AV 12th August 2017

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Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

EXCLUSIVE: A UK based Indian women's group due to protest outside London's Home Office Headquarter to highlight their sufferings

Rupanjana Dutta

Britain's largest Indian women's group is planning a silent protest outside the Home Office Headquarter in London next week, against increasing abuse and exploitation of migrant wives on “dependent visas”.

Hundreds of these women find themselves abused and exploited due to a provision in immigration law in which the sponsoring partner - the husband - is able to cancel his

partner's visa by merely writing an email to the Home Office, leaving the women in limbo. Statistics show that thousands of Indian women move to the UK every year, following their husbands as dependants, with dreams to create a house filled with love and laughter. But the reality is often different.

These women who are then either abandoned in India on pretext of a vacation, or are thrown out of their houses in the UK, controlled and ill-treated mostly for financial reasons. Some women are even driven to commit suicide or beg on streets. Most of them have no idea that the High Commission of India has a women cell, that may be able to advise them free of cost, though certain limitations exist. That is where

organisations like the Indian Ladies in the UK come forward to assist the helpless women. They have started an online petition calling for the change in regulation and has already garnered hundreds of signatures in 24 hours (https://www.change.org/p/homeo f f i c e - j u s t i c e - f o r- w o m e n - o n spouse-visa).

India's Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj has also come on board to support this organisation's women. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in India has created a special committee, that promises to 'hear and see', investigate and provide support wherever possible.

Indian Ladies in the UK (ILUK), a non-profit organisation, has 21,000 members and is made up of the first generation migrant Indian women in the UK. They campaign on behalf of victims of domestic abuse, spousal abandonment and international child abduction. They have planned a protest on 16th August, between 3pm – 5pm. Several of the victims are expected to join ILUK members for the demonstration at Lunar House in Croydon. The plan is to stage a silent demonstration to show objection against the exploitation of Indian women on spousal visas.

Continued on page 16

Ahmed Patel wins RS poll from Gujarat

Congress candidate Ahmed Patel won the Rajya Sabha seat from Gujarat after securing 44 votes. Earlier, the Election Commission, after two separate rounds of meetings with BJP and Congress leaders, asked the returning officer (RO) of the Rajya Sabha poll in Gujarat Continued on page 26

Venkaiah Naidu is India's next Vice President Veteran BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu was elected as the 13th Vice-President of India on Saturday, as he defeated the combined Opposition candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi by a huge margin of 272 votes in a straight contest. Returning Officer Shamsher K Sherif announced his victory with 516 votes, while Gandhi secured a mere 244.

Assistant Returning Officer Mukul Pandey informed that over 98 percent voting was recorded in the vice-presidential election. 771 out of 785 MPs have voted in the election, however 11 votes were found to be invalid.

Continued on page 26

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Asian Voice | 12th August 2017

AsianVoiceNews

to Steffi Shilton is currently the Company Director at Peter and Steffi Shilton Consultancy Ltd. Steffi has a wealth of experience working within public service, working as a Media Healthcare Adviser for 9 years and also volunteering as an ambassador at St Helena Hospice in Colchester.

She is passionate about singing and works as a semi-professional specialising in Blues and Jazz, recently singing at Bobby Davros and Tony Jacklin golf days. She has one daughter and three grandchildren.

1) What is your current position?

Company Director of Peter & Steffi Shilton Consultancy Ltd (P&S.S.C Ltd).

2) What are your proudest achievements?

Presenting a dossier into parliament regarding whistleblowing in the NHS. Within the dossier I made good solid recommendations in lowering patient risks by promoting and encouraging staff to freely speak out, with-

out victimisation.

3) What inspires you?

As a child my father refused to give me pocket money, instead he got me a long paper round! It really taught me the value of money and that if I wanted something I had to work for it - a great life lesson.

4) What has been the biggest obstacle in your career?

I achieved my PRINCE 2 in project management, trying to deliver projects

with

Keith Vaz, MP Steffi Shilton

in the NHS presents many obstacles.

However, obstacles are often a good thing they force you to review your direction. My biggest obstacle was having to comfort relatives that had lost their loved ones which at times in my career I encountered.

I felt we really wanted to give our experience back into our industries.

5) Who has been the biggest influence on your career to date?

One of my first managers in the NHS was a very strict ward Sister, her patient care was second to none. We were all scared stiff of being on the wrong side of her but the respect we had was immense. She taught me to hold zero tolerance on poor care.

8) What are your long term goals?

We have a 5 year plan for P&S.S.C Ltd some of our services such as endorsement/ Ambassador Roles to go global. On a personal level I would like to have a greater involvement in parliamentary matters involving healthcare. Also for my husband to be a statesman he truly deserves that.

6) What is the best aspect about your current role?

For my side of the company it's having healthcare individuals contacting me for support in improving the care they are delivering. Both my Husband and

Romford doctor Manish Shah charged with 118 sexual offences Dr Manish Shah from east London has been charged with more than 100 sexual offences including abusing a child, after a major investigation by Scotland Yard detectives.

Dr Shah is accused

with a total of 118 counts of assault, the Metropolitan Police said and include 65 counts of assault by penetration contrary to Section 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. He is also accused of

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52 counts of sexual assault contrary to section 3 of the Act. The 47-year-old is also charged with one count of sexual assault on a child under 13, contrary to section 7 of the Act. Detectives from the complex case unit of Scotland Yard’s Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command are understood to have launched an investigation after allegations of sexual assault were reported in 2013.

The offences were alleged to have occurred in East London between June 2004 and July 2013 and are understood to relate to 54 separate victims. After being charged, Shah was bailed to appear at Barkingside Magistrates' Court on Thursday August 31.

7) And the worst?

There aren't really any, except if it's your own company you tend to work all hours and often forget to take a day off.

9) If you were Prime Minister, what one would you aspect change?

The NHS and Department of Health minister team. I would also definitely increase NHS England

along with heavier investment into CQC. 10) If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figure would you like to spend your time with and why?

I've been extremely lucky to have had a wonderful 20 year career in the NHS alongside I am a semiprofessional blues singer, so it would be Louie Armstrong the jazz singer... We could sing and talk music all day

South Asian women 'hiding cancer because of stigma' The BBC has learned that a number of UK women from South Asian backgrounds who have cancer hide it because of a perceived stigma about the disease.

One woman chose to "suffer on [her] own" through chemotherapy for fear of her family's reaction, and questioned whether God was punishing her.

Experts said others were seeking help too late, causing preventable deaths. In one case a woman sought treatment only when her breast was rotten. She later died as the cancer had spread.

Speaking on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme, Pravina Patel spoke about her own experience, stumbled upon a lump in her breast when she was 36. She grew up in a strict Indian community where even talking about the disease was considered shameful.

When she was diagnosed, she decided to hide it.

Pravina Patel

Researcher Pooja Saini

"I just thought if people hear the fact that I've got cancer, they're going to think it's a death sentence," she said.

She remembered worrying that people would say she had lived a "bad life" and God was punishing her for it.

Ms Patel continued to keep the disease a secret when seeking treatment, saying she felt "extremely lonely" during chemotherapy.

Pooja Saini, the lead researcher at CLAHRC North-West Coast, a research arm of the NHS that looks into health inequalities, said her own review into the issue "really surprised" her.

"Some women went

to the extent of not even having treatment because, if they went, people would know as they'd lose their hair," she explained.

She added others "feared it might affect their children because no-one would want to marry them".

It is difficult to say how widespread the problem was, because little information has been collected on ethnicity and mortality.

But in 2014, research from Bridgewater NHS found Asian women between 15 and 64 years old had a significantly reduced survival rate for breast cancer of three years.

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COMMENTS

Kashmir’s jihadis: A case to answer The entry of the top level National Investigation Agency (NIA) into Kashmir has had a dramatic impact on a fraught situation drifting into an abyss. The NIA target was the extraordinary wealth amassed by the separatist Hurriyat leaders, and their next of kin. The trail led to money laundering and the financing of jihadi groups in the Valley. The start was Pakistan, and thence multiple routes, ending frequently at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, where the Hurriyat leadership were frequent visitors, taking with them heaps of cash.

The sums involved in hidden Hurriyat hoards are staggering. For instance, the veteran Syed Ali Shah Geelani and his sons and sons-in-law owned some of the valley’s swankiest apartment blocks, shopping malls, orchards, properties and the like. Sabbir Shah and the Mirwaz did much the same, while Yasin Malik, head of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front owned the shops and commercial outlets in down town Srinagar, his holding amounting to the gargantuan sum of Rs 70 crore.

The Italian Mafa or Latin American drug lords would whistle in admiration at the scale., would be happy and privileged to admit the Hurriyat leaders to their exclusive club of the good and great. Now under arrest, the good times for the Hurriyat are clearly over, the worst of times are beginning to unfold, as the mailed fist of the Indian state sets about its work.

Some of the Haj pilgrims to Islam’s holiest of holies were roped into the racket as runners; the trail was truly circuitous often passing through Nepal, Bangladesh, and smuggling dens within India itself. How come this enterprise had escaped the attention of the authorities in Delhi?

The stunning answer was that they were fully aware of its ramifications all along, that they went along with it in the hope of mollifying the Hurriyat leadership into some sort of political understanding acceptable to both

parties.

The gob-smacking revelation was made on an Indian television channel by Ajai Sahni and retired Major General S.P. Sindhu. General Sindhu told of his service in Saudi Arabia, from where he dispatched detailed reports on the money laundering. Mr Sahni, a close associate of the late K.P.S Gill, the architect of the victory over Khalistani terrorism in Punjab, is one of India’s most respected security experts. Both he and General Sindhu pointed to the recent successes of the NIA as a primary cause of the turnaround in Kashmir.

As long as Indian policymakers mollycoddled the Hurriyat leadership, leaving jihadi terror groups free to enforce their writ across the countryside, rural folk were too frightened to talk. The moment NIA was given its head, was empowered to act as it saw fit and bring the guilty to book, the sources of information to the security forces multiplied. Terrorist sites, movements and personnel were identified permitting the counter-insurgency operatives to stay ahead of the game.

Ajai Sahni and General Sindhu welcomed the enabling measures of the NIA. These have brought an encouraging haul of terror operatives, some killed in armed encounters; others captured alive are singing like canaries.

Mr Sahni and General Sindhu warned that these development were merely the first effective steps in tackling and defeating jihadi terrorism. The copious documentary evidence in the hands of the NIA must be placed before the courts and the wheels of justice set in motion.

Both men were critical of the general performance of the courts in the past. Dilatory procedures must be jettisoned and prompt justice instituted.

Both men cautioned against any slackening of the present efforts to return the Valley to normalcy. The loss of will have perilous consequences for the country.

The BBC’s decision to produce a radio play is based on novelist Salman Rusdie’s iconic work, Midnight’s Children, which won the Booker prize and the weightier Booker of Bookers. While claiming dubiously to being Indian, one has scarcely heard or read a positive sentiment on the country. Its warts are too well known to require retelling, but it does surely merit at least some passing praise, however tepid. There must surely be some praiseworthy Indian achievement, not least its survival, which was routinely dismissed as improbable by American and British doomsayers, irked that it chose to avoid Cold War entanglements and chart an autonomous course in international affairs.

The leaders of the speciously titled ‘free world’ sniffed contemptuously at India and cast their lot with Muslim Pakistan for reasons of realpolitik, foremost of which was currying favour with the oil-rich sheikhdoms of the Middle East.

Mr Rushdie, born in Bombay, migrated to Pakistan shortly after Partition. His bonafide passports, in order, were Pakistani and British, when he left Pakistan for higher studies in Britain.

Mr Rushdie has been a crusader against Indira Gandhi, hinting broadly in his fiction that she had murdered her husband. Prime Minister Gandhi sued Mr Rushdie for libel in a British court of law and won her case. Margaret Thatcher, as British prime minister, to her eternal credit afforded him the full protection of the state as a British citizen when under an Iranian fatwa death threat, despite his odious comparison of Britain and apartheid South Africa.

Mr Rushdie has complained of the ‘marginisation’ of India’s Muslims, a charge not without substance. But haven’t Muslim leaders made a significant contribution to this ‘marginalisation’ by their support for ‘triple talaq,’ which is banned even in Pakistan? Citizenship comes

with rights and duties, does it not? You cannot cherry pick, as Muslim leaders in India are prone to do in public discussions of radio and television.

When the Muslim clergy turned out in force to protest at Mr Rushdie’s likely presence at a Jaipur Literary festival, the Congress government in Delhi denied him a visa.

Consider again the case of Taslima Nasreen, the Bangladeshi novelist living in India as a refugee, who is denied permission to reside in Kolkata – her preferred choice – because of threats to set the city alight by Muslim mobs, instigated by their clergy.

Ms Nasreen a week or so ago, planned to visit the famous Ajanta and Ellora caves, but was prevented from entering the city of Aurangabad. She took the return flight to Mumbai. The Muslim mob baying for her blood at Aurangabad airport couldn’t have read her books, which are written in Bengali. Yet they found them antiIslamic.

In some Muslim states blasphemy is punishable by death; in Pakistan mobs frequently carry out the sentences on the streets.

India is not an Islamic state. It has institutions of justice designed to uphold the rule of law. The record may be blemished, but such institutions exist, all the same.

India has been attacked and is under attack from jihadi forces that are both domestic and foreign; Mumbai, which Mr Rushdie claims to love with all his passionate heart, was put to the sword in March 1993 and again on November 26, 2008. In between times it has endured bombings and deaths. The city’s fortitude in the face of such outrages calls for deep and unswerving admiration.

Mr Rushdie lives in New York, with never a word on Muslim ’marginalisation’ in the United States. Traducing America in these fraught times is risk-laden with possible expulsion. India is much the safer bet for crusaders like him.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote private letter to departing President Pranab Mukherjee, [a veteran member of the Congress party] which the latter, moved by its contents, has made public. It runs thus: ‘Pranab Da’ [an affectionate Bengali honorific of a younger person to one senior in years and not by ties of kinship, and male. Da is short for Brother. The female equivalent is Di or Didi] ‘Our political journeys took shape in different political parties. Our ideologies, at times, have been different.

Our experiences are also varied. My administrative experience was from my state [Gujarat], whereas you have seen the expanse of our national polity and politics for

decades. Yet, such is the strength of your intellect and wisdom that we were able to work together with synergy.

The task before me was huge and challenging. In these times you have always been a father figure to me and a mentor to me. Your wisdom, guidance and personal warmth have given me greater confidence and strength.

‘You belong to a generation of leaders for whom politics was a means to selflessly give back to society. You stand as a great source of inspiration for the people of India. India will always be proud of you, a President who was a humble public servant and an exceptional leader.

Your legacy will continue to guide us.’

Enough said.

Radical chic Rushdie predictably routine

A civilized document to savour

Asian Voice | 12th August 2017

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Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage -Anais Nin (1903-1977)

For CB’s As I See It Column on ‘Political drama par excellence’ see page 8

Cllr Sachin Shah Leader of the Harrow Council

Closing the ethnic pay gap The last few weeks have seen the release of pay data from the BBC. Many people were shocked to see the high pay of some of the presenters, with Chris Evans topping the list with an eye-watering £2.2million, earning more in a week than Harrow’s average annual pay. Much of the media attention has focused on the gap between men and women, but there was another gap too, between ethnic minorities and white presenters. In 2017 how can it be that you have to get to the 25th person on the list before you can find an ethnic minority? In fact if you take all the ethnic minorities on the list and add up their entire salary, you don’t get to the amount earned by Chris Evans.

It’s not just the BBC that has this problem - if you look at the top of the organisation I lead, Harrow Council, there are very few ethic minorities there too. This is also true in other parts of the public sector and the private sector. In example after example we see mainly white men at the top. This cannot go on. No one is saying that the BBC is consciously discriminating when they make their hiring or pay decisions, but it shows a wider problem. If you do not give people in underrepresented groups opportunities to grow and progress, and then not give them opportunities for promotion, we will never fix the problem.

In March of this year, the Tesco chairman said that ‘“If you are a white male - tough - you are an endangered species and you are going to have to work twice as hard." This type of scaremongering is not going to help. This rhetoric aims to set one side against the other, when really the answer is that we all need to come together. He also didn’t mention that he is the chair of a board of 12 people, not a single one is an ethnic minority and 8 of the 12 are white men.

We need to go further in politics too. Across London, there are 33 leaders of local authorities.

Just a handful are ethnic minorities, and it does not represent London and its make up at all. I sit around the table with all these leaders and often wonder why. It’s clear that there is a long way to go.

We need short term solutions and we need long term ones too. Decision should always be made on merit and there is no need to lower standards to ensure we get ethnic minorities at the top of the public sector. But what we have at the moment can’t continue. Are we really saying there are no ethnic minorities in the whole of the UK that are as good as Chris Evans? Are we truly to believe that there are no ethnic minorities that are capable of being in the top 24 highest paid people at the BBC? The answer is no.

The Labour party has had some good success in increasing the number of women MPs in parliament. It’s time that such practices were extended to look at all under-represented groups in parliament.

This took effort, the use of all woman shortlists has been controversial at times, but no one can say it hasn’t had an effect. It’s time to take action. I’m glad that as a country we have moved forward on these issues over the last 20 years. But the BBC data should make us all look at what we can do now to make sure this gap is closed soon. I will certainly be thinking about what I can do.

Editor: CB Patel

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Asian Voice | 12th August 2017

National campaign to be launched to increase professional British Asian Sports Stars A new national campaign to raise awareness of how more ethnic minority communities can pursue a professional sports career is being launched in Leicester.

An evening of Asians in Cricket, which is being held next week, will bring together a number of leading sporting and experts, ex-players industry specialists on how more British Asians can make the breakthrough to a professional level in sport.

The evening event will feature presentations, panel discussions and networking sessions and aims to equip delegates with market intelligence, insights, best practices and trends to help develop a future strategy across the UK. There are approximately 3.5 million British Asians in the UK with only handful making it as professional sportsmen and sportswomen.

The event has been organised by Asians in Sport Foundation alongside Leicestershire County Cricket

Wasim Khan, MBE

Jigar Naik

Club. Speakers at the event will include Tracey Francis, head of growth at ECB and Wasim Khan MBE, CEO of Leicestershire CCC, Gulfraz Riaz, chairman of National Asian Cricket Council, and Jigar Naik, a former player at LCCC. Jug Johal, chairman of the Asian Sports Foundation said: “We are really excited to launch this initiative and have the support of the sporting industry on how we can tackle this under representa-

tion from within the British Asian community.

“We will be exploring participation in cricket within the Asian community and how we can breakdown cultural and religious barriers by providing sporting benefits.

“Over the years, cricket seems to be doing better than other sports with a number of high profile British Asians representing the national team so this is a good basis and starting point on how this can be replicated to other

sports.

“Sports participation at grass roots level within the Asian community is higher than ever before so we know there is still more that can be done.”

The event will explore a range of topics including the challenges pursuing a professional career within the Asian community, developing sports-led programmes in marginalised communities within the UK and insights from cricket which can be leveraged in the business world.

Vikram Banerjee, head of strategy at ECB, said: “The passion for cricket is clear to see with South Asian communities in the UK. “At the ECB we know we are only scratching the surface of this potential, and our 'South Asian Engagement strategy' aims to tackle the barriers in place to ensure more young boys and girls get the right opportunities at the right time."

Teenager armed with a knife threatened to kill young man over alleged graffiti insult

A teenager who went to a young man’s home and threatened to kill him while armed with a large samuraistyle knife was given a suspended detention sentence.

Salik Miah (18) saw red because the youth he ended up threatening had allegedly daubed graffiti outside his home, calling him a “p***y.”

He went to the victim’s address with a group of friends and encountered the

youth’s father arriving home from work.

It did not deter Miah from brandishing the 30cemtimetre knife - handed over by a friend - and continuing to threaten to “kill” and “mash up” the man’s son. When arrested, the defendant said he had been intending to attack the son with the blade. Ben Gow, prosecuting, said the knife incident happened in Leicester’s Roslyn Street,

Highfields, at 4.30pm on October 19 last year.

Miah, who was 17 at the time, admitted causing an affray and possessing a bladed article. He was given a nine month detention sentence, suspended for two years, and will have to do 200 hours of unpaid work.

The court heard that Miah was recently given an eight week suspended sentence for possessing a knife in January this year – three

months after he committed the affray in Roslyn Street.

Mr Gow said: “I’m not sure why he wasn’t charged with this offence earlier so that both matters could have been dealt with together. Neil Ross, mitigating, said: “It seems there was a trigger issue between him and the young man at the property. He has described the (alleged) graffiti, although it excuses not one jot what he did.

Taxi driver with allergy fined for refusing lift to guide dog A Leicester taxi driver has been fined for refusing to take a blind man and his guide dog - due to his allergy to animal hair. Gul Nazim Ahmadzai drove off from his passenger when he saw the man was accompanied by an assistance dog in December last year.

Mahomed Khatri was left waiting at Leicester Royal Infirmary for a second taxi

after Ahmadzai refused to take him.

Mr Khatri had been at the hospital all night with his unwell sister when a nurse ordered a taxi for him at around 4.20am on December 23, 2016, Leicester Magistrates’ Court heard.

Ahmadzai pleaded guilty to failing or refusing to accept a booking by a disabled person with an assis-

tance dog.

After entering his plea, he was keen to stress to the court that he did not have a problem with animals and there were no cultural difficulties.

All taxi drivers are required to accept passengers with assistance dogs, unless they have been granted an exemption certificate by the council.

Gul Nazim Ahmadzai

Youth inspirer Madhubhai Soni turns 70 Dhiren Katwa One of Britain’s most highly respected Hindu community ambassadors has marked his 70th birthday. Madhubhai Soni, who has been a beacon of light in his home city of Leicester for almost five decades, was joined by scores of well-wishers of all ages from all over England and far beyond for a special spiritual event at the Hindu Temple in Leicester last weekend.

The event also marked the birth anniversary of Tulsidas, the Hindu Saint.

In a speech, Mahesh Karia praised Mr Soni for his tireless efforts serving the community and for inspiring

all, particularly youth.

Bhajans, or devotional hymns in Gujarati, were performed by members of one of Leicester’s oldest bhajan groups, Bajrang Mandal. A spectacular performance by a group of young girls from the local branch of BAPS, Swaminarayan Sanstha, won rapturous applause. Others included Jaysukhbhai Ladva, Mukeshbhai Vara, Rambhai Odedra, Jayantibhai Mistry as well as youth, Pratik Soni, Kishan Wadhia, Hiten Jethwa, Dhrupti Vaja, Ravi Vegad, Mitesh Pankhania and Gautam Arya. Food and drink was served throughout.

One of Mr Soni’s best

friends, Pujya Ram Bapa, aka Maganbhai Bhimjiani, now in his 90’s, was unable make this event due to poor health. Glowing tributes were also paid to another of his close friends, the Late Pragjibhai Jina Ladva, who passed away in January this year. Mr Soni has a son, Saket, daughter, Darshna, and two grandchildren, Abhuram and Nandini.

Mr Soni, who is known in particular for his close connection with Sant Shri Morari Bapu, one of India’s most revered spiritual teachers whose popular discourses “katha” are sought after by his fans globally, thanked everyone for their support,

Chandrakant Mandalia drapes a shawl over Mr Soni as a mark of respect and recognition.

good wishes and for gracing this memorable occasion.

Morari Bapu’s katha is to take place at the SSE Arena in London between 12th and 20th August.

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Mela visitors accused of 'dangerous and disgraceful' parking as roads and driveways blocked Traffic chaos due to mela

Organisers of Big John's Birmingham Mela have been inundated with complaints after badly parked cars blocked roads and driveways around Cannon Hill Park - leaving residents fuming. They have now pledged to look at the problem and take action ahead of the next event.

Up to 70,000 people packed into the park for the festival of South Asian music, food and culture - many more than the 40,000 who attended last year. Several streets were closed and there were parking bans on other routes like Pershore Road, despite warnings of fines or the threat that vehicles could be towed away. But many just ignored the restrictions and left roads gridlocked, prompting calls for action before the next major event.

The organisers have now pledged to look at the parking problems and bring in measures to tackle problems for the next event.

The free Big John’s Birmingham Mela had proved another major success for the city especially as a key theme was the 70th anniversary of the Partition of India - with acts and visitors of both Pakistani and Indian backgrounds joining the fun in the sun.

Moseley murder victim named locally as Sajad Hussain as police hunt knifeman

A man stabbed to death near his home in what police are calling a "brutal attack" has been named locally as mini bus driver Sajad Hussain. The 40-year-old victim was attacked in Tenby Road, Moseley, Birmingham just after 10.50pm on Sunday night. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead soon after. The victim was named locally as private hire mini bus driver Sajad Hussain.

A police cordon is in place while forensic teams look for clues and detectives have also been going door-to-door. Throughout the day, white-suited forensics officers have been at the scene and neighbours told how police had been searching under cars for any sign of a weapon or other clues which might lead to the killer. A blue scene of crime tent was also up outside the terraced house, where the attack is thought to have happened.

Parked across the street was a Toyota mini bus which is believed to have belonged to the victim. A forensic post mortem will take place later on Monday.

Drug dealer read hundreds of books in jail to learn how to carry out £1m tax scam

A drug dealer who read hundreds of books in jail to learn how to carry out an elaborate £1m tax scam has been ordered to pay back nearly £400,000 of his ill-gotten gains.

Mubbashir Alam Aslam swotted up on business from behind bars after being sent down for dealing heroin. Days after he was released, the 42-year-old set up fake clothing companies and began cheating HM Revenue and Customs out of VAT refunds with fake receipts.

Aslam, who set up six bogus businesses, spent the cash extravagantly on drugs and gambling at casinos. He was jailed for five years in 2014 following a probe into the scam.

Aslam, recently released from prison, has now been told he must pay back £398,214 he has stashed in various bank accounts.

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Asian Voice | 12th August 2017

Welcoming young readers to write in our Diwali issue

Feed the Future: Vivek Oberoi supports Akshaya Patra!

The Akshaya Patra Foundation had the pleasure of hosting Vivek Oberoi at our kitchen. He was impressed and thought Akshaya Patra has some great lessons to teach IIM students.

The actor thinks that while making a difference to the lives of many, the organisation gives an Bhawani Singh Shekhawat exceptional example of serious CEO UK/Europe value for charity money. He appreciated the working methodology adopted by the foundation while coordinating with the Government, bringing together resources, raising funds and executing.

During his visit he realised that the cauldrons, trolleys, rice chutes, dal/sambar tanks, cutting boards, knives and other similar equipment are well sanitised before usage. He also learnt that the vans are designed in such a way that the food remains hot even when Vivek Oberoi they travel 100+ km.

But why is the work we do at Akshaya Patra so important and relevant? As we celebrated World Population Day on July 11, a fear that lingers in the mind of every individual is a recent report by the United Nations, which states that the population in India will cross the 1.44 billion mark by 2024. It is estimated to be more than that of China, which is the most populated country today.

The Global Hunger Index released in 2016 by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) rates India as a country with ‘serious’ hunger levels.

It further states that about 15 per cent of the population of the nation is undernourished. Adequate food intake, both in quantity and quality, is missing.

It is a well-known fact that a hungry child cannot absorb lessons easily. And with the growing population, eliminating hunger should start from the basic.

This is precisely why we have launched Feed The Future. These children represent our future. What we do at Akshaya Patra is beyond Annadan+Vidyadan. We are aspiring to create a new generation of aware, responsible children whose genius when unleashed, will create a spectacular world for all of us So How can you, readers of Gujrat Samachar help.

