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VOL 40. ISSUE 2

SC stays ‘strange’ Ayodhya verdict The Supreme Court of India on Monday stayed the Allahabad High Court verdict that directed division of 2.77 acres of land of the disputed Ram JanmabhoomiBabri Masjid site in Ayodhya into three parts among Hindus, Muslims and the Nirmohi Akhada.

A Bench of Justices Aftab Alam and R.M. Lodha, admitting a batch of appeals from both Hindu and Muslim organisations, stayed the September 30, 2010 judgment of the Lucknow Bench of the High Court and directed the parties to maintain the status quo at the site.

Continued on page 26

VOICE 80p

Gilani absolves ISI of Qaida links

Dawood Ibrahim not living in Karachi: Rehman Malik Pakistan prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Monday rejected allegations that the ISI had a hand in hiding al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden and described the spy agency as a "national asset''.

Gilani's defence of ISI came a week after US Navy Seals killed bin Laden in Abbottabad amid mounting pressure on Islamabad to explain whether ISI had helped the terror mastermind to hide next to a military academy. The country's all-powerful military establishment has perhaps for the first time been

Yousaf Raza Gilani

derided at home for not being able to detect the US soldiers until they had left.

"Allegations of complicity or incompetence are absurd.

It is disingenuous for anyone to accuse Pakistan including

its spy agency of being in cahoots with al-Qaida," Gilani told parliament in his first such address. He said Pakistan has confidence in its military, intelligence services and denied any differences among state institutions.

"Army and the ISI are on same page. All state institutions are in complete harmony," he said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan interior minister Rehman Malik has strongly refuted allegations that India’s most wanted man Dawood Ibrahim is still living in Karachi.

Continued on page 26

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UK’s deepest pockets Kartik.S.Raval 1000 richest British millionaires were named in The Sunday Times Rich List 2011. The collective wealth of these 1000 multimillionaires is approximately £395.8 billion; £60.2 billion more than in 2010 and just £17.2 billion less than the all time pre-recession high set in 2008.

The richest, richer and the donator: (L to R) Lakshmi Mittal, Hinduja brothers and Anurag Dixit

Indian steel tycoon, Lakshmi Mittal emerged as the wealthiest British billionaire for the seventh year in a row with his present fortune of £17.5 billion.

However, he is also on the top in this year's biggest fallers as he accounted a fall in

wealth of more than £4.9 billion. Mittal is followed by his steel rival Alisher Usmanov, whose 164 percent rise in wealth ranks him second as compared to sixth last year, taking his total fortune to £12.4 billion.

Continued on page 9

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Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

one to one

ensuring that I help others along the way.

What is the best thing about your current role?

Keith Vaz MP with

Vijay Parikh is a partner and Head of the Commercial Property Investment department at Harold Benjamin Solicitors based in Harrow.

Vijay is a specialist in commercial property with particular expertise in investments, acquisitions and disposals and is commonly involved in multimillion pound transactions.

Vijay is well-known and highly regarded within property circles. He has strong connections with Asian businesses, property companies and high net worth individuals. His clients are based all over the world including east Africa, South Africa, India and the Middle East.

Vijay has the ability to to find creative solutions to problems which arise to ensure that his clients are able to progress deals quickly and to their ultimate satisfaction. He delivers advice based on his clients’ wider legal and commercial needs and many of his clients regard him as a valued and trusted advisor at many levels. His clients value his ability to communicate clearly and to get to the nub of a problem quickly and effectively.

Vijay has over 10 years experience in the legal sector and quickly progressed to partnership within 2 years of qualification. He recently moved his entire team, clients and business to Harold Benjamin Solicitors, a 53 year old commercial law firm based in Harrow, launching the specialist Commercial Property Investment department. He developed distribution of legal documentation via the internet many years ago and has spent a vast amount of time in India establishing connections with business and lawyers and successfully winning business from the competitive market there.

Vijay is a true entrepreneur and commercially minded and it is this flair that he brings to the legal advice given to his clients.

What inspired you to enter the legal profession?

I studied Law at college which gave me a great flavour of how the subject touches every part of our lives. I soon realised that I not only enjoyed the subject but could relate to how it applied on many levels. Being a lawyer your skills are tested in a variety of ways. It demands a high level of professionalism, communication skills, attention to detail and ability to think outside

the box. The challenge of these demands and the ability to deliver solutions to clients enticed me to enter the legal profession.

What is your proudest achievement?

Being offered equity partnership within 18 months of qualifying having originally struggled to find a training contract at all during the last recession in the 1990’s. I was able to establish a strong and formidable client base

And the worst?

Not being able to spend as much time with my family as I would like.

Much of my time outside office hours is spent on business development and securing future success.

What are your long term goals?

very quickly after qualifying. I am proud in particular also of the recent move to Harold Benjamin with my complete team and client base.

Tell us about your current position at Harold Benjamin?

I am the head of the commercial property investment department. I run a team of lawyers involved with all aspects of commercial property and investment. I am heavily involved in firm wide business development and creating opportunities from the forthcoming changes in the legal profession relating to non legal services.

What has been the biggest obstacle in your career?

I finished my legal practice course in 1998 at the time of the last recession.

The market conditions were very poor and train-

Dr Freddy Patel to be further investigated by GMC The pathologist who wrongly concluded that Ian Tomlinson died of natural causes during the G20 protests is to be investigated once against for his conduct.

Dr Freddy Patel’s evidence was disputed during an inquest into Mr Tomlinson’s death and discredited by the jury who returned a verdict of unlawful killing.

The General Medical Council is understood to have launched an inquiry into how he came to a different conclusion to that of several other experts following a complaint from the Tomlinson family.

Working with my team, my clients, networking, meeting new and exciting people. I enjoy making a difference to people, their lives and businesses. I still get a buzz out of advising my clients on their deals ensuring that the deals are executed efficiently and effectively, and of course celebrating when it’s done.

Dr Freddy Patel

The GMC would not confirm the latest inquiry into Dr Patel’s conduct citing issues of confidentiality. It is due to review his current suspension at the end of July.

ing contracts were hard to come by. This coupled with an oversupply of law graduates meant it was practically impossible to secure a training contract.

I spent the best part of two years searching for a training contract and had all but given up hope. I finally obtained a training contract by offering to work for nothing. This obstacle taught me a valuable lesson - not to give up hope. If you want something enough you simply need to think outside the box and be commercially minded.

The next year is a very exciting time for the legal profession.

Changes in the law later this year mean that law firms will have the ability to diversify and offer a range of “non legal” services to businesses and individuals. The aim is to develop and create opportunities from these new alternative business structures.

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

Remove over regulation, red tape and political correctness to allow people’s true creative entrepreneurial spirit to shine and flourish.

Who has been the biggest influence on your work to date?

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

I have been very lucky. I am surrounded by great people, colleagues and clients alike.

My late father still plays a big influence on my life today.

I still recall his wise words of wisdom and wanting the best out of me and

My first reaction would be Mahatma Gandhi.

However it would have to be his wife Kasturba Gandhi. I would then truly understand the Father of India. As they say, behind every successful man is a woman.

Confusion leaves UK visas going spare The first month’s allocation of visas for non-European Union workers has been dramatically undersubscribed, a sign of the confusion among businesses over the government’s new immigration system.

For April, the UK Border Agency had set aside 4,200 work visas, known as restricted certificates of sponsorship for skilled workers, in anticipation of a deluge of applications after companies voiced fears they would not be able to recruit

enough overseas workers under the coalition’s new immigration cap.

However, just 1,028 certificates were granted for overseas workers, 3,172 fewer than the allocation. Subsequent monthly allocations will be 1,500 visas, but the unused certificates will be carried forward to the May allocation. Damian Green, immigration minister, said the availability of visas showed the new limit was “getting off to a good start”.

People ■ The people of Leicester have elected a record number of Black and Asian Councillors in the elections last week. 21 of the 52 City Councillors are from the ethnic minority c o m m u n i t y .

Unfortunately for him E n g e l b e r t Humperdinck’s candidate for Mayor lost his election.

■ A new Bollywood film was launched in London by Gaurang Doshi and Renu Patel together with a new £300 million investment fund for more films. London Life a tale about group of Indian students in London gets a showing next week.

■ The Bangladeshi Opposition Leader visits London next week.

Khaleda Zia follows in the footsteps of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who came to the UK a month ago.

Cricket experts discuss the significance of the modern game Kartik.S.Raval Former Indian Test player, Farokh Engineer shared the dais with cricket commentators and writers to elaborate on the growing significance of the sports at an event held at C o m m o n w e a l t h Parliamentary Association Room, Houses of Parliament, London. The event 'Beyond the Boundary' was chaired by Sir Alan Haselhurst MP. The followers of cricket would agree that its image has been transformed in recent years. On one hand the emergence of the Indian Premier League has unlocked the commercial potential of the game; a development that has not been universally welcomed. While on the other, the sight of the Indian and Pakistani Prime Ministers sitting side by side when both countries came face to face in the World Cup match in India gave rise to renewed hope that 'cricket diplomacy' may yet achieve what successive governments have failed to deliver; a reduction in tension between the two countries.

Farokh Engineer, who also played for Lancashire joined distinguished panel which included Mihir Bose, Sports writer and former BBC Sports Editor; David Frith, cricket writer, founder and former editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly magazine; Ashish Ray, Times of India London correspondent and author of One-Day Cricket and Shahed Sadullah, Journalist, cricket writer and former editor, Cricket Life magazine.

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

COMMENT

AV rejection major blow for Lib Dems The Alternative Vote referendum was a resounding 2 to 1 endorsement of the existing first-past-thepost system. The Alternative Vote, long favoured

by Liberal Democrats, is a mutation of proportional representation. It offered voters a series of preferential choices on candidates standing for Parliament. The accumulation of second and third choices would have tilted in favour of the Lib Dems, hence their enthusiasm for the projected reform. The Conservatives accepted the the need for a referendum as part of a deal with their coalition partners, but it was clear that the venture commanded minuscule support in the Tory heartland.

As the parties were agreed that there should be a free vote on the subject, the Labour party was divided on the issue, with party leader Ed Miliband expressing his personal support for AV. But his was a minority voice in Labour ranks. The bulk of Labour voters were against any change, thus swelling the rejectionist tide.

Majority thinking appeared to rest on the proposition that it would be best to retain a system that jelled with British political culture and tradition and had served the country well. Why therefore opt for uncharted waters. There are the inevitable pros and cons about the merits and demerits of the contending systems. Theoretically, AV might add weight to the perfection stakes, but would its workings be as smooth as the system it sought to displace? A multiplicity of parties has been known to be a recipe for fractured government and policy stagnation so as to keep the boat afloat. Israel is a leading example of the negative side of proportional representation, yet in the different political culture of Germany the same system works rather well. Water takes the shape of its vessel.

Practicalities transcend the notion of perfectibility. This is what the British electorate appeared to be saying. The British people have spoken and with them rests the final word. The Liberal Democrats have lost the argument, at least for the present.

The AV referendum coincided with local elections throughout the UK. Their outcomes are a pointer to the national mood and a reflection of the standing of the mainstream parties. The Liberal Democrats again fared worst. They were severely trounced in England and Scotland and are undoubtedly bruised by the experience. Their rank and file appear disillusioned by the Coalition and party leader Nick Clegg and his colleagues carry the heavy burden of restoring lost confidence in the country and among the ranks of the Lib Dem faithful. Mr Clegg has made a start by insisting the the government rethink aspects of its National Health Service reform. The British people are rightly proud of the NHS and deeply sensitive to healthcare as a basic right for all Britons. They are suspicious of creeping privatisation of this sector. Public disquiet has forced Prime Minister David Cameron to take pause and address popular concerns.

Finally, the elections for the Scottish Parliament have resulted in a shock victory for the ruling SNP, which favours an independent Scotland and the break up of the United Kingdom.

The Conservatives may have held their own in England to Labour's modest gains here and in Wales. But all three parties have lost out in Scotland. Labour, long the preferred choice of the Scottish electorate, were beaten into second place for the first time, while Conservatives and Lib Dems barely registered a blip on the radar.

The SNP has promised a referendum, a few years down the line, on Scottish independence and who is to say that the Scots will not vote for full independence. The SNP's popularity stems from its maintenance of tested social services including free university education. This is something people in England would do well to ponder. The penchant of Labour and Conservative regimes in London for misplaced foreign adventures in a ludicrous bid to be perceived worldwide as a great power and the huge defence expenditure to sustain this delusion, even as savage government spending cuts are put in place requires fundamental change if the UK is to have a viable future.

Coroner rebukes security service for 7/7 failures Lady Justice Hallet, the coroner in charge of the inquest into the deaths of 52 people and injuries to more than 700 in the terrorist bombings on London's transport system on 7 July 2005 returned a verdict of unlawful killing and was at times scathing of the security service MI5 for its failure to prevent bomb ringleader Mohammed Sidique Khan carrying out his action even after they had him in their sights.

A picture of Khan secretly taken at an M1 service station with fellow bomber Shehzad Tanweer was such poor quality a supergrass failed to recognise him. Spies also failed to take notes when watching terror suspects meet Khan, 30, and Tanweer, 22.

Had notes been filed they could have been cross-referenced – and the bombers could have been caught.

Referring to MI5's huge workload, Lady Justice Hallet told the High Court hearing: “I am concerned about the fact that the security service's other commitments prevented a more intensive investigation of a possible terrorist.”

Graham Foulkes, whose son David, 22, died at Edgware Road, was severely critical, saying, “MI5's handling of the photo was dreadful. Note keeping was inadequate. There's a lot more they knew about Sidique Khan. That's why an independent inquiry is

important.” He added: “Their whole attitude has been one of arrogance.”

The coroner made nine recommendations to emergency services and MI5 on ways to improve procedures to save future lives.

This sorry affair highlights unspoken elements in the broad parameters of British policy concerning Islamist terrorism and its incubation in Pakistan and its promotion and export by the country's military and intelligence services. For much of the 1980s and 90s London and other British cities became a safe haven for people with Islamist predilections and their recruitment activities. A senior Indian diplomat at the time recollected his difficulties with British ministers' refusal to take Indian complaints of Islamist recruitment in the UK for terrorist activities in India seriously. Pakistan was (and is) a favoured Anglo-American ally and that has been the problem. It is a case of hear no evil and speak no evil apropos of Islamabad.

A public inquiry which bereaved parent Graham Foulkes desires and deserves is unlikely to be conceded by Whitehall's good and great for reasons best known to them. The work of al Qaeda and its late leader Osama bin Laden is a reminder that the chickens are coming home to roost.

India-British economic ties are the future The enduring hope for the India-British relationship are the expanding ties between Indian and British companies in the UK and India and areas beyond.

They bring together the respective strengths of both partners as entrepreneurs, investors, engineers and market leaders.

Two cases come readily to mind. Tata Motors has a large commercial vehicle business in India and a secure position in cheap and small cars built around its Nano model. Tacked on to this is the UK-based Jaguar Land Rover, which specialises in the expensive end of the market.

“We have a combination of a low-cost base and a rapidly growing market in India, and a strong technological position in Britain,” says Carl-Peter Forster, the German car veteran who is now a key figure in Tata's management.

Tata Motors has 7,500 engineers, 4,000 in Britain,

the rest in India. The numbers are set to rise as the business thrives and expands and new innovations are introduced over the next five years.

The second case involves a tie-up between the UK's David Brown Systems and India's Kalyani Group to improve the former's access to the fast growing Indian market and aid its Indian partner's expansion outside the automotive sector.

The deal is the latest between a renowned British engineering brand and and an Indian industrial group – Kalyani's Bharat Forge, which has a presence in Germany, Sweden, the US and China. David Brown Bharat Forge Gear Systems India is a joint venture to supply gear boxes and maintenance services to to high-growth sectors including power, mining, defence, rail and steel.

Its a win-win situation for both parties, which their respective boards are happy to acknowledge.

www.abplgroup.com

3

Thought for the Week The dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act out their dream with open eyes, to make it possible.

- T.E. Lawrence (1926)

Steve Pound, MP Ealing North (Labour)

International SEWA Day Of all aspects of the Indian character the one which I find to be the most constant and the most revealing is the urge to acts of charity, to service, to giving of time or money in fact to all those impulses that flowed together to form International SEWA day.

I was privileged to be at Hamborough Primary School in Southall for the planning meeting for the 2011 International SEWA day on earlier this month.Last year’s SEWA day brought together an extraordinary range of faith groups, individuals, businesses and organisations who joined up in September to pack boxes for UK troops in Afghanistan. I was so proud to be at SKLPC where tons of comforts and toiletries were lovingly and efficiently packed into shoe boxes for onward despatch to Kabul and Kandahar. The letters received from the troops on the ground show how greatly valued the gifts were – not just for their contents but as a physical embodiment of the connection between the UK and the front line, between those of us who are protected by are military personnel and those citizens in uniform who guard the battlements and keep us safe in the long night watches.

This was but one example of the activities undertaken in the name of service on SEWA day and – having seen the professional and inspirational organisation at the planning day – I know that 2011 will be an even greater success. In a world which seems to spin from one horror to the next it is wonderfully calming and cheering to have an example of service above self in the way that SEWA exemplifies.

Virendra Sharma MP and I were honoured to introduce the delegates and it is sad that our good friend Alan Keen MP was

not physically well enough to be with us on this occasion. He is already showing every sigh of a full recovery and best wishes were sent to him and to Ann. The MC for the afternoon was that master of combining a lightness and deftness of touch with a seriousness of purpose, Manoj Ladwa but even he was almost outshone by the immensely impressive Vandana Joshi who some of us know as a top Treasury lawyer and who all of us now realise is a woman of conscience and social commitment as well.

The trustees of the Hounslow Lakshmi Narayan Temple were there as was Hemraj Chandega (SSPC) and Sharad Mistry of the famous language school in Southall.

Local organisers Meenesh Mistry and Haresh Vyas provided inspiration where Barclays, BA and ICICI Bank showed that corporate social responsibility is more than a mere formula – if means real, practical help as well.

Chairman Arup Ganguly always gives me food for thought but on that Saturday he made a comment about the principles of SEWA lying deep within the Indian DNA. I happen to think that he is correct and I left Hamborough School with my feet scarcely touching the ground. I was so uplifted by this practical example of a real “big society” that existed long before mere politicians cheapened the phrase with their grubby associations.

Go to the website now – look up www.nationalsewaday.or g, register, participate, get involved and do your bit.

The world will be a better place for your efforts – and my part of the world is a better place for SEWA.

ASIAN VOICE is published by

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

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LEICESTER VOICE/UK In brIef

An extravagant rule for Birmingham's Mayor Birmingham City Council’s top lawyer Mirza Ahmad announced that people should not be allowed to come and go as they please from council meetings and must instead bow in deference to be given leave to exit and enter as reported in the Birmingham Mail.

This includes reporters who are, strictly speaking, only observing the meetings.

Even Crown Court judges do not require the press to bow and scrape before the chair. Also, according to the new dictates, the unseemly act of ‘crowding’, the rush of councillors hurrying for the exit at the end of the session, must cease and they must stand by until the Lord Mayor has left the room.

WBA extends its multicultural ties West Bromwich Albion football club's midfielder James Morrison and former right back Brendon Batson were quizzed by local youngsters at The Hawthorns as WBA announced its plans to further enhance their work in the local community.

The Albion Foundation announced its partnership with Sporting Equals, a unique national body which promotes ethnic diversity across sport and physical activity where Batson himself is the chair.

Originally set up in 1998 by Sport England, Sporting Equals, in partnership with the Commission for Racial Equality, are now a fully independent body with a mission to raise awareness and understanding of the needs of the minor ethnic communities within the sports and health sector, in order to change attitudes and increase participation in sport and physical activities.

The Albion Foundation has become renowned for the equality work it carries out throughout the year at schools and community groups in Sandwell and surrounding areas, which is supported by the Club’s players. The well-known football club also represents 18 countries within its own squad.

Arun Kang, Chief Executive of Sporting Equals, explained, “West Bromwich Albion are already a beacon of inclusion in the football world, committed to building local support and opportunity. We are also based in a multi-racial area, so the work that the Foundation conducts in the local community on behalf of the football club, which will be enhanced by this partnership, is absolute.”

Ludhiana to Leicester A delegation from Ludhiana including the Mayor, Hakan Singh Giaspura; Senior Deputy Mayor, Parveen Dansal; Councillor, Pal Singh Grawel and senior engineers Kamlesh Bansal and Harichand Salaria visited Leicester to witness its Indian connection. With Leicester’s proven track record in environmental and energy issues which ranks the city second in the the national sustainable index, they made a visit to Leicester Energy Agency and British Gas at the British Gas Enderby Offices to evaluate the green technologies adapted.

The delegation from India were impressed by the amount of research that British Gas had put into developing its services for business customers. They were also overwhelmed to see that there was an increasing amount of support available to local businesses to reduce their carbon footprint and improve their green credentials. The support ranges from basic advice, grants and energy audits.

AS IT IS

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

Tagore and Gandhi: Two poles of genius Inspite of their admiration for each other, Rabindrabath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi dared to differ in some of their beliefs; they contradicted yet complemented each other.

Last Friday, I was deeply moved listening to Bharat Ratna Amartya Sen, an Indian economist who spoke of how world’s two great men despite their mutual admiration were honest enough to air their differences.

"The issues that moved Tagore most was importance of an open mind and its ability to reason and the celebration of human freedom,"Prof Sen said while launching the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Tagore at the British Museum in London.

In his talk 'What difference does Tagore make', he spoke about how Tagore and Mahatma shared an amazing bonding yet when their ideas diverged, they did not hesitate to express their differences. Gandhi and Tagore clashed over their contrary views on science. In January 1934, Bihar was struck by a devastating earthquake, which killed thousands of people. Gandhi, who was then deeply involved in the fight against untouchability towards Harijans, said: "A man like me cannot but believe this earthquake is a divine chastisement sent by God for our sins" in particular the sins of untouchability. " Tagore was as much concerned about the fight against untouchability, but reacting to Gandhi`s remark, he said: "It is all the more unfortunate because this kind of an unscientific view of phenomena are accepted by a large segment of our countrymen."

Tagore also rejected Gandhi`s "alternative economic model," describing his advocacy of spinning the charka as "antiquated". In Tagore's view this was not the way to mental development: "The charka does not require anyone to think; one simply turns the wheel of the antiquated invention endlessly, using the minimum of judgment and stamina."

The second point of the discussion was nationalism, which Gandhi defended. He said that one must go through nationalism to reach internationalism, in the same way that one must go through war to reach peace.Tagore disagreed. Nationalism with its constricted vision bred war and military conflict “These differences, I shall argue, have a clear and consistent pattern, with Tagore pressing for more room for reasoning, and for a less traditionalist view, a greater interest in the rest of the world, and more respect for science and for objectivity generally,” said Professor Sen Rabindranath knew that he could not have given India the political leadership that Gandhi provided, and his ego never stopped him from

Prof Amartya Sen with Ian Jack

praising for what Gandhi had done for the nation (it was, in fact, Tagore who popularised the term "Mahatma" great soul to Gandhi).

The dispute with Mahatma Gandhi on the Bihar earthquake touched on a subject important to Tagore: the need for education in science as well as in literature and the humanities.

At Santiniketan, there were strong "local" elements in the emphasis on Indian traditions; Tagore's essays ranged over literature, politics, culture, social change, religious beliefs, philosophical disquisitions, international relations, and much else.

The coincidence of the fiftieth anniversary of Indian independence with the publication of a selection of Tagore's letters by Cambridge University Press 3, brought Tagore's ideas and reflections to the fore, which makes it important to examine what kind of leadership in thought and understanding he provided to the Indian subcontinent in the first half of this century Tagore made a huge impact not only in literature, painting but also with his songs. His compositions have provided the national anthems of two countries,India and Bangladesh. "Jan gana mana”and “Amar Sonar Bangla.”

Bangladesh is said to be the only country in the world whose birth was seeded in the people's lover of their mother tongue. people to their mothr tongue. The birth of Bangladesh was aided significantly

by India. It was sad to see that both countries were ill at ease with each other until recently. One is glad now to sense that two countries are developing mutually co-operative

New Leicester MP sworn in at House of Commons Leicester South's newly elected MP, Jonathan Ashworth performed the tradition at the House of Commons, where he swore an oath of allegiance to the Queen.

As per the customs, he was escorted into the Commons Chamber by two fellow members, Leicester East MP Keith Vaz and Barnsley East MP and an old friend Michael Dugher.

As soon as he swore the oath, there were loud cheers from colleagues on the Labour benches who signed his name in the official register.

Jonathan Ashworth said, "I

was delighted Keith and Michael were the ones to take me in. It was all a bit nervewracking, but now I can't wait to get working for the people of Leicester.” On his new role he adds, “I want to start dealing with the issues people talked to me about during the campaign like the level of unemployment, opportunities for young people, fighting the cuts and getting a fair deal for Leicester."

A by-election was held in Leicester South on 5 May after former MP Sir Peter Soulsby stood down to run his campaign to become Mayor of Leicester.

relationship.

Seen right now at the theatre, are the High Commissioners of India and Bangladesh sitting together all ears to Amartya Sen's luminous words.

The captivating talk just made one feel that British Museum could not have chosen a better speaker than Professor Amartya Sen. Tagore is said to have given the speaker his name "Amartya" meaning "out of the world". As a child Amartya almost grew up in lap of great poet. Among many anecdotes narrated by him was a very unique bond between Tagore and Gandhi, reflecting the bond between Bengal and Gujarat lodged at the two ends of India.

After leaving the BP theatre, my heart was thumping.Walking to the bus-stop, I passed Bury place, when I began recollecting two happy incidents 40 years back: it was when I had met Prabhupad, founder of Iskcon, another great soul of Bengal.

I think that Bengal and Gujarat are like two arms of Bharat Mata.

The relationship is complementary.

In Gujarat, Aurobindo Ghose, Subhas Chandra Bose,Swami Vivekananda, Bankim Chatterji, Sarat Chandra Bose, Satyajit Ray, Ram Mohan Roy and many other luminaries of Indian renaissence are household names.

In perhaps tomorrow's scenerio West Bengal's Dinesh Trivedi may well play an important role. He is Kutch-born Gujarati, a senior player in the Trinamul Congress. Looking back at history, Marwari and Gujaratis have been big players in the state's commercial and industrial life. Many Gujaratis have been to Tagore's Shantiniketan . In today's Gujarat there are a number of civil servants, police officers and technocrats from Bengal.

Gujarat and Bengal have something else in common. President Abdul Kalam once said “ Gujaratis are known as great travelling people.” The same applies to Bengalis, as they have been the regular visitors to different shrines in India.

