democratic right to disagree with government policy by peaceful means was denied. The action of police is reported as similar to Jaliawalla Bagh under British rule.

However during the police action Baba Ramdev made an error of judgement and tried to escape the police. I feel he should have faced the police at that time rather than stating later that his life was at risk. In Bhagwat Gita chapter 2 Sri Krishna tells Arjun “ your admirers will think you have run away from battle through fear and who hold you in high esteem will consider you inferior. Your enemies will utter many evil words, belittling you and what can be more miserable than this”. The escape in women’s clothing would haunt him forever and government and media will use this event to discredit him.

Perhaps Baba Ramdev will learn from this experience and also understand that four ministers coming to meet him at airport as well as giving him red carpet treatment earlier was just a ploy from a corrupt government.

It is outrageous on the part of the Indian government to use teargas and batons to break up a mass anti-corruption protest led by India’s famous yoga guru Swami Ramdev at Ramlila ground in Delhi. Swami Ramdev organised peaceful sit in to urge the government to bring back black money hidden by Indians in foreign banks running into billions of pounds.

There was no need to use tear gas against peaceful protesters which included young children, women and old people at midnight.

Swami Ramdev was able to mobilise Indian masses through Sadhu’s and other like minded Indians to highlight corruption. Since Swamiji is a Hindu priest, he was ridiculed by the renegade politicians like Sibal and Digvijay Singh as if he is ‘naive,’ about Indian politics and should confine himself to yoga. When Mother Teresa demonstrated against Indian government in Delhi for job reservations for Dalit Christians she was not arrested, but she was honoured with Bharatratna. Digvijay Singh called Swamiji as a ‘five star’ protester and a ’thug’.

India is ruled by minority religious communities ( Sikhs, Christians and Muslims) who represent less than 12% of the Indian population. Income from Hindu temples are given to churches and mosques. It is time Hindus take control of the destiny of India instead of controlled by Western powers and religious minorities.

Only Swami Ramdev can mobilise a mass in the middle of the night!

Arun Vaidyanathan Via Email

Suresh P Shah Via Email

Swami Ramdev's political party Swami Ramdevji Maharaj as a free citizen in a free, democratic and sovereign country has obviously full constitutional right like other people have to stand as a candidate in election or to form a political party, if he wishes to do so at any time according to the rules of the constitution irrespective of any legal activity unconstitutional to press him to extract any specific answer in advance with a view to expecting him to be bound not to do so by some medias to suit the motives of the political party in power.

If the present government formed by the present political party of Congress in India fails to implement Swami's and Anna Hazare's suggested changes, he has full right to form his political party, if he wishes to do so, at any time in future, irrespective of his past commitments what so ever.

R N Patel Essex

Lokpal Bill I refer you to your Asian Voice, issue No. 5 of last week, 4th June to 10th June, in regards to Mr Suresh P Shah's letter and your article on page 27 on the Lokpal Bill.

A question? Has anyone read "Animal Farm" by George Orwell, which was first published in August 1945? I would recommend everyone should read the whole book. One of the statement that really stands out in the book is "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others". After reading the book, you will all understand as to why the "Lokpal Bill" never came to fruition, ever since it was first initiated way back in 1968, and why the politicians want the PM, Chief Justice and MPs out of the remit of the current consideration of the Bill.

The Bill is pencilled in to become an Act on 15th August 2011. I also therefore wait in anticipation, to see whether it has any bite, or is another whitewash.

Mohindra Via Email

Improve lives of ordinary Indians Most of the British Indians who visit India regularly have experienced the malice of corruption in India.

Bribes in India are facts of daily life.

My sole purpose in writing the letter is to see a radical improvement in governance and the recovery of black money so that India can be self-sufficient and improve the lives of ordinary Indians.

Ramesh Patel Via Email

Wealth distributed is wealth wasted?

It may sound strange, even unpatriotic to say that wealth distributed is wealth wasted. But it is absolutely true when it applies to individual person or organisation.

When I was young and economically naive, we used to think why Ismailis give away 10% of their earnings to Agakhan that made him one of the richest persons in the world.

When East African countries gained independence from the British rule, most Ismailis did not have any passports, thus unable to move to the West unlike most Indians who had British passports. They were trapped in countries where they were not wanted.

Agakhan, as the spiritual head of the community came to their rescue. He arranged with the Canadian government for Ismailis to emigrate to Canada in 1960s and in return he invested billions of dollars in housing projects, shopping molls and provided grants and loans to the newly arrived so that they can establish themselves and earn a decent living.

A £100 million distributed amongst poor in India would hardly buy one decent meal. But if wisely invested, it would turn into a billion in a decade or two. That is what Ramdevji believes by creating spiritual, health and yoga heaven for his followers, a legacy Ramdevji would like to leave behind when he is no more with us.

Baba is a threat to the corrupt Congress Empire and only a politically and economically retarded person can fail to understand the sacrifice Ramdevji is willing to make for the people of Bharat.

Bhupendra M Gandhi Via Email

India’s Second Independence Movement Continued from page 3

The problem. Gandhiji, Patel – if they came about today – India would not get Independence. They’d be told to stick to their legal practice, not rock the boat, questions about who is funding their lifestyles. NDTV would attack them. No, as with Independence, let the right thing be done – and the right thing is to end corruption now. Take extreme measures now. Ramdev wants to nationalise all black money. Good do it. He wants all Rs 500 and Rs1000 taken out of circulation – good this would stall money launderers. As with Independence, all Indians will need to face sacrifice because of their masters. All I know about Ramdev is he said after the Mumbai attacks that India is going to the dogs and needs a Sardar Patel. He knows the problem.

He is not saying he is the solution. He is telling the country what is the solution. The Government will either implement or fall.

UK

13

In brief

Watford bank 'bomber' surrenders to armed police Armed police mounted a three-hour siege on Thursday after a man walked into a bank in Watford claiming to have a bomb and threatened to blow himself up.

Officers were called following reports that he had told staff he had a device strapped to his shoe.

On Thursday night, sources in the area said that the man, whose first name was given locally as Mohammed (pictured), was a disgruntled former employee.

Other locals said that he had telephoned police in advance to tell them what he was planning.

During the stand-off, he told officers that he could not remember entering the Co-operative bank in Watford, Herts, and that he was not sure why he had done so, sources told a natioanl daily.

The siege, which began shortly after 10am, ended when the 23 year-old was led out of the bank smiling at 1pm.

A police source told The Daily Telegraph: “I think it was not a case of him robbing the place as such, it was a case of him saying 'Look at me, look at me’.”

On Thursday night, officers towed away a black soft top Vauxhall Astra, which the man had told them was parked at the back of the building.

Ham stuffed in shoes of muslim worshippers

A man stuffed ham into the shoes of Muslim worshippers at a mosque, a court was told.

Jamie Knowlson, 30, also draped slices of meat on railings outside the mosque as his victims prayed inside. He was then caught on CCTV hurling abuse at worshippers after they confronted him over his s act.

Islam teaches its followers to avoid pig meat as it makes them impure and unclean.

Knowlson initially told police the stunt was a drunken joke but later admitted that he was fully aware of the offence his actions would cause.

He pleaded guilty to causing racially or religiously aggravated harassment and could have been jailed for up to two years. But he walked free from Bristol Crown Court with a suspended six-month prison sentence because he had returned to the mosque to apologise for his actions.

Cosmetic surgeon accused of sexually touching women at Doctors Makeover A cosmetic surgeon in Pinner allegedly touched a patient sexually and threatened to report her to the police when she complained, a court heard.

Dr Jahangir Taghipour (pictured), 61, was administering a facial chemical peel at the Doctors Makeover clinic, in Marsh Road, on September 21, when it is alleged he began stroking the woman's arm.

He told her she was beautiful, asked her if she had a boyfriend, told her to take off her jumper and then touched her chest, near her right arm, partly under her t-shirt, claim prosecutors.

The woman is one of two Dr Taghipour is accused of touching sexually. Daniel Fugallo, prosecuting, said: “She was frightened because she was receiving treatment at the time, rather uncomfortable treatment.

“She decided to wait until the treatment was over and just never come back. But when the defendant started to stroke her inner thigh she protested.”

Dr Taghipour denies two counts of sexual touching. The trial at Harrow Crown Court continues.

COMMUNITYS

14

By VR

Preach what you practice London is getting ready for the Olympics 2012. Lot of updates are being made on underground services, dlr, roads, buses etc. As a resident of the docklands I received 5 letters from a governmental body and to my surprise it was the same letter!

The change of road routes, one ways etc for the Olympics- understood. While I salute the initiative of a heads up to the residents, I wonder why the same letter was sent 5 times to the same recipients? While all companies nowadays give a statutory message about printing emails and wasting papers, what about our government which sends the same letter repeatedly? What about their 'save the environment' motto that is preached but not practiced?

Mind the gap New immigrants are often intimidated as they are not 'updated' on the British civic sense. While they stand on the left side of an escalator, regular commuter sneer at them for being lost or appear confused trying to gauge their journey route.

What about those regular commuters who think they pay for two people on the train? Often they hop on to the train/tube with a backpack- carrying a pair of shoes or regular useful stuff.

They never take off the bag from their back, blocking all possible ways for another man to fit in comfortably. And with every brake and stop, they hit the man right behind with their vanity.

I thought we are a civilised country, if so what happened to fellow being, consideration for others and the idea of 'live and let live'?

Have a thought? Share with us on aveditorial@abplgroup.com

Charity wins award for empowering children with difficulties

Bob Blackman MP with winners from Ashiana Charitable Trust

On Monday 23rd May 2011 Ashiana Charitable Trust was awarded its first ever award recognising all the hard work and positive efforts of social integration, reducing stigma and tackling prejudice within the local communities at the 2011 Kidscount Inspiration Awards ceremony. The ethos of the charity for the past 11 years has always been to support and empower children and young adults with learning difficulties, whilst educating the wider public and inspiring social change within the community. Thus, it was fitting that Ashiana was awarded by the inspirational charity ‘Kidscount’; the event took place at the prestigious House of Commons.

Ashiana was nominated by Mr Bob Blackman MP, and was awarded the “highly commended

Members of Parliaments special award” for contribution by a community group.

Bob Blackman, MP for Harrow East where Ashiana is based, commented, “I was delighted to nominate this outstanding organisation for national recognition. They enable young people to fulfil their potential by inspiring them to try new activities. This also helps parents and carers as well.

Long may they continue this good work.”

Ashiana’s positive contribution within the Asian community was recognised by several prominent MPs who also attended the event along with other equally as motivating charities, educational establishments and social groups from up and down the country.

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

India Association organises dinner to "Help the Heros" The India Association held a dinner for our Heroes in support of the illustrious Armed and to highlight Forces and to raise funds for “Help their contribufor Heroes” on Saturday 14th May tion.

2011 at the Crown Conference First female Centre in Ruislip. The dinner was to MP of Indian thank the Armed Forces who pay the Origin in the supreme sacrifice for our safety and British House of Commons, the security and protect our way of life. young and Over 400 guests from all walks of life dynamic Priti attended the dinner and paid tribute Patel MP, Deputy Mayor Richard Barnes; Rt. Hon. Dominic Grieve MP; Dr. to the selfless service of the British described the Rami Ranger MBE; Mr. Balwant Grewal; Ms. Priti Patel; Rt. Hon. Armed Forces.

Liam Fox MP; Mr. Jasbir Johal; Mr. Surjit Sandhu and British Asians as Guests included The Rt. Hon. Lord Popat of Harrow a powerhouse Liam Fox MP, Secretary of State for nation not just the Government has and an economic engine supporting Defence; The Rt. Hon. Dominic a moral obligation to accord recognibusiness by generating employment Grieve MP, Attorney General; Mr. tion for what they do for us. As a and wealth for the nation. She paid Virender Sharma MP; Ms. Priti result, the current Government is tribute to our war heroes who make Patel MP; Lord Popat; Deputy pledging to write the Covenants in immense sacrifices and are flying the Mayor Mr. Richard Barnes and Cllr. law so that the Armed Forces go flag of freedom.

Mary O’ Brien, Mayor of about their duties with peace of Mr. Virendra Sharma MP conHillingdon. The event began with mind and that their future is secure. everyone standing for the British gratulated the India Association for He said that since the current and Indian national anthems, folorganising such a splendid event for Government came into power they lowed by performances from the a great cause. He paid tribute to Mr. have doubled the operational Impact Dance Group and songs by Balwant Grewal, Chairman of the allowance to around £5000 for a typSonia Walia.

Association, for inspiring thousands ical 6 month tour and prioritised Chairman of the India of people to raise huge sums of mental health adding that “the Association, Mr. Balwant Grewal, money for worthy causes in Britain. unseen wounds of war must be tackwelcomed the guests and reminded Attorney General, the Rt. Hon. led, just as much as the visible them of our forefathers who had Dominic Grieve MP spoke about ones”. stood shoulder to shoulder with the the role of the Armed Forces and Patron, Dr. Rami Ranger MBE, Brits in both the great wars for that due to them we can live in peace FRSA in his vote of thanks, human freedom and changed the and also enjoy the rule of law and a described members of the course of many battles. He forces as unique people pledged that we, the who join the service knowBritish Indians, will ing full well that they always stand by our would be living away from nation for its liberty and their families and creature honour. He said that the comforts and also going British Indians are prointo the job knowing they ductive and peace loving would be risking their lives citizens. and limbs for their country.

Next to speak was the Dr. Ranger then asked the Deputy Mayor of London, The Committee of the India Association presenting the guests to observe a minute of Mr. Richard Barnes who £25,000 to the Rt. Hon. Liam Fox MP silence in memory of those wished everyone a happy who lost their lives defending our Vaisakhi. He paid tribute to the citicivil society. He was immensely liberties and way of life. At the end zens of India for enriching British proud of the British Indian commuof his vote of thanks, he requested life with their contribution. He nity and the contribution they make the Rt. Hon. Liam Fox and the praised everyone in the forces in enriching British life. He said it Chairman Bobby Grewal to present including British Indians in the fight was his privilege to represent many a cheque for £1000 to Miss Ashpal against terror. He described London Indians in his constituency.

Bhogal; an aspiring 15 year old as being a kaleidoscope and its The guest of Honour, the Rt. hockey player who made history by vibrancy came from its citizens Hon. Liam Fox MP, Secretary of being the first female of Indian orirespecting one another.

State for Defence, made a moving gin to play for England at internaLord Popat spoke of the great and passionate speech and described tional level. A cheque for duty of care we owe to our Armed our Armed Forces as a unifying force £25,000was also presented to the Rt. Forces who risk their lives for our in the country. He went on to say Hon. Liam Fox MP, Secretary of freedom and the work they do in that people are all equal in the armed State for Defence on behalf of the Afghanistan and Iraq. He also forces and serve the nation as one British Indian Community. thanked the India Association for regardless of their colour, race or organising a dinner to raise money religion. He said that the entire

Ghazal King honoured

By Nikhil Gor Mr Virendra Sharma MP & Paul Riat OBE, President, Bucks Punjabi Society, Punjabi Circle International in association with Asian Affairs honoured Ghazal King Shri Jagjit Singh on Tuesday 31st May at the House of Commons. Asian Voice had an opportunity to interview Jagjit Singh exclusively about UK's culture, the award and his future plans.