Sponsor a 100 Children school meals for a whole year - £1000 Sponsor an entire school for a whole year - £2750 Please call us at the numbers below and me and my team would be delighted to help you understand how Akshaya Patra is changing the future for millions of children and their families and how every little contribution helps immensely. Please do note that our admin costs are the lowest in NGOs in the world and our numerous global awards and recognitions bear testimony to how well we use donors contribution. Every day, Akshaya Patra serves freshly cooked, nourishing school lunches to over 1.6 million children in more than 12,000 government schools across 11 states in India through our Food For Education Programme.

Our mission is to serve 5 million children by 2020. To help us reach this ambitious goal, please donate online at www.justgiving.com/tapf or text MEALS to 70300 to donate £10. Your £10 gift will enable us to serve school lunches to one child in India every day for an entire year. To learn more about our work, visit www.foodforeducation.org.uk The Akshaya Patra Foundation UK E: info@akshayapatra.co.uk T: 020 7422 6612 Akshaya Patra is the official sponsored charity for Asian Achievers Awards 2017

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Dear Readers,

Billboards vandalised Digital billboards in the Cardiff city centre was hacked by pranksters who put up offensive images including swastikas and not-so-subtle references to Sharia law.

One image flashed up on the screen, “Warning.

This is a Shariah controlled zone. No alcohol. No gambling. No porn.”

Another screen showed a cartoon of Donald Trump as Pepe the frog. The animated character has been increasingly associated as a symbol for the 'alt-right' political movement.

Internet prankster

messageboard 4Chan drew attention to the incident, with a tweet that read, “Some Anons from /pol/ were able to hack into a billboard in Cardiff, Wales.

As you can see, they had a little fun.”

South Wales Police released a statement, “South Wales Police received a number of calls relating to concerns regarding messages being displayed on the screens in Queen Street, Cardiff. We alerted the city council and will investigate any crimes which may have been committed.”

Hajj pilgrims reminded to vaccinate against meningitis

Diwali is now just over two months away. The New Year is knocking at the door waiting to bring in colours and light to our lives with fervour of joy and ever lasting happiness. Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar will once again be publishing the ‘Diwali Special’ Magazine for our fabulous and supportive readers like yourself. This year we are once again inviting our young readers to send in their articles for the English section.

1. If you are between 5-25 years of age, write an article in English on either of the following topics in no more than 350 words, along with a suitable photo: l how do you celebrate your Diwali every year OR l Your most memorable Diwali with friends and family OR l how do you celebrate Diwali in your school'.

2. If you are 2-25 years of age, you can also draw/paint a picture of what Diwali means to you or your memorable Diwali, with a suitable photo caption, your full name, age; scan and send the picture to the the below address, by the mentioned deadline.

3. If you are within 9-25 years of age, you can also write a short story within 350 words or a poem within 150 words for our Diwali special.

4. If you are a part of an organisation, which has a youth wing or support youth activities, please tell us how your young members or youth wing celebrates Diwali in 300 words with 2 pictures (in no less than 300dpi).

Send your articles/stories/poem with your photo and/or painting/picture to aveditorial@abplgroup.com.

Last date of entry: 30th September 2017.

Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF) has released a statement asking travellers to the Hajj pilgrimage later this month to get their meningitis vaccination before embarking on their trip to Mecca.

This year Hajj takes place from 30 August - 4 September 2017. The vaccination MenACWY which helps to prevent four types of life threatening meningococcal meningitis - is a requirement for all pilgrims in order to gain entry to Saudi Arabia.

They must have a certificate showing that they have been vaccinated at least 10 days before departure.

There are now two

MenACWY vaccine products available in the UK: Menveo® and Nimenrix®.

Anyone who has not yet been vaccinated but plans to travel to Hajj should contact a travel clinic or their GP to book an appointment to receive either vaccine.

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has an online tool to help pilgrims travelling to Hajj to locate nearby vaccination clinics offering MenACWY in England, Scotland and Wales.

Visit http://mcb.etraveltool.co m/finder.

The mandatory requirement to have the MenACWY vaccination was introduced following epidemics of meningococ-

Tender Notice

Bank of Baroda invites Tender for premises on lease for its branch in Southall Area.

The selection process will be through a Bidding Process consisting of Technical and Financial bids.

The detailed information about the bank’s requirement is available on weblink http://www.bankofbarodauk.com/contact-us/tenders/.

Interested parties should submit their Technical & Financial Bids to our 32, City Road London, EC1Y 2BD latest by 04.09.2017 (17.00 hours (GMT).

Bank of Baroda is authorised and regulated in United Kingdom by FCA and PRA.

- Asian Voice cal disease during Hajj, which extended worldwide after pilgrims returned to their own countries.

Vinny Smith, Chief Executive of MRF said, “Meningitis and septicaemia can kill in hours so it’s vital that pilgrims check that their MenACWY vaccination is up to date and book an appointment for the vaccine if not. There have been large-scale meningitis outbreaks associated

with Hajj in the past, and some recent outbreaks linked to other mass gatherings. Although not highly infectious, meningitis and septicaemia are more likely to spread when there are many people in close proximity – such as at mass gatherings like Hajj. Getting the vaccination is the only way for people to protect themselves, their families and to help prevent an outbreak of the disease.”

Rochdale tax fraudster to repay £400k

A Rochdale businessman, who pocketed nearly £1.25 million from two VAT frauds, has been ordered to repay almost £400,000 or face another four years in jail after an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Mubbashir Alam, 42, of Maldon Street, set up eight fake clothing companies in a deliberate attempt to claim false VAT repayments. He was originally jailed for the fraud in November 2014, he now has to repay the stolen tax within three months or he goes back to jail for four years and still has to pay.

The court decided that Alam had benefited

from his crimes by £1,053,586.57 and ordered him to repay £397,235.94 based on evidence of his assets provided by HMRC investigators including: more than £328,840.12 in investments and known bank accounts and tainted gifts of almost £70,000 to other family members.

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Asian Voice | 12th August 2017

FICCI names a new UK Director Dr Param Shah, the Head of Gujarat State Council has been appointed as the new Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI UK) director, as the former director Pratik Dattani moves on to a newer pasture.

Dr Shah carries with him an experience of over 15 years. He started his career as an Academician and has been associated with H L College of Commerce, Ahmedabad; N R Institute of Business Management (GLS – MBA); ICFAI University as a Faculty in Finance and Corporate Laws and also as an academic advisor of the ICFAI University.

He has also been associated with the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry as Deputy Secretary General.

He is on the Central Regional Committee of the All India Council for Technical Education

Dr Param Shah

Sanjaya Baru

(AICTE), statutory body and a national-level council for technical education, under Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Indian Career Education & Development Council, a non-profit organization set up with support from the Australia India Council, Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Dr Shah has been nominated by the Ministry of Shipping, Govt. of India on

the Advisory Board of the Kandla Port Trust, Gujarat.

He has also been nominated by the Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India on the Board of Governors for the Board of Apprenticeship and Training.

He is an Alumnus of prestigious International Visitor Leadership Programme (ILVP) by the U.S. Department of State.

It is U.S. Government’s most prestigious professional exchange programs since 1940 for international opinion leaders.

Dr Shah has about 40 papers on various aspects

Hindus are urging all state and independent/private schools in Wales to close on Diwali, the most popular of their festival, which falls on October 19 this year.

The Welsh Government, whose tagline is “working for a fairer and more prosperous Wales”, has been urged to be fair to minority religions.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, who is from the US, said that while Hindus had not been granted the requested one-day school holiday on their most popular festival Diwali, Welsh schools would be closing for 20-21 school-days around two religious festivals of the majority religion, according to Welsh Government “School term dates 2017/18”.

Responding to Zed’s email to Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Education Kirsty Williams requesting “Diwali holiday in all Wales schools”, Emyr Foxhall of Support for Learners Division wrote: “…it is important that attendance remains a pri-

ority for schools. Children must attend school at every possible opportunity to reduce any adverse impact on their education…”.

Foxhall’s email also states: “The Welsh Government fully recognises the importance of faith and religion in the personal growth and development of young people…”. But practically this “recognition” seemed to be focused on the religion/faith of the majority, Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, indicated.

Zed further urged Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones and Kirsty Williams to work towards adding Diwali as an official holiday in all the state schools of Wales which falls on October 19 this year (and persuading the independent/private schools to follow), if they were serious about the welfare of “all Welsh people” and not just the majority.

Like all pupils, it was important to meet the reli-

gious and spiritual needs of Hindu pupils also and show respect to their faith by closing schools on Diwali. Holidays of all major religions should be honored and no one should be penalized for practicing their religion, Rajan Zed pointed out.

As existence of different religions was considered to be favorably willed by God, Welsh Government should also learn to treat them with equality and fairness, Zed stated.

Rajan Zed noted that awareness about other religions thus created by such holidays like Diwali would make Welsh students well-nurtured, wellbalanced, and enlightened citizens of tomorrow.

Zed added that Hinduism is rich in festivals and religious festivals are very dear and sacred to Hindus. Diwali, the festival of lights, aims at dispelling the darkness and lighting up the lives and symbolizes the victory of good over evil.

Hinduism is oldest and third largest religion of the

of Management and other economic issues to his credit and holds a PhD in the area of Management.

He also holds a Master in Business Administration (MBA) specialising in International Marketing & Corporate Laws and a Masters in Commerce.

He graduated in Law and Commerce and holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Rights.

Sanjaya Baru, who was media advisor to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has been named new secretary general of FICCI. Baru will assume charge from the September 1, FICCI President Pankaj Patel said in a statement. He will replace Dr A Didar Singh.

Singh, who is nearing completion of five years as secretary general, would now be holding the position of the Principal Advisor to FICCI President from September 1.

Welsh Government urged to show fairness to minority religions

Kaul to stand as a Councillor at Queensbury ward Lakshmi Kaul, a journalism and human rights graduate and a political campaigner from Harrow East, is standing as a local councillor from Queensbury Ward. She works with local communities understanding and helping them voice their concerns at various platforms including at the British Parliament.

She has founded various cultural, social and professional initiatives to

further community development.

Lakshmi views Harrow as a true representation of British Ethnic communities as it

7

is a melting pot of world cultures. Safe neighbourhoods, better living, good education and opportunity for all, access to basic facilities and career avenues are matters of concerns to her and she would like to work hard to ensure the Council is made accountable to delivering these basic services to the residents, making it among the best boroughs to live in London.

world with about 1.1 billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal.

In 2014, the Hindus in England had urged for a holiday on Diwali and set up a public appeal, but it was not sanctioned by the government.

Manchester entrepreneur wins businessman of the year A north west entrepreneur, who runs a solar street lighting company in Manchester, has been crowned Businessman of the Year at the English Asian Business awards.

Navid Dean, founder and CEO of Solar Street Lightning was presented with the accolade at the sixth annual awards ceremony, which celebrates the achievements of English-Asian businessmen and businesswomen at the forefront of their industries.

Judges praised Navid’s hard work and determination in setting up his socially responsible business, which provides hybrid energy-saving street lighting to tackle the global energy crisis and support local authorities in cutting costs.

Solar Street Lighting, which also offers a 100%, interest free, financial package to help organisations finance the installation of solar street lighting, is working with governments globally to drive the initiative of clean energy.

The businessman of the year award recognises the accomplishments of an individual who

Navid Dean (right), CEO of Solar Street Lighting, and his wife Zara Dean (left), director of Solar Street Lighting

serves as an inspiration to those around them, and whose vision and determination brought them to the very pinnacle of their industry.

Navid Dean, CEO of Solar Street Lighting, said: “There were a lot of strong entrants in this category, so it’s a real honour to win this award and have my achievements acknowledged in this way. I couldn’t have done it without the support of my team and family, and as Solar Street Lighting is a relatively new business it’s great that our successes are already being recognised.”

The English Asian Business awards were held at the Mercure Manchester Piccadilly Hotel.

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Asian Voice | 12th August 2017

As I See It

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

CB Patel

Political drama par excellence

Narendra Modi

Indian Upper House (Rajya Sabha) has 245 seats out of which 233 are elected members and 12 are nominated in accordance with the Indian constitution. Their tenure is six years each. For one Rajya Sabha seat member from Gujarat the tussle is on whilst we are going to press at about 9pm IST. Gujarat legislative assembly members elect three RS members. Up until three weeks ago, according to the membership of the BJP and the Congress, two were certain from the BJP and one from Congress. Ahmed Patel has been a RS member for the last four terms and he is one of the top most advisors to the Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi as her political person. His candidature for the fifth term has focussed the minds of the all India on the election on Tuesday 8th August.

The votes have been cast but the results are, like a game of ping pong, at the election commissioners offices in Delhi.

Whatever is the outcome the Congress party is in a quandary. BJP is gobbling up MPs, Assembly Members and others from almost all the opposition parties as if the ruling party is on a roll.

groups called Mahagathbandhan. Even chameleons would be surprised with this sudden and unexpected turn of events.

New situation arose with the BJP governments formed in all the states which went to the polls in the last few years except in Punjab. Nitish Kumar could not remain in league with RJD as the sons and other family members of Lalu Yadav were served with FIR due

Shankersinh’s bomb shell Nitish Kumar

to financial improprieties and the charges are likely to be framed. It was not in the interest of Nitish Kumar to have an alliance with such a party, RJD, whose members are having senior posts in the Mahagathbandhan government of Bihar.

On 22nd July Nitish Kumar decided to ditch the RJD and resign as the Chief Minister but was sworn in the next day with the same post with the BJP as partner. Since then all over India the rush to the BJP fold became more like a flooding river than a trickle.

Three weeks ago in a dramatic event to celebrate his 70th birthday party with some 10,000 guests at his farm house in the north of Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat, he announced his resignation from the Congress party with so many caveats which confused his erstwhile colleagues to no end. By that time the election timetable for the three RS members

Off to Bangalore

To ensure that all the remaining 44 members of the legislature of Gujarat remain loyal to Ahmed Patel the Congress airlifted them suddenly, ten days ago, to Eagleton Golf Village, a posh resort near Bangalore, Karnataka, one of the two major states (out of 29) still within the Congress fold. Congress explain that their MLAS were flown out to ensure that the BJP did not succeed to cause them into changing sides by means of ‘muscle power’ or ‘money power’. The strange situation that the MLAs at Eagleton are free to use the sauna, tennis courts, clubs and other luxuries but not their mobile phones lest they are approached by the BJP machine.

Surely with modern technology Congress could have monitored and recorded the telephonic conversations and trap the BJP during any such activity.

One more strange yet sad fact is that several of these 44 members represent constituencies in Banaskanth and Sabarkantha areas of Gujarat, the worst hit during the severe flooding where at least 250 have lost their lives, most of them in these two areas.

From one resort to another

Political Earthquake in Gujarat

Shankersinh Vaghela who for almost thirty years was a colleague and menAfter the stunning victory tor for Narendra Modi and in the UP assembly, the is recognised for his BJP has now become the organisational skills member of the ruling which established the BJP coalition in Bihar. Nitish as a state wide political Kumar, a good adminismachine in Gujarat has trator and a person known been at logger heads with for his integrity is also the BJP since 1990. He renowned for changing masterminded the revolt his political alliances to in the BJP government of suit his purpose. Four Keshubhai Patel in 1996, years ago his JDU broke ferried several dozen off some 20 years old Gujarat BJP members to alliance with Khajuraho the BJP in Madhaya because he Pradesh by was not happy c h a r t e r with the allep l a n e viation of overnight Narendra and subseModi as the quently leader of the brought the election camBJP governpaign for the ment down parliamentary in Gujarat. elections of In the sub2014.

He sequent Keshubhai Patel jumped out of period when the BJP/JDU alliance and two of Shankersinh struck up a convenient Vaghela’s nominees failed setup with his arch enemy to give a durable governLalu Yadav of RJD, ment, he himself took the Congress and other leftist affairs into his own

Winner takes all

hands, struck up alliance with the Congress party (his life long enemy) and became Chief Minister. In less than one year he was ousted and the BJP became the single largest party with absolute majority in the Gujarat assembly and soon after Keshubhai Patel, Narendra Modi became the Chief Minister.

By now Shankersinh Vaghela was the ipso facto leader of Gujarat congress but Sonia Gandhi, Ahmed Patel and other big wigs in Delhi were always suspicious of his loyalty to the BJP and RSS and did not declare him as the Chief Ministerial candidate for the state elections due in a few months.

Shankersinh Vaghela

from Gujarat were announced. 182 members of the state assembly were the voters. By simple calculation 2 seats would have gone to the BJP and one was securely in the lap of the Congress. But that was then and since then six congress MLAS resigned from congress, two more publicly announced that they would not vote for Ahmed Patel and in the last few day NCP with two members and JDU with one member also declared their support for the BJP. The sum total of all of this is the defeat or victory of Ahmed Patel is on tenterhooks. On Tuesday morning the voting began and was almost completed but the congress party has now approached the Election Commission because of some technical flaws. One seat out of 233 elected RS members is causing such a crisis for the Congress Party.

Forty-four ‘inmates’ were flown from Eagleton Golf Village to Nijanand resort in Anand district.

Nijanand is a lush and comfortable resort owned

by Britain based NRIs but unlike Bangalore the guests are not provided with alcohol as the state has prohibition.

On Tuesday morning they were taken to Gandhinagar and casted their votes and the drama has lengthened rather that coming to a happy end for Congress by saving the seat of Ahmed Patel.

Join him if you cant beat him Prime Minister Modi’s government has completed three years and three months. Normally in a democracy at this juncture the ruling party is suffering from antiincubancy factor. Narendra Modi’s popularity has been gauged at 72-74 percent by the recent poll of reputable organisations.

Why? In a recent book entitled ‘Marching with a Billion: Analysing Narendra Modi’s government at midterm’ by Uday

Mahurkar, a deputy editor of India Today, there is a very interesting forward

by Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum.

He describes four defining qualities that make a good leader; BRAINS, SOUL, HEART and GOOD NERVES. According to Klaus Schwab only a handful of world leaders possess all four qualities and Prime Minister Modi is one of them.

Modi’s sterling achievements Indian people have been impressed with many initiatives that have been undertaken by the Modi government which has brought transparency and stopped corruption at the top without lacking inertia which was sadly the benchmark of the Congress led UPA government. The international observers are impressed with the fiscal management of the Modi government which has been able to reduce the deficit, control inflation, improve the FDI and increase the GDP substantially. The budget expenditure has gone up by 30 percent in 3 years, the rapid improve in transport infrastructure, IT and other reforms in financial services, the widespread use of Aadhaar Cards, the internet and open tendering for major projects, the pace of reforms, the reduction of subsidies like LPG and many others have made Prime Minister Modi as the best performing Prime Minister in the 70 years of Indian independence.

Performance Power Both internally and with the international relationship PM Modi has performed par excellence and both at the centre and in most of the states the opposition is retracting or becoming ineffective. It is not the money power or the muscle power which makes Narendra Modi and the BJP invincible in present day India. It is the performance power, the world wide recognition and the sterling quality of the man and his government which gives it a convincing durability.

Viable opposition?

A democracy without a viable opposition is weak.

True. It is not the job of the government to establish a strong opposition.

In India it is the job of the Congress Party. They need a Vision, a structured plan

Sonia Gandhi

of action and unless they energise their party and convince the populace they can not stop this rot.

Their tainted image of family control, nepotism, corruption and lack of effective programs have taken the support away from them.

NM is knowledgeable In his 66 years Modi has learnt enough history which is helping him to create his own history. He knows about the rise and fall of Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, just to mention the British politicians. He is also fully aware of the inappropriate sacking of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif whose attempts to have good relations with India was so abruptly and ruthless thwarted by Generals.

From Lal Maidan to Lal Killa In 2013 Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi celebrated Independence Day at Lalmaidan in Bhuj, Kutch, Gujarat where almost a Red Fort like structure was created. In 2014 Prime Minister Modi gave his first Independence Day speech from the Red fort in Delhi which contained several announcements which were not the normal topics in the previous 67 years. Prime Minister Modi’s tireless efforts, diligence, dedication, determination, has made him a unique leader of India today and for several years to come.

Ahmed Patel

Next week India celebrates its 70th independence with enormous hope, confidence, enthusiasm and especially the rising aspirations of its youth. India has 3 D’s: Democracy, Demography and Demand.

Long live India. Long live democracy. Jai hind.

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Asian Voice | 12th August 2017

Rani Singh, Special Assignments Editor

Vidhi Lalchand - An Unconventional Journey from Banking to Science There are still very few women- let alone Asian women- in Machine Learning, but Vidhi Lalchand is breaking the mould by pursuing a PhD at Cambridge in the University Department of Physics, Laboratory for Scientific Computing. What is Machine Learning? And why did Vidhi switch from a promising career with Credit Suisse to do this?

long periods of concentrated study. When I look back from where I am now I can connect the dots. I spent hours reading up stuff, meandering, led by curiosity. I had a great academic record, with high grades from a private school.

I was accepted for a Masters at the LSE where I was supervised by Prof.

Norman Biggs, a leading British mathematician, and there has been no back.

At looking Cambridge, I have benefitted from the tenor of life here.”

Scientific Explanation Vidhi Lalchand describes an interdisciplinary field that combines aspects of computer science and statistics .

“It is popularly called Machine Learning. The word is a bit of a misnomer as it is not as plain as about machines that can learn. It is about using mathematical algorithms to capture hidden relationships between variables (the variables are expressed in the form of data).”

She is also passionate about “the potential of existing machine learning methodologies to data driven problems in particle physics, astronomy, quantitative finance and medicine.”

Vidhi has also already completed an MPhil in Scientific Computing from Cambridge.

Before joining

Switching from the City

Background Born in Chennai, Vidhi is not Tamil but feels South Indian. “My ancestors moved to Madras from Sindh in current day Pakistan just after

What is the reason comparatively few Indians, Indian women in particular, focus on scientific research?

Vidhi has a theory for this.

“India doesn’t invest in building great science institutions, it is just not a priority at this time of its evolution. Furthermore there is the undeniable

There is an urgent need to widen people’s perception about who scientists can be.

Vidhi Lalchand remembers doing “fairly well at school, this can be partly attributed to my mother.

Academic achievement was important to her and as a result I developed a certain comfort level with

Why did Vidhi choose to change career paths?

“While I was working with high calibre individuals and doing very interesting work (not always, but most of the time) I switched for two reasons - first, I had both the inclination and appetite for academia, and second, I missed the undercurrents of academic life and the freedom of living on my own terms.

In the current era where everything is connected and fast, the possibility that you can create something on a computer or a lab that can take the world by storm is a tantalising one.

But for that you need ultimate freedom, which is not afforded in a day job which doesn’t leave you

universal male bias in science subjects, and in particular physics and computer science. I think firstly the emphasis on the advantages (or joys) of a science education are weak especially for girls. There is an urgent need to widen people’s perception about who scientists can be.

Further, excellence in research and the ability for abstract thought are a function of sustained effort and focus. Maybe this is something which is compromised by the ‘choice’ to have a family,

fund your ISA with an annual lump sum or smaller regular contributions to make it more affordable. There are no restrictions on withdrawing your money at any time.

Like many people you may have invested in various Cash and Stocks and Share ISAs with different providers over the years, keeping track of all the various investments can be time consuming, difficult and confusing. Putting all your ISA investments together is often a good idea. We offer an ISA consolidation service which will allow you to view the value of your ISA investment in one place. In addition to this, you are easily able to ensure your investment strategy closely

follows your attitude to investment risk. You will also gain more control of your investments, reduce the costs and receive a lot less paperwork to read!

ISAs are not the only Government giveaway.

In our experience, most people do not use their annual Capital Gains Tax (CGT) allowance.

This is currently £11,300 and any Capital Gains up to this amount are not taxed. We can help you utilise this allowance by investing in an onshore collective investment account.

Again, we aim to produce average net growth of about 5% per annum in a low-risk portfolio.

Only the growth in capital value will be subject to Capital Gains Tax. Through our careful

management, we can trigger the gains each year to soak up your allowance and enable your investment to effectively grow taxfree. Dividends and interest within certain limits are also paid tax free (currently Dividend Savings Allowance of £5,000pa and Personal Savings Allowance of up to £1,000pa are paid tax free).

For example if a couple investing £420,000 into a joint collective investment account achieved 5% capital growth, assuming their Capital Gains Tax allowance are not used elsewhere, the growth amount of £21,000 is still less than their combined annual allowance of £22,600 and therefore free of tax. We can work

Vidhi Lalchand

Cambridge in 2015 she worked as a quantitative analyst at Credit Suisse and as a high frequency trader at the Chicago based hedge fund, Citadel Securities (Europe).

with the energy for unrelated side pursuits.”

Partition. I could be biased but Chennai serves as a microcosm of the Indian science effort,” she notes.

Early Learning and Influences

and this choice does not affect men and women equally.”

Ambition Vidhi has plenty of expectations for herself. “I would define a successful Ph.D as one which is an assimilation of publishable results. I want to oscillate between working on interesting projects in industry and quiet periods of academic retreat.

The broadness of the research field allows me to work on problems in very distinct worlds. I would like to test machine learning to data from football games to detect predominant movement patterns in players which lead to goals. At the lab, I am focussing on applying learning algorithms to data from the high energy physics world.”

Legacy Vidhi wants to produce research that has a wide impact. “Something that influences the discourse after I am gone. The scale is unimportant, it can be something that is understood and used by a very small group of people. It must be effective and stand the test of time.

Much of what G.H Hardy writes in the book ‘A Mathematician’s Apology’, about his expectations for his legacy, resonates with me.”

A timely reminder. Are you making the most of the Government’s tax giveaways?

Kishan Devani Consultant

ISAs are Individual Savings Accounts, a Government scheme allowing individuals to build a portfolio of cash, shares, and unit trusts free of tax on dividends, interest and capital gains. There is no personal Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax liability on either the investment growth or any income taken, nor is there a need to declare

or report ISA investments on your Tax Return.

We can manage your ISA portfolio and aim to produce average net growth of around 5% per annum in a low-risk portfolio. What this could mean to you? In this current tax year, if a couple were each to contribute the current ISA allowance of £20,000 every year for the next ten years (assuming a net return of 5% pa) they will have ISAs worth over £500,000. Carry on doing the same for a further 6 years and you will see your combined ISA pots exceed £1 million in value. That’s over a million pounds of tax free cash to be used without restriction in just 16 years. You can

The value of your investments can go down as well as up and past performance of an investment is not necessarily a guide to future performance.

together with you to ensure that we trigger these gains and manage them according to your circumstances so as to maximise the tax efficiency of all your investments.

You may also have an existing collective investment account or accounts which haven’t performed as you were expecting we can take over the management of these investments and make sure they are managed and perform in a tax efficient manner and closely follow an investment strategy that suits you.

When making investment decisions you should always seek professional financial advice.

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READERS’ VOICE

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Asian Voice | 12th August 2017

Rakshabandhan come Valentine?

Rakshabandhan, a Hindu festival, is a solemn promise based on a trustworthy, loyal, firm and never to be altered relationship between a brother and sister, whereby the sister endows blessings for longevity and brotherly-sisterly mutual love, and in turn expects protection from her brother or other person wishing to take the place of her brother; but certainly neither from a close male friend nor a man who has an axe to grind to turn out to be her lord and master who intends to bring her under his control.

Under the pretext of an era of movements for liberation and rights, the author has muddled up Rakshandhan and Valentine based on quite opposite relations. Social interaction for a couple to produce judgement and choice, wishing good health and happiness to each other promoting trusts and cooperation as partners in life, and appreciation of creation of gifts of a man and a woman strictly relates to St Valentine’s Day. It’s blasphemy and craftiness from a muddleheaded person to think of a woman as an object of sexual gratification, and make such irrevent talk about God, mixing with religious and the most pious social relation of a brother and sister to be performed by tying a Raksha - a symbol of longevity and protection, to expect a brother to be dutiful to his sister for her lifetime.

