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Vol 44 | Issue 31

12th to 18th December 2015 BOLLYWOOD P29

SPORT

EXCLUSIVE DILWALE TEAM STEALS HEARTS

MERIDIAN GRAND

P31

AMIR KHAN TO BATTLE IT OUT IN WEMBLEY

ASIAN COUPLE'S DEATH SHOCKS COMMUNITY

Weddings, Civil Registries, Conferences, Bespoke Events & Other Special Occasions

INDIA, PAK BREAK ICE IN BANGKOK

Seating over 800 guests | Over 250 Car Parking Spaces Fully Air-Conditioned | Separate Vegetarian Kitchen

Nasir Khan Janjua and Ajit Doval peace and security, terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir and other issues, including

tranquility along the LoC,” the release said. According to Indian government sources, the issues were discussed in that particular order, starting with peace and security.

The meeting follows the quick chat between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawab Sharif in Paris recently, where the two leaders decided to resume contacts. Sharif had told reporters after their talk that Modi wanted the two countries to move forward.

“Discussions were held in a candid, cordial and constructive atmosphere,” the joint release said. “They were guided by the vision of the two leaders for a

peaceful, stable and prosperous South Asia,” it added.

The Pakistan-India talks remained suspended since Jan 2014 because of violations of ceasefire on the Line of Control. Sharif Continued on page 26

P4

UK

NORTH LONDON’S NEWEST LUXURY VENUE

India's national security advisor Ajit Doval and foreign secretary S Jaishankar met with Pakistani counterparts Nasir Khan Janjua and Aizaz Ahman Chaudhary for over four hours in the Thai capital of Bangkok, for an exchange which covered several outstanding issues, notably terror and Jammu and Kashmir.

They have agreed to carry forward “the constructive engagement.”

The Bangkok joint press release mentioned both Kashmir and terror in the topics of engagement, and top officials from both countries expressed complete satisfaction with the release.

“Discussions covered

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Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

Advent Way London N18 3AF Tel: 020 3700 2727 www.meridiangrand.co.uk meridian_grand

MeridianGrand

Leytonstone attack unites Brit-Asians EXCLUSIVE

Rupanjana Dutta

On Saturday the Leytonstone knife attack, took London by shock.

The resilient Londoners, stood in solidarity, resonating the same sentiments of a bystander heard saying #youaintnomuslimbruv to the attacker, who allegedly shouted “This is for Syria.

This is for Syrian brothers” before lurching an

Muhaydin Mire

unprovoked attack on a 56 years old stranger.

Continued on page 16

Chennai limps back to normal after record rain

Piles of garbage strewn around, floating carcasses and rodents, unbearable stench and reptiles slithering loose, are just few of the many problems faced by Chennai as it limps its way back to normal amidst epidemic scares. Tamil Nadu was recently pounded by the heaviest rainfall in over a century where capital city Chennai Continued on page 26

ONE ONE with Keith Vaz, MP

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Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

to

AsianVoiceNews

Award 2015, Business Driver Category, in a gala dinner where I could say: “this distinction is for Tunisia and its great people in particular for those who have given and dedicated their life for freedom and dignity”.

Nabil Ammar

His Excellency Nabil Ammar, Ambassador of Tunisia to the UK was born in Tunis on 7 September 1965. He is married and has two daughters.

Nabil holds a Masters Degree in Economics and Management from the University of Paris 1, PantheonSorbonne, a post graduate degree from the National School of Public Administration in Tunis and completed further studies in 2012 at the Institute of National Defence in Tunis.

He’s diplomatic and international career has spanned 24 years in a variety of roles and countries. It began in 1991 in a Minister’s office in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). He subsequently went on to work for a Minister for International Cooperation and Foreign Investment between 1992 and 1995. In 1998 he took up the prestigious positions of Minister Plenipotentiary at the Embassy of Tunisia to Austria and Deputy Permanent Representative of Tunisia to the United Nations, Vienna.

In 2000, he returned to the Ministry as Deputy-Director in charge of cooperation with Austria, Turkey, Scandinavia, Cyprus, Malta and Vatican, at the MFA. Between 2003 and 2005, he held the posts of Deputy-Director for Central and Latin America, DirectorInspector and Director for the African Union at the MFA before heading to Rome to become Minister Plenipotentiary at the Tunisian Embassy, and Deputy Permanent Representative to FAO. Nabil left Rome after two years to become Chargé

d’Affaires, Head of Mission of Tunisia to Oslo, Norway but then returned to the MFA in Tunisia as Advisor to the Minister in 2011. He remained at the Ministry until December 2012 in the post of Director General for Africa and the African Union.

In December 2012, he became the Ambassador of Tunisia to United Kingdom, and was then the Ambassador of Tunisia to Ireland, before returning to the post of Ambassador of Tunisia to the UK, which he holds today.

1) What is your current posi-

3) What inspires you?

The continuous and historical message of peace from the Tunisian people together with humility and pragmatism are the pillars of my inspiration.

tion?

I am the Tunisian Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Ireland with residence in London.

2) What are your proudest achievements?

I feel proud every day in bringing my contribution to enhance friendship and fruitful cooperation between Tunisia and the United Kingdom, including March the 5th this year when I have been awarded the Grassroot Diplomat Initiative

Metformin- secret for a long life?

Looks like scientists have come up with the secret of living a longer life.

Scientists are aiming to start a innovational human trial using the medication for diabetes, metformin, as they believe that this drug can be the secret beneficial nectar for humans to live up to 120 years.

The world's first breakthrough drug will be tested on humans in 2016.

Scientists believe that it may be possible to stop fast ageing process, while also helping people live a good, healthy life at the age of 110 or 120.

Dr Jay Olshansky, from the University of Illinois Chicago, USA said, “This would be the most important medical intervention in the modern era, an ability to slow ageing.”

While this may appear to be farfetched or similar to something we may watch on a Sci-Fi show, researchers have already established that metformin increases the life of ani-

Secret nectar: Human trials are to start in 2016 to see whether metformin can extend the life of humans

mals. The Food and Drug Administration in the USA have now agreed to start the trial next year to examine whether the drug will have the same effect on humans.

If this experiment proves to be successful, a person in their 70s would probably have the same biological health as someone who is 50 years old.

This could also lead to a new period of “geroscience”, where doctors would be treating ageing, the implicit mechanism, rather than tackling indi-

vidual conditions, such as dementia, cancer, or diabetes.

One of the research advisors, professor Gordon Lithgow of the Buck Institute for Research on Ageing, California, who is a Scottish ageing expert said, “If you target an ageing process and you slow down ageing then you slow down all the diseases and pathology of ageing as well. That's revolutionary. That's never happened before. I have been doing research into ageing for 25 years and the idea that we would be talking about a clinical trial in humans for an anti-ageing drug would have been though inconceivable.”

Professor Lithgow further stated, “But there is every reason to believe it's possible. The future is taking the biology that we've now developed and applying it to humans. 20 years ago ageing was a biological mystery. Now we are starting to understand what is going on.”

Watching eyes can prevent littering According to a study by Newcastle University, people are less likely to drop litter if there is a pair of watching eyes printed on the packet or wrapper.

Researchers found that if a pamphlet had images of eyes, the likelihood of someone dropping it on the floor reduced by two thirds.

The research comes after previous studies which had concluded that posters with watching eyes reduced littering and bike thefts.

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

There were some obstacles in my career. They were not too big.

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

I may say that my parents, with the education and the principles, they gave me, have had the biggest influence on my career. I am a son of a brilliant Ambassador who has always inspired me as an example to follow.

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

Meeting different people, many

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

of them are very interesting, in order to build new connexions and bridges to serve peace, friendship, and a better understanding between our two peoples is certainly the most attractive aspect about my mission in London.

7) And the worst?

The worst aspect would be to have to go through sad events with violence and human suffering at the end.

8) What are your long term goals?

My long term goal is to have the chance to be always satisfied in my private life and in serving peacefully my country and peace worldwide.

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

Should I initiate a political career and become Prime minister, I probably would give high priority to consolidate and enhance ethics in politics.

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

I would have liked to have a discussion with late president Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia about what mistakes, if any, does he estimate to have committed in his political life and Why.

Plans for third runway causes outrage

Plans for North-West runway at Heathrow

Environmental activists have taken it upon themselves to set base in villages around Heathrow and to contend in a long campaign of national noncompliance in protest of a third runway being built.

The activists joined the local campaigners from the afflicted villages of Sipson, Harlington and Harmondsworth to fight against the expansion of Heathrow Airport, which is due to be approved by the Cabinet in the coming days.

David Cameron is expected to set tough conditions for the expansion, which includes a ban on flights between 11:30pm and 6am, as well as a requirement to meet EU legal limits on air pol-

lution. However, these conditions are unlikely to conciliate the activists and campaigners. There are also threats of rebellion with the Tory Party, led by the London Mayoral Candidate, Zac Goldsmith, and the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

A 26-year-old activist, Eddie Charles, who has been living in Sipson for over 2 years said, “What we’ve seen this year are the opening shots — the blocking of the road tunnel, the incursion on to the north runway. The democratic process is clearly not working. If election pledges are broken so easily what can you expect? There will be lots of civil disobedience, this will be a continuous battle for years ahead.”

Picture courtesy: Airports Commission

2

A builder from Harmondsworth, Neil Keveren had blocked the Heathrow road tunnel this year with his van in a solo protest. He said, “I was fined £600 with £290 costs but more than half of that had been paid by donations before I left the courtroom. This is my home. I was born a mile down the road, my relatives are buried in the churchyard, I am part of the fabric and I will do everything I can to motivate those with a will for direct action.”

Georgia Woods (22), from Sipson said, “The community here has been massively politicised by Heathrow and direct action is now embedded in the Heathrow villages.

They’re not going to go down without a fight.”

COMMENTS

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Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

World must tackle climate change No part of the world is immune to the impact of climate change. The emission of toxic gases, as the devastating smogs in Beijing and Delhi, leading to breathing difficulties, clearly demonstrates. The danger to our planet is dire. Drought in some continents are accompanied by contrasting experiences of severe cyclones, tornados and hurricanes in others. The recent deluge in Chennai from the North East monsoon in the Bay of Bengal had brought life in the capital city of Tamil Nadu to a standstill. The amount of rain received is the most intense in 114 years and the consequences are certain to leave an indelible mark on the population and the economy, from farmlands to cities and towns across the State for years to come. As temperatures rise, glaciers melt and seas swell imperiling the very existence of a cluster of small islands in the Pacific Ocean. The problem was identified many years ago, but sceptics of climate change, including giant corporations for reasons of profit, held out against the scientific evidence. The Kyoto Protocol was an attempt to get the major powers on board, but with the United States opting out and refusing to sign up to its provisions, no real progress was made.

However, the scientific revelations on the causes and consequences of climate change defy any state of denial, particularly under the compelling weight of present-day ground realities across the globe. The diminishing ranks of doubters have yielded substantial space to the ever growing army of believers. It is the looming threat to the world’s food chain and the spectre of grain shortages and famine in many parts of the agrarian Third World that has led to the recent Paris conference, there being a dawning realization that we either stand together in promulgating effective counter measures to save our planet or are enfeebled and perish in ignoble isolation.

President Barack Obama made an eloquent and impassioned plea for international cooperation. That

was the easy part. The more difficult one is to agree on how best we can do so. After all, the emission of greenhouse gases has grown in volume over two centuries as a direct consequence of the Industrial Revolution, whose principal beneficiaries have been North America, Europe and Japan. Their economies were the source of the destructive pollutants that are most responsible for the present global environmental crisis. The statistics are damning. The richest ten per cent of the world produce 50 per cent of the Earth’s carbon emissions.

The West looks askance at the newly industrializing nations, China and India, and demands that they give binding undertakings to reduce their emissions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chinese leadership, and the leaders of Brazil and South Africa argue that such binding clauses would violate the norms of natural justice. The slowing of their respective industrializing programmes of economic development, without which no lasting betterment of their living standards would be possible. What India’s Prime Minister has offered as an alternative and fairer panacea is that the emerging powers be permitted to draw up separate schemes for the control of carbon emissions, tailoring these to social needs. In sum, India will undertake to reduce its emissions substantially without the burden of legal enforcements that are of exclusive benefit to the developed world. “Climate change and economic inequality are inextricably linked and pose one of the greatest challenges of the 21 st century,’ said Tim Gore, Oxfam’s head of food and climate policy. Oxfam found that 10 per cent of India’s richest citizens produce one quarter of the carbon produced by the poorest segment of the American population. The emissions of China’s poorest 600 million people are one third of the total emissions of America’s richest 10 per cent, some 30 million.

Flexible solutions seeded common sense are surely best way forward to a win-win settlement.

Stage set for Modi visit to Pakistan Well, it seems India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his counterpart Nawaz Sharif's warming up at Paris Climate Summit was a step in the right direction. And certainly it was more than a “courtesy” meeting as it was termed. A week after that much-publicised meeting, breaking the impasse, the National Security Advisers (NSAs) of India and Pakistan held a low-key and secret meeting in Bangkok on Sunday, keeping the media at bay. Discussions were held on a range of bilateral issues, including peace and security, terrorism and Jammu & Kashmir, and officials have agreed to take forward the “constructive” engagement. What stood out was the ability of the two countries to engage in talks and keeping it a low-key affair. Chances of success of dialogue between the two countries are better if the two can keep the much-polarised and hawkish media in India and Pakistan at a distance. Foreign secretaries S Jaishankar of India and Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry of Pakistan accompanied their respective NSAs – Ajit Doval of India and Nasir Janjua of Pakistan.

With relations thawing between the two countries, it makes things smoother now for India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to travel to Islamabad for the Heart of Asia Conference on Afghanistan this week.

Swaraj will also meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and her Pakistan counterpart Sartaj Aziz on the sidelines of

the conference. She may use her meeting with Aziz to build on the thaw in Bangkok.

The ice-breaking in Paris, the thawing of relations in Bangkok and if all goes well during Swaraj's visit to Islamabad, it could pave the way for a visit by Modi to Pakistan in 2016 for the SAARC Summit. It is important that PM Modi takes part in the Summit, given that he kicked off his prime ministership with an outreach to the region. The meeting will be called off if one country fails to attend.

The short Modi-Sharif meeting in Paris may have clinched the “successful” Bangkok meet. But it's too premature to rejoice. India-Pakistan relations are complex and cannot be a smooth affair. The problems between the two countries are not going to be solved overnight just because they shook hands in a foreign land. The point to be driven home is the channels of dialogue should be kept open. Such low-profile meetings at neutral venues, away from public gaze, are the need of the hour for successfully taking forward bilateral talks between the two countries. From Sharm-al Shaikh 2009 to Ufa 2015, if there was one message, it was that New Delhi and Islamabad can begin talking in any meaningful way only away from the hawkish eye of the media.

Indeed, the meeting in Thai capital was a small step in the right direction.

Royal Society: Handing over the baton While the civilized world was transfixed by the horrors of Paris and the international conclave on climate change, a less dramatic event of significance was the smooth transition at the Royal Society where one Nobel Laureate, Paul Nurse, vacated the chair of President for another Nobel Laureate Venkataraman Ramakrishnan, who was born in India and earned his first degree in the country before moving to the United States and the eminence of a Chemistry Nobel Prize.

Professor Ramakrishnan, now a British citizen, knighted by the Queen, teaches at Cambridge University. That he was elected unanimously by his peers to be the head of the oldest and most venerated body devoted to the advancement of science worldwide for the next five years, is a true reflection of the spirit of scientific inquiry and the ethos of the Royal Society and the prestige and honour attached to the letters FRS [Fellow of the Royal Society] attached to a name.

There are between 40 to 50 Indian names on the list of

fellows. Including J C Bose, S N Bose, S Ramanujan, C.V Raman, S Chandrasekar, Homi Bhabha, CN R Rao, Asoke Sen et al.

Whatever be the nationality, ethnicity or faith of a scientist, his membership of this august body is guaranteed by merit alone. No other consideration is weighed on the scales of judgment. It is no surprise that the Royal Society was founded in November 1660 at the dawn of the European Enlightenment, and that one its moving spirits was Sir Isaac Newton, also a President during a long life. Newton, like Einstein, was the most luminous scientist of his time and his light has shone brightly over the world of science across the centuries.

Alexander Pope, a contemporary poet penned the following lines as a tribute to this towering figure: Nature and Nature’s Law lay hid in Night/ God said, Let Newton be! and All was Light. This is how the Royal Society should be viewed.

3

Today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday.

- Anonymous

As I See It CB Patel

Constitutional quandary: London and Delhi Reforms are a marathon, not a sprint in India. A simple majority in the Lok Sabha (Lower House of the Parliament) is not enough to push the Government's agenda on economic reforms. With BJP having fewer numbers, the Upper House (Rajya Sabha) has become an important battlefield for the Opposition to counter the incumbent Government's agenda.

The Tory Government has a majority in the House of Commons, but is in minority in the House of Lords.

Both Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and David Cameron are sailing in the same boat. Their hands are tied, despite an unprecedented election victory to boast of in their respective countries.

The Upper Houses are stifling both Modi and Cameron's economic agenda.

Now, Cameron is secretly planning to bypass the Lords to push his legislative plans. He will use the recent bust-up with the Lords on tax credit reform as a chance to make the Lords ineffective. Tories propose to take off Lords' veto over delegated or secondary legislation, such as the measure implementing tax credit cuts.

Once that power is taken away, the Conservative Government can make increasing use of delegated legislation to push contentious measures through the Upper House.

Tories have just 251 seats out of a total 822 in the House of Lords. Labour and Liberal Democrats combined have 324. (The rest are clergy).

Britain does not have a written Constitution. And so there are opportunities to change the principles of governance within the spirit of Magna Carta. Britain is a living democracy. It is not a set of rules as in a written Constitution. There have been many precedents for the Parliament to evolve to the present level.

Similarly, BJP has just 45 members in Rajya Sabha out of a total 243, while the Congress has 69 and adding numbers of other parties that tally of the nonBJP parties comes to 122.

Reforms are the need of the hour for India, especially when India's economy is in a better shape compared to May 2014 when the Modi Government came to power. The GDP is up, inflation is down, spending is up and rupee is stable. India needs greater success which can only come from well thought-out policies.

When it comes to development, Modi is the answer. He has become the byword for development over the years.

But he and his Government is shackled by the obdurate Rajya Sabha. Just because BJP had troubled the previous UPA Government on some genuine issues in Parliament, the Congress need not adopt the same policy and pay back in the same coin, just for the sake of it.

The Opposition should look at the intention of the incumbent Government. In the logjam, objectivity should not be at stake. Otherwise, the country stands to lose. I can only say the Opposition should behave more responsibly, because two wrongs don't make a right.

By the way, Modi is not going the Cameron way to sort things out. He cannot. The powers of Upper House will remain intact. In fact, Modi has adopted a more accommodative and mature approach, perhaps swallowing his pride. He recently invited his predecessor Dr Manmohan Singh and Congress party President Sonia Gandhi at his official residence for a tea. Tea, of course, was an excuse, needless to say. Continued on page 8

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4

UK

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Tragic death of Leicester couple on A46 A British-Indian couple succumbed to death after being victims of a road accident. Sana Sutaria (24), and Shahbaz Bhim (23), from Leicester, were killed on the A46 in Nottinghamshire.

The couple were due to be engaged during the Christmas period, which the acceptance of their family members, and would have been married in the next 4-5 months.

On the day of his death, Shahbaz Bhim, who was an estate agent sales negotiator, had received the news that he had been offered a new job as an area manager. He was due to start his new job on 4th January 2016, and required to give his current job 4 weeks notice prior to leaving.

Ecstatic at this good news, Shahbaz and Sana had gone out to celebrate, driving in a BMW car.

Sana Sutaria

Shahbaz Bhim

Shahbaz's father, Salimbhai Bhim, shared with Asian Voice about the accident. He said that the police informed him that due to bad weather, the route was very wet, which caused their vehicle to skid and resulted into an accident. The couple got out of the vehicle with minor injuries and stood at the side of the motorway.

Salimbhai further stated that the police said there was a white van which was

driving along the same route. The van driver also lost control due to the damp routes, resulting him to crash into the couple.

This is said to have led to the death of Sana and Shahbaz.

Shahbaz's father mentioned that the police has hospitalised the van driver who does not suffer from any life threatening injuries from the crash.

The death of Shahbaz has taken a very bad toll on

his mother, Zarina's health.

Her husband revealed that she had to be admitted to hospital as she suffered majorly from depression after the news of his demise. She is now back home, but faces the lull in her life after the loss of her beloved son.

The Muslim Burial Council of Leicestershire (MBCOL), have been lending their support to both Sana and Shahbaz's family members, and also liaising between them and the authorities.

Chairman of the MBCOL, Suleman Nagdi said, “This is indeed a very tragic incident. We extend our condolences to their families, relatives and friends... Our thoughts and prayers are with them.”

Current police investigation are ongoing and they have urged for witnesses to come forward.

Labour beats UKIP over Oldham Labour Party has proven successful in the by-election, as they have successfully secured their seat in Oldham West and Royton.

The Labour candidate, Jim McMahon, shone as the majorities' favourite, having won 17,209 votes, while UKIP came second but not even marginally close with 6,487 votes- giving Labour a majority of 10,722.

One may predict that winning the by-election in Oldham, Labour could most probably securely become the next ruling party, garnering the overall majority votes in the 2020

Labour MP Jim McMahon

Either way, such extreme, diverse emotions depict what sort of impact Corbyn has in British politics, as well as in the British society.

Oldham West Royton by-election results Labour /Jim McMahon

UKIP /John Bickley

Conservative /James Daly

17.209 (62.11%)

6.487 (23.41%)

2.596 (9.37%)

Liberal Democrat /Jane Brophy

1.024 (3.70%)

Green Party /Simeon Hart

249 (0.90%)

Monster Raving Loony /Sir Oink A-Lot

141 (0.51%)

Source BBC NEWS

General Election.

Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn has been a figure that is no doubt not ignorable. There are people who are die-hard fans of Corbyn, while there are others who outrightly despise his mere existence.

No doubt, Corbyn is a very popular and likely choice as the next British Prime Minister. Although there are many, civilians and politicians alike, who would declare his win as the devastation of United Kingdom, we cannot ignore that his popularity

In Brief AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

with the masses makes him a very qualifying candidate for the win. So much so that a group supporting Jeremy Corbyn had organised a campaign event in Lambeth, where activists called for Chuka Umunna, Labour MP for Streatham, to be sacked. Labour's Shadow Chancellor, warned that Umunna will bring dissenters “round to my way of thinking”.

While the Labour Party rejoiced the victory of MP Jim McMahon, the defeat of UKIP's candidate, John Bickley has not gone down well with his party; the party allegedly complained that the contest was “bent”.

The infamous UKIP Nigel Farage leader, expressed, “As a veteran of over 30 by-elections I have never seen such a perverse result.”

Paul Nuttal, deputy leader of UKIP claimed that postal votes had somehow “distorded the result.”

He said, “We should go back to the old system where you had to give a good reason why you can't get off your backside and go down to a polling booth.

That would make it fair again. That would make polling day actually mean something.”

Nigel Farage went a step further and blamed the “people who don't speak English” for UKIP's defeat. He said, “They don't speak English. UKIP does not get votes from people who do not speak English.”

This comment has not been taken lightly in Oldham, which has a large Pakistani and Bangladeshi community.

A 65-year-old resident

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Accountant stole £325,000 from charity to fund lavish lifestyle A top executive who stole £325,000 from a social housing charity to buy a chain of sandwich bars and fund a lavish lifestyle has been jailed.

Accountant Lakhbir Jaspal created a bogus firm to steal money from the West Bromwich-based Accord Group – even though he earned £147,000 a year as deputy chief executive.

Restaurant boss admits illegally dumping food waste at recycling centre

A restaurant boss who illegally dumped more than 100 bags of dirty food packaging at a city recycling bank has been prosecuted.

Abdul Giash, owner of Spice Bazzar Restaurant, in Welford Road, Knighton, Leicester, left the 106 bags at a recycling bank in Victoria Park Road on five visits during February and March of this year.

ATM gang foiled by shopkeeper armed with a stick

A gang of hapless crooks failed to steal a cash machine from a supermarket after a brave shopkeeper fought them off. Hooded thugs tried to strap the ATM onto a fourwheel drive BMW during a bungled raid at Costcutter in Withington, south Manchester, on Monday night.

Family's fears over street stabbing killers' bids for parole

Relatives of a man who was stabbed to death in a Leicester street say they are dismayed two of his killers are reportedly applying for parole. Nazir Sheikh was stabbed during a street robbery in St Saviours Road, Highfields, Leicester, in March 2010.

Joshua Goffe, then aged 20 and Shafee Shabbaz, then 19, were convicted of manslaughter and conspiracy to rob Mr Sheikh and were each jailed for five-and-a-half years following a trial at Leicester Crown Court. A third man, Terrance Carlos, then aged 19 was convicted of murder and conspiracy to rob. He is serving a minimum of 20 years.

UKIP candidate John Bickley

of Oldham, Rizwaan Alim shared with Asian Voice, “I am glad a deserving candidate and a deserving party won the by-election in Oldham. UKIP's blaming their defeat on nonEnglish speakers is totally absurd. It is their mindset that dissuades people from voting for them. It has nothing to do with language barriers.”

Alim further stated, “I have been living in Oldham for 46 years now. I am a proud British citizen and speak impeccable English.

Just because I choose to speak my native language with my children and relatives does not mean that I am unable to speak English or refuse to integrate. It's the same with many Asian families. UKIP should learn this before making such a big statement.”

In response to Farage is claims, Jim McMahon simply stated, “There is nothing wrong with people making a democratic decision not to support UKIP.” In other words, Oldham made the right choice for electing Labour.