How does it feel to tour UK for concerts again?

JS - It is always pleasure to come every 2 years to the UK and enjoy performing amongst the British Asians who love Indian Classical Music. It's their love and affection which gives me lot of motivation.

Do you think over the years UK's cultural fronts have opened up to eastern music?

JS: I purely believe that as far as Indian Music is concern, any artist

like me who is classical singer should maintain a gap of performance in live concert of Indian Classical Music. If this kind of shows are performed every 2 months or frequently the charm and love will not prevail Jagjit Singh receiving the award from Virendra Sharma, MP and Paul Riat OBE, President, for long.

Bucks Punjabi Society How do you feel on receivJS: There are many but I personing this award? ally acclaim: "kisko qatil main JS: Any award is always close to kahoon kisko masiha samjhoon" heart and prestigious. Especially and "Josh Malihabadi" My next when I was told that Bucks Punjabi album will be serious and emotional Society International is honouring - NRI will like it. me at House of Commons, I thought Tell us one of your memorable that it took me 40 years to reach this experiences from your tours in the place. I am grateful that in the last UK. 40 years it is the first Punjabi organJS: UK is a beautiful country and isation honoured me as a 1st time I like it every time I come. I love to ever a Punjabi classical performer meet my friends and supporters. outside India. It's a great honour The love and affection that I get indeed. forces me to visit London again and You are renowned for ghazals. again.

Name a new face of ghazal whom you can critically acclaim of?

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

15

A drama called 'life'

Short Story by Neha Garg

Colin's trip to the moon ‘All I want, is to go to the moon’, thought Colin for the hundredth time, as he looked at it in the sky, absentmindedly twisting the ring on his finger.

Suddenly, there was a resounding crash. Colin whirled around. A big red spaceship had appeared in his garden!

He watched in amazement as the door opened and a pointy nosed Goblin jumped out.

He looked at Colin in frustration.

‘Your Grandfather promised me, indeed he swore on his life that he will destroy that ring. Now I am stuck fulfilling your wish and taking you to the moon. I am too old for this.’

Colin couldn’t believe his ears. He ran up to the spaceship and jumped in.

There were lots of flashing lights around and a big window to look out of.

He settled into a large yellow armchair.

The Goblin started the engine. Colin watched the passing stars in delight as the spaceship shot towards the moon.

As soon as they landed, he jumped out and looked around happily. There were little blue bubble houses everywhere and out of these came little blue men. What astounded Colin more than the fact that there were people on the moon was that they were all walking on their hands.

They gathered around him, chatter-

ing excitedly.

‘Where are you from?’, asked one.

‘Earth’, said Colin, pointing to it.

‘You walk on your feet?’, said another, looking surprised.

Colin started to explain but the Moon-Men looked angry. They wanted him to walk on his hands too. After a fair bit of arguing, Colin gave in. As soon as he turned upside-down and stood on his hands, the Moon-Men smiled and became friendly. They took him on a tour and showed him everything. Six-legged moon animals, orange waterfalls, floating mountains.

Colin thought that the moon was a grand place and wished he could stay longer but before long it was time to go back. Besides, he didnt think he could walk on his hands for the rest of his life.

He looked forward to other adventures as he waved goodbye and climbed back into the spaceship. Now that he had a magic ring, anything was possible.

Support for retention of Navratri Cllr Paul Lorber, the Leader of Brent Council Liberal Democrats is supporting retention of the Brent Navrati, which is facing a close down, following a financial cut proposed by the Brent Council. Tens of thousands of Brent residents, of all ages, take part in the Navratri festival every year which is celebrated in around 30 school and other halls across Brent.

Cllr Lorber was was present to receive a 6,000 strong petition from the Brent Hindu Community calling on Brent Council to continue provide support for the celebration of Cllr Lorber receiving petition to forward to the Council the Navratri Festival in Brent.

Councillor Lorber helped to get the 6,000 strong petition delivered to the council’s committee services for processing.

Doctors, nurses In the early days Brent Council supand other health ported the festival by making school workers are to be halls available free of charge. When encouraged to schools became independent of the help spot the Council and started charging the Council signs of Islamic introduced a grant which is used to pay extremism for the for the halls. Every penny of the council first time.

Theresa May, Home grant is therefore handed over to schools The strategy, Secretary to cover their costs launching today Cllr Lorber said: “Navratri has been

by Home Secretary Theresa May, will celebrated in Brent for over 30 years. include measures to give internet users Tens of thousands of Brent residents take panic buttons to alert police to potential park in the nine-day festival and it would terrorists online be a great shame if Labour Councillor The move echoes lessons learnt in cut the grant for Navratri while continuanti-pedophile policing, where chat ing to spend larger sums of money on rooms provide buttons that children can Council-organised festivals that are not press if they fear they are being groomed as valued by the local community.” by sex offenders.

Help spot extremists

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By Rupanjana Dutta

loose when he learns his son has failed to complete GCSE several times.

When the confrontation takes an ugly turn, he decides to move back to the Gulf and rejoin his earlier job. That's when the rest of the family realises what they are

moments of togetherness, growing up, the benefit of parenthoodageing with their children and so much more.

It's not a deliberate choice. But as we know, one's gain is often someone's loss. This drama celebrates spirit of friend-

Preview of a Gujarati drama "Mare kone kehvu" (whom can I tell) was organised by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan on Friday 3rd June.

A very thought provoking play, it speaks of the families that are often torn apart by unavoidable circumstances.

The story revolves around a wife waiting for her husband, who works for BP and seldom visits home. He however fulfils all material needs of his families. The wife and children live in a posh house at Kensington.

But with the absence of a father, the children Hamant Parekh, Rasmi Amin, Rikin Trivedi, Hina Shah, Hiren Jani, Amita Shah & Dipen Shah enacting their roles in the climax suffer enormously, including bullies and ought to lose once again. ship, family and prioriharassments on the This whole enlightenties. It tells us a story of roads. The son fails ment is catalysed by a sacrifices, compromises repeatedly in A Levels dear friend and his famiand rejuvenation through and soon takes up hoolily- who play a pivotal role the tale of two friends ganism as a hobby. He in this drama. and their respective lazes around in the house choices in life.

This family has a while the sister and The Director of the moderate lifestyle, with a mother worry. play is P.S Chari. It is meagre earning father.

The father on a particwritten by Pravin Eventually their son ular Diwali decides to Solanki, Co-Directed & turns out to be a brilliant come back to London Produced by Manisha and hard working stuafter quitting his job, just Amin. dent and takes up medito be with his family. But The actors Hamant cine as a future profesthe family takes a lot of Parekh, Rasmi Amin, sion. While the mother time to accept him back.

Rikin Trivedi, Hina loathes for more wealth, In fact at that point their Shah, Hiren Jani, Amita the men in the family grievances take over the Shah & Dipen Shah are enjoy togetherness over joy of union. extremely professional any material gain.

Ironically the father and particular in enactIt is often in life that does not realise how ing their roles to perfecpeople lose on those much time has gone by, as tion.

A must watch, close attachments with he brings along gifts for shows will be staged on their families as they run his children including a 12th June, 18th June, after material gains, in doll. He tries to bond 25th June, 1st July, 16th fact often so that the famwith them and with july, 17th July in London ily can live a life of comadvice of a dear old friend fort. In that rat race, peo& 31st July in Preston tries to even befriend ple lose out on the (see advert in GS page them. Yet hell breaks essence of life, the fine 22).

Rama explores life of Krishna Through the beautiful Indian Classical dance form Bharatanatyam, Rama explores the life of the Hindu deity Krishna, and explores the symbolism of the lands of Mathura and Vrindavan in his legend.

In her first ever tour of the UK, Rama Vaidyanathan takes her audiences on a mystical and spellbinding journey back into the life and times of Lord Krishna.

Right from childhood to when He became the King of Mathura, everything about Krishna's life was and still is sweet.

Rama is considered to

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be amongst the best in Indian dance and is renowned for her unique thought process and fresh approach to dance. By taking the rich traditions of Bharatanatyam classical dance and adding her own unique flair in choreography her dance is empathetic, quirky, fresh, and inimitable.

Performing professionally for the past twenty years, Rama is now one of the most sought after dancers of her generation.

She brings to her dance a rare sense of devotion and dedication, which leaves the audience with a sense

of spiritual fulfilment.

The performance will be further enhanced by a stunning ensemble of musicians from India who will perform an especially composed score.

Performances will take place at The Lowry, Salford Quays, The Capstone Theatre in Liverpool, The Drum in Birmingham, and Bharatya Vidya Bhavan in London.

This tour is produced

by Milapfest, The UK’s Indian Arts Development Trust in association with Sampad and Vani Fine Arts.

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Asian Voice Saturday 11th June 2011

SOnAKShI SInhA Rajinikanth recovering well

Kollywood actor Rajinikanth, now being treated at a hospital in Singapore, is fine and recovering well, his sonin-law and actor Dhanush

said. "He (Rajinikanth) is recovering well. He is doing fine. He is responding well to the treatment," he added. "Doctors have found out the root cause of his (Rajini''s) trouble. It is something that can be reversed," Dhanush said.

According to him, the 61year-old actor is cheerful and is "in a mood to shop.

He eats whatever he wants. We hope he will return (home) in a week or 10 days. If we do not return, that means we are on a holiday (in Singapore)," he said.

gives her KBC prize money to charity

Sonakshi Sinha, who was on the hot seat for the Bhojpuri version of Kaun Banega Crorepati, has given away a major part of her prize money to Salman Khan's Being Human charity.

The show is hosted by her father Shatrughan Sinha. Says the “Dabangg” actress, "It's a charity I know, trust and believe in. I've seen the money move in the right direction. A lot of us want to help the needy. But how to ensure the money gets to the right place? I know the money is used to help those who need it."

On the show, Sonakshi spoke in Hindi while her dad in Bhojpuri. "I had never seen him talk in Bhojpuri. He did it very well. I'm looking forward to doing a film with my dad." Sonakshi did not reveal the amount donated.

Birthday musings: Sonakshi who celebrated her birthday last week says, "The last year has been a rollercoaster for me. When I look back I feel it's been a whole lifetime in one year. It went by so quickly!

I wish I had more time to enjoy what was happening to me. I never thought all this will happen to me. I can't ask for more. I've gotten into my calm meditative mode this birthday. I've to admit it's a new birth for me."

Sona had planned to spend it quietly, though her family had other plans. "I am not much of a party girl. My family is more enthusiastic about my birthday than I am."

No dual role for Vikram

Salman's 'Chillar Party' to kick off IIFA film festival in Ontario

After Suseenthiran's last two films, “Naan Mahaan Alla” and “Azhagar Saamiyin Kuthirai,” set the cash registers ringing, his next film with Vikram, titled “Vendhan,” has been eagerly anticipated by the audience.

And now comes the news that Vikram will be playing a dual role in the film - that of a father and a son. However, a source close to the director denies

the report and says, " Suseenthiran initially had worked on a different script for Vikram's film, which had him in dual roles. But now, the script has been reworked and Vikram only plays a single role in it. The shooting for the film will start in the first week of June." Meanwhile, Vikram is on a high after receiving an honorary doctorate in acting from a European university.

Shruti Hassan refuses to talk about her affair

Bollywood star Salman Khan's debut production venture "Chillar Party" will open the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) film festival to be held across four cities in Ontario in Canada.

The film festival will be held as part of the IIFA weekend, an annual celebration of Indian cinema on international shores. While the IIFA weekend kickstarts on June 23, the three-day film fest will open on June 24.

"Chillar Party", a light-hearted comedy, revolves around the lives of seven children who defeat the odds and prove their loyalty to a friend. It is co-produced by Ronnie Screwvala's UTV Motion Pictures.

Salman is excited about showcasing the movie at the 12th Videocon d2h IIFA weekend. "'Chillar Party' is very close to my heart, the concept appealed to me and the children's performances were endearing. This is the first film under SKBH (Salman Khan Being Human) Productions and we felt there was no better place to screen the movie than at the IIFA film festival. For me, IIFA is home-grounds and it can't get bigger than IIFA in Toronto," said the actor.

Rare family outing for Bachchans

Shruti Hassan, who has been linked up with Siddharth, has refused to talk about her love life.

The actress has said that she does not feel any need to open up her personal life in public. The actress said that she can talk on her professional front for

hours together, but her personal life is nobody’s business. Recently, it was reported that Siddharth and Shruti have sought Kamal Hassan’s blessings and have started living together. Her father reportedly approved their love and is happy for them.

A m i t a b h Bachchan along with his wife Jaya, son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya stepped out for a rare family outing when they went to watch “Kung Fu Panda 2,” and enjoyed the movie like the common man with popcorn and soft drinks. Big B liked the film and would like to do the outing more often. "Great fun walking into a cinema theatre, standing in line for the tickets and being ushered in to our seats. Putting on the 3D glasses, ordering some popcorn and drinks at the PVR in Juhu/Andheri and joining in with the rest of the audience on the laughs and the claps. Must do this more often!" Amitabh posted on his blog bigb.bigadda.com.

This year, the film festival has been designed keeping in mind the Punjabi population across four cities of Greater Toronto Area (GTA) - Toronto, Markham, Brampton and Mississuaga where the screenings will take place.

The assortment of films are a mix of Bollywood classics and blockbusters based in and around Punjab. Some of the films to be showcased are "Rang De Basanti", "Dabangg", "Chashme Badoor", "Dil Bole Hadippa", "Veer Zaara", "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" and "Yamla Pagla Deewana".

"We are pleased to open the festival with the much-anticipated, 'Chillar Party'," said Sabbas Joseph, director, Wizcraft International Entertainment, the

RAnBIR KAPOOR is sick of Casanova label The Casanova label is putting Ranbir Kapoor in an awkward situation, especially when he faces the family. Now he is hell-bent on erasing the label from him. Funny that the tag of a ladies man should affect a Kapoor! The Kapoors are known for their love for women and romance. But surprisingly, the youngest Kapoor of the family is feeling burdened under the pressure to be more 'decent' and be discreet about his dating scene.

Sources say that Ranbir's parents, Rishi and Neetu, do not like the fact that Ranbir is being linked with almost all of his heroines.

Not that they are mere stories, Ranbir likes girls and as any normal single man would do, likes going out on dates with them. But according to sources, the family is concerned that too much play would affect his image and subsequently, his career.

Recently at an event, Ranbir confessed that his parents feel upset after reading such stories and he feels awkward facing his family members. He is answerable to them and the loose talk about his character is not really being appreciated.

However, a source from the industry says, "Ranbir didn't really realise that his dating scene would affect him so much. He would ask out whichever girl he fancied. He forgot that he is a public figure and he cannot continue doing what he did back in college. So the media reported about every date that he we went for. This is a lesson for him to be more discreet rather than getting upset that it is being reported."

Close buddy Imran Khan recently defended him by saying, "If he enjoys life, wine, women... there's nothing bad about it.

Ranbir's not doing anything illegal, but if media wants to write about it, you can't stop them."