RN Patel Essex

Being Held To Ransom

Last week, British Gas, Britain’s biggest energy provider, announced rises in electricity prices by 12.5% as from next September. Other energy providers will no doubt follow suit. Why do they raise prices nearer the time when winter is round the corner?

This big energy firm which supply electricity and gas to Brirish homes are holding their consumers to ransom. Their excuse is that the prices of transport and distribution have gone up, that is what is driving the increase. The company says that the even though the price of energy itself has not gone up, but the costs of transmission have gone up. But then when the price of energy or transport falls, customers never receive the benefit!

We need to have power, we need to use gas and electricity to stay warm in winter and cannot revert to using cow dung or wood for cooking and heating.

People who suffer most from the indiscriminate rises are retired senior citizens who have nowhere to go during the day, and to avoid heating bills, they stay in cold and damp houses and suffer from depression and other illnesses and be a burden on the health service.

The solution is to nationalise the companies providing the indispensable utilities like gas, electricity and water and or subsidise the cost of these utilities.

Instead of giving aid to foreign countries which in fact carry a chip on their shoulders against us, let the charity begin at home!

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford

Chameleons Nitish Kumar

When BJP chose Narendra Modi to lead the party in 2014 General Election, ever articulate in survival game, CM of Bihar, shifty Nitish broke-off his decade’s old alliance with BJP that kept him in power all these years.

The electorates punished his JD (U) party, retaining just two seats. But Palturam (turncoat) Nitish, a dubious, untrustworthy politician in the eyes of many, came back to defeat BJP, albeit in Grand Alliance, (GA) in the Assembly elections which BJP was expected to win.

With tainted pseudo Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members taking prominent role in this murky GA, now family under investigation by CBI and BJP wiping out opposition in recently concluded UP Assembly election, lustre Nitish again performed U turn, praising PM Modi as articulate, honest and effective PM and retained his post as CM with BJP support.

Could BJP trust “Chameleons Nitish” who changes his colour, his alliance at the drop of a hat?

He condemned RSS as pretentious, communal organization, detrimental to national unity time and again but now a disciplined, patriotic outfit and PM Modi a God send gift to Indian politics who will win the 2019 election with increased majority. No wonder Indian politics fascinates the world and many struggle to follow it!

Bhupendra M. Gandhi By email

Benefits of Immigration

It is a myth that migration into the UK is harming the employment of local people. What is clearly true, is that the UK's labour market has become much more flexible over the last 30 years and I think you need to see immigration in general, and free movement within the European Union in particular, as part of that.

We've had faster growth than we otherwise might have had. We've had more jobs than we would otherwise have had. And on the whole we're richer and more prosperous in per capita terms than we would otherwise have been.

Policy-makers need to be much more open about the benefits of immigration, but more broadly if we want Britain to be a successful, open, trading economy - and that is our future in the global economy being open to immigration is part of that. We don't really have the option of being closed to immigration, but still being 'open for business', in the words of the Prime Minister. So it's important that politicians of all parties make that case very clearly.

We have a lot of evidence showing that it's not immigrants who cause youth unemployment, but structural problems with our own education and skills system and our own youth labour market. I think when politicians start blaming immigrants for these problems that really is scapegoating and it's wholly unacceptable in my view. It deludes people into the false hope that somehow if we reduced immigration these problems would be magically solved and that's just not true.

Both major political parties’ front benches, and even cabinet members, are divided when it comes to whether Britain should remain in the single market, which entails allowing free movement of people within the EU. Baldev Sharma.

Rayners Lane, Harrow

Go Green With Vengeance

Print industries, especially widely read national newspapers are in forefront when it comes to nudge our hibernating, slow reacting government into action. One such success is 5p charge on use of plastic bags, especially in supermarkets that has reduced usage by nine billion. Yet overall usage is down by 83% only compared to 95% in EU, US average, as certain businesses are exempt from such environment friendly dictates.

One reason is that industries have stranglehold on government who rely on their generous donations.

It is time that the influences of both, industries and trade unions are negated on political parties by receiving their findings from public purse, as well as small individual donations, based on a formula that would take into consideration party membership, number of elected members, like MPs, Councillors and Assembly Members. Cost equation should not come in when we spend £14 billion on overseas aid!

Although this reduction is welcome development, yet it is drop in the ocean when compared to overall usage of plastic in retail industry. Germany has successfully introduced deposit of 22p per plastic bottle, refunded on return which has resulted in 100% success, as every bottle is recycled.

Most effective way forward is usage of sturdy glass bottles, as is the norm in many developing countries which can be reused up to twenty times before being discarded. It is time for British public to wake-up and pressure government to go green with vengeance.

Kumudini Valambia By email

Obsolete Forms of Etiquette

“Good morning”...”Good afternoon”...”Good evening”...”Good night...” How much longer are we going to put up with these ancient forms of etiquette?

This is 2017, not 1917. Why not just say “Hullo” or “Hi” and “Bye”? Moreover it makes the “Good...” greeting sound ridiculous if it’s raining or snowing, prompting the observation: “What’s ‘good’ about it?”

Also, in correspondence, “Dear Sir” and “Yours faithfully/truly/sincerely” are equally outdated.

Nothing wrong, in these time-conscious days, with starting a letter using the person’s name – “Tom” or “Mr Smith” and signing off with “Bye”. Here’s an example of what a typical business letter or email these days should be: “Tom, Our order No.456 dated 17th August 2017 hasn’t arrived. The boss is furious.

Bye, Joe.” What do readers think?

Rudy Otter By email

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India’s Indepence and Janmashtmi

India will celebrate its 71st Independence Day on August 15, 2017. As we celebrate India’s 71 years of independence, we are reminded of Mahatma Gandhi's vision of swaraj. On this day in the year 1947, India became a sovereign and independent nation and it was a new beginning for us Indians as our country was freed from the British rule at last. On Independence Day we remember the sacrifices, pains and struggles of our freedom fighters who fought bravely for the freedom of our country. We also pay our homage to them. Many of our freedom fighters even gave up their lives to free the nation from the tyranny of British rule.

Meanwhile, the story of Lord Krishna’s birth is as fascinating as the events that took place during his lifetime. According to Hindu mythology, when evil and immoral forces took over the world, Mother Earth pleaded with Lord Brahma to bring an end to the prevailing conditions. Lord Brahma then asked Lord Vishnu for help, who proclaimed that he will soon take birth to banish all evil. This Janmashtami let us all hail Lord Krishna and absorb his teachings in our life.

Jubel D’Cruz, Mumbai, India

Cows Milk

Dinesh Sheth’s letter provides useful information about cow-milk’s nourishment property, derive essential bi-products, and “mithais”. But it is only half the data. Sheth’s concern about painless milking is praiseworthy. ISKCON is already producing and marketing “AHIMSA” milk.

“Cowconomics” can be more convincing today, to all down to earth pragmatic cattle owners all over the world. Cow killed for beef can yield profit only once, but a healthy cow can yield income during its 20 years of productive life and after death too.

Healthy cows can make a person a millionaire.

Profit enhancing products are: milk which is sold openly in all global market. Next product is cow dung, which can be converted in manure and sold to farmers. Urine is used in many pharmaceutical products.

Renin from calf’s guts is used to make yogurt for massive sale. Bull can be sold for impregnating other cows. “Gober-Gas” can be used for domestic/ vehicle use. Posthumously, cows’ leather is utilized by leather industry to manufacture shoes, bags, and many other products. Its bones are used for refining sugar.

Hindus have not been able to convince the world on “mother” and “holy”, preaching, it is time to speak in modern/ global terminology of profitable “cowconomics”.

Ramesh Jhalla By email

Caste Legislation

I write with reference to the bold-prominent headed letter by Baroness Shreela Flather (AV 22/7/17). She says that discrimination is to be expected from the Hindu community .....I do not know why should this be so.

She says that discrimination has got worse in India. As far as I know this is breaking down and the dowry (which exists in all societies-even the Masai in Kenya) also. Bollywood over the decades has been seeing to this. This discussion is about Britain?

She says that it is up to us to make sure that there is no class discrimination. This as far as I know is different to what she calls 'caste'.

I am disappointed to tell her that class will always exist....remember the Coopers (Kapoor) in My Goodness Gracious Me? Money likes to marry money.

I do note that people who marry from other communities do find customs different and difficult which creates tensions within the families. So what do they do...they chose to forget Sanatan Dharma customs and practices as it is too much of a bother.

There are also meets which are also for people from all the communities.

People do things which suit them and these become a 'tradition'. These practices becomes custom. This is not 'Hinduism'.

Yogi Pandya By email

What do you think?

We want to know your views on this subject Write to: Asian Voice, 12 Hoxton Market London N1 6HW or e-mail: aveditorial@abplgroup.com

EDUCATION

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Children consuming online time 'like junk food'

Parents must intervene to stop their children overusing social media and consuming time online "like junk food", the children's commissioner has said.

In an interview with the Observer, Anne Longfield criticised the ways social media giants use to draw children into spending more time. She said parents should be proactive in stopping their children from bingeing on the internet in the summer holidays.

Ms Longfield has launched a campaign to help parents with the issue.

She said: "It's something that every parent will talk about especially during school holidays; that children are in danger of seeing social media like sweeties, and their online time like junk food.

"None of us as parents would want our children to eat junk food all the time.

"For those same reasons we shouldn't want our children to do the

same with their online time."

The commissioner added: "When phones, social media and games make us feel worried, stressed and out of control, it means we haven't got the balance right.

"With your diet, you know that, because you don't feel that good. It's the same with social media."

Last year, industry watchdog Ofcom said the internet overtook television as the most popular media pastime for children in the UK. Children aged five to

15 are spending 15 hours a week on the internet.

Ms Longfield said children should be helped to understand that sites encourage them to continue their use based on what they have previously been doing online.

A study earlier this year of screen time and mental wellbeing among teenagers suggested that moderate use of devices may be beneficial.

The research, which appeared in the journal Psychological Science, was based on self-reported data from 120,000 15year-olds in England.

Over half of Britons who holiday abroad say they have pointed at a restaurant menu to avoid having to pronounce non-English words, a survey suggests.

And almost half said they were embarrassed at not being able to speak the local language while away.

But 80% of more than 1,700 people questioned for the British Council felt it was important to learn some phrases.

The Populus survey found 37% of British holidaymakers always tried to speak a few words in the local language but 29% said they were too scared to try.

It also found that 36% felt guilty at asking locals to speak English, while: n 56% resorted to pointing at menus n 45% relied on the assumption that all locals would speak English n 42% spoke English more slowly and loudly n 15% even tried speaking English in a foreign accent A minority (15%) admitted to being so unwilling to try pronouncing words from other languages that they would only eat in British or fast food restaurants while overseas, rather than sampling local cuisine.

A similar number said they preferred staying in self-contained resorts to avoid local culture.

Around one in six of those polled said they could speak a foreign language to a high standard and just over a third could hold a basic conversation.

Previous research by the British Council, the UK's international culture and education organisation, has found that the UK has a shortage of people able to speak the 10 most important world languages, which is likely to hamper the country's future prosperity and global standing.

Shy holiday Britons 'point at menus' to avoid foreign words

Dr Vyas wins, yet another, award

Dhiren Katwa

An academic from Kingston University has been awarded the Young Investigator Award 2017.

Dr Nora Shaileshkumar Vyas, pictured, whose research focuses mainly on understanding the pathophysiology of schizophrenia using clinical, cognitive and neuroimaging techniques, was honoured at the 13th World Congress of Biological Psychiatry, which took place in Copenhagen, Denmark attracting around 4,000 delegates over five days.

The Award was in recognition of Dr Vyas’ research on dopamine dysregulation in schizophrenia using PET imaging, an imaging method used to study

dopamine (D2/D3) receptor activity in specific brain regions in psychiatric populations.

Dr Vyas’ research has recently been published in Schizophrenia Research, a niche journal.

“I am absolutely thrilled,” said Dr Vyas, who is an Associate Professor at Kingston University, London.

She explained how she conducted the awardwinning research while on the Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship, a scheme run by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust.

Earlier this year she was proud winner of the Marquis Who's Who Lifetime Award.

Heaping praise on Dr Vyas, Professor Dr Peter Falkai, Vice-President of

11

Dr Nora Vyas

the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry, said: “Well done to Dr Vyas and to all winners whose work collectively adds even greater credence and value to the remarkable research in our specialist area of common interest.”

In 2010, Dr Vyas won the Asian Achievers ‘Gold’ Award for Achievement (AAA) in Healthcare.

UK universities need urgent Brexit 'clarity' from ministers

UK universities could lose talented EU staff unless they receive "greater clarity" from the government on the post-Brexit rights of EU nationals, according to the Russell Group.

The group of top research universities says Brexit is causing EU staff "uncertainty and anxiety" and making the recruitment of others harder.

The group has outlined 10 points it says the government must answer.

The Russell Group is composed of 24 universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, Glasgow and Cardiff, which are often oversubscribed at undergraduate level and heavily focused on research.

In a briefing note, the group calls the contribution of EU nationals to research and teaching at its institutions "crucial".

"More broadly, EU staff and students add to the diversity of our campuses and enrich the learning experience for all," it said.

"We need to do everything we can to ensure these individuals feel valued and supported to stay in the UK." Prime Minister Theresa May has outlined plans requiring EU nationals resident in the UK to

apply for "settled status", which would effectively guarantee them indefinite leave to remain in the country once Britain leaves the bloc.

The proposed status would be given to any EU citizen who has been living in the UK continuously for five years.

Those who have been resident for less than five years would be allowed to stay and apply for settled status when they have accumulated the necessary time.

Among the 10 points in the briefing paper is a call for EU nationals who already have permanent residence to be "transferred automatically" to settled status.

It argues that: "There is no need to reassess these individuals' right to be in the UK." Other points include:

n EU students and academics who spend two years or more abroad not to lose their settled status n Students starting courses this year and next to be assured they can stay and work in the UK after finishing their courses and be eligible for settled status after clocking up residence of five years n An efficient system for processing applications which places minimum burden on applicants n Clarity on the rights of families to stay together in the UK n Cross-border recognition of EU and UK qualifications post-Brexit The UK wants the issue to be resolved swiftly, although the EU described Mrs May's offer as a "damp squib" and warned it would give EU citizens fewer rights than their British counterparts.

12

MEDIA WATCH

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Asian Voice | 12th August 2017

Venkaiah Naidu has been elected Vice President of India by a substantial majority of State legislators. Mr Naidu was the candidate of the ruling BJP coalition at the Centre. His opponent Gopal Krishna Gandhi, the Congress-led Opposition nominee, accepted the result with commendable grace and dignity, congratulated the victor and wished him the best. The electoral process was conducted in exemplary fashion (Hindu, Times of India, Telegraph August 6) Reserve Bank interest rate cut eagerly awaited The announcement on the interest rate was a 25 basis points cut; in other words, a cut of a quarter of 1 per cent. There was a noticeable groan of disappointment in business circles, buoyed by a good monsoon and a fall in inflation, hoped for a more generous reduction of half a percentage point.. The Sensex dipped 98 points, but the Rupee gained 38p to reach a two-high of 63.70 against the US dollar. India’s foreign exchange reserves rose on the back of increases in investment inflows from abroad.

Optimistic Parekh

East will take up road network development, power and disaster management as a priority..

Road map to future The area covered in this ambitious project includes Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be visiting India in September, when he is expected to inaugurate India’s high-speed rail corridor. On the sidelines there will be talks on development of India’s North East as well as the Asia-Africa project partnered by India and Japan for African development, again with an eye to China’s big ticket investments across the continent (Mint August 3)

No stopping Maruti surge

Deepak Parekh, CEO, HDFC

First results of the Goods & Services Tax (GST) for the automobile industry are encouraging with profit margins for July now available. Sales have increased with Maruti leading the pack with a 22.4 per cent increase year-on-year rise in domestic sales, driven by strong demand for utility vehicles.

The reaction of Deepak Parekh, the widely respected Chairman of the Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) issued a calming statement. ‘I think it is not a surprise…

However, the point is that there is a whole lot of liquidity already there in the system, almost Rs 300,00 crore in the system,’ with opportunities to use them. Loans hereon will be cheaper.

Honda Cars too posted a 22 per cent is sales in July. “The postGST benefits, healthy monsoon, onset of the festive season in many regions from August will give another boost to our sales,’ said Yoichiro Ueno, President and CEO, Honda Cars India. The Japanese manufacturing presence is writ large across India.

Cisco’s Chambers A rating for India

Hard state success

John Chambers, Chairman of Cisco was in India recently to9announce the formation of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, subsuming the US-India Business Council.

The new body is ‘focused on the futue, on the next major technology business societal shift. ‘So, it is really thinking about where we want to be 10-20 years from today. Every major company knows that they are at an inflection.’ (Mint August 3)

Some countries are slow to saddle but they ride fast. Perhaps India is making the grade – and not too soon either. Jihadi challenges from Pakistan, the snarls of its ‘all-weather friend,’ China, have awoken India from its slumbers. The unfolding Indian response in Kashmir tells of an awareness that the country faces an undeclared, irregular war, which has to met with the resolution of a standard military conflict. Stone-throwing jihadis make newspaper headlines, but their monopoly of the printed page iis giving way to Indian successes.

This year alone, 116 terrorists have been killed in Kashmir, the prize catch being the Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba operations commander Abu Dujana, gunned down by Indian security forces in Pulwama along with his local associate Nabi Dar.

India, Japan for NE development Japan is to partner India in infrastructure development in the country’s North East. There is a strategic angle to this coordination with an eye to China.

Hence the India-Japan Coordination Forum for Development of (India’s) North

Honda excels

Newly elected Vice President Venaiah Naidu; defeated rival Gopal Krishna Gandhi

They were offered honorable surrender but chose death.

Jihadi Pimpernel Abu Dujana, a master of disguise – a jihadi Scarlet Pimpernel -. took one risk too many, when he made a clandestine trip to his wife – and perished. As with Abdul Wani’s followers, potential recruits must dwell less on their romantic icons and ponder their bloody end.

Meanwhile operatives of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) are unearthing the money laundering activities of the separatist Hurriyat leadership to fund terrorism. The money was sourced from Pakistan. The good times are over, the mailed Indian fist has now to be handled.(Times of India, Hindu August 3) See page 3 Comments.

Ladakhi reality Why on earth should the civilized Buddhist people of Ladakh be yoked to the fascist jihadi tyranny of Kashmir. For decades past, Ladakhi leaders have been urging New Delhi to decouple it from the Kashmir valley. As tourism – in particular, foreign tourism – has declined to a trickle in the valley, tourist numbers, domestic and foreign, to Ladakh have swelled. Its landscape is alluring, but more so is the allure of Ladakhi friendliness and the warmth of Ladakhi hospitality. Having tasted this once, visitors return for more of the same. Their once bleak capital, Leh, is today transformed with a spanking new airport and the conveniences of modern-day life.

Tsering Samphel explains Tsering Samphel, a prominent local politician, who heads the district Congress party, lost his Lok Sabha seat to BJP’s Thuptsen Tsewang by a mere 36 votes in the 2014 general election,explains: ‘No Ladakhi has any part in the Kashmir movement.

The cry for independence has no basis for us. We live in our own world. But when we hear of killings there in Kashmir, all the violence, we are disturbed, mentally disturbed, because we have no close connections with the Valley. And we are affected.’

Many development projects in Ladakh are stalled because of the tumult in Kashmir and its impact on communications, he says.

‘Ladakhis want no part in

secessionist Kashmir’s movement but they want to secede from Jammu and Kashmir and turn their district and the adjoining Zanskar region into Union Territory. It is a longstanding demand by all local politicians.’

Enough said (Telegraph interview with Partha Banerjee, July 23)

Rafael-Kalyani missile deal Israel’s Rafael Defense Systems and India’s Kalyani Group have agreed to a joint venture to manufacture anti-tank guided missiles for the Indian Army and made available for export to countries in South East Asia.

Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems Pvt Ltd has been set up with an investment of Rs 60-70 crore, with the Kalyani Group holding a 51 per cent stake in the company and Rafael 49 per cent.

These Spike missiles are exported to 20 countries, some of whom belong to Nato. Orders from the Indian armed services will be worth $1 billion and production is to start within weeks. (Mint, Business Line August 4)

Hyderabad to be defence hub With a workforce 30,000 in defence-related industries, Hyderabad is already a secure platform for further expansion in the defence electronics sector.

Next level ‘Over the years, India’s lrgest defence related companies, and over 1,00 small and medium enterprises have been playing a vital role in defence manufacturing. It was time to promote Hyderabad as the next defence electronics hub, said Telangana IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao (Business Line August 4)

Greenfield airport for Arunachal Pradesh

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With an eye to the strategic importance of Arunachal Pradesh amid deepening SinoIndian tension, the State and governments have Central agreed to set up a Greenfield airport at Hollangi. ‘We had examined two sites….and Aviation Ministry officials have chosen Hollangi as the site for a new Greenfield airport. It will be enough to accommodate ATR-72 turbojet movement,’ said Guruprasad Mohapatra, Chairman of the Airports Authority India (Times of India August 1)

World’s highest aviation growth Boeing is betting big on India,

Boeing aircraft

according to Dinesh Keskar, Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific and India Sales at Commercial Airplanes. He said: ‘India is now the highest growth market in the world and not one of the highest.’ Boeing company will be selling 2100 aircraft in India over the 20 years, worth $290 billion (Mint August 1)

Fake news platforms Whether by accident or design, the English language Indian broadsheets fill the foreign news pages with syndicated columns from the New York Times noted for its anti-Indian bias, and today discredited as a mouthpiece for America’s atrocious wars in the Greater Middle.

The virulent Russophobia on show has not the slightest relevance for India.

Fake news is a tubercular virus.

Two Indian papers often carry verbatim the same New York Times report, a case surely of multiple kitchen rolls sold for the price of one.

Spotting genius An 11 year-old Indian boy, in the UK, Arnav Sharma by name, recently scored the top possible score of 162 on a Mensa IQ test, two higher than Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking, making him the country’s brainiest kid.

It doesn’t follow that he will be the brainiest adult (Hindu July 1)

Virat Kohli and team after India’s victory over Sri Lanka in the Second Test match in Colombo.

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non-descript alley, there you will find a living room the floor of which is made of cow pats. The British Empire they say was formed on the playing fields of Eton. The end of the British Empire was formulated on this cow pat floor in Karamsad, in a small village in what to the greatest Empire known to man must have seemed the middle of nowhere.

Cecil Rhodes, not the Indian born Kipling as is often thought, once wrote that ‘To be born an Englishman is to have drawn the first prize in the lottery of life.’ As you celebrate Indian Independence this year, consider that if you hail from the village of Karamsad, then it is YOU who have drawn the first prize in the lottery of life – for you will share the sacred bloodline of Sardar Vallabhai Patel. The man who constructed the most populous democracy in the history of the world and precipitated the end of the age of empires. More than the modern Americans or the ancient Greeks – he brought more people under the umbrella of democracy than any other individual ever to have lived. Not Lincoln, not Washington, not the American Revolution, not the French revolution, can claim that success as the man from Karamsad. But ask anyone from the village from Karamsad, and they will tell you they like to think, rightly, they make heroes and patriots there. The village made the man.

As the Mahatma and Patel knew, freedom is not free at all, it comes with the highest of costs. The cost of blood. As Indians celebrate their Independence by their action they can choose to give testament to their bloodline; choose whether Patel’s actions will be wasted to the pages of history or whether their actions today reflect their bravery.

Life coach Jeetendra Adhia in the UK

Popular motivational speaker and mind trainer, Jeetendra Adhia, MD (Life Coach), pictured, has arrived in the UK ahead of his back-to-back seminars on Mind Power. With a consistent record of successfully helping individuals and organisations achieve their desired goals through his workshops, Adhia is known for converting dreams into reality with the power of the subconscious mind.

The life coach will feature in separate seminars, to be held as under: Thursday 10th August 6:30 pm onwards Gentle Dental Care, 124132 Wickham Road, Shirley, Croydon, CR0 8BE Contact: Dr K K Sachdev (07702 300048)

Saturday 12th August 3 pm to 7 pm Bennetts End Community Centre, Hemel Hempstead,

HP3 9LZ Contact: Digvijaysinh Zala (07803 498100)

Tuesday 15th August 8 pm onwards, Shri Ram Mandir, Walsal Contact: Dr Bimal Pal (07469 252813) Thursday 17th August Giants Group of London, Harrow, London Contact: Kirtiben Banthia (07768 662244) Friday 18th August BK Harmony House, Brahma Kumari Rosswalk, Leister LE4 Contact: Kanubhai Patel (07801 027571) and Bhupendrabhai (07951 123808) Saturday 19th August 7.30 - 9.00 pm Harrow Council Civic Center, Station Road Harrow HA1 2XY London, Contact: Mukeshbhai Shah (+44 7957 211880)

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Established Since 1972 - Now in 45th Successful Year

Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 is real and its effects are staggering

Asian Voice | 12th August 2017

The Village Made The Man

In one sense it is ironic India should celebrate Independence Day. It is after all a civilization older than its former Imperial masters. A country born not 60-odd years ago but a nation 5000 years old. To celebrate a blip in its recent history seems to put it in the same category as all those ordinary new nations.

More to be celebrated is the exceptional manner in which India gained Independence. And in this struggle whilst the world rightly knows Gandhiji and Nehru, too often forgotten is Sardar Patel.

Let us not forget that the Sardar was elected to be India’s first Prime Minister – he was the people’s choice. As Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister he was charged with forming the Union of India by ensuring that all 565 Princely States within the territory acceded to India – rather than sought accession to Pakistan or seek to be Independent nations. Remember Hyderabad in the centre of India sought to secede to Pakistan. Patel made the Prince an offer he could not refuse.

He earned the reputation as the iron man of India for precisely his firmness in ensuring the shape of modern India, and whilst he focused on the Hyderabad succession issue Nehru dealt with Kashmir. The rest as they say is history and to this day many say that under Patel, the Kashmir dispute would never have occurred.

But as Gandhiji represented peaceful revolution, the likes of which mankind had not seen since Christ walked in Jerusalem, so Patel was a man of his times. To understand him we have to understand from where he hails.

If you visit the Sardar’s former home in the tiny village of Karamsad in Gujarat, one of a million villages in India, a home in a

13

Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 is a breathtakingly broad and intrusive power to stop, search and hold individuals at sea and, airports and international rail stations Rubin Italia It can be exercised without the need for any grounds of suspecting the person has any involvement in terrorism – or any other criminal activity. A passenger can be held for questioning for up to 6 hours and those detained must "give the examining officer any information in his possession which the officer requests". They have no right to remain silent or receive legal advice.

What makes this power different to most is that there is no requirement for any “reasonable suspicion” as is the case with most police powers when people are arrested. Or to put another way, it can be used without the need for any grounds. It is narrower in geographical terms than the old s44 (which allowed officers to arbitrarily stop and search anyone), as its affect is restricted to sea and airports.

The schedule allows for searches and retention of property without grounds and at its core is the notion that you must answer the questions that are put to you. There is no disclosure of the information to any representative, and while lawyers can be contacted, their role is limited. There are often good reasons why people should remain silent but often the perception is, “well, the only reason he/she is saying nothing is because they are guilty”. What about the vulnerable, suggestable adult who on the surface appears to engage but really just wishes to be compliant? The person with mental health issues? Or those who are still below the age of 18?

There are some safeguards but none of these allow the person to say nothing.

The police, home office or immigration authorities cannot physically force someone to speak – so how does the legislation deal with this? By the bluntest tool possible. If you do not answer their questions you will be committing a criminal offence, for which you could go to jail! We have three strands of government: the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. Their powers and functions are separated as each acts as a check or balance against the other. In this instance, there is no check or balance against the use of this power. It is ripe for misuse and discrimination. The UK is not a country with a poor human rights record. In fact, it is often cited as a beacon to those where conflicts reign as the archetype to emulate and yet we have, in my view, a law that sweeps aside the safeguards that we hold dear. Those who argue for its retention say these powers are essential but the current police powers regarding search of property and interviewing are more than sufficient to deal with all situations.