We return to Tagore and Gandhi: different and yet complementary, reflecting India's unity in diversity. It was my good fortune have come into close contact with the spirit of both men, thank to the inspiring talk of Amartya Sen, a Harvard professor and Nobel prize winner, who has spent a lifetime fighting poverty through analytical rigour and moral persistence which has the activism of others. Known in his native India as the Mother Teresa of economics, Professor Sen's ideas have had a global impact.

CB

Mayor unveils Leicester's new cabinet Sir Peter Soulsby, Mayor of Leicester has revealed his new cabinet of councillors. The six appointed councillors will be referred to as assistant mayors rather than cabinet members. Leicester's new leader has reappointed three present cabinet members which include, Mohammed Dawood, Vi Dempster and Sarah Russell. He also announced the names of two former lord mayors, Piara Singh Clair and Manjula Sood while Ted Cassidy is the only newly-elected councillor to make it to the cabinet. All the six appointees were invited to join a powerful decision making meeting with Sir Peter Soulsby and deputy Rory Palmer.

Sir Peter said, "These are very experienced and capable people. But they're not here to do my bidding, these are people who will challenge me on issues and make sure that scrutiny stems right from the top.This will be a well-focused cabinet working as a team.

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Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

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UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

40th birthday of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar

By Spriha Srivastava

Shahnaz Hussain’s new discovery In an age where everything is fast-paced, starting from technology to the concept of fast food, there are instant beauty treatments too. While a plethora of brands launch their “instant anti-ageing” or “dark circle removal” products, one can’t be sure which one to go for. But there is definitely one brand; we in India can fall upon – Shahnaz Hussain.

Shahnaz has a totally different style of working. And one can see this in the number of products that the brand launches one after the other. She is presently in London to launch the Platinum Ultimate Cellular range of products. She said it took them 14 years to complete the research and bring the product to the market. The range comes with a recharge complex, recharge serum, under eye gel and a mask is said to bring about a radiant glow that lasts at least for a month.

What’s special about this product is that it combines antioxidant effects of platinum with the goodness of herbs like ginseng, green tea and cucumber seeds. The particles are reduced to minuscule sizes using nano technology for an instant absorption to the skin. The platinum is said to recharge the skin by achieving the electric balance. According to Shahnaz Husain, “Platinum is a rare metal and it helps in transporting the nutrients in the skin's deepest layers. The product gives you the results soon as you finish slathering it on your skin, and the effects are more noticeable than a facial. You can expect instant results.”

The Platinum Ultimate Cellular Range is the latest in Shahnaz Hussain's repertoire of luxurious skin care products. It is Based on the most unique and advanced way of using the miraculous properties of precious metals for skin care. Today, Platinum is considered the single most powerful way of rejuvenating the skin and enhancing its beauty. The Platinum products comprise the most extravagant and exciting advancement for skin science. Platinum is said to recharge the skin powerfully, by achieving

This week Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar begins the year that will conclude four successful decades of serving the society. Our bond with the British Asian community was constructed with the pillars of truth, courage development and welfare and with time it has gone from strength to strength.

Every week we have investigated into the loopholes of the society, informed our readers about all the significant issues and prompted positive action whenever necessary. We have constantly thrived on

community, Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar have grown too. However, this would have been impossible without the people working with me, who have given their time and energy in the service of the community.” With the publications now well established, the society looks upon them as their mouthpiece. CB Patel adds, “Our motto as always will be to seek happiness and success through excellence in service.”

As cultural ethos has always been an important

Mr. Bhanu Pandya, Vice Chairman, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Drama Committee and Secretary, Mahatma Gandhi Foundation said, “Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar have not only become an essential medium but a necessary gate keeper of the society we live in. It has stood against injustice and given a voice to the unheard. I feel proud to have ethnic newspapers like these in our community and it gives me immense satisfaction to be linked with it.”

Shahnaz Hussain

the ideal electrical balance along the cell membrane.

The beauty expert travelled to Birmingham to talk about her product and gave free consultation to those who attended. She is also looking for a distributor for the Platinum products in the UK. While a number of her products are available in all the big stores like Selfridges and other Shahnaz signature stores, her enthusiasm for launching more products has not gone down.

There is another product that the brand is working on and it is expected to be launched by December 2014.

As the pioneer of natural holistic beauty and health care, Shahnaz Husain has dedicated her career to the ancient Indian herbal heritage of Ayurveda, making it relevant to modern demands. In her efforts to promote Ayurveda, she has not only created an international market for organic Ayurvedic products, but also built up the “Shahnaz Husain” brand unknowingly and in a very personal way. Currently, the Shahnaz Husain Group operates in over 100 countries with a network of franchise salons, spas, shops, beauty institutes and direct product distributors. It also manufactures over 350 formulations for skin, hair and body care.

In recognition of her entrepreneurial success and to highlight the unique business strategies adopted by her, Shahnaz Husain was invited by Harvard Business School, as well as MIT at Boston, USA, to lecture on how she built a global brand without any commercial

advertising and also to speak on the methods she adopted to establish her international network of franchise ventures. She was also was invited to attend President Barack Obama’s Summits for Entrepreneurs twice in 2010, first at Washington D.C. in April 2010 and then again, in Mumbai, during President Obama’s recent visit to India. In Mumbai, she was among top eight business leaders to attend a closed door, one-to-one business meeting.

And apart from her professional achievements and undying exuberance, Shahnaz Hussain is an extremely warm person with a lot of humility. No wonder she is running up the success ladder so quickly. She has also been honoured with several prestigious international awards, including the World’s Greatest Woman Entrepreneur Award from the well-known Success magazine of the USA. She became the first woman in 107 years to receive the Success award. From one herbal salon to a global chain of ventures, it is a phenomenal journey. In fact, the Shahnaz Husain Group has been mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest chain of franchise ventures of its kind.

Well, indeed there is no stop for the beauty expert. She has taught the world the importance of “Ayurveda” and showcased India as a leader in ayurvedic products. And for all those who are still looking for that instant result, it’s time you lay your hands on Shahnaz’s Platium range of products.

Let us know what you think.

Email Spriha at spriha@abplgroup.com

L to R: Alka Shah, Jyotsna Shah, Rupanjana Dutta, Kokila Patel, Dr. Nandakumar, Surendra Patel and Dr. Jagdish Dave

campaigning journalism and our principles are best reflected through our Fiji, Air India Direct Flight, Fair Visa and Immigration, Hare Krishna Temple and many more similar campaigns.

In return, we have received immense support from our readers as without it, we wouldn't have been able to serve or represent them, let alone becoming their very own “ C o m m u n i t y Newspaper's”.

To mark this accomplishment and celebrate the strong tie that we share with the community, Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar organised a 'Thank-you' get-together and a lunch reception on Thursday at Shakti Hall, Hoxton, London and invited people who have played a pivotal role in our journey so far, along with readers and clients.

CB Patel, Editor and Publisher, Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar, welcomed and addressed the guests. He started off with remarks of his affection and commitment towards Indian heritage which has been well reflected in our endless efforts to drive the community forward in the path of progress. He said, “It gives me immense joy to see what we in coalition with the community have achieved today. We have witnessed the growing strength and significance of our community in the larger British diaspora and being a part of this vibrant

factor driving our publication house forward, the gathering was blessed by Dr. Nandakumar as he conducted prayers. Dr. Nandakumar, Executive Director of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan said, “Service to the community is the largest service that an individual can provide and we can never thank CB Patel enough for the contribution he has made through his inventory of weapons; his publications.” Also present at the reception was Dr Jagdish Dave, an Educationist and a language enthusiast, who said, “We may live wherever in the world but we shouldn't let go of our culture and our language is the base of it. To establish an Indian vernacular language newspaper in a foreign country is never easy and the way Gujarat Samachar has developed and served along with it's English counterpart Asian Voice is phenomenal.”

Dr. Ramnik Mehta, Trustee, Devdaya Charitable Trust acknowledged the selfless activities as he said, “The publication serves as an excellent organisational model.

Not only it has fulfilled its basic duties of informing the community but also engaged itself in numerous charitable activities.

There have been so many charity events organised

by Asian Voice over the years and CB Patel has also been actively involved in charity events organised by others.”

Mr. Surendra Patel, Senior Executive Senior Committee member, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chairman of Drama Committee said, “This publishing house has reached a major milestone and this celebration is a way its publisher CB Patel wishes to thank all those people who have embarked upon this journey with him. I am proud to have a friend like him who has dedicated his life for the community's good.” Some other distinguished guests included Mr Rajni Acharya, Mrs Rashmi Amin and Mr Kaushik Desai. Senior members of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar team like Mrs Kokila Patel, Managing Editor; Mrs Jyotsna Shah, Consulting Editor; Mrs Alka Shah, Advertising Manager and Mrs Rupanjana Dutta, Associate Editor also took the opportunity to address the gathering.

We admire the support that we have received from our readers, contributors, supporters and the entire British Asian community. We try to provide you with the most relevant news and features while maintaining the best journalism standards. If you feel we can help serve you and the community better, do not hesitate to write to us on Kokila.patel@abplgroup.c om or Rupanjana.dutta@abplgro up.com.

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

Muslim linked with 7/7 bombers works for Scotland Yard Tafazal Mohammad, who shared close ties with the bombers of July 7, 2005 and suspected to be a “terrorist sympathiser” has been working for Scotland Yard and few councils in organising training courses to engage Muslim youth.

The 45 year old describes himself as a “professionally qualified youth and community worker” and said that his company, Muslim Youth Skills engages itself in empowering the hard-to-reach and marginalised groups. The company which is based in Bradford runs courses for police community support officers, social workers, government advisers and most importantly for the Muslim youth. It is funded with thousands of pounds by several organisations including the Metropolitan Police, Slough borough council and Chester University.

Although Mohammad has never been accused of any terrorist offense, his links with the bombers

dier who had been suspected of being extremist by the security services, have surrounded Tafazal Mohammad with speculations.

He was also a trustee of a bookshop along with Khan and Shehzad Tanweer, who murdered seven people in the Aldgate explosion. Lady Justice Hallett, the coroner, described him as a “susTeaching: Tafazal Mohammad paid by the police pected terrorist sympathisto train community officers and help them engage er” and said the bookshop was a haunt of “men with with the Muslim youth extremist views”. were repeatedly highlighted in the Following the inquest, 7/7 inquest which concluded on Mohammad's solicitor, Imran Khan Friday. His ties with Mohammed has released a statement disputing Sidique Khan, one of the leader the way the coroner's report behind the bombings that killed 52 described Mohammad while asking innocent people in London in 2005 her to correct the phase “terrorist and a Muslim convert, Martin sympathiser”.

McDaid, a former special forces sol-

PM's priority: Immigration yet again on the forefront

PM plans further restrictions to curb immigration

PM David Cameron once again laid high importance on the ongoing plans to curb the in-flow of immigrants as he announced further plans that will restrict the overseas relatives of immigrants visiting the country for family

events.

Under the current rules, family members granted rights to attend family events like weddings include uncles, aunts and cousins in addition to the immigrant's first family members.

However, the Home Office is considering plans to amend the rule by only allowing parents and children for similar occasions.

The step was drawn after it was noted that large number of people arrive in the UK for a temporary visit but then illegally settle down.

Ministers also believe that the police have failed to monitor this in the absence of adequate exit controls.

British Muslims return to the UK after training under Al-Qaeda Security sources in the UK revealed that around 200 extremists have returned to the UK after receiving training by the Yemeni branch of AlQaeda which is regarded as the world's most active terrorist organisation.

According to the security sources, these recruits are now either active in terrorist plotting or have been spiritually to the cause of violent extremism. It is believed that these Muslims from Britain received training under Anwar al-Awlaki who is in the prime position to become Osama bin Laden's successor. It emerged recently that US armed forces narrowly missed killing Awlaki in a

Sir Paul discussed stringent laws and AlQaeda threats

stopped them from carrying out their duties. The coroner was also told that the first firemen on the scene at King’s Cross had to stand by and watch injured passengers because they were not allowed to enter the tunnels until a back-up crew arrived.

Sir Paul said, “Health and safety is important for my staff but they engage in the risk business. Cops

join the force knowing they have to put their life on the line. Thankfully very few pay the ultimate price. Some get injured.

They take risks, running across rooftops and catching villains. I applaud them for doing that. I don’t want to criticise them or do a risk assessment on every occasion.”

Lady Hallett ruled out MI5 and the emergency services from causing or contributing to any deaths on 7 July 2005 and that none of the 52 victims

Main man: Anwar al-Awlaki is believed to have trained extremists before they returned to the UK

drone attack.

Awlaki, an Americanborn cleric, was involved in plots in Britain to kill a Labour MP and blow up a passenger aircraft on its way to America.

would have survived even if emergency services had arrived sooner. But she also said that, “Depending on the dynamics of the situation, which may change rapidly, protocols may be approached with a degree of flexibility.”

Sir Paul also issued a warning that although the death of Osama bin Laden makes the world a safer place, it should not be considered as the end of Al-Qaeda threat to Britain.

Allowing assisted suicide would pressurise the disabled Even though celebrities including the author Sir Terry Pratchett and actor Sir Patrick Stewart have been backing a campaign to make assisted suicide legal, a new research into patients' fear revealed that it would highly pressurise

Racism back in the London streets

Mishal Husain, Meekal Hashmi with Rafael, Musa and Zaki

The children of BBC news presenter Mishal Husain were the target of racist abuse while on a supermarket shopping trip when a man told them to behave ‘like proper English children’, reports a national daily.

Ms Husain’s three sons were accosted by the man at a branch of Waitrose near the family’s London home shortly before she flew out to Pakistan to report on the death of Osama Bin Laden.

British-born Ms Husain, whose parents are from Pakistan, is said to have called for the manager and asked for the man to be confronted following the incident last Sunday. She was with husband Meekal Hashmi and their sons Rafael, six, and twins Musa and Zaki, four. Ms Husain is one of the fastest-rising stars of BBC News.

Mr Hashmi, a lawyer, who also has family origins in Pakistan, posted details on Tweeter.

He wrote: ‘My kids abused in Waitrose. Told off for not behaving like English children. Reminds me of life in Seventies. Sad how slowly things change.’ The incident occurred near the couple’s £700,000 home in Swiss Cottage, North-West London.

A Waitrose spokeswoman said: ‘We’re very sorry this regrettable incident happened.’ A BBC spokesman said that the incident was a private matter.

No sweets for Candy brothers

We need to risk our lives, says Police Commissioner After an operation and three months of recovery, Sir Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner returned to work. In the first interview after his return, he revealed that health and safety laws in the UK are restricting emergency services to fulfill their tasks comprehensively.

As reported in The Daily Telegraph, Sir Paul said that he is not convinced that such regulations should apply to police and they should be free to risk their lives. The revelation of Britain's most senior police officer came after concerns that legislation hindered the rescue operation in the 7/7 bombings in the capital.

During the five-month 7/7 inquest, Lady Justice Hallett, Coroner, heard several complaints from police officers and firemen that stringent regulations

7

the disabled people to take their own lives.

According to the research, 70 percent of disabled people were concerned that such a reform in the law would make the vulnerable patients to “end their lives”.

Nick and Christian Candy, the developers of One Hyde Park, London have not been included in The Sunday Times Rich List this year even though it is believed that their luxurious development has achieved ￡1 billion in sales.

The Candy brothers were in the rich list since 2008 with respective fortune in the three consecutive years of ￡120m, ￡330m and ￡300m. Philip Beresford, the compiler of the rich list said, “We contacted them several times and two meetings with the finance director were set up only to be cancelled at short notice. We had no basis on which we could include them in this year.”

A spokesman for the Candys said that the brothers refused to cooperate because they were unhappy with previous articles that the newspaper had published about their business interests even though they have always been keen to prove their fortune. Some of the known clients of Candy brothers include Gwyneth Paltrow, Kylie Minogue and Boris Berezovsky, the Russian oligarch.

Asian women humiliated The government is now facing calls to issue an official apology after confidential Home Office documents revealed that Asian women had to pass through a humiliating “virginity test” while moving to britain in the late 1970s.

More than 80 women, mostly from India and Pakistan were intimately examined by immigration staff at Heathrow in order to “check their marital status.” Even though the Labour government of that time said that only two such incidents occurred, the files released show that the practice was much more common that it was known, even in the British High Commission offices in India and Pakistan. As published in The Guardian, in India, 73 such incidents were reported in New Delhi and another nine in Mumbai between 1976 and 1979.

The humiliating technique was banned in 1979 after a national newspaper revealed that a 35-year old Indian woman was examined for virginity by a male doctor at Heathrow. The woman was offered ￡500 “in recognition” of distress caused but there was no apology.

The two Australian academics who discovered the files, Marinella Marmo and Evan Smith of Flinders University law school, Adelaide, have called for an official apology. The demand has been backed by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), which was also involved in the original 1979 case.

8

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Dee Katwa

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

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

Three postal vote fraudsters made bankrupt

Learn Hindi for free

In Birmingham, a trio of Pakistani local Labour politicians convicted of election fraud have been declared bankrupt.

Former Bordesley Green councillors Shah Jahan, Ayaz Khan and Shafaq Ahmed are thought to owe about £150,000 each in costs outstanding from the Election Court hearing which found them guilty of ‘corrupt and illegal practices’ during the 2004 local elections.

Their creditors are believed to have forced bankruptcy in a bid to stop them resuming their political careers after completing a five-year ban from political office and campaigning activity.

The three shamed councillors, plus another three from Aston, were sacked after Judge Richard Mawrey QC said they had taken part in a postal vote fraud which would ‘disgrace a banana republic’.

He found postal vote fraud on a massive, systemic and organised scale.

Supporters of the People’s Justice Party, or PJP, which lost Bordesley

Green council seats to Labour in 2004, brought the Election Court case and won around £250,000 costs against each of the Labour men.

This was paid in part by the Labour Party, with the Legal Aid board covering the disgraced councillors’ share of costs.

Then last year two voters, Mohammed Ali and Majid Khan, launched proceedings to secure the £150,000 each from the men and forced their bankruptcy. Their solicitor, Raghib Ahsan, himself a former Labour councillor, said: “We had to force bankruptcy.” Cllr Shaukat Ali Khan (Lib Dem, Bordesley Green) said: “They lost the court case and have to pay the costs. It is the petitioners who took them to court, not us. This is not revenge.”

Of the three men, only Shah Jahan, was prepared to talk to reporters. Ayaz Khan

Fake clothes, salesman caught A clothing fraudster from Birmingham has been ordered to pay £60,000 of his ill-gotten gains or face 15 months in jail. Irfan Khan, 37, of Hall Green, was caught with 1,000 items of branded counterfeit clothing. A further 1,500 fake items were found at his home address in Stratford Road. The counterfeit value of the goods seized was £40,000. If the clothing was genuine it would have been worth £164,000.

Summer scheme A three-week summer programme will give Year 11 students the chance to try outdoor activities and put on a community event. The partly residential programme, The Challenge, takes place at various locations across the West Midlands from June 26 to August 25 and costs £50. For more information go to www.the-challenge.org

School kids raise £400 for charity Pupils from Oldknow Primary School in Birmingham have raised £400 for The Royal British Legion. The juniors each paid 50p to wear a poppy, or something red, instead of their uniform to collect the cash. The RBL (www.britishlegion.org.uk) is the UK charity which provides direct, practical support for our injured heroes and bereaved Armed Forces families.

Separately, a special ceremony has been organised in Centenary Square, central Birmingham, at 11.45am on June 25 to mark Armed Forces Day. All welcome.

Photo: From left: learners Mahin Tahiyam, Amaan Ruhman, Liam McRobert and Hajirah Jehan with teacher Mark Alders.

News in Brief A new course in Hindi is being introduced at Walsall Adult and Community College. The hour-and-a-half sessions, designed for adults and children, will take place from 10am on Saturday mornings. To sign up, go along to the first session this Saturday (May 14) or call 01922 721421.

Blacklisted: From left – Ex-councillors Ayaz Khan, Shah Jahan and Shafaq Ahmed

offered no comment and Shafaq Ahmed did not respond to repeated requests for an interview with the Birmingham Mail. Mr Jahan, maintains he was innocent of fraud and blames Asian households where fathers filled in postal ballot papers on behalf of wives, sons and daughters. He said: “I know it is no use pleading innocence at this stage, because nobody believes me. I am still Labour but I have no intention of standing for election again.”

He

added: “Bordesley Green is turning Labour again, we won last year and have two out of three councillors, this bankruptcy is a simple act of revenge by defeated Lib Dem councillors.”

Bordesley Green is an inner-city area of Birmingham, about two miles south-east from the city centre. Of its 32,000 population – the city’s second most populous ward, behind Sparkbrook – over three quarters are of south Asian, predominantly Muslim, heritage.

Word battle A Conservative election candidate from Bolton was left red-faced after sending out hundreds of leaflets saying his priority would be to attract “unemployment” to Great Lever. Dr Anjani Kumar said: “It is a mistake which has caused uncalled trouble. I will certainly not be bringing unemployment to the area.”

Sex attacker caged A pervert who left a woman with a broken ankle in a terrifying sex attack has been put behind bars for 40 months. Rajesh Sahota, 28, from Wolverhampton, waited for his victim to return to her home before launching his frightening attack. At Wolverhampton Crown Court, Sahota admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm and sexual assault. He was also told he must register as a sex offender for ten years.

Seminar on ovarian cancer Readers are being invited to a free seminar on ovarian cancer being held at Good Hope Hospital in Birmingham on Monday (May 16) at 3pm. Medics will discuss signs and symptoms, all of the treatment options available and will also cover the causes and associated risk factors. Around 6,800 women in the UK are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year. To book your place, contact Sandra White on 0121 424 1218.

Disabled man told he’s fit to work A divorced dad-of-five from Birmingham crippled with chronic arthritis, heart disease and gout is fit to work, according to the Department for Work and Pensions. The decision emerged following a review of 64-year-old Said Rohamed’s claim for Disabled Living Allowance, currently worth around £400 a month, which he has been receiving since being forced to give up work 15 years ago due to his arthritis. Mr Rohamed, pictured, who has also suffered a heart attack, survived prostate cancer and has asthma, and lives alone, is appealing the ruling.

Spooky search Join a ghost hunt at Middleton Hall on June 10. The event at the hall, near Tamworth, is for over-18s only and runs from 8pm to 2am. Details at www.paranormal-events-uk.co.uk

Anniversary Awards Dinner The tenth Black Country Asian Business Association (BCABA) Awards Dinner will take place at the Copthorne Hotel in Dudley on June 17. The event will feature a three-course meal, entertainment and a guest speaker.

For more details email ninder.johal@nachural.co.uk

GP sings for charity A Stafford doctor swapped his stethoscope for a microphone to raise cash for charity. Dr Kishor Tewary, consultant at Stafford Hospital, performed at an Indian song and dance event at The Drum in Aston, Birmingham, to raise funds for the National Blind Children’s Society.

Cars not for girls Just 3.5 per cent of female students are considering careers in the automotive industry, a survey by Autocar has found. The East Midlands topped the table with the most students looking to join the motor industry. The West Midlands came fourth.

New NUS chief The next leader of the National Union of Students will be Liam Burns, it has been announced.

Former president Aaron Porter decided not to stand for re-election, after he was heavily criticised for not doing enough to stop university fees tripling under the coalition government. Porter will step down next month. Burns, 26, a physics graduate, is currently head of NUS Scotland.

Benefit cheats A Midland couple who fiddled more than £10,700 in benefits have been ordered to each carry out 150 hours’ community punishment. Suhal Ahmed, 31, admitted ten charges of benefit fraud and his 30-yearold wife, Delora Begum, nine charges at Wolverhampton Crown Court. The couple, from Tipton, claimed they were not related to their landlord when in fact he was Begum’s brother.

Phone pests, block them Two graduates from Birmingham have launched a free service, Number Cloak, to protect people from harassing and nuisance phone calls. Sunny Rai, 24, pictured right, and 23year-old Kam Thind, left, were inspired to set up Number Cloak after hearing the story of a female friend who was bombarded with rude messages and calls after using a dating website. To find out more visit www.numbercloak.com

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

UNESTA shall be officially launched at the House of Commons on 19th May’11 at the FBI event In a world of shrinking distances and amplified communications, we present to you UNESTA; the new face of cross continental business operations in India real estate.

UNESTA shall be officially launched at the House of Commons on 19th May’11.

Redefining real estate investment, UNESTA aims to combine local knowledge with global outlook. It partners with the best developers like Safal, HIRCO, IREO and many more to provide a range of pan-India products for its investors.

UNESTA aims to negates the black box effect of Indian real estate with clear and transparent transaction techniques With client specific, tailored investments with broader market dynamics, UNESTA is one stop shop for India real estate solutions. It helps investors in defining the entry and exit

strategies for Indian real estate. It endeavors to bridge the gap, not only between India and UK, but also between the developers and the investors. Additionally, UNESTA also provides a range of property management services such as lettings and maintenance, along with valuation and market analysis.

At UNESTA the language of business is simple yet strong, and service with satisfaction is the mantra. So join us in witnessing the creation of a new hallmark in real estate industry.

Shrien fails to identify Anni's killers The Mail on Sunday reported that Shrien Dewani told police he could not describe his wife’s alleged carjackers and killers. He detailed how the carjackers had burst into the taxi carrying him and bride Anni and robbed them at gunpoint.

In his initial witness statement, he had allegedly told how the men sped off with him and Anni before eventually bundling him out of the cab.

Anni, 28, was later found shot dead in the back of the abandoned

Shrien and Anni Dewani

taxi.

The cabbie Zola Tongo has been jailed for 18 years in Cape Town after admitting his role in the murder.

He claimed that

Continued from page 1 Usmanov, stakeholder of Arsenal Football Club (North-London) is followed by Roman Abrmovich, owner of Chelsea Football Club (South-London), nevertheless he incurs most of his wealth from his oil industry in Russia.

For the first time since 1999, the wealthiest Briton in the rich list, Duke of Westminster has slipped out of the top three. The £250m rise in wealth gained by London based Grosvenor group has taken the Duke's fortune to £7 billion. Also for the first time ever, there has been an inclusion of more than 100

If Asian Voice edition of 21st May is not delivered to you as usual on Thursday, please bear with us. It may be late by a day or two.

Inconvenience is deeply regretted.

Oxford told the Times Educational Supplement.

Professor Alison Wolfe of King’s College London, who led the review, said the ‘depth and breadth’ of vocational courses as well as assessment arrangements should be considered when deciding should continue to contribute to Key Stage Four league

Out of 50 highest donators, there are two British-Asians, with the other being, Wafic Said, who donated £42.4 million for education of children worldwide.