Restaurant owners cause mayhem in street during fight with workmen

Two restaurant owners caused mayhem in the street during a fight with workmen, who were undoing some work they had carried out, a court heard. Abid Rashid and Naser Razai dashed outside the Grill House, in Pinfold Gate, Loughborough, to stop the workmen removing cladding on the building.

Date set for Halappanavar medical negligence case Date has been set in the High Court to claim for the damages against Health Service Executive by Praveen, the husband of the ill-fated 31 years old Savita Halappanavar, who died in October 2012, due to medical negligence.

The case against the HSE will be heard in March 10 2016 and is expected to run for 3 days.

Savita was pregnant with her first child, when she attended University College Hospital in Galway, Ireland with pains. She died a week later on October 28th, after miscarrying and contacting E coli, leading to septic shock.

A subsequent inquest heard that she had repeatedly asked for a termination. But because a heartbeat was detected and

Savita and Praveen

her life allegedly did not appear to be in danger at that time, an abortion could not be carried out under the law.

A review into the handling of her case found that "inadequate assessment and monitoring" were contributory factors in her death.

Praveen Halappanavar, will be travelling from the US for 3 days to attend the hearing.

UK

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Care home director pleads guilty of manslaughter Yousaf Khan (46), director of Autumn Grange Care Home, in Nottingham, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter by gross negligence at Nottinghamshire Crown Court, for the death of 86-year-old Autumn Grange Residential Home, Nottingham dementia sufferer, Ivy ples of neglectful care”. 28 Atkin, who passed away in residents had to be November 2012. Khan rehoused immediately. admitted that between At the care home, September and November patients were found to be 2012, he breached health thirsty and unclean. The and safety regulations as a care home manager, director. He also admitted Mohammed Rahamatullah that the care home had Khan (38), pleaded guilty failed in ensuring Ivy Atkin for a health and safety was given the adequate care offence. The two have been prior to her death. provided bail by Justice Before the care home Kathryn Thirlwall, and are was closed in November due to appear in court on 2012, Care Quality 5th February 2016, for senCommission inspection tencing. had found several “exam-

Lavish wedding arranged for autistic son in Pakistan

A family court heard that a man said to be in his 20s and suffers from learning disabilities was unable to explain to a psychiatrist about how babies were conceived, has had an extravagant Muslim wedding in Pakistan, costing a whopping £25,000. There were about 500 guests at this lavish wedding party.

The judge, Justice Hayden was informed that at the ceremony, an Imam had questioned the groom, “Do you know why you are here?” The judge was further informed that the marriage

had not been consummated.

The Family Division of the High Court in London heard that social services from Luton Council had raised concerns.

Justice Hayden stated that he had “little difficulty” in asserting that the man lacked the “capacity to marry”. He said, “I am convinced that the objective of this marriage was to provide [the man] with care and security for the remainder of his life. [His mother] contemplated marriage s a solution for her son's predicament.”

Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

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Prof Venki takes over as President of The Royal Society Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, more famously known as Prof Venki, has began his five year term on Dec 1, as the President of the Royal Society, one of the foremost fellowships in science, engineering and medicine. He is the first Indian to acquire this esteemed position.

Prof Venki was born in Chidambaram in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu, India to C. V. Ramakrishnan and Ramakrishnan Rajalakshmi. Both his parents were scientists, and his father was head of department of biochemistry at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda.

Ramakrishnan moved to Vadodara (previously also known as Baroda) in Gujarat at the age of three, where he had his schooling at Convent of Jesus and Mary, except for spending 1960–61 in Adelaide, Australia. Following his PreScience at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, he did his undergraduate studies in the same university on a National Science Talent Scholarship, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics in 1971.

In a lecture in January 2010 at the Indian Institute of Science, he revealed that he failed to get admitted to any of the Indian Institutes of Technology or the Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu.

Immediately after graduation he moved to the US, where he obtained his PhD degree in Physics from Ohio University in 1976. He then spent two years studying biol-

Speaking to Asian Voice in September about his profession, Dr Venki added, "The public generally support science, but more needs to be done to engage people with current research as well as the history."

There have been 60 presidents of the Royal Society since it was founded in 1660 including Christopher Wren, Samuel Pepys, Isaac Newton, Joseph Banks, Humphry Davy and Ernest Rutherford.

In his last interaction with London-based Indian journalists at a lunch reception in Bombay Brasserie, hosted by the Indian Journalists' Association and Prof Yusuf H a m i e d , Ramakrishnan said he saw his new role at the Royal Society as “a chance to repay to Britain and society for fostering my science for so many years”.

“I would like to encourage short and long-term visSir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan its by Indian scientists and students. I would like to encourage India to focus on hood in 2012. He is a fellow of electron microscopy,” he added.

Trinity College, Cambridge. ogy as a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego while making a transition from theoretical physics to biology.

Prof Venki was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2009 and knight-

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Respecting your elders can prevent dementia Scientists have suggested that growing old gracefully could prevent dementia, while the lack of respect for the elderly in western societies could prove detrimental in cases of Alzheimer's disease.

The research by Yale School of Public Health, USA, reveals that cultural, as well as social stereotypes can cause the development of age related malady.

The study shows that people who have been conditioned to believe that they will become mentally and physically feeble in their old age, most probably will become so. The stress of these negative thoughts could stimulate dementia and alter the brain.

much higher rate of dementia in comparison to India. The lead author of the study, Dr Becca Levy explained, “We believe it it is the stress generated by the negative beliefs about ageing that individuals sometimes internalise from society that can result in pathological brain changes.”

Dr Levy further said, Western countries have higher rates of dementia compared “Diet has been posited as an explanation for why the to India rate of Alzheimer's disease On the other hand, in the United States is five those who refuse to contimes that of India. form to age stereotype and Alternatively, this discrepare active, as well as posiancy might be explained by tive are more likely to a comparison of those two remain healthy and stay cultures from which age mentally fit for long. stereotypes are derived: Western countries, India has a tradition of such as Britain, have a venerating elders.”

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Terror couple tweeted for advice for bombing location The suspected terror couple, Mohammed Rehman (25), and Sana Ahmed Khan (24), had allegedly plotted a terror attack at Westfield Shopping Centre, London, on the tenth anniversary of the London 7/7 bombings. The Old Bailey Court heard how Sana Ahmed Khan had taken out £700 of payday loans from QuickQuid, to pay for bomb ingredients, on 17th November 2014.

Khan allegedly transferred over £500 to Rehman, who made purchases of many chemicals via the internet, the court heard.

Mohammed Rehman and Sana Ahmed Khan

lar to those which were used in the London suicide bombings, in 2005.

It is also alleged that two months prior to Rehman's arrest, he had posted a Tweet, asking for

the Al Qaeda guide of bomb-making, “Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom; as well as handwritten recipes for bombs.

The prosecutor also claimed that Khan and

Job market failing qualified middle-aged women: Study Ageing is taking a toll on women, especially in the job market, if figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) are anything to go by.

Last year, there were 162,000 unemployed women over 50 – a 45% increase since 2010. This was the highest number since the ONS began collecting such data in 1992.

A growing number of highly qualified, professional women in their forties and fifties are struggling to get foothold in the job market. Take for instance the case of Belinda Aaron. She is 47.

She was a business development executive in Manchester. She left her job in 2014 after some issues related to bullying and harassment by a colleague. She has 25 years of experience. But today she is jobless. In the last one year, Belinda Aaron has had 70 of her job applica-

tions rejected.

“I just thought that having always found work easily, I would simply get another job. It wasn't naivety. It was a view based on my previous experience,” she says.

The worst is today she is not wanted even for below par jobs. She even applied for a job with a salary less than a third of what she had drawn earlier – but there also she was unsuccessful. The HR informed her that there were over 169 applications for the post and she was unsuccessful this time.

Many take career breaks to look after children or elderly parents, but after that to get a foot in the employment door is difficult. The bitter colloquial term is “finished at 50”.

“There's a real need for an adult apprenticeship initiative or some form of adult intern programme.

There's so much that could be done for women in my situation – even just an area at the job centre dedicated to middle-aged professionals. We could help each other with training on software packages or exchange contacts,” says Belinda.

Women have to be savvy about getting noticed, be it through social media, blogs or being visible at networking events. “One lady I know was made redundant from a bank. So she became almost a social media master and built up her profile by writing a number of thought-leadership pieces, blogs and comments, to the extent where her content was so well respected she ended up getting offered roles as a consequence of her articles,” says Michael Barrington, chief executive of recruitment firm Barrington Hibbert Associates.

Leicester City Football Club Manager lights up Leicester’s Merlyn Vaz Tree Leicester City Football Club Manager Claudio Ranieri performed this year’s switch-on ceremony for the Merlyn Vaz Christmas Tree.

The Merlyn Vaz Tree is lit every year in memory of Merlyn Vaz, Leicester’s first female Asian Councillor and mother of Keith Vaz. Previous guest of honour have included Rev Jesse Jackson the Civil Rights Leader; Indian Bollywood Star – Dharmendra, from BBC’s Eastenders, and Goodness Gracious Me Nina Wadia; from Coronation Street – Shobhna Gulati, Local Boxing Champion Rendall Munroe and Bhasker Patel who plays

Equipment allegedly purchased by Rehman to carry out the attack

The court was also informed that Rehman, who was arrested in May 2015, was less than two days away from constructing a fertiliser bomb, simi-

Anjali Vaz, Claudio Ranieri and Rt Hon Keith Vaz, MP

occasion is one of my favourite events of the year and as in previous years Hampers will be distributed to nominated Senior citizens of Leicester. "I would like to take this opportunity to wish the whole of Leicester a very Merry Christmas.”

advice whether he should attack the London Underground or Westfield Mall.

It is said that after the arrest of Rehman, police seized nearly 11kg of a fertiliser used in explosives;

Rehman were allegedly fascinated by the terror group, ISIS, and that Rehman “undoubtedly approved of the atrocities and wished to play his own part.”

The trial continues.

99P store slapped with fine after crisps ‘sticky with mouse urine’ found at store A leading high street discount chain has been slapped with an £154,000 fine after rodent droppings, fly-infested food and crisps ‘sticky with mouse urine’ were found at two of their stores. The grim discoveries were made at the 99p stores in Croydon, south London – leading to the hefty fine being imposed on operators Poundland, who bought the discount chain earlier this year.

Croydon Council inspectors visited 99p stores in North End and Church Street last year after complaints from shoppers and noticed a strong smell of mouse urine, and droppings over the floor. A store-room also contained flyinfested rotting fruit, while the shop floor was littered with food waste.

A separate visit to the Church Street

Former Prime Minister becomes wealth creation adviser

Rishi Sharma in ITV’s programme “Emmerdale” to name a few.

The light switch-on took place at the Methodist Church, 178 Uppingham Road, Leicester LE5 0QG on Thursday 3 December 2015 at 6.30pm.

Keith Vaz said: "This

Chilling tweet: Rehman allegedly tweeted for advice on where to target

The former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has joined one of the world's largest investment businesses, Pimco. This is his first major corporate role since leaving the parliament. Gordon Brown will be joining as a wealth creation adviser at the California- based asset management company.

Andrew Balls, the brother of Brown's former aide and minister is the chief investment officer for global fixed income at Pimco.

99p store in Croydon, south London

branch led inspectors to discover ‘sticky’ packets of crisps covered in mouse urine and chewed packaging. Both stores were ordered to close until the infestations had been tackled, but mouse droppings have still been discovered during four subsequent inspections.

Lord Janner declared unfit for criminal trial Britain: A senior judge has declared that Lord Janner (87), is unfit to plead in a criminal trial regarding sex abuse charges which go back 50 years.

At the Old Bailey, where Lord Janner had not attended, Justice Openshaw stated that the peer suffers from “advanced and disabling” dementia. Detail reports from four leading psychiatrists and psychologists agree that Janner's mental health is very bad.

Lord Janner

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Guptas buy Caparo Tubular Solutions The steel industry may just get a second innings in Britain as Caparo Tubular Solutions, once owned by Lord Swraj Paul, has been acquired by new owners.

Caparo Tubular Solutions, which is a core conception of Caparo Industries, has been bought by the Gupta family, whose wider interests includes SIMEC and Liberty House, the international energy, metals, industrial and trading groups.

After concluding talks with administrators PwC, the Guptas made an announcement of the purchase.

While buying Caparo, they stated that they were “very attracted” to the company.

Caparo's Tubular Solutions division, is considered as a leading UK distributor, manufacturer and supplier of advanced tube components and parts for the automotive and aerospace industries.

With the Guptas making this new purchase, it could help retain almost 350 jobs within this division of Caparo.

Sanjay Gupta, Chief Executive of Liberty

Caparo Tubular Solutions has been bought by the Gupta family

(Liberty House Group), said, “There are many natural synergies between hot rolled coil production business and Caparo's design, manufacture and distribution of steel tube and various specialist engineering products. They are established customers for our product and we have, in fact, looked at them in the past about the possibility of integrating the two businesses in order to help create a comprehensive and robust new model for the steel sector in the UK. We now aim to achieve that objective.”

Liberty has offices across 30 countries across the globe. It is an international steel and non-ferrous metals group, operating from its four financial

hubs- London, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Sanjay Gupta added, “I believe that, despite the current difficulties being encountered by the UK steel industry there is a future for the sector in Britain, if we can develop more efficient business models based on streamlined integrated production, processing and distribution. This, together with the new initiatives now supported by the Government to lower energy costs for energy intensive industries, provides an opportunity for UK steel once again to be competitive.”

This new purchase by the Guptas may most likely bring a ray of hope within the UK steel industry.

Storm Desmond hits the UK Parts of the UK has been hit by Storm Desmond which has left thousands of residents without electricity or flooded out of their home.

Over 43,000 hones in Lancashire and Cumbria have no electricity, while almost 5,200 homes have been affected by the ghastly flood.

The torrential weather has claimed two lives in the Republic of Ireland and Cumbria.

The devastating flood and horrendous Storm Desmond has affected parts of Northern Ireland, southern Scotland, north Wales and mostly northwest England over the weekend. Many people might not be at their comfort of their homes during Christmas as the weather has created havoc for them.

Cumbria was hit the

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Is vanity more important than living?

Are we now living in an egocentric society where one would rather embrace death than look unattractive, or grow old?

Vanity is subjective from person to person and how one associates with the word is diverse. For a 50year-old socialite, she preferred to refuse a lifesaving kidney treatment as she feared of growing old.

It is also said that she was allowed to die, even though she had been diagnosed with a narcissist personality disorder.

The 50-year-old, whose family has extended her right to anonymity, had swallowed painkillers along with a bottle of Veuve Cliquot. She then told her daughters that she had “royally cocked it up”.

A psychiatric assessment established that she had “disturbance in the functioning mind”.

Hearing about her fear of growing old, in what can be termed as a landmark case, a judge ruled that she could die.

She had suffered damage

Spokesman, Alistair Thompson for the Care Not Killing Alliance, who promotes care and opposes euthanasia, said, “This is an absolutely chilling message that the court has sent out: that someone who felt they had lost their sparkle because they are over 50 should be allowed to die.”

Change is a part Vanity over life: A 50-year-old of live; humans are woman chose to die as she constantly changing feared ageing and evolving, either for the better or for the revealed in court that her worst. Ageing is an intemother was angry when gral process of life and to she revealed she was be mortified by the idea of pregnant to her. Her growing old and becommother was angry ing ugly, is most probably because “she would be a the revelation of the lack grandmother and that of appreciation someone made her feel ‘past her may have of the gift of live sell-by date’”. which they were This seems to be quite bestowed with. an alarming case and This ruling may be the even more so worrying to start of a revolutionary think what if there are law, or it could remain as more people who go to a one-off scenario. Either court for similar reasons. way, it does make one Does life hold a very small wonder about the value of value or significance in their life, and whether comparison to vanity and vanity precedents health. your social stature? to the liver due to her previous suicide attempt, and was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014.

One of her daughters

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Storm Desmond causes damage to many homes in Lancashire and Cumbria

most as record-breaking amounts of rain fell in that region.

About 40 schools were closed in Cumbria and five rescue centres have opened for those who are forced to

leave their homes.

The government has faced a lot of criticism post the devastating floods millions of pounds defences were built after the flood in cumbria, in 2005.

Man charged with alleged murder Man, 29, has appeared in a court charged with alleged attempt to murder after commuter ‘was pushed in front of a Tube train' at north London station leaving him in a coma with suspected fractured skull and chest injuries.

Devindra Ferguson, 29, has been charged with the alleged attempt to murder Kamlesh Ramji, who remains in a serious condition in hospital.

Ferguson, from

Colindale in North London, was remanded in custody and ordered to stand trial at Blackfriars Crown Court.

Mr Ramji, who is in his 40s, was accountancy software Sage business development manager at the London Computer Centre in Aldgate.

Kamlesh is a single man with no children.

Prosecutor Christina Pasquali said: 'The victim suffered a possible fractured skull, internal organ

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Constitutional quandary: London and Delhi Continued from page 3 Modi's whole idea was to reach out to them as the largest Opposition (44 in 543) in the Parliament in a bid to ensure smooth functioning of the House during the winter session.

The discussion covered various issues pending before the Parliament, especially the Goods and Sales Tax Bill which has been stuck in the Upper House for quite some time. As I said earlier, the BJP-led NDA Government lacks numbers in the Rajya Sabha to ensure its passage.

Modi's intentions are clear. “Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas.” Ultimately, the whole idea of reforms is to transform the society, especially empowering the poor and giving a better life for people. Certainly, they are not for making good headlines in media.

Modi, too, could have bypassed the Upper House through ordinances, but then that joy is often temporary. He knows such ordinances would come to haunt him again in the next session of the House as the law requires passage of the related bills within six weeks of the start of the session. I think what Modi did was right.

Reaching out to the Congress leadership was a smart move. Whether it will bear fruit or not, only time will tell, but it will certainly increase his stature in the public eye.

India should take a cue from the founding fathers of our Constitution. Drafting of India's Constitution was an Olympian task. The Constituent Assembly, which drafted it, met for the first time on December 9, 1946. The debates within the Assembly were reported in newspapers, and there were debates and critiques, in turn, within the press. Besides, views were invited from the general public as well as various minorities and linguistic groups. So important issues concerning justice and rights of various sections of society found a voice in the debates of the Constituent Assembly.

But despite the bumpy ride, they arrived at a consensus and drafted a world class Constitution – a written document full of vision and intricate in its detailing. The Constitution, which made India a sovereign, democratic republic, was adopted on November 26, 1949, and it came into effect on January 26, 1950, which is celebrated as Republic Day. Indian Constitution is the world's longest and largest written Constitution. The advantage is – it is a mix of British, American, French and other Constitutions.

Let us look back how the Constituent Assembly was formed. India gained Independence on 15th August, 1947. For Winston Churchill, an independent India was unthinkable. For him, India was the jewel in the crown. Although the victory of Allied forces in World War II was brave and admirable, it had exhausted and drained the resources of the British Government. Remember, Indian armed forces had a significant contribution in that victory, with some 4.2 million personnel fighting for the Allies. This was in the mind of Britain. So it was impossible for Britain to keep India as its colony. India had to be given independence.

Prime Minister Clement Attlee was more open to India's struggle for Independence and decided to make India free. Viceroy Lord Wavell could not reconcile to the opposing views of Mahatma Gandhi and Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Both Gandhi and Jinnah were Gujaratis from Kathiawad. Gandhi was born in Porbander, 17 miles away from Paneli where Jinnah was born. Both were lawyers and worked closely in Congress till almost 1930, created two countries on totally opposite principles. The creation of Pakistan based on religion was an anathema to Gandhi, who at one stage was willing to offer Jinnah prime ministership of independent India. However, Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel opposed this suggestion.

Lord Mountbatten was sent to India in 1947. His primary remit was to give India Independence, because the earlier proposal of Home Rule was rejected. Somewhere in FebMarch 1947, Lord Mountbatten recommended the India office and the British Government

that Partition was the only option and the Indian Independence Act was passed in March 1947. In less than six months, India became free. The deliberations of Constituent Assembly were overwhelmed by pain and bloodshed of Partition, that butchery of millions during Partition, once recorded as the largest migration. Over and above, the Indian Government laying down ground rules for a democratic form of Government with umpteen problems and the worst was the assassination of Gandhi within a few months of India's Independence. India became free on August 15, 1947, and Gandhiji was assassinated on January 30, 1948.

When the Constitution was formulated finally, there were discussions, and I have read enough about hope and desire, that along the passage, amendment and alterations would keep the spirit of Constitution. That's why amendement procedure was enshrined so carefully in the Indian Constitution.

Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a strategy for self evolvement as well as self correction, could not happen. Our great experts of Constitution did not realise the binding force of caste and the contradiction of the Indian society. In a way every independent person would accept that the present situation of the Indian Constitution must revisit the provisions of Reservation – Quota, Article 370, CentreState relationship and other several issues to unleash the power of the 1.25 billion Indians who are eager to compete with the best in the world.

India has every reason to be proud of its Constitution and the people who brought it to life. The present-day Indian Parliament should take a leaf out of this chapter of Indian history and conduct itself in a more mature manner.

The participants of the Constituent Assembly often disagreed vehemently on the very basic principles, yet they worked together towards accommodation and consensus and never came in the way of the future of India.

But the present situation in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha makes one wonder whether in the forseeable future, sanity will prevail or not. Up until last Friday (4th December), the Congress and other Opposition parties were lambasting Modi Government for lack of give and take with Pakistan and were demanding overtures to enter into a dialogue with Islamabad. When on Sunday night the news was leaked about National Security Adviser-level meeting between India and Pakistan (See Comments – Page 3), Anand Sharma, a senior Congress parliamentarian, demanded on Monday that the House should have been informed about the background of this development and Prime Minister must explain about the 'secret' IndiaPak NSA meeting in Bangkok. Strange as it may sound, in the modern world, such dialogue are conducted in a sensible manner, away from the public gaze. Similarly, the Congress leadership was playing ball with the Modi Government on Goods and Sales Tax Bill.

On Tuesday (8th December), the Delhi High Court asked Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi to appear personally before it on December 19 in the 'National Herald' cheating and misappropriation case. What was the reaction? The Congress Parliamentary Board decided to oppose it tooth and nail within and outside the Parliament.

How can you conduct the affairs of the state when Parliamentarians cannot discuss calmly and cooly the issues facing the country?

Let me give you one more example. V K Singh, the former Army General and now a minister in the Modi Government, made a statement not to the liking of Congress. The leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha vowed to disrupt the House until V K Singh resigns.

Proper rules are needed to contain such series of sad developments and the only instrument available, in the final analysis, is the Constitution of India.

Cameron is a fortunate person. He can take necessary steps and make suitable changes in Parliament. In that respect, Modi is not lucky enough and that is sad.

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Imprisoned daughter of cult-leader forgives father The brave daughter of Aravindan Balakrishnan has opened up about her life since escaping her father's cult and has to her credit says that she has forgiven him. Speaking on the show 'This Morning', known as 'Fran' to protect her identity, the 33-year-old spoke about how in captivity her father routinely beat and abused her, which she thought was normal.

It wasn't until she secretly began reading books like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings that she realised her father was similar to the evil fictional character "the dark lord".

Even though she revealed she was "extremely delighted" once she had left the cult, she confessed that she didn't have any hatred towards her father, also known as Comrade Bala.

"Well I forgive him... What he did was wrong, but hatred and anger will not... It helps no one."

Asked what her plans for the future were Fran said: "I want to help people, I want to make sure no one ever feels that way I did. No one ever feels alone and forsaken by

everybody."

Two people who helped the 33year-old woman adjust to a normal life, Yvonne Hall and Gerard Stocks, both said Fran has come a long way and have high hopes for her to lead an independent life.

Balakrishnan, 75, of North London, was convicted of a string of charges including rape, indecent assault, assault, child cruelty and false imprisonment last week. He will be sentenced in January.

He was remanded in custody.

Judge Deborah Taylor told him to “expect a substantial custodial sentence”.

Students may be removed from migrant numbers

Sajid Javid MP

Chancellor George Osborne has indicated that foreign students could be excluded from official migration figures, in a move that would see the total number of declared migrants in the UK fall but could lead to claims that the Government is attempting to massage the statistics.

The Asian community has braced the news with immense hopes, to increase students coming from the subcontinent. Last year the number of Indian students in the UK was 19,750 which was a drop by 2,635 on the previous year, which was almost down by 50%.

This happened when Post Study Work visa was scrapped in 2012, that deprived the international students who were paying more than £20,000 as tuition fee alone, the right to work for subsequent two years.

The comments were also welcomed by business groups and are a major boost to Vice Chancellors, who have complained bitterly that Home Office policy was costing them hundreds of millions of pounds in fee income.

George Osborne MP

Attacking Theresa May’s policy brief, the Chancellor recently said that the public is concerned only about “permanent” migrants and suggested the methodology behind the statistics should be changed.

He also slapped down proposals said to have been prepared by Mrs May for tougher language tests and greater savings requirements for student visa applicants, saying they were not government policy and would not take place.

Mr Osborne is said to have the backing of Sajid Javid, the Business Secretary, where as Mrs May is said to have been increasingly isolated over the issue.

Speaking to Asian Voice, Smt Madhu Sethi, First Secretary, Education, Indian High Commission said, post Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit, the dialogue is on and they are hoping the opportunities for Indian students will improve.

The National Indian Students' Union has welcomed the idea with open arms, and are hopeful that the PSW visa will also be reinstated at some point.

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Rani Singh, Special Assignments Editor

The Asian creating a powerful defence system for society Alyas Yasin is a personal trainer with a difference.

Having studied martial arts from the age of 10, he devised his own martial self-protection system that many people, including Asians, would find useful.

Especially in today’s climate of unsafe streets and neighbourhoods.