Asin not ready to join the rat race

organisers of the event.

In the run up to the IIFA celebrations, a line-up of Bollywood films including "Golmaal 3", "Housefull", "Raajneeti" and "Once Upon a Time In Mumbaai", which have also been nominated for the Floriana IIFA awards, will be screened at open theatres across different locations and different dates up to June 26.

Dia Mirza gets scolding from Zayed Actress-turned producer Dia Mirza got so involved in the production of “Love, Breakups, Zindagi” that her partner Zayed Khn had to scold her to calm her down. "I swept floors. I brought half of the things from my own house. Zayed scolded me once on the sets. I was behaving as if guests have come to my house. So I was taking care of smallest of things myself. Zayed wanted to remind me that I am an actor also, so I need to calm down and relax and take a seat when my shot was over,” said the 29-yearold actress.

John is single and ready to mingle!

After break up with long time girl friend Bipasha Basu, John Abraham is single and ready to mingle it seems. And the hunk seems to love his new found status.

John and girlfriend Bipasha broke up a few months ago and since then; both the actors seem to be painting the town red with different people. Contrary to popular belief, John isn`t brooding.

He has been spotted hanging out with different girls recently. What more! The hunk has some of Bollywood’s beautiful actresses playing agony aunt for him whenever the situation arises.

Speaking to a daily, a source close to the actor said, "It seems like John and Bipasha have both moved on well. None of them are depressed. They have coped magnificently with the break up and are enjoying the single status a great deal." Rumours have it that John has been dating a few girls from the modelling fraternity.

Bollywood actress Asin Thottumkal who plays the lead role with Salman Khan in the just released “Ready” does not want to be part of the rat race and was comfortable about her place in the film industry.

"I am not an insecure person as an actress...my priority is not to be in public eye all the time just by signing a lot of films. There was sure a gap between 'Ghajini' and 'Ready'. But I am working at my own pace. I don't want to be a part of the rat race. I need to work at my comfort level. I am a secured actor.

I don't believe in competing unnecessarily," she said.

"As an actress I am satisfied with the way my career is shaping up. I believe every actor has his/her own share of work and that it will come to him/her at a given time."

Asked how she felt when all the credit for success of 'Ghajini' was taken away by Aamir Khan and now Salman Khan is seen all over the posters of 'Ready', the 25-year-old said, "It's not at all a drawback to work with big stars. The kind of talent Aamir has and the kind of star he is, he carried the film entirely on his shoulders."

I too feel fear doing stunts: Akshay Akshay Kumar, known for his daredevil stunts, says that though he feels the fear while doing stunts, he does not let it stop him. "I do feel fear but I call it 'good fear'. The fear of not being able to pull off the stunt carefully...the fear of losing my loved ones...if I don't take care of myself," Akshay said.

"A good stuntman is one who performs a stunt and comes out without even a scratch or a bruise," he said. "I did not let any phobia get to me,” he said.

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

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Jacqueline’s dare-bare scenes in ‘Murder2’ Jacqueline Fernandez who has done some dare-bare scenes in “Murder 2” has apparently, walked endlessly in the film. Considering that she had to flaunt a fit and toned body, walking certainly helped her. While shooting in Goa, the actress had to walk barefoot on the beaches for a major part of the shoot. Says a unit source, "Apart from making rapid strides on the beaches, for some drunken scenes she also had to keep falling on a rough terrain and she did it without a kneecap. As a result she would end up with scars.”

Bipasha's new obsession Experimenting with new look is Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu’s new obsession. She is now experimenting with hats and red lipsticks. "Hats and red lipstick are my new obsessions fr summer look! (sic)," Bipasha posted on microblogging site Twitter. The 32year-old, who recently admitted that she has parted ways with long-time beau, John Abraham, is now back in India after wrapping up the shooting for Abbas-Mustan's "Players" in Russia.

Arunoday Singh to romance Ash in 'Heroine' Madhur Bhandarkar was in search of a hero as well as a heroine for his new project “Heroine.” Following the selection of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as the lead actress for the film he was in search of a lead actor. Earlier there were reports that Abhishek Bachchan would cast opposite Aishwarya. But now it is learnt that Madhur has settled for the 'Yeh Saali Zindagi' actor Arunoday Singh for the lead role. The film is about the life of a successful Bollywood actress, with all the masala along with the typical Bollywood twist in the tale. As for Arunoday, he will play a cricketer in the film, who is going around with the top actress played by Aishwarya.

‘Dhobi Ghat’ star Monica caged “Dhobi Ghat” star Monica Dogra was seen spending time with hen inside a rustic cage for a brand new ad for PETA India and urges fans to “try to relate to who is on their plate and go vegetarian".

The actor/singer, who went vegetarian after learning what animals killed for meat endure, is now encouraging everyone to switch to a healthy and humane vegetarian diet. “I was raised eating meat. After I learned about the process under which the meat is being obtained, I stopped eating non-vegetarian food. Now my ‘health has improved’ and ‘weight stabilized,” says Monica.

Kirti Kulhari ready to do bold scenes Newcomers are now cool with doing steamy and bold scenes these days and also feel that it's the perfect success mantra.

Newbie Kirti Kulhari, one of the lead actresses of Anurag Kashyap's ‘Shaitan,’ says if the script demands it she can go out of her way to do bold scenes.

The actress who is already in news for her 'kissing scene' with Kalkie Koechlin in the film, says, "I am a little subdued in the film and this scene was just a part of the script. Kissing is not a big deal," she adds.

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Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

India conditionally opens doors to supermarket giants Dear Financial Voice Reader, Natasha’s great-great grandfather, Rufus Isaacs, was Viceroy of India in 1921. Her family has since maintained strong connections with the country. As Marquess of Reading, he was the only Jewish Viceroy from 1921-1926. He was a Liberal appointed by Lloyd George and therefore different from the normal aristocratic appointment. He was responsible for overseeing the Indian Chamber of Princes and in favour of guiding India towards self government.

Natasha’s family history prompted her first visit to India a few years ago and so began her love affair with the country. She was joined by Lavinia on a life changing journey in October 2009.

With a heart to help women who had been caught up in the sex trade, Natasha and Lavinia spent two months in the southern slums of Delhi, Lado Sarai, working with an aftercare home called “Atulya”, literally meaning “woman without price; immeasurable; unique”. They helped look after girls who had come out of the sex trade, or who were living locally in absolute poverty, by spending afternoons with them in a local production unit. The aim was to provide these girls with a place of safe refuge and to give them the skills and tools they needed to become financially independent.

These skills would also allow for the girls to provide for their families and give hope to future generations.

During Natasha and Lavinia’s time in Delhi, they visited a number of aftercare homes through International Justice Mission (IJM), a human rights agency. IJM provides counseling, therapy and support to girls between the ages of 13-16 at homes such as St. Catherine’s aftercare home (one such home Natasha and Lavinia visited) with the aim of helping them heal emotionally.

Through Oasis India, a charity based in Mumbai, Natasha and Lavinia also visited an aftercare home for girls called Nirmal Bhavan. Oasis India is based in the slums in Mumbai and seeks to empower the community through education and training, as well as working with individuals trapped in sexual exploitation and situations of human trafficking to be equipped with new skills and empowered.

Through experiencing first hand the harrowing effects of human trafficking and the devastation it had brought upon the lives of so many women and children, Natasha and Lavinia were motivated to take action with the aim of making a difference to the lives of these victims. So, Beulah London was born.

Equal to Beulah (www.beulahlondon.com) London’s charitable heart is its desire to produce exceptional quality garments, without compromise. The brand stands for meaningful fashion, bridging the gap between high-end fashion and style, and ethical sourcing of products.

I mention this in my financial column for two reasons. One I recently came across the documentary ‘The Day my God Died’ about child sex slavery in India.

Secondly because there’s a lot of good things going on in finance and business and we neglect to mention them when we focus on the ills and disasters only. Here’s to the next generation of entrepreneurs – with hearts – god’s gift to humanity. If you’re doing something similar – let me know.

Thoughts on @alpeshbp.

My blog is at www.alpeshblog.com and www.alpesh.tv you can see my latest TV commentary.

Alpesh.patel@tradermind.com

Car sales slow down as fuel price, interest rates go up Spiraling fuel prices and hardening interest rates have affected the car sales.

Though two-wheeler sales remained healthy with Hero Honda and TVS clocking double-digit growth, Maruti Suzuki, India's largest car maker, and GM saw marginal increase in sales while Honda reported a decline.

Poor show by car makers along with a not-sohealthy demand for durables does not augur too well for industrial output, where growth has already been dragged down by the capital goods

industry. Economists say higher interest rates would further deter companies from expanding capacity and may result in modest growth in factory output.

The first signs of overall moderation in economic expansion emerged last week when the data released by Central Statistics Office show that GDP grew 7.8% in January-March 2011, the slowest pace of growth in five quarters as higher interest rates and input costs pulled down manufacturing and industrial growth.

Supermarket giants like Tesco, Carrefour and Walmart will be allowed to open its stores in India, commerce and industry minister Jyotiraditiya Scindia said in an interview.

According to Mr Scindia the opening of the supermarket sector to FDI could be the reform which finally gives Britain a foothold in India's remarkable rural growth story.

India's good fortune in minimizing the effects of the global slump in 2009 was in part because of its strong domestic growth, and in particular the rising consumer demand in its rural hinterland.

Mr Scindia said the government was pumping $8billion a year into schemes to increase school attendance and boost rural incomes, steps "which have allowed disposable income and consumerism

to grow at the grass-root level."

While supermarkets like Tesco are coveting the fast-growing middle classes in India's mega-metropolises, Mr Scindia wants them to focus on the foothold it will offer them in the rural Indian economy too – a prospect which has evaded most British firms so far.

While accepting foreign direct investment has "staggered" this year, he believes it will return quickly, and that massive investment in infrastruc-

ture will help speed it on its way.

Mr Scindia sees investment in rural India's agriculture sector as one of the country's best prospects and believes companies like Tesco could play a key role in fulfilling its potential. The opportunity for companies like Tesco, which has a tie up with Tata's Trent for cash-and carry services, is in the gap between India's impressive yields, and the village roads on which its produce rots.

Agreement on allowing multi-brand retailers to open shop in India's growing number of smart malls will come with strings. In exchange for opening up Indian supermarket ventures to 51pc foreign ownership, firms like Tesco, and possibly Sainsbury, will be expected to set up warehousing, cold-chain storage and transport

The 99p Stores chain: the new mantra for shoppers The Lalani family saw an opportunity to cash in on the first austerity Christmas in 2008.

As retailers all around them were feeling the pinch of the credit-crunch, for Nadir Lalani, the founder of the family-owned 99p Stores chain, and his sons Hussein and Faisal it came as an opportunity to serve their target market.

While the administrators went into Woolworths that December, Lalanis did not want to miss out on the bargain especially in the buyer's market. They realized with this they could acquire prime retail acreage all over the country, starting in the heart-

land of London. Sons of Nadir, Hussein and Faisal toured the south- and eastLondon assessing their locations.

So on Christmas eve, the Lalani trio were in the administrators' City of London offices clinching deals for nine London branches of Woolies, with 58 more to follow nationwide. Weeks later, 99p Stores opened its branch in Balham, where Woolworths had stood for years. The magical figure of 99p caught the attention of many shoppers who realized that a bottle of shampoo can be bought in 99p Stores for a third of the supermarket price.

The exception is Maltesers, for which the Lalanis charge only 10 per cent mark-up.

Despite some of the difficult times that they have gone through, the 99p Stores whether St Albans or Balham, Streatham or Swansea the outlets now attract shoppers packing an emporium notably free of austerity gloom. By next Christmas, the Lalanis plan to open their 175th branch in England, with over 300 more projected. And all this has been possible as they have given tough time to even their competitors maintaining price and giving quality.

Mukesh fails to enthuse investors Reliance Industries (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani failed to enthuse investors at its 37th AGM and the RIL shares slipped as investors failed to get clarity on the falling production from the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin.

Shares of India's most valued firm, after opening on a positive note, lost momentum as Ambani was unable to clarify shareholders' doubts on undeployed surplus cash and details of new businesses.

Ambani assured his shareholders that RIL will be a debt-free company by March 31 next year, using cash earned from selling its stake in oil and gas fields to UK's BP Plc. He also said that RIL would consolidate its global leadership position in its core businesses of plastic, refining and petrochemicals, and focus on consumer

Kokilaben, Nita and Mukesh Ambani

facing business like retail and broadband foray.

Although the RIL chairman was silent on specific details for the future course of action of RIL's entry into financial services and telecom, he said a partnership-led transformation would be on the top of the agenda going forward. All he would say was that it was conceptualizing a foray into broadband wireless services.

"With a cash balance of

Rs 423.93 billion, our company is in a very strong position financially.

Reliance will be completely debt free, net of cash balances within this year," Ambani told shareholders on Friday in what is seen as one of the most eagerly awaited AGMs in corporate India.

The company plans to invest aggressively in retail business by launching cash-and-carry, or wholesale outlets, he said. "We are positioning Reliance Retail to be an undisputed leader in organized retailing. We plan to create similar value in the retail business as we have been doing historically in the core businesses." Ambani, however, ruled out the possibility of getting into the banking space or listing any of the RIL subsidiaries, when asked specifically by shareholders.

depots and food processing units in the rural farm belts where the government is desperate to create jobs and new wealth.

"Take your country for example, your Tesco or France's Carrefour, or Walmart or whatever, today you have 100 pc open in the cash-andcarry business, these people are already in the back end. But if you extend that into the agricultural sector, I'm sure they will like to come into the back end and they must. That's where the value creation happens, the aggregation happens, the value addition happens, and if we can do as much of that in the rural hinterland, it will assist their business model from a cost point of view and it will assist India's story in terms of an inclusive economic growth point of view," he explained.

House prices likely to fall further

House prices are expected to fall further this year and next, affecting 1.3m homeowners in negative equity where their mortgages are worth more than their homes. According to an analysis of the property market by Morgan Stanley, the investment bank, house prices will fall 3% this year and tumble a further 7% by the end of 2012, wiping out the 10% gain made since the market bottomed in 2009 and rolling back prices to levels last seen in 2004.

The bleak warnings came as figures from America showed that the US housing market has already entered a double dip, with prices falling 4.2% in the first three months of 2011 after a 3.6% decline in the fourth quarter of last year.

Exports grow by 34.4% in April

India's exports grew by 34.4% on an annual basis to %23.8 billion in the first month of the 2011-12 fiscal, maintaining the growth momentum of the previous fiscal.

Imports were up 14.1% at %32.8 billion in April year-on-year, leaving a trade gap of %8.9 billion, according to data released by the commerce ministry last week.

However, the exports growth was lower in April compared to the robust growth of 54% in March.

Commerce secretary Rahul Khullar has said though the growth in April was lower than March, it was not a big concern.

"March is always a peak month, I am not worried," he has said.

FINANCIAL VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

19

Diamonds Aren’t For Free And Location Is Key

Suresh Vagjiani Managing Director Sow & Reap A Property Investment & Financing company.