Although Asians settled in the UK are making their presence felt in the Business sector, it is also to be noted that five in the 13 biggest fallers are British Asians. An another intriguing fact revealed from the rich list is that out of the 1000 richest millionaires, only 238 people have inherited their wealth while the rest 762 are self-made millionaires. A compiling list of top 2000 British millionaires with fortune more than £32m is to be published on May 22.

Top 20 British Asians in the Rich List Rank 1 9 12 17 44 58 80 101 105 138 173 183 186 193 200 200 200 230 275 296

Name Lakshmi Mittal Gopi & Sri Hinduja Ravi Ruia Anil Agarawal Sri Prakash Lohia Ajay Kalsi & family Lord Paul & family Jatania brothers Yusuf Hamied Sir Anwar Pervez & family Bhikhu & Vijay Patel Naresh Goyal & family Felix Grovit Jasminder Singh & family Navin & Varsha Engineer Ramesh & Pratibha Sachdev Tom Singh & family Simon, Bobby & Robin Arora Ranjit & Baljinder Boparan Surinder Arora & family

Dewani, 31, offered him £1,600 to arrange the killing.

Dewani’s statement, obtained by The Mail on Sunday, on the day of the murder last November shows he at first failed to provide a detailed description of the men.

A day after the initial statement, police asked for a second affidavit to ‘clarify certain aspects’.

It is not known whether he was later able to give a more detailed description of the carjackers.

Faith schools gaining importance Up to 70 per cent of the Church of England’s 4,800 schools are expected to convert to academy status within the next five years, giving them considerable power over admissions, curriculum and funding.

Many Roman Catholic and minority faith schools will follow suit, the Rt Rev John Pritchard, Bishop of

women in the UK's top 1000 rich list. Out of the 105 women in the list, the richest is former Miss UK and co-owner of Ares Life Sciences, Kirsty Bertarelli with a fortune worth of £6.8 billion. There are two equally richest British Asian women, Varsha Engineer and Pratibha Sachdev with a total wealth of £400m each.

Names of the highest givers were also revealed and the list is topped by the British Indian, Anurag Dixit. Mr. Dixit donated a total of £172 million to Kusuma Trust UK while keeping only £35 million to himself. His donation is used to educate children in India.

tables.

Ofqual should also be ‘strongly encouraged to expand and improve the ways in which it regulates awarding bodies and examines standards in vocational education’.

Education Secretary Michael Gove is expected to endorse Professor Wolfe’s findings.

The Greenford Willow Tree Lions Club celebrated its 25th Charter Anniversary and capped the milestone with yet another successful fund raising campaign. The Club President Kanti Nagda presented Adam Lion Mahendra Pattni, Mr Adam Feder and Lion President Feder, of St Marks Kanti Nagda Hospital Foundation with a cheque of £2,150 for the Life Gym project. The funds were raised at the Charter Night dinner held on 2nd April 2011 where the guest enjoyed the atmosphere, delicious food and music.

Company ArcelorMittal Hinduja Automotive Essar Group Vedanta Resources Indorama Indus Gas Caparo Lornamead Cipla Bestway Waymade Health Care Jet Airways Chequepoint Edwardian Group Gallagher UK Life Style Care New Look B&M Retail Northern Foods Arora Hotels

Industry Steel Automotive & Finance Energy Mining Textiles & Mining Gas Car components & Metal Toiletries Pharmaceuticals Cash & Carry Pharmaceuticals Aviation Foreign Exchange Hotels Pharmaceuticals Care homes Fashion Discount stores Food Hotels

9

Total wealth £17,514m £6,000m £4,900m £3,810m £1,310m £1,140m £850m £700m £687m £550m £465m £455m £430m £415m £400m £400m £400m £343m £275m £249m

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YOUR VOICE

10

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

Bad commercial decision

Harrow Council

Even without the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that RBS Management’s decision to acquire ABN AMRO Holding N.V. on 17th October 2007 was a very poor quality management decision. RBS bit more than what it could chew.

The assets of RBS rose from £871 billion to £1,901 billion and employee numbers rose from 141,800 to 233,600 overnight.

RBS traditional market was UK and USA. RBS Europe and Rest of the World market, of which it knew very little, rose from £74 billion to £446 billion. “Heldfor-trading” assets rose from £343 billion to £739 billion. “Loans and receivables” increased from £426 billion to £895 billion.

RBS acquired ABN AMRO equity for £48.6 billion [book value £25.3 billion and goodwill £23.3 billion] of which it £45 billion was paid in cash.

Deloitte & Touche LLP who signed off the audit report of 31st December 2007 accounts on 27 February 2008 stated in note 35 in page 203 that there was not sufficient time to accurately reflect the purchase price of ABN AMRO because of complexity and therefore they had used provisional figures.

Their Audit Opinion on page 119 also stated that audit procedures of internal control for financial reporting for ABN AMRO were excluded by Management [the latter’s assets were 40.7% of the total assets of RBS]. Coalition government has yet to put its act together in this area.

After years of prolific spending and mismanagement of the finances of this great country, it came as no surprise that the Labour government suffered its well deserved election defeat at last year’s general election.

Though no regular council elections took place in London at the same time as the county elections last week, I was pleased to note the positive turnout for the alternative vote referendum in both Brent and Harrow. However, whilst observing the queue of people attending a Harrow polling station, sadly on a disappointing note, I noticed a row of cars in the Lodge Lane car park had received parking tickets. On a closer observation it appeared that all ticketed cars were displaying a letter bearing the Harrow Council logo and written by the ‘car parks manager’ permitting the said vehicles to park at that location. Whilst the date of validity suggested 5th May 2010, the mere fact that the referendum was held on 5th May 2011 and the letter written and dated the day before should have had ‘alarm bells ringing’ and have given rise to the anomaly being understood or verified with no tickets being issued. It later transpired that the vehicles that were ticketed by Harrow’s Labour Council all belonged to staff who were managing the polling stations and therefore promoting democracy.

Whilst Harrow’s Labour Council, who is responsible for this apparent failure, continue to demonstrate Labour’s inability to manage public services both locally and nationally I hope the relevant polling staff have their parking tickets revoked and receive a well deserved apology from a Labour Council that should be ashamed of itself. Hopefully at the next local elections in London the electorate of Harrow will show them the door.

N M Khajuria, FCCA Via Email

Pomp and Pageantry Linking Royal wedding with Hindu philosophy of karma and rebirth is good.

These philosophies are pillars for evolution of soul eliminating rebirth. They are deduced after centuries old ponderings by saints on the banks of River Saraswati.

Karma explains affluence and suffering today resulting from the past and thus not in ones control. Rebirth asserts that tomorrow is in ones control by doing being good today. Laws of karma offer solace against sufferings or affluence in society. This knowledge has helped to reconcile and soften ill effects of past karma via prayers, meditation, pilgrimage to holy places and company of divine peoples i.e. satsang and to develop merits for happy rebirth.

In absence of such perspective, impatient peoples want to get rich quickly and alleviate sufferings rapidly between span of birth and death, generating an epidemic of psychiatric ailments, crime and mental institutions. Rebirth philosophy maintains that there is no demotion of human soul to animal body. Rebirth gives a soul environment where one satiates unfulfilled desires of previous birth: newer desires, are satiated in next birth - till all cravings are fully satiated, leaving no need for further birth. Karma and rebirth culminate in nirvana, Moksha, Kaivalya. merger with causal source the God. Ramesh Jhalla Via Email

Cllr. Sachin Rajput Conservative Greater London Assembly Candidate For Brent & Harrow

Partition of India - precursor to international terrorism?

Although Osama bin Laden is no more it is most likely that his ghost will continue to haunt the world for a very long time to come. It should not be a surprise that such a high profile fugitive could be living so close to the highest Pakistani Military Academy. He has been given shelter there for two reasons.

First, it is an area most secured and protected by the Pakistani military and intelligence service thus providing natural and automatic security to bin Laden.

Second, on one in the world could contemplate that a person who has apparently been sought by Pakistan can live in such a place. And that is why the Pakistani authority has been insisting that Osama is not in Pakistan. Pakistan which was a part of India is now the epicentre of international terrorism. It is not only al Quaeda and the Taliban but many other terrorist groups such as LeT and a few others have their natural home in Pakistan. If a group is banned it appears in another name. Besides as British ministers have pointed out about 75% terrorist activities are either originated in Pakistan or exported from there. India has always been a home of many religions, cultures and traditions. Yet only Muslims have forced partition of India.

Why? It was said Muslims could not live alongside the Hindus, the majority population in the country.

But now millions of Muslims especially from Bangladesh have been sneaking through the porous border into India.

If India was not partitioned, if it was a united country, there was no chance of al Quaeda having any form of shelter there.

The Taliban which is a creation of Pakistan would have never seen the daylight. Indeed there was no chance for the world even to know the name Taliban, let alone its terrorist activities.

Dr Jatindra Saha Via Emails

Osama fiasco

The scenes of people dancing in the streets which took place at the White House and the ground zero site when the news of Osama Bin Laden’s death was broadcast was in bad taste. You do not rejoice on the occasion of a person’s death even if the person concerned was instrumental in causing the deaths of hundreds of people in the US, UK and India.

Even the Archbishop of Canterbury said that he had an uncomfortable feeling about the way in which he was shot dead in cold blood. He was a killer and would not walk the earth again but a civilised society should not stoop to his level and celebrate his or, for that, matter anybody’s death. This is a moral issue about human life, but the world would be a safer place now that he has gone.

The Pakistani PM has the audacity to blame the Western intelligence services for not detecting, catching Osama earlier when he was clearly enjoying the hospitality of the Pakistani ISI. How many such top brass, most wanted terrorists are under their wings?

It was obvious that US did not trust Pakistan and carried out the raid in utmost secrecy.

Indian and Afghan government had long been telling the West about the double standard, pretending to curb terrorism and conning the gullible West out of billions of dollars that keeps the bankrupt nation afloat.

Even our PM promised £650 millions to build new schools while on official visit, the money we do not have and when our own schools are starved of the finances, school building programme heavily curtailed. Obviously for our PM, charity begins overseas.

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford

Bhupendra M Gandhi Via Email

Dancing on the Streets

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AV system In the last week’s referendum on Alternative Vote (AV), more than two thirds of the people who voted categorically rejected the new system and preferred First Past the Post.

The defeat is humiliating for the supporters of AV system with seven in 10 people voted NO- was nothing short of disaster to Lib Dem. Some 700 Lib Dem councillors also lost their seats in the local election.

On the other hand Tories did better than they hoped far winning the popular vote with more than 80 extra seats.

David Cameron is the only political leader who was in the winning side in the bitter and hard fought AV referendum.

The labour party leader Ed Miliband, who like Mr Clegg fought for a YES vote, was also routed. Even though the labour party won 800 council seats, it was mainly at the expense of Lib Dems in the North and failed to take seats from the Tories.

The reason for the run away success for the NO vote campaign is due to senior labour leaders like Lord Reed and David Blankett who appeared along with David Cameron to put their case for NO vote setting aside the political differences. Because of Ed Miliband support for Yes vote, the labour party was divided and it was No vote campaigners who won the day.

Generations have been served well by the British system, because under the first past-the-post system extremists have been excluded from parliament and the parliament runs for the full term without any interruption. The British public wants to preserve the tried and tested system and they are proud of.

Arun Vaidyanathan Via Email

Party politics All the three major parties Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrats, lost elections heavily in Scotland thus making The Scottish National Party to win a clear majority. It waves possibilities of Independent Scotland. The intentions of people of Scotland may not be to create a separate state, but may be the British are fed up with all the three parties and with the lies of their Leaders.

Scottish had the option to vote for the fourth Scottish National Party. People are particularly upset with Liberal Democratic party and with their leaders who supported the increase of University Fees to £9000 per annum This ridiculous action of Nick Clegg with other Ministers of Liberal party has dug their own grave.

It will be better for them to accept their mistake and stop supporting the Conservative party blindly and stick to the policies of the party originally and promises they made before last general election.They should openly come up and take action to stop charging local students high fee in the Universities.

Dharam Sahdev 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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COUNCIL VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

England council elections Kartik.S.Raval

local elections took place in all parts of England with the exception of six unitary authorities - Cornwall, Durham, the Isle of Wight, Northumberland, Shropshire and Witshire; seven districts and boroughs Adur, Cheltenham, Fareham, Gosport, Hastings, Nuneaton and Bedworth

The 2011 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 5 May 2011. In England, direct elections were held in all 36 Metropolitan boroughs, 194 Second-tier district authorities, 49 unitary authorities and various mayoral posts, meaning Council Birmingham Bolton Bradford Coventry Doncaster Dudley Leeds Liverpool Manchester Newcastle upon Tyne Oldham Rochdale Sheffield Stockport Trafford Wolverhampton Bath & North East Somerset Bedford Blackpool Bournemouth Brighton & Hove Central Bedfordshire Cheshire East Cheshire West & Chester Darlington Herefordhsire Leicester Luton Middlesbrough North Lincolnshire Nottingham South Gloucestershire Stoke-on-Trent Windsor & Maidenhead York Blackburn with Darwen Bristol Derby Kingston upon Hull Milton Keynes Peterborough

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Previous control No overall control No overall control No overall control Labour Labour Conservative No overall control Labour Labour Liberal Democrat No overall control No overall control No overall control Liberal Democrat Conservative No overall control No overall control No overall control Conservative Conservative No overall control Conservative Conservative Conservative Labour Conservative Labour Labour Labour Labour Labour No overall control No overall control Conservative No overall control No overall control Liberal Democrat No overall control Liberal Democrat No overall control Conservative

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and Oxford and 32 London boroughs.

The following is the compilation of various councils around England that constitutes of large Asian community. A similar compilation of elected British Asian councillors will be provided in the coming week's Asian Voice edition.

2011 result No overall control Labour gain No overall control Labour hold Labour hold Conservative hold Labour gain Labour hold Labour hold Labour gain Labour gain No overall control Labour gain No overall control Conservative hold Labour gain No overall control No overall control Labour gain Conservative hold No overall control Conservative hold Conservative hold Conservative hold Labour hold Conservative hold Labour hold Labour hold Labour hold Conservative gain Labour hold No overall control Labour gain Conservative hold Labour gain Labour gain No overall control No overall control Labour gain No overall control Conservative hold

hold hold

hold gain hold hold hold

hold

gain hold hold

Council

Previous control

2011 result

Plymouth Portsmouth Reading Slough Southampton Swindon Warrington Ashford Canterbury Chichester Chiltern Dartford Dover Eastbourne East Cambridgeshire East Devon East Hampshire East Hertfordshire East Northamptonshire East Staffordshire Lancaster Mid Devon Mid Sussex North Devon North East Derbyshire North West Leicestershire Northampton Richmondshire South Derbyshire South Northamptonshire South Oxfordshire Warwick West Devon West Somerset Wycombe Burnley Cambridge Colchester Crawley Gloucester Ipswich Norwich Preston South Cambridgeshire Stratford-on-Avon Watford West Lancashire West Oxfordshire Winchester

Conservative Liberal Democrat No overall control Labour Conservative Conservative No overall control Conservative Conservative Conservative Conservative Conservative Conservative Liberal Democrat Conservative Conservative Conservative Conservative Conservative Conservative No overall control No overall control Conservative Conservative Labour Conservative Liberal Democrat No overall control Conservative Conservative Conservative Conservative No overall control Independent Conservative No overall control Liberal Democrat No overall control Conservative No overall control No overall control No overall control No overall control Conservative Conservative Liberal Democrat Conservative Conservative Liberal Democrat

Conservative hold Liberal Democrat hold No overall control hold Labour hold Conservative hold Conservative hold Labour gain Conservative hold Conservative hold Conservative hold Conservative hold Conservative hold Conservative hold Liberal Democrat hold Conservative hold Conservative hold Conservative hold Conservative hold Conservative hold Conservative hold No overall control hold Conservative gain Conservative hold No overall control gain Labour hold Conservative hold Conservative gain No overall control hold Conservative hold Conservative hold Conservative hold Conservative hold Conservative gain Conservative gain Conservative hold No overall control hold Liberal Democrat hold No overall control hold Conservative hold Conservative gain Labour gain No overall control hold Labour gain Conservative hold Conservative hold Liberal Democrat hold Conservative hold Conservative hold No overall control hold

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12

MEDIA WATCH

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

Scrutator’s The British (and international) media are in a feeding frenzy over the death of Osama bin Laden and the circumstances leading to his violent end. The world's most wanted fugitive who had eluded capture for nearly a decade was finally run to ground in his mansion in the Pakistan garrison town of Abbotabad by US commandos and gunned down. Closure could now be applied to the dreadful bombings of 9/11, which claimed almost 3,000 American lives (mostly) at the site of New York's Ground Zero, and in Washington, said the nation's bereaved.

While the long arm of American power sent bin Laden to a watery grave, it would be naïve to suppose that Islamist regional and global terror has been eliminated. Far from it, as the leading voices of the Obama administration acknowledge.

It will be a long haul, they say, and informed voices across the world agree. One chapter in the struggle has ended, another is about to begin. The involvement of the Pakistani military and intelligence services with jehadi groups is set for fresh critical scrutiny, particularly in the United States. The received fiction that only a few rogue elements in the Pakistani establishment had such links will wash no longer. The clamour for the truth, and nothing but the truth, will surely grow louder.

However, America's (and Britain's) relationship with Islamabad will continue, despite the ups and downs.

Islamabad will be lost without American and British largesse, while Washington and London would stand to lose a valued regional chip in the continuing Great Game. Double-talk and double-dealing will supplement the copious military and financial aid from its western handlers to keep Pakistan afloat.

A notable postscript is a ringing declaration of China's support for Pakistan in the bin Laden affair (Peter Oborne in The Daily Telegraph May7). The Beijing-Islamabad axis against India has had a 50-year life span and may well endure into the next century, assuming the partners are in robust health and suffer from no hardening of their arteries. There are noteworthy voices in Pakistan calling for the replacement of the US by China as the country's principal ally. A brilliant idea!

Leading question Catherine Philp's analysis in The Times (May 4) carried the following title: “Was globe's No 1 terrorist under state protection?” Good question. She set the scene to her answer.

“Last week, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani stood before the passing out parade at Pakistan's top military academy and delivered a welcome message to the graduating cadets. Thanks to the sacrifices of his soldiers the Pakistan army chief said, the 'back of terrorism' in the country had been broken.”

A few hundred yards away, said Ms Philp, “the man who had dragged Pakistan into the War on Terror ten years earlier sat quietly inside his sprawling fortified mansion dining on roasted goat. Could Pakistan's leaders really have been ignorant that Osama bin Laden,

ing distance of Islamabad?”

Washington feared not. Hence it didn't breathe so much as a word to its partner about Geronimo, the operation that led to bin Laden's death.

Ms Philp again: “Pakistan's response – chaotic, contradictory and faintly desperate – underlines ....its world view....long....distorted by its preoccupation with India.”

She concludes: “It stretches credulity, however, to believe that the ISI did not know of [of the towering compound in Abbotabad]. Was bin Laden living under de facto state protection? And what does the fact that we even have to ask tell us about Pakistan?”

Telling the truth Ann Treneman, The Times Parliamentary sketch writer, referred to David Cameron's

President Barak Obama announcing the death of Osama bin Ladan

the world's most wanted man, was living in the heart of the garrison town within commut-

prevarications in the Commons on Pakistan.

Contrast these with the bluff

comment from Kris Hopkins, a former soldier and MP from Keighley who haunts the farthest Tory Backbench. “I want to see Pakistan prosperous.....But I've got to say that lots of people in this country know something stinks about where bin Laden was found and apparently has been living these past five years. If this country is going to financially and morally support it, the Pakistani Government needs to come clean.”

It hasn't for decades, so

Supercomputer ISRO's fastest A Hindu newspaper report (May 3) stated that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had built a supercomputer with theoretical peak performance of 220 TerraFLOPS 9220 Trillion Floating Point Operations per second). This is housed in the Satish Dhawan Supercomputing Facility at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram in

stupid to think of one high-performance car as better than another. For example, one might have better acceleration, another greater range, a third better handling.”

The Indian Air Force had to decide which of these aircraft best suited its tactical and strategic needs. The unsuccessful vendors were given detailed technical explanations on where their products failed to measure up to IAF requirements. The American sulk at the rejection of the F-16 and the Super Hornet F-18 has given rise to the controversy.

Mr Swami pointed that out the IAF's choice of a Lockheed engine for India's domestically produced Tejas fighter had been accepted with commendable grace by European competitors. The US should show similar maturity, he averred.

Russia's inability to nail this deal would make no difference to its close cooperation with India on their joint ventures in this field.

Vietnam, India ties

The new Graphic Processing Unit-based supercomputer SAGA-220

why should it do so now.

Come hell or high water, London and Washington will stand shoulder to shoulder with Islamabad.

Heed the words of Osama bin Laden's mentor Abdullah Azzam: “History does not write its lines except with blood. Glory does not build its lofty edifice except with skulls; honour and respect cannot be established except on a foundation of cripples and corpses.”

Bin Laden is dead but his message lives on among large swaths of the Muslim world.

Anthony Loyd, The Times Correspondent, reporting from Abbotabad (May 5) told how bin Laden's mansion had already become something of a shrine for Pakistanis. “I can tell you for a fact that it will become a big tourist attraction,” said Dr Muhamned Afzar Nisar, the deputy civil chief of the city. “Abbottabad is already a tourist location so the more for us the better. Why should we destroy the building?” A Pakistani tourist, 24, Ahmed by name, who brought his 11 month-old daughter with him, explained: “Osama was a good Muslim who fought for Islam. He was a hero to us.

I expect in time to see all sorts of tourists here, even Japanese and Americans.” Another Pakistani called Zulqurnain extolled bin Laden. “He was our lion.”

Christine Fair, the American think-tank analyst, saw the possibility of bin Laden emerging “as a sort of Che Guevara of the jehadist movement.” As many of the faithful see it, bin Laden's 'martyrdom' may turn out to be his most potent legacy for those willing, like him, to live and die by the sword.

Kerala.

The new Graphic Processing Unit-based supercomputer SAGA-220 is being used by space scientists for solving complex aerospace problems. SAGA-220 was inaugurated by Dr K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, ISRO, at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre on May 2.

India jet deal Praveen Swami, The Daily Telegraph Diplomatic Editor, produced a lucid analysis in The Hindu (May 1) in defence of India's decision to shortlist the Raphel and Typhoon, designed and manufactured respectively by France and a European consortium consisting the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy to the exclusion of its American, Russian and

India's longstanding ties with Vietnam received a welcome boost from the visit to Hanoi of India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, a powerful force in the country's ruling political constellation. Frontier India Online (May 4) reported Mr Mukherjee's firm assurance to the Vietnamese leadership of India's continuing assistance for the country's military modernisation, particularly its Navy and Air Force. He reiterated India's commitment to the Indo-Vietnam strategic partnership, which was based, he said, on mutual trust, a convergence of interests including defence and security, and a common perception on global and regional issues.

Vietnam's Defence Minister General Phung Quang Thanh had earlier expressed appreciation to India for the benefits of cooperation for his country's armed forces in a variety of critical fields.

Vietnam is the stuff of legend, having defeated France,

Rafale warplane

Swedish rivals.

They were all superlative aircraft, said an Indian Air Force official. “Imagine being asked to pick between a topend Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar and Ferrari. It would be plain

the US and China, the first two in full blown wars, the third in a defensive operation to repel a month-long invasion from its neighbour to the north. A remarkable feat for any nation, let alone a relatively small one.

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

13

Political Sketchbook Alpesh Patel’s

Let’s Not Forget Britain in all this India Talk ‘Booming India is rich with opportunities for UK business’ wrote Patricia Hewitt, my fellow UK India Business Council Executive Board Member, in the Financial Times this week. And she is right. Her figures are unimpeachable.

Her analysis spot on. Her argument insurmountable. There’s just one problem. I wish we could say the reverse with as much force: that booming Britain is rich with opportunities for Indian business.

Now of course Britain is an outstanding investment location. No doubt about it. But I want it to be more so. And I know the Government does because I work with UKTI to attract Indian entrepreneurs here. So before I give you my ‘if I ruled the world’ on making Britain ‘rich with opportunities for Indian business’ let me give you an outline of the state of play.

Bilateral trade is at more than £11billion between the two countries. Eh? What does that mean? Well it was less than half that 11 years ago. But UK exports more to Sweden than to India.

India spend more on Defence than UK. But Britain only recently conducted joint land military exercises in India. India needs 40m university places by 2022.

Britain has one of the best (still I think) university models in the world.

But as I said, it is not the export side I want to talk about. My most important plan for attracting Indian entrepreneurs to the UK to make Britain richer with opportunities for Indian business: get teaching entrepreneurship in our schools. What? What about cutting

employer NI for employees, making entrepreneur visas easier, building links between universities, venture capitalists and innovators, having geographies of specialisms, improving R&D tax breaks and infrastructure?

Well the most important thing about an entrepreneurial country – is its people! And if you don’t have a population understanding and imbibed in the entrepreneurial culture then your whole country fails. Who do you think pays the wages – an entrepreneur who started the company. Who do you think pays the taxes – either people employed by entrepreneurs or those paid by the state which receives its taxes from the companies set up by entrepreneurs and the people employed by the companies set up by the entrepreneurs! Phew!

Now some people will complain that entrepreneurship cannot be taught or that it is too political to teach entrepreneurship in the school curriculum. Well to them I say, look around. We live in a capitalist country. Get with the program.

It ain’t Syria. If you don’t like entrepreneurship then you probably don’t want to be taught English either at school as its too ‘political’.

Maybe if entrepreneurship was more prevalent in Britain, the tax regime, the judicial system, the infrastructure, the Universities, the angel investor groups – would all be far more favourable to entrepreneurs. Plan now – the future is sooner than you think.

Alpesh.patel@tradermind.com www.alpeshblog.com

Lord Loomba delivers touching speech in the House of Lords Lord Loomba CBE, Founder and Chairman Trustee of the Loomba Foundation, who was introduced in the House of Lords on 17th January 2011, participated in a debate - ‘Those Living in Extreme Poverty in the Developing World’ in the House of Lords on 28th April, 2011. Below is his contribution from Hansard.

Lord Loomba defined poverty and added, "More than 1 billion people around the world live in extreme poverty. Many of them go to bed hungry every night. Every year more than 11 million children die before their fifth birthday.

More than 500,000 women die in pregnancy or childbirth.

Sadly, these people are victims of extreme poverty...There is a lot of terrorism and many people are dying of hunger; so many wrong things are happening.