Alyas’s father is Gujarati. His mother, who raised him, was a Punjabi, and both were born in Kenya. Alyas was born in the UK. Alyas works at Eden Fitness, arguably one of London’s best and nicest private gyms. It’s a second home for some in the area and a go-to place for anything to do with physical therapy. Alyas has been a gym instructor/personal trainer there for many years. His always helpful attitude and on tap free advice undoubtedly contribute to Eden’s success.

He studied Pharmaceutical Science

Alyas Yasin

and took a course under the auspices of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry.

He is also a Pharmacy Dispenser, and a qualified First Aider. His knowledge of the world of medicine and nutrition complements his knowledge of physical training.

He credits his mother with introducing him to a subject he loves; martial arts. As a child, he learnt the Chinese White Crane Fist Kung Fu - a traditional martial arts under the respected instructor, Bob Stannells.

Alyas says, “I’ve done and still partake in a mix-

Asian Voice | 12th December 2015 ture of martial arts such as Boxing, Muay Thai, Grappling (Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu), Preying Mantis, Wing Chun and Escrima. I decided to incorporate some parts of those martial arts to make them more effective at street level for selfprotection and come away from traditional and competition- based rules. I developed my own system through my experience of martial arts and security protection.

I built an effective system to develop someone quite quickly, not in a complicated way. I love martial arts and they all have some benefits. But they tend to divert from the reason for being produced in the first place.

I drew on disciplines like Warriors Escrima under Krishna Godhania and Kamon Wing Chun under Kevin Chan who are great teachers, also friends well versed in other combat systems. I used the same concept as Bruce Lee; use what’s useful and discard what’s useless.”

Alyas’s discipline is “DFence (Urban Strategic Combat System).”

It takes around a year to become proficient in it, depending on the frequency of the lessons. “In a year you get a foundation base which will be more than enough to use if you need

9

there should be a balance. it,” says the lean, softly spoThey need to be directed ken instructor. Alyas teachinto some sort of activityes an armed and unarmed based exercise that will system. develop them and also “I teach how to use improve their studying. It weapons, how to defend will develop their reflexes against weapons; like and make them more conknives, swords, sticks and fident. They will be able to firearms- the weapons protect themselves. There prevalent today. I don’t still is racism today and condemn carrying there will always be probweapons, but knowing how lem-causing elements so to use them gives confithey will always be a target dence in knowing how to to some degree. It’s impordeal with them. The idea tant to build confidence comes from thinking like and to learn. It’s not just an attacker.” for them. It’s for the people The D-Fence system is around them; their family, most suitable for teens friends and anyone upwards, says Alyas. who needs help.”

“Understanding “ActivityFinally, Alyas reflexes and non opens up about pattern flow drills based greatest are key to the exercise will his challenge.”My development of an individual. develop them greatest challenge is to There is no one and also best system. A improve their prove myself as an individual child should start in any martial art to studying,” and to prove that, as an Asian, I give them a foundahave as much knowltion. Mine is a follow on; edge and expertise as anyyou learn how to crawl one else. Sometimes, before you can walk.”

Asians are not the first The D-Fence system choice. The challenge is to can be important for become the first choice and Asians. “Asians have startovercome that. Through ed to do more in the marinteracting, through showtial arts arena,” he says, ing what I know, through “but this is a useful arena how people see me, I can for Asians to learn somechange the picture of who I thing different.” Alyas am. People hide behind an knows that his community image. We need to take gives top priority to studyaway the image and show ing. that underneath we are all “A lot of Asians are the same. “ pushed into studying, but

10

READERS’ VOICE

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

Modi, Corbyn and Trump Two recent outsiders of the political spectrum are in the news, one the new Labour leader the other the Republican front runner in the US presidential race, Donald Trump. Corbyn is anti military, wants peaceful resolution by negotiations, the later is pro military and wants negotiation from strength. Each a reflection of the status of their respective countries might. One the world biggest military power, the other a much smaller power.

India is set to become the third world power after China and US. Mahatma Gandhi fought for Indian independence by a non violent peaceful struggle but Narendra Modi has to reflect the new status, as a growing military power, of the New India, where is, much of the Gandhian thinking will be irrelevant to manage New India, the very type which Corbyn espouses.

Jayesh A Patel Wimbledon

Secularism in India

The Indian constitutional assembly in November 1949 adopted the original preamble text which states: Liberty of thought, expressions, belief, faith and worship; Equality of status and opportunity; Fraternity ensuring the dignity of the individual and the unity of the nation.

Indira Gandhi during the emergency introduced Amendment 42 which was very unpopular and clampdown civil liberties and widespread abuse of human rights by police angered the public.

The Amendment 42 stripped the powers of Supreme Court and inserted new clause towards parliamentary democracy. The Amendment also changed the preamble and changed the description of India from “Sovereign, democratic Republic’ to “Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, democratic republic’. It also changed the ‘unity and integrity of the nation’. It also transferred more powers to the central government from the state government. The pseudo secularism in India does not separate religion and state and this was done to appease Muslims so that they can have separate Sharia laws and code bills which are independent of Indian constitution.

The Constitution has enough powers for protection of rights of the minorities and the government with two thirds majority should bring Uniform Code Bill in the present parliament. Indian secularism is ‘fraudulent’ and is failure as it is understood in the West is based more on the basis of religious appeasement and the separation of people on the basis of religion.

Arun Vaidyanathan By email

Panic in Paris

Soon after Narendrabhai’s speech at Wembley Stadium, where he addressed a crowd of 60,000 people – a feat unparelled by anyone else so far- a plot was hatching in neighbouring Paris which killed over 130 innocent people.

Narendrabhai hails from Gujarat, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhiji taught the world how to live in peace and harmony. He learned this tenet of ahinsa form Shrimad Rajchandraji who was a Jain muni. Perhaps it would be worthwhile if Mr Modi revives this principle of non- violence in his future speeches!

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park

Handwritten Indian Passports declared invalid

Your article entitled "Handwritten Indian passports declared invalid", which was published on 24 November was interesting and informative. I noted that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (IACO) set a deadline of 24 November 2015 for globally phasing out all non-machine Readable Passports. Thank you very much for this information. Still better late than never.

Mohindra Master By email

EU rules may endanger patient care

Medical professionals from EU will be allowed to work in our NHS without vital checks, neither on their medical qualifications nor command of English. According to new EU dictate, all health workers will receive “Electronic Passports” enabling them to work anywhere as doctors, nurses and midwives without further checks. BMA will be obliged to register them without checking their background, conviction, disqualification or qualifications.

While France, Germany and Scandinavian countries have equivalent standard, same cannot be said of Bulgaria, Romania and few other countries where corruption is ripe in every field and money can buy any favours, even exam results.

Although such a scenario may occur on rare occasion, even one rogue doctor is one too many, as they deal with matter of life and death. Negligence is already rife in NHS, with thousands of patients being victims of wrong diagnosis, removal of wrong organs.

No wonder NHS is slowly haemorrhaging to point of no-return!

Public opinion is moving fast against EU membership with Germany’s liberal policy towards refugees and such fiduciary directives, interference in our internal affairs that may be detrimental for our wellbeing. It seems PM is on the slippery slope to gain concessions he could favourably put forward for us to stay in EU.

Subscribe Today Asian Voice in UK for only £29 for one year

Kumudini Valambia By email

War on Daesh

At last the blood thirsty war-mongers of the west won the votes to bomb Jihadi bases in Syria? Foreign secretary Philip Hammond says 'Britain is safer tonight because of the decision the House of Commons has taken?

My question to the Foreign Secretary of UK and others is why you did not smell terrorist when the 7/7 attack, happened in the heart of London and 13/15 in Paris and 9/11 in US etc? Because the west has already sown the seed of Jihadis by indiscriminately bombing in Iraq,Libya,Syria etc.

Now so-called Daesh is using the same western propaganda and that is why US/UK and it's cronies after spending trillions of dollars of taxpayers money in bombing in Iraq etc has failed. Creation of "Daesh" has won the psychology war against the west and indeed creat so much fear on the west, they cannot put boots on the ground and now using the suni shiya's and others like the British used Gurkhas to killed thousands of innocent Muslims during the "Indian Mutiny"?

I urge the western leaders and it's poodles to smell coffee sooner before it's get cold.

Yam Gurung By email

HOC vote: Two sides of the coin

As usual, our politicians have made mountain out of molehill, pretending that HOC vote is people’s mandate, approval from every source, including UN. While most will agree that this is different from our involvement in Iraq and Libya most of us opposed which gave birth to ISIS and made Libya a rouge country, the opinion is equally divided about this new fiduciary conflict.

While I applaud JC giving Labour MPs free vote, I am not sure MPs voted according to their conscious, some superficially consulted their constituents by holding meetings attended by less than 100 members, giving them an excuse to justify their voting pattern, thus avoid being blamed by grass-root workers who may disagree with their viewpoint. This was the vote for self-preservation.

Although RAF with laser-guided bombs can be precise, targeting oil wells, command post, ammunition depots, even single vehicle out of a convoy of 50 with most wanted ISIS in occupancy; like Jihadi John, civilian casualties cannot be entirely avoided as experienced in Afghanistan where hospitals and marriage parties were mistakenly targeted by Americans.

This is brutal civil, guerrilla war by surrogate iconoclasts, without rules or morality where beheading of journalists, aid workers, raping, selling young girls as sex slaves is justified. No wonder most who support this war justify civilian casualty as unavoidable by-product of mindless brutality on both sides. Opinion is firmly cemented and no amount of discussion will shift it either way.

Bhupendra Gandhi By email

Power of prayer

Kumudini Valambia’s letter regarding status of Christianity in U.K. is similar to Hinduism being treated in India. In both cases majority practice the named faiths yet these are sidelined to care for minority faiths.

Prayer is a personal practice carrying ethos/ discipline preached by specific faith.

Exhibition of such behavior is an anathema/ anachronism in multi religious society.

Suggestion to place adverts reciting “Lord’s Prayer” is an “ideal” from view point of religious people and highest authority. But there is wide gap between “ideal” and “pragmatism”. Cinema goers are not all Christians but an assortment of various faiths. Next, atmosphere at any cinema is not always conducive to spiritual ethos of any prayer. The mood of piety created by prayer may clash with contents of the film being shown. Prayer may tend to dampen mood of enjoyment for which the audience have bought the ticket.

Prayer associated with any faith will always be antagonized by parallel or diametrically opposing faiths, and by liberals who anticipate sheer inane hedonism. If at all prayer according to any one faith is felt essential, it may be suggested to be as per devotee’s faith, be voluntary and with open mind.

Ramesh Jhalla By email

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EDUCATION

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Shrinking distances for school admissions In Brief AsianVoiceNews

Families have to live within 300m of a school to get a place in almost a hundred schools, according to an analysis of school admissions.

The FindASchool website has gathered data on access to places in England's state schools. It shows the average cut-off distances for oversubscribed schools are 2.3km for primary and 4.8km for secondary.

The study found across the country there were 400 different permutations of entry requirements. But the number-crunching of admission statistics, which includes some but not all academies, shows this is more of an issue in London than elsewhere.

Across England, just

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

under half of schools, 46%, have more applications than places. But in London, two-thirds of schools are oversubscribed.

And in some boroughs, such as Greenwich, Kensington and Chelsea and Lewisham, 80% of schools lack enough places for the demand. In Wales, there is less pressure on places, with 13% of schools oversubscribed.

The analysis from the website, part of the

Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

192.com service, also shows how the chances of getting a school place can shrink when there is intense demand.

For 393 schools, pupils will not get a place if they live more than 500m away and for 91 schools, it depended on living within a distance of 300m. This is again a bigger issue in London, where there are 300 schools where pupils have to live within 750m, compared with 14 in the

North East.

The analysis also looked at the impact of a "sibling rule", where schools give priority to the brothers and sisters of existing pupils.

The study found that on average, 5% of places are taken by siblings, reducing the availability of places for others.

FindASchool founder Ed Rushton said that looking for a school place could be very stressful and that parents could face a "confusing array" of different admissions rules.

For individual schools this become "convoluted and opaque", he said, with one primary school in Rotherham having 23 different levels of priority for 16 reception class places.

Failing academies face rapid action Struggling academies could face rapid intervention and being taken over by another academy chain, in new powers proposed by the education secretary.

Nicky Morgan has announced that legislation will be extended to address failing and "coasting" academies as well as local authority schools.

Mrs Morgan said underperforming academies should be "held to account".

Heads' leader Brian Lightman says underperformance needs to be tackled, regardless of the type of school.

The ATL teachers' union said "the government seems to be finally waking up to the fact that some academies underper-

form".

Most secondary schools in England are now academies - and in his autumn statement, the chancellor George Osborne spoke of the government's aim to "make local authorities running schools a thing of the past".

While the response to underachieving local authority schools has been to turn them into academies, there have been questions about the action taken when academies are underperforming.

The proposals announced by Mrs Morgan are an amendment to the Education and Adoption Bill, currently before Parliament.

The changes will mean that the new, tougher

measures to raise standards in "coasting" schools will apply to all types of school, whether local authority, academy or free school.

The previous form of the proposed legislation did not apply to academies, but Mrs Morgan put forward an amendment to allow "robust action" for all types of school.

"Underperformance is

unacceptable wherever it occurs - whether that is in a maintained school or an academy," said the education secretary's written ministerial statement.

She said the Department for Education had already issued 122 warning notices to underperforming academies and free schools and changed the sponsor in 118 cases.

Academies which are underachieving will be "required to demonstrate they can improve significantly, or face the possibility of being moved to another sponsor".

Where Ofsted rates an academy as "inadequate", the school can face "instant intervention", which could mean being rapidly taken over by another sponsor.

UK pupil wins national competition Vianca Shah, 14 years old in Langley Grammar School, has won a national competition entitled ‘What does a United Europe mean to you?.’

This competition was offered to all 13-16 year olds across Europe, where there was a winner selected from each individual country by a national jury from the European Commission.

The 1 minute video outlined some of the main benefits of being part of the EU, both for an individual and for a community. She

and the 24 winners from other countries received their awards in Brussels, on a 3 day study trip, teaching

them about the enlargement policies of the European Union, helping emphasise how important

the commission is in everyday life.

There was a very rigorous judging process, where the UK had the highest number of entries. There were some common themes between all of the videos, but each had its own unique style which made it stand out to the national jury.

Vianca’s parents are very proud of her achievement and hopes she continues to work hard and take on board all the valuable skills she has gained!

26 hoverboards seized by Newham Council Newham Council’s trading standards team have removed 26 potentially dangerous hoverboards from sale in the borough’s shops in the last month.

The futuristic self-balancing scooters have been seized from stores and storage depots in East Ham and Stratford after the team received intelligence from border officials.

Fire brigades across the

country have warned that the popular gadgets may have sparked fires in London, Kent and Buckinghamshire, while they were being charged.

The Christmas musthave is normally priced between £400 and £600 but cheaper, versions can be found for £100 or less.

Often these cheaper gadgets have plugs that are either ill-fitting or do not

have fuses as well as substandard batteries.

Unmesh Councillor Desai, cabinet member for

crime and anti-social behaviour, said: “These hoverboards may be one of the most wanted Christmas presents this year, but nobody wants to be electrocuted or have their home burnt down by a cheap imitation. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, if it’s too good to be true then it probably is. Cheap items are often either fake or stolen.”

11

Kingsbury woman scams £40,000 in housing benefit Anwar Mihsen, from Kingsbury, who allegedly claimed over £40,000 housing benefit was given an 18-month imprisonment sentence.

It is said that she had failed to inform Brent Council that the two properties for which she was claiming housing benefit were owned by the father of her children, Mohamed Jawad.

Mihsen had claimed housing benefit on the two properties between 2006 and 2010. Rather than informing the council, she allegedly provided tenancy

agreements and benefit forms in which she provided Modeef Limited as the name of the landlord.

Brent Council cabinet member, Councillor Roxanne Mashari, who is responsible for welfare said, “In a time of budget cuts, when we are all desperately trying to make our money go further, it is disgraceful that someone would deliberately scam us out of over £40,000. In this climate, we cannot allow this amount of money to be wasted and so I am very pleased that it will be repaid to us.”

Young people are being squeezed out of sport because a third live in poverty and the cost of taking part is too high, according to a study.

Schools could help by opening facilities to community groups out of hours, it says.

The National Association of Head Teachers said tight budgets saw many schools already hiring out their sites. London School of Economics researchers studied sports provision in five poor areas in England

and Wales. n East Ham, London n Burngreave, Sheffield n St Paul's, Bristol n Gurnos, Merthyr Tydfil n Lache, Chester Cost is the biggest barrier to taking part in sport for young people over school age, found the report, Moving the Goal Posts.

"They like gyms and would go if it wasn't for the cost barrier. They also like the idea of team sports, but often there is a fee for participating and cost can become expensive," it says.

State school debt in England and Wales has increased sharply in the past three years, as budgets tighten and cost pressures hit schools, a report says.

The Times Educational Supplement asked councils how much maintained schools had asked to borrow since 2013-14. Borrowing in the 137 of 174 local authorities that responded rose £20m to £56.7m, the TES said, over three years.

The government says school budgets have been protected, but heads say they continue to face rising cost pressures.

The Department for Education added it was up to head teachers to prevent their schools from going into debt.

"We have always been clear that local authorities need to work with schools to prevent any deficits and surpluses becoming significant," it said.

The figures obtained under Freedom of Information laws looked at the financial years 2013-14, 2014-15, and up to the end of November 2015. They do not cover academies which are not maintained by local authorities.

Ealing Council are warning drivers about the dangers of parking on the yellow zig-zag markings outside schools.

The yellow markings are there to provide a clear space for children to cross where they can see traffic and traffic can see them, and motorists put children in danger by parking on them.

Police and council teams ask parents to help keep children safe by parking away from schools and instead take a short walk to the school gates. Earlier this year the council increased enforcement against illegal parking on zig-zags with the use of CCTV to crack down on dangerous drivers.

Young people 'priced out of sport' after leaving school

School debts 'have increased sharply' since 2013

School run drivers warned to park safely

12

MEDIA WATCH

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

The winter session of Parliament opened on a promising note of optimism. The fractious scenes to which the Indian people had become wearingly accustomed had been replaced with what the vast silent majority of Indians had long hoped for: party leaders talking seriously to each other, consulting on how best to tackle urgent legislation and take the country forward.

Where there is a will, there must be a way. Hope springs eternal.. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led by example, speaking with the gravitas and vision of a national leader and not simply as a party chief. He told MPs that his primary concern was the welfare of India.

That India came first, that its well-being subsumed every other cause going forward. It was in this mood of conciliation that he reached out to the Congress party. Let us sit down and consult with each other for the greater good, he seemed to say in word and gesture. In this context it meant getting the critical Goods and Services Tax Bill through the Rajya Sabha, where the government lacks the numbers, and looks to the Opposition for cooperation. The Lok Sabha has already passed the Bill. The assent of both Houses of Parliament is necessary for the bill to become law.

Constitution extolled

Prime Minister Modi in his address extolled the country’s Constitution and paid fulsome tribute to its framers, most notably to B.R. Ambedkar.

Politics in a democracy is essentially about the centre, about consensus. The headline in the business daily Mint, “BJP, Congress break bread over GST’ said it all.

The Prime Minister called Congress President Sonia Gandhi and elder statesman Dr Manmohan Singh to set the ball rolling. Indeed, Dr Singh was the catalyst, his voice respected as that of the professional economist.

Congress spokesman Anand Sharma who, as the former Commerce and Industry minister, is aware of the GST details, having attempted, unsuccessfully, to pilot it through Parliament when Congress were in power.

High expectations

This time, hopefully, the GST Bill will get through. Indian industry is watching and so are droves of foreign investors. A single Indian market based on an unified tax system is the reform everyone who has India’s interest at heart is looking for. (Mint, Times of India, Business Line, Hindu November 29-December 1)

Modi’s high rating

According to a Mint-InstaVani poll, Prime Minister Modi’s approval rating across India is 74 per cent, an exceptional figure by any standard. The poll shows that people continue to invest high hopes in him. Sandeep Shastri, pro-vice chancellor Jain University and Director of its Centre for Research in Social Sciences and Education, said: ‘The high rating can also be attributed to the absence of a strong alternative to Modi.’ In August, his rating was 79 per

cent, but the decline is a blip thus far (Mint December 2)

December 2012, the pioneering genius whose work in making Amul an Indian and a global centre of excellence it is today, owes more to him than it does to any living soul. On his 90 th birthday on November 26, 2011, Amul published a quarter page advertisement paying him the following tribute: ‘You changed the lives of 15 million farmers’ families. You revolutionized the dairy sector. You gave India 200 Amul brands. We give you 90 candles.’

R.S.Sodhi, Managing Director of Gujarat Cooperative Milk

GDP rise

India’s economy grew by 7.4 per cent in the second quarter (JulySeptember), thanks to increased industrial activity and rising investment demand. The Reserve Bank of India’s decision to keep the present interest in place is evidence of its belief that economic recovery is stable. The government’s growth projection for the fiscal 2014-16 ending March 31 is 7.5 per cent ((Mint, Times of India, Business Line December 1,2)

President lauds Amul’s role

President Pranab Mukherjee lauded the Amul model of dairy cooperation during a three-day visit to Gujarat. He said the Amul venture ‘personifies the spirit of selfless dedication and far-sighted leadership’ that led to a billion rupee brand boosting the social and economic development of poor farmers in the State’s rural hinterland. The President inaugurated a state-of-the-art cattle

Marketing Federation, who worked with Kurien over 32 years spoke of his unique contribution to the uplift of India’s rural economy. This is where the Gujarat model should, and must, be India’s too. (Business Line November 27)

Telangana set to embrace future

India’s first smart manufacturing hub in Hyderabad, Telangana, awaits the green signal from Delhi before taking off, said Dr V.K. Saraswat, former director general, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and currently a member of the centre’s Niti Adyog.

Describing the hub as a centre of excellence and a vital component for India’s rapidly growing defence and aerospace President Pranab Mukherjee lights a lamp to inaugurate Amul's feed manufacturing plant at sectors, he said Kapadwanj taluk in Kheda, Gujarat, Hyderabad must embrace the feed plant set up by Amul dairy in future. a village in Kheda distrtict. He exhorted all stakeholders to Land allotment ensure that this ‘world class institution continues to progress with Rajeev Sharma, Chief Secretary, the same passion and the same Telangana, said the State had crecommitment and with the same ated a large land bank of over 1.5 values of integrity, efficiency and lakh acres and plans to attract honesty which the founding investments in the aerospace segfathers had instilled in Amul.’ ment. ‘We are planning to set up

Winning formula

President Mukherjee referred to ‘the winning combination of farmers’ wisdom, the democratic set-up, professional management and the adoption of the right technology.’ Amul, he said, was the cooperative model best suited to address rural development needs of India.

Google tribute to Kurien

Global search engine Google celebrated the 94th birth anniversary of Dr Verghese Kurien. Born in November 1921, he died in

ties.’

(Times November 29)

of

India

Airtel’s great leap

INS Kadmatt

17 officers and 106 ratings and a helicopter. The first ship of the series, INS Kamorta, was commissioned in August 2014, with two more scheduled for delivery in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

The company’s products have attracted interest in Algeria, Vietnam, Cyprus and Egypt (Hindu November 27)

Women fighter pilots

Dr Verghese Kurien

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Air Marshal P. P Reddy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committe’e said that women pilots were undergoing training for service in the Indian Air Force. He explained: ‘The decision will help give opportunities to all serving women flying officers aspiring to become fighter pilots. They will go through the same drill and tests….I am sure the selected women fighter pilots will be the best in all aspects.’

This will make women the first in the three services to participate in frontline duties (Times of India December 1)

More IAF acquisitions

Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha has stated that the Indian Air Force (IAF) faced significant shortages in frontline aircraft and infrastructure. The IAF was looking forward to acquiring the promised 36 French Rafales. ‘Apart from this, there are other aircraft we are looking at. We will be getting more SU-MKI 30s. An order has been placed for 120 Tejas MK-II….India has a very important role to play internationally, and to maintain this, we will have to increase our military capabili-

India’s largest telecom service provider Bharti Airtel has announced that it will invest Rs 60,000 crore over the next three years to upgrade its networks to meet increasing competition. ‘The programme called Project Leap, will see a network transformation.

Large parts of this investment will improve voice and data services,’ said Bharti Airtel Managing Director and CEO (India and South Asia) Gopal Vittal. Funds are to be raised through international cash accruals. Under Project Leap, Airtel will deploy over 70,000 data base stations, its largest target in a single year.

(Hindu December 1)

ICC report

The International Cricket Council report on the recent Test match between India and South Africa at Nagpur has condemned the pitch as ‘poor.’ This is a considerable embarrassment for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). About half a dozen recent Test matches in India have ended under three days, raising questions about the integrity of the cricket authorities. Doctored surfaces are a disgrace and travesty of the spirit of cricket. India’s dismal performances abroad carry a message: Cheat at your peril.

(Hindu, Telegraph December 2)

Case dismissed

Chief Justice Dattu of India’s Supreme Court threw out a Public Interest Litigation questioning Rahul Gandhi’s Indian citizenship with the scathing observation to the litigant that he had wasted the court’s time. It was Subramaniam Swamy who first raised this subject as another of his public stunts. Atal Bihari Vajpayee couldn’t abide the man.