The first property I ever bought was a two bedroom flat in Wembley. I didn’t have any money, either for the deposit or the fees involved.

Generally in order for enterprise to happen you need land, labour, capital and entrepreneurship. Capital is only one component and not the essential one, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be from your own pocket, especially given the abundant and sometimes even free credit available.

The property was a two bedroom conversion in a mid-terraced house over just opposite Wembley Stadium and was on the market for £175,000. At the time, late 2003, the plans for the regeneration of Wembley were only in the early stages. I decided to put in a cheeky offer for £155,000 - surprisingly they said yes.

In those days getting mortgages was a lot more relaxed than now and a 95% mortgage was granted with the other 5% deposit and expenses paid for by credit card. At this point credit cards were very competitive and great rates where being offered to transfer credit from one card to another, the condition was the credit must be transferred only.

In orde r to get aro und this you woul d simply t ransfer a de bt yo u did n ot have. This me ans simply the n ew credit card co mpany transf ers the amo unt to ano ther card t hinking they are neu tralising a debt. In reality t here is no debt. So t he card e nds up be in g in cred it . This doe sn’ t go down very well with the card compan ies, for so me reaso n t hey wou ld call yo u u p an d ask ho w on earth the c ard is in cre dit and insist t he mo ney be transferre d to an accoun t!

Although this was done using 100% funding, the rental covered both payments and still gave an income. At that time opting for a seven year fixed rate I took a 5.09% fixed rate which meant I was paying £624 pm. The rental I was getting net was £823pm so I was getting a £200pm surplus which covered the payments on the £9000 loan I had got to cover the deposit and fees. The loan was taken on a good long term fixed rate. Since this was my first purchase I took an ultra conservative view.

The furniture was picked up from a house clearance in Edgware in my father in laws van. As I did not know what I was picking up the Indian fellow selling it too me passed on furniture which had fungus growing on it. The furniture was picked up the day before the tenant was supposed to move in. Hence we were busy that night, scrubbing the fungus off with a brilo pad.

The property also failed its electric test. The chap who done it was a friendly local West Indian fellow who told me what I had to do to pass the test. It involved running an earth cable from the outside of the property though the attic and back outside to earth the electrics as I recall.

So this was done and the certificate was passed on second inspection.

The property was rented through the council, their condition was a valid gas and electric certificate as well as a consent to let permission from the lender.

On the day of the move in all the paper work was checked and we had the minimum level of furniture required by the council, all of it bought from the Loot.

The tenant moved in, she was a one parent family desperate for accommodation. I had checked everywhere, through Housing Associations to Estate Agents to private websites. This was the highest net rent achievable at the time. Here saving the pennies was important as everything had been done very tightly.

The second property was bought in Birmingham with a gifted deposit type deal. This was a new development in City Centre Birmingham. The property was valued at £165,000, however looking back I cannot see how this was the case.

The property was bought through a property club which was able to ‘negotiate’ a discount of 15%. This ties in perfectly with an 85% mortgage meaning one could purchase the property free of charge, having to only pay legal fees and the sourcing fee.

Th e problem with this purc hase was that the discoun t seeme d e xte nde d to the whol e blo ck. And so it wasn’ t really a d isco unt but the actu al price. Cu rrently the prices are runn ing a little lo wer t han the discou nted le ve ls ac hie ved in 2003.

The property club had a similar deal in a development called West End Key, Paddington. Here the flats were valued at £350,000 and the offer price was £275,000. During this time one could get an 85% mortgage, so based on the valuation of £350,000 this came to £297,500. The difference between the loan amount and the purchase price was used to cover stamp duty and sourcing fee and legal expenses.

The property also came rented with a two year rental contract to a Swiss bank.

The minimum you can find these properties currently on the market for is £465,000. The one in Birmingham is valued at £135,000 a drop of

£5000. To date this property has not increased in price.

At the time 10 were available, if we had purchased all 10 the available profit would be £1.73m for an investment of nothing.

With the way mortgages were if someone knew what they were doing you could legally purchase property with no money and even get a cash back after buying the property.

Not all brokers were aware of this possibility, in fact most were not.

We used these schemes to purchase high yielding property in Luton.

They were selling for £45,000 and were valued at £55,000. Appling an 85% mortgage on £55,000 we got £46,750. So this would cover legal fees and give us a little back. They way you would need to structure these purchases is to purchase the property for cash for one day at £45,000 then remortgage the next day at £55,000 this then releases £46,750. This was known as a day one remortgage.

These properties could be rented for £375- £450pm and the mortgage was only £206pm. So again it was free and gave an income stream – on paper anyway!

As time went on these properties became increasingly difficult to manage, the block was run down and the tenants were coming and going. Surplus cash was used to fund renovations and the hassle factor was high. We finally found a reliable agent who charged 15% but the properties were managed well. In short with these properties although they were bought cleverly that’s when the cleverness stopped!

The mantra of property is location, location, location. For good reason. The locations North of and just outside of London can never compete with the properties in central London they have increased in price regardless of the UK economy, as a major component of the demand comes from overseas. It is for this reason we encourage our investors to stick to prime locations, for resales or rentals these properties will always be in high demand.

Amazing Flat in Little Venice £320,000 l Two bedroom flat in Little Venice overlooking the Regents Canal. l Both bedrooms have wonderful views over the canal and the peaceful surroundings with multitude of trees and colourful boats. l That ensures that the flat will rent easily at £385-400pw – generating a yield of over 6%. l Being close to Paddington and Warwick Avenue the flats in the area are in high demand for students and young professionals. l Some updating is required to enhance the look of the flat and increase the rental value. l Resell of the property will be very easy – the popular location and attractiveness of the flat guarantee that.

We provide a turnkey solution. Contact us now: Specialists in: l Property Sourcing l Mortgages l Commercial Finance l India Properties

UK Sales 0207 313 4595 India Sales 0203 384 5323

Tips of the Week l Never compromise on location no matter how good the deal l Concentrate on the ascetics when developing the future Tenant and purchaser will pick up on these

Westbourne House, 14-16 Westbourne Grove, London, W2 5RH

20

finanCial voIce

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

Amit Patel has over 15 years experience in the field of Leadership and Human Resource Management

Maria Fernandes

Rang de Basanti – Part 2

maria@abplgroup.com

If anyone has not seen the film ‘Rang de basanti’ I strongly recommend that you watch it. The core storyline is based on the fight against corruption in the government in India. The story is centred around some students who become frustrated with corrupt politicians. Ultimately they assassinate a defence minister and in return are branded as terrorists and killed. However, there is a poignant side script wherein the mother of a killed air force pilot organises a protest at India gate against corruption. Here too the politicians send in the police and instruct them to use heavy handed tactics to disperse the ‘demonstration’.

When I was watching this film I remember thinking thank god that such things would never happen in the India of today. I felt that Indian politics had matured and become more aware of the media and respectful of public opinion to ever do something like that.

This perception was

Care homes in crisis Anyone who watched the secret filming of one of the Castlebeck Care homes a few days ago would have been horrified not only by the by the scale of abuse by so called support workers on those with learning disabilities but also by the fact that a regulator, the Care Quality Commission, had failed to investigate reports made to them by an ex employee thus leaving the most vulnerable in society without Then this morning the papers reported that Southern Cross, a leading chain of care homes is at crisis point as they are unable to pay the landlords rent and could face bankruptcy.

Whilst watching the programme I observed that the support workers were all local staff. Most of them looked like they were the type unlikely to find work elsewhere. Like cockroaches they seek refuge in areas where they are able to thrive undisturbed.

It is no secret that care homes have struggled to find staff, never mind staff that have the

public were to be told about the areas where numbers are required, and care homes is one of those areas do you honestly think that they would disagree?

Our disabled, mentally ill and elderly deserve the very best care.

If this means getting trained staff from abroad then so bit it. Care homes are struggling to find staff, let alone train local staff, as contemplated by the Migration Advisory Committee. If we care for the less able in our community then we should do everything necessary to prevent the abuse that was uncovered in the film and is probably just the tip of a very big iceberg.

The first step is to reverse the ridiculous restrictions put in by those who have no real experience of the care needs of the vulnerable.

Maria Fernandes has been in practice exclusively in immigration for the past 25 years.

Fernandes Vaz is based at 87 Wembley Hill Road Wembley in Wembley and can be contacted by telephone on 02087330123, by email on info@fernandesvaz.com.

skills to provide care.

There was a period when immigration numbers admittedly went up, when care workers, trained and qualified with numerous years of experience within this field were brought in on work permits to fill positions.

They were prepared to put up with wages that were not particularly lucrative yet they provided a sterling service to the customer.

The vulnerable were safe with staff who are trained to deal with disabilities and the overwhelming view of care homes is that this positive development has been reversed with the consequences that we saw on our television boxes the other night.

The raising of skill levels, the removal of these positions under the shortage category and the belief by those outside this area of business that you can get good quality local staff is frankly unrealistic and the maintenance of such a policy risks putting the vulnerable in harms way. Yes of course the government can score points and show a reduction of numbers but at what cost. If the

in China

$162 trillion, driven by performance of capital markets and the growth of GDP in countries around the world. "Wealth will grow fastest in emerging markets. In India and China, for example, it is expected to increase at a compound annual rate of 18% and 14%, respectively," Tang said, adding that the Asia-Pacific region's share of global wealth (ex Japan) was projected to rise from 18% in 2010 to 23% in 2015.

Millionaire households increased by 12.2% in 2010 to about 12.5 million, BCG said, adding that the US was home to most millionaire households (5.2 million), followed by Japan, China, the UK, and Germany, while Singapore continued to have the highest concentration of millionaire households.

While the Maruti 800 has bowed out from the production line in India, it has been reincarnated in China. According to China Car Times, Jiangnan Auto has officially launched the mk2 Suzuki Alto (called so in China) at 17800rmb (Rs.. 124,000) making it the cheapest car in China today. The Alto was put into production by four different companies Chang’an Auto, Jiang Nan, Xi’an Tai and Sichuan Auto - in the Chinese market in the late 90s and early 2000s. Eventually, each of them had to stop production due to losses. The car, just like its Indian ancestor, is powered by the 800cc engine which produces 36bhp, enough to get you around town. After all, China has now an answer to India’s own Tata Nano.

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Ramdev for breaking an agreement and was guilty of misleading people (yes, seriously).

In the past I have written about the Prime minister being guilty of not speaking out when he should really be taking control, but what of the other congress leaders – why is no one speaking out against this action?

There is no legitimate justification for such action against unarmed civilians who are peacefully protesting against corruption. There is no excuse for any person who proclaims to be a leader of the people to remain silent and not speak out against such atrocities. But most importantly – there can be no more tolerance of the arrogance, immaturity and selfishness displayed by Mr Singh and those of his ilk. Using the police to prevent people from protesting against corruption and injustice is not leadership – it is cowardice.

Serco buys Intelenet for £385 mn

India among top four wealth Maruti 800 reincarnated creators in the world

India has emerged among the four fastest wealth creator countries in the world and its growth momentum is expected to gather further steam going forward, a global study has said.

In its annual Global Wealth Report, management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group has listed the US, China, the UK and India as the nations showing the largest absolute gains in wealth in 2010. Global wealth continued a solid recovery in 2010, driven by growth in nearly every region and registered an increase of $9 trillion, to a record of $121.8 trillion.

Tjun Tang, BCG partner and co-author of the study, believes global wealth is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 5.9% from the end of 2010 till 2015 to about

of course shattered by the reports of police dispersing a crowd at the Ram leela maidan in Delhi which resulted in over 70 people being critically injured. Then the news came out that the police were ordered to clear the grounds by the government. It reminded me of the scene from the film.

The first question was why was such an order given? Were these people a threat to public security? Were they criminals and miscreants bent on causing damage and violence? No. They were just members of the public, normal citizens, women and children. So why the use of such force?

Digvijay Singh, the general secretary of the Congress party did address the situation, but rather than being a responsible and mature politician trying to restore order and calm, he displayed all of the arrogance and pettiness which has long plagued Indian politics. Instead of showing any regret about the injuries caused by the police – he attacked Baba

UK-based international services firm Serco has acquired Indian BPO company Intelenet for £385 million, making it the largest acquisition in the Indian BPO space. It pips the $550 million that Genpact paid in April to acquire Headstrong.

Intelenet is already the market leader in the domestic BPO space and the combination of Serco BPOs business with Intelenet’s domestic business will further strengthen this position.

Serco offers operational, management and consulting services in the aviation, BPO, defence, education and environmental spaces.

“The acquisition of Intelenet supports our ambitions as a leading global service company.

The international BPO market is growing quickly as companies seek out new ways to improve their service and reduce costs,” Chris Hyman, the chief executive of Serco, said in

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a statement.

Intelenet was founded in 2001 as a joint venture between TCS and HDFC. In 2007, a management buy-out was completed, resulting in the business being majority-owned by Blackstone Group.

Barclays, HDFC and Intelenet's management team held the remaining stake.

Intelenet offers customers a broad range of BPO services including transactional, voice support, finance and accounting services in markets like the US, UK and India. It focuses on the banking, financial services & insurance, travel, hospitality & transport, and healthcare sectors.

The valuation, howev-

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er, appears to be on the higher side. Serco’s acquisition cost represents a multiple of around 12 times EBITDA for the year to March 31, 2011.

The buyout is part of the £4.3 billion Serco’s strategy to gain a larger exposure to higher-growth overseas BPO markets.

Serco made an investment about two years back in an India-based company called InfoVision, which is now called Serco BPO. Serco BPO, which has about 8,000 people, provides customer services, database management and back office services for only the Indian BPO market.

Intelenet has an employee base of 32,000 with about 75% of revenues coming from international business and 25% from domestic business. Their combined BPO-related operations will have 40,000 employees providing services across seven countries.

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FINANCIAL VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

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

Euros continues to dominate the market UK is still showing negative date with the past week showing lower manufacturing and services figures. This began with no impact in the market but once it sunk in this saw sterling drop against the majors. Sterling however has been holding ground against the majors regardless of this data being released and speculation that unless these improve we may not see an increase in interest rates for a little while if not this year.

The Euro seems to be trading between the 1.10’s and the 1.16’s in the past month as the market is very uncertain about the Euro-zone debt crisis and the political problems in Greece.

Although the market is still watching Greece debt very carefully the view seems that Germany, with roughly 23 billion Euros worth of bank debt and France’s 60 billion Euros worth of bank debt against

Greece, means that they will be very reluctant for Greece to default. News of another new aid package to avoid a debt restructuring supported this theory. Eurozone’s annual inflation rate has edged lower but is still way higher than their target, which increased the chances of the Eurozone increasing rates as soon as July, this gave the currency major gains against the USD and the GBP. The IMF put pressure on the banks and other major domestic creditors in Greece to extend the debts as one of the measures to help the Greek monetary problems. German retails sales came in positive, jumping from its previous -3.6% to 3.6%, Eurozone unemployment rate came in slightly positive along with the manufacturing and services sector showing an upturn. This helped the Euro gain against the USD and Sterling with it going through the 1.46 mark and reaching the 1.12 level respectively.