Unfortunately, extreme poverty is prevalent both in developing and developed countries.

According to Oxfam, 13.4 million people in the UK live in poverty-20 per cent of the population.

According to Save the Children, 1.6 million children live in severe poverty

Lord Loomba

in the United Kingdom.

As a founder and chairman trustee of the Loomba Foundation, a UN-accredited global NGO, my charity is committed to raising awareness of the plight of widows and children around the world who are suffering through poverty, illiteracy, HIV, malaria, conflict and social injustice."

He further explained in developing countries when a poor woman loses her husband she loses her identity. She has to depend on children who then quit education and try to earn bread and butter for the family. These children with minimal education often work in the streets or as cheap labourers and get involved with crime.

In 2009, the Loomba Foundation started a new project in association with the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women and SolarAid in Malawi and Kenya. The Loomba Foundation published the comprehensive research study last year, Invisible, Forgotten Sufferers-The Plight of Widows Around the World, which revealed the plight of 245 million widows and 500 million children around the world who suffer in silence. There are 100 million widows who live in poverty struggling to survive; 1.5 million widows' children around the world will die before they reach the age of five.

At the 65th UN General Assembly last year, the United Nations declared 23 June as International Widows Day. The declaration was made unanimously by all 192 member nations. He concluded, "I am glad that through our educational and empowerment programmes, my charity has been able to give respect and dignity to widows and help them to break the vicious cycle of poverty. However, we need to do more."

Changing face of UK’s democracy The polling of AV referendum will be marked as an historic event in Britain's democracy.

Simultaneously, there was history in the making in the elections of May, 1978. After endless efforts of New Life to get more British Asians involved in the UK's frontline politics, its effect was finally felt.

Many members of the community started to take participation in politics seriously and seven Asians were elected at various borough councils of the capital.

We look back at the stories that made headlines in the New Life edition of 12th May, 1978:The tasks of the elected councillors The response to the appeal of New Life, among others, was finally rewarded. Six or more Asian candidates belonging to the main political parties, besides an independent, were elected to various borough councils of London.

The results showed that more Asians had

lost principles of equality between sexes.

A delegation of Indians collectively representing over 100,000 settlers which met Mr. Whitelaw in the House of Commons had told New Life that Tory immigrations control proposals might be relaxed to allow non-British husbands to join their British wives in the UK. been politicised but Asian voters had to be vigilant that no Asian councillor became a “Yes Man” to the party he or she belonged to as such a councillor would be definitely made use of by the respective political parties to project good race relations in theory while doing nothing in practice.

Tories may soften their race line Mr. William Whitelaw, the then deputy leader of the Conservative Party and Shadow Minister who was principally responsible for the Tory immigration policy seemed to be ready to bring back the

Racial tension revived by shooting and attacks Fresh attacks on nonwhites in the Midlands and in the East End of London had increased fears about the level of racial tension in areas with considerable immigrants' population.

Son of Emergency finally goes to jail Mr Sanjay Gandhi, son of the former Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, who had become the second most notorious person in India during her barbaric emergency regime had been taken into custody and sent to judicial lock up.

14

ART & CULTURE

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

Bhavan brings cultural Mahotsav to London Bhavan, London’s leading centre of Indian art and culture presents Mahotsav - a daylong celebration of music, dance, poetry, storytelling and exhibitions from the sub-continent.

Presenting artists from India and the across Britain this is an opportunity to see and take part in the rich cultural heritage of South Asia.

Among the highlights are two of Britain’s finest young musicians from the classical genre: Vina player, Hari Sivanesan and Sarod talent, Soumik Datta.

Outstanding Vina player, Hari Sivanesan (former student of Bhavan teacher Sivasakti Sivanesan) has this year selected to be the BBC Radio 3 World Routes Academy protégé. Recently back

Hari Sivanesan

from a World Routes trip to India and Sri Lanka where he trained with the outstanding south Indian classical vocalist Aruna Sairam, he’ll also be appearing at BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall this summer. At the Bhavan, he’ll be talking about his trip to South Asia with BBC pre-

Odissi Dancer Arushi Mudgal coming to the UK Milapfest is delighted to announce the return of the beautiful Odissi dancer Arushi Mudgal to the UK for a tour of performances in the North West and a four day workshop in London in May. Every year Milapfest brings the finest upcoming talent in Indian performing arts to the UK for performances, workshops and master classes as part of ongoing professional development opportunities for young artists. The first dance tour of the 2011 summer season is Arushi Mudgal, arguably one of the most talented Odissi dancers of the younger generation of artists in India.

After a recent performance, Anjana Rajan of The Hindu said: “Arushi danced with stamina and involvement, exemplifying the difference between

Hare Krishna festival, a vibrant celebration of Indian culture and spirituality in our city.

Thousands of festival-goers, pilgrims, and faith leaders from all over the world will hand-

Mayor to celebrate Vaisakhi festival at the Square

repetitive movement and motif. A truly refreshing dancer to watch” Performances: l The Lowry, Salford Quays 8 May 2011 l The Capstone Theatre, Liverpool 14 May 2011 Workshop: l Patidar House, London 9 - 12 May 2011 Arushi is the first ever recipient of Milapfest's International Dance Fellowship, awarded to her in 2010, and will perform an exciting programme of classical and contemporary dance alongside some specially commissioned pieces that she has choreographed herself. The London workshop, taking place at Patidar House, will focus on teaching students a new piece of classical choreography to add to their repertoire.

Ratha-yatra returns to London London’s 'Ratha-yatra’ Festival of Chariots returns to the streets of the capital on Sunday 12th June 2011. London will be illuminated by the wonderful colours and sounds of the annual

senter, Lucy Duran.

Hari will be playing with Soumik Datta, one of the UK’s most brilliant South Asian musicians and a recent Artistein-Residence at the Southbank.

Both the concert and discussion will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

There’ll also be an opportunity to see student showcases led by Bhavan’s respected music and dance teachers, an opportunity view exhibitions of Calligraphy and hindu deity, Ganesh, as well a chance to indulge yourself in Indian cuisine.

The event has been organised with the support of the Nehru Centre and the Arts Council.

pull the three 40-foot high colourful chariots carrying the sacred deities of Lord Jagannath, Lady Subhadra and Lord Balarama from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square.

The giant chariots will be accompanied by a procession of singers, musicians, and dancers.

London will pulsate to Indian spiritual sounds with instruments from across the globe.

In brief

Hindus welcome efforts to install Saint Basaveshwara statue in London Hindus have welcomed the efforts to install a Saint Basaveshwara statue in Albert Embankment Gardens in Lambeth borough of London (United Kingdom).

Dr. Neeraj Patil, a Lambeth Councillor, is said to be championing this project. According to reports, Karnataka Chief Minister Dr. B.S. Yediyurappa has Saint announced a donation of about £410,000 towards installation of Basaveshwara this statue.

There was reportedly a plan to raise £250,000 from the area community.

Lambeth is one of 13 boroughs that make up inner London.

Besides Patil, Lambeth has 62 other elected councillors, including Neil Sabharwal and Niranjan Francis. About 150 languages are spoken in Lambeth, whose about Dr. Neeraj Patil 2.3% population is of India background, and which is known for London Eye and Lambeth Palace (official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury).

Christiana Valcarcel, Judith Best, and Steve Reed are Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Council Leader respectively of Lambeth.

Pre Cannes reception to boost UK film industry funds

Vaisakhi festival last year

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, invites Londoners to attend his 2011 Vaisakhi in the Square celebrations to highlight the Sikh New Year.

The event, now in its ninth year, attracts thousands of Londoners from all faiths, races and backgrounds for the festival of colour and spectacle, in the heart of London’s iconic Trafalgar Square.

The celebrations will start with prayers and messages for peace, followed by performances of At Trafalgar Square, where the procession concludes, the whole family can enjoy cultural and educational displays and exhibitions, revealing the spiritual heart of India.

Revellers can participate in lively workshops, sample traditional Indian music, food, and literature, or try sari-draping and face-painting. From the stage, festival-goers will be, amongst other things, treated to traditional Odissi temple dance, contemporary philosophical dramas, and energising mantra chants. In addition to all this, free sumptuous Indian vegetarian cuisine will add to a special family outing. It will indeed be a feast for the eyes, ears and the palate!

traditional and modern Asian music and dance including Bollywood dancers and drummers.

The festivities include various cultural activities for all ages, including stalls, interactive marquees, plus live music and entertainment by Sunrise Radio.

Gurkhas from Reading attend yoga training With the increasing popularity of Patanjali Yoga in the United Kingdom, Pran Yoga Nepali Group, which was formed a few months ago in Aldershot, organised two day training in Hayes, London, in coordination with Patanjali Yoga Peeth UK Trust.

About 60 people including 45 registered for the instructors training participated. This is the second such training organised at the initiative of the Nepali group in the UK. The Nepali group has been actively involved in disseminating the message of Swami Ramdev, who stressed on good health for everyone.

Around two dozen Nepali from Reading, London, Aldershot and other parts attended the training along with Indians and other nationalities.

Sunday 8th May, Kaybee Pictures and Gaurang Doshi Productions hosted a pre-Cannes reception to launch their new ￡300million fund as well as preview the first film ‘London Life’, the story of a group of students from overseas living together, and the hardships they face in a strange & sometimes unwelcoming land.

Undaunted by the film industry downturn that has seen 25% across-the-board slashing of public support from the UK government, Renu Patel of Kaybee Pictures (UK based) and Gaurang Doshi of Gaurang Doshi Productions (India based) united to create a unique approach to film making. The fund will be producing 12 Bollywood and Hollywood films signing major international actors/actresses as well as encouraging up and coming global talent. All 12 films will be filmed in London over the next 3 years, giving a real boost to the UK Film industry.

Class 5 children enjoy visit to Adhya Shakti Mataji temple

On Thursday 5th of May, Adhya Shakti Mataji Temple was visited by class 5 (30 Children) accompanied by 6 teachers from St. Andrews's Church of England, Primary School, visiting the Temple in Cowley High Street, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 2DX. This is the first visit to the Temple from a School.

Councillor Judith Cooper attended as the governor of the School. A welcoming music was played by Shree Budhdevbhai and Shree Shobanbhai on Saragi. A speech on Hinduism was given by Shree Guptaji from 'Lets talk Hinduism' (on MATV Channel).

The evening ended with musical demonstration

by Manoj on dhol, bhajans by Manubhai Kotak and nice gift and group photos for the children.

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

Tagore: A man ahead of his time

By Rupanjana Dutta A lecture on May 6th, by the Nobel Laureate, Professor Amartya Sen, entitled, “What Difference Does Tagore Make” and an exhibition of paintings by Rabindranath Tagore at the British Museum, launched the 150th anniversary of the Tagore celebrations in the UK. The event was jointly organised by the High Commission of India and the British Museum.

British Peers, MPs, Foreign Consulates and UK community leaders, besides scholars, journalists and academicians, were present.

Named by Tagore himself, Prof Sen spoke about the various facets of Tagore’s genius as poet, song writer, novelist and thinker with writings on social, political, religious and cultural subjects affecting the India of his day. The impact of his humanism and internationalism on like minded European intellectuals helped draw East and West together.

The popularity of Tagore’s poems in the English speaking world received an enormous boost from W B Yeats- the Irish poet. Iconic figures such as the English war poet Wilfred Owen and the philosopher Bertrand Russell and the playwrite and essayist Bernard Shaw’s all interacted with the Indian poet. Prof Sen mentioned in relation to Nietzsche, Tolstoy, E M Forster, C F Andrews and Graham Greene.

While Prof Sen was critical of Yeat’s editing of Gitanjali, he was proud of Tagore’s impact on Wilfred Owen in the last days before his death in the trenches of World War I. Amartya Sen concluded his lecture by referring to Tagore’s later loss of popularity in the west, from its high noon that straddled the First World War, attributing this to his philosophical, religious and mystical musing as a ‘sage

divided world.

Prof Sen, also dwelt on the relationship between Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi, whom he greatly admired, but with whom he differed sharply when he felt that the Mahatma jettisoned reason for obscurantist judgement.

He said, "Perhaps, the central issues that moved Tagore most are

method of birth control.

Tagore believed in family planning. The two also differed sharply on the role of modern medicines and science. "Many of these issues remain deeply relevant even today," Prof Sen said.

However, at the outset, Prof Sen said that Tagore had transformed the Bengali language. "Tagore had been able to reshape and reconstruct modern Bengali." He said "Tagore's impact on Bengali prose was, perhaps, less than Bengali poetry." Perhaps, the central issues that moved him most are the importance of an open-

Prof Amartya Sen giving lecture on “What Difference does Tagore make?” at the British Museum

the importance of open minded reasoning and celebration of human freedom."

Delivering the lecture Prof Sen added: Tagore, who gave Gandhi the title of Mahatma (the great soul), admired the apostle of non-violence.

He cited an earthquake in Bihar in 1934, in which thousands died. He quoted Gandhi as saying that this was "a divine chastisement sent by God for our sins, the sin of untouchability."

Tagore was as much concerned about the fight against untouchability, but, said Sen, reacting to Gandhi's remark, opined: "It is all the more unfortunate because this kind of an unscientific view of phenomena are accepted by a

mind, a capacity to reason rationality and the celebration of human freedom.

"This placed Tagore in somewhat distinct category from his compatriots”, said Prof Sen. After the Q&A session, HE Nalin Surie concluded the event. In his vote of thanks, the Indian High Commissioner said that perhaps India was to blame for not disseminating Tagore's message correctly.

Tagore was a ahead of his time and this was the right time to spread his believes of international unity and peace.

At a separate event, Tanusree Shankar Dance Company, an acclaimed dance group, performed a dance drama, "The Child",

People at the British Museum enjoying the paintings by Rabindranath Tagore

with a message’-which gradually made him more of a fantasy-like character such as ‘Gandalf’ (from the famous trilogy- Lord of the Rings). However, Prof Sen stressed the power of Tagore’s words “where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; where knowledge is free” as an answer to the threats of today’s broken and

large segment of our countrymen." Sen, who won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1998, said Tagore rejected Gandhi's "alternative economic" model, and described his diction of spinning the charka as "antiquated".

Prof Sen stated further illustrated that Tagore disagreed with Gandhi's prescription of abstinence as a

at London's Bhavans.

An year-long exhibition of Tagore's paintings is also being held at Victoria & Albert Museum, in London, untill 8th March 2012, while the Nehru Centre has organised special seminars, exhibitions, films, poetry recitals, music, in commemoration of Rabindranath Tagore.

15

Cllr Rabi Martins Watford Borough Council

Ruthless and Calculative The local council election and the AV Referendum results have dealt a significant blow to Liberal Democrats. It is not unusual for the Party of government to do badly in local elections. Thus the results are not altogether unexpected.

Except of course the main Party of Government – the Conservatives did not share the same fate. Was this just chance or have the conservatives been as Vince Cable says “ruthless and calculating” ?

There is a school of thought which says that David Cameron knew exactly what he was doing when he invited Nick Clegg to form a coalition. Cameron knew that his government would need to take some very unpopular decisions in order to sort out the economic mess that Labour had left the country in they could be used as the “human shield” to protect his Party from the inevitable anger in the community.

He may have also calculated that because of their thirst for power Nick Clegg and his team were unlikely to drive too hard a bargain. It appears he was right. True, the Liberal Democrats took their time to consider the offer and ensured the partnership was conditional on a significant amount of their Manifesto pledges were written into the Coalition Agreement. However history may show that they did allow the prospect of becoming the Party of Government after 65 years of operating as the Party of protest to cloud their judgement. And that it was this thirst for power which prevented them from holding out for Proportional Representation rather than agreeing to a

referendum on AV and not listening to their members who wanted Tuition Fees to be a non negotiable item Critics of Nick Clegg, including some within the Party blame him for failing to see that the Liberal Democrats were being used by Cameron and co and that for them the coalition was nothing more than a marriage of convenience.

A few are even calling for him to resign Nothing Clegg has said so far suggests he is about to do any such thing.

Nor should he.

It would be a mistake to underestimate the benefits Liberal Democrats in government have delivered to the country as members of the coalition government.

Reduction of income tax for the lower paid. Thousands are already paying £200 or more less this year and figure will continue to go up.

Extended 15 hours free early education to all disadvantaged two year-olds, plus the offer of 15 hours early education for every three and four year-old.

Restoration of the link between pensions and earnings, Scrapping of the ID cards scheme.

Not a lot of people seem to know that.

As time moves on and the people start to notice the positive contributions that Liberal Democrats in government have made and are making to their lives there is every possibility that Nick Clegg and his team will start to get the credit they deserve. This will see their electoral fortunes start to rise once again.

16

BOLLyWOOD

Asian Voice Saturday 14th May 2011

Sonakshi – Ranveer proximity upsets Anushka The growing proximity between Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha has not been appreciated by Anushka Sharma though she has denied being in a relationship with her co-star in Band Baja Baraat. The buzz is that Anushka was seen looking upset when she spotted Ranveer talking animatedly with Sonakshi and her mother Punam at the Dada Saheb Phalke Academy Awards function in Mumbai. According to sources, "The trouble began with a remark Sonakshi made on Koffee With Karan. She had stated that she'd love to work with Ranveer. The BBB girl's insecurity was driven by the fact that her co-star mentioned on the same talk show that he finds Sonakshi hot.

"The Dabangg girl and the BBB boy met at an event a month ago. Both are young, single and eligible and appeared to be getting on like a house on fire. Shatrughan Sinha's daughter has been praising Ranveer when around friends and directors.

In fact she even started recommending the young actor to her producer friends and hinting that they would make a great pair if cast together.

Anushka didn't take it kindly and has started talking against Shotgun's beti to filmi friends."

On being asked whether she is upset with Sonakshi, Anushka was curt, "I don't like to or encourage my friends to talk about other actors male or female. I am here in the industry to do my best (work) and mind my own business and expect the same from others."

Pooja Chopra gets another offer

Pooja Chopra, Pantaloons Femina Miss India World 2009, who has taken the baby steps into K-town with the historical project Ponnar Sankar, has again received her second offer from the Tamil film industry. She is keeping her fin-

gers crossed. "It's very early to talk about it. I have got couple of offers now- one in Tamil and the other in Hindi. I will soon get the details once I sign on the dotted line."

Her maiden venture in Tamil, Ponnar Sankar, might not really have set the cash registers ringing, but Pooja has decided to move ahead with poise. "I put in a lot of effort to do a film in a language that I'm not familiar with.

Everything was new to me and I really had to push the envelope to get things right. It was a conscious decision to make my debut in the south. I am really impressed with the industry here in the south," states Pooja.

Piaa sobbing

Chirpy Mumbai girl, Piaa, who got a big boost in Kollywood with Ko, was seen recently sobbing at a special screening of the film. Apparently she was so moved by the death of Saro, the character she played in the film, that she couldn’t stop crying. Piaa explained, “I was so engrossed in the film that I didn’t even realise it was just a fictitious character.

Tears started rolling from my eyes. My friends, who were with me, consoled

me. K.V. Anand has shot the scene amazingly realistically.” Did she at any point feel that she was too glamorous for the vernacular reporter she played in Ko? She didn’t seem to think so. “I believe, these days, there’s lots of transformation in terms of looks with regional magazines and TV channels. In fact we did a small survey before finalising my look.

Of course, costumes and makeup in songs are cinematic liberties.”

Trisha loves remakes

ShAh Rukh khAn too in an item number Why not SRK? When everyone is upswing with hot item numbers, Shah Rukh Khan cannot be left out.

He too will groove in 'Always Kabhi Kabhi'.

Rukh Khan is among the busiest actors around, what with his film, his IPL commitments and numerous other endorsement related work, but he managed to squeeze out time to shoot a music video for his home production 'Always Kabhi Kabhi' directed by Roshan Abbas.

'Always Kabhi Kabhi', produced

by Red Chillies Entertainment, stars relatively new faces such as Zoa Morani, Giselli Monteiro, Satyajit Dubey and Ali Fazal. To see that the film gets its due share of eyeballs, the makers decided to shoot a special music video featuring SRK along with the cast of the film. The song called 'Antenna' features in the climax and is set against the backdrop of a jail set with some rebellious lyrics describing how parents' frequency many-a-times

Trisha’s recent Telugu release “Teen Maar” (TM), remake of Hindi blockbuster “Love Aaj Kal,” has given her a much-needed hit. But the actress gives all credit to Jayanth and Pawan Kalyan for making it a hit. Interestingly, Love Aaj Kal is one of her favourite films and she has seen the film a dozen times on DVD. Well, that brings us to another important conclusion; remakes have always

worked well for her.

According to her, remakes are a safe bet, though they are challenging. She also feels that a remake works best when nativity and flavour are added to suit the taste of its target audiences.

Coincidentally, Trisha will soon start shooting for another remake. This time, it is for the remake of Siddique’s Malayalam hit Bodyguard in Telugu with Venkatesh in the lead role.

Imran Khan wants to be a bad boy

Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone are headed for yet another showdown. Is Katrina`s hottest item number a copy? Katrina Kaif's 'hot' track in upcoming film might well be inspired by one of Deepika's 2009 releases.

Kat recently shot a song for “Mere Brother Ki Dulhan” that is supposedly going to knock the socks off Sheila Ki Jawani. It now appears that this number is quite similar in picturisation and setting to Deepika's Chor Bazari from “Love Aaj Kal.” According to sources, "Katrina gets drunk after having bhaang at a highway dhaba and starts singing and dancing wildly."

In the “Love Aaj Kal” track Dippy has 'one for the road' before shaking her booty.

Kat has reportedly called Dippy's item number in “Dum

Mallika Sherawat once again met Barack Obama at White House Correspondents' dinner recently. The starlet wore a white gown designed by Shahab Durazi on the occasion.

Mallika had also met the

Maaro Dum” a "thanda" affair as compared to her own Sheila Ki Jawani from “Tees Maar Khan.”

Kat has stated that she hasn't seen the DMD title track that features Dippy and that it doesn't interest her anyway. It's anybody's guess how the MBKD track will finally turn out, but what is sure, if sources are to be believed, that the two are not leaving any stone unturned in upstaging each other.

“The Fall” and “The Cell,” both of which were released in 2006.

Freida, who shot to fame with Danny Boyle's Oscar winning film “Slumdog Millionaire,” plays priestess Phaedra in the ancient Greek epic Immortals, while Rourke is cast as an evil King Hyperion, who rallies an army of bloodthirsty soldiers and wages war on humanity on his quest to find the legendary Epirus Bow - a weapon of unimaginable power.

However, his quest hits a roadblock in the form of Pinto's alter-ego and a tough sword-fighting peasant called Theseus played by actor Henry Cavill.

Mallika Sherawat meets Barack Obama again

Phalke award for Rani, Priyanka Katrina, Deepika heading for a clash From veteran actor Dharmendra to newcomer Ranveer Singh and quite a few actors from the Hindi film industry were honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Awards recently. Rani Mukerji, Priyanka Chopra, Anushka Sharma, Sonakshi Sinha, Rekha and Asha Parekh and Arbaaz Khan among those honoured at the function. Dharmendra was bestowed with the Phalke Ratan, Asha Parekh received the legendary icon cine artist award, Rani Mukherji got the award for her outstanding performance in the film "No One Killed Jessica" and Priyanka Chopra received the award for "7 Khoon Maaf". Anushka was honoured for the excellent performance in the film "Band Baaja Baarat" and her co-actor of the film got the best debut award.

In real life Abhishek Bachchan loves to play pranks and has amazing humour sense, but we have not come across any of his comedy in films. But its not late as yet, we will be soon seeing him in a comedy film and too with a surprise package of his wife Aishwarya. The couple are starring in their first comedy together called Ladies And Gentlemen. To be produced and directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, the film is slated for a 2012 release and is set to go on the floors in the first week of July this year. In the film, Abhishek plays a guy with an insatiable roving eye and Aishwarya sportingly allows her husband to do so.

doesn't match with that of their children.

Bosco-Caesar choreographed the song and King Khan air-dashed from Kolkata straight to the sets, quickly practised his steps and was ready for the shoot. Post the shoot, SRK once again had to return to be with his Kolkata Knight Riders team for their next match. Surely here is one actor who is always high on energy!

This is not the first time that Khan has taken a plunge in the music video/item number territory. Beginning with the one song he did for 'Kaal', the actor started the six pack craze with his next number in 'Om Shanti Om'. He was also seen dancing with three different actresses in 'Billu'.

Baby faced Frieda Pinto had to do a sex scene to survive in the film industry. The first look of Indian actress’ 3D film “Immortals” with actor Mickey Rourke has been released. She was required to shoot a sex scene, which director Tarsem Singh says was a challenge for her.

“Poor girl. It was the first time Freida was doing a sex scene. It was a delicate situation. The crew tried to get all of the lights out so that she can comfortably shoot the scene.

Only 80 people watching and 20 of them with video cameras!"

This is the Indian origin director's third feature film after

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17

Abhishek being funny with wife

FRiedo Pinto shoots her first sex scene

Govinda is one hero who will do his best to make the role perfect, like for “Naughty@ 40” film, he was required to look very slim.

And he went to the extend of shedding 28 kilos.

Govinda, who was labelled Late Latif until a few years ago, has remodeled himself into an early riser and a health freak. “It was important for me to change many things about my lifestyle. The difficult part is to become obstinate that you’ve to lose a lot of weight,” he says, adding that once he became ‘ziddi’ (stubborn) about that, he was able to work systematically towards getting fit.

The actor, who’s a strong believer in Ayurveda, explains that he didn’t want to rush the slimming process because he was worried an untimely break in his regimen would result in the lost kilos returning. “So I created a proper plan, complete with exercising, yoga and meditation, and not to forget, eating at the right time,” explains Govinda, whose dinner now comprises only a bowl of soup.

Point out to him that his films have been delayed in reaching the cinemas, and he says, “Analysing, blaming… all that spoils the atmosphere. We must come up with solutions instead.”

However, he’s quick to clarify, “Producer Anuj Sharma has worked hard to overcome the legal troubles and release Naughty @ 40, though we started working on it about two years ago.”

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

US President last month during his campaign visit in Hollywood. She is said to have spoken about her films, politics and love to Obama.

Obama had told her invite him to the premiere of her latest film!.

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Imran Khan who is considered as a chocolate boy now wants to appear as a bad boy. He no more wants to be one of those primperfect goody-goody one. So, this time he takes a new plunge and is doing one of the very boldest scenes in upcoming movie. Imran Khan is all set to shed his inhibitions for “Delhi Belly.” Releasing on July 1, “Delhi Belly” has been produced by Aamir Khan, and features an ensemble cast including Kunal Roy Kapoor, Poorna Jagannathan, Vir Das and Shenaz Treasurywala. The film is about three friends living together in a bachelor's pad in Delhi.