You can see why.

another economic zone spread over 1 000 acres for aerospace and defence sectors.’ (Business Line December 1)

INS Kadmatt joins Indian Navy

Named after an island in the Lakshadeep archipelago, INS Kadmatt, the latest addition to the Indian Navy is an anti-submarine corvette designed and manufactured at the Kolkatabased Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers facility. It has stealth features and advanced sensors and weapon systems and will carry a crew of

Narendra Modi at Climate change summit in Paris. see comment page 3

Chennai floods: Almost the whole of Chennai city was flooded. see comment page 3

UK

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

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EXCLUSIVE

Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

13

Chauhan pleads Brit-Asians to help with her visa Rupanjana Dutta Aditi Chauhan, the West Ham goalie is asking for support from the BritAsian community, to help her stay and succeed in the UK. Aditi, who is the first Indian woman to make to one of the top Ladies football team in England, is due to go back to India on 29 January, after her Tier 4 visa (student) runs out.

Graduating with an Msc in Sports Management at Loughborough University, Aditi represented Indian Women's National Team for 5 years before coming to the UK. She played for Loughborough University and then moved to West Ham Ladies FC, a third division club, inspiring many young footballers in India, and also the BritAsian community here.

The FA rules do not allow her to play for a first or a second division club on

Aditi Chauhan

a student visa. That's why she moved to West Ham Ladies, a third division club. But they can't sponsor her visa, only first and second division clubs can do that.

Premier League regulars West Ham United FC can bail her out by offering her a job and thus sponsoring her work visa. Aditi,

with crossed fingers, will be meeting West Ham representatives on Wednesday.

But she remains unsure what will be the outcome.

Speaking to Asian Voice exclusively, Aditi said, “Over the years the girls' participation in football has improved in India but they still do not have enough opportunities to pursue their passion for the game.

“After I moved to West Ham Ladies FC a lot of young footballers back in India and also from the Asian community here in UK are following my career and are encouraging me to continue to push my limits as I am setting a path for the aspiring footballers to follow their dreams and give them hope to have a career in football.

“I played for the Loughborough University last season while I was studying at the university and then I moved to

A&E closures in North West London must be halted, says report Indraja Gugle A&E closures in North West London, “ballooned in cost to £1.3 bn”, are seriously jeopardising health care services and must be halted immediately, according to an investigation. Amongst the nine hospitals in North West London, only five will retain A&E services with Central Middlesex and Hammersmith A&E units closed already along with the Ealing Hospital maternity ward. Closures will amount to 25% reduction in bed space, putting pressure on other already overburdened hospitals.

“NHS is a treasured part of our culture and these closures are threatening the very principles of NHS,” said barrister Michael Mansfield QC who headed the investigation under the Independent Healthcare Commission for North West London, called by five councils Hammersmith, Ealing, Brent, Harrow and Hounslow. The closures come as part of the NHS programme ‘Shaping a healthier future’ which aimed to improve health care services and to cut costs by £1bn. The report finds that instead of saving costs, £235mn were spent in 'programme costs', with £35mn going towards management consultants.

There are also plans to decimate Charing Cross Hospital, but they are currently on hold.

The programme planning which began before 2012 has greatly underesti-

Krupesh Hirani.

mated the growing population size and medical needs of North West London, lays out the report.

Councils lament that Out Of Hospital care is still not in place and yet A&E services at major hospitals are being scrapped. “The programme has been too NHS-focussed with little participation from local councils,” said Brent Krupesh Councillor Hirani. The 320,000 residents of Brent of which

The 320,000 residents of Brent of which 40% are South Asians are being adversely affected by the closure of Central Middlesex Hospital’s A&E services.

40% are South Asians are being adversely affected by the closure of Central Middlesex Hospital’s A&E services. It's putting more pressure on Northwick Park Hospital which has become the worst performing in the country with a waiting period of four hours, he added. Ealing Councillor Julian Bell said, “There will be a big impact on the 51% BME population of which a substantial number are South Asians.

Michael Mansfield QC

They are already suffering by missing out on culturally sensitive health care services at their doorstep because of the closures.”

Patients would also be redirected to Urgent Care Centres (UCC), but the report outlined “widespread confusion” among GPs, consultants and patients as to which health issues and patients UCCs could deal with.

Additionally, London Ambulance service is also on special measures, putting even more pressure on other hospitals with A&E units. “Councils should consider a judicial review if the programme is not halted,” said Mr. Mansfield.

Shaping A Healthier Future argued the £1.3 bn figure and said that patients now had better access to GPs with approximately 250 practices providing evening and weekend appointments with an “additional 11 consultants, 31 nurses and 21 junior doctors delivering A&E services and 113 staff for midwifery and neonatal services across North West London”.

London to join West Ham Ladies FC which is a 3rd division club as with a student visa I was not allowed to lay for 1st and 2nd division clubs.

“My hard work helped me get in the starting 11 of the Loughborough University team and now I am starting for the West Ham Ladies 1st team.

“However the Football Association is not able to apply for a work permit, as West Ham is a third tier football club, and I am classed as semi professional.

“That does not change the fact that I am the first Indian woman footballer in the UK, to have reached this position and are playing with an established English football club.

“It is my humble request to you to help me acquire a suitable visa, and

take my cause across the government and relevant authorities.”

Reaching out to the community, especially to community's favourite Asian MP, Rt Hon Keith Vaz, the Chair of Home Affairs Committee, Aditi is hopeful, something will be done here.

Her brother has also launched a petition in India, and it has already reached the target of 7500 signatures. It will be soon handed over to Sushma Swraj, Minister of External Affairs, India. It has also been directed towards development Foundation Chief, Nita Ambani.

This newspaper believes that Aditi's talents and experience would be significant for the community. She remains an ideal in and outside the UK, and is encouraging more and more youngsters to follow her steps in Britain. If the Indian Gymkhana or a Brit-Asian corporate extends their helping hand to Aditi with sponsorship, she may be able to stay here and continue her goodwork. She could possibly become an ambassador of the Indo-British ties in

sports as Britain tries to capture the huge market in India with English Premier League. It is a rare and exclusive opportunity.

National Indian Students Union (UK) in a statement told Asian Voice, "We call on the UK Government to support Aditi by granting her a visa that allows her to stay on in the UK and pursue a career in professional football.

Aditi is a role model for millions of Indian and British Indian females and her talent should be nourished and celebrated by both UK and India, instead of creating an environment of despair and discouragement."

President, Sanam Arora said, “Prime Minister Cameron often hails the UK - India relationship as that of people to people and we request him to consider the plea of exceptional talent in exceptional circumstances. In an environment of hostility against immigration in the UK, such a move would be extremely positive and go a long way in showing Indian talent , particularly students just how welcome they are in the UK.”

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COMMUNITY

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

White Ribbon Day with "Saheli" Reshma Trilochun White Ribbon Day, which is commemorated on 25th November, is a great initiative where people, men in particular, take a stand on the violence against women. This year, the Enfield Saheli held a White Ribbon Day congregation on Friday 4th December, which had many dignitaries attending, such as the Deputy Mayor of Enfield, Cllr Bernadette Lappage; Cllr Yasemin Brett, Labour Party Cabinet Member for Community Organisations and Culture; as well as MP David Burrowes, Member of Parliament for Enfield, Southgate; plus many more.

The Chief Executive Officer at Enfield Saheli, Krishna Pujara hosted the event and ensured the programme ran smoothly.

The Chair of Saheli, Esther McLaughlin addressed the attendees.

She said, “The reason why we have this day today is because White Ribbon Day is a very important day in the world. It began from a movement that started in South America in the late 80s.

Governments were killing women activists and they decided to have a day called 25th November, which was about anti-violence against women. In Canada, in 1991, there was a massacre of girl students and Canadian men stood up and said, 'No'. It then moved forward and in 1998, the UN set up International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women. From then, in Britain, White Britain Day began.”

She further stated, “What is different about White Ribbon Day is that is also gives men the opportunity to pledge against violence against women because they are, after all, half the human race, and women alone

Overseas visitors denounce health surcharge for visa application Indraja Gugle

Chair of Enfield Saheli, Esther McLaughlin

can't stand up for violence against women.”

Cllr Bernadette Lappage honoured the volunteers, workers and participants of the Enfield Saheli community. “I am here to honour you and tell you how special you are, and that we are a wonderful family in Enfield... The White Ribbon Campaign is the largest effort in the world working to end men's violence against women. How could we better spend out time today with the warmth and love in the room, and working

Deputy Mayor of Enfield, Cllr Bernadette Lappage

Labour Cabinet Member, Cllr Yasemin Brett

this can only be found in solidarity, sisterhood... the law, the authorities all have their part to play. But the excellent women

Ameet Aggrawal gets a shave

Enfield Saheli's volunteers with Labour Candidate for Edmonton, Kate Osamor (centre)

towards such a great objective.”

Cllr Yasemin Brett added, “This is an evil that can only be defeated in partnership. The battle may start with the courage of one woman... but the long-lasting answers to

groups that we have in this borough are really the backbone of this issue.”

What could be considered as the highlight of the event was the beard shaving ceremony of the special male guest attendees. They were specifically asked to

CEO of Enfield Saheli, Krishna Pujara

David Burrowes MP

grow their beards for this special cause to show their respect and support for White Ribbon Day. Female attendees cheered and applauded the men and their special contribution, teasing them to make the situation more amicable and fun-filled.

One of the male guests who had his beard shaved off, Ameet Aggarwal, from the Art of Living, stated, “The issue of violence against women is not a women's right issue, but a humans' right issue. If women do not feel safe, the very fabric of society is torn apart. Both men and women have to stand up together to fight against this injustice and come up with solutions.”

David Burrowes MP concluded the event by saying, “This is an important cause... in terms of tackling violence against women.”

Enfield Saheli is small charity which runs from their own resources. Like many other charities, if they are unable to gain the correct or adequate funding, they will be frail and may end up closing.

Organisations, such as the Enfield Saheli, are a ray of hope for many destitute women and help should be given to these selfless causes, in order to run to make this world a better place.

50 years of the Race Relations Act

Tuesday 8th December 2015 marked the 50th year since the introduction of the 1965 Race Relations Act in Britain.

The Race Relations Act 1965 was the first to address the ban of racial discrimination. The Act which prohibited racial discrimination in public places. It also made the promotion of hatred on the grounds of ethnicity or colour an offence. The Act read, “An Act to prohibit discrimination on racial grounds in places of public resort; to prevent the enforcement or imposition on racial grounds of restrictions on the transfer of tenancies; to penalise incitement to racial

passing of the Race Relations Act. The Bristol Bus Boycott in 1963 occurred when the Bristol O m n i b u s Company refused to employ black or Asians. The boycott grabbed From left: Sadiq Khan MP, Baroness Prashar, Lord national headLester and Lord Ouseley viewing the Race lines and the agiRelations Act tation was suphatred...” ported by national politicians.

The Bristol Bus Boycott was There were claims by anticonsidered to have been one of racist groups and Labour backthe influential causes for the

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

The Department of Health has announced plans to levy an immigration health surcharge for non-EEA nationals who “apply for a visa to enter or remain in the UK for more than six months”. It has also announced that all overseas visitors and migrants will be charged for A&E services, ambulance care and most GP services.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the NHS would recover £500 mn every year which would be “put back into frontline patient care.” UK government’s independent advisor on cost recovery, Sir Keith Pearson, will head a consultation starting Monday which will continue until 6 March, 2016.

Overseas visitors and migrants currently pay for non-urgent operations, in-patient treatment and follow-up care as an outpatient.

According to the changes in health charges for overseas visitors, they will now have to pay for A&E and ambulance services in case of emergencies, as well as GP charges including diagnostic tests and scans.

Chargeable services also include prescription drugs, physiotherapy, blood tests, lung function tests, dental and eye care.

However, in the interest of public health protection, GP and nurse consultations will remain free.

Overseas visitors to the UK are not very pleased with this announcement. Darshan Bodhe, a visitor from India, said, “This move is inappropriate. UK has the most expensive visa charges in the world and it is their duty to give these services to legal visitors. The additional health surcharge along with a more complicated visa process will only dis-

benchers that the new law failed to cover housing and employment issues. It is said that the Conservative opponents of the law forced the change from proposed criminal offence to a civil offence. They allegedly feared that making a racial discrimination would only aggravate race relations in areas where is was already a problem. As part of the Parliament's commemorations for the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Race Relations Act, the original Act will be on display in the House of Lords until 31st January 2016. It will be available to view as part of the tour route for visitors of the Houses of Parliament. In regards to the

courage visitors, which will adversely affect the UK economy.”

NHS has been facing severe cuts under austerity measures. Shaping a Healthier Future is another programme which was targeted at saving £1 bn, but with A&E closures and ambulance services put on special measures, it now seems like it will cost £1 bn to the public, according to a recent report lead by barrister Michael Mansfield QC. Samiksha Pattanaik, a masters student in London, said, “Be it visitors or migrants, most of them contribute significantly to the UK economy. It is unjust and more importantly, inhumane to deny them of basic facilities such as affordable healthcare.”

It is mandatory for travellers to the UK to have health insurance which covers them for the duration of their stay.

The Department of Health was unavailable to comment on how costs would now be handled between the NHS and insurance companies.

While overseas visitors and migrants will be charged, asylum seekers will continue to be exempt from charges on health care.

Shadow health minister Andrew Gwynne said, “Tories need to stop using over-blown rhetoric and making unrealistic claims. NHS staff should be confident that they are allowed to treat patients in an emergency, rather than issuing them an invoice.” He added that over the last five years, the Government has announced policies which sound good on paper but are unworkable in reality. “We need a proper consultation on these plans to ensure they don’t lumber NHS staff with even more work.”

50th anniversary of the Race Relation Act, Labour's candidate for Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said, “Labour’s Race Relations Act was a major step in ensuring people of all races were treated equally, paving the way for the Equality and Human Rights Commission and helping London to become the diverse city it is today. We’ve made a lot of progress over the past fifty years but much more still needs to be done. Anti-Semitic crime has nearly doubled in the last year, while Islamaphobic crime has increased by 70% in just one year. We must never relent in showing zero tolerance for hate crime.”

SP

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

Bose's grandnephew reveals secret 'IndiaRussia' letters Rupanjana Dutta

difference of opinions, but both always ended their letters with 'yours Ahead of Prime Minister affectionately'.

These Narendra Modi's proposed concluding words speak visit to Moscow, a veteran volumes about their sports journalist and relationship as friends.” grandnephew of Subhash The documents Chandra Bose, Ashis Ray, declassified by Ray revealed, released a set of documents in September 1991, the in London on Monday Indian government wrote to evening, that he claims are the Russian Federation, part of the classified files of asking whether Netaji had the Indian government on entered or stayed in Russia. the former Indian National The Russians wrote back in Congress President and January 1992, saying, "No founder of the Indian information whatsoever is National Army, also available on the stay of the f o r m e r President of INC (Indian National Congress)."

Three years later, India on request of an MP in the Parliament had again written to Subhash Chandra Bose and Russia. "There Jawaharlal Nehru has been further speculation in this context popularly known as Netaji. reportedly on the basis of The documents are in archival material. Please forms of letters exchanged examine all material for a between the Indian and final determination on Russian governments from whether or not Netaji 1991 and 1995, that reSubhas Chandra Bose affirm that Bose, did not entered or stayed anywhere visit the Soviet Union in in territory of Soviet Union 1945 or after. in 1945 or subsequently."

Speaking to Asian Voice Russia repeated its earlier exclusively, Ray said, “To reply. arrive at a conclusion, we In the last few months, first need to eliminate what the campaign for is not correct. declassification of “This is my 25 years of government files on Netaji investigation, and I feel this has picked up momentum. is the right time to come out Though it is believed that with this information. I am the freedom fighter died in putting forward these an airplane crash at Taipei documents, to ensure in Taiwan on August 18, people can judge for 1945, many in India have themselves what happened rejected the theory, and to Netaji in his last days. believed he lived as a hermit From 4 January, I will in Madhya Pradesh. Anuj officially reveal these Dhar, a campaigner has documents, periodically, done extensive work in and they will be part of an establishing that Bose lived official narrative website on on after the plane crash in Bose, which is currently 1945, in various locations. under process.”

Mr Ray concluded by When asked if those saying that he feels Bose's government documents daughter Anita in Germany could be relied on, and if deserves a closure, and this Nehru-Bose had a fall out, is his independent effort to Ray added, “The two great find out the truth. leaders have had their

Biometric enrolment for Schengen visas made mandatory Schengen visa applicants living in the UK have begun enrolling biometric details when applying for a visa, as part of the new EUmandated regulation since 20 November 2015. The biometric enrollment applies only to new applications from 20 November, as existing Schengen visas are still valid until their individual expiry dates. Biometric data, comprising fingerprints and facial photo, must be submitted with visa applications at any of VFS

Global’s four visa application centres in the UK, located in London, Manchester, Cardiff and Edinburgh. In the UK, biometric enrollment applies only to those nationalities that need a visa to travel to the Schengen countries.

Once the biometric data is enrolled it will remain valid for 59 months. Children under the age of twelve will be exempted from biometric enrollment.

For more see: www.vfsglobal.com

TLIGHT

15

Binita Mehta: The Inspiring Ingénue

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Sunetra Senior

What have been some of your projects as Leader of the Watford Conservative Council Group?

With another election coming up in May, campaigning is the main activity.

For the general election just gone, I worked on an app, a cross between Whatsapp and Siri, designed to get more young people involved in politics and to get them to vote. It was called ‘Ask Amy’, part of a crossparty initiative where the aim was to get the general public some straighttalking, commonsensical answers.

Your piece in The Telegraph about why BAME communities are turning to a Conservative government was a passionate avowal to the party--if you could sum up why you believe in it so strongly in a few sentences now, what might you say?

The values of the Conservative party coincide very well with my cultural and family ethos. I studied politics at A level and I found a natural affinity to the subject with the interest materialising organically. The focus on high quality education, a message of aspiration and ensuring that people can achieve their full potential sits well with both Conservatism and my family values. Hard work is also an ethic that overlaps culturally: my dad was a refugee who came to Britain in 1972 and my Ba worked several jobs for decades to make sure the family were catered for and comfortable.

Would you say it resonates with traditional family val-

ues?

No, not necessarily traditional, just the idea of allowing families to have that base to be a strong unit in society.

Were you always interested in politics?

It came later in a more solid sense, but my parents were always very engaged and we have always debated over the dinner table! My dad was a supporter of the Labour Party. He grew up in Glasgow and was a socialist. One of my earliest memories was the 1997 election with my mum telling me - ‘Tony Blair has won!’ My Dada was actually involved

At 25 years old, Conservative Councillor Binita is the youngest in the country to be voted Leader of her Council Group in her hometown of Watford. She is also known for her outspoken yet sharp opinions, having been published in such papers as ‘The Spectator’ and ‘The Times’, and appearing on segments for such well-respected broadcasting channels as CNN, Sky News and BBC Newsnight. As we found out more about her motivations, including the expansion of BAME representation in the community, and spreading the message that “young people should be able to aspire to do whatever they want, especially when they are willing to work so hard for it”, it became clear why Binita’s professional credibility goes beyond just her record age. Sincere in spirit, she is truly connected to the politics of everyday; never forgetting all the little facets that make a difference, in the fight for a bigger change:

I have worked on an app, a cross between Whatsapp and Siri with Ghandi in the fight for independence –and my Nana studied politics in India, so it’s always been there in a formative sense.

Do you think part of the reason you wanted to be a councillor was having that immediate agency to make a difference in the community?

Absolutely, Seva is an integral part of community life. At the Watford Indian Association Divali Party recently, I was asked to make a speech and I reiterated how important it is to contribute to the wider community, not just socially but politically.

Yes, tell us more about your job as a councillor?

I want to improve my town of Watford and my elected position allows me to be more involved in the decision making – I sit on the Major Projects Board at Watford Council amongst other committees. I was born and

bred in Cassiobury, the area I represent, and the local park – which is where my fiancé proposed to me recently! - is currently being restored as a beautiful space worthy of investment. As a young person, I bring a different perspective to the "traditional" mature male Councillor.

Do you have a central hope for your district?

I am currently the only Hindu on the council, and I want to improve representation for my town. Watford itself is a quarter BAME and I think it’s only fair. We all pay our taxes so why shouldn’t we be socially visible?

Indeed, there is no focal point for the community in Watford, and it is important to have this.

Is there an area of government that you are particularly interested in right now?

Education really interests me. I am personally not an advocate of the idea that university is the only path to success. I’m really proud of the Conservative mission to have many more apprenticeships supporting a range of different careers, which allows individuals of all abilities to find their optimal skill set. I am not in an entirely conventional full-time job myself: I chose to become a corporate communications consultant as opposed to say the more traditional path of becoming a doctor or a lawyer. I studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Warwick University and still get invited back to promote non-traditional career paths and politics.

Finally, what would be a personal motto that keeps you going?

My mum and dad have always said ‘do the right thing’. Also, don’t let anything stop you from doing what you want. I am a young, Asian woman but I would never consider this a barrier – don’t focus on obstacles and instead see it as a challenge to overcome. twitter.com/BinitaMehta90

Binita with David Cameron

W

watford.moderngov.co.uk/mg UserInfo.aspx?UID=554

BOMBING SYRIA:

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SPECIAL

www.asian-voice.com

Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

Continued from page 1

Travellers gathered around the badly-injured victim to protect him while the alleged assailant Muhaydin Mire remained on the loose.

This incident came 4 days after Prime Minister David Cameron and other MPs in the Parliament decided to go ahead with bombing Syria, in an attempt to remove Isis.

The British Asian community has come together to fight terror, but when asked what they feel about Mr Cameron's decision on Syria, their opinion remains divided, irrespective of religion or background.

A section of the community, mainly Hindus are getting their inspiration from Mahabharata, drawing parallels with Arjuna's dilemma, saying 'there can be no peace without war'.

While war is not what they endorse, they are of the opinion, that for long term peace and stability, it is important to engage in a war of justice. Fear is not an option, as Lord Krishna had pointed out to Arjuna, centuries ago.

However this has met with many strong arguments from people within the community, who feel the government's action actually increases threats to the safety of people on Britain's streets. The fear of terrorism grips stronger, as people feel unsafe in their own homes or to go down to their own corner shop two blocks away- even in the remotest part of this country.

Though one must not mistake this as their inability to stay resolute and fight terror, this section of the community believes that the British government needs to address issues at home before sending the RAF to another country to fight terror. This includes tackling home grown terror, and fighting hate preachers, who radicalise a section of the community successfully.

Who funds them? Why does the government not stop it?

There are no answers.

They also point out to fight terrorism brewing within our own nation, we

need a strong defence force.

Financial cuts have affected Army, Navy, Air Force or even Police- that leads to possibilities of security breaches on British soil. For example when 32 years old Mohammad approached the Metropolitan police with concerns about brother Muhaydin's mental health three weeks ago, the police said there was nothing they could do despite worries over his behaviour. The Met in a statement has clarified, there was no mention of radicalisation in his family's approach, but what remains unsaid is that the police is not left with enough resources to investigate every concern. Therefore such slip outs remain highly possible.

Having said all that, this section of the community also firmly believes that no airstrike is fool proof. While

RAF has not yet killed civilians, the rumor of allied supported Russian airstrikes causing civilian deaths have raised eyebrows. What this section is asking for is to prevent from motivating assassins to kill further. The truth remains that Assad needs to be removed- but who takes over, on what credibility, how to tackle financial crisis and poverty thereafter- no one knows. The problems are more complicated, deep rooted and multi-layered than it appears. Eye for an eye is never the ideal solution.

Muslim community speaks out

Poppy Begum, a well known journalist in her article 'Why I went undercover to investigate female Islamic State supporters' in the Daily Telegraph, on 28 November 2015 wrote how she was appalled when three Bethnal Green girls, who grew up where she did, went on to join Isis. “They had lived and gone to school just over a mile away from where I was brought up and, like so many others, I found it incomprehensible that modern British girls would be attracted to a belief system

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WHAT BRIT-ASIANS HAVE TO SAY

Ragasudha Vinjamuri: An eye for an eye has never been a true solution for any situation. However, with raising challenges and threats to citizens of western countries, defence mechanism is thought off as best step to avoid further atrocities. It is common people who suffer either way, befitting to the saying 'when elephants fight it is the grass that suffers the most'. The airstrikes shall affect scores of innocent citizens, but so were they with the acts of terrorism too. Are they not entitled to life with safety at some point? I may not particularly feel insecure, however I am also not sure who suddenly turns out to be an attacker as the bitter feelings seem to be growing!

Anirban Mukhopadhyay: When will they learn? Almost a third of the parliamentarians opposed it, a majority from the main opposition party in parliament of opposed it- but still they went ahead, to achieve what? What about civilian casualties? What about permission from Assad who runs the official government of the country? Who decides whether Assad is good or bad?

Looks like Iraq, Libya has taught no lesson.

No need to talk about Exit Strategy, as there isn't any.

It will be a fleeing strategy, like Iraq, leaving the country in further mess.

The government needs to understand, now, it's time to fight terrorism in UK itself. And we all know, which sections of the society to tackle. Where are the funding for so many mosques coming from and what's happening inside them? Why do we need so many new mosques, suddenly? These are the issues to go for, not mindless bombing of foreign land- it will only lead to more refugees and more problem at home.

Rovin George: Britain needs to deploy more ground troups in Syria so that they can avoid any civilian casualties. Bombing them doesnt resolve anything. Britain also needs to safe guard their borders by having strong security systems. We need to be recruiting & training more people in RAF, RN, ARMY and the Police services.

Cutting down defence costs and laying off personels will put us at higher risks. We currently need security all across Britian especially in crowded & public places.

Britian needs to worry more about the safety of their citizens and its must be their first prority.

Supriyo Chaudhuri: I think there are two decisions here. One is to confront Daesh and then how to do it. I agree that confronting Daesh and shutting it down is urgent. Bombing Syria, however, is precisely the wrong way to do it. My concern is not the security in Britain - it is always a target whether or not we bomb Syria - but that bombing would invariably affect innocent civilians and kill more babies. Britain could do a lot more by persuading its allies in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and UAE to cut off Daesh funding streams and arms supply. We are jumping into bombing without exhausting all the diplomatic options, and perhaps even without trying them.