We are in danger of sweeping up a lot of innocent people, who become disconnected from and upset at the state. The current statistics on the demographics of people interviewed, while quite old, tell us that 77% of those stopped were from BME groups.

Until there is a change in the law, people will continue to be stopped without justification and it is regrettably left to lawyers to try and ensure their rights are safeguarded. If you wish to talk about being stopped and interviewed and how we may be able to assist contact criminal defence specialist Rubin Italia of Duncan Lewis Solicitors on 07500013118 or at rubini@duncanlewis.com.

For any other criminal law enquiries please call our team of expert solicitors on 0333 772 0409.

Sunday 20th August 11.00 am to 12.30 am Roxeth Recreation Park Pavillion, Eastcote Road, Behind South Harrow Station, London Contact: Mukeshbhai Shah (07957 211880)

Manager & Welfare / Immigration Advisor North London

A Charity Association in North London is looking for a full time Manager & Welfare/Immigration Advisor to advise on all matters including Visa’s, Benefits & Housing and Welfare matters.

Candidates must be fluent in Gujarati, Hindi and English as well has being fully computer literate.

Hours of work are 9.00 am-5.30 pm Monday – Friday.

This is a great opportunity which will offer interesting and challenging work for the right person.

To apply for this position please send your CV to dhiruvadera@yahoo.co.uk

High Commission of India India House, Aldwych London WC2B 4NA

Tender Notice

High Commission of India, India House, Aldwych, London WC2B 4NA invites Tenders from the experienced and Registered Contractors having sufficient experience in similar works and satisfying eligibility Criteria for the “Renovation of residential Flats 1 & 2, 233-235 East Lane, Wembley HA0 3NN.

The Tender document can be downloaded from the High Commission’s website www.hcilondon.in. Detailed Tender is also available at the High Commission’s Office.

Last date of submission of Tender is August 21, 2017 before 3:00pm.

14

CULTURE

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 12th August 2017

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BFI releases 80 newly digitised films on South Asian Britons BFI has released South Asian Britain on Film, a collection of 80 newly digitised films, spanning nearly 100 years, celebrating South Asian culture and communities across Britain. The films date back to 1914, tracing multiple generations and exploring a variety of news stories and events, from colonial troops to the introduction of the UK’s Race Relation Act of 1968. Highlights include news footage of Mahatma Gandhi’s 1931 trip to the UK, Britain's first purpose-built mosque and early work from Oscarwinning director Asif Kapadia (Amy, Senna) and award-winning director Gurinder Chadha (Bend it Like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice). These films are being made available online via BFI Player, mostly for free as part of Britain on Film and are drawn from the BFI National Archive and the UK’s Regional and National Film Archives.

The Independent Cinema Office (ICO) will tour a special South Asian Britain on Film compilation to cinemas across the UK later in the year.

The collection documents South Asian British communities across the UK, in Bolton, Southall, Birmingham and more.

The Bradford Godfather (BFI, 1976) is a portrait of one of the first immigrants from what is now Pakistan to settle in Bradford. Mohamed Fazal Hussain, who was 73 when the film was made, had moved to the UK over 40 years before. As a result he was often referred to as ‘the godfather’ due to being the oldest person in the Bradford’s Muslim community. He was also, it emerges, a film mogul in the making.

Films in the collection show South Asians Britons at the heart of the community. Asian Pub

Landlord (Media Archive for Central England, 1968) records the first Indian pub owner– Hans Raj Dhanjal – in Wolverhampton. Like a typical pub landlord Hans is not just there to pull pints but to offer a friendly ear to regulars, which often proves a challenge through thick Black Country dialect. Indian Businessman (Media for Central Archive England, 1975) tells the tale of a penniless young tailor from Dehli who turned the £3 that he arrived with into a half-amillion pound business – the Natraj Entertainment complex in Leicester. In just 14 years Mr Parmar became one of the richest businessmen in the Midlands. He explains how after a failed venture, he seized the opportunity of buying Villa Cross cinema. He attracted immigrant audiences by showing Indian cinema every night. This proved so successful that he started to import Indian films to his own cinemas and others across the UK.

South Asian British filmmakers Work of British South Asian filmmakers feature in the collection, from the early work of award-winning directors Asif Kapadia and Gurinder Chadha to the first Hindilanguage film made in Britain. Gurinder Chadha is arguably the most successful of the new wave of Asian-British filmmakers in the 1990s, recently directing Viceroy's House which featured the late, great Om Puri – who also starred in Brothers in Trouble (1995) and East is East (1999) both available on BFI Player. Bhaji on the Beach (1993) and her first film I’m British But… (BFI, 1989) are available in the collection. I’m British But… explores the com-

plex issue of identity for second generation British Asians. This fascinating documentary is underscored by Bhangra and Bangla music as interviews with young people from across the UK discuss the extent to which Asian culture has both been absorbed and influenced Western culture, including fashion and music.

Gurinder Chadha said, “I cannot wait to sit and watch the new collection of South Asian films on BFI player. As someone who has spent my career recording our lives as British Asians on film I know first hand how critical it is to be visible as part of our national heritage. I am delighted to be part of such an important collection.”

Indian Tales (BFI, 1994), is the student film of Asif Kapadia, best known for documentaries Amy (2015) and Senna (2010).

This again explores the influence of Asian culture on Britain through Indian folklore, and how this seeps into the lives of modern Brits.

The film stars Amita Dhiri, who later starred in the cult 90s drama This Life, alongside Andrew Lincoln and Jack Davenport. Also in the collection are groundbreaking works by lesserknown filmmakers.

Pasand Apni Apni (BFI, 1969) is believed to be the first Hindi-language film to be made in Britain. An all-singing, all-dancing Bollywood romance transposed to England, it explores the tension between traditional Indian values and the lure of Western freedoms for first-generation British Asians, with Simi Garewal in a dual role as Western Rita and traditional Sita.

Also made in Hindi is the fascinating documentary London Me Bharat (BFI, 1972) directed by Vinod

A Gig for Grenfell

Teenage songstress, Shakila K – a student at London’s Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (ICMP) - is organising a special gig with other students to raise money for the victims of Grenfell Tower.

The gig, which takes place at The Good Ship in Kilburn on Sunday 10th September, involves Shakila, 19, working with others from the ICMP. Shakila, who has previously released several original tracks including one to raise money for Help for Heroes, says, “The gig – which is close to the Institute - should feature some great performances from talented musicians;

Shakila K

so it’s well worth coming along!

“I’m particularly keen to organise and perform at this gig because – like the residents of Grenfell Tower – I know what it is to be homeless,” she adds.

Shakila and her family became homeless in 2010

when her father fell seriously ill and lost his business.

She says, “It was the worst time of our lives but we’ve slowly got back on our feet - so I want to raise funds to help inspire those from Grenfell Tower to keep moving forward.

Mahatma Gandhi’s 1931 trip to the UK

Pande, which shines a light on the daily lives of Asian Britons in London's suburbs. The film opens with traditional Indian music playing over iconic London landmarks before moving on to the less familiar Southall, home to one of the largest Indian communities in London.

Public information films

filmed in Urdu, it provides an example of the board’s role in enforcing the 1968 Act. The film is a story of a qualified young man denied a job due to his race. The film intercuts between English and Urdu in the man’s family life, referencing the different experiences of first and second generation British Asians.

Ugandan Asians

The collection contains a selection of public information films explaining both the Race Relation Act of 1968, which marks its 50 years next year, and the Race Relations Act of 1976. These Acts made it illegal to refuse housing, employment or public services on the grounds of colour, race, ethnic or national origins. Two of the public information films on this subject – Race Relations Board (BFI, 1969) and The Referee (BFI, 1976) – draw comparisons between the law and Britain's tradition of sportsmanship and 'fair play'. The Referee uses wrestling as a metaphor for race relations: the referee being the Race Relations Board enforcing the rules to ensure fair play. Insaaf (BFI, 1971) is a public information film with a difference, partly

See For Yourself! (BFI, 1972), an edition of the esteemed current affairs strand World in Action, sees debates surrounding immigration and housing crisis voiced by the butchers at the Smithfield Market. These debates are catalysed by President Idi Amin’s expulsion of the South Asian-descended population from Uganda (whose ancestors were placed there by the British Empire). The film takes one outspoken trade unionist to Uganda in a groundbreaking experiment, where he witnesses the reality facing individuals being exiled from the country. The expulsion is addressed by a number of other films, including Uganda Asians (BFI, 1972) and Exodus – Uganda (BFI, 1972), which take a more orthodox approach.

“It’s important for them to know that there are people who continue to care and – especially some months after the tragedy has faded from the media’s sight – haven’t forgotten about them.

“That’s why I’m keen to organise this gig to help raise some money for the victims of the Grenfell Tower disaster.”

ICMP, based in Kilburn, is supporting the event by providing event planning advice and is also supplying the backline for the gig. The music college, which has been developing and delivering contemporary music education in London for over 30 years, is delighted to help Shakila with this project.

Paul Kirkham, ICMP’s Chief Executive, says, "It's great to see our talented students actively seeking to make a difference to people's lives through music. We wish every success to Shakila for this event."

“I really hope lots of people come and enjoy a good show,” says Shakila.

“We’ve got some fantastic talent at ICMP and it’s great that so many of them have volunteered to help in this good cause.

We’re also very fortunate to have some great support from the College and also from the people at The Good Ship.

“It’s amazing how many people are keen to help and we would love to make this show a super success story!”

In the latter, made for ITV's This Week, Jonathan Dimbleby seeks out the view on the Ugandan streets from both Asians and Africans. A series of local news reports held by the South West Film and Television Archive show resettlement camps in the West Country and feature interviews with refugees, who explain how they are adjusting to life in Britain in Ugandan Asians at Houndstone Camp (1972), Ugandan Asians at Heathfield Camp (1972) and Ugandan Asians at Plasterdown Camp (1972).

Military Early films in the collection feature South Asian contributions to the British Empire’s armed forces. In 1924 and 1925 the British government held the British Empire Exhibition, a chance to demonstrate the full glory of the Empire on a world stage. Indian Bands for Wembley (BFI, 1924) shows a military band of Indian musicians being inspected as they prepare for the exhibition. A newsreel from mid-WWII British News No. 53 (BFI, 1941) - presents trainees invited from India to learn to build aeroplanes in Britain.

Grenfell Tower after the fire

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COMMUNITY

Vaishnavs celebrate 'Pavitra Baras' in London

TEZ ILLYAS

Asian Voice | 12th August 2017

TEZTIFY

SP

15

TLIGHT

Sunetra Senior

“M

Shree Vrajrajkumar Mahodayashri with leaders of the Hindu community

Guests participating in the Pavitra Baras celebration

y style has been described as silly, smart and subversive,” Tez announced, as he prepared to open for his ebullient, new Edinburgh Fringe show, Teztify. Talking about everything from Trump and elusive chickens to being a Northern BritishMuslim and what he has observed to be the left-wing’s political plight, this summary lands exactly right. Delving into various, nuanced social commentaries at the same time as maintaining a certain degree of nonchalance, this really is a guy with whom you want to catch up with over several beers – or straight vodka shots. It really doesn’t matter; it’s all fair game for Tez. “Conformity and discussing subjects where everyone is in agreement is so incredibly easy and ultimately isn’t funny”, he commented, referring to the Alt-Right: a neo-fascist movement which exploded online during the run-up to the US elections. “I think stand-up is a great opportunity to enlighten people and hold a mirror back up to the audience. If I’m talking about the leftwing, I want to challenge their perception of themselves. What can they do to address the rise of certain worrying attitudes; what was the sociological vacuum that allowed those extremist viewpoints to thrive?” ***

Audience gathered at Kadva Patidar Hall

On Friday 4th August 2017, Pavitra Baras was celebrated at Kadva Patidar Hall, in the presence of Shree Vrajrajkumar Mahodayashri (18th descendant of Vallabhacharya Mahaprabhuji). On this auspicious occasion, Jejeshree illuminated Pujya JiJi’s life history and work on humanitarian initiatives by showing clips in which numerous Saints and dignitaries praised JiJi for her lifelong selfless seva for the betterment of others.

It was clearly apparent that Jiji is deeply missed by all to whom she was known. The Vallabhkul Parivar has lost its beacon and her untimely death has left a void in the lives of vaishnavs all around the world.

By way of background, it should be noted that on the 10th anniversary of Vrajdham haveli, JiJi was so inspired

by JeJeshree’s katha that she had the revelation that he would be the right person to take over as her understudy and would thereafter manage JiJi’s haveli and charity institutions. Additionally Jiji declared that he would be the correct leader to ensure the progression of vaishnavs along the correct Pushtimarag path . As per Jijis wish Jejeshree took on the above role and as the adopted grand nephew was blessed by JiJi to live to one hundred years.

Over the years, JiJi has led vaishnavs throughout the world and it is quite apparent that Jejeshree who is full of youthful vigour and committed to the social upliftment of Vaishnavs around the world will continue jijis legacy.

Jejeshree is also the Founder of VYO International and under his exemplary leadership and outstanding guidance VYO has embarked upon countless worthy projects worldwide and has gone from strength to strength in numerous countries.

Vaishnavs in the UK felt extremely blessed to have been in the presence of Jejeshree at this most unique event.

more mainstream comics such as Peter Kay and Sarah Silverman – and we see how consolidating challenging experiences can sometimes be a strong channel for representation and recognition. “I will always continue to study various writing and styles and stand for what's fresh” Tez made sure to add: “it’s key to who I am.” Embracing varying viewpoints as well as the many unique facets of his identity, the comedian successfully actualises what every performer craves: originality.

Tell us how Teztify conceptually, creatively and personally builds on your first big show Tez Talks?

Teztify is about challenging the assumption that people have about me; that I’m a religious person in an increasingly secular world; that the colour of my skin is enough to sum me up; that my social background defines me, and fourthly what you might think of an individual who’s a self-indentifying liberal.

In addition to that, I also talk about how those themes as affecting the younger generation. With the rise of the internet and information being so easily accessible, people are a lot more influenced by those who don’t necessarily have the wisdom. It’s frightening for younger people, I think, to see these right-wing attitudes have such prominence. There’s a more visible sort of tribalism and that can be scary. I see its impact on my nieces and nephews.

The young comedian knows well what he is arguing - or let’s just say it Teztifying - about. This namesake is his third show, following the first more culturally-orientated material, Tez Talks, discussing modern racial dynamics and religion. This recently received a second series from BBC Are there any particularly Radio 4. As if that wasn’t enough, Tez special moments we can look also recently appeared on the widely forward to in your Edinburgh watched, comedy television show? show Mock the Week, The 5-munite bit about known for featuring the chickens. I enjoy performbest and brightest new ‘If I’m talking ing it while people wontalent. He also manabout the leftder what is going on, aged to burst open the wing, I want to until of course, they ideological doors with challenge their inevitably embrace it. his second stand-up perceptions of gig - Made in Britain – themselves’ You are very prowhich continued to ask lific. Do you think the question of what it there’s something particular means to be British today in your style recurring through the and how we should all work togeththemes in your work? er to protect against the idea of ‘the Mainly that my comedy is quite other.’ Ultimately, it seems that Tez’ sharp and on the pulse. I enjoy unpreditable personality has been the exploring darker, subversive material element to launch him in his entertoo. tainment career: “bar being male, I think I stand for every other underHow much of good stand up represented perspective,” the selfcomedy is projecting a peraware comedian stated. “I’m a young sona/character on stage, versus the ethnic minority from a working class actual competence of the content? background and that distinguishes Both are equally important! me in what is a predominantly privileged middle-class comedy circuit.”

What grabs you most about Add this to the fact that Tez cites a the art of stand-up and diverse range of influences on his comedy? comedy – everyone from the sharp The same reason why anyone and alternative Armando Iannucci to

loves their job - I love doing it. I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing.

Tell us a bit about your personal journey to the stage?

I actually only started doing comedy at 27. I didn’t have a background in the arts, comedy or theatre. In fact I graduated with a BA in chemistry and MA in management. The comedy began recreationally, as an activity to fill the evenings. At the end of one of these workshops, there was the opportunity to showcase your work and that went really well. From there, it was straight into the comedy circuit.

Do you have some good tips for stand-up comics starting out?

Give as much as possible – find those open mike circuits in your area.

Write a lot; try the material out in those 10-15 min sets and get a feel for it. Make as many contacts along the way.

Do you think performance comedy is a natural skill or can it be taught, learnt and grown?

Performance can be learnt, but not being funny necessarily. You can take the raw talent and finesse the presentation.

Any more comedic inspirations?

Dave Chappelle, Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Also Chris Morris.

Can you give a specific example of these liberal pitfalls you talk of?

The Brexit vote: you had people trying to convince people not to leave Europe in a way that was incredibly condescending. We should try to understand why people are voting the way they do. It’s the same for Donald Trump. You had people branding him racist and criticising the Mexican wall idea, but Trump’s voters don’t care.

That’s the whole point. We know he’s bad – parroting that isn’t going to help. What’s at the root of these right wing voters’ concerns?

Finally, what’s one misconception about stand up comedy that simply isn’t true?

That it’s an overnight success – most people have been in the game for many years before ‘making it’. https://twitter.com

16

UK

www.asian-voice.com

Asian Voice | 12th August 2017

UK’S ABANDONED INDIAN WIVES Continued from page 1 Founded in 2015, ILUK's primary focus is campaigning on behalf of victims of domestic violence, forced marriage, spousal abandonment and international child abduction. The group has helped hundreds of women in the UK in a variety of ways, including providing accommodation and assistance to women who have been abused to spearheading cross-border efforts to reunite children – some as young as 2 – with their mothers.

The issues are manifold.

First, women accompanying their husbands to the UK, who are already settled or moving countries, mostly do not know anybody here. Friendless and lonely, these women, if and when abused have no one to fall back on. They often don't even have any money of their own.

Second, some women in the pretext of holidays are left behind in India, and with visa cancelled by the husband without her formal permission or notice. Many times their passports and resident permits are confiscated by the husbands who then sneak out of India, many times with their children, leaving the woman in complete destitute.

Third, most women suffering from economic abuse are very well educated.

Some have worked in India for the longest time and own property or land in their name- which the husbands then claim for.

When these women arrive in the UK, many automatically secure a job here. But they are then forced to give up all their earnings, and left with merely £50 per week to live on.

The women who do not earn anything themselves, often have only £5 to live on, for a week.

They are mentally tortured, economically exploited and sometimes even physically hurt- and sources reveal most these fights have stemmed from disputes about money, many times a pending dowry that the woman's family being unable or unwilling to pay.

Without a proof of physical scars, often police is unable to help them- though their mental scars are often beyond repair.

Fourth, backward cultural reasons. For example, women who want to work, socialise or dress in a different manner are targeted by

their husbands, who eventually bar their wives from going out, having their own money and even stop them from having a phone so as to contact friends or family; Due to social stigmas and family pressure scores of women continue to live in these abusive relationships. This despite the fact that the victims we have come across are highly educated.

With no help from either government, these women are left totally helpless. Their exploitation is made worse by the fact that

selves.

ILUK has, just in the past 24 months, come across and provided support to dozens of victims whose husbands, for myriad reasons have routinely abused their position of power. Each case is different but equally harrowing for the woman.

Recent cases*

In one recent case, a husband a British citizen of Indian origin from an African country working in a well-known company in the

UK, who had married a lady from Gujarat - travelled to India for a holiday with the couple's two young children.

One day, under the guise of taking the children to a temple, the man took his wife's passport, visa card and telephone and fled India with the children. She contacted ILUK and the organisation then helped to organise an emergency passport and a short term visa for her to return to the UK where she continues to fight her

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What are the organisation's demands?

ILUK members at an overnight demonstration last year

these women have "no recourse to public funds" leading to women experiencing serious mental health problems while others are left destitute and ostracised by families and communities.

These victims, who leave behind extensive family networks in India, often live in a constant state of insecurity, often counting down the five long years that they are required to remain as “dependent” spouses until they are able to attain any rights for them-

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case. (The husband has since fled to his parent's native with the children).

In another case, the husband travelled to India with the wife and abandoned her there after stealing her British Residency Permit and handing it over to his parents. The moment he returned to London, he informed the home office that he was "no longer married to his wife" and to cancel her residency permit. The Home Office, based on his word alone, has allegedly proceeded to cancel her visa barring her from seeking justice in the UK. Such separations lead to women being banished by their families and communities given the inferior status of women in India. They are kept in limbo, unable to return to the UK, unable to return to their homes in India due to societal norms. Based on the staggering number of cases that ILUK has come across in the past two years, it is reasonable to assume that it is a widespread problem.

One woman, a 24-year-old Muslim girl from Andhra Pradesh, last year managed to return to the UK after her husband abandoned her in India, she found herself locked out of the marital home in Hounslow but unable to find emergency accommodation.

The husband had written to the Home Office asking that her visa be cancelled but the request had not been processed in time, allowing her to return to the UK. As a result, all the financial, legal and logistical help was offered by Indian Ladies UK. While the organisation receives no funding assistance from any government source, it is run by donations and contributions from their own members.

The organisation is hence calling for the process of cancelling a woman's dependent visa be made a more stringent one by the Home Office.

At the moment, a man needs only to write a letter informing of a separation, which in turn leads to the cancellation of a dependent visa in a matter of 7 days.

They are also calling on the Home Office to demand documentation proving that there has been a legal separation - meaning that the wife has been granted her rights under the separation -

: Venue don

l Lon r a r t n e C nd tembe p e S 22 017 2

before proceeding with the cancellation of a visa.

Alternately, particularly in the cases of abandonment of wives in India, a provision must be put in place to ensure that the Home Office is aware of the wife's position and that their most basic human rights are protected.

Obtaining the wife's consent prior to cancelling her visa is paramount.

The abuse of these women is merely exacerbated as one of the conditions of their dependent visa is that they have "no recourse to public funds". As a result, women abandoned in the UK are unable to find help through local councils.

Poonam Joshi, founder of ILUK, widowed at a young age, has

UK AsianVoiceNews

A Public Health England’s campaign is urging people to see a GP if they have breathlessness or a persistent cough, as these are key symptoms of lung cancer, heart disease and lung disease which cause more than 150,000 deaths in England each year.

As part of the campaign, both Mr Jayanti Raval and Keiky Press share their personal stories in short films highlighting the importance of recognising and acting upon these symptoms.

Mr Jayanti Raval from London had a persistent cough but ignored the

(*Names not revealed on requests)

Asian Voice | 12th August 2017

Spot the signs early and save lives

Jayanti Raval with wife

had a bad personal experience herself. She has worked with Westminster Council, where she has dealt with many such abandonment or abuse cases, and it motivated her to start this organisation, which has a spectacular social media presence.

Speaking to Asian Voice exclusively, she said, “The Indian community in Britain is often perceived as one of the most progressive and most successful migrant communities in Britain. Yet underneath this façade, huge problems exist. Migrants often bring their homegrown prejudices about the treatment of women, caste, dowry etc, with them to the UK. It’s absolutely appalling that in this day and age in a country as devoted to the cause of justice these kinds of things continue to happen. While Britain’s immigration system has been generous to millions, it is also quite easily exploited by individuals who have no sense of right and wrong when it comes to the treatment of women.

“Whilst I appreciate that it is difficult for governments to change and amend laws to suit every conceivable problem, this particular issue is widespread and horrific enough for the victims for the law to be amended.”

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

symptom, he said “I never thought my persistent cough could be a sign of something serious.”

His wife was very concerned and insisted that he should get it checked out by his doctor, “I’m so thankful that I listened to her. My doctor referred me to the hospital to see a chest specialist. I had some tests done and I was diagnosed with lung cancer. I was shocked but not scared. I knew it was important for me to stay calm for me and my family.”

“I was lucky that the cancer was caught at a very early stage so it was treatable. From seeing my doctor to surgery, it all happened so quickly.”

He reflects on how little he knew about cancer, “I used to hear about cancer but I didn’t have much knowledge about it. I just thought if a person gets cancer he is a dead man. But now I know that there is life after cancer.”

Keiky Press from London, whose mother, Sadhana Press was diagnosed with heart disease

Dr Shafick Gareeboo

or seen as just minor health issues. But these symptoms can be warning signs and it said “She would often feel breathless whilst doing everyday tasks like getting in and out of the car and walking up the stairs. I thought it was because she was overweight and unfit.”

“My brother and I encouraged her to see her doctor. I am so glad that she did. She received treatment and is doing very well.”

Dr Shafick Gareeboo, Consultant, Respiratory Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, who treated Mr Raval, comments “Breathlessness and a persistent cough are symptoms that can be easily ignored, put down to getting older,

the event and traditional music and dancing.

R a j Aggarwal said: "This is a big milestone for India and will be celebrated all over the world with lots of love and pride.

On this day we remember and pay respects to all those who sacrificed their lives for the freedom and prosperity of India. But also this this ceremony represents the gratitude of the Indian diaspora to Wales from the 15,000 people of Indian origin happily settled here, and also from the 1.3m in the UK. They are highly successful, hard working and have integrated well with their communities and are committed to success and prosperity of Wales and the UK." BBC Radio 4 has confirmed special commissions to mark the 70 years since the Partition of India in 1947, including an ambi-

tious dramatisation of Salman Rushdie’s multiaward winning Midnight’s Children to be broadcast on the anniversary itself and a three part factual series with remarkable first-hand accounts of British Asians and the British who lived through the Partition.

Change of venue for London celebrations On the other hand, the High Commission of India in London has moved their date of annual celebration to 10th September at the Indian Gymkhana, where they are inviting community groups to participate. The embassy usually hosts a flag hoisting ceremony at the India House on 15th August.

is really important to get them checked out by a doctor. If anyone has concerns, I would encourage them to seek medical advice, as getting help early rather than waiting until the problem gets worse is vital. Early diagnosis saves lives and can improve quality of life for people with long term conditions, so if you find yourself getting out of breath doing things you used to be able to do, or if you have a cough that has lasted for three weeks or more, tell your doctor.”

Dr Rosie Loftuss

Cardiff to celebrate 70th anniversary of Indian independence The 70th anniversary of Indian Independence will be celebrated with an official flag raising ceremony in Cardiff - attended by the First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones and several Indian VIPs. The Indian Tirangaa will be raised at 11am on Monday 15th August at the Mansion House in Cardiff, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of Cardiff to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the birth of India as a sovereign nation.

In attendance will be the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, as well as Sangeev Gupta, MD of Liberty Steel, Virander Garg CEO of Liberty Steel, Gurmit Randhawa Chair of the Sikh Council of Wales, Vimla Patel Chair of the Hindu Council of Wales, Hugh Thomas the Leader of Cardiff City Council and representatives of the police and armed services.

The flag will be raised by Hon Consul General of India Raj Aggarwal OBE, who has organised the event. There will be speeches following

17

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It could be a sign of lung or heart disease or e ev ven cancer.

Finding it early makes it more treatable, so don’t ignore it, tell your doctor.

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UK

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Asian Voice | 12th August 2017

UK’S ABANDONED INDIAN WIVES Continued from page 1 Founded in 2015, ILUK's primary focus is campaigning on behalf of victims of domestic violence, forced marriage, spousal abandonment and international child abduction. The group has helped hundreds of women in the UK in a variety of ways, including providing accommodation and assistance to women who have been abused to spearheading cross-border efforts to reunite children – some as young as 2 – with their mothers.

The issues are manifold.