Director Abhinay Deo says the movie is definitely for the "urban class". “Delhi Belly is in English, actually Hinglish - it is 80% in English and 20% in Hindi.

Salman Khan gets kissed 108 times, creates new record Salman Khan created a new record by getting kissed 108 times! He attempted to break a record for most kisses received on the hand in a minute on Guinness World Records - Ab India Todega. The previous record for the stunt was set by an actor from Japan who received 87 kisses. To break this record, Sallu was joined by 25 young girls who were thrilled to have the opportunity to kiss the superstar. They managed to kiss him 108 times in a minute, breaking the Guinness world record!

Maybe Salman should now star in the male version of Katrina's famous song - Zara Zara Kiss Me Kiss Me.

Kajol superbusy once again After taking a break to look after her second-born Yug, Kajol Devgn has been shooting roundthe-clock for her multiple brand endorsements. For a month now, Kajol has been shooting every week for her eight brands backto-back. They have all renewed their contracts with her. The brands waited for her to return as they feel that Kajol has unmatched credibility. Post the birth of her son Yug on September 13 last year, she was clear that she wanted to wait till March 2011 before shooting again." She told her brand manager that family was her first priority.

"Even now, she only works weekdays and keeps the weekends free for family commitments. Husband Ajay Devgn also doesn't shoot on Sundays too."

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18

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

JLR to develop 50 mn hybrid supercar Dear Financial Voice Reader, So what is the outlook for the financial world? Well there are main trends in the long term and there are tactical decisions in the short term. For instance the main trend is gold higher, but tactically it will weaken in the short term because the Dollar will tactically appreciate as it is now undervalued against most currencies. But the main trend for the Dollar is weakness.

Corporate profits continue to be strong and so can act as a buffer from panic. Their profits arise from cost cutting during the credit crunch and improved export environment in terms of foreign growth and so demand, but also weaker currency making the price of company goods more attractive.

So do UK interest rates need to rise then? Will they? Will property prices fall? Rates should not rise. A rise would send the wrong message and spook investment and spending. People who need and should save are doing so because the credit crunch taught them that lesson. Any way raising interest rates would increase costs and so inflation, not lower it.

Will they rise? Yes probably in July or August because the Bank of England will feel it has to do something to keep its credibility. Will property prices fall? Wages and so house affordability is holding up. So house prices, like salaries, will go sideways.

What about inflation? Yes it is touching 5% and will increase. As I said on BBC 2’s The Daily Politics Show to Andrew Neill, this is because there is not enough supply in the world and too much global demand – obviously! It is a global problem and the Bank of England should be lobbying the Indian and Chinese to raise their interest rates so their people don’t consume so much and prices drop! The Americans are already doing this in asking China to raise their currency.

So what do you do if you hold gold? Hold on. In the next few months it may move a little lower but longer term the current price points remains. I do not want to say bet on a sharp fall or a sharp rise.

What about property. As I said no great crash, no great rise either – that’s for sure. No wonder in the US people are revisiting the notion of renting.

What about stocks? They have soared, yet the argument goes commodity prices should dampen that.

Well the thing to look for is earnings. If they keep generating bumper profits, stocks will soar.

What kind of stocks? Banks? Well, but for the PPI scandal, they weren’t doing too badly in huge profits.

I’ve always banged on about Indian stocks like Tata Motors and US ones like Apple, so won’t repeat myself.

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

India’s car sales witness slowest growth rate in 22 months

Car sales in India posted the slowest growth rate in 22 months in April this year at 13.18 per cent as rising interest rates and declining consumer confidence impacted automobile sales across the country.

According to figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), domestic passenger car sales stood at 1,62,825 units in April, as against 1,43,862 units in the same month last year.

“The April, 2011, sales growth rate was the slowest since June, 2009, when the growth rate was 8.23 per cent. Consumer confidence is low as economic parameters are wobbly at the moment,” SIAM Senior Director Sugato

Sen said.

He said interest rate hikes, coupled with the increase in prices of vehicle due to rising component prices, have also contributed to postponing of purchases.

Total sales of vehicles across categories registered a growth of 22.80 per cent to 13,38,564 units in April as against 10,90,041 units in the same month last year, SIAM said.

In the passenger car segment, market leader Maruti Suzuki’s sales grew by 7.63 per cent to 73,905 units.

Rival Hyundai Motor India’s sales increased by 10.89 per cent to 31,604 units.

However, homegrown auto major Tata Motors’ passenger car sales were down by 1.10 per cent at 19,544 units.

Total two-wheeler sales last month increased by 26.44 per cent to 10,43,970 units from 8,25,632 units in April, 2010.

Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover said it has tied up with Williams F1 to build a very limited number of hybrid supercar, CX75, prices of which will start from about £7,00,000 (over Rs 50 million).

“We all are very excited about the project and the business association with Williams F1 to develop CX75. It is an example of the capability that exists,” Tata Motors chief executive officer Carl-Peter Forster said.

The firm had unveiled the concept of the hybrid supercar at the Paris Motor Show in 2010. It will make only 250 units of the car to be powered by a petrol engine and two powerful electric motors.

It can reach a speed of 100 km per hour in less than 6 seconds and can

cruise at a top speed of over 200 km an hour.

Jaguar C-X75 will be developed in association with Williams F1, which will provide their engineering expertise in areas, including aerodynamics, carbon composite manufacture and hybrid technologies, the company said.

“We see this project as a very important step and will continue to invest in the research and development in future. JLR is already a leading investor in R&D in the UK and we

are investing like never before,” Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) chief executive officer Ralf Speth said.

The company has ambitious plans and it will spend around £1 billion on new generation and technologically advanced product creation, he added.

The project and new plans will require a large number of engineers. We have already hired HR personnel to hire more people. In a very short time, we will hire over 1,000 engineers,” Speth said.

Ambani forgoes `237.5 mn from salary India’s billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani has decided to forego Rs 237.5 million for the last fiscal from his annual compensation as chief of Reliance Industries while keeping his salary capped at Rs 150 million for third year in a row.

At the same time, the company's total remuneration for top management personnel, as also commission paid to non-executive directors, declined during

Adani group acquires Oz port for $2 billion The Ahmedabad-based Adani Group-owned Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone Ltd (MPSEZL) has acquired Abbot Point Port in Queensland, Australia on lease of 99 years at an expenditure of $2 billion.

B Ravi, the chief financial officer of MPSEZL, said that the size of balance sheet of the company would be doubled after the acquisition. "We have acquired 100 per cent stake in Abbot Point Port," he said. "This an all cash deal duly funded by an acquisition debt. The assets base at Abbot Port allows us to have a take out finance at the assets level very soon," Ravi said.

The port known as Abbot Point X50 Coal Terminal (APCT), was mostly coal export port in Queensland and is owned

by North Queensland Bulk Port Corporation Limited (NQBP). "The sale of ACPT is through 99-yearlease of existing coal terminal facilities and associated infrastructure. It presently has two berths capable of handling cape-size vessel of over two lakh tonnes dead weight with annual installed capacity to load 50 million tonnes," Ravi said, adding that takeover would be complete by June 1.

fiscal 2010-11.

In its annual report for the fiscal, the company said that "The Chairman and Managing Director's compensation has been set at Rs 150 million as against Rs 387.5 million that he is elgible as per the shareholders' approval."

RIL said the decision was taken to reflect "his desire to continue to set a personal example for moderation in managerial com-

pensation levels."

Ambani's salary has remained at Rs 150 million since the fiscal 2008-09.

At a time when there was a raging debate on right-sizing of CEO salaries, RIL had announced in October 2009 that Mukesh Ambani would take a pay cut as a result of which his pay package dropped to Rs 150 million for 2008-09 fiscal from over Rs 440 million in 2007-08.

Tata Motors starts sending Nano to overseas markets Tata Motors will soon finalise a site for the production of its small car Nano at an overseas location, which could be either in Latin America, South East Asia or Africa.

Tata Motors has started sending its small car Nano to overseas markets, with shipment of 498 units in April this year and a formal announcement of starting exports of the ‘people’s car’ is expected soon.

According to figures released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Tata Motors exported 498 units last month as compared to just a single unit in the corresponding month last year.

When contacted, the company, however, declined to share details such as which are the countries where Nanos have been despatched last month.

“We will make an announcement regarding exports of Nano very shortly,” a Tata Motors spokesperson said.

Without identifying a timeline to share the details, the official further said: “For various reasons, we need to send out the cars."

Commercial Property Auction Thursday 26th May 2011 The Millennium Hotel, 44 Grosvenor Square, London W1K 2HP

On behalf of Joint Administrators at BDO, Joint LPA Receivers at Baker Tilly, Institutions, Major Corporates and a Livery Company 48 lots to be offered, including: BANK INVESTMENT

Leeds LS28 7DN HSBC, Church Lane, Pudsey Let to HSBC Bank plc on a 10 year lease until 2020

Rent £26,800 p.a.x.

OFFICE INVESTMENTS

Uxbridge UB8 2XL Dolphin Bridge House, Rockingham Road, Middlesex Let to Interserve Project Services Ltd 10 Packhorse Road, Gerrards Cross, Bucks

RETAIL INVESTMENTS

Gerrards Cross SL9 7QE

Rent £255,000 p.a.x.

Windsor SL4 1QL Arundell House, 1 Farm Yard, Berkshire

10 Packhorse Road, Buckinghamshire

Freehold Medical/Office Investment close to station and Windsor Castle

Let to Marks & Spencer plc until 2021

Rent £86,926 p.a.x.

Rent £110,000 p.a.x.

Grays RM17 6NB 43 High Street, Essex Let to Tui UK Retail Limited. t/a First Choice Travel

OFFICE/WORKSHOP INVESTMENT

London W3 7YG Hanovia House, 28/29 Eastman Road, Acton

Rent £24,000 p.a.x.

10,300 sq ft (approx) multi-let serviced offices/workshop

Sidcup DA15 8PS

Rent £112,920 p.a.x. (Gross)

6 Gloucester Parade, Blackfen, Greater London

RESTAURANT INVESTMENT

Let to Coral Racing Ltd until 2020 (subject to option)

Bedford MK40 1RN

Rent £17,200 p.a.x.

Nando’s, 3 High Street

Upminster RM14 2AT

Prime Restaurant let until 2024

1-6 Bell Corner, Corbets Tey Road Unbroken parade of six shops

Rent £143,800 p.a.x.

Rent £40,000 p.a.x.

FREEHOLD INDUSTRIAL GROUND RENT

Sandy SG19 1RB

RETAIL / OFFICE INVESTMENT

Middlefield Industrial Estate

Birmingham B23 6SJ Rent £96,000 p.a.x.

Unit Unit Unit Unit

John Mehtab: +44 (0)20 7034 4850

www.acuitus.co.uk

210/216 High Street, Erdington Three shops with offices over

1A (i) & (ii).

4.

2.

5.

Rent Rent Rent Rent

£6,628 p.a.x. £7,600 p.a.x. £19,780 p.a.x. £10 p.a.x.

FINANCIAL VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

19

Strike While The Iron’s Hot

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

This week we will look at a live deal to give our readers a taste of the kind of property we offer and the type of research we do before we bring the property to you. The property will be going to auction on the 19th May 2011 at 12 noon in Danubis Hotel, Regents Park. The property is guided at a sale price of £600,000. The guide price is normally set 10% lower then what the auctioneer expects to achieve. This guideline is not set in stone as many auctioneers deliberately put extremely low and unrealistic guide prices to entice bidders in to the room.

Lease length: Currently 54 years unexpired on the lease. The seller has begun the legal process to extend the lease and will assign the right to extend to the buyer. Cost of extension: £100,000 to £130,000 for another 90 years meaning the lease will be 144 years.

Auctions have become a market place not just for professional investors but also for first time buyers and those looking for a residential property wanting a bargain. This has happened partly due to the popularity of programmes like Homes Under The Hammer where they show case auction properties right from the hammer coming down to the final resale price. This combined with the expansion of the credit market relative to what it used to be a decade ago has fuelled the demand for auction properties by all sectors of buyers. With this level of demand one has to be careful of what they are buying from all sides.

From an investment one to ensure the legals are in order to service charges and who is checking to see who manages the block and how the block is managed.

Remember the re may be a good reason why a property is put into auction perhaps it cann ot be sold n ormally as the title may be de fective.

The property we will be looking at is lot 6. This is a two bedroom flat in a popular purpose built portered building in Maida Vale . It’s a short walk away from the restaurants and shops in St John’s Wood. It’s an extremely spacious two bedroom flat.

It’s so spacious as it was bought originally as a tree bedroom property and then was transformed into a two bedroom property. At 1,222 Sq Ft it’s a huge size for a two bedroom, currently you can find two bedroom properties with only 500 Sq Ft of space.

The flat was bought in 2007 by the current owner as a three bedroom for £655,000. It was then reconfigured by enlarging the en-suite bathroom and creating a large walk-in wardrobe. There is potential to re-convert the flat back into a three bedroom together with a lease extension this would achieve a resell price of around £1,000,000.

W hen we analyse a propert y we do n’t o nly loo k at comparable s but also gain an o pinio n f rom our lo cal ag ent s as well as speak to the porte r an d other resident s in t he blo ck.

The comparables will of course be outdated, the other point to bear in mind is they give the price at the time of completion. This means the price would have been negotiated perhaps 3 months before this. If a market is rising or falling for that matter these figure will then not give a true indication of price.

Currently what we are seeing and hearing from agents is a real lack of stock on the market. This is happening for several reasons.

Mortgages are harder to come by therefore many of the potential buyers are renting. Secondly many property owners are enjoying rates which are tracking the base rate therefore this is the lowest interest they will ever be paying. Thirdly the pound is soft currently and is encouraging overseas buyers to purchase in central London, to put this into perspective they are getting about a 20% discount on UK properties due to the softening of the currency. Central London has international demand and buyers are coming from China, Malaysia and increasingly more so from India. This particular block is desirable by the Spanish and Italians.

They are two main variables on the purchase. One is the refurbishment amount and time, and the other in the lease extension. The price we have quoted for the extension comes from a report done by a surveyor who has already done the extension for flats 21 and 23 and has priced the extension from £92,600 to a maximum of £136,000, we have quoted the maximum payable in our example to err on the side of caution. The right to extend will be passed to the new buyer but the price will remain to be negotiated. We have gone through the report thoroughly and feel these are accurate quotes from someone in good authority.

Recommendations: Local estate agents confirm that a resell price of around £1,000,000 can be achieved.

Therefore maximum the purchase price should be around the £660,000 mark to make a quick profit.

We provide a turnkey solution. Contact us now:

UK Sales 0207 313 4595 India Sales 0203 384 5323

Tips of the Week l Christian commandment “Love thy Neighbour” l Jewish proverb

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

“Ask about your neighbours, then buy the house!”

20

financial voice

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

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

Mirages and Illusions

maria@abplgroup.com

Maria Fernandes

A snapshot of changes Students: New rules in relation to Student Visas are being introduced in phases. The first phase applied from 21st April 2011. It provides that students may be refused visas or entry to the UK if they cannot speak English without assistance.

Students who have entry clearance or leave to remain have a right of appeal. If they are in the UK they can exercise this right here.

Early reports by students indicate that those who have valid leave who arrive in the UK and are refused for the above reason are being detained and removed without being given the opportunity to exercise that right. A recent report from a practitioner suggests that a student who arrived with outstanding leave was detained at Heathrow airport and after fruitless attempts to make contact with him, he was apparently taken to the airport and put on a flight using force. The UKBA were aware that an appeal had been submitted as they informed the Tribunal that the Appellant had voluntarily left the country.

Under the Immigration law where a person has left the UK, they are considered to have abandoned the appeal.

There have been similar reports of other such practices from others. It would be useful for anyone encountering difficulties to contact us on a no names basis so that we can establish whether this is a trend or one off decisions.

English Language: One of the ways an applicant can meet this requirement is by providing evidence of an academic qualification which was taught in English and deemed by UK NARIC to meet the recognised standard of a Bachelors Degree in the UK. Until now, there was no provision for applicants who had Masters Degree or a PhD qualification. Now however the UK Border Agency have agreed to accept the following qualifications for the purposes of the spouse/partner English language requirement by providing the following specified documents: 1.

Any Masters degree or PhD obtained in the UK. 2.

Any Masters degree or PhD obtained in Antigua & Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St

Vincent & The Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, USA, UK. (Please note Canada is not on the list) 3.

Any Masters degree or PhD not obtained in the UK which UK NARIC have assessed and verified as being taught or researched in English and confirmation from UK NARIC that this is submitted with the application.

In June 2011, this will become part of the Immigration Rules but until then this evidence will be acceptable as having met the English language requirement.

In the meantime debates in the House of Lords continues to rage over the fact that the Government have provided very little information about the results of the consultation on the changes that produced a substantial response. As one Lord put it “we must not have immigration by stealth”.

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.

Bharti Airtel Q4 net dips 31% on African costs Bharti Airtel reported a 31% fall in quarterly net profit, dragged down by costs from its African acquisition.

Net profit slumped to Rs 14.01 billion in the fourth quarter to March from Rs 20.44 billion a year earlier, but revenues soared 51% as the operator's customer base swelled. Net profit for 2010-11 dipped 33% to Rs 60.47 billion, while revenues rose 42% to Rs 594.67 billion.

Bharti Airtel paid $10.7 billion last June for the Africa business of Kuwaiti telecom operator

less broadband services.

Bharti, which holds over 20% of India's market, has been fighting a price war that has driven tariffs to below a paise a minute.

Average revenue per user, a key profitability measure, slid 12% in India from a year earlier but Bharti said calling rates were steadying now.

"The challenge for Bharti, which pioneered low-cost mobile services in India, is to reduce the high African cost base and win subscribers, and to get subscribers to talk more, thereby, lowering tariffs," analysts say.

Zain, vaulting it into the ranks of the world's top five wireless players by subscribers.

But Bharti's interest costs have soared due to that purchase and it has invested heavily to turn around its loss-making 16nation African unit. "There are structural defects in Africa which have led to a very high cost of doing business," Bharti deputy group chief executive Akhil Gupta said.

Bharti's earnings have also suffered on account of a $3.3 billion payout to buy 3G spectrum in India to offer mobile and wire-

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An illusion is defined as a ‘false belief’ or a ‘deceptive appearance’.

A mirage is defined as an ‘optical illusion caused by atmospheric conditions’.

It is quite easy to distinguish the two – one you can usually find in a theatre and is a created by people. The other you find in the desert and is created by nature. While this is simple enough for most people, many Lib Dems will be feeling that they have been fooled by a mirage and an illusion.

The events of last Friday confirmed that their party had gone from being a genuine alternative option in 2009 to being the party that even alternate voting couldn’t save.

So first the mirage The extraordinary ‘atmospheric conditions’ of the last general election were created by there being no clear winner.

These conditions gave the Lib Dems that they were actually real partners in the coalition. This hid the

fact that the Lib Dems were not the first or even the second choice to run the country. And as all mirages do, it fooled some people into thinking that maybe the Lib Dems were finally making progress. Well on Friday night that mirage well and truly evaporated.

And then the illusion – the one conjured up by Nick Clegg who said that by joining the coalition the electorate would appreciate the tough decisions made by the Lib Dems and be convinced that they are a responsible and mature party capable of running the government. While the results of Thursday’s elections are an unmistakable sign that his ship is rapidly sinking, Clegg has ‘assured’ the country that his party will do the right thing and uphold the coalition. It is the leaders’ job to see through mirages and expose illusions, to see reality and guide their organisations. But while

By Amit Patel

they may not always be able to do this, it is unforgivable if they actually enhance the illusion.

Clegg’s assertion that his party’s voice in the coalition will be louder and will continue to be that of ‘moderation to keep the Tories in check’ suggests that he is less of a leader and more of an illusionist.

During the live TV debates he gave an impression of being a serious politician with some very sensible and good ideas. His party believed the electorate did not and the Lib Dems came third.

When he announced his decision to form a coalition with the Tories he seemed sincere and forthright. His party followed him - the electorate did not and they are now even more unpopular. I wonder what will he do for his next trick? The electorate have seen through his illusions, how long before his party do?

Subbarao seeks 'formal' autonomy for RBI Two and a half years after taking over as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor, D Subbarao on Monday sought "legallyback formal autonomy" for the central bank besides suggesting a gradual shift to a committee-driven approach to setting of interest rates.

But, when it came to losing RBI's grip over what is now its turf - managing the government's debt the governor, who is a former Union finance secretary, stopped short of suggesting that the government abandon its plans to setup an independent debt management office.

"There is a need to reconsider the content and pace of this process in view of the revised circumstances post-crisis. The case for shifting debt management function out of the central bank is made on several arguments such as resolving conflict of interest, reducing the cost of debt, facilitating debt consolidation and increas-

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side, which is beyond the control of monetary policy.

Countries, especially in the developed world, follow a system where the central bank and the government set a specific inflation target and it is the central bank's responsibility to leverage the interest rate regime and ensure that inflation stays within the agreed level.

On the issue of setting interest rates, the governor outlined the present regime but went on to suggest that a committeebased approach such as the one followed by the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England be adopted. At present, the decision on interest rates rests solely with the governor and his core team though the government is informed about it in advance.

Though Subbarao termed the probable change in regime as his personal view, he said a gradual shift should take place after certain preconditions are met.

D Subbarao

ing transparency. These advantages are over stated," Subbarao said in his speech at the central bank governance group in Basel, Switzerland.

Though RBI has in the past too opposed an independent debt management office, it is perhaps the first time the governor has been so candid in public.

Acknowledging that the present system was working fine, Subbarao rejected the idea of inflation targeting saying it is neither feasible nor advisable in India. He said the drivers of inflation in India often emanate from the supply

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FINANCIAL VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 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

Biggest Test Yet For Coalition The UK coalition is approaching it’s first year in charge of the UK until recently has appeared in total harmony in running the country.

Mr Cameron and Clegg have been seen together on many occasions looking the best of pals in front of the camera. The PR for each have been keen to show as much unity as they can between the two leaders in historic alliance. This alliance though looks as if it is now to get it’s toughest test to date with the no vote on AV being a massive blow to the deal that was done by Mr Clegg after the last election. Their biggest request was for proportional representative in parliament of percentage of election vote.

This would have given the Liberals many more MP’S in parliament completely raising the level of the party in UK politics.

In their manifesto the vote for Liberals was meant to be a vote for change but it has appeared that this hasn’t happened and future elections will ultimately come down once again to being an alternative vote between the big 2 parties.

The Conservatives will say that they have fulfilled their promise as to regards electorial

reform and will expect full back on any bills or reforms that they want to push through parliament. This backing is due to get a big test soon with the

EUR/USD

Tories looking for support on their proposals for changes on the NHS which is seen by many as too radical and could get stiff opposition from many

quarters. The Tories are having there standing as the biggest party attacked across the country as recent local polls especially in Scotland showed. This is probably on the back of the NHS reform plus all of the spending measures they have taken to reduce the UK borrowing figure. The spending cuts have received more plaudits abroad than they have in the UK and have harmed their popularity in the UK. They are going to need all the backing that they can get but with the Liberals also getting hammered in the local elections they may have to make some more concessions to get their NHS proposals through.

Mr Cameron and his team will have to tread very carefully through this period but if they can maintain their good relationship with Liberals then it could be that the UK may now have a government that could bring us out of the gloom of the last few years. If this is the case then is a very good chance that you will see the value of Sterling rise from the current low levels that is currently experiencing on the worlds foreign exchange markets especially against the Euro.

Weekly Currencies As of Tuesday 10th May 2011 @ 1pm GBP - INR = 73.24 USD - INR = 44.77 EUR - INR = 64.20 GBP - USD = 1.64 GBP - EUR = 1.14 EUR - USD = 1.43 GBP - AED = 6.01 GBP - CAD = 1.57 GBP - NZD = 2..06 GBP - AUD = 1.52 GBP - ZAR = 11.01 GBP - HUF = 300.95

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

22

Pakistan-Bagladesh-sri lanka

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

Pak grants US access to Osama’s widows In fOcUS

Washington: Pakistan has agreed to grant US access to the three widows of Osama bin Laden, who were detained soon after the killing of the al-Qaida chief in his Abbottabad hideout last week, media reports said.

The US investigating agencies would be given "direct access" to the three widows of bin Laden, meaning the US government agents will be able to interview them, and not just submit questions, CBS news reported. With this, Islamabad has met one of the major demands of the Obama administration.

"A United States official said that American investigators would soon be allowed to interview bin Laden's three widows, now being held by Pakistani authorities," The

New York Times reported.

While there was no official confirmation of this news from the White House, CNN said Pakistan will allow the US to question or take into custody the apparent wives of bin Laden only if their "country of origin has been asked for permission," according to a senior Pakistani intelligence source.

Earlier in the day, White House press secretary Jay Carney said the US is in consultation with the Pakistani government at many levels about access to bin Laden's wives, and some of the

Pak warns india against Us-like strike Islamabad: Spooked by the Abbottabad stealth raid that exposed Pakistan's defences, Islamabad's top civilian and military leadership warned a similar move by India will trigger military retaliation.

A statement issued after army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani called a meeting of his corps commanders in Rawalpindi said the generals took "serious note of assertions made by the Indian military leadership about conducting similar operations."

"Any misadventure of this kind will be responded to very strongly. There should be no doubt about it," the statement warned.

Earlier in the day, Pakistan's foreign secretary Salman Bashir led a tirade against India, saying: "Any other country that would ever act (similarly) on the assumption

Bangladesh committed to fight terrorism New Delhi: Bangladesh last week assured India that its territory would not be allowed to be used by elements working against the interests of any country.

Addressing a programme to commemorate the 150th year of Rabindranath Tagore’s birth anniversary in New Delhi, Planning Minister of Bangladesh A K Khandekar said his countrymen cannot forget India’s support to their freedom struggle.

Khandekar, a retired Air Vice Marshal, who had also participated in the 1971 war for the freedom of Bangladesh said, "The spontaneous support that we received from the government and the people of India can never be forgotten by the people of Bangladesh."

"The courage, the spirit of sacrifice, the spirit of the people of India particularly the visionary leadership of Indira Gandhi (the then Indian Prime Minister), can never be reciprocated by the people of Bangladesh," he said.

Ashfaq Parvez Kayani

that it has the might ... will find it has made a basic miscalculation."

Bashir and Kayani were reacting a day after India's military chief General V K Singh and Air Chief Marshal P V Naik said New Delhi had the teeth to hit terrorists holed up in Pakistan cities.