The US had disappointing data coming out in the form of US Unemployment and Nonfarm Payrolls, which saw the dollar slide against the Euro reaching well above the 1.46 level from its 1.40 level 2 weeks prior. There are still great con-

Weekly Currencies As of Tuesday 7th June 2011 @ 1pm GBP - INR = 73.33 USD - INR = 44.69 EUR - INR = 65.52 GBP - USD = 1.64 GBP - EUR = 1.12 EUR - USD = 1.46 GBP - AED = 6.01 GBP - CAD = 1.60 GBP - NZD = 1.99

cerns about the US with growth nowhere near expectations this year and the main power house of the world going further and further into debt.

Manufacturing, Services and construction all fell last week, this showed that the US economy is slowing and may take a lot longer to recover than previously anticipated. Interest rate increases seems further and further away in the distance and without and signs of recovery could mean that they could be the last major economy to

increase their monetary policy.

Overall Sterling seems to be on the back foot at the moment with it reacting to USD weakness and Euro strength.

Although the Eurozone seem to be the strongest out of the majors, there is still great concern of the future of Greece and steps taken for its recovery are other countries going to follow suit? The US seems to be drifting further and further away from recovery with negative data being released and debt spiralling out of control.

GBP - AUD = 1.53 GBP - ZAR = 11.04 GBP - HUF = 297.25

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.

EUR/USD

22

PAKistAn-BAgLAdEsh-sri LAnKA

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

67% Pakistanis favour 'Islamisation' of society In focus Islamabad: A majority of Pakistanis favour the government taking steps for the "Islamisation" of society and almost a third of them believe the process should be completed in one go, according to new survey. A total of 67 per cent replied in the affirmative when they were asked during the survey carried out by Gallup Pakistan whether the government should take steps to "Islamise" the society.

Only 13 per cent said they believed there is no need for "Islamisation" while 20 per cent gave no response.

Forty eight per cent of

respondents said steps to Islamise the society "should be taken one by one" while 31 per cent said the "steps should be taken at once". Twenty one per cent gave no response to a question on the process of

Islamisation.

The survey was carried out among a sample of 2,738 men and women in rural and urban areas of all four provinces of Pakistan during January. Rights activists and civil society

Pak authorities want to curb movement of A Q Khan Islamabad: Pakistani authorities approached a court seeking restrictions on the free movement of disgraced nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who had earlier been placed under house arrest after confessing to running a clandestine proliferation ring. Col Muhammad Faheem, the Chief Security Coordinator for Khan, submitted a petition in the Islamabad High Court regarding the implementation of the court's order of February 2009 imposing certain restrictions on the scientist's movements.

Faheem raised serious objections to the frequent travel and meetings of Khan, saying he feared they could put him in an awkward position and cause risk to his life.

He referred to the issue of CIA contractor Raymond Davis, who was

Abdul Qadeer Khan

arrested in Lahore earlier this year, and indicated foreign elements could cause harm to Khan.

The petition said 75year-old Khan has "carried out some unauthorized communication which is being assessed and the same is in violation of specific court orders whereby the court had directed him not to communicate on sensitive matters".

Though Khan was placed under house arrest soon after he confessed to running a proliferation network in 2004, some of the restrictions imposed

groups have expressed concern over the perceived growth of influence of Islamist and radical groups in recent months.

The police guard who assassinated Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer for opposing the controversial blasphemy law in January was feted by Islamist groups as a hero and hundreds of lawyers offered to represent him for free.

Former federal minister Sherry Rehman virtually stopped making public appearances after being threatened by hardliners for her call for changes in the blasphemy law.

Plot to kill Zardari uncovered

on him were eased following a secret understanding between the government and the scientist in 2008.

The petition said that the Pakistani nuclear scientist was allowed to meet 312 visitors since January 1, 2001 despite the fact that security officers had reservations about some of visitors due to security reasons.Khan was prevented from attending an Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) seminar in January at which foreign delegations were present and it was not appropriate for them to have an opportunity to interact with him, the petition said. An identical petition filed on February 9 in the Islamabad High Court had sought the implementation of orders passed by the same court to impose certain restrictions on Khan.

Islamabad: Pakistani intelligence agencies have uncovered a plot to assassinate President Asif Ali Zardari and arrested several persons, TV news channel reported. The agencies conducted raids over the past few weeks in Islamabad and Punjab and arrested up to 42 persons, the reports said. The reports said the plotters had planned to target Zardari while he visited the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, where his father Hakim Ali Zardari was being treated till his recent death.

There were also reports that the plotters had planned to target Zardari at Nawab Shah in Sindh province. There was no official word on the alleged assassination plot. Security officials have said in the past that the President faces serious threat to his life from the Taliban and other militant groups.

place and time of the incident, we can find answers to that."

Heyns, a South African law professor who is also the UN's independent investigator on extrajudicial killings, said that he viewed the video frame by frame with a team of technical and forensic specialists to determine the authenticity of the frame.

In the video, several men lie on a muddy track, bound and motionless.

Another man is shown being forced to sit upright by a soldier in camouflage carrying a rifle. Another soldier steps up behind and shoots him in the back of the head, point

blank.

The prisoner slumps sideways as the camera pans across the road revealing nine bodies, most of them naked, with gunshot wounds clearly visible.

The uniformed men then force another blindfolded prisoner down into the dirt. A gunshot rings out and he, too, jerks and collapses. Later, the camera focuses on a young man, his skull blown open. Soldiers stand over the half-dressed corpse of a woman, gloating. A partial UN count showed at least 7,000 ethnic Tamil civilians killed in the last five months of the conflict.

Execution video ‘doctored,’ says Lankan army chief

Colombo: Sri Lanka's army chief last week dismissed as "doctored" a video clip that shows soldiers shooting bound, blindfolded prisoners and abusing corpses in the final days of the country's 26-year-old civil war.

A UN expert, Christof Heyns, concluded this week the 5-minute, 25second video was authentic and contains enough evidence to open a war crimes investigation, but asked Sri Lanka to investigate the events first.

Army Commander Lt. Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya said there was no clear details available on the video on the persons

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Washington: The United States has no confirmation that Ilyas Kashmiri, the al-Qaeda leader and a key planner behind the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack, has been killed in a US drone attack, a top Pentagon official said on Monday. "No confirmation," Pentagon spokesman Col Dave Lapan told reporters during his briefing when asked about news reports coming from Pakistan that Kashmiri has been killed. "The department of defence has no confirmation (on the death of Kashmiri)," he noted when told that Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that the US has confirmed the death of Kashmiri. Gilani told a news conference in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's Balochistan province, that "as far as the death of Kashmiri is concerned, America has confirmed that his death occurred on Friday".

Over 95 killed Pak clashes Islamabad: More than 95 people were killed in bloody clashes in Pakistan during the last week. In the first incident, 70 people, including 30 Pakistani police and paramilitary soldiers and over 40 insurgents were killed in clashes after heavily armed militants crossed over from Afghanistan and attacked a checkpoint in Dir region last week, officials said. In the second incident, militants targeted a bus stop and an army-run bakery in bomb attacks in northwest Pakistan on Sunday, killing 25 people and injuring about 50, officials said. Police officials said 18 people were killed and nearly 40 others injured when a blast ripped through a bakery in Nowshera cantonment. In another attack, seven people were killed and 10 more injured when a bomb planted in a van went off in a bus stop at Mattani on the outskirts of Peshawar on Monday morning.

Commission to probe Osama bin Laden raid

Islamabad: Pakistan government named the members of a commission tasked with probing the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden, including how it come about that the al-Qaida chief was living in a Pakistani garrison city. Parliament passed a resolution earlier this month demanding that an independent commission as opposed to one led by the military - investigate the May 2 incursion, which deeply humiliated Pakistani leaders. Its creation suggests the weak civilian government is using the opportunity to gain leverage over the powerful security establishment during a time when army and intelligence leaders are facing unusual levels of public criticism.

Journalists can carry arms in Pakistan Islamabad: Journalists in Pakistan have been allowed to carry small fire-arms for self-defence in the wake of the murder of scribe Syed Saleem Shahzad, Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik said. He also promised to probe allegations about ISI's involvement in his abduction. Malik's assurance came while speaking to the media after visiting Shahzad's residence in Islamabad. At the same time, Malik said the journalist's murder could be a "case of personal enmity." Ali Dayan Hasan, the Human Rights Watch representative in Pakistan, has told the media that he suspected that Shahzad had been picked up by the ISI. Shahzad, 40, who worked for an Italian news agency and an online news website registered in Hong Kong, went missing on Sunday. His body was found at Mandi Bahauddin in Punjab province.

Taliban threaten more attacks Islamabad: The Taliban have vowed to launch more "high-profile" attacks against government and military installations in Pakistan, saying that the terror group's aim is to force the authorities to end their alliance with the US. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Maulana Faqir Mohammad said his group, which was earlier focussing on the war in Afghanistan, had changed its strategy and would now launch more largescale attacks against Pakistani security forces like the one on the PNS Mehran naval airbase in Karachi and assaults that targeted border check posts in Dir region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

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In fOcuS Chinese boy sells kidney for buying iPad

Beijing: A 17-year-old Chinese boy has sold one of his kidneys for just £2,000 to pay for Apple's tablet computer iPad 2. The boy, identified as Zheng from Guangdong province, said that he had sold the kidney after spotting an online advertisement offering cash to anyone prepared to become an organ donor. "I wanted to buy an iPad 2, but I didn't have the money. When I surfed the internet I found an advert posted online by agent saying they were able to pay 20,000 renminbi (£1,880) to buy a kidney," reports quoted Zheng as saying.

Japan PM survives no-trust vote Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan last week survived a no-confidence vote by offering to resign once he has overcome the worst of the country's nuclear crisis, a last-minute deal with ruling party rebels who had threatened to turf him from office.

Kan's offer to step down, probably in the autumn, buys him time to prepare an extra budget to fund the rebuilding cost of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, but it does nothing to resolve the country's political and policy paralysis.

Rats ground Qantas jet Sydney: The discovery of five baby rats in a cabin compartment on a Qantas jet has caused a flight to be grounded. Air crew found the rats minutes before passengers were due to board a Boeing 767 flying from Sydney to Brisbane. The airline said it was a rare occurrence and passengers were put on another plane while the rats were disposed of. Qantas has suffered several mishaps in recent months, none of them causing any loss of life.

Bahrain girl jailed for reading freedom poem Bahrain: Despite lifting of martial law in the island kingdom of Bahrain, security forces are increasingly targeting women in their campaign against pro-democracy protesters. Ayat al-Gormezi , 20, a poet and student arrested two months ago after reading out a poem at a pro-democracy rally, is due to go on trial before a military tribunal, her mother said. Ayat was forced to turn herself in when masked cops threatened to kill her brothers unless she did so. She has not been seen since her arrest, though her mother has since been told that her daughter has been in a military hospital after being tortured.

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OZ school forces Sikh boy to shave off beard Melbourne: A Sikh boy was forced to a shave off his beard by a school in the Australian State of Victoria, sparking an outrage among the Indian community which accused the institute of religious discrimination, a media report said last week.

The boy studying in Class XI at a school in Melbourne was forced to shave off his beard, Harkirat Singh of the Sikh Federation of Australia was quoted as saying by ABC Radio.

Early this week, Mr Singh said he was contact-

the Sikh student shave off his beard against his religious beliefs. The school’s principal, who wants to be known only as Paul, said the teacher involved did not know the school had earlier agreed not to make the boy shave.

“I apologise for any harm that he might have felt or any hurt that he might have felt. That’s not our intention, to cause harm to anybody,” he said.

Gurudwara attacked Meanwhile, a gurudwara in Victoria has been vandalised in what is believed to be a "racial"

attack, sparking fears among the minority community which has appealed for greater security for the Sikhs. Sikhs in Shepparton in northern Victoria have appealed to those who vandalised their gurudwara to leave them alone. "Why they're doing it, we don't know and we think there's a bit of racism - I'm not sure but (there) could be," a local Sikh Kuldeep Singh was quoted as saying by ABC News. Security has been stepped up around the gurudwara after recent vandalism attacks.

Bengali Girl becomes US National Spelling Bee champion

US man gets 431 yrs for kidnapping, raping girl

Continued from page 1 Sukanya Roy, 14, from Pennsylvania, has won the prestigious US National Spelling Bee competition and scooped top prize of $40,000 by spelling the word 'cymotrichous' in her final round.

Miss Roy saw off her competitors over 20 rounds of on-the-spot spelling at the 84th annual US National Spelling Bee final in Oxon Hill, Maryland. After winning, the teenager, who was competing for the third time in the highly challenging championship told ESPN, “My heart started pounding, I guess. I couldn't believe it. I just wanted to spell it right and really

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ed by the parents of the student who was forced to shave off his beard.

The Sikh Federation, according to the report, said (the school’s action) had left the boy feeling depressed and embarrassed, and amounts to bullying.

Helen Szoke, the Equal Opportunity Commissioner, was contacted who said there was a need to be clear and wide consultation to take into account race and religious beliefs at schools.

The Victorian school has apologised for forcing

didn't want to get it wrong.”

Sukanya, who also speaks fluent Bengali, said that she knew the winning word 'cymotricous' immediately, which is an adjective to having wavy hair.

Besides the trophy, Sukanya took home a $30,000 cash prize, a $2,500 US savings bond, a complete reference library, a $5,000 scholarship, £2,600 in reference works and other prizes.

An eighth-grade student at Abington Heights Middle School and a three-time winner of the Times Leader NEPA Regional Spelling Bee, Sukanya appeared on television on the next day, where she revealed, “The

last two years I was here, if I got a word I didn’t know, I panicked. This time, it was kind of easier, because I recognized all of the words I got. But it has been a whole year of preparation. I would come home, do my homework, and then prepare for this. I would take breaks, but as the bees got closer, I wouldn’t take as man. But it’s not just memorization.

You also have to know the language patterns, which are really helpful with the roots of the words.”

With the finals broadcasted on US television, the competition has gained high reputation over the years and drew an audience of over one million last year.

California: A couple was jailed for life for kidnapping a schoolgirl and raping her while holding her captive for almost two decades, in a case which shocked America. Phillip Garrido, who fathered two children with Jaycee Dugard after kidnapping her in 1991 when she was 11 years old, was given 431 years, while his wife Nancy was jailed for 36 years after a plea bargain with prosecutors. Tapson filed a request asking that Nancy be allowed to see her husband one last time before they start their sentences and that she be allowed to remain the courtroom for her husband's sentencing.

24

INDIA

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

In divine light

Any quest ions writ e to m amta @thinkspalon

By Mamta Saha don.com

Psychologist

How to be strong Life can be a funny old rollercoaster, you have your highs and you have your lows, but many people are on a pursuit to stay feeling high even when everything around shouts the opposite. As a psychologist I work to build morale, self-control and happiness on a daily basis. Often I have clients that express much angst and frustration about their life circumstances.

One client in particular Sheila (name has been changed) came to me expressing a lot of annoyance and upset. It was simple, she often felt like she had no control over her life and her general happiness. She went on to express that this would start first thing in the morning when there was a bill in the post, she would then spill tea on her shirt, have to clear everyone else’s mess and then get on the train, only to see no seats and miserable faces! She frustratingly expressed that this scene was the start to most of her days and overtime this was making her feel incredibly low about herself and life.