First, women accompanying their husbands to the UK, who are already settled or moving countries, mostly do not know anybody here. Friendless and lonely, these women, if and when abused have no one to fall back on. They often don't even have any money of their own.

Second, some women in the pretext of holidays are left behind in India, and with visa cancelled by the husband without her formal permission or notice. Many times their passports and resident permits are confiscated by the husbands who then sneak out of India, many times with their children, leaving the woman in complete destitute.

Third, most women suffering from economic abuse are very well educated.

Some have worked in India for the longest time and own property or land in their name- which the husbands then claim for.

When these women arrive in the UK, many automatically secure a job here. But they are then forced to give up all their earnings, and left with merely £50 per week to live on.

The women who do not earn anything themselves, often have only £5 to live on, for a week.

They are mentally tortured, economically exploited and sometimes even physically hurt- and sources reveal most these fights have stemmed from disputes about money, many times a pending dowry that the woman's family being unable or unwilling to pay.

Without a proof of physical scars, often police is unable to help them- though their mental scars are often beyond repair.

Fourth, backward cultural reasons. For example, women who want to work, socialise or dress in a different manner are targeted by

their husbands, who eventually bar their wives from going out, having their own money and even stop them from having a phone so as to contact friends or family; Due to social stigmas and family pressure scores of women continue to live in these abusive relationships. This despite the fact that the victims we have come across are highly educated.

With no help from either government, these women are left totally helpless. Their exploitation is made worse by the fact that

selves.

ILUK has, just in the past 24 months, come across and provided support to dozens of victims whose husbands, for myriad reasons have routinely abused their position of power. Each case is different but equally harrowing for the woman.

Recent cases*

In one recent case, a husband a British citizen of Indian origin from an African country working in a well-known company in the

UK, who had married a lady from Gujarat - travelled to India for a holiday with the couple's two young children.

One day, under the guise of taking the children to a temple, the man took his wife's passport, visa card and telephone and fled India with the children. She contacted ILUK and the organisation then helped to organise an emergency passport and a short term visa for her to return to the UK where she continues to fight her

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What are the organisation's demands?

ILUK members at an overnight demonstration last year

these women have "no recourse to public funds" leading to women experiencing serious mental health problems while others are left destitute and ostracised by families and communities.

These victims, who leave behind extensive family networks in India, often live in a constant state of insecurity, often counting down the five long years that they are required to remain as “dependent” spouses until they are able to attain any rights for them-

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case. (The husband has since fled to his parent's native with the children).

In another case, the husband travelled to India with the wife and abandoned her there after stealing her British Residency Permit and handing it over to his parents. The moment he returned to London, he informed the home office that he was "no longer married to his wife" and to cancel her residency permit. The Home Office, based on his word alone, has allegedly proceeded to cancel her visa barring her from seeking justice in the UK. Such separations lead to women being banished by their families and communities given the inferior status of women in India. They are kept in limbo, unable to return to the UK, unable to return to their homes in India due to societal norms. Based on the staggering number of cases that ILUK has come across in the past two years, it is reasonable to assume that it is a widespread problem.

One woman, a 24-year-old Muslim girl from Andhra Pradesh, last year managed to return to the UK after her husband abandoned her in India, she found herself locked out of the marital home in Hounslow but unable to find emergency accommodation.

The husband had written to the Home Office asking that her visa be cancelled but the request had not been processed in time, allowing her to return to the UK. As a result, all the financial, legal and logistical help was offered by Indian Ladies UK. While the organisation receives no funding assistance from any government source, it is run by donations and contributions from their own members.

The organisation is hence calling for the process of cancelling a woman's dependent visa be made a more stringent one by the Home Office.

At the moment, a man needs only to write a letter informing of a separation, which in turn leads to the cancellation of a dependent visa in a matter of 7 days.

They are also calling on the Home Office to demand documentation proving that there has been a legal separation - meaning that the wife has been granted her rights under the separation -

: Venue don

l Lon r a r t n e C nd tembe p e S 22 017 2

before proceeding with the cancellation of a visa.

Alternately, particularly in the cases of abandonment of wives in India, a provision must be put in place to ensure that the Home Office is aware of the wife's position and that their most basic human rights are protected.

Obtaining the wife's consent prior to cancelling her visa is paramount.

The abuse of these women is merely exacerbated as one of the conditions of their dependent visa is that they have "no recourse to public funds". As a result, women abandoned in the UK are unable to find help through local councils.

Poonam Joshi, founder of ILUK, widowed at a young age, has

UK AsianVoiceNews

A Public Health England’s campaign is urging people to see a GP if they have breathlessness or a persistent cough, as these are key symptoms of lung cancer, heart disease and lung disease which cause more than 150,000 deaths in England each year.

As part of the campaign, both Mr Jayanti Raval and Keiky Press share their personal stories in short films highlighting the importance of recognising and acting upon these symptoms.

Mr Jayanti Raval from London had a persistent cough but ignored the

(*Names not revealed on requests)

Asian Voice | 12th August 2017

Spot the signs early and save lives

Jayanti Raval with wife

had a bad personal experience herself. She has worked with Westminster Council, where she has dealt with many such abandonment or abuse cases, and it motivated her to start this organisation, which has a spectacular social media presence.

Speaking to Asian Voice exclusively, she said, “The Indian community in Britain is often perceived as one of the most progressive and most successful migrant communities in Britain. Yet underneath this façade, huge problems exist. Migrants often bring their homegrown prejudices about the treatment of women, caste, dowry etc, with them to the UK. It’s absolutely appalling that in this day and age in a country as devoted to the cause of justice these kinds of things continue to happen. While Britain’s immigration system has been generous to millions, it is also quite easily exploited by individuals who have no sense of right and wrong when it comes to the treatment of women.

“Whilst I appreciate that it is difficult for governments to change and amend laws to suit every conceivable problem, this particular issue is widespread and horrific enough for the victims for the law to be amended.”

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

symptom, he said “I never thought my persistent cough could be a sign of something serious.”

His wife was very concerned and insisted that he should get it checked out by his doctor, “I’m so thankful that I listened to her. My doctor referred me to the hospital to see a chest specialist. I had some tests done and I was diagnosed with lung cancer. I was shocked but not scared. I knew it was important for me to stay calm for me and my family.”

“I was lucky that the cancer was caught at a very early stage so it was treatable. From seeing my doctor to surgery, it all happened so quickly.”

He reflects on how little he knew about cancer, “I used to hear about cancer but I didn’t have much knowledge about it. I just thought if a person gets cancer he is a dead man. But now I know that there is life after cancer.”

Keiky Press from London, whose mother, Sadhana Press was diagnosed with heart disease

Dr Shafick Gareeboo

or seen as just minor health issues. But these symptoms can be warning signs and it said “She would often feel breathless whilst doing everyday tasks like getting in and out of the car and walking up the stairs. I thought it was because she was overweight and unfit.”

“My brother and I encouraged her to see her doctor. I am so glad that she did. She received treatment and is doing very well.”

Dr Shafick Gareeboo, Consultant, Respiratory Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, who treated Mr Raval, comments “Breathlessness and a persistent cough are symptoms that can be easily ignored, put down to getting older,

the event and traditional music and dancing.

R a j Aggarwal said: "This is a big milestone for India and will be celebrated all over the world with lots of love and pride.

On this day we remember and pay respects to all those who sacrificed their lives for the freedom and prosperity of India. But also this this ceremony represents the gratitude of the Indian diaspora to Wales from the 15,000 people of Indian origin happily settled here, and also from the 1.3m in the UK. They are highly successful, hard working and have integrated well with their communities and are committed to success and prosperity of Wales and the UK." BBC Radio 4 has confirmed special commissions to mark the 70 years since the Partition of India in 1947, including an ambi-

tious dramatisation of Salman Rushdie’s multiaward winning Midnight’s Children to be broadcast on the anniversary itself and a three part factual series with remarkable first-hand accounts of British Asians and the British who lived through the Partition.

Change of venue for London celebrations On the other hand, the High Commission of India in London has moved their date of annual celebration to 10th September at the Indian Gymkhana, where they are inviting community groups to participate. The embassy usually hosts a flag hoisting ceremony at the India House on 15th August.

is really important to get them checked out by a doctor. If anyone has concerns, I would encourage them to seek medical advice, as getting help early rather than waiting until the problem gets worse is vital. Early diagnosis saves lives and can improve quality of life for people with long term conditions, so if you find yourself getting out of breath doing things you used to be able to do, or if you have a cough that has lasted for three weeks or more, tell your doctor.”

Dr Rosie Loftuss

Cardiff to celebrate 70th anniversary of Indian independence The 70th anniversary of Indian Independence will be celebrated with an official flag raising ceremony in Cardiff - attended by the First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones and several Indian VIPs. The Indian Tirangaa will be raised at 11am on Monday 15th August at the Mansion House in Cardiff, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of Cardiff to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the birth of India as a sovereign nation.

In attendance will be the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, as well as Sangeev Gupta, MD of Liberty Steel, Virander Garg CEO of Liberty Steel, Gurmit Randhawa Chair of the Sikh Council of Wales, Vimla Patel Chair of the Hindu Council of Wales, Hugh Thomas the Leader of Cardiff City Council and representatives of the police and armed services.

The flag will be raised by Hon Consul General of India Raj Aggarwal OBE, who has organised the event. There will be speeches following

17

Te

our t r

Do you get out of breath doing things you used to be able yo to do?

It could be a sign of lung or heart disease or e ev ven cancer.

Finding it early makes it more treatable, so don’t ignore it, tell your doctor.

Search ‘Be Clear on Cancer’

Join us at the 17th Asian Achievers Awards Call and book your place NOW! 020 7749 4085 Gold Sponsors

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FINANCIAL VOICE

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Asian Voice | 12th August 2017

Tatas hold talks with Ambani for sale of telecom business

RBI cuts repo rate by 25 bps to 6%

The Indian telecom industry could become a four operator market by 2020, according to CCS Insight

India's Tata Group has explored selling its struggling telecom and related assets to Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) even as Bharti Airtel remains a strong contender to acquire them. While talks RIL chairman with Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio may not progress, it assumes significance for being the first such deal talk between the country's two corporate giants.

The two groups haven't had much business connections in the past and even restricted recruiting employees from each other. The last decade's telecom battles saw Tatas and Ambanis pitched on opposite sides. This started changing with Tata Trusts and

N Chandrasekaran

Reliance Foundation collaborating in areas such as high-speed connectivity and cancer care.

RIL and Tata Group declined to comment.

“It's credible to say both Jio and Tata Tele have explored options, but risky to believe it would make progress,” said a person familiar with the

matter. The Indian telecom industry is gripped by consolidation moves three deals have been announced in the first half of the current calendar - as the Jio onslaught has hit the bottom lines of competitors hard.

New Tata chairman N Chandrasekaran is working on a time-bound plan to sort out the telecom mess, and has asked his deal-makers to explore all options. Tata Group holds a majority stake in Tata Tele and 49% in the listed Tata Communications. It has 60% in Tata Sky with Murdoch and Temasek owning the balance. Anil Ambani's RCom is also learnt to have evinced interest in Tata Tele but its own debt woes and an

uncertain merger with Aircel is seen as weighing down on further dealmaking.

The Indian telecom industry could become a four operator market by 2020, according to CCS Insight, a global mobile and wireless sector intelligence provider. This envisaged three private operators -VodafoneIdea, Airtel and Jio - with BSNL as the fourth entity.

Chandrasekaran is said to be keen to reduce the over £3 billion debt in Tata Tele after Tata Sons bought out Japanese partner NTT DoCoMo. The group's holding company, Tata Sons, recently decided to infuse £1.2 billion in the telecom arm to improve its financial metrics.

Mukesh Ambani 2nd richest in Asia Mukesh Ambani has elbowed past Li Ka-shing to become Asia's secondrichest man as investors rallied behind his efforts to arm India's poor with cheap data-loaded phones.

Some analysts are beginning to focus on the costs of his ambition. The chairman of Reliance Industries has added $12.5 billion to his wealth this year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as shares of his refining-to-telecom company surged to a record.

Spurring the rally on is optimism that a new $23 phone launched last month will expand the market for Ambani's fourth-generation mobile network into India's hinterland.

About 90% of Reliance's revenues continue to come from its refining and petrochemicals units, with retail, media and energy exploration contributing the rest.

Ambani described Jio as “a jewel” among Reliance

Mukesh Ambani

assets during the company's annual general meeting on July 21. For Ambani, the gains have swelled his net worth to $35.2 billion, taking him to number 19 in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index from 29 at the end of 2016. He passed Li Kashing - whose empire spans telecommunications, retail and ports - for a few days in April and again on July 7.

Jio took just nine months after launching with a free introductory offer to rope in 117.3 million users and become India's fourth-largest oper-

ator, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Optimism about the telecom upstart's prospects grew after Ambani announced initial pricing for the service in February, sparking an almost 50% surge in Reliance shares.

The 4G JioPhone fuelled the rally. The handset will run on voice commands in 22 Indian languages and the company expects its cheaper rates and highspeed data access to open up a market of about 500 million customers currently using feature phones on second-generation networks.

Ambani's ambitions aren't limited to a phone service. The company has started offering fixed-line internet connections to households and tied up with AirWire Technologies to offer a device that connects to a car for diagnostics, Wi-Fi and other services. Investments in refining and petrochemicals may start benefiting Reliance from the current

fiscal, said Vishal Kulkarni, a Singapore-based analyst at S&P Global Ratings. He expects operating profits from these businesses to grow by 50% in the year ending March 2019. Jio may make an operating profit of $1 billion this fiscal and triple it next year, he said. S&P has a BBB+ rating on Reliance with a stable outlook, two notches above the sovereign's BBBrating, implying it can raise money at very competitive rates.

Still, Kulkarni expects the telecom business to be at least two years from having a mature, paying subscriber base.“There are strong incumbents, which will give a good fight over subscribers or revenue share,” he said. “More than 70-80% of the EBITDA will come from refining and petrochemicals.” For much of the past seven years, new ventures such as retail and telecom have weighed on group earnings, along with a challenged energy exploration business.

Snapdeal’s woes lift Amazon’s prospects in India The talks over the sale of Snapdeal to Flipkart did not materialise and Kunal Bahl, co-founder of Snapdeal, in an e-mail to its remaining 1,200 staff said, “The opportunity of e-commerce in India is immense, and the surface . . . has barely been scratched.” Even as he wrote, however, Softbank’s new $93bn Vision Fund was proceeding with talks on a large-scale investment in Flipkart, having lost hope in Snapdeal’s ability to compete with its

homegrown rival and Amazon’s Indian subsidiary.Facing no prospect of further investment from its Japanese backer, Snapdeal’s senior management is preparing for life in a drastically slimmeddown entity, with perhaps a 15th of the nearly 9,000 employees at its peak.With Snapdeal’s elimination as a contender, analysts say the fight to take the top spot in Indian e-commerce - potentially one of the global sector’s most valuable prizes - has been nar-

rowed down to Flipkart and Amazon India.Even with only 17 per cent of internet users buying online, e-commerce sales in India hit $16bn last year, and are on course to reach $63bn by 2021, according to Forrester Research. With Amazon already having committed $5bn of funding to its Indian unit since its 2013 launch - and with Flipkart flush with funding from global groups including Microsoft, Tencent, eBay and perhaps now SoftBank

- the second phase of this fight may prove still more intense than the first. But while Flipkart still accounts for a bigger share of online sales than Amazon India, the latter is steadily catching up, says Satish Meena, an analyst at Forrester. “Amazon has not been in a hurry to overtake Flipkart, but the lead is shrinking and now it’s just a matter of time,” he says, estimating that Amazon will pull ahead in the next six to nine months.

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Urjit Patel

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week cut interest rates, in line with what was expecting. Repo rate - the rate at the which the central bank lends short-term money to banks - was cut by 25 basis points to 6 per cent from 6.25 per cent.

RBI's move comes on the back of inflation running well below its target for consecutive quarters. The central bank had last cut key rates in October 2016.

The current rate of 6 per cent is the lowest since November 2010.

"There is scope for banks to reduce lending rates," RBI governor Urjit Patel said, in a cue to commercial banks to pass on the rate cut to consumers.

A significant moderation in retail inflation over the past three months had reinforced calls for further monetary policy easing from the RBI, which changed its stance to neutral from accommodative at the beginning of the year. The central bank said it would retain its neutral stance, warning it expected inflation to rise but pinning further moves on the economic data.

Weak consumer spending following the Narendra Modi-government's ban on high-value currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000

denomination late last year as well as lower food prices have kept inflation below the RBI's 4 per cent midterm target for the past eight months. Inflation eased to its slowest pace in more than five years in June.

It was slumping inflation that allowed the RBI to provide a booster shot to India's economy which has been growing at its slowest pace in over two years. The quantum of cut was, however, not unanimous. Four members of RBI's monetary policy committee voted to cut rates by 25 basis points, one voted for a 50 basis points cut and one voted for leaving rates unchanged.

The RBI also cut reverse repo rate - the rate at which the central bank borrows money from commercial banks by 25 basis points to 5.75 per cent from 6 per cent. Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate - the rate at which banks borrow overnight funds from RBI against approved government securities - and the bank rate were also adjusted to 6.25 per cent.

After rate cut, the RBI is forecast to remain status quo in its policy at least until 2019 because economic growth is set to accelerate, according to a Reuters poll. Indian stocks are trading at a record high, partly in anticipation of that. However, Arihant Capital's whole time director Anita Gandhi says, "If RBI gets confirmation that inflation will remain in the lower territory, there is a possibility of a further rate cut."

Infosys turns down Murthy's plea to make probe report public Indian multinational company Infosys has turned down a demand made by company co-founder NR Narayana Murthy that the report on its investigation into whistleblower complaints be made public.

Sources said Murthy wrote a letter to the board asking for a full public disclosure of the report by US law firm Gibson Dunn and global risk consultancy and investigations firm Control Risks.

Both the firms were mandated to look into allegations of improprieties in connection with Infosys' acquisitions of Panaya and Skava Systems in 2015, and were also asked to look into charges that CEO Vishal Sikka requested that improper deals be made with customers, and that he received inappro-

NR Narayana Murthy

priate compensation and incurred excessive expenses relating to travel, security, and his Palo Alto office. Gibson Dunn had also reviewed two previous investigations completed

by Indian law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas last year, related to the propriety of a severance pay out made to former CFO Rajeev Bansal. It remains unclear what Murthy wants from the full report.

REAL ESTATE VOICE

www.asian-voice.com

A LIFE SENTENCE IN PROPERTY IS NOT A BAD THING! AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

This afternoon, I'm due to meet a tenant who has been occupying a property we purchased on behalf of an investor.

The property was purchased prior to auction in June 2014 for the sum of £250,000. It’s a semidetached house, freehold, on a busy Road in Greenford, North London.

Suresh Vagjiani

Sow & Reap London Property Investment

It was a good buy at the time and we managed to secure the property prior to the auction. The seller had given the impression that the property was occupied by a tenant on an AST, by including an AST in the legal pack duly signed by the tenant.

It was in fact more complicated than that. The tenant has a life tenancy in the property and to complicate matters she had been shifted from one house to another. The short of it is, the tenant cannot be shifted from the

property in her lifetime.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, the first benefit is there are no void periods.

There is also not as much complaining, as if someone is in a place for life they treat the home as their own, not as a hotel.

One aspect which came to light was, although the tenant has a right to stay in the property for life, they have to be paying market rental; this was implemented following a set procedure which was duly followed and the rent increased to market levels.

In a nut shell our investor has a great deal, a BTL freehold property which was bought very cheap; I recall at the time, the market value was around £300k-£325k, equating to a 25% discount.

Currently the value of this property is £415k, this is on the basis it is vacant.

AGONY AGENT IS HERE TO HELP! Q: I'm just doing a bit of decorating in my apartment, ready for my next set of tenants, but what do you recommend for the flooring, carpet or laminate?

A: As a landlord, there are certainly pros and cons to each option.

Carpet Pros: l

Keeps the house warm and helps with insulation

l

Looks attractive and feels better under bare feet l Adds value – makes the space look like it’s had more money spent on it

l Difficult to clean – professionals may have to be contracted l Can be expensive to buy good quality and have it fitted

Cons:

Tip:

l

Wears out easily – especially in high-traffic areas, such as hallways l Can fade in places, especially when furniture has been in one place for while l Stains easily and attracts dirt

BUY TO LET OPPORTUNITY

Notting Hill Gate, London W11 Purchase Price: £550,000

Make sure you look for a durable, easily cleaned carpet that will withstand a few years of wear and tear. Darker colours are best to prevent stains showing, but don’t go too dark – this could make rooms look smaller.

19

Asian Voice | 12th August 2017

This means there is potentially a good £150k to be gained from this property if it can be vacated. Given the original investment was under £70k, this represents a very good return over a three-year period.

The market is segmented into two, the end user and the investor. The end user will pay over the odds to get a property as it will be an emotional purchase.

The investor will look at the numbers, and this will be the driving factor.

However, despite the benefits from a lifetime tenant paying market rent, the proposition is not attractive. This stems from mortgage companies’ requirements for an AST to be in place and no other types of tenancies. This is driven by the risk of the property being repossessed, they perceive it will be less desirable and may not achieve the market price. This wouldn’t be a problem if mortgage

Laminate flooring Pros: l Durable and can withstand much more than carpet as it’s less easily marked l Easy to clean – spills will mop straight up l Cost effective and easy to install and replace (if a section is damaged, it can be lifted out and replaced), you could even do it yourself

Cons: l

While it can be

l Second floor of a smart period building l Offering spacious living accommodation comprised of two bedrooms, one reception room with separate kitchen and bathroom l 999 years lease l Resell value is expected to be £800,000 Call us now for more information!

companies chose to lend on it in the first place!

This was a perception created for Council flats many years ago, some lenders would not lend on a council flat full stop, others would only lend subject to a valuer’s comments. However, when you look at the numbers, a council house investment especially in Central London made more sense than a privately owned property.

We live in an environment

installed in ‘moist’ places, such as kitchens and bathrooms, it is easily damaged by puddles of water, if they’re left to stand l Many people think it looks less attractive than carpet or wood Tip: If you’re considering installing laminate flooring in a bathroom or kitchen, make sure it’s a specialist variety that can withstand water better.

Also make sure you check the guarantee, to ensure it won’t be void if you

where the purchase price, and current prices of almost any property, is easily found in minutes.

And, therefore, the tenant can already see the figures, and have an idea of what kind of premium she can request to surrender her tenancy.

However, we are not in a desperate situation and the investment is stable.

Therefore, if the margin is not big enough the tenant can carry on living there with no issues.

install the flooring in these areas.

Do be sure to take into account the type of tenants you’re looking for and the rent you’ll be charging.

If you would like further advice on this or any other areas of decoration, then please contact the office and ask about our assisted full refurbishment packages.

Richard Bond Lettings Manager Sow & Reap

20

FINANCIAL VOICE

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 12th August 2017

Idea-Vodafone merger may prove challenging and costly

Consultant Editor Financial Voice Alpesh Patel Dear Financial Voice Reader, Summer is a time to contemplate – including your trading and investing. So I penned this: The Setting Is A Wedding. The marriage of the daughter of a Priest to the son of a Trader. The wedding is finished and people are now dancing. In one corner of a large outdoor tent the father of the bride and groom sit at a table having some wine with one or two other guests including a philosophy professor.

Trader: I know you didn’t want this marriage. Let’s be honest. I also know you think we’re not worthy. But what you and I do is very much the same.

Priest: How so? ‘In God we Trust’? But whilst you print that on your money, and hold your money up as your God, I Trust in God with no mention of money.

Trader: I’ll leave aside that nowhere on earth does a non-governmental institution hold so much wealth as the Church. No, I meant, that for me to be successful, I must be detached from the fruits of my labour. A Trader to make money must not focus on the money itself but rather perform his actions with detachment and the rewards will follow. I read somewhere it’s what you teach – detachment in all things.

Philosophy Professor: You’re mistaking Christian teaching with that of Hinduism. “Better indeed is knowledge than mechanical practice. Better than knowledge is meditation. But better still is surrender of attachment to results, because there follows immediate peace.” It’s from the Bhagavad Gita, an Indian religious text, 5,000 years old.

Priest: I do not understand that helps you in your business and what business it is of mine?

Philosophy Professor: The Hindus argue all religions, including yours padre, lead to one truth, one god and that to attain true enlightenment one must be detached from the vagaries of daily life, emotions and through such self-control, rather like with the Priesthood, we become closer to god.

Priest: Are you both trying to tell me that trading is an act of religious devotion? Or brings you closer to god?

Exactly how much wine have you drunk?

Trader: No, I’m telling you that a bad Trader needs detachment from money and emotions. In trading he will experience in one day most of the emotions mankind and the church have been battling for centuries and telling us to control: fear, greed, anger. The Trader has to do exactly that.

Trader: You know, our children have got married, but you never told me how you became a Priest?

Priest: Before I joined the Priesthood I was a mathematics teacher and it is mathematics which led me to god.

Trader: See I told you we had a lot in common. I deal with maths everyday, and the maths leads me to god – ‘in God we trust’ remember.

Priest: Not quite. I didn’t use maths to make money.

Consider the beauty there is in mathematics. You mentioned Hindus earlier Professor. Take the Pingala sequence discovered by the Indians in 200BC. You will know it better by its Western discoverer – Fibonacci some 1,400 years later. The first two Fibonacci numbers are 0 and 1, and each remaining number is the sum of the previous two. So it runs 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144 and so on. Fibonacci sequences appear in biological settings, in two consecutive Fibonacci numbers, such as branching in trees, arrangement of leaves on a stem, the fruitlets of a pineapple, the flowering of artichoke, an

Telecommunications giant Idea Cellular and Vodafone India are in the plans to kick off operational integration of their networks. Idea management said the company could “now plan the integration aspects” with approvals in place from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for its merger with Vodafone India.

Brokerage house HSBC said “prompt CCI approval is a positive” but integration of Idea and Vodafone India's operations will have to be “seamlessly executed” to ensure the merged entity is able to contest market disruption by Reliance Jio Infocomm.

HSBC director and tele-

Approximately 400 senior executives of Cognizant have accepted the company's voluntary separation package, in a move which is touted to help save about $60 million annually. The US-based company had initiated a voluntary separation programme, offering up to nine months of salary to some of its top-level executives in the US and India.

With a significant part of its total 256,000 workforce in India, it is reported that of the 400 who opted for the

com analyst Rajiv Sharma said the Idea-Vodafone operations integration “may not be easy as the two organisations differ significantly in terms of billing systems, network vendors and culture”. However, Bharti Airtel CEO Sanjay Kapoor warmed up to the idea, saying the merger could induce the need to make several tough choices around technology vendors, IT partners, CRM partners and should naturally lead to

realignment of existing agreements and contracts with their respective partners. “Since the objective would be to build synergy and avoid duplication of network, systems, people resources and partners on a circle-by-circle basis, the consolidation at the ecosystem partners level is inevitable.”

Both the telecommunications giant will have to choose between vendors running parallel service and supply contracts, so as to keep one network. Goldman Sachs said both Vodafone and Idea would have a significant “tower overlap”.

Director at ratings agency, Fitch, Nitin Soni said he

expected integration to be complex and costly.

“Country-wide network integration could prove costly as both telcos might have to terminate some long-term contracts with partner tower companies prematurely, for which they could end up shelling our hefty penalties,” he said.

He stated that another challenge they would face is integrating Vodafone and Idea's marketing teams, which would hinge on whether the combined entity decides to carry two corporate brands or just one.