"Elements within Indian establishment and political forces are giving

irresponsible statement to derail the peace process that Indian PM Manmohan Singh initiated with Pakistan," Bashir said. "We are in the process of important and successful dialogue process with India."

The statements that come four days after Osama bin Laden was killed show the pressure that Pakistan's military and political leadership has come under to clarify why it hadn't explained the US action. Not only has the raid embarrassed the military establishment, it has triggered street protests by Muslim groups that the government fears could further sour the public mood against it. The only cogent response so far had been President Asif Ali Zardari's opinion piece in the newspaper clarifying it was solely a US operation.

other materials that may have been collected by the Pakistanis after the US commando team left.

"We will continue those conversations. We believe that it is very important to maintain the cooperative relationship with Pakistan precisely because it's in our national security interest to do so," he said.

In another news report, The New York Times said, CIA Director Leon Panetta would soon meet ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha "to discuss the way forward in the common fight against al-Qaida."

Pak army fears Laden-type raids in future

Islamabad: Pakistan’s military leadership is unhappy about the US operation that killed Osama bin Laden and fears that America will conduct similar raids in the future to target the country’s nuclear arsenal.

An assessment made

by Indian agencies suggests that almost threefourths of the Pakistani military brass is concerned about the way American helicopters crossed into Pakistani territory, carried out a surgical strike and left without informing either the Pakistani government or security establishment, Indian government sources said. The finding, shared with leaders of the Indian government, is significant because of the deep ties Pakistan military has had with its American counterparts – a partnership forged in the Cold War.

Lanka govt releases stamp on Rabindranath Tagore Colombo: Sri Lanka government has released a postal stamp of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore on May 7th, on the occasion of his 150th birth anniversary celebrations.

The stamp, priced at LKR 5, released by Sri Lankan Minister for Postal Services Jewan Kumaranathunga at a function presided over by Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Ashok K. Kantha, said Vikram Misri, Indian Deputy High Commissioner in Colombo.

Sri Lankan Minister for Cultural Affairs and Arts T. B. Ekanayake, will release ‘Remembering Rabindranath Tagore,’ a commemorative volume edited by Sandagomi Coperahewa and published by the University of Colombo. The volume contains 15 articles in English, Sinhala and Tamil and highlights the concerns and philosophy of Tagore and his contribution to life and literature, said Prof.

Bid to freeze US financial aid to Pak Washington: A legislation has been introduced in the US House of Representatives which if passed would cut aid to Pakistan unless the state department can certify that Islamabad was not harbouring slain al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden. "Osama bin Laden has met his maker, and we appreciate the Navy Seals for arranging the meeting, but Pakistan gives us some concern. It seems like Pakistan might be playing both sides, and they have a lot of explaining to do," Texas Republican Ted Poe said in his remarks on the floor of the House after introducing the bill.

Gilani to visit China to secure another N-plant Beijing: Pakistan prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani would arrive in Beijing next week to seek assurances on China's continued assistance in building another nuclear plant in his country. Sources said Islamabad was worried about an adverse fallout of Osama's killing in Pakistan on its nuclear cooperation with China.

Gilani's visit is meant to reassure China that Pakistan's nuclear assets were safe despite lapses evident in bin Laden's stay in a garrison town near Islamabad. There were signs that he may succeed to some extent. China's National Energy Administration issued a two-line statement saying it will resume approval for nuclear projects in early August. It will also release a Nuclear Safety Plan promised after the accident at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant in August.

Mother-in-law of Osama dies of shock Damascus: Osama bin Laden's first mother-in-law died of a stroke after hearing the news that US forces killed him in Pakistan. Nabih al-Ghanem, the mother of bin Laden's first wife, Najwa, was taken to a hospital in Latakia in northern Syria where she died after suffering the stroke. It said the woman in her 70s "could not bear the bad news and lost consciousness". Bin Laden had married Najwa, his Syrian-born cousin, when he was 17, and they had 11 children, she had left Afghanistan a few days before the 9/11 terror attacks and now lives in Syria.

Musharraf lie nailed on TV Islamabad: Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf and the chief of its army was trapped on TV by an international channel which pointed out that the dictator has repeatedly said Osama bin Laden wasn't in Pakistan. Musharraf, who is in exile in London, denied that he had ever said Osama was not in Pakistan.

When the channel host insisted that the channel had telecast several interviews where Musharraf had said so, the ex-president flatly denied it. As head of Pakistan's army, Musharraf was also boss of the InterServices Intelligence, which is now being widely accused of hiding Osama in a safe house, a stone's throw from a military academy.

Record sale of Osama posters in Pak Islamabad: There has been a record sale of posters of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan after the al-Qaida leader was gunned down in a daring US commando raid May 2 in the country. More than 100,000 posters of Osama Bin Laden have been sold since his death, the Online news agency reported citing the print industry. It added that the volume of sale is increasing daily. Osama's death on May 2 ended nearly a decade-long hunt for the US's most wanted terrorist. He was blamed for the terrorist attacks in the US in September 2001 in which nearly 3,000 people were killed.

Pak to demolish Osama's Abbottabad compound

Rabindranath Tagore

Coperahewa.

The events organized by the Indian Cultural Centre in association with the Bangladesh High Commission in Colombo, Sri Lankan Ministries and Universities, the Tagore Society of Sri Lanka and the India– Sri Lanka Foundation.

Tagore visited Sri Lanka thrice – in 1922, 1930 ad 1934 – and was instrumental in the renaissance of its culture. Tagore wrote the national anthem

for two countries – India and Bangladesh – and influenced the anthem in Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan national anthem was written by Ananda Samarakoon, most probably in 1939-40, while he was Tagore’s disciple at Visva-Bharathi University. Samarakoon’s first Shantiniketan stint ended after six months but he heralded a new brand of Sinhalese music influenced by Rabindra Sangeeth.

Islamabad: The Abbottabad compound, used by Osama bin Laden as a safe house till US commandos shot him dead, will be demolished soon by Pakistani security agencies so that it does not become a "sacred building for jihadis." The compound, located about 800 yards from the Pakistan Military Academy, has been sealed by the army to gather any information that was left after a US special forces team raided it on Monday and killed the world's most wanted terrorist. The security agencies had demolished Jamia Hafsa, a seminary affiliated to the radical Lal Masjid in Islamabad, after a military operation in 2007 to avoid "any bitter situation", the source said.

Contractor who built Osama's house taken into custody Islamabad: Pakistani authorities last week arrested the contractor who built the three-storey mansion in Pakistan's northern city of Abbottabad where Osama bin Laden was residing, intelligence sources said. Gul Madah, aged between 45-50, a native of Battagram town, about 35 km north of Abbottabad, constructed the house in 2005. He was picked by intelligence agencies from Abbotabad's Jharian locality and shifted to undisclosed location, sources said.

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Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

Upset Hindus seek apology from Oz fashion week organisers

In fOcUs Indian Navy foils pirate attack on Chinese vessel New Delhi: India on Friday said that its warships and military aircraft had foiled a pirate attack on a Chinese cargo vessel with 24 crew members on board in the Arabian Sea off Karwar in Karnataka and forced the brigands to flee. The Chinese-owned bulk carrier, MV Full City, was boarded by the pirates about 450 nautical miles west of Karwar on Thursday last, even as the 24 Chinese sailors locked themselves in the vessel's safe house to prevent their capture by the brigands, an Indian Navy officer said here.

Fatah, Hamas sign pact to end four-year rift Cairo: Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas last week proclaimed a landmark, Egyptian-mediated reconciliation pact aimed at ending their bitter four-year rift. The declaration was made at a ceremony at the Egyptian intelligence headquarters in Cairo. Westernbacked Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the accord ended “four black years” that hurt national Palestinian interests. He also said he would “soon” visit Hamas-held Gaza Strip. The pact provides for the creation of a joint caretaker Palestinian government ahead of national elections next year, but leaves key issues unresolved and makes no mention of peace talks with Israel.

Nepal cabinet reshuffle draws UN fire Kathmandu: He came under fire last month after a Buddhist monk he appointed as the state finance minister was reported to hold an Indian passport as well as an identity card describing him as a Tibetan refugee.

Now Nepal's Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal is under fire again, within 24 hours of reshuffling and expanding his cabinet, with the UN rights agency taking him to task this time. The UN Human Rights Office in Nepal (OHCHR) issued a strong objection on Thursday last, saying it was concerned over the appointment of Maoist lawmaker Agni Prasad Sapkota as the new information and communications minister.

US pilot refuses to fly with Muslim leaders Memphis (USA): Two Muslim religious leaders say they were asked to leave a commercial airliner in Memphis and were told it was because the pilot refused to fly with them aboard. Masudur Rahman, who is also an adjunct instructor of Arabic at the University of Memphis, said that he and another imam had already been allowed to board their Delta Connection flight to Charlotte, North Carolina before they were asked to get off the plane. Rahman said he and Mohamed Zaghloul, of the Islamic Association of Greater Memphis, were cleared by security agents and boarded the plane. The aircraft pulled away from the gate, but the pilot then announced the plane must return, Rahman said. When it did, the imams were asked to go back to the boarding gate where Rahman said they were told the pilot was refusing to accept them because some other passengers could be uncomfortable.

US-Indians plan fast to root out corruption in India New York: Two organisations representing people of Indian-origin here are planning to launch a mass movement and fast to awaken the consciousness of Indian diaspora against the "massive corruption" in their homeland. The Friends of India Society of International (FISI) and Bharat Swahiman Overseas (BSO) are planning to launch a mass movement and fast to awaken the consciousness of overseas Indians against the massive corruption, according to Bhishma Kumar Agnihotri, former Ambassador-at-Large of India. He said FISI would bring together friends of India worldwide in order to safeguard the India and people of Indian origin living outside India. BSO is inspired by the Bharat Swabhiman movement of Baba Ramdev. To start with, the organisations are planning a public fasting on June 4 across the US similar to the one planned in India.

27 killed in plane crash

Jakarta: A passenger plane carrying 27 people crashed on Saturday as it was about to land in Indonesia's eastern province of West Papua, killing at least 15, officials said. Transportation ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said the Chinesemade Xian MA60 twin turboprop-powered plane belonging to a state-owned company went down just before landing in Kaimana.

Nevada (USA): Welcoming apology from Australian swimwear label Lisa Blue Swimwear, upset Hindus have repeated their appeal for apology from Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW) organizers also, which was held in Sydney (Australia) from May 2-6 and showed a model with Goddess Lakshmi image on swimwear.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA), said that RAFW organizers should show responsibility and consideration toward the hurt Hindu community and come out with a public apology. In future,

they should be more careful about what went on in the fashion show.

Inappropriate usage of Hindu deities and concepts for commercial or other agenda was not okay

as it hurt the devotees.

Symbols of any faith, larger or smaller, should not be mishandled, Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, added.

The Hindu Forum Britain (HFB) also condemned the use of Hindu deities and symbols on clothing, and calls on designers to withdraw the items from sale with immediate effect and issue an unreserved apology.

Such branding cannot be justified as being fashionable, as it is irreverent and causes public as well as personal offence to the Hindu Community.

The HFB hoped that

the matter would be resolved and such ‘oversights’ by the design industry did not happen again.

The Jain Network also condemned the Australian business community for the insensitivity shown to the Hindus and Jains who worship the Goddess Laxmi in their temples.

“We feel as this is not the first instance of using pictures of Hindu Gods for commercial gains, sometimes unknowingly, we must educate the Western businesses for the sacredness of the Hindu culture and its values,” said Jain Network CEO Dr Natubhai Shah.

Make public Mau Mau torture files public: William Hague London: British foreign secretary William Hague said that the documents revealing the torture of Mau Mau Kenyans directed by the British authorities were to be made public.

The documents give further details of what ministers in London knew about how the colony was attempting to crush the rebellion that paved the way to independence.

Many of them, which were released by the High Court last month, were only recently found in the Foreign Office's own archives after years of investigations by academics.

Former British High Commissioner to Canada Anthony Cary, who conducted the review, found there was confusion about the status of the files, but this only explained the failure up to a point. he said: "The migrated archives saga reminds us that we cannot turn a blind eye to any of our holdings.”

'Four Kenyans - three men and one woman aged in their 70s and 80s - are the lead claimants in the reparations case. They want the UK government to acknowledge responsibility for atrocities committed by local guards in camps administered by the British in the pre-independence era.

The UK says the claim is not valid because of the amount of time since the abuses were alleged to have happened, and that any liability rested with the Kenyan authorities after independence in 1963.

Daniel Leader, counsel for their lawyers Leigh Day, said the report was significant because if the High Court ruled the British government was liable, it could not legitimately claim there was a time lag because it withheld crucial documents needed by his team.

Historians say the Mau Mau movement helped Kenya achieve independence. But their actions

William Hague

have also been blamed for crimes against white farm-

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ers and bloody clashes with British forces throughout the 1950s.Veterans say they suffered barbaric treatment, including torture, as the British suppressed the rebellion. The Kenya Human Rights Commission has said 90,000 Kenyans were executed, tortured or maimed during the crackdown, and 160,000 were detained in appalling conditions.

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Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

Any quest ions wri te to m amta@a

By Mamta Saha bplgroup.com Psychologist

Want to be happy and fulfilled?

Ask yourself what you are longing for and have a think about whether your life feels fulfilled or not. A lot of people think fulfilment is driving a nice car, living in a nice house or wearing fancy clothes but as a psychologist, from what I have seen, this is not the case. I work with a lot of clients who have everything they could ask for materially, however, when it comes to the spiritual and emotional fulfilment department – there is significant dissatisfaction. Read on to find out the simple steps that you can take to achieve the happiness and fulfilment you deserve.

Firstly, you have to make a commitment or decide that you won’t bother trying to create happiness in your life at all. This sounds harsh, but when you live in a state of limbo, which is neither here nor there, you are always in a place that is negative. There is no gain whatsoever in moaning and complaining about your problems and lifestyle because this achieves nothing but further disappointment with your current reality.

Simply create and commit to taking 3 baby steps every day to get closer to the fulfilment

you deserve. This immediately sets you up for success and ensures that you are doing something about your current levels of disappointment and are getting closer to where you want to be.

Start with very simple things that would be easy to incorporate within your day. For example: take a ten minute walk every morning or evening by yourself to have some ‘me time’, list 10 things that you’re a grateful for, meditate and continue to build on a hobby that you love. All of these activities will start to change your negative energy into positive energy.

If you lack the energy and effort to create a positive turnaround in your life nothing of worth and weight will ever be achieved. If this sounds like you, look in the mirror and really think about the consequences and impact of such thoughts and lack of desire on your life.

Every second is a chance to turn it all around and you have all it takes to conjure up the strength to get into the driving seat of your life. Don’t over analyse situations, other people of yourself because when you do you create further hurdles that you have to get

over, these thoughts unnecessarily drain your energy. If you are not happy about your current situation think hard about what you can do to progress out of it. Write down twenty-one possible ways of making your life better. It all starts with you and ends with you. No one can give you a pill or plate full of happiness to digest and it is unfair for you to expect this.

Expect nothing from anyone but yourself and you will soon start to see just how much control you have over your levels of happiness and fulfilment.

This summer I am running a one day Impact Boot Camp focusing on how you can get attuned to yourself, being the best – regardless of what life throws at you. This session will absolutely work on elements of this and previous articles and will definitely help you get closer to the happiness and fulfilment you deserve.

Alternatively you may prefer one to one coaching which is a greatbespoke alternative. If you are interested in finding out more about the type of development solutions and support I offer do get in touch mamta@thinkspalondon.com.

Kashmiri Pandit woman wins panchayat polls in Valley ed as a Panch in the J&K panchayat polls.

Pandits, a minority community in Kashmir,

Cartoon: Jami

Aasha Jee is the first Kashmiri Pandit woman in the Muslim- dominated Kashmir valley to be elect-

..........no more terrorism, I quit guns, After seeing the dead body of Osama in newspaper, I have started hating terrorism.

were displaced after the eruption of violent insurgency against India in 1989-90.

However, Aasha's family is one of the four that stayed back in her village Wussan, Kunzer block on SrinagarGulmarg road.

Aasha defeated her lone rival, Sarwa Begum, a Kashmiri Muslim woman, by 11 votes in the seventh phase of polling on Sunday.

Aasha bagged 55 votes while Sarwa got 42 votes.

Living with her husband Radha Krishan and two sons at Wussan, Aasha said: "Muslim brethren of the village voted for me and I will try to come up to their expectations provided the state government delegates powers to panchayats under 74th amendment to the constitution."

"My victory should send a clear message to the migrant Kashmiri Pandits living in exile in other parts of the country that there is no threat to their lives in Kashmir now," Aasha said.

In divine light

By Rajen Vakil

Introduction to the story of Nala and Damayanti

In the coming articles we will try to unravel the hidden meanings and symbology in the story of Nala and Damayanti. Rishi Vyas (the author of the Mahabharata), at regular intervals, introduces side stories that not only support and integrate with the main theme, but are also rich in deeper meaning. It is in these small stories that reveal the height and versatility of the author.

One such story is that of Nala and Damayanti.

Among all the stories in the Mahabharata, I would personally rate this as one of the best. It is rich in esoteric and alchemical meaning. For a seeker on the spiritual path, it is a small story which contains the secrets of holding the highest states of consciousness.

Here I would like to digress a little and mention a personal episode.

Last year, a friend invited me to have lunch with him and also to meet his 85 year old mother, who had come to stay with him for a few days. She had been my library teacher in 1965. I was nine then and had just joined a boarding school. The first class I attended was hers and she had narrated the immensely enjoyable story of Nala and Damayanti.

When I met her, she asked me what I was doing with my life. I reminded her how she had introduced me to Nala and Damayanti and 45 years later, I was still studying the same. Jesus said that the first step is the last – nothing changes but still everything changes.

The ancient Aryans lived a nomadic life in which animals played a prominent role. Apart from the normal uses of domesticated animals, they intuitively saw the role of animals at a higher level. Even today in India, remnants of this ancient wisdom exist in the form of omens. Say, if someone is going on an important errand and sees a black cat, one may postpone that work for a day. These are just fragments of an ancient system of wisdom which the rishis divined.

They felt that everything in life was inter-connected and events which come to meet us come from a higher dimension, take place in our lives and once the event is over, return to where it came from and wait to manifest again as an event in our or someone else’s lives.

The seers said that the animals were able to know

in advance the kind of event which was waiting for us. We have seen evidence of this in nature where the behaviour of animals changes before an earthquake or a storm.

They said that whenever an animal comes into our lives, it comes with a message and if we are able to read that, then we would know the outcome of what is yet to happen. Suppose, one wants to propose to a girl he loves and while this thought is in the mind, a crow flies in front of him, then maybe he would know her answer even before asking. Usually, when we walk down the road we are so identified with our thoughts that we fail to observe what is happening around us. To observe and intuit requires a different level of awareness and sensitivity. By paying attention to the animals that we come across, we may be able to feel the hidden messages they send to us. The same is also true for animals seen in dreams.

In our story there is a very important role played by a swan. The word for a white swan in Sanskrit is Hamsa. This means not just the bird swan, but also its deeper meaning – the supreme soul. When we go into the derivation of the word we come across different meanings, such as a smile of satisfaction. This happens when the soul communicates with the brain. Many great writers, artists, and scientists get these flashes of communication from a higher dimension. A swan is a very graceful bird, it glides across the water symbolising our emotions, which currently are mainly negative. When we are full of anger, jealousy, greed, self-love, and desire, we are ugly and our emotional centre is like a stormy sea. Through hard work and self-observa-

tion, we purify our emotions and the water becomes calm and we, like swans, glide across gracefully. In the famous fairy tale of the Ugly Duckling, the duckling is ugly (like our negative emotion) but later is transformed into a swan. Thus, the swan is a symbol of self-transformation. Swans normally have only one partner; they pair for life. Yoga means to join and the supreme yoga is the pairing of spirit and nature, the two become one.

Nala means to bind – that which controls. In the Upanishads, this controller is known as Yama (the god of death) or to resist. It is also the first of the eight steps of yoga. In every seeker, this controller is asleep and has to be awakened. Once he is a little awake he starts developing the power to control. For example, there are many things I would like to do and one of them may be to get up early to do my practices.

On getting up, I just go back to sleep – the controller is there but he does not have the capacity to control. This capacity to control is called will, not just will power, but a relaxed will that is born of understanding. Damayanti comes from the root ‘dama’ which means to tame, or to calm down. So she is the power and Nala is the controller, and they must marry each other.

In the story, we will see all the pain and suffering that Nala goes through to acquire Damayanti.

The setting of the story is very indicative. The five Pandavas have been banished to the forest after losing the famous game of dice. Arjuna has gone to acquire the divine weapons. At this time, Yudhisthira is in deep pain and anguish as to the turn of events. A rishi called Brihadashva comes and tells him this story which transforms the suffering of Yudhisthira.

The great rishi Vyasa has written in the Mahabharata that those who read this story of Nala and Damayanti, meditate upon it, and understand the depth of the message it conveys, will be free from suffering and happiness and prosperity will follow them.

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

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Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

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US envoy Roemer avoids queries on Modi

In focUS Scribes render silent service to blind students Media professionals of Chennai are silently rejoicing the success of blind students in the higher secondary exam results. They are part of an informal group of people who double up as scribes rendering valuable service to the cause of the visually challenged.

They have signed up for the service seeing an email requesting for volunteer scribes for the visually challenged. They wrote seven exams for blind students in the city.

"The visually challenged are more realistic about what they want, and I learned a lot spending time with them at the exam hall. They even taught me how to draw diagrams, which was a challenge for me. At the exam hall, I noticed that the visually challenged are more relaxed than normal students who are tense and nervous," said one of the professionals.

Law Univ to increase seats for undergrad courses The Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University has increased the seats for the five-year BA BL course and three year BL honours course at its School of Excellence for the 2011-12 academic year.

Applications for these two courses, ML course, PG Diploma and Certificate course (distance education), BA BL (general) of affiliated government law colleges, three year BL (general) of affiliated government law colleges and other post graduate and graduate courses, will be issued from May 18.

"We have increased the number of seats from 40 to 60 for the undergraduate courses. More application forms will be printed and sold this year as the demand was quite high last year," vice-chancellor V Vijayakumar said.

The new campus of the university was expected to be ready in Taramani in 18 months, he said. TN Law Dr Ambedkar Law University has also partnered with Legal Information Institute of India (LIII) to collect all government orders (GO) and notifications connected to law from Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala. The government orders and notifications would be sent to LIII for uploading on to its website.

By Purvi Apurva Shah US Ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer tried to avoid queries regarding Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. He said that that he had been asked by President Barack Obama to connect with the people of India instead of focusing only on the PM and CMs. When asked when was he going to do business with Modi, Roemer said, "It is the people we are more concerned to connect with."

It may be recalled that the US government has denied visa to Modi in 2005 in the wake of postGodhra communal riots in the state.

"The President of the United States had asked me to connect with the people of India. He gave me very good advice at the White House couple of years ago. He said do not only focus on Prime Minister, members of parliaments, business leaders, CEOs and chief ministers," Roemer said.

Referring to 9/11 and 26/11 attacks, when reporters felt that US was showing diplomacy, he answered, "I respectfully and strongly disagree with you, and added that America was not adopting

Roemer visiting Gandhi Ashram on Tuesday.

double standards while dealing with 26/11 and 9/11, both the countries have come closer since the attack. Now US and India share intelligence, in unprecedented ways," he added.

The outgoing envoy said that the US in the last few weeks has decided to indict four more individuals with regard to the David Coleman Headley case, who is an accused in 26/11 Mumbai attack case. President Obama said that the targets that US and India share in terms of LeT and individuals being indicted are more and more common. "One of those men had connections and support from a certain organisation in Pakistan gives us great concern," he added, without taking name of one

Major Iqbal who was among the four reportedly chargesheeted by the US government in connection with the Headley case.

He further said that the US, through FBI also helped India in getting Ajmal Kasab convicted for the Mumbai attacks. "I think that the two countries have come together.

We are working under directions of United States and India to help built capacity here in India, built forensic capabilities, the possibility of new national counter terrorism centre, share best practices and expertise, as to how to prevent the next terrorist attack."

“This shows shoulder to shoulder cooperation between the two countries. This cooperation needs to go further.”

He said, “US has been putting a great deal of pressure on Pakistan to go after safe heavens in that country to target al Qaeda leadership and other terrorist groups that might threaten Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and the US homelands. Individuals from the US government at the highest levels have been telling the government of Pakistan that you are a good partner, you are concentrating more on extremism, in your country, but you need to do more. Pakistan need to not only target al Qaeda, but also target Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET)."

And being in Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad, he showed lot of concern for Gandhiji’s beliefs and conveyed that Gandhiji believed in practicing his philosophy and bringing people together. US also shared the same values. It is a great honour to visit historic ground of Gandhiji’s home, he wrote in the visitor’s book at the Ashram.

“I am delighted not only to visit Gandhiji's home, but also to see where about 20 per cent of Indian Americans in the US come from. According to 2006 census about 20 per cent of Indians in US are from Gujarat. We see how Gujarat is growing fast with over 10 per cent annual growth.”

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Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

Why Sonia is so scared of Narendra Modi? IN focuS Corruption in India is a fashion, trend which remains through all seasons, all years.

And who can best wear this fashion - its politicians of India.

With panache, they ramp walk through all thick and thin. And the show-stopper is the latest Lokpal Bill, which is unfortunately being killed with the help of hot models full of deception.

Sometimes dressing is deceptive, do not take anybody at their face value.

Like Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and their party with dressing of “zero tolerance of corruption” indulges most in corruption. In fact they have institutionalised it. When government says that it has stopped corruption, it actually starts flowing with more momentum.

Sonia has been on a

personal vendetta against Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi for a long time. She had a useful tool in Teesta Setalvad, who, it is now discovered, has bribed witnesses, filed false affidavits, and committed repeated perjuries in court. Teesta's usefulness is nearing to an end as she may soon land up in jail. So the Congress has now found another willing tool in Gujarat police offi-

cer Sanjiv Bhatt to implicate Modi in the postGodhra riots.

The government has subverted its investigative instruments such that the CBI which goes after Modi even as it closes its eyes to the wrongs that chief ministers of the Congress or its allies, such as the DMK, are openly doing.

For example, the CBI requested the judiciary to drop the case against

Jagdish Tytler, who was seen by innumerable witnesses leading mobs to murder Sikhs, while it is going all guns blazing against Modi, who at best was caught off guard when the riots in Gujarat broke out in 2002, or at the worst, delayed in calling the army. But did not Rajiv Gandhi do the same thing after his mother was murdered by her own bodyguards?