What Sheila couldn’t see was that she was letting the external (bills, mess, no seats) impact on her internal (mood, happiness, perception) state.

From the moment she woke up she was creating a negative ’self fulfilling

prophecy’. When we see things in negative way it encourages even more negativity.

Thoughts become fixated on how ‘bad’ things are and this perception then creates your reality. Before we know it, we have created a spider web in our minds that then showers our world with shades of grey.

A technique that she started to use helped change her state of mind, she didn’t have to buy this over the counter, or order it on the internet, and actually it cost nothing! It was called the ‘thank you approach’. I tasked her to say thank you (in a full sentence) for the things she noticed from the moment she woke up – to the moment she got to work. So, instead of letting the imperfections influence her mood, she changed what she noticed and would wake up and say: thank you for my: eyes, home, family, food, public transport, clothes, beauty! And the list went on!

This created a very different feeling in Sheila, nothing had changed, the mess was still there, she was still clumsy with her tea, and she hardly got a seat on the train! But Sheila changed her perception. Instead of seeing the negative she decided to focus on the positive. She reported that her moods were bet-

ter, people actually started smiling on the train and her world felt like a brighter place.

Ultimately, life can seem like a rapid boat ride and the winds on the sea can be really strong, at points we feel like we will be blown over! Alter your sails so that you can adapt and even enjoy the adventure! This will give you lot more choice and will help develop a resilience that will carry you through any storm!

Time is running out to book your place on the one day Impact Boot Camp that I am running in London on June 25, if you email me and quote Asian Voice you will automatically qualify for a 50% discount. The course will focus on how you can get attuned to yourself, being the best – regardless of what life throws at you.

The intense one-day event will definitely help you get closer to the happiness and fulfilment you deserve. Places are filling up fast; so get in touch by e m a i l i n g mamta@thinkspalndon.c om.

If you like my articles and want to stay connected ‘like’ my facebook page: think spa London and follow Think Spa London on twitter. I send you positive energy, light and peace always, Mamta, Director, Think Spa London.

Court rejects plea against Ambani, Tata chief Ratan Tata, corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and DMK chief M Karunanidhi''s wife Dayalu Ammal, as accused

Cartoon: Jami

A Delhi court last week dismissed pleas for a direction to the CBI to make Reliance ADAG chairman Anil Ambani, Tata group

…………..We seek some black magic that will enable our son to score high in science and technology.

in the 2G spectrum scam.

Special CBI Judge O P Saini also imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 each on Delhi-based scribe M Furquan and Ghaziabad's scrap dealer Dharmender Pandey for filing complaints in this regard.

"The applications are not only devoid of any substance but are also contrary to law and deserve to be dismissed with heavy cost as application after application of this nature are being filed by third parties resulting into loss of precious time of the court.

"However, I am inclined to take a little lenient view as far as cost is concerned. Accordingly, both applications are dismissed, subject to nominal cost of Rs 10,000 each," the judge said.

The court also directed both the complainants to deposit the cost within three days, failing which warrants shall be issued against them.

By Rajen Vakil

The Travails of Damayanti Damayanti had entered a divine forest where she had met with a group of rishis after which that part of the forest vanished and she found herself in the old part.

Many times in extreme situations of suffering and pain, our thoughts calm down and we enter the intuitive mind beyond thought. At this time, we are able to tap into the intuitive and a flash of understanding may dawn on us, or we may receive some higher communication which impacts our life deeply.

After the forest vanished, Damayanti opens her eyes and sees an Asoka tree in full bloom.

The word ‘soka’ means pain and suffering and Asoka means ‘free from pain’. Damayanti’s ‘sighting of the tree’ immediately upon opening her eyes is very symbolic and from deep within her subconscious she receives a message that she too will be free of her suffering very soon. Pleading to the tree, Damayanti says, “O Asoka tree, be true to thy name, free me from this suffering of separation from my husband and reunite me with him.”

A little distance away she sees a caravan of people with elephants, horses and camels crossing the nearby river. Hopeful that they might know the whereabouts of her husband Nala, she runs to them. On seeing her approach, the reaction of the people is not what she anticipates. Many of them were frightened by her dishevelled appearance, as she is full of dirt not having bathed for many days.

Some think that she is a ghost, as she is clad in a half lion cloth and her long hair is hanging loose down to her shoulders. Some start shouting, others laugh at her eerie appearance and still others feel pity for her. Yet, her profound beauty cannot be hidden and emanates from her in a hypnotic field.

They ask her if she is a being of the underworld or a demi-god. Forlorn, she answers that she was just an ordinary human being whose husband was lost and she was desperately trying to find him.

The leader of the group, sympathizing with her plight, tells her that though they had not seen her husband, she could join them in their journey to the country of Cedi.

They are going there to sell wares and on the way they would help her find her husband. Seeing that as the best option, Damayanti joins the group.

After a few days, the caravan halts at a beautiful lake and decides to camp there.

At night a herd of wild elephants come to drink water at the lake, and seeing the group of tame elephants that are a part of the caravan they are infuriated. In their wild fury, they sweep over the sleeping group crushing and killing people, children, horses and camels.

Damayanti finds it difficult to breathe in her sleep and the commotion awakens her. Seeing the melee of destruction she immediately runs off to safety in another part of the forest.

In all our lives a time comes when we are in deep pain. In the morning the few remaining survivors, lamenting at the loss of their dear ones collected the remains of their belongings and move on.

They refuse to take Damayanti with them blaming her presence for the bad luck that befell them. As they left a group of Brahmins who were leaving took pity on her and agreed to take her to the kingdom of Chedi.

In life, whenever there comes a point of deep pain and suffering, we become undisciplined. We do not eat properly nor sleep well and tend to neglect our daily duties. Damayanti’s ghost-like appearance and the destruction faced by the caravan symbolizes her unruly and undisciplined psychological state. She joins the Brahmin group, who personify the thinking center within us. In order to restore balance and discipline in our lives, it is important to connect with the thinking centre and use it wisely.

On reaching the capital of Cedi, Damayanti is once again left alone and she begins wandering the streets again like a lost soul looking for Nala. Soon, a group of children start following her, laughing and teasing her on the way.

From the palace window, the queen mother sees Damayanti and is struck by the aura of her mesmerizing beauty which radiates

through despite her ghostlike appearance. She summons a palace guard to bring Damayanti into the palace stating that her dazzling beauty would fill the palace with light.

In the palace, the queen mother asks Damayanti, “You are full of dirt, adorn one filthy lion cloth, are not wearing any ornaments, yet your beauty is divine and captivating.

Please reveal your identity.”

A lovelorn Damayanti replies that she is just an ordinary wife, whose husband has abandoned her and that she will know no happiness till she is reunited with him.” The queen mother tells her, “For some inexplicable reason I feel a deep sense of affection for you, please stay at the palace, my men will search for your husband.”

Damayanti says, “I will stay on the conditions that I will not eat left-over food, I will not wash another person’s feet and if any man tries to talk to me he must be punished. Also, I will continue meeting Brahmins to inquire about the whereabouts of my husband.”

The queen mother agrees to all of Damayanti’s conditions and introduces her to her daughter Sunanda, and tells her that she will be her new friend and companion.

Sunanda takes an instant liking towards Damayanti.

What does the kingdom Cedi signify in our psychological space? The word means ‘to make aware’, that is, to warn us from falling into the sleep or hypnosis of life.

Gurdjieff calls this space as that of ‘work memory’. We have a memory but on the spiritual path we consciously create a new kind of memory that helps us to awaken, rather than deepening our sleep of life. For instance, we may have a habit of getting upset very easily and may desperately want to break free of this pattern. However, no matter how much we resolve not to get upset, at the next provocation, we get worked up all over again.

The pattern continues like a vicious cycle. Now, after a bout of irritation, we relive the whole episode consciously, going over it again in our minds but this time with awareness. This creates a new memory in us. So this is a time for Damayanti to go back to old wounds, heal them and bring joy in her life.

The author can be reached by emailing 3srb@live.com (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 June 2011

25

Karunanidhi blames Centre for Kanimozhi's arrest

Reflecting further strains in his party's ties with Congress, DMK chief Karunanidhi has blamed the Centre for the arrest of his daughter Kanimozhi in the 2G spectrum case.

"Kanimozhi is in Tihar jail, either it could be due to Centre's order or complacency," the DMK patriarch said in his first public meeting after the Assembly polls in his

Tiruvarur constituency.

Karunanidhi, who often turned emotional during the meeting, alleged that Kanimozhi had been arrested as the CBI had to hold someone accountable and said her mistake was his mistake of making her a shareholder in Kalaignar TV. "I compelled her to become a shareholder with a view to secure her

future," he said adding she was languishing in the jail under testing conditions.

"You know a flower kept there will wither away quickly due to the temperature there." Karunanidhi's comments come two days after he said on his birthday "...bad friendship will result in trouble."

The DMK chief''s remark was seen as a subtle message about his

Karunanidhi with his daughter Kanimozhi

being sore with his party's seven-year old ally Congress, with whom his party's ties have not been the best of late.

The strain in the DMK's alliance with the lead UPA partner had come out very clearly during seat-sharing negotiations for the April 13 Assembly polls with the Congress managing to wrest 63 seats from the DMK.

In foCus Man tries to hurl shoe at Cong leader High drama was witnessed at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in New Delhi on Monday when a person posing as a journalist tried to attack party general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi with a shoe, apparently miffed over the treatment meted out to Baba Ramdev. The person, who was carrying an identification as Sunil Kumar of Nav-Sanchar Patrika from Rajasthan, came close to Mr Dwivedi, removed his shoe and stopped short of hitting him with it.

The man was immediately caught by an AICC staffer and some journalists and was later handed over to police.

Foreigners entry to Goa temples restricted

Some of the important temples in Goa have recently laid down a strict dress code for visitors, aimed at, especially, those from the foreign countries; while one prominent temple has banned foreigners altogether.

Temple authorities say that the devotees were upset over scantily dressed tourists in beach-wear entering the temples. While some temples have put up boards saying, Entry Restricted for Foreign Tourists.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Some others have put a dress code in place. "We are not against the foreigners, but their dresses and conduct in the temple is highly objectionable, so the management has decided to ban them," said Vinod Kamat, President, Mahalasa Narayani Temple.

India to launch 12 foreign satellites in next 2 years

India has bagged multi-million dollar contracts to launch 12 foreign satellites in the lower orbit from its spaceport over the next two years, a top space agency official said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Through our commercial arm Antrix Corporation, we have received orders from Canada, Indonesia, Germany and other European countries to launch a dozen satellites in the sunsynchronous orbit during the next two years,â&#x20AC;? state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K. Radhakrishnan said. Of the 12 satellites, four are from Canada, two each from Indonesia and Germany and one from Luxembourg.

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4 IIMs set to get more autonomy The IIMs at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Indore and Kozhikode would be among the first four to have amended Memoranda of Association that would make them fully autonomous in all respects from appointment of directors to setting up of campuses and making salary flexible. The HRD ministry has referred the amended MoAs of the four IIMs to the law ministry for vetting. HRD has also sought the views of the finance ministry. The approved MoAs would then be adopted by the board of governors of the IIMs ushering in the change.

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Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

Civil rights activists unhappy with Sibal’s comments In foCuS Civil rights activist Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday targeted human resource development minister Kapil Sibal, saying it seems the Congress leader does not want the civil society representatives to attend the drafting committee meetings for a strong Lokpal Bill. "He (Sibal) is putting words in our mouth and it seems he wants us to say that we won't be attending future meetings," Kejriwal told reporters when asked about Sibal's comments

Arvind Kejriwal

that it's fine if they come or don't come for the meetings. "We won't let you off so easily," he warned.

The civil rights activists, headed by social activist Anna Hazare, had boycotted the Lokpal Bill drafting committee meeting on Monday to protest the post-midnight crackdown on Saturday on yoga guru Baba Ramdev and his supporters.

"We had yesterday (Monday) written to (finance minister and

committee co-chair) Pranab Mukherjee that we won't be present at the meeting and also urged him to postpone the next meeting after June 10 as Anna Hazare cannot make it. So, it's clear that we are going for the next meeting," Kejriwal told reporters here.

Sibal had said that the government will prepare the legislation for introducing in parliament's monsoon session despite their absence.

intentions. Ministers went on to say that Ramdev raised important issues which impact on the future of our country.

They are significant national issues. They are limited to one or two issues. There were broad range of issues. We prima facie responded to them,” Sibal said after the meeting adding that the government will not only think seriously but also move forward.

Later in the day, Ramdev, while addressing media persons at the venue of his fast, Ramlila grounds demanded legislation and not written assurances. Resonating a similar demand as Anna Hazare in his public agitation for Lokpal Bill, Ramdev said the “government will have to issue an ordinance to bring black

money back and pass the Bill in the upcoming session of Parliament”. While there were thousands who continued to flock behind the yoga guru he had detractors as well who were not convinced of his moves and Bollywood too was no exception. Salman Khan is known for his straight forwardness.

During a recent event, when asked about Baba, Salman humorously said that he knows only three Babas and not any Ramdev Baba. "I know my Baba (father), there is Bollywood's Baba Sanju Baba and then our own Sai Baba," Sallu said. And then there was Shankaracharya Swarupanand Saraswati said he should first clean up his own house as he has a Rs 110 billion empire.

From red carpet to midnight arrest

Continued from page 1 We are doing satyagraha to wake this government. If they don't wake up then there will be protest.. there will be huge protests in the whole country," he said.

After his arrest from Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi Baba Ramdev resumed his agitation against corruption in Haridwar on Monday.

Earlier with talks breaking down, police swooped down on Baba a little past midnight and detained him after firing tear gas shells and resorting to lathicharge on his supporters to end his dayold indefinite hunger strike at Ramlila Maidan.

The midnight arrest drew flak for the government and all political parties in unison came down heavily on the government

on what it termed as a cowardly act on behalf of the government despite Prime Minister Manmohan Singh defending it saying the police action at Delhi's Ramlila ground, was unfortunate but there was no alternative.

"The Prime Minister's logic does not hold. His explanation is not convincing," said CPI (M) politburo member Brinda Karat. The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party said, “The Prime Minister's defence of police action at Ramlila ground is bizarre and accused the Congressled UPA Government at the Centre of indulging in mass torture at Ramila ground.

Despite requests and parleys with senior ministers like the Pranab Mukherjee and Kapil, it failed to deter Baba’s

Sankara Eye Centre motivates doctors to pursue a mission for vision

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The Sankaracharyas of Kanchi blessed, inspired and motivated 10 young doctors in their mid and late 20s to join hands with 10 volunteers to form Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Medical Centre headed by Dr. R.V. Ramani and Dr. Mrs. Radha Ramani 34 years ago.

To begin with, it was a primary health care programme for the common man. The facilities included a clinical lab, an immunization wing, an X-Ray wing and surgical wing at Rao Hospital and this centre grew steadily with the help of like minded organisations and individuals.