Cllr Ameet Jogia: Isis are a threat to the UK. Saturday has proved that. The governments responsibility is to protect the people of Britain. The air strikes will make the UK safer. I know people are scared, but we can no longer live in fear. Sitting back and doing nothing is not an option.

We must stand up against these bully's threatening our way of life I went to the Syrian border this summer and saw explosions in front of my own eyes. They are barbaric and killing their own women and children.

Ritwik Roy: I dont feel bombing ISIS in Syria or Iraq will make London safer. A lone wolf attack by homegrown terror group is inevitable. A train station or crowded shopping mall in London.

Bombs will not prevent this.

Raj A Malhotra: I wasn't keen on launching our RAF in Syria. After so many years in Afghanistan I don't think we feel any safer and so even after partaking in Syria this wouldn't necessarily make us any safer. If anything, it antagonises an already difficult situation. A lot of the jihadists we need to worry about have and will continue to be homegrown. We need to ensure we are addressing the home grown radicals and investing public money into this.

Neeraj Mehta: I'm not in favour of more bombing. We've bombed several middle eastern countries in the last decade and in none of them have we been able to conclusively say we've 'won' against at an enemy that morphed and changes over time.

I think there is a huge groundswell of public opinion against bombing Syria, as there was with Iraq, but the government is not listening. Isolated incidents like a Leytonstone are unfortunate but I can't imagine a scenario where Britain is safer due to the bombing.

We will just create more martyrs, who will feel more justified in attacking Britain in years to come, because their families, friends and livelihoods have been destroyed

by Britain and Western powers.

Finally, Britain and France collectively have sold arms to every country in the Middle East - it's easier to stop war if you don't sell arms. After all, bombs don't kill people, people dropping bombs kill people.

Major (Retd) Tikendra Dewan: With the rain of bombs already in place I don't believe bombing is the answer, for there will be equal if not more civilian casualties.

The ultimate will be boots on the ground. Stricter rules for those that have left UK to join Daesh must be imposed.

Keval Dhokia: I think we should bomb ISIS, as the UK Is already doing in Iraq.

We need to support the Kurdish Syrians to secure their territory.

I think we should seriously consider getting the Arab people in Saudi and the Gulf to fight ISIS on their own with only the help of our airstrikes. In the end, we have to help Arab people fight ISIS to help build a safe and free place for them to live. Otherwise we'll have refugees for generations.

But they should do most of the fighting and labour.

Also UK working with Russia and Iran is a mistake.. They will destroy the Arab people living in the Sunni areas of Iraq and Syria!

Sanam Arora: There is no black or white on this issue and I think there are equall valid arguments on both sides of the fence.

But I do feel that Britain, standing for all its values or democracy and equality, cannot pursue selective humanity. The decision to bomb Syria triggered by the Paris attacks should (if it was so going to happen) have been made when thousands of innocent lives in the Middle East were lost as a result of the ongoing crisis.

Karan Singh: There needs to be strong and decisive action to tackle the scourge that is Daesh. Airstrikes are a good start, but they need to be supported by ground troops. As a Sikh, we have a duty to protect those in harm's way by all means, including military intervention. There also needs to be greater input from the Arab states to rectify the problems that exist on their own doorstep. We can help, but we shouldn't be the ones to lead necessarily.

WAR FOR PEACE SPECIAL

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that states that women are completely inferior and subservient to men; existing only to serve Jihad fighters as wives.”

She explained how growing up in East London they juggled between two cultures, and learnt about religion from her family but did not remember Islam being so politicised.

“When I was growing up in East London, my friends and I were constantly juggling both our ‘British’ with our Bengali identities. It was never about religion and we never struggled with it because it wasn’t really on the agenda.

“We also didn’t have iPhones, Twitter or Facebook and so what our Islamic teachers, our parents and grandparents taught us about Islam was absolute.

“I certainly don’t ever remember Islam being so politicised or being asked to challenge its teachings of peace and tolerance.”

Rashid Razaq, in Evening Standard speaking about “Islam has become a convenient excuse for the disaffected.”

He went on to say that Muslims in Britain and world have become much devout in the past 15-20 years. It’s visible in the greater display of hijabs, niqabs, long beards and foreign dress. Third-generation, British-born children are more devout than their parents or grandparents, because 'Islam' is a 'trump card' to break free of their parents' control.

“In part it is a reaction to the war on terror, and centuries of Western misadventures in Eastern countries.

In part it is due to Saudi Arabia’s exporting of the most backwards and reductive form of Islam. And in part it is due to the internet and globalisation. In total we’re living in a greater climate of religiosity. And just as a climate of fear and bigotry can lead to unfair reprisals on innocent Muslims, a climate of religiosity gives motive and meaning to Muslim killers,” he added.

Most of the Muslims in Britain have roots in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Over generations they have shared an Asian identity with Indian Hindus and Sikhs, though religion remains the real identity defining the real ethnicity.

The issue remains that we’ve turned our backs on people who look like us, talk like us and come from the same place as us, for a Muslim identity defined by oil-rich Gulf Arabs. “People who are happy to pay for madrassas in exchange for us toiling

and dying on their construction sites,” he added.

He added, “Religion is not going to go away anytime soon. Yet we could start by turning down the religiosity dial a few notches.

Yes, you may be a Muslim but it can’t be the only way you see the world. Not every injustice suffered by every Muslim is an existential threat. You’ve got more in common with the Christian, Jewish, agnostic or whatever bloke struggling to get to work on the Tube in the morning and worrying about paying his bills than a Syrian warlord who wants you to help him in a territorial land-grab.”

Condemning Islamophobia

Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

The terror scene on Saturday night

With growing terrorism fear, Islamophobia is on the rise in the capital. A journalist friend recently was asked by a woman in hijab, if she could sit next to her on the tube, pointing at an empty seat, clarifying “not many want to sit next to us nowadays.” This is a very different picture of the London, I have seen and been part of in the 14 years.

On the other hand a Muslim passenger was

Continued on page 18

HOW BRIT-ASIAN MPS VOTED ON SYRIA AIRSTRIKE The Commons is made up of 650 MPs but the Speaker and his three deputies cannot vote.

MPs who voted for the motion Conservatives: Alok Sharma (Reading West) Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) Nusrat Ghani (Wealden) Priti Patel (Witham) Ranil Jayawardena (North East Hampshire) Rehman Chishti (Gillingham and Rainham) Rishi Sunak (Richmond (Yorks)) Sajid Javid (Bromsgrove) Seema Kennedy (South Ribble) Shailesh Vara (North West Cambridgeshire) Suella Fernandes (Fareham) Tania Mathias (Twickenham) Labour: Chuka Umunna (Streatham) Keith Vaz (Leicester East)

MPs who voted against the motion Labour: Imran Hussain (Bradford East) Lisa Nandy (Wigan) Naz Shah (Bradford West) Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) Sadiq Khan (Tooting) Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) Shabana Mahmood (Birmingham, Ladywood) Tulip Siddiq (Hampstead and Kilburn) Valerie Vaz (Walsall South) Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South East) SNP: Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Ochil and South Perthshire)

MPs who abstained Labour: Khalid Mahmood (Birmingham, Perry Barr) Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall)

MPs who did not vote Labour: Thangam Debbonaire (Bristol West) - Unable to attend

#YOUAINTNOMUSLIMBRUV

Londoners from all communities showed solidarity after the alleged terror attack in Leytonstone. They took social media, especially twitter by storm with #youaintnomuslimbruv.

The hashtag was started by a man who video recorded the attack, and shouted at the assassin “you ain't no Muslim bruv”.

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and started stabbing him as he lay on the floor.

“The victim did not shout anything. I think he was unconscious. The attacker was saying something, I couldn't hear what.

The Saviour

The junior saved the Leytonstone tim ignored A 56-year-old man was allegedly stabbed in the ticket hall at Leytonstone station on Saturday evening by 29 years old Muhaydin Mire, a British Somalian. He is accused of shouting "This is for Syria" as he slashed his throat by eye witnesses.

Another man, was also injured and a woman was threatened with the knife during the incident at around 7.20pm.

Distressed passers-by called the police who say they arrived on the scene within five minutes to find the man armed with the knife who also threatened them.

And as he was coming out this is what he said "This is what happens when you f*** with mother Syria all of your blood will be spilled" Police said they were forced to use a taser on the suspect twice as he threatened others with a knife, before they managed to arrest him.

The victim was rushed to hospital in a serious condition with multiple stab wounds, paramedics said.

Muhaydin's brother Mohammed told The Times, the family had approached police three weeks back, with concerns about Muhaydin's mental health. Since there was no imminent threat of radicalisation, the police asked them to approach health authorities.

Mohammed describing his brother said, “He was very nice...He loved to play football and a ManU fan.

He wanted to become a computer Engineer, and was very intelligent.”

doctor who life of the stabbing vicpleas to flee

Muhaydin worked as a Uber taxi driver, which he quit.

His behaviour changed and mental health issues started after he began smoking cannabis.

Shopkeeper witnesses attack

Salim Patel, a 59 years old shopkeeper who witnessed the knife attack at Leytonstone tube station has reportedly described seeing a victim begging for help on the floor as he was punched, kicked and

stabbed.

The ITV News reported, Patel who runs the station shop and saw the attack unfold, said: "I was just at the shop when the train arrived and people came off.

“I heard some shouting, but sometimes drunk people shout. Then I saw the guy attacking the victim, punching him so hard.

The victim was screaming 'please somebody help me.

Help'.

“Then the attacker started kicking him on the floor. I think the victim was unconscious, he passed out. Then the attacker took a knife out

the scene despite fearing it was the start of a Parisstyle terror attack.

Matt Smith, 28, who was returning home from his 11 hours shift at an east London hospital when he came across the scene of the assault, said: “There was a lot of blood around him. I saw the extent of the damage. It was pretty bad.”

Dr Smith put pressure on the deep gash and helped the victim to his feet before helping him out of the station. After his heroics, Matt spent five hours 'covered in blood' giving a witness statement to police.

Bystanders did nothing

A lift engineer who intervened to try to tackle a knife-wielding attacker at a London Underground station has spoken of his anger as others stood by and videoed the incident on their mobiles.He told the Daily Mail: “There were so many opportunities where someone could have grabbed him. One guy came up to me afterwards and said, ‘Well done, I want to shake your hand, you are the only one who did anything. I got the whole thing on film’. I was so angry, I nearly turned on him.”

Illegal in Sharia Law Islamic commentators have claimed that the massively popular # YouAintNoMuslimBruv hashtag is forbidden by sharia law. Now dozens of Islamic people have taken to social media to warn that declaring someone a nonMuslim is forbidden by ancient Islamic legal guidelines.

The act of describing someone as an apostate (someone who has left the religion) is called " takfir " in Arabic.

Some scholars believe this is so grave a sin that it is punishable by death, although different schools of Islam differ on this point.

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SPECIAL

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Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

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California massacre continues to affect one and all Reshma Trilochun A mother tends to think at least 100 times before she has to leave her child to run errands; yet this mother chose to depict a gruesome act of hatred and terror instead of thinking about the wellbeing of her offspring. Tashfeen Malik (27), and her husband, Syed Farook (28), were responsible for the slaughter of 14 innocent lives and injured 21 in California, allegedly inspired by Isis.

This is one of the most shocking and devastating attacks since 9/11.

The couple, who were both of Pakistani origin, killed 14 people at a work Christmas party, at the Inland Regional Center, a training and support facility for disabled people that had been hired for the Christmas function. Syed Farook, who was born in the USA, was an employee of the San Bernadino County Department of Public Health for five years. Prior to the attacks, the couple had left their six-month-old daughter with their relatives, giving them the excuse that they had a doctor's appointment.

A work colleague of Farook, Patrick Baccari had said that Farook had earlier traveled to Saudi Arabia, and returned with a wife and a grown beard.

Baccari was also sitting at the same table as Farook at the Christmas lunch. He described Farook as reserved and that there were no signs of any unusual behaviour until he suddenly disappeared, leaving his coat behind.

At approximately 11am, Farook returned with his wife, dressed completely in black and concealing their

Murderous duo: Tashfeen Malik and Syed Farook

faces behind masks, and open fired at the innocent guests.

Denise Peraza (27), who was present at the scene said, “Everyone dropped to the floor. It was during a holiday party. The guys opened fired for 30 seconds, randomly, then paused to reload and began firing again.”

The police had chased the couple and at about 3pm, they died in the gunbattle with the police.

The cause for this attack has left many baffled, especially their family members. Farook's Farhan Khan, stated at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Los Angeles, “I am in shock that something like this can happen. I just cannot express at how sad I am for what happened... Why would he [Syed Farook] do something like this? I have absolutely no idea.”

It has been alleged that while Farook had initially hesitated to initiate the attack, Malik pulled the trigger and started the horrendous massacre.

Tashfeen Malik was a pharmacy graduate from the Bahauddin Zakariya University in Multan, Pakistan. It is said that she

Continued from page 17 thrown off a London-bound National Express coach because other passengers said he made them feel uncomfortable, it has been claimed.

The man was allegedly asked to disembark the coach after complaints from a female passenger last Thursday.

National Express categorically denied that the man was asked to leave because of his religion, saying he was escorted off the bus after a dispute arose over his luggage.

Two weeks back a woman in head scarf was asked to get off the train, because she was Muslim.

On the other hand, a Muslim convert threatened to bomb an MP's house and show her what it's like to murder innocents” after she voted in favour of airstrikes. Craig Wallace, 23, also known as Mujahid Islam, posted abusive comments on facebook, where they were seen by the father of Charlotte Leslie and therefore reported to police. These

also attended a womenonly madrassa, or Islamic religious school, Al-Huda International Seminary which has branches in Canada, USA and across Pakistan.

Although the school

claimed as the home to several extremist religious schools with links to the Pakistan Taliban and AlQaida.

A professor of Malik, Nisar Hussain, had told the Los Angeles Times, “She was religious, but a very normal person as well. She was a very hardworking and submissive student.”

But what seems to be translucent is that down the line, she became radicalised which turned lethal for many lives. Police allegedly mentioned that prior to her death, she had given a social media shoutout Abu Bakr alBaghdadi, the Isis leader, around the time of the attack.

With the recent catastrophes taking place glob-

of the safety of the environment they live in, nor can they be overconfident that they are invincible and no atrocity can hit them.

Swati 30-year-old Bhatt, from the USA, speaks about how the recent terror attack in California has left her, as well as many, fearful for their lives. She said, “As an individual, I feel it is a big concern for all of us here living in America. What happened in California is terrible. And for us, the biggest concern we are facing today is that the government really needs to do something about the gun laws in America. I definitely do fear about my safety since 9/11. Even though I live in one of the most powerful countries in the

Innocent victims: The photographs of the 14 victims from the shooting rampage.

Top row: Robert Adams, Isaac Amanios, Bennetta Betbadal, Harry Bowman and Sierra Clayborn. Second row: Juan Espinoza, Aurora Godoy, Shannon Johnson, Larry Daniel Kaufman and Damian Meins. Bottom row: Tin Nguyen, Nicholas Thalasinos, Yvette Velasco and Michael Wetzel

has no links to extremists, the founder of Al-Huda, Farhat Hashmi, has been criticised for allegedly promoting conservative strain of Islam. Furthermore, the region of where the school in situated in is allegedly

kinds of outbreaks don't necessarily help, in times of crisis.

With every action comes a certain reaction. Radicals, may whatever be the religion, including Muslins need to realise two things: What they believe and do as individuals or groups or families, will have a directly proportionate effect on the community they represent.

The first rule of diversity is integration and tolerance. Differences can often be sorted through talking.

Second, people threatening to kill in the name of religion or people fearing someone from a particular religion, just because they are from that faith or belief, are equally guilty.

Having said that, what Britain needs, as rightly pointed out by many, is a strong voice from the British Muslim community condemning these terrorist attacks and home grown terror, at the same time people from other faith, as seen in many instances should stand up against generalization and hate crimes.

ally, whether the Paris attacks, the shootings in California, or the most recent stabbing attacks in at Leytonstone Station, East London, people's fear of society has become justified. One cannot be certain

Spiritual Jihad A French Muslim who declared “spiritual jihad” against Isis after the Paris attacks has said he has not been deterred by the death threats he has received from the extremist group. Mohammed Chirani, a specialist in religious de-radicalisation who works in some of Pairs’s most deprived arrondissements, went on national French television following the attacks that killed 130 people to tell Isis militants their God would not protect them.

Stabbing kills man in City

A murder investigation has been launched after a 23-year-old man was stabbed in the stomach in the City of London. Police were called to Leadenhall Street on Sunday early morning to reports of a stabbing, and an ambulance took the wounded man to hospital. He died at 03.41 GMT on Monday.

Four men, aged 24 to 28, were arrested at the scene and have been bailed.

world, I still fear for my life. It's really hard for us to trust people these days. We strictly need laws for guns because people are using them terribly.”

Bhatt definitely agrees that these attacks which

have been taking place globally has made many, including herself, weary about who to trust in life.

She said, “I am not a racist person but such incidents makesme think twice before trusting anyone. I have a few Muslim friends who have faced racist comments when such terror attacks occur. Even though I am not a white American, I can definitely understand how they might feel towards other races when such incidents happen... I do have to be careful these days before trusting anyone.”

Although such acts are carried out by a minority of people who are out to destroy, many innocent people have to suffer society's enmity. There are many places in the world where Asians are mistreated for the evil deeds of others. Swati Bhatt adds, “I do feel Asians are being targeted unfairly at times. I have seen many incidents where Asians do not get treated well because of their race. And it is because of such terror attacks that America has been facing since 9/11. It's about trust; if we don't feel safe in our own country and cannot trust others completely, then such mistreatments will happen. If you are different or look different, then you will be questioned no matter what. Either you try to blend in or get noticed for the right or wrong things.”

It may be a long wait until Asians can finally walk without the fear of being stereotyped of discriminated for the atrocities of a minority. And with such outrageous attacks on innocent lives, it seems like a pessimistic outlook.

Man stabbed in Abingdon

Brave bystanders chased down a man who was armed with kitchen blades after a shopper was stabbed to death in a Poundland branch in Abingdon. The victim, whose age is not yet known, later died from his injuries. A 65-yearold woman who saw the incident from a nearby cafe told the Oxford Mail: "I saw this chap with blades sticking out of both hands, maybe kitchen knives a few inches long.

"There were two men, I think civilians, chasing him and one was on the phone

maybe ringing the police. They restrained him outside of the Spar.

"A woman police officer tasered him and he dropped the knives. Other police came soon after."

A Thames Valley Police spokesman said: “At this stage this is not being treated as a terrorist incident.

“We understand members of the public are concerned, and officers are in the area dealing with the incident and speaking to people to provide reassurance.”

REALESTATEVOICE

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Suresh Vagjiani

Sow & Reap A Property Investment Company

Time and tide wait for no man

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Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

19

The market is already reacting from the Chancellor’s Autumn statement; applications for BTL properties in the vehicle of a LTD company have tripled from the same time last year.

Purchasing in the vehicle of a LTD company means you can offset the interest element of any borrowing as a legitimate expense.

This is something which the government will be phasing out from 2017 to 2020 in doses.

The rate of stamp duty will increase to over 3% come April next year, this will lead to a spurt in property acquisitions between now and April. Given it can take about three months to complete a deal I would predict there will be a quick start from the traditional Christmas lull in the property market.

Acquisitions will be more likely to occur in the vehicle of a company in anticipation of the coming changes. The downside to this is currently the mortgage rates available for LTD companies are not as competitive in comparison to purchasing in individual names.

As time goes on mortgage lending for the LTD sector should increase both in the variety of products and more competitive rates given that the demand for this type of financing is looking to increase.

My prediction for the London market is there will be a spurt of activity up until April, and then a period of lull whilst the market absorbs the change and then it will carry on its rise, in a more dampened way. The top end is to be avoided at the moment. Already there are signs of a drop in the market for properties above £1.5m, which may sound a lot but in some boroughs of London it will only buy you a small Victorian house.

The doomsayers will say this will be the nail in the coffin, this will be the reason why the market will die, finally. Property is here to stay and will always serve as a great investment, its shape and nature will change according to the environment. You can be sure it will not disappear as an investment class, and it does not crash.

There are 1.4m landlords in the UK, the market is worth £60bn and generates £5bn of rental income per month, 2/5 of this is from London; it is not likely to disappear.

ket, and then takes the information and tends to do nothing.

Meanwhile the property market has been going only one way, and that’s up.

He has in all fairness dabbled in some property in the outskirts of London, and outside.

His idea of an investment is to purchase something in cash and rent it out and earn about 5-10% per annum combined. A very ultra conservative approach.

I’m sure he does want to do something, he has the money to do so, but he is unable to take the decision to move forward with it.

Hopefully the above will push him over the line to do so. If he delays the decision any longer he will be looking at a 3% uplift in transaction costs, which is no small amount when you consider the average property price in Westminster is £1m. Even on a property for £500k this equates to £15k, the price of a new car. From one point of view this can be a saving for a quick decision.

Normally purchasing a company which owns a single property was only reserved for high value properties, this will slowly become common place. Purchasing a company means the incoming buyer will benefit in two ways, one is the saving on stamp duty which will only be 0.5% and the other is it will benefit from being insulated from the tax changes described above. When this becomes common place, and the government realises they are missing out on their share of the pie they will introduce a legalisation to outlaw this. Well, someone has to finance the wars, they aren’t cheap.

These two factors in combination should provide a catalyst for those who have been contemplating about investing in the London market to do so now. Or it can serve to paralyze, probably for most people, from doing anything.

I’m meeting an investor later today, he has been speculating about investing in Central London for many, many years. He calls me every so often to touch base, and see what’s going on in the mar-

The Real Deal

However there is an argument to suggest the property market will take a slight hit post April due to the uplift in stamp duty.

Psychologically it will have a greater effect than the actual reality, meaning the uplift in stamp of only 3% will cause people to see this disproportionally, though it will be only 3% the effect may feel more like 10% in investors’ minds.

Development opportunity in St John’s Wood, London, NW8 Purchase Price: £3.35m

This will cause a lack of buyers, which means there will be deals to be had. There will still be sales due to the 3D’s: Death, Divorce and Distress.

This however remains to be seen, as every property is unique.

One we were speculating over has just exchanged this morning. For the pounds per square foot it was cheap, in St Johns Wood, consisting of 878 sq. ft.; it exchanged for £790k which means just under £1000 per sq. ft. With a long lease and solid location the only issue was the building was a little quirky. It looked like a metal building, and the property itself was a long rectangle shape. Here the seller was desperate, there were two contracts out, he wanted a done deal as he was looking to purchase something else overseas. We were offered the contract directly for £725k.

It would have worked as a long term hold, we were exploring the possibility of adding many rooms to the property, and renting on a room by room basis to enhance the yield generated. But time and tide wait for no man.

lA large block of two flats in a beautiful and sought after location lFreehold lGarden lPlanning permission in place to convert it into one house and also for mansard roof extension and back garden extension lHouses are in high demand on this street lAfter extension the area will be around 3,300 sq. ft. lWe expect the value of this property after conversion to be around £4.5m Call us now if you would like to have a piece of the pie!

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Tips of the Week

l Don’t make decisions based on a friend’s opinion

or the influence of the press. Do your own research and with strong locations like central London it is best to take an expert’s advice because in such locations the factors change every quarter of a mile.

l Don’t just walk into your bank and ask for a mortgage, you will just get a product but not the most suitable one. If you are looking for advice consider using a specialist mortgage broker. Remember interest rates are not the only point to consider, arrangement fees and exit fees are equally important.

20

BUSINESS - SPORT

Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

India to sign deal with Japan for bullet train

India is set to sign a deal with Japan this week on the country’s first bullet train, with Tokyo financing the bulk of the high-speed rail project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad through a $8 billion loan, a leading Japanese business daily reported.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe will issue a joint statement on the deal on Saturday during latter’s visit to India, The Nikkei reported. Abe will convey an offer of more than $8.1 billion in official Japanese lending for the roughly $14.6 billion project to link Mumbai and Ahmedabad with 505 km railway line, it said.

“The two sides are discussing financing terms that would disburse about 100 billion yen a year over a decade or so. Senior Abe adviser Hiroto Izumi and Japanese foreign ministry officials on Monday wrapped up a trip to India, during which they dis-

cussed financing and other aspects of the project,” the daily said.

A deal with India would be the second successful case of Japan exporting its bullet train technology to a foreign market, following a deal with Taiwan in 2007.

Japan failed to win a highspeed train deal in Indonesia earlier this year, losing out to a Chinese proposal.

India ranked as the second-biggest recipient of Japanese governmentbacked yen loans as of fiscal 2013, with a running total of 4.45 trillion yen, the business daily said, citing Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The railway loan deal could propel it ahead of the largest borrower, Indonesia, which had a 4.72 trillion yen tally.

Once India decides to adopt Japanese train technology, it will hold a tender for contracts. A consortium including JR East, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Hitachi is expected to bid, the daily added.

Rajkot, Pune join as new IPL teams The Sanjeev Goenka-owned New Rising consortium and mobile phone manufacturer Intex joined the highprofile IPL bandwagon as Pune and Rajkot became the two new franchises, replacing the suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for a period of two years.

The Pune franchise was bought by Kolkata-based business tycoon Goenka's company New Rising while the Rajkot bid was won by Intex Mobiles in the reverse bidding process in which the two teams were chosen.

Goenka will shell out £100,000 per year to the BCCI while Intex Mobiles will pay £160,000.

"They won't take a single penny from the BCCI. In fact they will pay the BCCI," board secretary Anurag Thakur told reporters after a meeting of the IPL Governing Council which also finalised April 9 to May 29 as the dates for the next edition of the league.