“Carrying two brands can prove very expensive for the Idea-Vodafone combined entity.”

separation, many could be from the country. “Of the $39 million of realignment charges, $35 million was for the roughly 400 associates who accepted our VSP. We expect approximately $60 million of annualised savings as a result of the VSP,” company CFO Karen McLoughlin said. She added that Cognizant expects to incur additional cost related to advisory fees, severance, lease termination, and facility consolidation costs in the remaining part of the

year. McLoughlin said the company has made “good headway” in the June quarter driving utilisation rates higher by “slowing the pace of our hiring and improving resource alignment” to its re-skilling and multiskilling programmes.

The overall headcount decreased by about 4,400 people at the end of June, from March 2017 quarter, even though it had hired 10,800 people during the June quarter. “Our attrition level was higher than nor-

mal given reductions resulting from performance evaluations and the voluntary separation programme,” the CFO said. Adding that while the company will carefully manage headcount, it will continue to hire and invest in critical skills needed to grow Cognizant's digital business.

Cognizant president Rajeev Mehta said the company was investing “tens of millions of dollars” this year to continuously deepen and broaden skills.

400 Cognizant executives opt for VRS

Economist Rajiv Kumar is new VC of Niti Aayog The Centre has announced that economist Rajiv Kumar is the new vicechairman of Niti Aayog, after Arvind Panagariya decided to return to Columbia University at the end of the month. The vicechairman had explained his interest in academia to Prime Minister Narendra Modi some time back, and

finally decided to pursue his interest.

Arvind is an IndianAmerican scholar and professor at Columbia. He was chief economist at the Asian Development Bank, and had also been employed at the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organisation, and the

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Rajiv Kumar is a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research and has been involved in the selection of financial sector regulators, such as the RBI governor and Sebi chief, and appears compatible to the ruling BJP's economic ideology. He remains one

of the very few economists who had backed demonetisation. Kumar is also chancellor of the Gokhale Institute of Economics and Politics in Pune, and the founding director of Pahle India Foundation- a nonprofit research organisation that specialises in policy-oriented research and analysis.

clues throughout mathematics of a higher power, a designer, that led me to god. Galileo Galilei asserted that "the laws of nature are written by the hand of God in the language of mathematics."

Philosophy Professor: And

to return to the Indians, according to the great Indian Srinivasa mathematician Ramanujan, "an equation is meaningless to me unless it expresses a thought of God." Trader: You know there are traders who use only

Fibonacci numbers to forecast the next move in global markets.

Priest: Wherever there is god, there is man to make money from Him. Trader: Amen to that Father of the bride.

uncurling fern and the arrangement of a pine cone.

The Fibonacci numbers are also found in the family tree of honeybees. God saw fit to make himself known through numbers. Through design in nature. It was these types of

It’s not all doom and gloom

Abhishek Sachdev

The National Institute of Economic & Social Research (NIESR), a leading UK think tank, stated that the economy is outperforming the Bank of England’s forecasts, with growth expected to accelerate from 1.7% this year to 1.9% in 2018, spurred

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by rising exports and business investment.

According to NIESR, 2017 represents a trough for UK GDP growth and will be followed by a “modest recovery that takes economic growth to a level that is close to potential”, with expectations for the first interest rate rise in more than a decade to occur early next year.

The Pound extended gains against the Dollar to an eleven month high of 1.324, up 2.18% in one month and 7.29% since the start of the year. The

Sterling has been buoyed by strong manufacturing PMI data in July as exports surge due to post-Brexit currency depreciation and stronger global growth.

50% of UK manufacturers expect output to be higher a year from now, with only 5% expecting it to be lower. The Dollar, meanwhile, has struggled in recent weeks against the backdrop of political turmoil in the White House and a fall in US construction spending.

What does it mean for me?

Putting that into context, you would save £164,670 by importing $10m worth of US goods today rather than making the purchase four weeks ago. Nevertheless, it is prudent to err on the side of caution - market moves of this magnitude often provide banks and brokers with an opportunity to overcharge on hidden margins. We assist a number of importers/exporters with FX benchmarking services to ensure they receive a fair price regardless of who they

buy their currency from; a bank or broker.

The cost of a fiveyear fixed rate loan has fallen 7 bps in one month to 0.83%, while the cost of a ten-year fixed rate loan dropped 5 bps to 1.21%. The latest moves leave the five and ten year rates up 8 and 7 bps respectively since the start of the year.

So, what does this mean for borrowers?

Securing a £5m loan over a five year period is now £17k less expensive than it was a month ago.

Similarly the cost of securing the same amount over ten years

has gone down by £24k in one month. In other words, these swap / fixed rates do have a real impact on all of us.

You can keep track of key market rates by subscribing to our FREE market rate sheet.

Updated daily, this concise summary covers swap rates (i.e. fixed rates for loans), FX rates and more. Visit our website for more details.

Tel: 020 7183 2277 www.vedantahedging.com

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South Africa president Zuma faces no confidence secret ballot

Zuma has been consistently accused of corruption, upsetting investors throughout last year PRETORIA: The end of South African President Jacob Zuma's time in office may be near, as the Speaker of the Parliament has announced his surprise decision to allow anonymous voting in a motion of no confidence. Critics of the presidency have long been calling for a secret ballot, hoping it would help give MPs a much-needed courage to support his removal.

Speaker Baleka Mbete's decision was welcomed by markets as South African currency, the rand, bonds, and banking shares surged following the announce-

Jacob Zuma

ment. Zuma has been consistently accused of corruption, upsetting investors throughout last year, particularly when he removed

popular finance minister Pravin Gordhan. Opposition Democratic Alliance said, “Jacob Zuma has brought our nation to its knees. We call on all members of the parliament to do the right thing and remove Jacob Zuma.”

Opposition parties have planned a march in the capital of Cape Town, and even members of the ANC are expected to march on the same streets in support for him. Zuma's tenure as President will only end in 2019, when national elections will be held. He has survived eight no-confi-

dence votes during his eight years in power, due to a loyal votebank by party MPs who form a strong parliamentary majority.

While those votes aren't anonymous, the recently announced secret vote could help embolden ANC members who are critical of Zuma who is accused of mismanaging the economy. All accusations have been denied by Zuma. “We have full confidence in our ANC members of the Parliament. This motion, just like others before it, will be defeated,” said a statement from party chief Jackson Mthembu.

UN imposes tough sanctions against N Korea BEIJING: Foreign Minister of China has warned his North Korean counterpart that the situation on the Korean Peninsula was inching closer to “crisis point”, just a day after the UN unanimously voted for its strongest possible economic sanctions against Pyongyang. In a meeting held in Manila, Philippine, China's Wang Yi, told Ri Yong-ho, that the measures were “necessary, but not the end-goal.” He clarified that the sanction aimed to bring the nuclear aspirant back to the table for talks. Yi emphasised that the situation was “approaching a crisis point, and at the same time had become a turning point for returning to negotiations.”

The UN resolution introduces an export ban on key products in retaliation for two intercontinental ballistic missile tests last month,

Prosecutors seek 12-year jail for Samsung heir SEOUL: South Korean prosecutors have recommended imprisoning billionaire Samsung heir for 12 years if he is convicted of bribery and other crimes in a corruption scandal. Prosecutors' recommendation concludes the four-month-long hearing over the allegations against Lee Jae-yong. The 49-year-old vice chair at Samsung Electronics was indicted in February on charges, including offering $38 million in bribes to a friend of then-President Park Geun-hye, to seek government help in a merger that strengthened his control over Samsung. Park was removed from office and is being tried separately. Lee has denied all charges and distanced himself from Samsung's now-disbanded secretive strategy office that oversaw the merger at the centre of the scandal. The charges could entail at least five years in prison if Lee is convicted.

World leaders meeting at UN headquaters

stopping short of a ban on oil imports and air travel.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping would “pay special attention to the North Korea issue” at their next meeting scheduled for September. On the sanctions, US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley said the vote had taken the penalties of Kim Jong Un's regime “to a whole

new level” and “put the North Korean dictator on notice”.

A ban has been imposed on coal, North Korea's topmost export worth an estimated $400 million a year, along with seafood products, iron ore, lead and lead ore, all amounting to a shortfall of one third of the country's annual revenues.

US President Donald Trump released a statement saying he “appreciates” the co-oper-

ation of both, China and Russia, in securing the resolution. He said he will work with allies and partners to increase diplomatic and economic pressure on the country.

Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia said his country supported the resolution because North Korea's ballistic and nuclear programme was “inadmissible”, although he cautioned that sanctions alone were inadequate and called for talks.

UK Ambassador to the UN, Matthew Rycroft said the sanctions “ratchet up pressure” on North Korea. “Now they have a choice”. The resolution, which also prohibits countries from increasing numbers of North Korean “guest” labourers and caps joint investments in the country, calls for the resumption of six-party talks.

Narendra Pathak re-appointed to Human Relations Commission

Narendra Pathak has been reappointed for the third time, to the Commissioner of Human Relations Commission by the Santa Clara County, Board of Supervisors. The news was confirmed by the Board of Supervisors last month.

Pathak has been sworn in for a tern that expires in 2021.

With a Bachelors degree in Economics, and two Law degrees in Labour Laws and Criminal Laws, Pathak, a native of Karamsad, Gujarat, graduated USA & Santa Clara County Gov 101 Academy. He will advise on exiting and potential programs and policies and will also render consultations outside, to groups on community development, Human Rights, and other issues.

The 15 Commissioners, Human Relations Commission plays an advisory body to the County, Board of Supervisors

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Narendra Pathak (right) being sworn in as Santa Clara County Human Relations commissioner.

on justice, social issues, peace building, immigration issues, human rights, criminal justice system, Jail Observer Program, death penalty system, immigrant relations and Integration Services, hate crimes, and many others.

Pathak has indulged in community services, including as Board of Trustees at

Devotional Association of Sitaram, Co-Coordinator of California Gujarat Sister State Association, India Heritage Research Foundation, Bay Area Gujarati Samaj, India Cultural Association of Bay Area, and Brahamin Samaj of USA. He has also served as Treasurer of the Charitable Care Foundation.

US Senate confirms 3 PIOs to key govt posts

WASHINGTON: The US Senate has confirmed three Indian-Americans to key government postings, including one as the Trump administration's czar on intellectual property - an area of difference between the US and India. The Senate confirmed Neil Chaterjee as a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Vishal Amin as Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator.

Krishna Urs was confirmed as envoy to Peru. Urs after Nikki Haley - is the second Indian-American to have been selected for an ambassadorial position.

Amin will be responsible for enforcement of intellectual property.

Indian doc held for groping teen mid-air in US

NEW YORK: A 28-year-old Indian doctor has been arrested for allegedly groping a minor girl who was sitting next to him on a New Jersey-bound United Airlines flight. The 16-year-old girl, who was travelling alone on July 23, was asleep, when a stranger's hand on her thigh awakened her, reports said. The man, identified as Vijakumar Krishnappa, sitting next to her quickly removed his hand , according to a court complaint, and the teenager went back to sleep. Then, she woke up again and this time, the man was groping her, the complaint says.

Hafiz Saeed to set up political party in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Hafiz Saeed, the terrorist alleged to be behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks, is to set up a political party in Pakistan. A charity founded by 68year-old Saeed, who has a $10 million (£7.5 million) US bounty on his head and is under house arrest, said that it planned to launch a political wing.

Saeed is alleged to have masterminded dozens of attacks within India, including the attacks in Mumbai that killed 164 people. Gopal Bagley, a spokesman for India’s ministry for external affairs, said it was disturbing that “a person who has traded in bullets to take human lives is now trying to hide behind ballots”.

Bollywood company Eros wants Silicon Valley to buy its library

SILICON VALLEY: Eros, a Bollywood production company, is coxing Apple, Amazon and Netflix into bidding for its film and music library which holds more than 3,000 Indian films which could be worth about $1 billion, according to reports. The production house is understood to have started a review of its options about six months ago and had sought to strike agreements with leading broadcasters. The bid comes after Netflix and Amazon launched platforms in India last year amid a power struggle between the two to dominate the Indian market.

First Hindu minister in Pak govt in 20 years

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi formed his cabinet last week, filling it with his toppled predecessor Nawaz Sharif 's aides and allies. It also included the first Hindu in a Pakistan government in more than two decades, Darshan Lal. The “reshuffle” was aimed at bolstering support for the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) ahead of the general elections in mid-2018, with President Mamnoon Hussain administering the oath of office to a 47member cabinet that included 28 federal and 19 state ministers. Darshan Lal will be in charge of coordination between four Pakistani provinces. Lal, 65, is a practising doctor from Mirpur Mathelo town in Ghot ki district of Sindh. In 2013, he was elected to the national assembly for the second time on PML-N ticket on a reserved seat for minorities.

Indian American political activist Rajen Anand passes away

VIRGINIA: Pioneering Indian American political activist Rajen Anand, who served during both the Clinton and Obama administrations at the US Department of Agriculture and founded the IndoAmerican Political Association, died on August 2 in Annandale, Virginia. Anand had celebrated his 80th birthday just two months before his death. He leaves behind his wife, Angela Anand; and two sons, Sunjay and Shabeen Anand. Anand’s wife, Angela Anand, said that her husband had been struggling with renal failure for a few years and was on dialysis. He was in the hospital when the end came.

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Kenyan police to flood streets as country braces for election violence The whole of Kenya suffers widespread unrest, including a campaign marred by hundreds of violent incidents, and murder of a high-profile election official NAIROBI: Approximately 180,000 police officers and security forces have been deployed across Kenya as the region prepares to vote in a brutally-contested presidential election. The whole of Kenya suffers widespread unrest, including a campaign marred by hundreds of violent incidents, and murder of a high-profile election official. Voters would either return the incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta, or elect the veteran opposition politician Raila Odinga.

“Do not allow anything to drive a wedge between you. You have been good neighbours and I urge you to remain so regardless of your tribe, religion or political affiliation,” Kenyatta, 55, said. As the electoral commission prepares ballot boxes before they are transported to different polling stations, Human rights offi-

Uhuru Kenyatta

cials, community leaders, and politicians have called on voters to “control their emotions and preserve a peaceful environment” when the results are announced.

Kagwiria Mbogori, the chair of the Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights, said, “If your candidate wins, do not rub other people's noses in it, and if your candidate loses, suffer

Lord Ahmad to visit India

Lord Ahmad to visit India

LONDON: British Foreign Office Minister, Lord Tariq Ahmad will arrive in Delhi on Wednesday (9 August 2017) on a two-day visit.

During the visit, the two powers will work together to renew and revitalise relationships within the Commonwealth, setting out a new vision and liberalising the global trading environment.

Lord Ahmad will meet India’s Minister for External Affairs, MJ Akbar, to discuss bilateral and foreign policy issues, including the Commonwealth. He will also meet British and Indian businesses, launch the latest round of Chevening and Commonwealth scholarships and speak to Indian partners working on gender equality issues.

Lord Ahmad said: “I am delighted to be returning to India for the first time in my role as a Foreign Office Minister. The UK and India’s relationship is going from strengthto-strength as well as being global strategic partners, we benefit from a unique living bridge where thousands of diaspora, family, education, cultural, trade, science and research ties enrich our day-to-day lives.

“I will be taking forward discussions with Indian partners on making a success of next year’s Commonwealth Summit in London.

India has a crucial role to play in ensuring this family of democracies is fit to take advantage, and face the challenges posed by the 21st century.”

Raila Odinga

stoically and do not let Kenya down... We must hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. She said the KNCHR was concerned about the “cowardly leaflets” threatening candidates and warning voters “of certain ethnic origins to flee or else.”

Violence saw several people wounded and one killed over last weekend in

Mathare, one of the ghettos in Nairobi, as rival supporters clashed with machetes and guns. Analysts see the election as the last face-off of the dynastic rivalry between the families of both the presidential candidates, that has lasted over half a century. Nic Cheeseman, a professor of African politics at Birmingham University, said both candidates were so certain of victory that they may have “talked themselves into a corner” in which defeat is not an option. “The question is not whether or not they will accept the result but what they will do when they don’t accept it.”

Mbogori encouraged Kenyans to perform their civic duty to choose their leaders. “We look forward to the day when elections in Kenya are not the reason for fear and uncertainty,” she said.

Body parts found in the Alps could be Air India crash victims

MONT BLANC: Body parts of passengers killed in possible Air India plane crashes over 50 years ago, have been found on Mont Blanc in the French Alps. A local who has been combing the Bossons Glacier searching for remains, found a hand and the upper part of a leg. “I had never found any significant human remains before,” Daniel Roche said.

He added that the remains could be of a female passenger from Air India Boeing 707, that crashed near the summit in 1966, killing all 117 on board.

Another Air India flight crashed on the mountain in 1950, killing 48 people.

Roche contacted emergency services in the

Chamonix Valley, who took the remains down the mountain by helicopter for examination for experts.

“These remains are probably not from the same person. They are probably from passengers, but between the two aircraft, it is difficult to say,” said Stephane Bozon of the

gendarmerie.

Just two weeks back, two bodies were found lying near each other, preserved in a receding glacier in the Diablerets massif in the Swiss Alps.

They were identified as Marcelin Dumoulin and his wife Francine, who had disappeared 75 years ago.

Bollywood-loving sheikh sued over fanboy meetings

MANAMA: Distant cousin of Bahrain's king, Sheikh Hamad Isa Al alKhalifa, who is all set to star in a drama to be played out at the High Court in London early next year, is being sued by an Egyptian businessman.

Ahmed Adel Abdullah Ahmed, who has sued Hamad for $42.6 million said he had agreed to pay the amount to meet Bollywood stars, including Shah Rukh Khan.

Ahmed said he conducted two meetings with the sheikh in Bahrain in 2015, followed by a telephone conversation in London, in 2016. He states

Salman Khan (left) and Shah Rukh Khan

that the Sheikh agreed that he would act as the Bahraini's exclusive agent, arranging for him to meet with several BTown actors. The court claim states that the deal was that Hamad would spend between 15 and 25 minutes with his various idols, paying Ahmed an

arrangement fee of $1.5 million per meeting, with a bonus of $500,000 for every third meeting.

The sheikh has attempted to shift the dispute from London to Bahrain, however, Justice Cooke said “the action must be allowed to continue in this jurisdiction.”

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Indo-Canadian named Consul General in San Francisco

TORONTO: Rana Sarkar, an Indo-Canadian who was until recently national director for high growth markets at the Toronto-based multi-national KPMG, has been named by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government as Canada’s ConsulGeneral to San Francisco. Simultaneously, Sarkar has also been named a member of the high-profile Canadian official team for renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement with the US and Mexico. Sarkar was also a visiting lecturer at the London School of Economics and Political Science and more recently a Senior Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto.

Bangladeshi model commits suicide

CHITTAGONG: Risila Binte Wazer, a Bangladeshi model from Chittagong, committed suicide by hanging herself in her own apartment.

The reason for the drastic step was not known immediately. The 22 year old model had a lot going on in her life. Apart from walking the catwalk since 2012, she was raising a young daughter and also pursuing her undergraduate degree in English Literature from Atish Dipankar University of Science and Technology. Although the model’s Instagram bio says “Good soul, Happiest,” police said that the model was potentially having disputes with her husband.

The model's young daughter was at her grandmother’s house while this unfortunate incident took place.

Ghana court quashes Indian's deportation

ACCRA: A court here has overturned a decision by the Interior Minister to deport an Indian for allegedly obtaining a fake marriage certificate to stay in the country. In his ruling, Justice Kweku T. Ackah-Boafo declared the move by Interior Minister Ambrose Dery "illegal" and said that the minister exceeded his jurisdiction by determining that the Indian had engaged in fraud and subsequently deported him. Ashok Kumar Sivaram was alleged to have acquired and forged a marriage certificate in support of his application for citizenship in 2015, said the report. Justice Ackah-Boafo said that the Interior Minister breached the rule of natural justice by not giving the plaintiff a hearing after he had accused him of allegedly committing fraud.

`WannaCry' hero arrested on hacking charges

SAN FRANCISCO/LAS VEGAS: A cyber security researcher widely credited with helping to neutralise the global “WannaCry” ransomware attack earlier this year has been arrested on unrelated hacking charges, according to court documents. Marcus Hutchins, a 23-year-old British-based malware researcher, who gained attention in May for detecting a “kill switch” that effectively disabled the WannaCry worm, was detained by the FBI in Las Vegas, a justice department spokesman said. He was among tens of thousands of hackers who had descended on the city during the annual Black Hat and Def Con conventions. An indictment filed in a Wisconsin district court accused Hutchins, also known online as “MalwareTech”, of advertising, distributing and profiting from malware code known as “Kronos” that stole banking credentials and credit card data.

Pak man decapitates wife for not quitting job

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani man decapitated his wife for not quitting her job as a labourer, the media reported. Police said 37-year-old Nasreen, a mother of three and a resident of Lahore, was found dead by her children with her head severed. According to a senior police official, Nasreen was killed by her husband Afraheem who did not like her job and had ask her to quit. Despite opposition, Nasreen continued with the job, the official said..

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Govt encourages citizens to create a stronger India this I-Day The Indian Government has decided to observe the 70th Independence Day as 'Sankalp Parva', asking people to dedicate themselves to social causes and share their ideas to make a new India. Calling the 'Quit India Movement' an important milestone, the Centre has asked people to take a pledge this year, to create a new India that is strong, prosperous, and inclusive.

A ministry order read, “Under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, people across India, in every village, city, transcending all barriers came together with a common mission to uproot imperialism.”

It said that as India will complete 75 years as an independent nation in 2022, “this five-year period, from 2017 to 2022 gives us an unique opportunity of 'Sankalp' to 'Siddhi' towards a new India. Hence, 15 August 2017 be celebrated as the 'Sankalp Parva' or the Day of Resolve, and in 2022 our nation will transform

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attaining nation on Inpendence Day

that resolve into 'Siddi' or attainment.”

Winners to meet PM Modi!

The Union Human Resource Development ministry in collaboration with the University Grants Commission (UGC) issued a notification asking institutes like Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs),

Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), and Delhi University to conduct a couple of events on freedom struggle and Quit India movement.

Educational institutes all across the country have been asked to organise events such as rock band concerts and quizzes based on patriotic theme from August 9 to 13 as part of

the celebration of 70th Independence Day. The initiative aims to infuse patriotism among aspiring pupils, and over one crore students are expected to participate.

The top 10 winners will get the opportunity to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "A number of rock bands have been identified by the information and

broadcasting ministry, and 100 institutions that have adequate space to accommodate at least a thousand persons will be All selected. institutions have been asked to participate in the event," a senior ministry official said.

"Institutions will be sent questions related to the quiz and they will organise it within the campus. Out of these, a final selection will be done and 10 students will get a chance to meet the Prime Minister."

Red Fort turned Fort Knox Security has been beefed up at the Red Fort in the National Capital prior to the Independence Day celebration to be held

Pak govt may seize Sharif's London property

LONDON: Houses and flats worth tens of millions of pounds in London, could be seized by the Pakistani government following claims that they were brought with the proceeds of corruption linked to deposed Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Following an investigation, it was found last week that his son Hassan controlled or owned at least 15 flats, houses, and offices in Britain, despite having “no declared source of income”.

Hassan, 41, said the allegations are part of a conspiracy against his father. A Joint Investigation Team in Pakistan found that he had founded a number of companies in London with an accumulated loss of over

Nawaz Sharif

£10 million, all while building “an empire of real estate in the UK”. Investigators said they believe that “the build-up of assets was through irregular means and Hassan Nawaz was used as a proxy to build up family assets. It is a reasonable assumption that more prop-

erties in the UK have been held by Hassan in his name or in the name of his companies or in the name of his family members.”

The investigation will focus on three Mayfair flats owned by the family, including Hassan's home address. Also part of the

probe are Sharif's other son Hussain, and daughter Maryam. Sharif's involvement is relatively minor and not strictly corruption.

He is alleged to have received £2,000 from his son Hassan's Dubai-based company which he failed to declare, a disqualifying offence under the constitution. He, however, claims he never received the money.

The deposed PM said, "How can I file a tax return on a salary I never received?"

Following months of court hearings and an investigation, the Supreme Court concluded in July that Sharif and his children could not justify the means to buy the expensive properties they owned in London.

Imran Khan faces sexual harassment probe

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan National Assembly has decided to form a special committee to probe sexual harassment charges against opposition leader Imran Khan. Levelled by member of the assembly and lawmaker Ayesha Gulalai, of Imran's Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party.

She said Khan had hinted towards tying the knot in texts sent to her, which also included lewd messages.

The allegations have been rejected by Khan, who blamed the ruling PML-N for the scandal. “This is the tried and tested method of the PML-N,” he said. PTI rejected the demand for a bi-partisan parliamentary committee, and a party member said, “We will not accept the committee of our political rivals. We are ready for the probe but investigation on the issue must be transparent.” Meanwhile, Prime

Imran Khan

Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi called for a special panel to look into the allegations, suggesting the panel present a report before the House so “the matter can be closed”.

“Both the PTI chief and Gulalai are respectable personalities, therefore, a committee should be formed to probe the allegations,” Abbasi said in the assembly.

He added that Khan had the “right to defend himself”.

Abbasi also promised roundthe-clock protection for Gulalai, after she claimed she was scared for her life.

The assembly later passed the motion and directed the panel to submit its report in a month.

Ayesha had accused Khan and his “gang” of “ill-treatment” of women, citing it to

be the reason for quitting the party. He claimed that the leader's conduct was “highly indecent” and referred to the alleged “objectionable” text messages she has been receiving from him since October 2013. When asked about the nature of the alleged indecent text messages, she said, “No one with any honour will be able to stomach the sort of language used. May be they think Pakistan is England. At this age, you (Imran) have not been able to reform your habits, maybe you do not have control over your behaviour.”

The lawmaker also accused Imran of being insecure. “I think Imran Khan has issues because he is jealous of talented people. He thinks they are a threat. Because of this, many men run from him. He has other methods with women,” she said.

on August 15.

All rehearsals are being closely supervised by police personnel. Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Jatin Narwal said, “The security arrangements required for the Independence Day celebrations in coordinated way are in place. Our security preparation is adequate enough to overcome any type of situation.”

Delhi Police had issued a statement earlier saying, “It has been reported that certain criminal, antisocial elements or terrorists, inimical to India may pose a threat to the safety of the general public, dignitaries and vital installations by the use of subconventional aerial platforms like para-gliders, para-motors, hang-gliders, UAVs, UASs, microlight aircrafts, remotely piloted aircrafts, hot air balloons, small size powered aircraft, quadcopters, or even by para-jumping from aircraft and others.”

India-China lock horns over Doklam; both refuse to budge

Indian diplomatic efforts to bring a seven-week military stand-off with China to a close has hit a roadblock, as China continues to insist that India unilaterally withdraw its troops from the remote Doklam plateau claimed by both, Beijing and Indian ally Bhutan. While India is sure its neighbour won't risk a war, including a “small-scale military operation”, one of the only workable option is for both countries to simultaneously withdraw their troops from the Bhutanese territory.

Sources said that even if things boil down to a battle, the Indian Army is well-poised with “fully acclimatised troops” and “an enhanced border management posture” to prevent “any misadventure”. A source said, “Both countries do not want a conflict. A tactical operation by the Chinese border guards and PLA to construct a motorable road at Doklam went awry, with the consequent strategic fallout. Mutual troop pull-back or re-adjustment is the facesaver.”

“The Chinese troops at the face-off site are backed by around 1,500 PLA soldiers in three layers towards the rear. There are some verbal and loudspeaker exchanges but in a nonaggressive manner,“ said the source. Holding at over 11,000 feet site in Doklam, troops from the two sides continue to be ranged against each other as of now. Around 150 metre-long concertina wire coils separating them, and both having also built makeshift defences after earlier pitching tents and establishing logistical supply lines.