Nine such medical centres were started in a radius of 40 km in and around Coimbatore. In the year 1985, the team felt that they should take up a speciality and decided on eye care. On a 5.26 acres of gifted land on Sathy Road, donated by Sri.N.Nataraj & family and with the support of other family friends Sankara Eye Centre was established. Today it is a 500 bed state of the art Eye Care Institution providing comprehensive eye care to all sections of the society.

In the year 1998, Sankara Eye Foundation,

was established in USA. Working hard with the support of volunteers at present SEF USA supports the establishment of new Sankara Eye Hospitals and their functioning. In 2005 Sankara Eye Foundation, Europe was established in London with similar objective of supporting the Sankara Eye Care Movement in India.

During the Silver Jubilee Year, an ambitious programme was launched, - “ Va n d e m a t h a r a m Bharath Vision” with the goal of achieving “Vision 20/20 by the year 2020” by replicating a Sankara Eye Hospital in every state of India. Presently there are 8 Hospitals in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Union Territory of Dadar and Nagar Haveli and Uttarkhand and the ninth Hospital is nearing completion at Ludhina in Punjab. Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh are the states which have been short listed for the next replication.

To know more about the functioning and to contribute visit Sankara Eye Foundation Europe’s website – www.giftofvision.org.uk

Denied permission at Jantar Mantar, Hazare to fast at Rajghat With Delhi Police refusing permission for day-long hunger strike at Jantar Mantar, Civil rights activist Anna Hazare on Tuesday decided to shift the venue to Rajghat to avoid confrontation. The announcement was made by his associates Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan and Kiran Bedi, while contending the denial permission to hold peaceful protest was against the basic Constitutional rights of citizens. Hazare and others will launch the day-long hunger strike to protest the crackdown against Ramdev's congregation against corruption at Ramlila Maidan on Saturday night. The Hazare-led protest will be held in the vicinity of Rajghat from 10 am on Wednesday and will be accompanied by fast, an all-religion prayer meeting and a debate on Lokpal Bill.

Manmohan asks Ministers to declare assets Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked Ministers to declare their assets as also those of their spouses and dependents along with any business interests, as per the annual exercise. The Ministers have been asked to furnish the details by August 31 in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Ministers. “I have been directed by the Prime Minister to apprise you of the declarations required to be made by a member of the Union Council of Ministers in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Ministers...,” Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar has said in a June 2 letter to Ministers.

Maran, Raja to be summoned by 2G committee

Dayanidhi Maran and A Raja, who have both served as Telecom Minister, will depose for the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) that's investigating the 2G scam. A total of 85 witnesses are to be summoned.

They will include representatives of top industrialists and BJP members like Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha who handled telecom policy during the NDA regime. The committee that combines representatives of different political parties is examining the alleged nexus between Corporate India and politicians which birthed India's largest-ever swindle.

Monsoon claims 23 lives in Kerala Heavy rains lashing many parts of Kerala have claimed 23 lives since the onset of south-west monsoon on May 27, besides causing large-scale loss to crop and property, officials said. Most casualties, mainly due to drowning in swelling rivers and flash floods, were reported from Alappuzha and Kottayam districts. As per preliminary report, 55 houses have been damaged in rain related incidents. Crop loss in the state, mainly in Kuttanand, was estimated to be Rs.55.3 million. Crops in 544 hectares were now under water, the officials said.

Uma Bharti re-inducted into BJP Veteran politician Uma Bharti, 52, on Tuesday rejoined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), nearly six years after being expelled for defying the party leadership. The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister's re-induction in the party was announced by party president Nitin Gadkari. She will look after the party's affairs in Uttar Pradesh, which goes to polls next year.

Buddha museum coming up The life and teachings of Lord Buddha will soon be immortalized in a museum-cum-research centre solely dedicated to the seer and founder of Buddhism in Greater Noida. In its board meeting earlier last month, the Authority approved the construction of a state-ofthe-art Buddhist Museum and Research Centre spread over 25 acres of land within the Gautam Budh University campus.

Tenzin Yangkyi from Switzerland crowned Miss Tibet

Tenzin Yangkyi, a 19-year-old high-school student from the exiled Tibetan community in Switzerland, has been crowned the new Miss Tibet. The youngest participant among the six, Yangkyi won the title on Sunday night in a glittering finale at the Auditorium of Tibetan Institute of Performing arts in Dharamsala. Ngodup Dolma, a 25-year-old Tibetan nurse from Australia, was declared the first runners up and another 25-yearold, Dolma Tsering, a computer engineer from Infosys was adjudged the third runners up. Yangkyi, who speaks Tibetan, German, and English fluently, said that she wants to draw the attention of the international community towards her embattled home.

Govt clears defence deal with US Sulking ever since its jets got ejected from the race to supply 126 fighters to IAF, the US now has reason to cheer. India has formally cleared the biggest-ever IndoUS defence deal, the $4.1 billion contract for 10 C-17 Globemaster-III giant strategic airlift aircraft.

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

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Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

This week on CB Live, Kokila Patel, Managing Editor, Gujarat Samachar will interview 17-year-old, Namishka Doshi prior to her event 'Aid of National Kidney Foundation' on 8th July. Shilpa and Jhilpa Patel will also discuss the type of relationship that needs to be established between the youth and the elderly of the society.

Sneh Joshi - 020 8518 5500 Whether you’re single or attached you’ll have to go through a lot, as deep psychological transformations are taking place in all types of relationships.

Don’t be afraid to experiment, trust your hunches, go with your gut feeling. Solutions to minor problems should be considered very carefully.

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20

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 Coming Events

WEST IS WEST is set to launch on

DVD

and Blu-ray on 20 June.

l Friday, 10th June, 19.30 onwards: 'Institutional Pillars of Indian Democracy' with Dr Abhishek Sanghvi and Rt Hon Carwyn Jones at Reardon Smith Lecture Theatre, national Museum of Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF103NP. Contact: 079 7474 7901 l Sunday, 12th June, 12:00 (Hyde Park Corner) 14.30 (Trafalgar Square) -17.30: Rath Yatra celebrations at Hyde Park Corner to Trafalgar Square.

Contact: 020 7437 3662 l Saturday, 18th June: Gathering for 65+ arranged by Lunch Club of Leicester and Shree Matiya Patidar Samaj at St Chads Church, Coleman Road, Leicester, LE5 4LH. Contact: 0116 2835080 l Sunday, 19th June, 12.00 - 17.00: family gathering arranged by Shree Khadsupa Kachhol Parivar (UK) at St Chads Church, Coleman Road, Leicester, LE5 4LH. Contact: 0116 2835080 l Saturday, 11 June, 18:00 onwards: Celebrating Assam @ The Nehru Centre, 8 South Audley Street, London, W1K 1HF, Contact: 020 7491 3567 l Sunday, 12 June, 15:00 onwards: Hindi ka Bhavishya, Bhavishya ki Hindi @ The Nehru Centre, 8 South Audley Street, London, W1K 1HF, Contact: 020 7491 3567

To celebrate the release, Asian Voice are giving two lucky readers a chance to win the DVD. To enter, send your answer to the following question, along with your full name, postal address and phone number to aveditorial@abplgroup.com

by Monday, 13th June.

What is the name of the actor who plays Sajid in West is West? (a) Amir Khan - (b) Aqib Khan - (c) Ayub Khan

Funeral notice: Our beloved mother, Pujya Kamalaben Muljibhai Amin of Sokhada passed away peacefully on Saturday, 4th June 2011. Funeral will be held on Thursday, 9th June at North East Surrey Crematorium, lower Morden, Surrey, SM4 4NN at 4 pm. May God give her eternal peace.

Contact Shantibhai: 0208 393 4272

Amazing predictions

Sneh Joshi, the UK’s leading Vedic astrologer, writer and TV personality can answer questions on:

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Health Problems Investments Married Life Marriage Compatibility Love Affairs Court Cases Any other problems

Call 020 8518 5500 &

face your future with confidence!

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TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 You know you’ve got no choice but to streamline and reassess your priorities before haphazardly saying yes to everything that smells like a potential opportunity. Try to create a balance between expansion and conservation.

Jupiter in your sign makes you feel invincible, base your decisions on facts.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 Anything or anyone that drains your time and energy should be re-evaluated. It’s time to use that creative imagination of yours to create grandeur in your life. Don't get too carried away and lose sight of little things that mean a lot to you. There are a lot of opportunities around you.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22

It’s all about communications, as they take centre stage this week.

Regarding love there will be a struggle between devotion and freedom. You need to feel completely consumed by the passion of your lover, and yet you need personal space to explore your own thing.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23 At work sometimes a little upheaval and chaos is exactly what you need to set things right again. There’s no need to be complacent: the time is now. Unpredictable energies continue to influence your health sector, bringing erratic highs and lows. The key for you as always is to remain calm and collected.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23 If you are your own boss, then you can look forward to a fairly good week. You may find the next seven days a little frustrating, because this is a week where you will need personal space. You may be absorbing new ideas about how to create financial independence, others may not understand, so be careful.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23 Relationships are likely to widen your horizons, but exercise caution, because some opportunities won't prove quite as amazing as they first seem. Saturn in Libra, will help you organize your priorities .People entering your life now will encourage you to move beyond your established boundaries of safety.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22

It’s all about communications, as they take centre stage this week.

Regarding love there will be a struggle between devotion and freedom. You need to feel completely consumed by the passion of your lover, and yet you need personal space to explore your own thing.

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21 This is a good time to appreciate what you have already created in your life. Of course, there are still challenging issues on both a personal and practical level. To get here you may have overcome obstacles by making important decision and choices that set the direction of your life.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20 Work is going to play a great part for some of you, who are widening their horizons. An important time to build too, as Saturn can be very severe and cold especially regarding relationships. Regardless of the limits, you have the capacity to turn the course of your life in a more fulfilling direction.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19 If your ambitions have been undefined, don't worry as from now on, you understand exactly what kind of impact you need to make on the world. All those little details should run perfectly, without you constantly worrying. That means you can focus on matters that are important to you. Healthwise you will be feeling fit.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20

Responsibility is your key word, especially at work. Set your own goals, rather than trying to meet those set by someone else. Your ability to manage what you have on your plate earns respect from others around you. You will benefit in every way if you learn to self-discipline and pace yourself wisely.

HealtH Watch

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

Cumin, a rich source of phenolic antioxidants

Indian researchers have found that cumin, the bitter spice used as a key ingredient in curries, contains high levels of antioxidants. Cumin, which is extensively used in traditional medicine to treat a range of diseases from vitiligo to hyperglycemia, is also considered to be antiparasitic and antimicrobial and science has backed up claims of its use to reduce fever or as a painkiller.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS), also known as free radicals, are produced as part of the metabolic processes necessary for life.

Oxidative stress, however, is caused by overproduction or under-removal of these free radicals.

Oxidative stress is itself involved in a number of disorders, including atherosclerosis, neural degenerative disease, inflammation, cancer and ageing.

Antioxidants are thought to mop up these free radicals, reduce oxidative stress, and prevent disease.

Phenolic compounds from plants, especially polyphenolic compounds, are often considered to be antioxidants.

Researchers from Mysore have used biochemical and biological techniques to show that seeds from bitter cumin ( C e n t r a t h e r u m anthelminticum (L.) Kuntze), a member of the daisy family, are a rich source of phenolic antioxidants.

"Bitter cumin extracts were strong antioxidants in the free radical scavenging systems tested. The extracts were also strong electron donors and hence reducing agents, another marker of antioxidation," said the researchers from the Central Food Technological Research Institute.

"In biological tests, bitter cumin inhibited the oxidation of liposomes (used as a model for cell membrane oxidation) and offered complete protection against DNA damage," they said.

Diet, not exercising, is key to losing weight children walking to school and a rise in TV watching do not necessarily equate to weight gain, according to the study.

For example, children driven to school have more time to spend running around in the playground while evening TV watching has replaced other sedentary activities such as reading and listening to the radio.

Speakman said: "In the 1950s, no one would have bought an exercise bike and sat on it in their garage but now people will do that."

However, the researcher stressed that physical activity is good for the body in other ways and should be part of a "healthy, balanced lifestyle."

Exercising is not the best way to lose weight because our activity levels are the same as they were 20 years ago. Rather a balanced diet is instrumental in shedding that flab, says a study. John Speakman of Aberdeen University in Britain ascribes the growing obesity problem to people eating too much,

not a lack of exercise.

Working with a Dutch colleague, Speakman analysed two decades of studies on energy expenditure. The data showed that despite greater reliance on time-saving technology, people today are not any less active than those of 20 years ago. Factors such as decline in the number of

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Moderate consumption of beer everyday is good for the health and can reduce the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and can help people lose weight if combined with a healthy diet, doctors say.

Doctors Ramon Estruch and Rosa Lamuela tested 1,249 men and women over 57 years old.

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started. Old favourites such as ‘I spy’ are great in teaching your children to observe their environment and also slowly teach them how to spell.

Through play, children explore the ‘art of the possible’ and learn their boundaries. They can interact with others and learn how to share and build effective relationships with others. As they grow older, they start to value team-work and these social skills can prove to be invaluable in their future. Self-confidence is a key attribute that children need as they grow older and you as parents can do a lot to stimulate development.

As your children get older, they will learn to play games ‘with rules’ and start to appreciate why rules exist in normal life to provide a framework for people to conduct themselves. For now, let them explore playtime where the only rules are to play safely and have fun!

Quote: “There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million” - Walt Streightiff

Moderate consumption of beer good for health

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stimulation that the older child brings them.

However, if you have the one child, it is often up to you to find creative ways to enhance your childs world with play that develops a positive attitude towards learning.

So, try creative games such as asking your child to remember three things and repeat them back to you in the same order as you stated them. Story books and simple structures made from a lego set can also be a great platform to unleash their creative minds.

Children of all ages like making shapes with play dough. Host a competition where your children try to make something out of play dough and then judge which one is better by adding a commentary to help them understand how you evaluated the winning piece.

This will allow them to relate to your logic and help them to understand the art of decision-making. If you travel long distances with your child, try asking them to shout when they see a ‘red car’ or sing the next verse of their favourite nursery rhyme after you get them

Should you have any comments or want to get in touch with me you can email on avmamaria@gmail.com

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Two can play that game

Did you make the time to play games with your children during the recent half term holiday? If so, did you marvel at their creativity and enthusiasm for new games that allow them to explore the world in new ways? If not, try something new with them over the weekend.

Research proves that children learn through play and constructive play is vital to your childs intellectual, emotional, social and physical development.

A child that enjoys learning through play will excel academically if they link the experience of learning with having fun. So, if you have an infant or toddler, stimulate your child’s world with new ideas to have fun.

Babies explore their world through their senses. So if you are parents to a young baby, have fun with your baby by chopping up different foods and enjoy the faces they pull as they taste various tastes and textures. If you have a toddler, games such as peek-a-boo and hide and seek can provide hours of entertainment.

At pre-school age, you may well have a younger child who will enjoy the

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Those who accompanied a Mediterranean diet with up to a pint of beer 'not only did not put on weight, but in some cases even lost weight'.