The teams were sold through the reverse bidding process for which the base price was set at £400,000 and bidders had to quote an amount less than that. The lowest bidders were given the franchises.

The process was neces-

sitated by the suspension of CSK and RR for the involvement some of their officials and co-owners in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal. However, both the CSK and RR will be allowed back in the league after serving out their suspension.

The interim franchises, which have been picked on Tuesday, will participate in a draft to first retain their share of players on December 15. Pune will get to pick the players first because they were the lowest bidders.

The other three bidders in fray were Harsh Goenka of RPG properties, Axis Clinical and Chettinad Cement, all of whom quoted higher bids than New Rising and Intex Mobiles.

Players from CSK and RR will be divided into two groups of capped and uncapped and the top names will be sold through the draft system. The two new teams will have a minimum of £400,000 and a maximum of £6600,000 to buy their players.

The cricketers who will remain unselected will go to general pool to be available for fresh auction, scheduled for February 6 in Bengaluru.

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Tata nears deal to sell Scunthorpe steelworks AsianVoiceNews

There is good news for thousands of British steel workers. Three parties have shown interest in buying Tata Steel's historic Scunthorpe steel plant and several smaller sites across the country.

Several funds that specialise in trying to rescue troubled companies are battling it out to buy Tata’s so-called long products arm, of which the giant 150-year-old Scunthorpe plant in Lincolnshire is at the heart.

Britain’s steel crisis intensified last month after Tata Steel’s European boss warned that the Scunthorpe plant had “no future” in its empire. However, it is understood that the Indian steel maker could agree a deal as early as next week after receiving formal bids from three parties.

Leading the pack are

two of Britain’s biggest turnaround investors: Greybull, the financiers who made their name last year after swooping to the rescue of Monarch, the struggling airline; and Endless, best known for reviving the fortunes of Crown Paints. A third bid has come from a mystery American private-equity house.

Gary Klesch, the US billionaire, has also shown strong interest but is thought to have walked away from talks during the summer, blaming the

Government’s failure to address rising energy prices and cheap imports from China. Discussions have centred on the sale of Tata’s long-products division, where the Indian steelmaker recently announced 1,200 job losses as part of a restructuring. The business, which will have around 5,000 staff after the redundancies, produces parts that are used in construction and heavy industry.

It has struggled to compete in the global steel market, where prices are

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depressed by China’s state-backed steel mills dumping overcapacity, and has long been considered non-core to Tata’s sprawling global empire.

It is estimated that hundreds of millions of pounds will be needed to revive the business.

Interest has also been received in Tata’s entire UK operations, including its Port Talbot site, but sources close to Tata insist that its preferred outcome is to offload only the longproducts arm. If the Indians fail to find a buyer, industry sources believe they will be forced to close the operations and sell assets piecemeal. It is understood Tata has also asked the Government for support to enable it to keep the business going.

However, state aid is thought to be unlikely as the Government refused to bail out SSI’s Redcar steel plant.

Appreciating dollar dents Likely US rate hike India's Forex reserves subdues Indian markets The prospects of a US rate hike, coupled with slow progress in the Indian Parliament in approving a key economic legislation, subdued Indian equity markets, leading to a barometer index provisionally closing 72 points in the red.

Initially, both the bellwether indices of the Indian equity markets opened higher in sync with their Asian peers which firmed up following Friday's positive close for the US markets. However, the initial gains were capped following a healthy growth in a key US data the non-farm payroll figures which were released on Friday.

The data showed that the US economy created 211,000 jobs last month against expectations of 200,000.

The data assumes significances as it heightened the chances of a US rate hike slated for mid-December. A US rate

hike could potentially lead to a massive pullback of foreign funds from emerging economies like India.

During Monday's trade, the barometer 30scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) shed 72 points or 0.28 per cent. Similarly, the wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), too, provisionally closed in the red. It was lower by 17 points or 0.22 per cent at 7,765.05 points.

The Sensex of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 25,746.03 points, provisionally closed at 25,565.98 points (at 3.30 p.m.), down 72.13 points or 0.28 per cent from the previous day's close at 25,638.11 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 25,785.53 points and a low of 25,477.69 points during the intraday trade.

A strengthening US dollar, along with the central bank's attempts to stop the volatility in the rupee's value, depleted India's foreign exchange reserves by $750.2 million. Overall, the Forex reserves stood at $351.61 billion for the week ended November 27. India's Forex kitty had fallen by $149.7 million to $352.36 billion during the previous week ended November 20.

“The dollar's appreciation in the week under review against major global currencies like pound sterling, euro and yen led to the Forex reserves depletion," Anindya Banerjee, associate vice president for currency derivatives with Kotak Securities said. The Indian foreign reserves consists' of nearly 20-25 per cent of major non-dollar global currencies. The individual movements of these currencies against the US dollar impacts the overall reserves value. “The dollar appreciation has taken place on the

back of heightened chances of a US rate hike. The US dollar had appreciated by close to one per cent during the week under review,” Banerjee added. The US dollar is strengthening against emerging markets (EMs) currencies, gold and other assets classes ahead of the US rate hike. The FCA constitutes the largest component of India's Forex reserves. It consists of US dollars, major non-dollar currencies, securities and bonds. “The FCA expressed in US dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies such as the pound sterling, euro and yen held in reserve,” the RBI was quoted in its statistical supplement. “RBI's selling activities could have attributed to the fall in the FCA. The RBI has been active in its attempts to stem the fall in rupee value and to maintain the Indian currency in it's comfort zone,” an analyst said.

Not worried about fiscal deficit: Arun Jaitley India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that he was not worried about the fiscal deficit and that the government would be able to meet its target despite additional outgo towards the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission. He, however, admitted that the impact of implementing the pay commission's recommendations, which would result in an additional annual burden of £10.2 billion on exchequer, would last for two to three

years.

“I am not particularly worried about the fiscal deficit target,” he said while replying to questions on the impact of the rec-

ommendations on public finances at an event in Delhi. He further said that besides achieving the target, the government has also been able to improve the quality of fiscal deficit.

The government proposes to bring down the fiscal deficit to 3.9 per cent of GDP in 2015-16, 3.5 per cent in 2016-17 and 3 per cent by 2017-18. “If you achieve a fiscal deficit by either cutting down expenditure or withholding tax returns, then you may

strictly have statistical figure, but the quality of the fiscal deficit will always be suspected...we have concentrated on the quality of the fiscal deficit and we will probably be able to maintain it,” he added.

However, “...as the base of the GDP increases, by the third or the fourth year, the spikes come down and (thereafter) you reasonably reach that 2.5 per cent figure back... These pressures will be for the next 2-3 years,” the minister said.

CURRENCYVOICE

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Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

Paresh Davdra is the Dealing Director of RationalFX,

Lending on the rise Currency Specialists.

It has been an interesting week for the Euro to say the least. Mario Draghi shocked markets last week with the Euro gaining significantly against its major peers after the European Central Bank (ECB) monetary policy meeting last Thursday. Draghi announced that the ECB was going to cut its deposit rate from -0.2% to -0.3% although markets were expecting to see a more drastic cut at around -0.2%. In addition, asset purchasing is to remain at 60 billion a month – again, markets were expecting this to be expanded.

However, quantitative easing (QE) will be extended to the new maturity date of March 2017 – a 360 billion increase. Interestingly, Draghi mentioned that the asset purchasing will be reviewed in the spring time which gives a sense of flexibility to the program. The result of this announcement was that the Euro rallied against both greenback and cable - Euro gained 2% against the dollar and 1.75% against sterling.

The most logical explanation for this seems to be that markets had priced in more drastic measures such as harder deposit rate cuts and an expansion of QE rather than just an extension. Given that

GBP/EUR

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Foreign Exchange

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this was not delivered, the ECB seems to have shown that the outlook for Euro was better than expected and markets reacted accordingly to this.

Data on sterling has been relatively quiet over the last week.

Worthy of note is that lending to consumers rose by £1.2billion last month - up 8.2 per cent compared with October last year. This has prompted some concerns about people's reliance on personal loans, overdrafts and credit cards in order to make ends meet.

In addition, PMI figures showed growth in Britain’s manufacturing sector has weakened and costs are falling sharply, suggesting Bank of England policymakers are unlikely to be in a rush to raise interest rates this Thursday. Bank of England governor Mark Carney has suggested that the decision about rate rises is likely to “come into sharper relief around the turn of this year;” but continued deflation across industry is likely to undermine the arguments for an increase in borrowing costs at next week’s monetary policy committee meeting, the last of 2015.

Further, we saw the pound weaken after market research firm Markit and the Chartered Institute

of Purchasing & Supply said that their U.K. construction PMI declined to a seven-month low of 55.3 last month from a reading of 58.8 in October. It was expected to fall to 58.2 in November. It signaled the slowest expansion of business activity for seven months.

This saw sterling fall almost a third of a percent against the dollar and added to a sense that the British economy is struggling to deliver the sort of sustained demand pressure that may prompt the Bank of England to raise interest rates.

On the dollar front, the forces of a strong dollar, weak oil prices and tepid global demand sent the Chicago PMI lower - its sixth contraction of the year.

Manufacturing in the U.S. unexpectedly contracted in November at the fastest pace since the last recession as elevated inventories led to cutbacks in orders and production. The Institute for Supply Management’s index dropped to 48.6, the lowest level since June 2009, from 50.1 in October. Federal Reserve policy makers will take the manufacturing data into consideration as they debate whether the economy is strong enough to withstand a tighter monetary policy this

GBP/USD

month. The Federal Open Market Committee meets December 15-16 and is expected to raise their benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage point.

In addition, the U.S released strong employment which further increases the chances that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates. Newly revised government figures show that productivity rose at a 2.2% annual rate instead of 1.6% in the third quarter of the year and unit-labor costs were also revised higher to show a 1.8% annual increase.

Lastly, oil prices fell to the lowest level in more than six years amid speculation that a record global glut will be prolonged after OPEC effectively abandoned its long-time strategy of limiting output to control prices. Along with WTI and Brent both seeing significant softness yesterday to see Brent futures reach their lowest level of the year after OPEC failed to cut their output. This saw the likes of CAD, NOK and RUB all fall against the USD. In fact, Canadian Dollar fell to an 11-year low, the Russian Ruble to its lowest level in three months, while the South African Rand dropped to another all-time low.

Weekly Currencies As of Tuesday 8th December 2015 @ 3pm

GBP - INR = 100.08 USD - INR = 66.82 EUR - INR = 72.79 GBP - USD = 1.50 GBP - EUR = 1.37

EUR - USD = 1.09 GBP - AED = 5.50

GBP - CAD = 2.04

GBP - NZD = 2.26

GBP - AUD = 2.08

GBP - ZAR = 21.97

GBP - HUF = 432.02

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

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22

WORLD

In Brief

Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

Pak denies travel permission to Indian envoy

LAHORE: Pakistan has denied permission to a diplomat from the Indian high commission to travel to Lahore to set up the mission's stall at the ongoing SAARC Trade Fair.

Over 50 Indian traders are participating in the fair held in Lahore, from December 4 to 6. However, the Indian mission was not given permission to travel from Islamabad to Lahore.

Death for Lanka top cop, five others

COLOMBO: A Sri Lankan court has sentenced top police officer, his son and four other policemen to death, for the abduction and murder of a businessman in 2013. Deputy Inspector General Vaas Gunawardena was found guilty of killing Mohamed Shiyam in exchange for 10 million rupees from a business rival. His son's role was discovered when CCTV footage showed Shiyam being taken away by Gunawardena's son Ravindu. The country's security forces regularly kidnapped and killed troublesome opponents during its civil war, a practice that continued even after the war ended in 2009. It is so open and well-known that people started referring it to as being “white-vanned”, a reference to the vehicles often used to abduct victims.

Indian student in UAE gets perfect SAT score

DUBAI: A 15 year old student of Indian origin has scored a perfect 2400 out of 2400 in the coveted Scholastic Aptitude Test exams held recently. Sanchit Kapoor, who has represented the UAE in the World Youth Scrabble Championships for the last four years is among the top 0.5 per cent out of the 1.8 million students who appeared for the college board exam. He said, “I knew I had done well, but never expected this score. It was a surprise.” Dubaibased independent educational consultant for US universities, Peter Davos said, “Annually, only 400 students worldwide from 1.8 million who appear for SAT achieve a perfect score.” A perfect SAT score has brought Kapoor closer to his objective of enrolling into a top US university.

Pak files petition seeking Kohinoor

ISLAMABAD: A petition has been filed in a Pakistani court to bring back the world famous Kohinoor diamond which India has been trying to get from the UK. Barrister Javed Iqbal Jaffry has alleged in his petition to the Lahore high court that the UK snatched the diamond from Daleep Singh, grandson of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh, and took it to Britain. He said, “The diamond became part of the crown of incumbent Queen Elizabeth-II at the time of her crowning in 1953. Queen Elizabeth has no right on the Kohinoor diamond, which weighs 105 carats and is worth billions of rupees.” The Kohinoor was mined in medieval times in the Kollur mine in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur district. At one time it was considered the largest diamond in the world.

Pakistan hangs 4 men convicted of Peshwar school massacre

PESHAWAR: Pakistan has carried out the execution of four men for their involvement in the massacre of 134 children at an army-run school in Peshawar. The hangings are the first executions of civilians convicted by Pakistan's military courts, which were set up after the massacre through a constitutional amendment. Hazrat Ali, Mujeebur Rehman, Sabeel and Abdus Salam were convicted on August 13, and all of them were identified as members of the Toheedwal Jihad Group, a previously unheard faction of the Pakistani Taliban. Three others were also sentenced to death for involvement in the attack, but their death warrants have not yet been issued.

Russia offers to build pipeline for gas exports to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Russia has offered to lay a pipeline for gas exports to energy-starved Pakistan that will run parallel to the TAPI pipeline. The proposal has provoked fears that Moscow may lose the European Union market due to political tensions. The second largest producer of natural gas, Russia is looking for alternatives and has already signed a multi-billion-dollar energy deal with China. An official said, “A Russian delegation during a visit to Pakistan last month discussed plans for building a gas pipeline in a meeting of the Pakistan-Russia Inter-governmental Commission.” They expressed keen interest in laying the pipeline for gas exports to Pakistan, which would snake through Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, he said.

According to officials, the Russian pipeline will run parallel to another regional pipeline called TAPI, which will be built by Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

www.asian-voice.com

Foreign media groups stymied by Indian regulations AsianVoiceNews

NEW DELHI: Rupert Murdoch's Star India and other global media groups' plans to capitalise on the opening of India's broadcasting sector to foreign investors are being foiled by regulatory barriers.

India had said last month that foreign companies could and own 100 per cent of cable and direct-tohome satellite operators, up from 72 per cent previously, potentially bringing substantial new funds into the country's $7 billion television sector.

The move was made to attract investment from major global media groups like Time Warner, Comcast or Liberty Global.

Murdoch's Star India, already holds a 20 per cent stake in Tata Sky, a satellite joint venture with India's

Tata group. However, separate regulations designed to limit cross-media ownership are in effect stopping diversified media companies. Chief executive of Star India, Uday Shankar said, “The government say they want to open it all up, but because of these other rules no big players can come and do anything, not us or any of the other American companies.”

India’s regulations stop diversified media groups owning more than 20 per cent of satellite businesses.

These limit Star’s ability to take a higher stake in its Tata venture. They could also restrict a company such as Time Warner, which owns Turner International India, a TV programme distribution

arm. The rules could also affect US-based cable groups Comcast and Liberty Global, both of whom analysts say have examined entering the Indian market. “We would be very open to being the majority shareholder [in Tata Sky],” Shankar said.

“These regulations and limitations are basically booby traps which stop anyone doing what the government says it wants to happen, which is getting more investment into the sector.” Concern over these regulatory restrictions comes amid rising foreign interest in India’s television sector, which is expected to be worth Rs 975bn by 2020, up from Rs 475bn last year, according to KPMG. According to research

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

group BARC, India is already one of the world's largest broadcasting markets measured by viewers, with 154 million TV homes and a total audience of 675 million. However, the cable and satellite sectors are fragmented. In satellite, Tata Sky competes against local groups like Dish TV, backed by media conglomerate Zee, and Airtel Digital TV, backed by telecoms group Bharti Airtel.

“This market will consolidate, and badly needs investment,” says Vivek Couto, founder of Media Partners Asia, a Hong Kong-based consultancy.

“These big global players like Comcast and Liberty would like to do more in India, but this issue of regulatory barriers is a major problem.”

Diwali celebrated in European Parliament BRUSSELS (BELGIUM): The Hindu Forum of Europe for the first time celebrated Diwali in the European Parliament on 16 November 2015. The event was hosted by the British MEP Neena Gill, and attended by Hindus from across Europe. Hindu representatives from Spain, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Britain, Sweden, Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium attended the function. Ethnically they were Hungarian, Sindhi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Italian, Sri Lankan, Tamil, Swiss, Balinese, Swedish, Spanish; it was a cornucopia of the HinduEuropean communities.

Two Ambassadors graced the occasion, the Ambassadors of India, HE M Puri, and the Ambassador of Mauritius, HE D Dillum.

Neena Gill and

Avnish and Anita Goyal Sponsors, HE M Puri, Ambassador of India, and HE D Dillum Ambassador of Mauritius, Radj Bhondoe President of HFE, and Sarahaba Bava Swamiji from Switzerland at the lighting the lamp ceremony.

Ambassador Puri both referred to the Paris atrocities and mentioned that the 'Light of Diwali would reach the victims of that incident.' President of Hindu Forum Radj Bhondoe dedicated this event to "the thousands of missing Hindu girls in Pakistan who experience extreme inhumanity and

suffering. On an average every day a Hindu girl in that country is kidnapped, married against her will and forced to convert to Islam," he said. "This practice is going on for decades and no one is willing to do anything against it."

Entertainment was provided by Vocalist Kakoli Sengupta; a Bengali, citi-

Narendra Pathak appointed HHSC Commissioner of City of Sunnyvale CALIFORNIA: Narendra Pathak of Gujarati origin has been appointed as Commissioner on Housing and Human Services Commission by the City of Sunnyvale, USA. He was sworn into office on November 25th for a term that expires on June 30th, 2017. Pathak holds a Bachelors' Degree in Economics and Law Degrees in Labor Laws and Criminal Laws.

He will advise on existing and potential programs and policies and advise outside groups about community development, Affordable Housing and other issues. This sevenmember commission acts in an advisory capacity to

Narendra Pathak the City Council on programs, policies, and other issues regarding housing and human services, Below Market Rate Housing Program, Community Development Block Grant, Youth task force, civil rights issues, and on ways

to counter discrimination by age, disability, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual harassment and other things on existing and potential state, federal programs, policies, Seniors community development programs, International Human rights, other issues and Coordinating with the United States Housing and Human Services Commission.

Pathak has served as Board of Library Trustees, Board member on General Plan Consolidation Advisory Committee and Advisory Board member on Below Market Rate Housing Program, Advisory on New Library of Future Project.

zen of France; Percussionist Rashmi Bhatt, a Gujarati, citizen of Italy; and Meena Rajagopalan, a Tamil citizen of the UK. Mahaprabhu Das, secretary and founder member of the Forum said this was a dream come true and the right platform to put the Hindu Forum of Europe and issues of Hindus from around the world on the agenda of the European Institutions.

Frans Timmermans, First Vice President of the European Commission, said “…Hindu Forum of Europe…play an important role in promoting social cohesion and bridging divides…” Dutch MEP Dennis De Jong said, “Diwali shows that our values of love, peace and respect for each other are universal values. No terrorist act can ever endanger these values…”

Probe against Rajapakse’s brother COLOMBO: Brother of former Sri Lankan president Mahina Rajapakse has been formally named in a corruption case involving the transfer of state weapons. A judicial commission said that Gotabhaya Rajapakse faced a hearing next week into allegations he received kickbacks while serving as defence secretary during his brother's time in power. “He, along with four others, were named responsible for the transfer of weapons and other matters and a hearing will begin from next week,” secretary of the commission of four judges, Lacille de Silva said.

WORLD

www.asian-voice.com

India becomes the second highest In Brief recipient of Britain's aid 38 Taliban militants killed in AsianVoiceNews

LONDON: India has become the second highest recipient of Britain's aid spending, after its funding increased by £10 million to nearly £279 million.

Conservative MPs said the amount of taxpayer's money being given to one of the world's fastest growing economies is “ridiculous”. While several ministers have pledged to end the handouts by 2015, millions of pounds worth of aid will still be given to the country in the form of “grants” and “technical assistance”.

Former defence minister Sir Gerard Howarth said, “The Indians will be the first to recognise that in the current international situation British taxpayers money should be directed to those in the greatest need.” He said, “A country with its own space

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

programme does not need aid from us. Whilst I understand the Prime Minister's view that international aid has a role to play, and there's no doubt that British taxpayer's generosity in respect of Syrian refugees falls into that category. But most people cannot understand why we are increasing overseas aid far faster than we are increasing public money on the defence of the realm. Strong defence is what projects serious influence on the World.”

Official figures have also revealed that Britain now spends more of its aid money on a fund to tackle climate change than it does on a vaccination programme for children in the developed world. More than £ 274 million was spent in 2014 on the strategic climate fund, to

Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

promote renewable energy in developing countries and tackle deforestation.

The conflict pool, which helps stabilise fragile states with peacekeeping missions, received just £180million, the lowest level for three years. The figures showed that Britain's overall aid spending has risen by £302million to £11.7billion. A spokeswoman for Dfid said, “We are doing exactly what we said we would do back in 2012 – ending financial aid to India by the end of this year. Since 2011, Dfid has cut aid to India by almost 40%, saving the British taxpayer more than £300 million.”

She said that the conflict pool budget is larger because it includes resources from other government departments.

Conservative MPs have

repeatedly questioned David Cameron's decision to spend 0.7 per cent of Britain's national income on aid. Cameron had vowed last month to spend half of Britain's annual £11billion aid budget on “stabilising and supporting broken and fragile states”, he said.

“We are going to enhance that capability by refocusing our aid spending so we will target at least half of Dfid’s budget on stabilising and supporting broken and fragile states, and do much more to help refugees closer to their homes,” he said. “This will make our aid spending an even more fundamental part of our strategy to keep this country safe. And it will help to maintain Britain’s position as Number one in the world for soft power.”

Oscar Pistorius found guilty of murder PRETORIA: Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius who killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in February 2013 was found guilty of murder by a South African appeals court. Pistorius killed his girlfriend after shooting at her four times through a locked toilet door. Under house arrest after spending one year of his original five-year sentence in jail, Pistorius has been granted bail while he awaits sentence for murder.

The 'Blade Runner' shot and killed his girlfriend at his home in Pretoria mistaking her for an intruder. His trial for murder began in March, 2014 in Pretoria. The proceedings were however, adjourned until June, in May, so he could undergo a psychiatric evaluation to establish whether he was criminally responsible for shooting Steenkamp. The trial resumed after reports showed the accused could be held criminally respon-

Oscar Pistorius sible. On 12 September, Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide. On 21 October, he received prison sentence of a maximum of five years for culpable homicide and a concurrent three-year suspended prison sentence for the separate reckless endangerment conviction.

In November, prosecutors applied to the sentencing judge for permission to appeal the culpable homicide verdict, saying the fiveyear punishment was “shockingly light, inappropriate and would not have been imposed by any rea-

sonable court.” Judge Thokozile Masipa ruled on 10 December that the prosecution could challenge her ruling of acquitting Pistorius of premeditated murder and the lesser charge of culpable homicide.

He did not receive any special privileges during his first six weeks in prison, as per statements given by his brother. He was later recommended for an early release in June 2015. South African Commissioner of Correctional Services, Zach Modise said that, “Under South African law he is eligible for release under correctional supervision having served a sixth of his sentence.” He was released to house arrest for 21 August, based on good behaviour and the fact that was not considered a danger to the community. The athlete was expected to remain under house arrest and correctional supervision, and perform community service as part of his

continuing sentence. His release was blocked by South Africa's Justice Minister Michael Masutha who considered the Parole Board's decision for early release “premature”.

The date for prosecutors to submit court papers outlining their arguments was set for 17 August 2015, and the date for the defence team's response was set for 17 September 2015. The date for the appeal hearing was set for November 2015. The prosecutors' argument rested on Judge Masipa's application of the legal principle of dolus eventualis, and that the judge made an error in concluding Pistorius had not foreseen that by firing four shots through the closed door of the toilet cubicle, he would kill or injure whoever was behind the door.

The appeal was heard on 3rd November 2015, before 5 Supreme Court judges, in the Supreme Court of Appeal.

Parents face life term for ‘honour killing’ Azadullah (52) and Shazia Khan (42) have been sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany for allegedly murdering their daughter, Lareeb Khan (19), in an “honour killing” crime.

It is said that the parents disapproved of their daughter having sex with a man they did not approve of and they believed she was bringing “shame” on the family.

It is alleged that Lareeb had attempted to shoplift condoms, which triggered her parents to murder her.

Her father allegedly quietly entered into Lareeb's room and stran-

Lareeb Khan ws murdered by her parents for sleeping with a man they disapproved of gled her to death, while her mother looked on.

The parents, who are originally from Pakistan, were trying to arrange the

wedding of Lareeb, who was a dental technician, and ended up killing her after she brought “dishonour” on them, a German court in Darmstadt heard.

Although Shazia Khan asserted that she was helpless and had no say when it came to the murder of her daughter, the younger daughter Neda (14), condemned her mother stating that she ruled the house.

Judge Volker Wagner stated, “She [Shazia Khan] clearly is guilty of murder.

You feared being shunned by the community if it got out that your daughter had slept with her boyfriend. It was worth killing your

daughter for. A woman cannot be so physically weak that she doesn't intervene in the murder of her own daughter and instead watches it for five minutes.