“Our soldiers are, in any case, deployed at border outposts. The PLA, which does not man posts like our troops because China has better roads for quick deployment, moved forward its soldiers only after the face-off began in midJune.” Sources said India is adamant on not allowing China to “bully” Bhutan into ceding ground in the Doklam region which remains “strategically crucial” given the Zomplri Ridge in the location overlooks the Siliguri corridor.

24

INDIA

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Disqualification of TN CM, 4 ministers sought

The disqualification was sought over a meeting that the ministers reportedly had with jailed AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala

MADURAI: Madras High Court has ordered issuance of notice to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami and four state ministers on a plea seeking their disqualification over a meeting that the ministers reportedly had with jailed AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala. A bench sought an explanation from the CM over the allegations that he had not questioned his cabinet colleagues over their meeting with Sasikala.

A bench consisting of Justices KK Sasidharan and GR Swaminathan ordered the issuance of notice after the PIL filed by Anazhagan, son of former AIADMK MLA

a t e l Thamaraikani, was brought to light. The petitioner submitted that the ministers meeting the accused in the prison was a grave “violation” of the VK Sasikala oath taken by them as ministers and they should be disqualified. He contended that the CM

CPM-BJP leaders to bury hatchet in Kerala THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Following days of unprecedented political violence in Thiruvananthapuram, capital of Kerala, both CPM and BJP have vouched to bring peace in the region. Addressing the press after the talks, CPM district secretary Anavoor Nagappan said the party condemns the attacks.

“Both parties will take measures so that such incidents are not repeated. The leadership will be more careful. The district leadership will immediately intervene in case anything happens and make sure that such incidents are not repeated,” he said. District leaders from, BJP also said that the talks were healthy and all measures will be taken to restore peace. BJP district president A Suresh said, “We have brought it to the notice of the CPM that in Trivandrum some criminals are becoming politicians and politicians are becoming criminals. We said that CPM should understand this and deal with criminals.”

When asked about the action taken against workers of his

party who were involved in the violence, he said that they are not satisfied with the police action as they feel that some of their workers were arrested under political pressure.

Suresh said they want the police to re-look their methods.

“If they arrest the right people we have no issues. If we find that any of our workers were involved in the attack, we will discuss it and take appropriate action.” Also, the BJP has released CCTV visuals of their office being attacked by members of the ruling CPM. Following which, the Left party suspended their councillor IP Binu and a student wing leader.

After the murder of RSS activist Rajesh, CPM had claimed that the party does not have any role in the murder and that the accused hailed from different parties.

Police said that it was a case of personal enmity and that local politics led to the murder.

Locals say that they are concerned about such political violence.

Sidhu challenges Badal for open debate JALANDHAR: Local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu during a visit to Seechewal to see the working of sewage treatment plant targeted the Badal family. He called the former chief minister, Parkash Singh Badal, a ‘python’. He said, “Badal has swallowed the state’s glory and minted money through cable mafia, transport mafia, benami (unaccounted) properties during his 10-year regime.”

Citing example of ‘Ali Baba and Chalis Chor’ (40 thieves) Sidhu said, “Badal and his family has looted the state and now they are trying to malign my image with fake allegations.”

Badals should talk to me faceto-face instead of issuing statements against me, he said. “I challenge Parkash Singh Badal for an open debate. If he does not have time I can even go to his village for it,” Sidhu said.

“Their sins cannot be washed overnight, so the Captain Amarinder Singh led government is working overnight to put the state’s economy back on track,” he

said. He also lashed at the Badals on the Fastway and said that he has forwarded the proposal file to the chief minister.

“It will be approved in the next House meeting after getting clearance from legal branch, in the coming two weeks,” he said. “We are not going to leave the Fastway.

Direct to home (DTH) services are paying 10% tax but Fastway paid a negligible amount under Badal regime. Tax will be imposed on them. It will help us to reach their unreported cable connection network,” he said. Responding to Bikram Majithia’s remark during Jabar Virodhi Lehar in Batala, Sidhu said that Sukhbir Badal’s brother-in-law Majithia is suffering from ‘oral diarrhoea’ and cannot refrain from uttering nonsense. Meanwhile, lauding the role of environmentalist Sant Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal for water conservation and tree plantation, he said his efforts need to be replicated for making 65 state sewage treatment plants functional effectively.

should also be disqualified for not pulling them up.

Sasikala, who was convicted in a disproportionate assets case by the Supreme court on February 14, this year, is currently undergoing imprisonment in a Bengaluru jail. The four involved ministers had admitted that they had met her in prison on February 28, and discussed the functioning of the government, the petitioner alleged. The “admission” by their ministers that their government was being run on the advise of Sasikala showed that the chief minister and the four ministers violated the Constitution, he said.

Tax raid on Karnataka minister's home

BENGALURU: Tax raid on Karnataka minister DK Shivakumar's home, that lasted for over four days, has finally ended, resulting in the alleged discovery of undisclosed income worth £30 million. Over 60 locations related to the minister were searched in Karnataka and Delhi.

Shivakumar was picked from a luxury resort in Bengaluru, where he was staying with 43 lawmakers flown in from Gujarat by the Congress.

He was interrogated well until midnight. Emerging from his home at a posh locality in Bengaluru, Shivkumar told reporters, “I'm not the kind of person that violates the law and the Constitution... the truth will come out.” The state's ruling party, the Congress accused the Centre of “misusing” Central agencies, questioning the timing of raids on Shivakumar in a tax evasion

DK Shivakumar

case. They said there was no need to have used the central forces in the raids.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah called it a “politically-motivated raid.”

In response, the allegations were denied by tax officials, who said the timing had nothing to do with the presence of the MLAs from Gujarat.

Congress, meanwhile, is yet to comment on the massive amount of cash that officials said was recovered.

Shivakumar is a powerful leader and is called upon by the party for organising events.

Amarinder warns Sukhbir against coercive tactics CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has warned Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal that his government would not tolerate “coercive tactics” against police and administrative officials. In statements came a day after the latter reportedly said that his party was in the process of filing a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking action against police officials who were “implicating his party's workers in false cases at the behest of the ruling party's MLAs.” Amarinder said his government did not believe in “victimisation or vindictive” action, but was following the democratic norms in every case. He also warned the former deputy chief minister to “desist” from engaging in “provocative” statements and deeds that could disturb and disrupt the state's peace and stability, making it clear that the ruling Congress in the state would come down heavily on individuals or organisations indulging in such activities.

Singh rejected allegations that his government and its officers were filing cases against the Akalis, saying it was the erst-

Amarinder Singh

while Badal government that believed in filing false and baseless cases.

He said that the government was now getting all cases probed by a duly constituted commission to ensure that justice is delivered to the innocent and the guilty are punished under the law. “Even though it has enough evidence against several Akali leaders and workers, his government would wait for the inquiry commission to submit its report,” the CM said.

He added that they wanted to go by the book and not take any action without following the due process.

Amarinder accused Sukhbir and other leaders from SAD of spreading “disinformation” to save their own skin. With their “misdeeds getting exposed”, he said, they are now resorting to all kinds of “cheap” tactics out of “sheer desperation” to divert public attention.

Hindi signboards removed from Bengaluru metro

BENGALURU: Hindi signboards put up at the Bengaluru metro in Karnataka, have been removed a month after protests over the use of the language.

The Bengaluru metro train now carries only Kannada and English texts. The move came days after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah wrote a strongly-worded letter to the Centre on the use of Hindi in the metro. In his letter, Siddaramaiah appealed to the Centre to “respect cultural sentiments of the state. The cultural aspirations and sentiments of the people of Karnataka needs to be respected,” he had written.

Schoolboy imitates fire breathing act, dies

HYDERABAD: A young boy in Telangana died of severe burns after trying to imitate a reality show stunt. He had reportedly watched a fire act on TV and attempted to do the same a couple of days later. The 11 year old poured kerosene in his mouth, intending to blow out fumes, light a flame, and spew balls of fire like circus performers, only, his entire body got badly burnt. The boy was rushed to a private hospital and then shifted to Hyderabad for emergency treatment. He died the next day. His family said he always tried to replicate stunts he saw on TV.

Case filed against documentary maker

CHENNAI: A police case has been filed against documentary maker Divya Bharathi for inciting violence and hatred among communities. The complaint was lodged by a person from a Scheduled Caste community, who alleged that her film 'Kakkoos' portrays their tribe in poor light by showing them performing manual scavenging.

Youth wing leader of Puthiya Thamizhagam, Baskar Marutham said, “Ours is an agricultural community. By showing us as manual scavengers the film attempts to trigger communal clashes.”

Bharathi denied the allegations saying, “It's a slap on freedom of expression. We are moving a quash petition in the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court.”

Haryana hospital gets notice for flouting stent price

NEW DELHI: National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has issued notice of Rs 1,26,547, to Faridabad's Metro Heart Institute for allegedly violating the ceiling prices of stents fixed by the government and billing patients more. Sources said more such demand notices to hospitals overcharging patients on stents are likely to come up. The levied fine includes recovery of overcharged amount from patients in two different cases along with 15 per cent interest. The regulator said the fine is provisional and can also be revised.

Pregnant teen says she was gang-raped by cousins

CHANDIGARH: A teenaged girl alleged that she was gang-raped by her own cousins who also threatened her to not report the matter. The issue came to light after the girl went to the doctor for stomach pain, and doctors were shocked to find her eight months pregnant. Principal Medical Officer CP Arora said it was impossible and illegal to opt for abortion at such a later stage, and the girl is left with no choice but to deliver the child. Parents of the teenager has filed a complaint, based on which the police registered an FIR under Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO). The accused include a minor, who has been taken into custody, and an 18 year old, who remains absconding.

2 held for killing religious leaders

CHANDIGARH: Two people were arrested for their alleged involvement in the killing of three persons, including two religious leaders. Ashok Kumar and Lovepreet Singh were nabbed by the Counter-Intelligence team of the Punjab police after a hot chase near Sodhi Nagar. A .32 bore revolver and a motorcycle, along with some radical literature and writings were seized from their possession. With the arrest, the police claim to have solved long pending cases of murder of two religious leaders- Paras Mani, Baba Lakha Singh, and a Dera Sacha Sauda follower, Gurdev Singh.

HERITAGE HISTORY

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Dr. Hari Desai

Abdication of Maharaja Hari Singh of J & K Since the ruler was Hindu Dogra and the majority of his subjects were Muslim, his State being the border one was a real problem.

Lord Mountbatten tried to discourage Hari Singh and advised to accede to Indian Union or Pakistan Union before 15 August 1947

C

ontrary to the prevailing perception, the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, Sir Hari Singh, was toeing the line to have an independent State after the lapse of the British Paramountcy from the very beginning.

After the announcement of the 3 June plan, when the Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, was discussing the policy of acces-

The Dogra ruler felt betrayed by Patel whom he trusted the most Sheikh dismissed by Yuvraj bounced back spending 11 years in jail added, if he acceded to Pakistan, India would not take it amiss and that was a firm assurance on this from Sardar Patel himself.

Immediately after the transfer of power on 15 August, Lord Ismay went to Srinagar, persuaded the Maharaja to take one course or the other as soon as possible, but it was not possible for him to come to a decision. That led to a situation where the raiders backed by Pakistan army attacked Jammu and Kashmir on 22 October 1947. The Maharaja sought help from India but as Dr. Karan Singh, M.P. and his heir apparent, says : “My father was considering which of the two Dominion to join, but the tribal invasion changed everything. Actually, the invasion forced my father to side with Union of India.

My father sought help, and India put condition of before my accession father.� In an interview to “Greater Kashmir� daily of Srinagar on 9 September 2016, Singh said his father had no alternative at that point of time. While sup-

Nehru - Sheikh

sion of the Princely States to one Dominion or the other, the Maharaja was curious to know whether he could remain independent. Since the ruler was Hindu Dogra and the majority of his subjects were Muslim, his State being the border one was a real problem.

Lord Mountbatten tried to discourage Hari Singh and advised to accede to Indian Union or Pakistan Union before 15 August 1947, the date when the British were to hand over power to the natives and return. “He assured the Maharaja that, so long as he made up his mind to accede to one Dominion or the other before 15 August, no trouble would be ensue, for whichever Dominion he acceded to would take the State firmly under its protection as part of its territory,� notes V.P. Menon, the then Constitutional Advisor to the Viceroy in “Integration of Indian States�.

Mountbatten

porting Dr. Singh’s contention, Harbans Singh, the author of “Maharaja Hari Singh : The Troubled Yearsâ€? hints about the intentions of the Government of India : “The Maharaja had, by now realized that the Government of India, like the National Conference, was adamant that the issue of empowerment of the Kashmiri leader be settled first before dealing with the accession issue. It was in these circumstances that he declared general amnesty and released among others Sheikh Abdullah‌Finally, the Sardar advised Maharaja Hari Singh to make a substantial gesture to win Sheikh Abdulla’s support if India were to come to the help of the State.â€? Once the Sheikh was handed over the charge of the administration of the State following advice of Nehru and Patel, he went haywire to malign the Maharaja and manipulating his

Maharaja Hari Singh

ouster from the State.

While releasing the biography of the Maharaja written by Harbans Singh on 19 September 2011, Dr. Karan Singh confessed, “his father could never opened up and shared his agony with Gandhiji, Nehru or Jinnah. His story developed like the Greek tragedy. If some kind of understanding between the Maharaja and Sheikh was possible, the history of Asian Continent would have been different.�

By March 1949, the relationship between the Maharaja and Sheikh had grown bitter. Patel invited Maharaja Hari singh, his wife Maharani Tara Devi, and the young Yuvraj Karan Singh to Delhi in April. The three checked into Maidens Hotel and later shifted to the Imperial Hotel. The Prime Minister Nehru invited them for lunch at Teen Murti House. A few days later, on 29 April, Sardar Patel invited the three of them for dinner. After dinner the Sardar and the Maharaja talked in private.

Harbans records: “The Maharaja listened to him in utter disbelief and shock. It could not be happening to him and certainly not by Sardar Patel in whom he had put utmost trust. He had thought that his interests were safe as long as Patel was in Delhi and that he would see that his role and sacrifice was duly acknowledged. Alas !

He had been betrayed.� “Opening the conversation about the State, he (Patel) told him of how difficult Sheikh Abdullah had become and that he was insisting that the Maharaja abdicate in favour of his young son. However, he said, he was as was the Government of India, of

the opinion that it was not necessary for the Maharaja to abdicate. They all felt that if the Maharaja and Maharani stayed out of the State it would serve the purpose of fighting India’s plebiscite battle in the UNO by Sheikh and National Conference. This was the need of the time and as a loyal son of India

misery since he could never go back to his State after near abdication on 20 June 1949 in favour of his 18 year old only Yuvraj, Karan Singh, following advice of the Sardar. The only solace he could have taken in his lifetime was the Yuvraj as the Regent and Sadr-eRiyasat(Constitutional Head) had dismissed Sheikh Abdullah on 8 August 1953 with utmost confidentiality as the Va z i r - e - A z a m ( P r i m e Minister) since he lost confidence of his Cabinet and got him arrested for his anti-national activities. The very next day i.e. on 9 August, Bakshi Gulam Mohammad was installed as the Sadr-e-Riyasat !

Sheikh remained behind the bar for nearly eleven years till 1964 but later bounced back having tie up with the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Next Column: The Maharaja of Patiala and his Punjabiyat (The writer is a Sociopolitical Historian. E-mail: haridesai@gmail.com)

the Maharaja will not hesitate in making this sacrifice in the national interest, added Patel.� Patel suggested the Yuvaraj could be appointed by the Maharaja as Regent to carry out his duties and responsibilities in his absence. Hari Singh was speechless since he could understood the whole game.

His last hope was the Yuvraj refusing to be the Regent but he was managed by both Sardar and respectively.

Nehru Though it was earlier decided that the Maharani would be staying with the Yuvraj in the State but Patel vide his letter of 23 May 1949 from Dehradun informed the Maharaja that it would not be possible for her to stay with Yuvraj but she could visit him occasionally. The Maharaja who merged his entire State with India realized that he would not be able to return ever alive to his Janmabhoomi. He proved to be right. The Maharaja died in 1961 at Mumbai in isolation and

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CB Patel speaks about NRGs contribution to development of UK

From left: K.H. Patel, Jaimin Vasaa, Shailesh Patwari, N. P. Lavingiya, C. B. Patel, Vishnu Pandya

A special seminar was held in the Gujarat Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Ahmedabad, on the role of Non-Resident Gujaratis on August 3.

Special speakers in the lecture were Londonbased Publisher and Editor of popular newsweeklies Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar, CB Patel, and Padma Shri Vishnu Pandya. Also present were GCCI president Shailesh Patwari, vicepresident Jaimin Vasaa, additional secretary (NRI), Govt of Gujarat NP Lavingya, chairman NRG Foundation KH Patel, and co-chairman Digant Sompura. The programme began with KH Patel introducing CB and Vishnu Pandya and the former's consistent support to the Asian community in the UK. Shailesh Patwari welcomed all present and gave a brief

C. B. Patel speaking to the audience

description on the aid forwarded by the government to GCCI and the NRG Centre.

Based in the UK for over 51 years, CB informed that the contribution of NRIs, particularly Gujaratis remains immense, evident from the very fact from the 27 non-white Members of the British Parliament, 14 are Gujaratis. Speaking to a room overflowing with members of the NRI and government circuit, CB said that NRIs and NRGs

are actively present across all sectors such as education, professional field, trade, business and all other commercial and business segments in the UK. He also praised the liberal approach of the British Government, stating that all support- financial and otherwise, are provided for various purposes to the community.

The government also encourages the learning of the Gujarati language in the UK. About religious acceptability and adaptability, he said London alone boasts of 187 temples. CB called upon Gujaratis and the state government to increase their visits to Britain, to facilitate more interaction with the NRGs and provide information on the ongoing projects of the government undertaken for the NRGs.

Venkaiah Naidu is India's next Vice President Continued from page 1 Naidu said, “I am very humbled. I am also thankful to the Prime Minister and all party leaders for their support. Coming from an agricultural background, I never imagined I would be here. Agriculture has no proper voice in Indian polity,” India’s vice president-elect said after being elected. “I will seek to utilise the vice presidential institution to strengthen the hands of the president and secondly uphold the dignity of the Upper House.”

Congratulating Naidu on his victory, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Congratulations to Venkaiah Naidu Garu on being elected India’s Vice President. My best wishes for a fruitful & motivating tenure.”

Modi also expressed confidence that the Vice-President elect will serve nation as a diligent and dedicated Vice President, committed to the the goal of nation

Venkaiah Naidu, along with his wife Usha, daughter Deepa Venkat and granddaughter Sushma

building. Gandhi also congratulated him on his victory, wishing him all the best in his new office. He said the fight in the election was for free thought, free speech, pluralism and secularism. Gandhi also thanked all parties that support him, saying that the voting figures showed that the numbers that voted for him were “beyond expectations”.

Naidu was a swayamsevak in the RSS, member of the ABVP during his college days in

Vishakhapatnam. He came to the limelight for his participation of the Jai Andhra movement of 1972, heading on to become the convenor of the anti-corruption Jayaprakash Chhatra Samiti in 1974. He had also held street protests against the Emergency. Naidu was rural development minister in the Vajpayee government between 2000-2002.

In Modi's government, first he was parliamentary affairs minister as well as the housing and urban development minister.

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Six rebel Trinamool Congress MLAs join BJP in Tripura The BJP on Monday made its maiden entry into the state assembly in Tripura – the oldest continuous Left bastion in the country, with six rebel Trinamool Congress legislators formally joining the saffron party in Agartala. The joining took place in the presence of senior BJP leader and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and union minister of state for petroleum Dharmendra Pradhan.

The six Trinamool Congress legislators – Sudip Roy Barman, Asish Saha, Pranjit Singha Roy, Diba Chandra Hrankhawal, Dilip Sarkar and Biswa Bandhu Sen – also took along with them several thousand supporters when they marched from the Astabal Ground in Agartala to the Rabindra Shatabarshiki Bhavan to formally join the BJP. The six legislators

were originally elected to the Tripura state assembly in 2013 on Congress party tickets, but had switched over to the Trinamool Congress in June 2016 leaving behind three others in the Congress legislature party. Ratan Lal Nath, one of the three remaining Congress legislators too has informally joined the BJP after having voted for the NDA candidate along with the six TMC legislators during the recent Presidential election.

“I see a sea of humanity in Agartala as six Trinamool MLAs join the BJP,” senior Assam minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma said in tweet. Later, speaking at the function, Sarma said the people of Tripura were now ready to oust the Left Front government. Sarma also alleged that the law and order situation of Tripura was in very bad shape, with crimes against women becoming the worst in the country.

Ahmed Patel wins RS poll from Gujarat EC declares votes of 2 Congress MLAs invalid Continued from page 1 to reject votes cast by two Congress MLAs who had shown their ballot papers to persons other than their authorised party agent.

Stating that a viewing of the video recording of votes cast by the two MLAs - Bholabbhai Gohil and Raghavjibhai Patel - confirmed that they had violated the voting procedure and secrecy of ballot papers cast by them, EC asked the RO to reject the two votes by segregating the ballot papers, each of which carry a serial number, at the time of counting. The Election Commission held that the rule is very clear that the elector has to show his ballot paper only to the authorised representative of his party and no one else.

Countering BJP's argument that the decision of the returning officer, who had earlier declined the plea of Congress party candidate Shaileshbhai Parmar seeking rejection of the two votes, was final and that EC had no locus standi once the ballots were inserted in the ballot box, the poll panel cited the Supreme Court order in Mohinder Singh Gill Vs Chief Election Commissioner and Others case that upheld its sweeping powers under Article 324 regarding superintendence of elections. Stating that Rule 39A and 39AA were silent on what the returning officer should do if the ballot papers were not taken back before being inserted into the ballot box, EC said it was competent to issue appropriate directions to the returning officer.

The EC's decision to ask the RO to invalidate the votes came after high drama that saw BJP and Congress rushing to Nirvachan Sadan to present their arguments and counter-arguments.

Congress was the first to approach the poll body, with its leaders R S Surjewala and R P N Singh claiming that as per Section 39AA, the presiding officer must allow the voter to show his ballot paper to the authorised party agent and no one else.

The BJP rushed to the EC soon after, submitting that since the ballots had already been inserted in the ballot box, the votes from the two MLAs could not be invalidated. It further argued that the RO's decision was final and even EC could not intervene once the ballots were inside the ballot boxes.

The Congress once again reached the EC's door around 7.20 pm. This delegation was a larger one with seven members, including P Chidambaram, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma. Chidambaram told reporters after the meeting, "The law is very clear. If the ballot is seen by a person other than the authorised person, then it is liable to be rejected. BJP was beneficiary of this law on June 11, 2016".

BJP sent its delegation to the EC a second time around 8.20 pm. Union power minister Piyush Goyal argued: "If neither they nor election observers objected to it when votes were cast, then their validity cannot be questioned now". Both

Congress and BJP attempted to call on the EC a third time, but were not entertained.

Senior Congrress leader Shaktisinh Gohil said, “They had voted for the BJP. After showing their ballot to me, they also flashed their ballot to the side where Amit Shah (BJP national president and the party candidate) was sitting, and there is a video of this. Presiding Officer DM Patel is under pressure. We will ask for an official copy of the video and will even move Supreme Court if we find that the video is tampered with.”

State BJP president Jitu Vaghani strongly reacted to the Congress, saying such demand reflects the party's frustration given it knows that a defeat is imminent.

“Congress' internal scuffle has come to the fore, and such a demand shows their frustration. They are opposing counting of votes because they are set to lose. Such an objection is only because of their frustration. Talking about video after the vote is cast makes no sense. However, the returning officer has the power to take the decision. We have written to the returning officer to take a decision on his own.

They should not blame the BJP. Lack of trust on election officer is not right,” he said. Congress RS nominee Ahmed Patel is currently tightly placed as he needs 44 votes to win. His immediate opponent Balwantsinh Rajput was the Congress' chief whip in the Assembly, before he joined the BJP.

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We are publishing these items in good faith, kindly consult your Doctor before you try to implement any advice. We do not hold any responsibility for its efficacy...

Six Heart Healthy Nuts and Why They Are Really Good For You Nuts are great. Not only do they make for a crunchy and filling snack to chomp on between meals, they are also known to boost weight loss, brain power and heart health. These tiny wonders are rich sources of protein, fiber and several antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds.

Most nuts contain Vitamin E, B2, folate and essential minerals like magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, copper and selenium. Some people may refrain from chomping on these healthy nuts thinking that they are high on calories but whilst nuts are fat dense they have a very healthy lipid profile which is protective to our hearts. Most fats in nuts are healthy monounsaturated fat and omega-3 fats and eaten in moderation can actually benefit your health.

According to a study conducted by Harvard's T.H. Chan, School of Public Health, people who regularly eat nuts are less likely to have heart attacks or die from heart disease than those who rarely eat them. Here are five nuts that you must eat every day for a strong and

healthy heart.

1. Walnuts: As a kid, your mother may have convinced you to eat these woody nuts daily for better memory and brain power.

Turns out that walnut may be good for your heart too.

It is probably the best nut for your heart health. The unsaturated fat found in walnuts - omega-3 fatty acids may help in preventing the development of erratic heart rhythms.

Omega-3 fatty acids may also prevent blood clots.

Moreover, walnut kernels are known to contain double the amount of antioxidant content than other nuts.

2. Pistachios: A study carried out by Diabetes Foundation of India (DFI) and the National Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation shows that pistachios have beneficial effects on glycemic and parameters. lipid Pistachios have a low glycemic index, are naturally cholesterol free, and are good sources of protein, fibre and antioxidants. These qualities make them great for preventing the risk of obesity and heart disease.

3. Almonds: Almond is one healthy nutty delight.

One day, a little girl is sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly notices that her mother has several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head. She looks at her mother and inquisitively asks, “Why are some of your hairs white, mom? Her mother replied, “Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white.” The little girl thought about this revelation for a while, and then said, “Momma, how come ALL of grandma's hairs are white?” *************************** John was at his family reunion when Earl, his second cousin, asked, “You look terrible. What's the problem?”

“My mother died in June,” he said, “and left me $10,000.”

“Gee, that's tough,” he replied.

“Then in July,” John continued, “My father died leaving me $50,000.”

“Wow. Both of your parents gone in two months. No wonder you're depressed.”

“And last month my aunt Sylvie died, and left me $15,000.”

“Three family members lost in three months? How sad.”

“Then this month,” continued John, “nothing!” *************************** An elderly man calls his son Bob who lives in another state, and says, “I hate to ruin your day, but your mother and I are divorcing. Forty five years of misery is enough! I'm sick of her, and I'm sick of talking about this, so call your sister in Boston and tell her!” and hangs up. The son frantically calls his sister, who goes nuts upon hearing the news. She calls her father and yells, “You are not getting a divorce! Bob and I will be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a single thing, do you hear me?” The father hangs up the phone, turns to his wife and says, “It worked! The kids are coming for a visit, and they're paying their own way!”

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Reach for tea, red wine and berries to prevent flu taking hold!

Scientists reveal they are packed full of one key ingredient to boost the immune system

Regular consumption of almonds has been linked to lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol levels in innumerable studies. They are rich in monounsaturated fats, fibre, phytosterols, plant protein, tocopherol, arginine, magnesium, copper, manganese, calcium, and potassium makes them heart protective. found in Arginine, almonds, is a type of an amino acid that is required to make a molecule called nitric oxide which is known to relax constricted blood vessels and ease the flow of blood.

4. Peanuts: Peanuts contain a powerful antioxidant called resveratrol which is found in its skin and is known for its heart protective activity.

Switching to peanut butter could be a healthier and protein-rich alternative to processed butter that is full of sodium. Through them in salads and stuff them with the filling in wraps or sandwiches.