The doctors found beer provides the same health benefits attributed to moderate consumption of wine. "In this study we banish myths. We know that beer is not to blame for obesity," Dr Lamuela

was quoted as saying.

Beer contains folic acid, vitamins, iron and calcium, which the study claims provide a 'protective' effect on the cardiovascular system.

The subjects who regularly drank moderate amounts of beer were less likely to suffer from diabetes and high blood pressure, and had a lower body fat content.

The researchers from Barcelona and Madrid suggested women should drink two small glasses of beer a day while men should drink three, combined with a healthy diet and exercise.

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Sport Player of the year award for Trott

Jonathan Trott's run-scoring feats during the past 12 months were recognised when he was named England's cricketer of the year by the England and Wales Cricket Board ( ECB) at a ceremony at Lord's last week. The award, voted for by the British cricket media, is given to the player who has had the greatest impact upon England's performances from the start of the 2010 international season until the end of the World Cup. In that time the South Africaborn Trott played 32 times for England, scoring 2,246 runs at an average of 68.06. This included seven hundreds and a highest score of 226, against Bangladesh in a Test at Lord's last year.

De Villiers named South Africa ODI, T20 captain Prolific batsman AB de Villiers was on Monday named South Africa's ODI and Twenty20 skipper while Graeme Smith was retained as Test captain. De Villiers will also be Smith's deputy in Test while Hashim Amla will be the ODI and Twenty20 vice-captain.

"De Villiers and Amla have been part of new tier of leadership that has been built up in Proteas' squad for some time now under the guidance of Graeme Smith," said CSA chief executive officer Gerald Majola at a press conference. Smith had stood down as ODI captain following South Africa's World Cup debacle in March. "I am obviously very excited, ready to learn. I am really looking forward to this whole challenge. I will work closely with Hashim and the coach, I have been through ups and downs and I am ready to take on anything," de Villiers said.

Indians begin on right note

S Badrinath, as he has done across formats in Indian domestic cricket

India’s young batting line-up fired on all cylinders against West Indians in Port-of-Spain and won the T20 match in their tour opener. The hosts lost by 16 runs chasing India’s 160.

West Indies won the toss and elected to field first, anticipating some rain. India, in turn, paid for not getting lucky with the coin and lost early wickets that brought the hosts into the game.

Sammy's team dominated the first 15 overs of the game when the captain plucked three quick wickets with his medium pace to leave India tottering at 58 for four. Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina fell cheaply and the pressure was on Parthiv Patel and India’s lower middle order to stem the rot. It was then S Badrinath walked in to save India the blushes. Given Badri’s style of play, it is easy to associate him with a longer format. Yet, the way he’s proved everybody wrong with strong performances in the recent Indian Premier League, landed him with a spot in India’s only Twenty20 game here in the West Indies and he made the most of it. Badrinath’s 43 from 37 balls earned him the man of the match.

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

Sri Lanka dig in to secure a draw

Sri Lanka reached 127-3 from 43 overs on Tuesday to draw the second test against England and avoid a repeat of last week's humiliating defeat.

Set 343 off 58 overs when England declared its second innings on 335-7 after lunch, Sri Lanka never attempted to chase a target that was near impossible with captain Tillakaratne Dilshan able to bat only in an emergency because of a broken thumb.

Sri Lanka resumed the final session at Lord's on 32-1 but took few risks and comfortably survived the loss of Mahela Jayawardene for 25 and opener Tharanga Paranavitana for 44.

England won the first test after a similar declaration, putting the tourists in for 50 overs in Cardiff and bowling them out for 82 for an innings victory.

Alastair Cook's 18th test century for England and the early loss of standin opener Kumar Sangakkara - out for 12 when he miscued a cut off Chris Tremlett to Eoin Morgan at cover point - had left Sri Lanka facing a nervous final session with 45 overs remaining.

But an unadventurous run rate of 2.95 per over used up plenty of time, with Mahela Jayawardene taking 71 balls for his 25 before falling when he drove at a wide delivery from Stuart Broad to Kevin Pietersen at fourth slip.

England had hope of another memorable win when an inswinger from part-time bowler Jonathan Trott trapped Paranavitana lbw, reducing Sri Lanka to 96-3.

But Thilan Samaraweera finished 17 not out after successfully reviewing an lbw decision on 4 - Billy Doctrove giving him out not offering a shot to a ball that pitched well outside off stump

Jonathan Trott celebrates a wicket at Lord's

- and Prasanna Jayawardene inched his way to 12 with 15 overs remaining at the close.

Sri Lanka now needs to win the June 16-20 third test at The Rose Bowl to salvage the series, but it is likely to be without Dilshan.

Dilshan did not field or open the batting on Tuesday after the thumb on his bottom hand was struck twice by Chris Tremlett during his first-innings 193. He was hit when on 55 on Saturday and set a test career best the following day before Tremlett struck him again, bending his already taped

thumb back toward the wrist.

Dilshan batted on but added only one more run before falling for by far the highest score in Sri Lanka's firstinnings 479 all out.

With Sangakkara now averaging 26.60 in eight innings in England, Dilshan's injury could rob Sri Lanka of much of its batting prowess.

Brief score: England 486 (Prior 126, Cook 96, Morgan 79) and 335 for 7 dec (Cook 106, Pietersen 72, Trott 58 Bell 57*) drew with Sri Lanka 479 (Dilshan 193, Finn 4-108) and 127 for 3 (Paranavitana 44)

India beat West Indies in the first ODI Rohit Sharma helped India beat West Indies by four wickets in the first ODI at Port of Spain on Monday. At the Queen's Park Oval here on Monday, the elegant right-hander also displayed a commodity that has often been missing from his batsmanship – Temperament.

Rohit held centre-stage with a well-compiled unbeaten 68 as India, pursuing 215, defeated the West Indies by four wickets in the first ODI. Suresh Raina's men lead the five-match series 1-0.

The surface was sluggish and batting demanded application. Rohit was not found wanting.

Opener Shikhar Dhawan (51) and Raina (43), both left-handers, also donned crucial roles as India nailed the chase.

The West Indies could have put India under greater stress in the end overs had Anthony Martin held on to a return catch off Yusuf Pathan with the score at 189 for five. Martin, a steady legspinner who does not turn the ball much, buried his head in anguish. The opportunity had appeared and disappeared in a flash.

By the time Yusuf offered another return catch – paceman Ravi Rampaul made no mistake by pouching a low, hard drive – the contest was

Rohit Sharma was scratchy to start with, but stuck it out in a crucial 43-run stand with Dhawan

all but over.

Soon, Harbhajan Singh put a full stop to the match by swinging West Indian captain Darren Sammy beyond the square-leg fence.

Rohit was around when India went past the finishing line. From a mental perspective, the innings here was critical for the batsman. This was an innings where he applied himself, relying on singles and twos. When

India required to up the tempo in the final stretch, Rohit put his foot on the accelerator.

Rohit and Raina joined forces when India was in trouble at 104 for four in the 26th over. The duo swung the game in India's favour.

Skipper Raina was circumspect, working the ball around, preserving his wicket and building a partnership with Rohit. This was smart cricket. Along the way, he

also provided glimpses of his shot-making ability.

India was jolted early on the chase when Dwanye Bravo swooped on the ball at mid-on and released the ball quickly to 'keeper Carlton Baugh to catch Parthiv Patel short of the crease at the striker's end.

Not much later, Virat Kohli chased a short, wide one from Rampaul for Baugh to snaffle up the edge. The Indians were under pressure.

SpOrt WorLd

Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011

Nadal wins French Open, Chinese Li Na lifts women’s crown

Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal won a 10th Grand Slam crown and equalled Bjorn Borg's record of six French Open titles when he defeated Roger Federer 7-5, 7-6 (7/3), 5-7, 6-1 on Sunday in the rivals' latest epic duel.

Meanwhile, Li Na of China made sporting history on Saturday when she became the first player from China to win a Grand Slam singles title.

Top seed Nadal, who was also champion in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010, took his overall Paris record to 45 wins against just one defeat and victory also meant he hangs on to his

world number one spot.

It was the 25-year-old Spaniard's 17th win over Federer in 25 meetings and fourth in a Roland Garros final.

But unlike the pair's 2008 clash, when Federer managed to win just four games in the most one-sided final in 30 years, Nadal was made to work harder for his sixth Paris title.

He had to come from 2-5 in the opener, saving a set point, and then squandered a 4-2 lead in the third as 29-year-old Federer, the 2009 champion and bidding for a 17th Grand Slam title, threatened to launch a stunning comeback.

In the end, he was undone by a combination of Nadal's clay court prowess and his own 56 unforced errors.

First Asian The 29-year-old Li Na from Wuhan defeated defending champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-4, 7-6 (7/0) to take her place in the pantheon of Chinese sports stars. Li clinched the watershed win with a superb 7-0 tiebreak performance in the second set, falling onto her back in the red dirt when Schiavone hit long on match point.

It was a thrilling display of shot-

Sania-Elena lose women's doubles final

Elena Vesnina and Sania Mirza

Sania Mirza missed out on winning her second Grand Slam title as she and her partner Elena Vesnina lost the French Open women's doubles final to unseeded Czech pair of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka on Friday.

Unforced errors cost the seventh seed IndoRussian pair dearly as

they lost the summit clash 4-6 3-6 in one hour and 21 minutes at Court Suzanne Lenglen in Paris.

It was a good opportunity for Sania to add a women's doubles title to her already Australian Open mixed doubles trophy, which she won along with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi in 2009 but it turned to be

an off day for the Indian and her partner Vesnina.

Nevertheless, Sania did create a history of sorts by becoming first Indian female tennis player to reach the women's doubles final.

Vesnina struggled with her first serve throughout and Sania's feeble shots at the net only helped the cause of the Czech pair.

Even the Czech players, especially Andrea, struggled with the first serve in windy conditions but the IndoRussian pair committed more unforced errors.

A strong show by Lucie turned out to be the real difference between the two teams as she did not drop her serve even once and had good control over her strokes.

Li Na

making from the Chinese player who has said she hopes that by winning a Grand Slam title she will act as a catalyst for the growth of tennis in her giant homeland. For 30-year-old Schiavone it was a bitter pill to swallow one year after she upset the odds to become Italy's first and so far only Grand Slam women's champion.

"I was 4-2 up and she tried to come back, but I just had to stand up again and I made it. I think everyone in China will be so excited," said Li, who has been a pioneer for the sport in her country throughout her career.

Anand wins Leon Masters for 8th time

World champion Viswanathan Anand completed a comprehensive 4.5-1.5 victory over Spain’s Alexei Shirov to claim the Leon Masters rapid chess title for the eighth time at Leon, on Sunday.

In the six games, spread over three days, Anand won a game and drew the other on each day to stamp his superiority. Each player had 45 minutes per game plus 30 seconds increment for each move made. On Sunday, with Anand needing just a draw to seal the title, both games were fought well.

Anand won the fifth game in 41 moves to take the winning lead.

London mayor fails to get Olympic tickets Mayor Boris Johnson said he would keep trying to get tickets for the 2012 London Olympics after revealing that he had been unlucky in the first round of applications despite applying for several tickets.

Speaking at an event to mark the completion of the "gateway" station at Stratford, east London, Johnson said he would try by "hook or by crook" to get tickets for himself and his family.

"Obviously, it makes me even keener to get re-elected and get there," Johnson said.

"I, like everybody else, am going to have another crack at it in July and if I fail then I am going to have

another go in November."

People applying for tickets should have had the money drawn from their bank accounts by May 31, though they will not officially be told if they have been successful until June 24.

Seb Coe, chairman of the

London organising committee (LOCOG), said he realised some people would be "bitterly disappointed" but defended the system as the fairest available.

Another possible unlucky applicant was transport secretary Philip Hammond, who said London had moved in less than 10 years from being one of the "laggards in international public transport connectivity to one of the world's leaders".

Ranking points Meanwhile, ranking points will be awarded at the London Olympics tennis tournament to ensure the highest number of top players take part in an event

sandwiched into a crowded schedule.

It will be the fourth successive Olympics that points will be given, the International Tennis Federation and the ATP said in a joint statement.

As a result of the agreement, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will allow nations to receive up to four entries into the men's singles and two entries into the men's doubles, with a maximum number of six men per country on-site. The remainder of the places will be awarded on a geographical and invitational basis.

The women's singles event will also offer ranking points.

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Saina Nehwal suffers minor mishap Saina Nehwal’s hopes of repeating last year’s title hat-trick feat suffered a minor setback after she hurt herself in a treadmill accident last week. The Indian ace, who last June stunned the badminton world by winning three titles in a row - Indian Open Grand Prix, Singapore Super Series and Indonesia Super Series - on Saturday embarked on an East Asian tour with bruised knees.

Though the Indian Open doesn’t figure in the schedule, the 21-year-old would still play three tournaments this month - Thailand Open Grand Prix, Singapore Super Series and Indonesia Super Series. After returning from practice, the world No 4 was undergoing a treadmill session when she tripped and fell. Physio Kiran rushed to the spot and gave her first aid. Saina and Kiran insisted that the injuries may not affect her performance but what could trouble her are the big bruises near the patella (knee cap) on both the legs. “I don’t think this injury would affect me much,” said Saina, who is finding it difficult to fold her legs.

Messi to play in Kolkata in September Lionel Messi and mates in the colours of Argentina will clash with fellow South Americans Venezuela at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on September 2 in a FIFAsanctioned friendly, and the Rs 1,000 is the lowest denomination ticket for an event that is sure to cause a stampede in the football-mad city. That Messi and Argentina - and yes, Venezuela too - will indeed be playing in the city was confirmed on Monday by Celebrity Management Group (CMG), the exclusive licensee of the match.

Ending doubts over Messi's Kolkata trip, CMG insisted that according to their contract with the Argentina Football Association, Manchester City star Carlos Tevez will also be accompanying the side, which is likely to be led by Messi's Barcelona teammate Javier Mascherano.

Blatter re-elected FIFA president Sepp Blatter was re-elected unopposed as FIFA president last week, promising to use his final four-year term for radical reform of a sport reeling from bribery and corruption allegations.

Delegates gave Blatter overwhelming backing to reform soccer's governing body from within, rejecting a call from England to delay the election and then giving the Swiss 186 of the 203 votes cast. "We will put the ship back on course in clear transparent waters," the 75-year-old Blatter told delegates.

Gayle is WIPA 'Cricketer of the Year' Explosive batsman Chris Gayle, who did not find favour with the West Indies selectors, was the toast of the annual Players Association awards, walking away with the 'Cricketer of the Year' trophy along with one another honour.

Gayle, who has been shunted out of the team after he accused the West Indies Cricket Board of leaving him in a lurch during recent injury problems, was named the 2010 West Indies Players Association (WIPA) Cricketer of the Year. Gayle, who top-scored in the IPL last month with a staggering 608 runs in 12 innings, edged out Shivnarine Chanderpaul, current West Indies captain Darren Sammy and energetic all-rounder Dwayne Bravo for the top award. The 31-year-old opener has been reduced to a mere spectator in the ongoing tour by the Indian team after being ignored for the lone T20 and the first two ODIs of the series.

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Asian Voice - Saturday 11th June 2011