You lived in two cultural worlds. It is not the case that you may not be allowed to live in your own culture. But you must deal with our values... What is justice? Lareeb is dead, her sister Neda lives with foster parents, the parents are facing life imprisonment...”

Azadullah Khan's last words in court were spoken through an interpreter, where he said, “I would undo it all if I could... I accept any punishment.”

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Afghanistan

KABUL: An interior ministry statement said the Afghan police and units of the national army have killed 38 Taliban militants in a series of operations in the conflictridden country recently. The operations were conducted in parts of Nangarhar, Kunduz, Helmand, Samangan, Faryab and Saribul, during which many militants were injured and the police have seized a number of arms and ammunitions. Taliban militants have not yet made comments on the government claims.

Six injured in bomb attack on a Hindu gathering in Bangladesh DHAKA: A series of bomb blasts at a Hindu religious gathering in northern Bangladesh has injured at least six people. The attack followed the shooting and wounding of an Italian doctor working in the same region last month.

The blasts occurred in Dinajpur district, 415 km north of the capital Dhaka when a series of bombs explode as hundreds of devotees attended a religious ceremony called “Rushmela”, said officer in-charge of Kahalpur police station, Abdul Mazid. Mazid said the attack followed recent threats to the temple's priest urging him not to organise any religious gatherings. Five people have been detained for interrogation, he said.

Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour succumbs to injuries

KABUL: Taliban supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour has died of injuries, confirmed Afghanistan officials. Mansour was critically injured in a gunfight in an argument with commanders in the militant group. The event came as the group has been divided into two factions after Mansour succeeded former Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar as the hardliner group's leader after Omar was confirmed dead in late July.

Too much TV could damage long-term intelligence SAN FRANSISCO: Researchers from the Northern California Institute for Research and Education say that not getting enough exercise in early adulthood could be damaging to one's long-term intelligence. The study group followed more than 3200 aged between 18 and 32, for 25 years monitoring their exercise and television habits. They found that those who watched three or more hours of television more than four days a week and rarely exercised, were twice as likely to score poorly in intelligence and cognition tests.

US deploys spy plane in Singapore

WASHINGTON: The US has agreed on a first deployment of the U.S. P8 Poseidon spy plane in Singapore in response to China over its pursuit of territorial claims in the South China Sea. In a joint statement after a meeting in Washington on Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen welcomed the inaugural deployment of the aircraft in Singapore from Dec. 7 to 14. Taking the development with a pinch of salt, China said the move aims to militarise the region. “I think this kind of increase in military deployment by the United States and pushing regional militarization does not accord with the joint long-term interests of the countries in this region,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters. The United States and Singapore have long-standing defense ties and the announcement of the P8 deployment was part of an enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement signed by Carter and Ng.

Socialite dies after refusing treatment

LONDON: A socialite who chose death over age succumbed to severe kidney and liver damage when she tried to kill herself by washing down 60 tablets with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot on a beach in Southern England after the failure of her most recent relationship. Judge Alistair MacDonald at the Court of Protection ruled that her decision to refuse treatment might be unwise or immoral but was not beyond her capacity, despite doctors’ warnings to the contrary. His report states that “Dr Stevens diagnosed a narcissistic personality disorder which constituted an impairment or disturbance in the functioning of her mind.” Only known as C, the court hear her complain that she might seem “past her sell-by date” when she found she was to become a grandmother, had breast cancer diagnosed last year but declined treatment for fear its affect on her weight would prevent her wearing a bikini. She also said that she did not want to “live in a council flat”, be poor or be ugly.

24

INDIA

www.asian-voice.com

TN govt can't release Rajiv killers: In Brief Supreme Court 5 die after drinking spurious liquor AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has ruled that Jayalalithaa government in Tamil Nadu could not unilaterally commute life terms of Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convicts and release them without the Centre's concurrence.

With the SC ruling that in cases where death sentence has been commuted to life, the convict has to undergo imprisonment for his entire life, Rajiv assassination case life convicts might end up spending their entire lives behind bars. The political game had begun on February 18

Nalini Perarivalan last year when the SC commuted the death sentence of three condemned convicts in Rajiv case Perarivalan, Murugan and Santhan - on the ground that consideration of their mercy petitions was delayed by nearly 11 years by successive Presidents.

Madras HC prescribes dress code at temples CHENNAI: The Madras High Court Bench has prescribed a dress code for men, women and even children wanting to visit temples maintained by Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department across Tamil Nadu. Justice S Vaidhyanathan ordered that from January 1 onwards, men should wear a “dhoti or pyjama with upper cloth or formal pants and shirts” to temples and women should wear “a sari or a half sari or churidar with upper cloth.” Children could wear “any fully covered dress.” He has directed the HR and CE Commissioner to issue a circular to all temples under his jurisdiction to strictly

adhere to the dress code. He clarified that temples where men were prohibited from wearing an upper cloth could, however, continue the practice. The judge also said that his order should be followed as an interim measure till the state government takes a police decision as expeditiously as possible to prescribe a similar dress code in order to enhance the spiritual ambience among devotees.

“The temples which are not coming within the purview of the Government shall enforce their own dress code… Police shall not allow devotees inside any Hindu Temple who wear dresses other than the one prescribed,” the judge ordered.

AAP getting ready for 2017 assembly election CHANDIGARH: The Aam Aadmi Party is preparing its army of volunteers through an almost two-month-long extensive training with the aim to find candidates for the 2017 state Assembly elections.

The party is looking for leaders from the masses through this orientation programme and introduce a new system of politics different from the prevailing system based on personalities or familial ties with some influential person or political leader. The party's think tank agrees that their CM candidate has to be a personality who can take on the Akalis and the Congress, but to contest all the 117 Assembly seats, it needs to groom workers with leadership potential. A core think tank and strategy group of the party has framed this training and assignmentbased plan where the leaders' performance will decide the candidates for the 2017 elections. A key member of the team, Col

LJS Gill said, “AAP does not believe in family rule and wants to introduce a new wave of politics where leaders emerge from the masses. We are in the process to build the capacity of such leaders. It would be for the party to decide who would be the candidate.” The training programme will build resource persons and rope in faculty experts who will train the 13 zone heads, 39 sector chiefs, each will head three assemblies. The training will go down to the booth level. The party has prepared 6 handouts to be distributed to all. The handouts contain “Ten Commandments” for the volunteers and a ready reckoner on party ethics, roles and responsibilities and the code of conduct.

Murugan Santhan On February 19, the Jayalalithaa government decided to commute the life sentence of these three along with four other lifers in the same case - Nalini, Robert Pyas, Jayakumar and Ravichandran - saying that all of them had served more than 23 years' of

imprisonment. Nalini was sentenced to death but her sentence was commuted to life by the TN governor long ago. The Centre had swiftly moved the SC challenging the decision and the court on February 20 last year stayed the TN government's decision. The Centre's main argument was that the case was investigated by the CBI, a central investigating agency, and hence a state government could not exercise its power to remit sentences without the concurrence of the Union government.

Solar car: answer to India's killer air NEW DELHI: A school drop out from Bengaluru has designed a non-polluting, solar powered car, which could be the answer to the dangerously high pollution levels in Indian cities. Sajjad Ahmed calls his car 'Surya Jyoti.' It has already made a 3,000 km test run from Bengaluru to New Delhi and now, India's science ministry has decided to take forward the entrepreneur's effort. The cost of running the car, according to the innovator, is Re 1 a kilometre. Ahmed put it together using parts from here and there, at a cost of Rs 120,000. It uses five solar panels to charge regular lead acid batteries. It can

run for up to 40 km on full charge and at a top speed of 30 km per hour. India's science minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan, who took a ride in the car, appeared impressed.

Vardhan said, "This innovation has huge potential to become a user friendly public movement.

Not only for India but for the world now that we are in a Solar Alliance globally...We want to take it forward in such a way that we come out with a very friendly car for people." He has asked the Department of Science and Technology to support this effort so that the prototype can be made into a commercial success.

SAD, BJP want to continue alliance in Punjab CHANDIGARH: The Bharatiya Janta Party, which had initially held plans to contest the 2017 Punjab assembly elections alone, has decided against breaking alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal. With recent developments, where AAP has entered into the political scene and Amritsar MP Captain Amarinder Singh back as state Congress president, the ruling combine is keen to prevent the division of votes once more.

Positive that the AAP and the Congress would contest for the number two and three slots, BJP national secretary Tarun Chugh said the Akali-BJP combination would form the government. The state BJP unit has left the alliance matter to the national leadership and accepted that political scenario in Punjab has changed in the past two

months of religio-political turmoil. “The BJP will take all steps for communal harmony in the border state of Punjab,” Chugh said, hinting that they would stay with the Akalis, who have already set the tone for the 2017 contest.

After coming to power in Haryana on its own, last October, the BJP contemplated taking the risk in Punjab too. However, the February debacle in Delhi and the most recent failure in the Bihar elections has made them more cautious.

“There may be a difference of opinion but there are no differences in our heart,” said Chugh, adding that most of the issues with the SAD had been sorted out and the rest would also be resolved.

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VIJAYWADA: Andhra Pradesh government has announced Rs 500,000 ex-gratia to kin of each of the five victims, who died after consuming spurious liquor in the city, also ordering a magisterial inquiry into the matter. As many as 34 persons fell sick after consuming liquor at Swarna Bar in Krishnalanka area in Vijayawada. Five persons died and the remaining were undergoing treatment in four private hospitals. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who visited the hospital and inquired about the condition of the victims, announced the compensation. Krishna District Collector Babu A. has said that a magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the tragedy and Vijayawada Sub-Collector G. Srujana has been appointed as inquiry officer.

Solar scam charges against Kerala Chief Minister

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The prime accused in the solar panel scam in Kerala has claimed to possess video clippings in which six politicians, including Chief Minister Oommen Chandy talking to his partner Saritha Nair and “engaging in wrong situations”.

Deposing before Justice G Sivarajan Commission, which is probing the scam, accused Biju Radhakrishnan said he had shown the videos of five politicians with Saritha to the Chief Minister. However, he did not deliberately show the sixth person's video as it was the Chief Minister himself. While there has been no immediate reaction from the CM's office and others' against whom the allegations are being made, leader of the oppostion, V S Achuthanandan, has demanded Chandy's resignation.

Over 50 killed in Andhra

RAJAHMUNDRY (ANDHRA PRADESH): Over 50 people died in last 20 days in various parts of Andhra Pradesh in rain-related incidents, deputy Chief Minister Nimmakayala Chinarajappa said. He said National Disaster Response Force teams were deployed in Nellore and Chittoor districts where several rivulets were in spate due to rains, to carry out relief and rescue operations. Chittoor, Nellore and other districts of Andhra Pradesh bordering Tamil Nadu have been bearing the brunt of heavy rains. He said government was taking all necessary measures to bring people from the state who were stranded in Chennai to their places in Andhra Pradesh.

Beef rumour triggers clash, 10 hurt

GURGAON (HARYANA): In yet another incident involving the beef debate, a 'cow protection group' beat up a truck driver on the suspicion that he was carrying a consignment of beef. The group stopped the truck coming from Mewat and going to Aligarh. When the driver protested the detention by local villagers, he was thrashed and his truck damaged. The villagers then blocked the highway in protest against 'transportation of beef'. The situation soon got out of hand as the crowd started pelting stones at the police and they responded with a lathi charge. “It was a clash between pro-cow volunteers and police. It was not a communal clash,” said RS Sangwan, deputy director of public relations (NCR), Haryana.

Couple wins 6 medals in veterans’ athletic meet

ABOHAR(PUNJAB): Retired teachers, Jaspal Kaur and husband Gulshinder Singh Jassal, both recently won six medals in the 13th Rajasthan Masters Athletics were welcomed in their hometown Abohar, recently.

Jaspal has won gold medals in hammer throw, discuss throw and javelin throw competitions. Gurshinder won a silver medal in hammer throw, besides winning bronze in discuss thrown and javelin throw events in the same age group. The couple has been winning medals in Punjab and Rajasthan veterans' athletic meet for the past five years.

Jalandhar girl wins Kalam award

JALANDHAR: A Jalandhar girl Jaspreet Kaur has won the prestigious Dr APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE Award for her idea on “Colour Coded Thermometer”. She is one of the 31 students to have won the award, out of 28,000 entries received by the National Innovation of India, which gives the award every year to students with original ideas. Jaspreet, a class 10 student of Police DAV Public School, explained her idea saying, “In my idea, one can find temperature using colours in thermometer.”

INDIA

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Delhi government has announced that private car and two-wheeler will be allowed on the city roads only on alternative days from next year, in a bid to clean up the capital's polluted air. Private vehicles will be allowed to run on the street only every other day, depending on whether their license plates end in even or odd numbers, the government declared a day after it was criticised by the high court over its mounting pollution problem.

Known as road space rationing, the method is followed in various forms across the world, though experts said implementation could prove to be a major challenge as well over two million vehicles would have to be kept off the roads every day. The city’s vehicular population, which causes choking jams on all weekdays, includes about 2.7 million cars.

The government also

announced a slew of other measures that could help curb air pollution, including stopping roadside parking to battle congestion, improving the public transportation system and bringing cleaner fuel to the city before the rest of the country. The city also plans to shut down one of its oldest and least efficient thermal power plants. The Badarpur plant, commissioned in the early 1970s, uses outdated equipment and often breaks down.

Traffic police will also be told to ensure that diesel-

guzzling trucks, which transit through the city at night, enter only after 11pm. Currently trucks are allowed to enter the city at 9pm, often resulting in massive traffic jams.

Earlier this year the city ordered all private cars older than 10 years to be taken off the roads, becoming the second major city in the world to do so after Beijing. Last year, the World Health Organization named the Delhi as the world’s most polluted, with 12 other Indian cities ranking among the worst 20.

LeT plot to attack Modi in Delhi foiled with `arrests' Indian intelligence agencies say they are undertaking a joint operation to nab hardcore Lashkar-e-Taiba militants who have targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's gatherings and assassinate other high-profile politicians in Delhi. Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Delhi Police’s special cell sleuths claim that at least four terrorists had infiltrated Jammu and Kashmir last month and were in contact with Lashkar commander Abu Dujana for logistics and ground support.

J&K police has also been roped in for the counter-terror operation and at least two of the militants have been reportedly arrested in J&K, sources

Narendra Modi

grenade at the crowd. If the strike at the gathering could not be executed, the operatives were asked to eliminate a high-value target in Delhi or J&K, which could have “political and communal ramifications,” they said. The operatives used the word VIP often, as heard in intercepts and mentioned in an FIR registered by the Delhi Police.

said. The sources were quoted as saying that the militants had two plans.

One was to carry out a mass shooting in a Parislike attack at a gathering attended by Modi. And the other revolved around a militant, who was supposed to blow himself up if he failed to penetrate Modi’s cordon, or hurl a

Agencies believe the strike was to be “spectacular.” Dujana, the newly appointed Lashkar commander wants to make his presence felt in the country. Sources in the intelligence agencies did not deny the possibility of alQaida’s Indian wing being behind the scenes.

Shah set to get another term as BJP chief BJP president Amit Shah is all set to get a second term as his current tenure ends in December, with the RSS leadership deciding against replacing someone whom it considers to be “extremely hardworking.”

Expectations of party dissidents that disgruntlement over the Bihar results, the second successive failure after the Delhi election, would find purchase with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) has not materialised with the Sangh, according to sources, reading the setback as a result of the rival grand alliance's stronger social coalition.

The Bihar debacle sparked rumblings of discontent against Shah, with senior members L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha and Shanta Kumar holding the party chief responsible for the embarrassment and accusing him of “emasculating” the organisation. However, the shortlived revolt by the veterans, sidelined in the Modi dispensation, failed to stir up any serious dissent against the leadership of PM Narendra Modi and Shah.

While RSS can be expected to carry out its own detailed analysis of what went wrong in Bihar,

Local body polls: BJP suffers setback in rural areas Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

Delhi to restrict use of vehicles to cut pollution

it does not seem ready to indict Shah for the failed campaign or consider allegations that the BJP organisation is being run in a unilateral manner under the Modi-Shah dispensation.

Shah played a key role in BJP's sweep of UP in the LS polls: a key factor in the party's outright win.

His tenure also saw the party notching up wins in Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand, whereas successes in elections in Manipur, Kerala and Ladakh - territories lying beyond the party's known hunting grounds - have also been ascribed to his ambitious expansion plan.

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The Bharatiya Janta Party suffered its worst-ever defeat in local body polls in Gujarat that saw Congress regain control, especially in the rural areas. While BJP retained all six municipal corporations, Congress wrested 23 out of 31 district panchayats and 113 out of 194 taluka panchayats. This was a big setback for BJP since it had won 30 out of 31 district panchayats and 191 out of 230 taluka panchayats in 2010. The BJP, however, continued to hold on to nagarpalikas, winning 42 out of 56. It had won 49 in previous polls.

The rural-urban divide was most evident as BJP lost district panchayats of Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Vadodara, Surat, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar even when it won the municipal corporations in the same cities. Apart from the stir by Patels, who gave a `defeat BJP' call, other factors including antiincumbency, water for irrigation and minimum support prices added to woes of a party that lacks the

Narendra Modi charm.

Patidars inflicted a nasty dent in the party strongholds in Saurashtra and North Gujarat.

Rural Gujarat gave a ruthless wake-up call to the party which never lost an election during the Modi rule from 2001 to 2014.

Senior ministers from Mehsana failed to salvage BJP in their home ground.

Education minister B h u p e n d r a s i n h Chudasama and social justice and empowerment minister Ramanlal Vora suffered embarrassment with BJP routed in Ahmedabad, Sabarkantha and Aravalli. Vijay Rupani, the minister for transport and water supplies, failed

to weather the Patidar storm in Rajkot.

BJP's experiment of fielding 500 Muslim candidates failed everywhere except in Una municipality where all its 10 minority community candidates won. In Una, its Muslim candidates gave BJP 35 out of 36 seats. Besides the 10 winners in Una, another Muslim BJP candidate, Sufiya Zaheed Dal won in RMC. In Ahmedabad, all four Muslim BJP candidates for AMC lost in three different Muslim-dominated constituencies, Jamalpur, Behrampura and Maktampura. The party did not field any Muslim candidate in Surat or Vadodara city.

Court moved to declare Taj Mahal as Hindu temple Six lawyers from Agra have filed a legal case to declare Taj Mahal to be classified as a Hindu temple. Indian culture minister was also dragged into the case. The petitioners believe that the monument built by the 17th century Mughal emperor as a tomb for his beloved wife was originally an ancient shrine to the Hindu god Shiva.

The petition, which was accepted by the Agra Court, names a Hindu deity as its main plaintiff.

It calls for ownership of the monument to be transferred to Hindus for worship and, most controversially, for Muslim religious activity to be blocked and graves to be removed.

Currently, only Muslims are allowed to worship at the site, offering Friday prayers at a mosque attached to the Taj Mahal.

Questioned in parliament, Dr Mahesh Sharma, India’s culture minister, said he was aware of the suit, but that “the government has not found any evidence which can suggest that Taj Mahal was a Hindu temple of Shiva.”

However, experts warned this alone will not be enough to quash the suit, which has inflamed tensions in India at a time when growing religious intolerance is already a daily talking point.

“What the culture minister said would be the government’s official stand on it, but the court has yet to

decide,” said Dr Bhuvan Vikrama, of the Archaeological Survey of India, which manages the mausoleum. Theories over the Taj Mahal’s supposed Hindu heritage have abounded for decades, albeit well outside the historical mainstream. In his 1989 book Taj Mahal: The True Story, revisionist historian PN Oak claimed the monument was built in 1155, decades before the Muslim invasion of India.

He said its name is a corrupt form of the sanskrit term “Tejo Mahalay”, signifying a Shiva Temple.

However, Oak is the author of many outlandish and discredited theories, including bizarre claims that the Hindus once conquered Italy, and even that Westminster Abbey was once also a Shiva temple.

That, though, has not stopped his writings being widely circulated online. As British historian William Dalrymple noted, Hindu supremacists "have found it hard to believe that such

a masterpiece was built by the same Muslims they despised”. Lakshmikant Bajpayee, the BJP president of Uttar Pradesh, where the monument is located, said in December that the Taj Mahal was an ancient temple that was sold by Hindu king Jai Singh to Shah Jahan, the Mughal emperor widely believed to have built it.

While government ministers have now been forced to pour cold water on the claims, some in the tourism industry surrounding the Taj Mahal believe the damage is already being done.

Speaking at the Agra district court in May, a collection of tourist bodies warned: “The Taj Mahal is a major tourist attraction and a symbol of national pride not only for Agra but also for the entire country.

“Making the Taj Mahal controversial would affect not only the source of attraction for the world but also tourism in the country.”

INDIA

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Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

Chennai limps back to normal after record rain CONTINUED FROM P1 received more than 300 mm in 24 hours. A depression in the Bay of Bengal triggered rains in coastal areas and India's fourth largest city was stalled as people died and thousands were stranded.

The flooding forced more than 200,000 people to abandon their homes.

The last known figures reveal 450 people killed by the overflowing, but it is likely to rise as the water now slowly recedes leaving it to the state government and its people to put their lives back together. Some 400 passengers were stranded at the airport as all flights were cancelled.

Patients were evacuated from hospitals as flood waters entered buildings.

At least 14 patients on life support system at a private hospital died as the power supply to the hospital was snapped as flood water entered its premises. The army and the National Disaster Response Force was deployed in the city's worst-affected suburbs to rescue people.

At least 10,000 policemen and swimmers were employed to help in the rescue efforts. The government had suspended power supply in early 60

Relief material being distributed

People wading through flooded street

Narendra Modi announces immediate relief of £100 million for flood hit Tamil Nadu essential supplies for proper cent of the city's neighduction to resume. Over bourhoods.

165 BSE-listed companies Not only did the floods worth over £28.50 billion cripple daily lives, it also that run operations in affected Chennai's indusChennai have been hit. An trial and business hubs, Assocham study on the resulting in losses that floods made a rough estihave run into billions of mate of £1.5 billion loss for rupees. The rain hampered the industries. production process and Military personnel also triggered a shortage of Asian Voice £29 Gujarat Samachar £29 Both Weeklies (separate) £58 Both Together for Subscriber only £35-00 Total Savings £23-00 You Save 40% By adding only £6 you can subsribe Gujarat Samachar

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unswervingly continued using helicopters and boats to take people trapped in flooded pockets, to safer areas. Hundreds of police and fire department rescuers waded through flooded streets carrying people to safety. Low-lying areas were submerged and the Adyar river flowed well above the danger mark.

Rescue and relief operations continued in full swing with over a hundred people taken to safety by teams of Army, IAF and NDRF, including a sevenmonth pregnant woman who was airlifted from one of the worst-affected areas in the flooded city.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took an aerial survey of the disaster and later met with Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, offering Rs 10,000 million for flood relief operations from the National Disaster Response Fund. Several Kollywood and Bollywood celebrities threw in their lot as the rich donated food and money. The south film industry sprung into action, providing aid in whichever means possible.

Celebrities like

Rajinikanth

and

Shah

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Rukh Khan donated generously to the cause.

Help came in from all sides, conventional and unconventional. Sex workers from Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district dipped into their savings and survived on just one meal a day to collect Rs 100,000, that was donated towards relief work. People made the utmost use of the internet, with actions as small as posting a single status update on Facebook proved more than useful help for the stricken. Social media became an effective media to arrange relief commodities.

A Bengaluru resident, named Ram Kashyap, shuttled between Bengaluru and Chennai with food supplies and other essentials items. He accepted donations for food supplies, containers, paper cups, plates, rain coats, umbrellas and money for fuel. #ChennaiRainsHelp trended on Twitter with tweets like “If you are running out of balance, Tweet your numbers. Shall do recharges for 10 X 50 #chennairains” providing relief to families stranded away from each other.

Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted, “If your passport is lost or damaged in floods, pl go to any of three PSKs in Chennai. They will issue u fresh passport free of charge. Pl RT” Hashtags were used by volunteers to marshal rescue efforts and trace missing people.

Aid also poured in from abroad as the World Tamil Organisation (UK) London, gathered donation to support the rescue and relief work to help boost more food, shelter and medicine to distribute at the relief centres.

India, Pak break ice in Bangkok CONTINUED FROM P1 and Modi had agreed in Ufa in Russia on a meeting of their NSAs for discussing terrorism threats, but it could not take place because of differences over agenda and Pakistan’s insistence on a meeting with the Kashmiri leadership.

Pakistani media welcomed the surprise NSAlevel talks in Bangkok, terming it “a thaw in the frosty relations” between the two neighbours and a “side-effect” of BJP's rout in Bihar polls last month.

It also said that the joint statement issued after meeting shows “New Delhi rowing back from its recent position and agreeing to discuss Jammu and Kashmir in the otherwise familiar mix of issues”.

Back in India, while the Congress condemned the meeting, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed termed the talks “good

beginning” said the two sides appear to be on a reconciliation path to bridge the “huge trust deficit”.

Congress leader Manish Tiwari said, “It's a grand betrayal. Its' a betrayal of everything that this government has ostensibly, publicly espoused.”

Sushma Swaraj in Islamabad: Meanwhile, India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday to participate in the ministerial session of the 'Heart of Asia' conference on Afghanistan. She is accompanied by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup, and Gopal Baglay, Joint Secretary in charge of Pakistan in the MEA, for the two day visit. While the visit is in lieu with the multilateral meet over Afghanistan, eyes are on the talks Swaraj will hold with counterpart Sartaj Aziz and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

AsianVoiceNews

FOOD

he chilly weather during the winter months can bring in a number of ailments.

And joints pain is one of the most common complaints. Because cold weather can aggravate arthritis or other inflammatory conditions, causing havoc on already vulnerable parts of the body.