5. Cashew Nuts: Cashew

nuts are rich in Vitamin E that may help in inhibiting the formation of plaque in your arteries allowing the blood to flow through them smoothly.

Development of plaque in the arteries is one of the most common causes of coronary heart disease and heart attack. Sprinkle some cashews on your breakfast cereal or even on stir-fries for lunch.

6. Hazelnuts: These buttery nuts are full of protein and fiber. They are rich in potassium, calcium and magnesium - minerals that help in regulating healthy blood pressure. They are also rich in heart healthy oleic acid which is known to lower bad cholesterol levels and raise good cholesterol levels.

Given that a lot of scientific studies have validated the fact nuts are good for you heart and overall health, the US Food and Drug Association recommends the consumption of an ounce or 30 grams of mixed nuts daily.

Cereal companies 'hiding high levels of sugar by shunning traffic light labelling on their packaging' Breakfast cereal firms are ‘hiding’ the levels of sugar in their products by shunning traffic light labels, campaigners have said.

Dorset Cereals, Rude Health and Eat Natural have no nutrition labels on the front of their packs.

And while Kellogg’s, Nestle and Jordans do use labels, they are not colour coded as recommended by the Department of Health.

Poor labelling leads us to eat more sugar than is healthy, fuelling dangerous levels of obesity, campaign group Action on Sugar argues.

It added many cereal brands, often targeted at children, would have red labels for sugar if they were to use the traffic light system.

It says all products should use the same traffic light labels – red, amber and green on the front of

Natural compounds found in berries, tea and red wine are known to have protective properties that help regulate the immune system to fight infections.

Now, a new study shows that the flavonoids in these products works with a particular gut microbe to prevent severe flu infections.

In their tests on mice, scientists explained that this did not stop the highly contagious infection being contracted. But the mechanism boosted the immune system and prevented the flu from harming the lung tissue.

The researchers said the findings could help explain why people have varied reactions to the infection. Most people will feel better from influenza within a week but it can be dangerous for the elderly or people with certain illnesses.

Around the world, the World Health

Organization estimates it causes 250,000 to 500,000 deaths annually.

Previous evidence suggests that the gut microbiome may be important in protecting against severe influenza infections.

The new research, out at carried Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, aimed to identify the exact gut microbes that might provide that protection. Additionally, nutritionists have long explored the potential health benefits of flavonoids. They discovered that the microbe clostridium orbiscindens was protective.

They believe it interacts with the dietary compounds to boost interferon, which are proteins produced by the body's cells as a defensive response to viruses.

The metabolite that triggered the reaction is called desaminotyrosine, otherwise known as DAT.

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Asian Voice | 12th August 2017

'Angamaly Diaries' to be remade in Telugu

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opular Malayalam film 'Angamaly Diaries' that was released this year is all set to be remade in Telugu. The movie was a stand out with the fact that it had 89 new faces featured in it. The remake is expected to be made in the same manner as the original one. Vishvakh Sen will play the role donned by Antony Varghese in the original. Producers Vanmaye Creations reported that they are on the look out for 80 new faces and the auditions are currently in full swing. It is also known that the super hit Malayalam film 'Premam' was remade in Telugu and was received well by the Telugu audience. If all goes well for the team, this remake too can match the buzz that was created by the original version.

'Vikram Vedha' Telugu remake; Rana and Venkatesh in talks A

source reveals that R Madhavan and Vijay Sethupathi's super-hit Tamil gangster drama 'Vikram Vedha' will possibly be remade in Telugu. While nothing is set in stone, the source reveals that actors Rana Daggubati and Venkatesh are already considered. “Talks have been initiated with Rana Daggubati and Venkatesh for Telugu remake. They were the first choice even before the release of 'Vikram Vedha'. However, nothing has been finalised yet and the process might take a few more months,” it was revealed.

Released last week, the original grossed over Rs 40 Crore worldwide, in just its first week. It is inspired by popular folklore Vikram Betaal, and is based on morality riddles applied

to a police-gangster backdrop.

Producer Sashikanth said, “Too early to talk about the remake. But yes, talks are on for the remake. But nothing has been confirmed yet.”

Daggubati, meanwhile, addressed the ongoing drug scandal in Tollywood. “The dangerous story about school kids doing drugs worries me. That's something that needs to be taken more seriand ously addressed i m m e d i a t e l y.

Who is supplying drugs to

M

ulti-talented Dhanush, along with his wife Aishwarya and parents Mr and Mrs Kasthuri Raja, has offered an amount of Rs 50,000 to 125 farming families.

The event took place at Sankarapuram during their visit to their native temple. After taking help from director Subramaniam Siva, cinematographer Velraj and Dhanush Fans Club, the actor/director formed a team and decided to donate the amount to farmers recognised by the Government of Tamil Nadu. This gesture of Dhanush to help the farmers has garnered the goodwill of the farmers.

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halapathy Vijay gifted gold coins to unit members of his upcoming film 'Mersal'. The actor is known for gifting gold coins to those associated with his unit, and this time, he gifted about 150 coins. Shoot for 'Mersal' is progressing at a rapid pace in Chennai

with Vijay, Samantha, and SJ Suryah.

Sources said that once Atlee completes the talkie portions, he will shoot the pending song sequences by the end of this month. Music will be rendered by AR Rahman, and Vivek of 'Iraivi' fame will pen the lyrics.

Kamal Haasan flays removal of Shivaji statue

T Karthi's 'Thozha' is all set to get a Hollwood version!

Well, we all know how the movie was a remake of French film 'The Intouchables'- directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, starring Francois Cluzet and Omar Sy. It is now reported that the film will be remade in Hollywood with actor Bryan Cranston, Nicole Kidman, and Kevin Hart in the lead. To be directed by Neil Burger, the film has been titled 'The Upside'. The Tamil version saw Nagarjuna, Karthi, and Tamanaah in the lead.

these kids? Are these people immigrants? How are they bringing drugs into the country?” he said.

Dhanush offers help to Tamil farmers

Vijay gifts gold coins to 'Mersal' team

Karthi’s film to be remade in Hollywood

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

amil Nadu Government has removed legendary actor 'Nadigar Thilagam' Sivaji's statue from Marina Beach, Chennai, and installed it at the Adyar Mani Mandapam.

While this might not seem as a big deal, the act irked 'Ulaganayagan' Kamal Haasan who immediately took to Twitter. “Sivaji left a strong impression in the hearts of aspiring

Tamil actors and fans.

Let's make another statue and protect it forever, my dad Sivaji is above the Government.”

While the Madras High Court had asked the government to remove the structure from the beach citing it to be a hindrance to transportation, it was only after the court directive that the government reinstalled the statue in Adyar.

‘Toilet - Ek Prem Kath’

'Toilet - Ek Prem Katha' tells the love story between a simple man Keshav (Akshay Kumar) and progressive Jaya (Bhumi Pednekar), set in two villages near Mathura.

It is a satirical take on a battle against the age old tradition of open defecation in the country.

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AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Asian Voice | 12th August 2017

Trailer of Aamir's

'Secret Superstar'

Dilip Kumar battles kidney failure

creates a whirlwind

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railer of Aamir Khan and Zaira Wasim-starrer 'Secret Superstar' is out and has created quite the whirlwind on the internet.

Produced by Khan and wife Kiran Rao, the movie features Wasim, and Meher Vij in lead roles. The story revolves around a plot showing Zaira's dreams to become a famous singer and her father's decision against it.

Aamir said, “When I heard the story, I really liked it.

When Advait (director Advait Chandan) asked me to do this role, I said I cannot see myself doing it. Even Kiran said the same. I said I'll do a screen

Y

esteryear superstar Dilip Kumar is currently in Lilavati Hospital, Bandra, battling kidney failure. The 94 year old was initially admitted following complaints of dehydration and urinary complications, but was later shifted to the ICU after issues prevailed. Vice-president of Lilavati, Ajaykumar Pandey said, “His kidney functions are yet to normalise. We are closely monitoring his condition. We have not started dialysis as yet. His parameters are not stable, but he is not critical either. He is conscious and breathing on his own.”

Kumar, who has given us several hits including 'Shaheed' and 'Mela' has suffered through lung ailments at least twice in the past. “He is doing much better than yesterday.

But he will be in hospital. The doctors here are taking good care of him,” said his wife, Saira Banu. A source informed, “The actor's condition is not stable as his creatinine levels are rising. There has not been much improvement in his condition since hospitalisation. If the kidney functions continue to deteriorate, it could lead to more complications.”

'Dream Girl' Hema to debut as singer

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ur beloved 'Basanti' is all set to debut as a singer on Janmashtami, with a fullfledged eight track bhajan album 'Gopala Ka Samarpan' at the Iskcon temple in Mumbai, on Aug 13. “The entire credit goes to Narayan Agarwal, a Krishna bhakt, who is known for bringing out the best of Jagjit Singh and Anup Jalota bhajans. When Narayanji asked me to sing eight tracks for his album, I was hesitant to sing as I am not a professional singer, and didn't want to do anything in a half-hearted manner.

But he insisted that I should listen to all the compositions first, before taking the final call.”

A professional, she practiced for almost 6 months, and was trained by Guruji Gagan Singh.

Hema got so involved in the project, she even wanted to incorporate the Braj language as a prelude to all the tracks and requested Ravindra Jain to write down a few lines. Hema sang for the first time in 1977 for Kishore Kumar in a Bengali album 'Gun Gun Kore Je Mon'. It released during Durga Puja which had become a chartbuster.

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test and if I do well, I'll take up the role. While doing it, I realised I was having fun.”

Rao added, "When we saw the screen test, all of us laughed so much. We were totally convinced that he can be this strange creepy person. He did it so well that we had to believe. But he wasn't the original fit."

Rao was totally against the role Aamir plays in the movie, of a character she describes as the “kind of a guy you don't want to hang out alone in the room with.” However, Aamir's rockstar look went viral on the internet. The film will hit the theatres on October 20.

'Khiladi' addresses health and sanitation issues in Jaipur

eloved hero, 'Khiladiyon ka Khiladi', Akshay Kumar extended his support for the Festival of Education, organised by the Government of Rajasthan, and GEMS Education. Kumar participated in a panel session in the Earth Zone where he conversed with Amreesh Chandra, Group President, GEMS Education, and addressed several questions related to his decision to make the world's first feature film on open-defecation, 'Toilet: Ek Prem Katha'.

“I wanted to highlight how a toilet is crucial to India's health and sanitation, our state of living, even in the 21st century. More importantly, I wanted to highlight how this film and the issues we are spotlighting affects the majority of women in this country, the country that we call our Motherland, yet our

mothers, wives and sisters quietly and shamefully have to live without toilets and in conditions that would be inexcusable especially in this day and age.”

He added, “Open defecation is a problem that affects all of India. It is not only an issue for villages but equally a problem for the cities.

Cities are at greater risk as we live in a confined area. Open defecation near the sea, or in between railway tracks, means germs and disease are able to spread quickly in the cities as we are so close to each other in the concrete jungle.”

Rajasthan Chief M i n i s t e r Va s u n d h a r a

Raje praised the actor, saying, “For the first time, somebody (in cinema) has bothered about issues close to women’s hearts. It is so very essential to living, and it is a subject that not many people would have touched. But

Young director wins global acclaim for feature film

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Akshay has taken it, and he has taken it head on, so I need to congratulate him for this amazing job.”

ward-winning first feature of 26 year old Shubhashish Bhutiani is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the British Film Institute's India on Film season.

'Hotel Salvation' (Mukti Bhawan), premiered in the UK on June 27 at BFI Southbank, followed by a Q&A session with the director.

The National Aw a r d - w i n n i n g filmmaker who has delivered two successful films is currently touted as a

talent to watch. His 'Hotel Salvation' has already won ten Indian and international film awards including Best Film at the 2017 New York Indian Film Festival, and the Prix Enrico Fulchignoni at last years' Venice Film Festival. The film is also seen as a strong contender to be India's Academy Award entry in 2018.

An uplifting movie about life, 'Hotel Salvation' features Rajiv, an overworked, middle-aged son forced to accompany his 77 year old father Daya, who is seaking salvation in the holy city of Varanasi.

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UK

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 12th August 2017

Bhaktivedanta Manor - a beacon for the Hindu community

By Sachi Patel On the evening of 5th August, I was invited to attend a special event at Bhaktivedanta Manor, one of the largest Hindu temples in the UK. It was an opportunity for the leaders of this institution to express their gratitude to all their supporters and well-wishers for their continual efforts over the last 44 years.

The temple has an incredible history since its establishment in 1973 by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. This was only one of many temples to be inspired by the Swami, who began his mission outside of India beginning with his arrival in the USA in 1965.

Nevertheless, this temple attained a unique status

within his movement known as ISKCON, becoming its European Head Quarters.

The temple was attained through the gracious donation of George Harrison from the Beatles, and has grown in strength ever since, with Swami Srila Prabhupada’s teachings, which elaborate on the bhakti path from the Vedic writings, being the foundational inspiration for the communities’ development.

Over the evening as well as being treated to sumptuous prasadam or blessed food, we were entertained by an enchanting stage show which featured a South Asian dance performance from a finalist on BBC Four’s young dancers 2017

Coming Events

l Sree Sree Anukulchandra's Satsang to be held on August 12, 6.30 pm onwards, at the Brent Indian Association, 116 Ealing Road, Wembley, Middlesex, HA09TH.

l Brent Indian Association Centre celebrates India's 70th year of independence. Flag hoisting ceremony on August 15, 10.30 am onwards. Independence Day celebration on August 27, 3 pm onwards, at the Brent Indian Association, 116 Ealing Road, Wembley, Middlesex, HA0 9TH.

Sneh Joshi

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20 Mercury, the planet of com-

munications turns retrograde on 13 August and will remain retrograde until 5 September 2017 in your solar sixth house. The next few weeks may bring confusion and misunderstandings at work and troubles with your health. At work you need to pay more attention to detail before finalising important matters.

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 Mercury, the planet of communications turns retrograde on 13 August until 5 September 2017 in your solar fifth house. Extra care should be exercised when it comes to matters surrounding romance, children, and creativity. Be as non-judgemental as possible as this is a period of review and rest. Speculation and gambling are not advised right now.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 Mercury, your ruling planet turns retrograde on 13 September and will remain retrograde until the 5 September 2017 in your solar fourth house. Extra care should be exercised when it comes to family relations, real estate matters, and domestic issues.

Be diplomatic with your loved ones and try to put off major decisions regarding family matters.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22 Mercury turns retrograde on 13 September and will remain retrograde until 5 September 2017. This transit occurs in your solar third house, extra care should be exercised when it comes to composing letters, emails, making phone calls, and with communications in general. Issues with siblings or neighbours - these should be resolved amicably.

competition, later followed by a theatrical drama from the local Bhaktivedanta Players.

These performances were interspersed with several speeches from the leaders of the community highlighting the numerous accolades and accomplishments that the community had achieved together.

From overcoming the threat of closure in 1994, and the subsequent purchase of land which increased their estate from 17 acres to 70 acres, they were able to create the largest Janmasthami Festival outside India which hosts approximately 70,000 pilgrims.

Furthermore, in 2010 they built Europe’s largest home for Cow Protection, and went on to inspire a series of schools across

the UK under the Krishna Avanti trust, which hosts over 3000 school kids today.

An important feature of the evening was also an update on the latest addition to Bhaktivedanta Manor’s history, the building of the grand ‘haveli’, a £10 million building to address the ever-growing community’s needs which had been inaugurated by the former UK Prime minister, David Cameron in the ground-breaking ceremony.

What was abundantly clear from the presentations made that evening, is that no longer is the temple merely a shrine that pilgrims visit to pay homage to, but has transformed into a beacon for the Hindu community in the UK successfully representing Hindus in realms such as education, media and politics.

[Sachi Patel is currently pursuing a PhD in Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford.

His research interest includes the intersection between religious moveand political ments power, Indian Intellectual history, and the early modern world.]

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Young ideas on PCC's Five "Vs"

Organising police station open days and using Leicestershire's universities to get voluntary support were among suggestions made by young people to the County's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Lord Willy Bach last week.

Members of Leicestershire's Youth Commission were invited to meet the PCC to tell him how they think he can meet the five priorities he has set in his Police and Crime Plan 2017 - 2021 which was launched in March.

The event saw a range of interesting ideas put forward to feed into the PCC's five key strands of opportunity that he has labelled "the five Vs" - Viable Partnerships, Visible Policing, Victim Services, Vulnerability Protection and Value for Money.

Better use of free

resources such as social media sites was one of the ideas that came up during the Value for Money discussion and recruiting Community Volunteers was put forward as a way of helping protect the vulnerable.

The police station open days idea was put forward during the discussion about Visible Policing and the use of awareness-raising videos, specifically in relation to Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) came up under Victim Services.

Leicestershire Youth Commission allows young people between the ages of 14 and 25 to support and challenge the work of the Police and Crime Commissioner and Leicestershire Police. It enables young people to become a part of the solution, rather than being seen as part of the problem.

Patel's husband comes off payroll

The International Development Secretary Priti Patel has stopped employing her husband Alex Sawyer after being criticised for paying him tens of thousands of pounds to run her office, while he allegedly held two other jobs, The Times has reported.

The newspaper further said that Patel had used her staffing allowance to

pay Alex Sawyer up to £25,000 per annum to work part-time as her office manager. He had held the job since early 2014 but had allegedly been working as a marketing consultant for Nasdaq, the American stock exchange, and also as a Conservative councillor in Bexley, southeast London.

Mr Sawyer had been employed by his wife since

February 2014 but the new register of MPs’ interests reveals that he stopped working for her after the general election in June.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has prohibited politicians from employing staff who are connected to them or parties. Mr Sawyer would have been allowed to continue working for Ms Patel because

those employed before the last general election are exempt from the rules.

Mr Sawyer has insisted that he had never “worked for Nasdaq or Priti Patel simultaneously full-time”.

020 8518 5500

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

The UK’s leading Vedic writer and TV personality

Mercury turns retrograde on the 13 August until 5 September 2017 in your solar second house. Extra care should be taken when it comes to new financial initiatives. There may be the need to resolve old, nagging issues regarding personal finances.

Take this time to re-budget and re-think how you want to spend your cash during this period.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23

Mercury, your ruling planet turns retrograde on 13 August and will remain retrograde until 5 September 2017 in your solar first house. Be careful when it comes to your body language as others may misinterpret whatever you say and you should be aware that you can give off mixed signals. Good time to review the manner in which you come across to others.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23

Mercury turns retrograde on 13 August and will remain retrograde until 5 September 2017 in your solar twelfth house this time, extra care should be exercised when it comes to private and personal matters. Be as non-judgemental as you can, but do keep an eye out for deceptiveness and falseness in others. Good time for yoga and meditation.

Mercury, the planet of communications turns retrograde on 13 August and will remain retrograde until 5 September 2017 in your eleventh house of friends and associates. The next few weeks would serve you well if you spend more time listening than speaking. Good time to re-assess your relationships and partnerships.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22

Retrograde transit of Mercury occurs in your solar tenth house on 13 August to 5 September 2017. This occurs in your area of career and status, slowing down your progress at work. It is important for you to be steadfast and focused as misunderstandings and confusion reign. Stay as organized as possible while Mercury, the planet of communications does its best to trip you up.

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20 Mercury, the planet of communications turns retrograde on 13 August and will remain retrograde until 5 September 2017 in your ninth house of travel and adventure, creating havoc – make sure your travel documents are in order. Your mental focus could be anywhere other than your normal routine which could create chaos - discipline yourself.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19

Mercury, the planet of communications turns retrograde on 13 August and will remain retrograde until 5 September 2017 in your eighth house of joint resources, taxes, wills, legacies and alimony, creating confusion and complications for you during the next few weeks.

Seek professional help and make sure you have plenty of focus when making decisions.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20

Your closest relationships come under scrutiny as Mercury goes retrograde on 13 August and will remain retrograde until 5 September 2017 in your seventh house of marriage and partnerships. There can be a lot of misunderstandings and confused signals. You'll need to listen carefully to what your partner is saying. Try to resolve issues diplomatically, instead of being rash.

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MOEEN MAGIC TAKES ENGLAND TO SERIES WIN

AsianVoiceNews

Moeen Ali's five-wicket haul helped England beat South Africa by 177 runs in the fourth Test at Old Trafford on Monday to seal a 3-1 series win. Victory, achieved with more than a day to spare, also saw Joe Root triumphant in his first Test series as England captain.

South Africa, set a huge 380 for victory, were bowled out for 202 shortly after tea on the fourth day when Ali took two wickets in two balls to remove Morne Morkel and Duanne Olivier. That gave Ali a return of five for 69 in 19.5 overs and 25 wickets in total in a series where he also scored 252 runs.

This result meant England had won their first home Test series against South Africa since 1998. It was also just South Africa's second defeat in 20 away Test series, their other overseas campaign reverse in that sequence coming against India in 2015-16.

South Africa, 43 for three at lunch, saw Hashim Amla

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(83) and captain Fafdu Plessis (61) put on 123 for the fourth wicket. But Ali then took three wickets for five runs in 11 balls - including the prize scalp of Amla as the Proteas collapsed from 163 for three to 173 for six.

Earlier, Ali made 75 not out off just 66 balls in England's second innings score of 243, having been dropped on 15. That left

South Africa facing a mammoth chase, with no side having made more to win in the fourth innings of a Test at Old Trafford than England's 294 for four against New Zealand in 2008.

South Africa lost both openers, leaving them at 18 for two. Dean Elgar, who made a gritty secondinnings hundred in England's 239-run victory in

the third Test at The Oval, fell for five when caught behind off Stuart Broad.

Temba Bavuma again battled hard until, from the last ball before lunch, he was given out caught behind on review off Toby RolandJones. Amla completed a 100-ball fifty with his ninth four. No replays were required when Quinton de Kock (one) edged a drive off Ali to Alastair Cook in the slips. And 173 for five became 173 for six when Theunis de Bruyn fell for a duck, nicking Ali to slip fielder Stokes. The end came quickly for South Africa, 182 for six at tea.

Du Plessis had added just one to his tea score when he was caught behind off Anderson. Anderson, who finished with three for 16, then had Kagiso Rabada caught in the covers. Ali, appropriately, finished the match with Morkel holing out for a duck before Olivier, also out for nought, was taken by Stokes at slip.

India outplay Lanka; win test series India outplayed Sri Lanka to clinch a rare overseas series win after just two Tests by an innings and 53 runs, to finish off the third Test (August 12). Virat Kohli now has 18 wins under his belt- only three less than captain Sourav Ganguly (21).

It's difficult to ignore what India have achieved under Kohli in past couple of years. Clearly, they've been the most dominant Test side in the world, not having lost a series since their 2-0 defeat to Australia in 2014-15. On Sunday, he led India to their eighth consecutive series win. The win though, didn't come on a platter. After they dominated the Lankans for two days and a session in this game, India had to sweat

once the hosts fought back through hundreds by Kusal Mendis and Dimuth Karunaratne.

After enforcing the follow on, the visitors were frustrated on Day 3 and in the early minutes of Day 4 when KL Rahul dropped a sitter at forward short leg to let off Karunaratne, who was batting on 96.

Karunaratne completed his

sixth Test hundred, and his fourth in the second innings, when he on drove Mohammad Shami for a four.

At the other end, tailender Malinda Pushpakumara, who came in as night watchman on Day three, too seemed to be putting a price on his wicket, and sweeping as well as any of his col-

leagues, before he lost his leg stump while trying to pull off a `switch hit' against R Ashwin.

Much to India's relief, Lankan skipper Dinesh Chandimal didn't last long, as Ajinkya Rahane pulled off a superb catch at first slip off Ravindra Jadeja.

After he added 59 for the fifth wicket with Angelo Mathews, Karunaratne was done in by a typical Jadeja delivery which took off viciously after pitching, and brushed the batsman's glove before Rahane pocketed the catch.

Having dislodged Karunaratne, India weren't going to take long to wind up the proceedings, as the Lankans finished at 386 with Jadeja picking up a five-wicket haul and the man of the match award.

Mo Farah wins 10,000m world title Britain's Mo Farah outsmarted his rivals with one of the fastest races of his life to capture the 10,000-metre world championship title in London. Farah has been unstoppable over the past six years at world and Olympic level, including this race, his eighth consecutive major victory over the 10,000m. He accomplished it with an unbelievable turn of pace in the final laps that, as usual, demoralised the opposition.

But this time both Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei, who posted a personal best and Kenyan Olympic silver

Mo Farah

medallist Paul Tanui pushed Farah all the way at one point literally when he briefly stumbled into the

infield. The African athletes tried to break Farah, but the Briton kept his pace steady and he made a move at the 11 minute mark, gesticulating to the other runners, and then again with three laps remaining. Farah was cheered by the raucous home crowd in the London Stadium, and his winning time of 26 minutes 49. 51 sec was 40 seconds faster than his London Olympic time back in 2012, even though he claimed last week that he was not in his best shape.

After crossing the line,

Farah sought out his family and his wife Tania, four year old daughters Aisha and Aman and young son Hussein who joined him on the track for his celebratory victory lap.

Farah said: “I knew at 12 laps to go when they went hard from there I knew it was going to be tough. It was about believing in my sprint finish and knowing that I have been in that position before. It helped a lot having that experience.’’

Farah will contest the 5000, and will then retire from the track to concentrate on marathons.

SPORT

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Amir Khan, wife part ways

Amir Khan and his wife Faryal Makhdoom

Boxer Amir Khan has accused fellow British boxer Anthony Joshua of having a relationship with his wife, Faryal Makhdoom Khan, after announcing they are separating. Former world champion posted a message that announced he and his wife were ending their four-year marriage, writing: “So me and the wife Faryal have agreed to split. I'm currently in Dubai. Wish her all the best.”

The post appeared to suggest an amicable break-up, but Amir followed up with a series of messages accusing Farya of having a relationship with 27-year-old Joshua following their break-up, and labelled her a “Golddigger.”

Faryal immediately launched a series of accusations, with the 26-year-old defending herself and calling her husband “bad company, [a] bad role model and always around women.” She wrote: “@amirkingkhan I'm not sure if it's your family tweeting for you. But I'm not the one who been in the papers for cheating. I'm sure you left your family because they robbed you? Not because of me. Stop making false things up. Accusing other boxers just because your boxing career is finished. And I'm called a gold digger?

Khan did not reply to the responses, and Faryal ended the conversation by apologising to her followers and claiming that her husband was making the accusations up because “he just needs some attention because boxing hasn’t been going well.”

Bolt fails to end on a high as Justin Gatlin takes 100m gold

Usain Bolt (left) and Justin Gatlin

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt’s attempt to end his glittering individual race career on a high went in vain after he failed to win gold in the 100 metres event at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in London. Bolt managed to secure the bronze as the American duo of 35-year-old Justin Gatlin and 21year-old Christian Coleman took the gold and silver respectively.

Gatlin, twice banned for doping, came through almost unnoticed in lane seven in 9.92 seconds, with Coleman (9.94 sec) holding off the greatest sprinter of all time. Bolt, considered the greatest sprinter ever, suffered a dreadful start and could only claim bronze in 9.95sec. He embraced Gatlin after they streaked through the line with no clear victor immediately apparent.

Speaking after the race, Gatlin said, “I tuned it out [the booing] through the rounds and stayed the course. I did what I had to do. The people who love me are here cheering for me and cheering at home.”

“It is Bolt’s last race. It is an amazing occasion.

We are rivals on the track but in the warm-down area, we joke and have a good time. The first thing he did was congratulate me and say that I didn’t deserve the boos. He is an inspiration”, he added.

Bolt praised Gatlin after his win. “I tightened up at the end and that is something you should never do. I didn’t execute when it mattered. I am not fully comfortable in those blocks but you have to work with what you have. I can’t complain about that,” he said.

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