Rajiv also delayed calling in the security forces.

Why is Sonia going so single-mindedly against Modi? Because, he seems to be the only alternative to her son Rahul Gandhi becoming prime minister in the next general elections. We should give credit to Sonia for her cunning and ruthlessness.

Reproduced from an article of Francois Gautier

Gilani absolves ISI of Qaida links Continued from page 1 The denial came a day after New Delhi asked Islamabad to own up to terrorists and fugitives like him and others who are operating on its soil.

Pak army chief Parvez Ashfaq Kiyani who is under pressure, who on Monday requested Gilani to convene a joint session of parliament on May 13 so he could brief them on the raid's fallout and the ISI role.

Gilani said Pakistan has ordered an investigation into how bin Laden was able to live in the garrison city undetected.

Gilani reiterated that Pakistan would not relent in its fight against terror and said it was the coun-

try's national cause not to let its soil be used for terrorism. "(Our) commitment (to the war on terror is) a national priority," he said.

He said Pakistan has lost over 30,000 people in the war against terrorism. "No other nation has met so many challenges," he said.

Gilani insisted that Islamabad's relationship with the US remains strong but warned against unilateral action. "We regret this unilateral action. Unilateral actions run the risk of serious inherent consequences," he said. Gilani called for intelligence sharing and an end to the blame-game.

He warned that any attack overt or covert against Pakistan will get a matching response.

"Cooperation in counterterrorism (with the US) warrants a partnership approach which fully accommodates Pakistan's interests and respect for the clearly stipulated red lines," he said.

Gilani said his country would pursue its engagement with India in a positive and constructive manner. He said Pakistan's relations with the US and neighbouring countries like Afghanistan and India were in "good shape". Gilani said Pakistan's engagement with India should yield dividends for the region.

Allaying India’s concerns about Islamabad’s lack of progress in cases related to 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, Mallik assured that Pakistan will soon provide the voice

samples of those suspected to be involved in the bloody carnage.

Malik’s reaction from Pakistan came a day after India’s Home Minister P Chidambaram said that the Dawood Ibrahim was still residing in the neighbouring country under a blanket cover from ISI. The buzz surrounding Dawood Ibrahim gained momentum in the wake of reports that he had actually fled Karachi with close aide Chhota Shakeel to Saudi Arabia on the night of May 1, 2011 when Osama bin Laden was killed in a US operation.

Inputs gathered by Indian intelligence agencies suggested that Dawood’s family is still living in Karachi.

SC stays ‘strange’ Ayodhya verdict Continued from page 1 Those who filed the appeals included the Sunni Central Wakf Board, UP; the Nirmohi Akhara; the All-India Hindu Mahasabha and Bhagwan Shri Ram Virajman.

Senior counsel P.P. Rao, Anoop Chaudhary, Ravi Shankar Prasad, M.N. Krishnamani, Ranjit Kumar, K.N. Bhatt and C.S. Vaidyanathan appeared for various parties. They unanimously urged the apex court to stay the high court verdict and restore the status quo order passed by the Supreme Court in 1994 and March 2002 in respect of the activities on the 67.703 acres of government land acquired in January 1993.

This prompted Justice Alam to tell counsel: “at least on one issue, all of you are unanimous. The high

court has granted a new relief, which nobody has asked for it. The high court has done something on its own. It has to be stayed.”

Justice Lodha told counsel, “The high court's judgment is something strange. A new dimension has been given by the high court as the decree of partition was not sought by the parties. It was not prayed for by anyone. It has to be stayed. It's a strange order. How can a decree for partition be passed when none of the parties had prayed for it.

It's strange. Such kind of decrees cannot be allowed to be in operation. It is a difficult situation now.

The position is that the high court verdict has created a litany of litigation.”

The Bench said the status quo at the disputed site would remain as directed by the 1994 Constitution Bench and

the order passed on March 13-14, 2002. The Bench, taking note of the 2002 order directed that on the 67.703 acres located in various plots detailed in the Schedule to the Acquisition of Certain Area at Ayodhya Act, 1993, “which is vested in the Central government, no religious activity of any kind by anyone be permitted or allowed to take place.”

The Bench, while directing the status quo to continue, made it clear that the existing “pujas” in the make-shift Ram Lala temple at the disputed site would go on as usual.

In its appeal, the Wakf Board assailed the high court judgment. It contended that the suit was decided on the basis of belief/faith of a section of the Hindu community for which there was no admissible evidence. The court

had wrongly held that a temple existed at the site in dispute before the construction of the Babri Masjid, while there was no evidence to prove the existence of any such temple or demolition thereof in or around 1528 AD. It argued that the claims of Muslims, Hindus and the Nirmohi Akhara over the disputed site were mutually exclusive and could not be shared.

The Hindu Mahasabha sought endorsement of the September 30, 2010 minority verdict by Justice Dharam Veer Sharma, who favoured handing over of the entire land to Hindus.

It said, “The judgment by Justice S. U. Khan and Justice Sudhir Agarwal should be set aside to the extent that one-third of the property in dispute has been declared in favour of Muslims and to allot the share to them.”

Poster war against Chhattisgarh Reds A new anti-Maoist campaign has started in Chhattisgarh last week with the appearance of posters and newspaper advertisements targeted Maoists and their sympathizers. Neither the posters nor the advertisements have any mention of printer, publisher or sponsor. The posters first surfaced in Narayanpur district. They featured photos of activists Aruna Roy, Swami Agnivesh and Arundhati Roy carrying a statement condemning the killing of MNREGA activist Niyamat Ansari by Maoists. It ended with a denunciation of Naxalites as "enemies of both development and poor". A leading daily Chhattisgarh carried a quarter page advertisement. It began by congratulating the family of Binayak Sen on his safe return. "But only coffins returned to our homes, courtesy the bullets and blasts of those for whom Sen has sympathies," the advertisement read.

Nehru award for Angela Merkel German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been honoured with Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding for her efforts in sustainable and equitable development. The jury, chaired by Indian vicepresident Mohammad Hamid Ansari has decided to confer the award for 2009 on Dr Merkel, the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, an External Affairs Ministry statement said on Monday.

"By honouring Chancellor Merkel the Award for the year 2009, India recognizes her personal devotion and enormous efforts for sustainable and equitable development, for good governance and understanding and for the creation of a world better positioned to handle the emerging challenges of the 21st century," it said.

Forest Owlet to be crowned Maharashtra’s state bird The green pigeon is flying into the sunset. And the forest owlet, a bird that is active during the day unlike its cousins, is set to strut in the diffused morning light when it is coronated the state bird of Maharashtra. The honour is being taken away from the green pigeon because it has just dawned on the state that this bird isn’t unique to Maharashtra; it is found across not only India, but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

On the other hand, the forest owlet that was struck off as extinct for 113 years, was spotted one morning in November 1997 at the foothills of the Satpuras, northeast of Mumbai.

Jarbom Gamlin sworn in Arunachal CM Senior Congress leader Jarbom Gamlin was sworn in as the new chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh following the death of former chief minister Dorjee Khandu in a helicopter crash recently. Governor Gen. (Retd.) J.J. Singh administered the oath to Mr Gamlin at a hurriedly convened, sombre oath-taking ceremony at Raj Bhavan. Gamlin was a former Lok Sabha MP and as power minister he was instrumental in roping in several power giants to invest in the setting up mini and mega hydro power projects in the state.

57 hurt in train mishaps At least 57 passengers were were injured, many of them seriously, in two train mishaps in two days. In the first incident, five coaches of Mumbai-bound Udyog Nagri Express derailed near a station in Madhya Pradesh's Vidhisha district on Monday morning, police said.

Thirty passengers were injured, some of them critically. In the second incident, 27 passengers were injured, four of them seriously, when a coal-laden goods train derailed and was hit by the Koraput-Rourkela Express near Sikir Railway Station in Orissa’s Bolangir district last week The accident occurred when the goods train derailed and tilted on the other track on which the Koraput-Rourkela Express was coming.

Threat to kill Manmohan Singh, A B Vajpayee Security agencies in Delhi conducted search operations following an anonymous call threatening to kill prime minister Manmohan Singh and former prime minister A B Vajpayee. The call made from a mobile phone was received at the Delhi Police Control Room. The caller has threatened to kill Singh and Vajpayee. During investigations, sources said, the number was traced to be active in Ghaziabad.

However, police said searches did not yield much result as the address used to procure the SIM card was found to be fake. The phone number, according to records, belonged to one Ram Avatar residing in Ghaziabad’s Sanjay Nagar.

Women & hiSTory

asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

TraVel

27

ToniC

By Dr Anil Mehta

By Sophia Lorena Benjamin

The mystical beauty of

Manali

Summer in India is obvious, sweaty and sultry with tender coconuts, jaljeera, lassi, sugar cane juice or even beer joints in plenty. People carrying umbrellas and hats and vendors selling all sorts of drinks that have a cooling effect can be spotted all over the place. A major part of India concocts ways to beat the scorching heat as the temperatures soar, Manali, on the other hand has a different weather report and that is a major wow about this breathtaking town.

Delhi can be the best starting point by bus via the Delhi- manali route to get there. The journey to Manali starts with travelers trying hard to battle the blazing Delhi sun but, feel almost magical to see the journey end up with snow- filled mountain peaks. As a first time visitor it is difficult to believe a part of India with snow in store while it’s neighboring towns emit scorching heat and so the snow seems like a deception of white Mountains but when you confirm it is snow there is a sense of longing to reach out and grab a handful; especially when you know you have travelled from a warmer place.

There is a mystical beauty about Manali that you notice when the bus is nearing the destination.

It is at dawn that you realize that the overnight bus journey was worth going through as you discern the sun emerging itself through discrete sun rays at shorter lengths, overtaking the darkness and gradually spreading out until everything gets brightly visible. The flowing river continuously in motion looks immaculate with the white bubbly precipice and the picturesque little houses in the background, some clustered, some spread out and some simply beautified with young, pretty looking Himalayan belles

by the window.

Accommodation is no big deal in this place; there are hotels that offer a grand maharaja suite with a package that includes breakfast and dinner for as less as three thousand rupees. Manali itself comes as a surprise package either with it’s unpolluted natural beauty, the pleasant chill or the budget.

Everything out there is gleaming, even the dogs and rabbits look fluffy and ultra clean, but the best part is the whiteness of the snow on the mountain top and for that you need to reach out to heights.

The local drivers are the best with both, the marketing skills and the driving to convince you to get to the snowpoint.

The subtle Himalayan sunrise in summer mostly finds most of the tourists at Gulaba, the snow point as the Rohtang pass gets blocked for clearing of snow. From a distance this picturesque tourist destination looks as though you are sucked into a fairy tale picture surrounded by the cute and neat cottages, the tall coniferous trees, the mountains with patches of pure white and the brisk motion of the snowflakes creating a photographic backdrop.

At a closer range the river has a soothing beauty and the adventure sports like rafting and river crossing make it all the more exciting but if you aren’t really a good fan of activities, you could choose a lazy stroll by the pebbled river bank and still stand mesmerized by its beauty. The river flows in a gush and as the flowing water touches the shore it leaves a shimmering and silvery residue thus leaving most pebbles with a silvery white appearance.

Reaching Gulaba is another experience and the snow point seems almost unreachable and fathomed through the

winding steep roads, the vehicles move carefully and when you are there to witness the lofty mountains covered with snow that appear like huge drapes in white, you know that the local driver has done a commendable job.

You may pluck the icicles, run your fingers through the abundance of consistent snow or just about hang around there but no matter what, do acknowledge the local lady offering on rent an ethnic local costume and the photographer along her side. They both will hang around you to give you more information on the snow peaks or to help you around to put on the bright local attire and have a picture clicked for good memories, if you give the photographer the contact details of the hotel, you will have your picture delivered right at the door step.

What you cannot miss at the snow point though, is a man looking old and tribal, who makes his living off the wooden mountain sticks, which according to him, can be used as skis’, he picks them up personally climbing those scary heights and you could hire them for just ten rupees. The man is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the peaks, having spent an entire lifetime through these breathtaking Himalayan Mountains he knows every way and every trap of the hills and at his age is an interesting sight to watch as he climbs those peaks with ease and joy.

Once you are at the snow point, it’s hard to find restaurants in the vicinity but you will find wooden counters serving spicy instant noodles and low priced steaming cup of tea to beat the pleasant mountain chill and enjoy being at the foothills of Himalayas. The overall experience is worth the effort.Beautiful!

Mary, Queen of Scots

Mary Stuart (1542-87), Queen of Scotland (1542-67), was born in 1542, the only child of James V of Scotland. She inherited the Scottish throne when only six-day-old and was crowned in Stirling Castle where she spent her early childhood. She was the youngest monarch and first female to ascend the Scottish throne.

Mary was initially betrothed to the English King henry Viii’s son Edward, but the Scottish Parliament broke the agreement (which led to war with England). instead, six-year-old Mary was sent to France to marry its Prince Francis.

Mary spent the next 12 years in France where she was raised a Catholic, meanwhile her French mother Mary of Guise held the power in Scotland. Tall, witty and graceful, Mary married Francis at the age of 16. Francis after succeeding to French throne became Francis ii and Mary Queen of France, however, this happy union did not last long.

Unfortunately, Francis died after two years of marriage, and Mary, childless and widowed at 18, returned to now predominantly Protestant Scotland where she faced many challenges on arrival.

As a devout Catholic, Mary was regarded with suspicion by her Protestant led government. She accepted the adverse situation she was in, and initially managed well with her policy of religious tolerance, but her marriage to four years her younger cousin Lord Darnley initiated a chain of tragic events. Darnley’s was a disastrous choice. he was unruly, dishonest, and immoral. Their relationship soon broke down and the birth of a son James

Family affair : Mary’s father James V and mother Mary of Guise

(future James i of England and Vi of Scotland) did nothing to reconcile them.

Mary spent most of her time with her italian secretary David rizzio. This made Darnley jealous and he became involved in the plot to murder rizzio, who was brutally killed by a group of conspirators in front of Mary, at her residence holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. Darnley, however, suffered a similar fate when he himself was killed in a mysterious explosion in a house where he was staying in Edinburgh. Whether Mary knew about the murder in advance, nobody knows.

Three months after Darnley’s death Mary married her presumed lover and the suspected murderer of Darnley, the disrespectable, and 10 years her senior, the Earl of Bothwell. This ill-advised marriage did not go down well with Mary’s remain-

ing supporters and her subjects and provoked outrage. in 1567 they turned against her and rebelled. She was imprisoned and forced to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son James. Mary escaped from prison and after an unsuccessful attempt to regain the throne, fled to England. Bothwell escaped to Denmark where he died in prison.

Mary was crowned at Stirling Castle

Mary was hoping for protection and support from her cousin Queen Elizabeth i of England but instead she was imprisoned. in prison she became the focus for Catholic dissidents and was linked rightly or wrongly to a number of plots against Elizabeth. For Elizabeth, Catholic Mary was a threat to the throne of Protestant England. She remained in prison for 19 years until her involvement in a Catholic plot to murder Elizabeth, led to her execution in 1587, aged 44. She was buried in Peterborough Cathedral.

Queen Mary represents a truly tragic and controversial character in British history. her short life was tainted by love, betrayal, murder, scandals, and political intrigue. She was the victim of her own impulsive and stubborn character, unwise marital and political actions, and of her faith which was different from her Protestant kingdom. in spite of this she has always attracted much sympathy from the English and Scottish alike. She has become one of the legendary figures of Scottish history; many (especially Catholics) even consider her martyr. her dramatic story has continued to provoke arguments among historians even today. in 1603, Elizabeth i died without heir and Mary’s son who was already James Vi of Scotland, inherited English throne to become James i of England. it was one of the great ironies in British history; after centuries of English monarchs attempting to wrest the Scottish throne, it was a Scot who occupied the English throne without firing a single shot in anger, launching the Stuart dynasty in England. in 1612, James exhumed his mother’s body from Peterborough Cathedral, and placed it in London’s Westminster Abbey along with other monarchs. in my next article i will talk further about James i.

28

Fashion/ Youth

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

Indian Wedding

Wedding brings two souls together Indian weddings are very bright events, filled with ritual and celebration, that continue for several days. They are generally not small affairs, with anywhere between 100 to 10,000 people attending.

Often it is possible that many of the attendees are unknown to the bride and groom themselves.

Though most Indian marriages are arranged, some couples in urban areas have what are known as "love marriages", where the partners decide to marry each other without family involvement or assistance. The traditional Indian wedding is more about two families being brought together socially, with there being as much emphasis being on the families concerned coming closer, as the individuals involved.

Many of the wedding customs are common among Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and even Muslims.

They are a combination of local, religious and family traditions.

Asian weddings are a mainstay in the social calendar of the whole community. Many wedding traditions which have originated in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have carried over to second and third generation immigrant populations in western countries such as the UK and United States.

Increasingly younger Asian couples are starting to incorporate Western features into their weddings such as speeches, dance as well as the traditional wedding cake.

Wedding ceremony: Wedding traditions vary across religion, caste, ethnicity, language, region, etc. Traditional Indian weddings are generally structured into pre-wedding ceremonies, wedding day ceremonies (consisting of the Baraat, the Varmala and the Satphere), and the Vidaai.

Vidaai is when the bride is formally sent to the groom’s household. It can get quite emotional even for the most stone-

hearted. According to Hindu religious texts, Brahma created man from the right shoulder and woman from his left shoulder. A woman is referred to as Vamangi or one who is on the left side. Throughout the marriage ceremony the bride sits on the right side of the groom. That is the place for strangers and acquaintances. Only after the Saptpadi, when the bride and groom have exchanged marital vows, is the wife seated on the left side of the man.

Bride and groom are told about their duties and responsibilities in married life by priest.

These vows direct the couple to a positive path of action. They help in promoting marital happiness for a lifetime.

Vows by the Husband: Following is the vow by the husband: “I will consider my wife to be the better half. I will look after her just as I look after myself.

Accepting her as in-

charge of my home, I shall plan things in consultation with her. I will never express dissatisfaction about any shortcomings in my wife. If there are any, I will explain them to her lovingly. I will support her in overcoming them. I will always have faith in my wife. I will never look at another woman with wrong intent, nor have an illicit relationship. I will be affectionate and treat my wife like a friend. I will bring home all my income to my wife. The household expenses will be incurred with her consent. I will always make an effort to ensure her comfort and happiness. I will not find fault or criticize my wife before others. We will sort out our differences and mistakes in privacy by ourselves. I will have a courteous and tolerant attitude towards my wife. I will always follow a compromising policy. If my wife is unwell, or is unable to fulfill some of the responsibilities or

through some misunderstanding behaves wrongly, I will not withdraw support or refuse to fulfill my responsibilities towards her.”

Kanyadaan: During kanyadaan, the bride’s parents give their daughter away in marriage. The groom makes three promises – to be just (dharma), earn sufficiently to support his family, (artha) and love his wife (kama).

He repeats these vows thrice in the presence of Agni (the sacred fire) and all who are gathered there.

Bariksha: Bariksha is when the bride's parents have informally shown intentions that they want a particular groom, and the groom and his family have agreed. Retracting at the end of this stage is frowned upon but is acceptable. Once the wedding has been decided on by both sides, the bride's family goes and does Badcheka/ Bariksha of the groom. This is when the bride's father and brothers go to the groom's side with sweets (including a coconut) and some pooja items like rice and turmeric. This ceremony is a token gesture to confirm the alliance and signifies that the groom is now "taken" and can no longer look for other prospective brides.

Tilak: Tilak involves the bride's parents traveling to the groom's family home to formalise the relationship. A large feast is organised by the groom's family to celebrate this occasion.

Byaha Haath: This ceremony signifies the purifying of the mind, body and soul of bride and groom. This daytime ceremony prepares both of them for the nuptials.

'Uptan' is a mixed paste of sandalwood, turmeric and rose water which is applied by seven unmarried female members of the families to the faces, hands and feet of the bride and groom. After this ceremony the bride and the groom are not allowed to step outside the house before the actual wedding.

Flower bed ceremony: In the flower bed ceremony, the bride wears a lot of floral ornaments and the marriage bed is decorated with flowers by the groom's family. This is the night of consummation. In Muslim marriages, this takes place on the night of the wedding.

In Hindu marriages, this takes place on the night of the reception.

Buddha Poornima, which falls on the full moon night in the month of Vaisakha, this year it falls on May 17th. It commemorates the birth anniversary of Lord Buddha, founder of Buddhism.

Not with standing the summer heat, pilgrims come from all over the world to Bodh Gaya to attend the Buddha Poornima celebrations. The day is marked with prayer meets, sermons on the life of Gautam Buddha, religious discourses, continuous recitation of Buddhist scriptures, group meditation, processions and worship of the statue of Buddha.

The Mahabodhi Temple wears a festive look and is decorated with colourful flags and flowers. The Chinese scholar, Fa-Hien has recorded celebration of this festival.

It is important to give a summarized description on the Buddhist festivals in India, especially in the main places of worship.

The principal annual ceremony for all the Buddhist is the Vaisaka Purnima known in Sri Lanka as Wesak festival and in India as Buddha Jayanti. Vaisaka Purnima day is fixed by the full-moon day of the month Vaisaka, which falls in May. Like all other

Buddha Poornima Buddhist festivals it falls according to the Lunar year. It was of this day of the year, according to the year.

Lord Buddha attained Supreme Enlightenment or Buddha hood, beneath the Bodhi tree at Boddha Gaya. Forty-five years later at the age of 80, he finally passed away in Parinivana on the same day of the year at Kushinagar.

Vaisaka Purnima is celebrated especially in Boddha Gaya, Lumbini and in Kushinara as they are the holy places that were connected with the blessed ones birth, enlighten and the Parinirvana. Buddhists in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Tibet, China, Korea, Laos, Vietnam, Mongolia, Bhutan,

Cambodia, Nepal, Japan and quite a number of western Buddhists participate 'Vaisaka' Purnima Day religious activities in a festive mood. Sarnath, the capital of Buddhism too celebrates Vaisaka Purnima day in a grand way.

The great Buddhist festival 'Vaisaka,' although is an occasion for rejoicing doesn't encourage hectic gaiety and abandon. The happiness that the Buddhists feel when they are celebrating it is a tranquil, peaceful joy. The festival has its gay side as well. In most of the Buddhist countries the villages, roads, streets, temples and houses are brightly illuminated with colour lanterns, electric lights and colorful decorations.

Shiamak Davar to open dance school in London Shiamak Daver, an Indian dancer who is rocking the world with his brilliant dance style, now plans to open a dance school in London during summer.

The school will provide training, technique and the grandeur of Bollywood dancing to London.

Shiamak Davar International founded by him for dance enthusiasts in 1992, assures you that everyone can dance. The school educates, energizes and reaches out to people from all walks of life. His classes are for toddlers as well as for senior citizens.

Embarking on a journey two decades ago with a vision to change people’s perception of dance, Shiamak has led the world in embracing a dance movement that is beyond the ordinary, enthralling people in what can aptly be called the Shiamak Movement. He is on a mission to educate the world with the joy of dancing, to entertain audiences with his creative brilliance, and to empower people with his belief that if you have the will, you’ll always triumph.

Shiamak has revolutionized choreography in India and Indian Cinema, having won the prestigious National Award for choreography. Choreographing and designing stage shows, movies and events, training the biggest Bollywood stars like Amitabh

Bachchan, Aishwaryai Rai Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Aamir Khan, Shilpa Shetty, Katrina Kaif, Salmaan Khan and many more, Shiamak has donned many a hats.

Popularly known as the guru of contemporary dance, Shiamak has the last word in dance in India.

Shiamak’s unique dance menu includes the fiery Bollywood Jazz Movement, so get ready to swing those hips, tap those feet and strut onto the dance floor with confidence and style.

Shiamak’s Indo jazz movement which is already a hit in Canada, Australia and Dubai is a creative blend of western jazz and ballet technique with folk Indian steps.

Shiamak’s association with UK has been long and it is the love of his fans that initiated him to bring his dance classes to London.

For more info on SHIAMAK’s classes call on 0775 SHIAMAK (0775 744 2625) www.facebook.com/sh iamaklondon

HealtH Watch

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

Home remedies help fight digestive problems

Digestive problems are serious issue now. It's impossible to enjoy a spicy snack or a sweet delicacy when you are constantly worried about painful repercussions that may follow. Two common digestion-related issues are heartburn and the irritable bowel syndrome.

Heartburn is felt right from the chest to the throat area. One of the main reasons for heartburn is acid reflux, a condition cause by stomach acids irritating the oesophagus.

Tips to prevent heartburn: Try to eat small portions of food whenever you eat. Regardless of the type of the food, overeating tends to lead to heartburn. Also, chew your food well. Wolfing each bite down only hampers digestion.

Baking, grilling and stir frying are healthier cooking methods. Deep frying and shallow frying your food tends to cause discomfort. If heartburn is a common problem for you, avoid extremely spicy,

citrusy and vinegary foods.

If you must eat them, accompany them with a decent amount of acidic foods such as meat and vegetables.

Binge drinking is a common reason behind bloating and heartburnrelated problems. Limit your intake of alcohol and re-hydrate often when you do drink.

Irritable bowel syndrome is a disorder in which one might suffer from extreme abdominal pain and cramps. In severe cases, one may also suffer from constipation or diarrhoea.

Tips to prevent irritable bowel syndrome: Avoid binge eating. Some foods that can aggravate the problem are cabbage, alcohol, milk, wheat, barley, bean and caffeinated beverages. Add more fiber to your diet as it helps in fighting diarrhoea and constipation. However, don't try and cheat yourself with fiber supplements as they can worsen the irritation levels. Various

health studies have linked the irritable bowel syndrome with lack of proper sleep and stress. Here are a few ways to combat stress.

Exercise more often.

People who are physically fit tend to suffer from fewer to no digestive problems when compared to their physically unfit counterparts. Here is how you can make exercise a part of your daily routine.

If you are allergic to milk, you are most likely to suffer from irritable bowel syndrome time and again. If this is the case, talk to your doctor and hunt for alternatives to add calcium in your diet.

While none of the suggestions above are common or belong to a 'one size fits all' formula, they're relevant pointers that'll help you narrow down your symptoms and treatment. You'll notice that eating well-balanced meals that aren't heavy on spices, salts and oils, along with plenty of exercise are great problem solvers for digestive problems.

Aerobics beneficial for curing liver disease

Study has shown that aerobics is not only useful for weight loss but is beneficial to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in obese people with pre-diabetes.

Aerobics or any such exercise or walking on a treadmill for one hour a day appears to benefit these patients by increasing their metabolism and slowing the oxidative damage caused by the liver disease.

Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic looked at 15 obese people with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease who walked on a treadmill at 85 per cent of their maximum heart rate for one hour a day for seven consecutive days.

They found that the exercise increased the participants' insulin sensitivity and improved the liver's polyunsaturated lipid index (PUI)- believed to be a marker of liver health - by 84 per cent.

"These improvements are linked to an increase in the hormone adiponectin, which plays a role in the body's response to insulin and has anti-inflammatory properties that help reduce the risk of heart attack," said Jacob M. Haus of the Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute.

Obese people often have low levels of

adiponectin. "We were able to correlate changes in adiponectin with PUI and the body's resting energy metabolism. The latter gives us an indication of whether carbohydrate or fat is being metabolized.

After exercise, the participants were burning more fat," said Haus. "We like to think of exercise as medicine," he added.

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29

By Radhika Madlani

The paradox of Maternity leave choose to stay home with due to the worry that If like me, you are a fan of their children during their absence may cause the Apprentice on the these early years to nurprogression issues on BBC, you may recall ture their much loved their return. However, I Katie Hopkins from a bundles of joy whilst othrecall something an couple of series ago. She American colleague told raised eyebrows when she ers that rush back to me once.

She said, suddenly withdrew from work soon afterwards ‘Honey, the job doesn’t the show at a very late question why some mothlove you back’. So, if you stage citing childcare coners want to stay home to are influenced by Katie’s cerns.

I felt grateful drink coffee and make when she disappeared baby puree! The two synopsis, you might do from our screens until camps should be more well to remember this recently when I caught empathetic towards each when you are next dealher, as always, making a others’ choices. ing with the internal concontroversial remark on I have done a lot of flict between spending the BBC’s the One Show work within my company the time you want with where she declared that, to encourage Inclusion your children versus “the thought of taking a and Diversity so whilst I returning back to work fully recognise that small before you feel ready. long maternity leave, businesses do suffer from On a lighter note, I becoming a bloated, maternity benefits being thank Katie for raising brainless version of your expanded, they do have a awareness of the new former self and spending duty of care to their benefits now available to endless days pureeing men.

I am reliably carrots is beyond me”. employees. Katie seemed informed by my colThe binary nature of her to be of the opinion that leagues in human report made me want to employers may be put off resources that as you scream at the screen and I from hiring women due to would rightly guess, they am sure it would have these increased benefits had the same effect on but I think a degree of are yet to receive their other working mothers. common sense could be first application from a The film was meant to applied to the recruitman requesting paternity spark debate after recent ment process to ensure leave. Despite Katie’s government announcethat employers get the mis-informed view that ments to grant fathers six right skills and do not fall all women do on maternimonths paternity leave trap to gender bias. The ty is drink coffees and within the first year if the risk of an employee needmake purees, those that ing assistance, whether it have actually spent that mother went back to be maternity leave, a long time with their children work full-time. When leave of absence owing to will recognise that you consider that 30,000 a health concern or somealthough termed ‘leave’, women lose their jobs maternity leave is just each year as a result of thing else, they are all another name for a ‘difpregnancy, you have to risks that should be facferent’ and ‘more imporstart asking why? The tored into the recruitment tant’ job! fact that parents in the process.

Quote: UK spend, on average, a I also recognise that “Maternity is a matthird of their take-home women in influential ter of fact, Paternity is a pay on childcare costs roles feel the pressure of might explain why many returning to their roles matter of opinion” Should you have any comments or want to get in touch with me you can email on avmamaria@gmail.com

15-minute workout can keep you young Researchers have found that a 15-minute workout at a gym helps keep you young as well as fit.

Researchers found that vigorous exercise tends to slow the ageing process.

Just 15 minutes of energetic activity a day reduces stress and prevents the deterioration of vital cells which lead to us feeling and looking older.

Psychologist Eli Puterman, who led the research, said the study was built on previous work that showed how

changes in DNA result in ageing. "We have extended those findings to show that, in fact, there are things we can do about it," said Puterman.

"If we maintain the levels of physical activity recommended by public health bodies we can prevent the damage that psychological stress may have on our body," he added.

30

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

Successful entrepreneur and community worker, Mr. Manubhai Ramji of Kings Kitchen will discuss with CB on various aspects of life in UK, Kutch (Gujarat) and East Africa.

Sneh Joshi - 020 8518 5500

If you do not have a tv, go to www.tvunetworks.com and watch CB Live on TVU Player Channel 75203

To ask questions please call on: 020 8963 1001

For more information e-mail: cblive_matv@yahoo.co.uk

Don't miss !!!

Only on CB Live - MATV Sky 793 - Thursday 7:00pm to 8:00pm

Coming Events

COMPETITION Black Rock presents Asian Woman Summer Boat Party at Dixie Queen, on Saturday 4th June. Want to win a pair of tickets?

l Shree Bhuvneshwari Mahotsav and Samuh Katah: Sunday 15th May from 11 am @ Upton Centre, Bishops Avenue, London E13 0QB. Contact: 020 8599 7080

Answer a simple question: Where is Tower Pier? a. London Bridge b. Tower of London c. Canary Wharf Please send your correct answer to Alkaben at alka.shah@abplgroup.com

by Friday 27th May. Winners will be chosen on first cum first basis.

l Indian classical music concert - Krishna Chakraborty : 20th May @ Mahatma Gandhi Hall, Indian YMCA, 41 Fitzroy square, W1T 6AQ

3

l Day trip by Lambeth Asian Centre to Crawley Hindu Temple & Brighton : 21 May. Contact: 0208 767 7069 l Life is blissful, Learn to live it- Anandmurti Gurumaa in UK: 27-30 May @ Greenford Hall, Ruislip Road, Greenford UB6 9QN

4V NNF S

#P B U

1B S U Z

l Ghazal course with Jagjit Singh: 30th May F

3pm-7pm @Museum of Asian Music, Bradford -) (5-!)*6 : 5= B @(! %(! #)(! -!). -) ,'- (? /4)% " C =(!%&- D4-!(E6 5= B 9-= Road, London W3 7SP. Contact: 020 8735 0262

A 3

Coming Events l Shri Bhuvneshwari Mahotsav: 15th May @ Upton Centre, Bishop Avenue, London E13 0QB l Hindi speech competition: 15 May @ Nehru Centre, 8 South Audley Street, London, W1K 1HF. Contact: 020 7491 3567 l Dance, poetry & musiic: Tagore in translation, Documentary film : A touch of Tagore: 18:30, 20 May @ Nehru Centre l Book launch: A tale of two Revolts: India's Mutiny & The American Civil War Rajmohan Gandhi: 24th May @ Nehru Centre

l Randal Pooja, Sthapana and Jagaran: Sunday 5th June @ Greenford Jalaram Mandir l Anuradha Paudwal concert: 3rd July @ De Montfort Hall, Leicester and 10th July @ Cadogan Hall, Leicester l Oshwal Mela: 24th July @ Oshwal Centre, Coopers Lane Road, Northaw EN6 4DG. Contact: 07984 4987578 l Contemporary Indian and Sri Lankan music with Shammi Pithia and veena player Hari Sivanesan: 26th July @ Southbank Centre, London

l Music: Adoption of Tagore's melodies in Bollywood Music: 27 May 18:30 @ Nehru Centre

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 The need to push ahead with personal interests and to assert yourself with added force will take precedence over everything else for some time to come. Mentally you will be in top form, perhaps feeling quite passionate about expressing your ideas and views. Indeed, a goal you have been striving towards will at last be reached.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 You have everything to gain by following creative inclinations. If you have new ideas, now is the time to put them into practice.

Whatever your present interests you are likely to find that new doors open and the way ahead offers increased scope for expressing your real self. A great time to meet and interact with people.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22 With Jupiter in your solar 10th house, your career is lit up and bodes well for the coming month. Some of you will be in a reflective mood and taking stock of your lives and working out the best direction to take. This is a good time to take up yoga and meditation or even take time out for a while.

You will begin this week with positive attitude towards life and will have good communication skills. This will also make you feel very confident in all areas of your life.

You will continue to wield power and authority in whatever you do. You will also spend a lot of your free time helping charitable institutions.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23 You are endowed with a level of determination that others sometimes find formidable. Once you set your mind on a goal you stay the course no matter what obstacles you encounter.

Saturn's placement in your Solar 2nd house often denotes a phase of restriction, sometimes frustration, in one's working life.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23 The accentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very much on relationships. The opening up of a more diverse social life is a point in favour of romantic attachments. You will achieve a lot more, especially when you're motivated by your own desires. The general pattern of things continues on a progressive and buoyant theme.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22 Mars and Saturn placement in your chart sets a rather challenging theme.

Although this gives increased potential for tension and conflict with other people, it also means that you are able to confront issues and sort any problems out. If this involves a close relationship, you can now resolve your differences.

l Bharatnatyam, Rashi Biljani: 31 May, 19:00 @ Nehru Centre l Contemporary Indian and Sri Lankan music with Shammi Pithia and veena player Hari Sivanesan: 26th July @ Southbank Centre, London

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This week you will be mentally alert and have the ability to sort out any practical problems. Matters of the heart are not favoured this week, so expect some setbacks. Plan ahead for the long term where finances are concerned as this is a good time to invest. The atmosphere at home is likely to be convivial and joyous.

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20

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SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21 There may be a discrepancy between the energy you put out and the actual result achieved. You can do much to minimise this effect by avoiding distractions and concentrating on only what is most essential at a day-to-day level. Try to take things in your stride rather than anticipating what might happen.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20 Things get a little easier now and you can relax. It's been a hectic time as you've tried to accomplish a great deal. It is a good time to consolidate your gains. You need to be cautious with investments so seek guidance from a professional.

Relationships need to be re-assessed, though a positive outcome is indicated.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19

Domestic and home matters are disturbed and a source of concern to you.

You could find family members hostile and difficult to reason with. It is a period of handling matters with utmost diplomacy and calmness. Mercury in your solar 3rd sign ensures that you are extremely communicative and that people will listen to what you have to say.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20 This is a good time to cut back on extravagant spending and consolidate your finances. Your social calendar is likely to keep you very busy and you will have lots of opportunities to promote yourself. For some of you this is also a good time to meet like-minded people which could lead to romantic liaisons.

SpOrt WorLd

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

played. Beating Nadal is the greatest challenge on clay, I'm so glad I was able to do it."

Djokovic insisted that he is not getting too side-tracked by the pursuit of the world number one spot.

Saina Nehwal

Saina fails to cross the last hurdle

Indian Ace Saina Nehwal loses to Xin Wang in Malaysian Open Grand Prix Final.

When she went through a 21-13, 821, 14-21 loss to Wang Xin of China in the final.

Saina, who never lost an international final since the 2006 Philippines Open triumph, came a cropper against Wang. The Chinese star, who is a rung above Saina in the world rankings at three, was scratchy at the start but gained momemtum and dominated the Indian. With the triumph in the final, Wang improved her career record over Saina to 3-0, with all the three victories

coming in Malaysia.

Saina was off to a brisk start by winning the first game rather easily.

However, she made too many errors in the second and lost focus. “I made too many mistakes in the match, especially in the second game. I was bothered by two line calls in the third game and paid the price. I should have kept my cool and it is a good lesson for me,” Saina admitted in her post-match comments.

Wang increased the tempo in the second game and made Saina move around the court. After being overwhelmed in the second game, Saina did all that she could to stay in the contest.

It was anybody’s game till 14-14. But Wang played some decisive smashes here and scored seven successive points to close the issue.

Saina refused to blame her loss on her injured ankle. “I thought I could beat her. I will not use my ankle as an excuse. There is no problem as it is taped up. When she won seven points in a row in the second game I took it easy as I wanted to take a breather and catch her in the decider. We were level till 14-14 when I sent two crosscourt shots into the net. Wang took advantage to run away with the title.”

Wang won $9,480 while Saina got $4,560. A delighted Wang celebrated Mother’s Day by dedicating the victory to her mother. “This is my first victory this year and I would like to dedicate it to my mother,” Wang told the Badminton World Federation (BWF) website.

"If I continue to win, I will get closer to it, but I am trying not to think about it as I have only just started my clay court season," he said.

"It's a perfect start to win two events on clay (Djokovic also won in Belgrade last weekend). But I am concentrating on the tournaments ahead. I know that if I want to become number one, I will have to play well constantly week after week.

"That's what Rafa and the other players will be doing."

World number two Djokovic has now won three straight Masters 1000 trophies over Nadal after defeating the number one at Indian Wells and Miami in March and April respectively.

Sunday's win was also the Serb's first over Nadal on clay after losing their nine previous meetings on the surface while his incredible winning streak is made up of 32 matches in 2011 and his two Davis Cup victories in December.

Andy Flower committed to making England world's No1 side

Andy Flower

Rafael Nadal faces a fight to hold on to his world number one ranking after Novak Djokovic extended his victory streak to 34 matches with a 7-5, 6-4 win over the Spaniard at the Madrid Masters on Sunday.

Nadal had to swallow his first loss on clay in nearly two years, a run of 37 straight victories stretching back to the French Open fourth round in 2009 when he lost to Robin Soderling.

Now Nadal has this week's Rome Masters, Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion's points to defend.

With Djokovic barely registering during the period a year ago (two quarter-finals and a Wimbledon semi-final), the Serb is well-placed to seize the top ranking and fulfill his lifetime tennis dream.

"I walked onto the court thinking I could win," said Djokovic, now holder of six titles this season.

"I'm very happy with the way I

Novak Djokovic

Djokovic puts Nadal's victory under risk

England team director Andy Flower, who has signed a new contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), has said that he wants to realize the team's objective of becoming the No.1 side in the world.

Flower had been India's first choice as their new coach before they appointed Duncan Fletcher last week. The 43year-old is believed to have earned a substantial increase in salary and a greater say in future scheduling of tours.

"I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to build on the considerable progress we have made to date as a squad and remain fully committed to developing the side and ensuring we are in a position to realize our objective of becoming the No 1 side in the world," .

"When I was appointed England team director in 2009 I stated that I wanted to create a winning England team and I am very pleased with the advances we have made as a squad over the last two years in all formats of the game."

Construction starts at London Olympic venue Work has begun on the temporary venue at the Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich where the shooting, paralympic shooting and paralympic archery competitions will take place.

The Barracks will provide a spectacular backdrop for spectators as they enter the venue with views of the worldfamous military base. Visitors to the venue will see the longest continuous Georgian building façade in the UK, before taking their seats to watch the sporting action.

Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) Project Sponsor, Richard Arnold, said: ‘The Shooting venue is the ODA’s final venue to start construction and will be ready to host test events

next year. It will be a fitting arena for athletes during the London 2012 Games and spectators will also benefit from an excellent location that is steeped in history.’

The venue will include three enclosed ranges and three open-air ranges and is set to be completed ahead of international shooting test events next spring.

A free exhibition telling the story of the Olympic Games has been announced as part of the London 2012 Festival.

London 2012 Organising Committee Board Member Jonathan Edwards with some of the unique Olympic items which will be on display in the exhibition.

'The Olympic Journey:

The Story of the Games' will transport viewers back to ancient Greece, the original home of the Olympics, and follow a journey tracking some of the iconic Olympic athletes and stories of the last hundred years.

Staged in collaboration with London 2012 partner BP, the exhibition will be held at the Royal Opera House and run for the duration of the Olympic Games next summer, from 27 July to 12 August.

Unique artefacts, graphics, film and audio from The Olympic Museum in Lausanne will all be on display, including a collection of all the Olympic medals since 1896 and all the Olympic Torches since 1936.

31

Chris Gayle scores 37 runs in one over He went unsold at the auction, and only made it to IPL-4 because West Indies dropped him. But Chris Gayle has been in great form for Royal Challengers Bangalore.

On Sunday, 37 runs came off one over by Prasanth Parameswaran of Kochi Tuskers. Gayle hit a six, then a six off a no-ball, and then a four off the free hit. He followed with a four, six, six and four. He thus scored 36, with one run coming from the no-ball to make it a 37-run over. Only Andrew Flintoff, who scored 38 runs for Lancashire in one over (which included 2 noballs) by Surrey’s Alex Tudor in 1998, has scored more. Of course, Gary Sobers, Ravi Shastri, Yuvraj Singh and Herschelle Gibbs all hit six sixers off six balls in different forms of cricket.

Gayle later said he’d gone to bed at 6 am. It might now be opposing teams who have sleepless nights at the thought of bowling to him.

Boycott seeks fresh faces in England team Former England captain Geoffrey Boycott welcomed the decision of appointing separate captains for the national side in different forms of the game and wanted the selectors to infuse some fresh blood keeping in mind the 2015 World Cup in Australia. The English and Wales Cricket Board ( ECB) last week appointed Alastair Cook as the one-day captain while fast bowler Stuart Broad was 'surprisingly' chosen to lead the T20 side and Andrew Strauss was retained as the Test captain. Boycott said that team director Andy Flower and selectors must be strong in dropping some of the 'older guys' to make way for a young lot.

Mary Kom gets her first gold in Asian Cup

Five-time world champion M C Mary Kom (48 kg) clinched her first gold medal of the year by finishing on top in the Asian Cup Women's Boxing tournament in Haikou, China. The mother-of-two from Manipur, India, claimed the gold after beating Asian champion Kim Myong Sim of North Korea 4-3 in the final. Playing her first tournament since her bronze medal at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, Mary Kom had made a place in the last two of her weight division after drubbing Kate Appari of Philippines.

In the title clash she had to work hard as her North Korean opponent put up a stiff challenge.

Shane Warne to quit after IPL Shane Warne will quit professional cricket after the Indian Premier League (IPL) season, the Australian spinner said on Friday. The spin great, who took 708 test wickets before retiring from international cricket at the end of the 200607 Ashes series, has been Rajasthan Royals' captain-cum-coach in the four editions of the cashrich tournament. "Yes this is my last year playing IPL," Warne posted on his Twitter account.

Sehwag to miss IPL Virendra Sehwag will have to go for surgery for the injured shoulder, so has been ruled out of the rest of the IPL matches this season. A development which may also make him unavailable for India's forthcoming tour of the West Indies. Sehwag is currently the top scorer in the IPL with 424 runs and his loss will further hamper the chances of the Daredevils, who are currently placed seventh in the points table and are left with only three games. A development which may also make him unavailable for India's forthcoming tour of the West Indies.

32

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th May 2011

IPL Results from 43 to 54 matches played till Monday, 10th May Match 43 Date 4 May Match 44 Date 4 May Match 45 Date 5 May Match 46 Date 5 May Match 47 Date 6 May Match 48 Date 7 May Match 49 Date 7 May Match 50 Date 8 May Match 51 Date 8 May Match 52 Date 9 May Match 53 Date 10 May Match 54 Date 10 May

CSK v/s RR at Chennai CSK won by 8 wickets Brief scores: RR 147/6 (20 overs) CSK 149/2(18.4 overs) PW v/s MI at Mumbai MI won by 21 runs Brief scores: MI 160/7 (20 overs) PW 139/4 (20 overs) KTK v/s KKR at Kochi KTK won by 17 runs Brief scores: KTK 156/5 (20 overs) KKR 139/7 (20 overs) DC v/s DD at Hyderabad DD won by 4 wickets Brief scores: DC 175/5 (20 overs) DD 179/6 (19 overs) RCB v/s KXIP at Jaipur RCB won by 85 runs Brief scores: RCB 205/6 (20 overs) KXIP 120/9 (20 overs) KKR v/s CSK at Kolkata KKR won by 10 runs (D/L method) Brief scores: CSK 114/4 (20 overs) RR 61/2 (10 overs) MI v/s DD at Mumbai MI won by 32 runs Brief scores: MI 178/4 (20 overs) RR 146 (19.5 overs) RCB v/s KTK at Bangalore RCB won by 9 wickets Brief scores: KTK 125/9 (20 overs) RCB 128/1 (13.1 overs) KXIP v/s PW at Mohali PW won by 5 wickets Brief scores: KXIP 119/8 (20 overs) PW 120/5 (17.1 overs) RR v/s CSK at Jaipur CSK won by 63 runs Brief scores: CSK 196/3 (20 overs) RR 133 (19.3 overs) DC v/s PW at Hyderabad PW won by 6 wickets Brief scores: DC 136/8 (20 overs) PW 137/4 (18.2 overs) KXIP v/s MI at Mohali KXIP won by 76 runs Brief scores: KXIP 163/8 (20 overs) MI 87 (12.5 overs)

EPL Matches this week

Saturday, 14 May 2011 Blackburn v Man Utd, Ewood Park, Blackpool v Bolton, Bloomfield Road, Sunderland v Wolverhampton, Stadium of Light, West Brom v Everton, The Hawthorns, Sunday, 15 May 2011 Chelsea v Newcastle, Stamford Bridge, Arsenal v Aston Villa, Emirates Stadium, Birmingham v Fulham, St Andrews Ground, Liverpool v Tottenham, Anfield, Wigan v West Ham, DW Stadium, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 Man City v Stoke, City of Mer Stadium,

12:45 12:45 12:45 12:45 13:30 16:00 16:00 16:00 16:00 19:45

Punjab trounce table toppers Mumbai Indians

After a glut of one-sided snooze-fests, the IPL produced the kind of upset the Twenty20 format is made for, with the tenth-placed Kings XI Punjab producing a determined performance to trounce the table-toppers Mumbai Indians. Punjab came out determined against Mumbai's gun bowlers - Lasith Malinga and Harbhajan Singh - and scrapped their way towards a solid base, before Munaf Patel kept them to 163. In reply, Mumbai combusted in a rash of ridiculous shots to hand the game on a platter.

If Lasith Malinga doesn't get you Harbhajan Singh will. If both of them don't, then Munaf Patel will. Kings XI Punjab came out determined to counter Mumbai's two gun bowlers, and got off to a solid start, but Munaf reined them in with a five-for that stalled their late charge.

The net result was that Punjab reached a score of 163, which they might have taken at the toss, given how badly out of form their batting has been in recent games.

The second over of the day set the tone for Punjab's defiance. The bowler of the tournament screamed in and delivered it full and wide of off stump.

Gilchrist rolled back the years by moving across and slicing it through point. The next ball was hit even more fiercely, but it found the fielder. Buoyed by the confidence of having middled two balls,

Shaun Marsh top scored once again for Kings XI Punjab

Gilchrist took guard outside the crease for the next delivery. It was a yorker, followed by a bouncer that clattered Gilchrist on the back of his helmet. He was stunned for a moment and floored for a minute,

but he got a new helmet and carried on.

Punjab were not going to flinch today.

At the other end, Paul Valthaty carved Harbhajan Singh over the covers and lapped him past a diving Rohit Sharma at short fine-leg. He perished in Munaf's first over, pulling him straight to Aiden Blizzard at deep midwicket. Gilchrist, however, carried on in his determined ways. He was clearly not at his best, struggling to pick Harbhajan's straighter ones, and to adapt to the drop in pace once Malinga exited the attack. Andrew Symonds let him off on one of those indiscretions, when Gilchrist drove Dhawal Kulkarni uppishly into the covers.

Gilchrist celebrated by launching Rohit Sharma for a straight six, while Shaun Marsh checked in by creaming Kulkarni twice through the off side.

Indian Premier League IV Points Table (as on 10 / 5 / 2011) Teams Match Won Lost Tied Mumbai Indians 11 8 3 0 Chennai Super Kings 11 7 4 0 Kolkata Knight Riders 11 7 4 0 Royal Challengers Bangalore 10 6 3 0 Rajasthan Royals 11 5 5 0 Kochi Tuskers Kerala 11 5 6 0 Pune Warriors 11 4 7 0 Delhi Daredevils 11 4 7 0 Kings XI Punjab 10 4 6 0 Deccan Chargers 11 3 8 0

N/R 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0

Points 16 14 14 13 11 10 8 8 8 6

Fireworks out of season

By Premen Addy

Recent IPL fireworks would have done credit to the most exuberant Diwali celebration.

What a pity, therefore, that Diwali is still some months away. No matter, the public came in their thousands and tens of thousands to witness, hopefully, the best of Virender Sehwag and Chris Gayle. Their expectations, great as they were, gave way to ecstasy as they beheld three miracles of batsmanshiip: Sehwag's 119 (with the century reached from 56 balls) against the Deccan Chargers, and Gayle's 102 from 55 balls against the Kolkata Night Riders and 107 (the 100 coming compiled from 48 deliveries) against the Kings XI, coupled with a second blitz of 44 from 16 balls, 37 of which came in a single over, by which time the Royal Challengers had recorded the first 50 of their innings against the Kochi Tuskers in a trifling 2.5 overs!

Virender Sehwag

It was brilliant; it was carnage; it was Alternative Cricket. It will be many moons before we see a spectacle remotely similar.

Sehwag's Delhi Daredevils were 25 for 3 against the rampant Deccan Chargers for whom Dale Steyn, the world's fastest and leading bowler, was in his element, having despatched his first victim with his opening ball.

Partnering him him at the other end was a reborn Ishant Sharma, bowling with a passion and self-belief that yield-

ed him two wickets. With 178 runs on the board, the Deccan Chargers sniffed victory, the question being how big this was likely to be as their opponents tottered on the brink of a yawning abyss.

Sehwag still held the fort, if only just. Unlike the Arab Awakening, Sehwag's reawakening was no figment of media imagination or invention but a real time show of such power, verve and daring that it left his team mates and spectators and TV viewers gobsmacked and speechless. Bowlers and fielders were traumatised. Sehwag had his moments of luck, but fortune favoured the brave as a match given up as lost was won in a 6 wicket canter with an entire over to spare.

When Sehwag fell victim to a Steyn snorter victory was but a few runs away; however, the uplifting sight of the bowler putting his arm round Sehwag's shoulder was a moving tribute to sportsmanship.

Net RR +0.314 +0.509 +0.464 +0.786 -0.504 -0.624 -0.003 -0.312 -0.432 -0.177

It was a perfect evening.

Gayle's two centuries in this year's IPL, is a unique landmark in Twenty/20 cricket. He was pure gale-force as he blew away the Kings XI on the first occasion, their captain Adam Gilchrist had performed similar feats of derring-do in all forms of cricket in his heyday. He was sporting and generous to a fault acknowledging Gayle's achievement. Gayle's strength and power were truly awesome and his late presence with the Challengers has clearly rejuvenated them after a tricky start to the tournament.

They are now among the top four favourites for the 2011 IPL trophy.

Elsewhere, the Mumbai Indians, remorseless in every winning fibre, now head the table. They have strength in depth batting and bowling; and in Lasith Malinga they possess a missile undetected thus far by arms control experts! Long may he endure.