What causes the pain?

The Barometric pressure drops in winter.

T

Researchers believe that when this happens, inflamed areas of our bodies (knees, hips, hands, elbows, and shoulders) swell. Swelling can irritate nerves, which results in increased pain.

How can you reduce the pain?

There are many things you can do to help your knees feel their best while reducing the pain.

A few tips that will help keep you pain free this winter: Eat a balanced diet: Follow a healthy diet by including seasonal fruits, vegetables, pulses, cereals and dairy products into your daily meal. It is essential for people, who are already suffering from joint and knee pain to include foods rich in Vitamin K, D and C (like oranges, spinach, cabbage and tomatoes) into their diet; as they play an important role in the pro-

crylamide, a chemical found in French fry, may put you at severe health risk in the long run. During trial, the chemical poses a risk for several types of cancer in rodents. The International Agency for Research on Cancer considers the chemical a "probable human carcinogen".

Led by researcher Yi Wang from the University of

The team found that it is fairly achievable to identify potato breeds that produce less acrylamide, especially when compared with the industry standard potato breeds. "The real challenge is to find the varieties that not only have those characteristics, but also yield finished products with desirable processing quality that meet the stringent standards of the food indus-

Idaho, the team assessed more than 140 potato varieties.

The goal was to identify potatoes that make great French fries and form less acrylamide.

Researchers planted 149 potato breeds in five potato-growing regions across the US. Upon harvesting, they sent some of the raw potatoes to labs.

There, the potatoes were stored in conditions similar to commercial potatoes.

After storage, the labs tested the potatoes for their levels of reducing sugars and asparagine - an amino acid that is a known precursor of acrylamide. Researchers then fried some of the potatoes and observed how much acrylamide the potatoes formed.

try," Wang explained.

According to him, the team hopes to identify genes that are related to lower acrylamide in certain fried potatoes.

The study shows a strong relationship between the genetics of a raw potato and its potential to form acrylamide. If researchers are able to identify the specific genes, they may be able to eliminate them in the future. Scientists first began paying attention to the unwanted chemical's presence in food more than a decade ago. Trace amounts of acrylamide are present in many foods cooked at high temperatures. Relatively high levels are found in fried potatoes, including French fries and potato chips.

LIFESTYLE

duction of cartilage and helps the body absorb calcium thus strengthening the bones. Dink plenty of water, as dehydration reduces flexibility, which can increase the chances of injury. Supplements with vitamin D is rich in omega 3 which helps decrease inflammation. Stay away from unhealthy drinks.

Alcohol, tea, coffee, and other aerated drinks reduce the amount of calcium you absorb, and weaken bones. Swap your caffeine-fuelled drinks with water and fresh juices.

Stay active: Exercise regularly. It not only helps you lose weight but also increases flexibility and strengthens the muscles that support the knee (e.g. aerobics, walking, swimming or cycling). Your knees experience about three to four times your body weight when you walk, so lose weight to help

your knees.

Get some sun: The sun supplies you with essential vitamin D. This is essential for the strengthening of the bones and other bodily functions. Soak up the sun either in the morning or evening. It will not only naturally warm you up but also give you much needed nutrients.

Use heat and stay warm: Warm water can help soothe your joints.

Take a dip in a heated pool or draw a hot bath. You can also use a heating pad on troubled areas, but no more than 20 minutes at a time. If your knees ache, try keeping them warm with a sleeve or wrap.

W e a r gloves/socks/sweaters to keep your body warm.

Have warm baths, they are beneficial in keeping your joints warm and help in relieving the stiffness and pain of arthritis and other conditions.

ere are a couple of super-foods that will protect you from cold and flu this winter. A diet rich in a variety of produce like lean proteins, whole grains and low-fat dairy products along with adequate sleep, moderate exercise and minimal stress contribute to a well-functioning immune system and may promote a faster recovery if you come down with a cold or a flu.

Carrots:Packed with beta-carotene carrots make an excellent base for soups, stews and risotto.

Rich in vitamin A, carrots help fight cold and flu and also protect you from infections which are very common during the colder months Green tea and chamomile tea: Green tea is a powerful antioxidant and has strong antiviral and antibacterial properties. Drinking approximately three to five cups of

green tea a day keeps your immune system in check.

Chamomile tea is also said to possess antioxidants that help fight against cold and flu during the winters.

M u s h r o o m s : Mushrooms are said to be immunity boosters.

Mushrooms protect your system against cold and virus during winter. White mushrooms have significantly increased levels of natural killer cells - a vital component of the immune system.

Garlic: Garlic is known to be the easiest home remedy to cure fever and cold.

Western medicine has theorised that garlic has the ability to increase levels of enzymes that help the liver detoxify the blood that gives it special immune powers. Eating raw garlic provides maximum potency but if you cannot stomach the strong taste, you can have that cooked in food.

Honey: Known to be the safest and the easiest way to cure cold and fever during winter. Honey is known for its antibacterial properties that help fight bacteria and virus. You can have honey every night before going to bed, or mix it in a cup of warm milk for added advantage.

Foods you should have in winter

H

To Our Readers

We are publishing these items in good faith, kindly consult your Doctor before you try to implement it. We do not hold any responsibility for its efficacy...

27

AsianVoiceNewsweekly | Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

How to keep knee pain at bay this winter!

FITNESS

French fries may put your health at risk

A

HEALTH&WELLNESS

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10-minute exercises for busy corporate employees

W

hile health experts prescribe 30 minutes of cardio, four times a week, if you have a busy schedule and are hard-pressed for time, there's no need to lose out.

Short burst fitness moves have been hailed every bit as effective. Here are ways to sneak exercise into your day and get recharged....

Skipping: All it takes is 10 minutes to get shipshape with a jump rope, or skipping. It works on the core, arms and legs and experts say it can burn over 100 calories in a single 10minute session, daily. Try this before your breakfast or cart a rope along to the office and do a short single-leg or double-leg session there. Use a rope that's your size and remember, this can place some stress on the ankles and knees so do a few ankle rotations before starting out. If you suffer from chronic knee pain, consult a doctor first. Benefit: Reduces belly fat, builds endurance Stairwell walk/run: Got no time for the gym?

No sweat! Ditch the elevator and take the stairs. This is a great cardio workout and a calorie torcher too!

Any aerobic activity lessens bad cholesterol, raises good cholesterol levels and boosts circulation, among things. And as the body uses effort to lift upwards, it helps engage more muscles, even tiny ones, in the leg. Benefit: Increases circulation, cuts risk of heart attack by 25% Stability ball: Several studies have been suggesting that you swap the office chair with a stability ball. It can repair bad posture because when you try and balance, the body is forced to automatically get into the correct one. This also engages the core and since you have to change your position often it does away with the damage caused by a chair when you tend to sit long hours in the same slouched position.

Remember to keep the back straight when you try this one. Benefit: Alleviates back pain, builds the core TRX: The resistance band regimen is one of the best workouts to reduce aches and muscular tightness in the neck, shoulder and upper back that arises out of long hours of sitting.

The band is a portable tool and can be set up anywhere. Place it under your feet and holding each handle, lift the arms up to shoulder level and slowly release them back to the start. Or do a lunge with

the band under the feet, while you hold each handle. What happens is the stretching that ensues increases blood flow and oxygen to your muscles and lessens pain, which in turn also reduces headaches.

Benefit: Headache and stress reliever In-office cycling: More corporates in the West are opening up to the idea of a 'cycle-in office' where you pedal push your way around the premises a la the movie, The Intern. As per a report, London is set to open such an office.

Though it needs space, we hope it happens back home, too! If not, you can always cycle to work. The low-impact exercise can help ward off obesity, stroke and arthritis and builds muscle tone.

Benefit: Better breathing and cardiovascular fitness, helps tone muscles Pilates: Got a few minutes? Take out the heels and get onto the mat near you desk and try 8-10 minute sessions of curls, leg circles, leg stretches, side bends and the plank.

Also use your abs to lift your legs overhead till they touch the ground and then and bring them back to the start. Benefit: Strengthens the core and busts tummy flab Bicep curls: This is a good multi-tasking regimen. Take a dumbbell (choose a size that you are comfortable with) and try bicep curls while you're on the phone or reading mails.

Do these curls for 20 repetitions twice a day. If you don't have a pair of weights, use a one-litre water bottle. It also works on the shoulder and back muscles. Benefit: Tones the muscles of the arms Yoga stretches: Try neck stretches by tilting your head slowly toward one side of the shoulder.

Hold the position and repeat for the other side.

For those stuck at the desk, shoulder shrugs are also a must. Try and raise the shoulders as high as you can and rotate them forward and then backwards, 10 times throughout the day. Benefit: Tones the muscles of the arms and back

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Anushka gets IIFA award without nomination

Kamal's 'Thoonga Vanam' to be remade in Hindi

Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

Sethupathi gets four heroines in his next

P

ost 'Naanum Rowdy Dhaan' Vijay Sethupathi is riding a high wave and has many high profile films lined up with top heroines Hansika and Shruti Haasan among others. ‘Dharmadurai’ directed by Seenu Ramaswamy is one of the films that is to begin soon and according to reliable sources, Sethupathi will be romancing four heroines in the film.

Lakshmi Menon is likely to be one of the heroines while it is rumoured that 'Kaaka Muttai' fame Aishwarya Rajesh and 'Mellissai' Gayathree will be on board while the team is on the look out for the fourth heroine. However, nothing has been finalized yet and we have to wait for official confirmation.

Mani Ratnam wants only Dulquer and Nithya

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K

amal Hassan starred 'Thoonga Vanam' is being planned to be remade in Hindi, with Kamal in the lead. The actor clarifies, “I'd like to correct you. Its' not Thoonga Vanam that's being remade into Hindi. It's the French film Nuit Blanche that is being remade into Hindi. My Thoonga Vanam is a remake of the same French film. I had offered to make a simultaneous Hindi version for the Bollywood producer who owns the rights of the Hindi remake. But I think he wanted to make

nushka Shetty is undoubtedly one of the most sought after stars of Tollywood, with her unmatched versatility and her ability to fit into any role with ease. From her intense performance in 'Rudhramadevi' to her stunning deglamourised act in 'Baahubali', Anushka has had us all drool. With the superhit 'Baahubali' nominated in about 14 categories for the upcoming IIFA awards Utsavam nominations, the audiences were surprised to see her name not featured in a single category.

However, if sources are to be believed, Anushka stands as the critics favourite and will be walking away with a special award at IIFA, which was why she was not nominated. Well, you can't get an appreciation more special than that.

it with some Bollywood star.” Now that it is heard the Hindi remake will star Kamal, he said, “We've deviated substantially from the French original also.

That big hand-to-hand fight between Trisha and me was not there in Nuit Blanche.” He added, “They say, 'Oh, Thoonga Vanam is a good film. But it's not Sholay.' But why should it be Sholay? Why can't we assess judge and praise efforts to make a different kind of cinema within the commercial context?”

Dhanush and Amala Paul to team again

'O

K Kanmani' starring Dulquer Salmaan and Nithya Menen was liked by the audience and the film recorded good success. The film directed by Mani Ratnam was said to be remade in Hindi with Ratnam’s protégé Shaad Ali directing the remake. There were talks that the 'Aashiqui 2' pair of Aditya Roy Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor would be reprising the roles of Dulquer and Nithya in Hindi but reports indicate that Mani Ratnam wants only Dulquer and Nithya to do the Hindi version as he feels no one can replace this pair for this story.

'Sorry Daddy'

A children's action drama film directed by Vijay Pal, 'Sorry Daddy' centres the difficult relationship between righteous Inspector Ravi Sharma and the social injustice children go through.

T

he hit pair of 'Velaiyilla Pattathari', Dhanush and Amala Paul have come together again, but this time as a producer and an actress. The actress who married director Vijay last year, will essay the lead role in the Tamil remake of critically acclaimed Hindi movie 'Nil Battey Sannata'. The movie will be joint-

ly produced by Dhanush and Anand L Rai. The film is an emotional story of a mother and her daughter, and Amala will be seen playing the latter role.

Sources said, “It's a very sweet and beautiful mother-daughter film that shows the ups and downs of human relationships.”

Malaika ridicules Huma Qureshi's style

Jaya Prada and Sridevi finally patch up

A

fter over three decades of resentment towards each other, actresses Jaya Prada and Sridevi have finally patched up.

Sridevi and husband Boney Kapoor were spotted at the wedding reception of Jaya Prada's nephew, Siddharth, held in Hyderabad recently. The actresses were regarded rivals during those days, and never saw eye to eye despite having worked together in several films.

However, now it seems like bygones are bygones for the two.

O

ur Bollywood ladies are under constant pressure to dress up their best, and fashion police's favourite, Malaika Arora Khan has never failed to please the eyes. She recently passed a comment on Bollywood actress Huma Qureshi, in a TV show hosted by designer Pria Kataaria Prui. When asked which B-town beauty she thinks is in need of a makeover, she openly ridiculed the actress. While Huma is yet to comment, seems like our Munni is just asking for it.

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29

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

MEETING THE FANS

EXCLUSIVE

Tete a tete with the Dilwale team

Rani Singh

D

ilwale is one of India’s most anticipated film releases of 2015, and sees Bollywood’s iconic onscreen couple, Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, reunited after five years.

“Dilwale” also stars heartthrob, Varun Dhawan, who plays Shah Rukh Khan’s younger brother and rising star, Kriti Sanon, who plays the role of Kajol’s sister in the movie. The film opens 18 December 2015.

Directed by hit-maker Rohit Shetty, “Dilwale” is being produced by Red Chillies Entertainments Pvt. Ltd and Rohit Shetty Productions. It is marketed and distributed by UTV Motion Pictures in the United Kingdom.

Shah Rukh Khan and his co-stars made a whirlwind tour to the UK to promote the film, and the

“I’m only creative when I’m working in the film as an actor too,” Shah Rukh Khan.

Asian Voice was invited to meet them all at the Montcalm Hotel, Marble Arch, while they were here.

SRK appeared modest, gentle, thoughtful and funny.

Kajol was lively and took every opportunity to crack a joke, while Varun and Kriti seemed a bit deferential to their seniors but confident in their place in filmography none the less.

SRK looked dapper and thin, Kajol graceful in

Govinda told to apologise for slapping

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a high neck fitted dress with her hair in an up do, and Kriti

he Supreme Court has asked actor Govinda to settle his dispute with a man he allegedly slapped in 2008, by apologising to him. Pointing out that what may hold good in “reel life” may not hold good in the “real life”, a bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice V Gopala Gowda counselled Govinda that as he was “a big hero, show your big heart” and apologise and settle the matter. Asking Govinda to settle the matter with Santosh Ray, the bench said, “We enjoy your films, but, cannot tolerate you slapping somebody.”

Salman to go dangerously from beefy to lean

I

t is been known that Salman Khan won't do all the dangerous wrestling scenes himself in his next film 'Sultan', and would take his physique to three different phases in quick succession. A source said, “Salman has already gone through the bulky phase. He will get rid of all the extra flesh for the lean look in the next one month, which is phase 2 in his character Sultan's life.

Then Salman will go to Phase 3 for the muscular look. Post his neurological condition, these swift changes in his metabolism are not advised. But this time Salman is determined to make his character as authentic as possible.”

seemed super tall in a smart dress too. Through the day all the cast changed clothes lots of times for each set of interviews and appearances.

SRK was highly appreciative of the British Asian diaspora and the way it supports Indian film. He said he has been observing it for 25 years. He indicated that the best reward for him and his cast members is for the film to bring a smile to the faces of those who see it; “This is the biggest gift that you can give us.”

Asian Voice asked SRK about the collaboration between Red Chillies Entertainment, the production company founded and owned by Shah Rukh Khan, and Rohit Shetty.

He replied, “With Red Chillies or any of the production houses, there are two ways to work now; one is to do the business end of the film, so Red

Kajol, Shah Rukh Khan, Kriti Sanon and Varun Dhawan arrived at the Cineworld Feltham in style in a white Rolls Royce and were greeted by frenzied cheers and screams from staunch fans outside the multiplex. While the stars worked their way down the red carpet, taking selfies and signing autographs, the host of the evening, Bend It Like Beckham and Eastenders star, Ameet Channa, entertained eager fans inside the foyer of the cinema.

Once inside, the stars took to the stage to thank fans for their support, before breaking out in a rendition of Dilwale’s hit tracks Gerua and Manma Emotion Jaage. Lucky fans were also treated to Shah Rukh Khan reciting dialogues from legendary films like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and went crazy when he did his signature dance move.

Chillies does the business end of the film. But online production, you can put it out to the director’s team.

Rohit has an amazing team of 200 people that he doesn’t work without- people he’s carried forward over the past 10 films. So you don’t try to change that and say ‘We’ll bring in the creative team.’

Obviously, because I worked with him in “Chennai,” I know the creative team. They’re fantastic. Young boys and girls.

So the creative part, the onus of online work is with Rohit’s team, while the back end, the business end, is with Red Chillies.

"As a creative producer, if I was to take myself out of Red Chillies, I’m only creative when I’m working in the film as an actor too.”

Asian Voice also got an idea from the young co

Sharman Joshi's daughter is unhappy

A

c t o r Sharman Joshi is getting it tough from his 10 year old daughter who is not too pleased to see her father in the trailer of 'Hate Story 3'. The actor first showed the promo to the young one to break the ice and acquaint her with his character in the film. He said, “I was the first one to show promo of my film and her reaction wasn't too good to it. Thanks to her cousin sister who made her understand that this is a part of my work. Well, I might have to bribe her with chocolates or holiday but I think she is fine. She is 10 years old and fortunately has friends whose fathers are also involved in films and seen them in action far more than she has seen me. So, she understands this is work.”

stars as to their ambitions.

Varun said, “I get to live my dream every day. I always wanted to do a Rohit Shetty comedy. I get to play younger brother to Shah Rukh Khan, which is amazing. I want to go ahead and try and do different things. People now are very individualistic.

Some people here have no hair, purple hair (laughter) people have different characters. In future I want to play people who are drastically different from each other.”

Kriti said, “I am just too new in the film industry and I’m trying to put myself out, make myself visible. I don’t think two or five films can show your potential as an actor. At the same time you want to keep experimenting, do different things and kind of shock yourself.”

Soha Ali Khan slaps Sunny Deol, literally

W

hile it is appreciated when actors get involved in their characters, too much involvement has often bombed in their faces. In a recent incident, a sequence in the upcoming 'Ghayal Once Again' required Soha Ali Khan to slap Sunny as his character was emotionally out of control. Soha seemingly got so caught up in the moment, she ended up actually slapping Deol, who was taken aback, along with everyone present at the shoot.

30

UK

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Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

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Students allegedly made to pray outside Mirfield Free Grammar School and Sixth Form, in West Yorkshire, has been accused of allegedly refusing to allow Muslim pupils to pray indoors, which has led the students to be forced to pray outside in the unbearably cold weather. Images have been released which has shocked many. The images show students praying outside in the wet and freezing atmosphere. It is said that this “degrading” issue has been ongoing since October 2014, when the school allegedly withdrew

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20 The New Moon on the 11th

reinforces and energizes your need to broaden your horizons and stimulate your mind.

Mars continues to transit your partnership sector all month.

Although there are very intense amorous energies indicated in your chart, the trouble is that these are likely to be marred by feelings of jealousy. Do not therefore dabble in anything that could harbour such negative thoughts.

Muslim students have allegedly been made to pray outside since October 2014

Discussion to be held on Indo-British relationship

Shri Ushibhai Nagar, Chairman, Vishva Hindu Parishad, South London branch is organising a discussion on Prime Minister Modi’s visit to UK and the Indo-British relationship.

The event will take place on Saturday, 12th December 2015, 3pm to 6pm at Swami Vivekanand Hall, Vishva Hindu Parishad South London, 10 Thornton Road, Thornton Heath Pond, Surrey CR7 6JN. CB Patel, Publisher/Editor of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar will discuss Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi’s recent three days visit to the UK and UK-India bilateral relationship in the current scenario.

CB has been a part of this country's changing demography for the last 49 years and is the Publisher/Editor of Gujarat Samachar and Asian Voice for over 44 years. He has a vast knowledge of Britain’s political activities and has a close relationship with

the Indian diaspora. PM Modi recently described CB as 'a friend' during his historical speech at the Wembley Stadium.

This will be a unique opportunity to discuss national issues, as well as issues that are specific to the British Indian community.

This is a free but RSVP only invitation. All from the community are warmly invited to the event.

CB will also be at the discussion on Prime Minister Modi's UK visit and the Indo-British relationship at Brent. It is organised Brent Indian Association. This event will be taking place on Sunday 20th December, from 3pm to 6pm. Indian vegetarian dinner will also be served after the event.

the use of the school hall for praying purposes.

However, the school has denied that the hall was ever in use as a prayer room for students.

Akooji Badat, chair of the Masjid and Madressa Noor-Ul-Islam mosque, where many of the students worship stated, “For children to be made to go outside in horrible conditions is surely wrong in anybody's eyes. The school has acted disgracefully. I am

hearing from parents that children have been soaked to the skin and cannot concentrate in lessons. This is the second winter in a row now. We have tried everything from handing over a petition signed by 70 pupils, hosting inter-faith meetings and talking to local politicians, but the school refuses to budge. It is not unreasonable to ask for the children to be able to pray indoors, like they used to.”

Coming Events

l Hanuman Chalisa: Sunday 13th December 2015, 12pm- 3pm. Social Club Hall, Northwick Park Hospital, Watford Road, Harrow HA1 3UJ. Contact Nemaben Fatubhai Mulchandani: 020 8459 5758. l NAAA Annual General Meeting: Wednesday 16th December, 7pm. NAAC Communities Courtyard, Wollaton Road, Wollaton Park, Nottingham NG8 2AD. Contact: 0115 876 5589. l Children's Christmas Party: Saturday 19th December, 4pm- 7:30pm. Indian Community Centre, 103 Union Road, Ashton-U-Lyne OL6 8JN. Email: sbm@sbm.org.uk

For registration at VHP event contact Kamal Rao 020 7749 4001/email: kamal.rao@abplgroup.com If you would like to register for BIA event, contact Kokila Patel on 07875 229 177 or email: kokila.patel@abplgroup.com

Editor: CB Patel Associate Editor: Rupanjana Dutta Tel: 020 7749 4098 - Email: rupanjana.dutta@abplgroup.com Editorial Executive: Reshma Trilochun Tel: 020 7749 4010 - Email: reshma.trilochun@abplgroup.com Senior News Editor: Dhiren Katwa Chief Operating Officer: Liji George Tel: 020 7749 4013 Email: george@abplgroup.com Account Executive: Arjun Chokshi Tel: 020 7749 4087 Email: arjun.chokshi@abplgroup.

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TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 The New Moon on the 11th activates your eighth house--joint finances, loans, taxes, sexuality, and psychological matters. This is a time of increased accumulation of wealth if you manage your resources well. In some cases, a significant tax refund, inheritance, or other such benefit might arrive during this period. A good time to start self improvement programs.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 The New Moon on the 11th

stimulates your relationship sector. You may enjoy benefits through marriage, business partnerships, negotiations, and/or contractual agreements.

Financial benefits could possibly come through partnerships.

The need for freedom in your social relationships is stronger than ever.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22 The New Moon on the 11th positively strengthens your work and health sector. You are likely to see growth in these areas, as well as daily routines.

Benefits may come through work itself, co-workers, or employees during this cycle. You might be especially interested in the healing arts such as massage or aromatherapy.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

The New Moon on the 11th gives a great boost to your creative fifth house. Your willingness to enjoy yourself and explore your creativity now brings new opportunities.. Love and romance may come into your life or an existing romance is enhanced with good humor and warmth. Pregnancy or childbirth may occur during this time.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23 The New Moon on the 11th highlights your home and family sector. You are likely to find much joy and pleasure in your family connections and experiences during this period. Opportunities to buy or sell real estate for financial gain may present themselves. Home improvements and renovations are also favored.

The New Moon on the 11th gives you a great boost in your third house of communications. A great time for mental pursuits and literary opportunities present themselves. During this period, neighbors or relatives could be especially helpful in your life. You express your ideas with more enthusiasm and positivity, and they are received well.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23

The New Moon on the 11th boosts your financial sector.

You are likely to enjoy success in your various monetary ventures.. You will be more confident and enthusiastic about your earning ability. Money problems from the past may clear up during this period and there will be many opportunities to accumulate wealth. Opportunities abound !

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22

Gujarat Tel: +91 79 2630 4142 Urvashi Jagadeesan (India) Mumbai: Kanti Bhatt, Hemraj Shah (Jumbo Advertiser) Horizon Advertising & Marketing: 2012, Shalibhadra Complex, Opp. Jain Derasar, Nr. Nehru Nagar Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad. Tel +91 79 2646 5960 Email: horizon.marketing@abplgroup.com Business Manager: Hardik Shah (M) +91 99250 42936 Email: hardik.shah@abplgroup.com Advertising Manager: Neeta Patel (Vadodara) M: +91 98255 11702 Email: neeta_abplgroup@yahoo.co.in Business Co-ordinator: Shrijit Rajan M: +91 98798 82312 Email: shrijit.rajan@abplgroup.com International Advertisement Representative: Jain International Tel: +91 44 42041122/3/4 Fax: +91 44 25362973 Mumbai: +91 022 2471 4122 Email: jain@jaingroup.net Delhi Office: Tel: +91 9311581597

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SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21

The New Moon on the 11th occurs in your sign, giving you an energy boost and is particularly beneficial and significant for you. This heightens your optimism and confidence. You are greeting life with a fresh and positive attitude.

You have an altogether different perspective on life now, and are not fazed by anything. Furthering yourself comes easy during this time.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20 The New Moon on the 11th benefits activities that take place "behind the scenes".

This is a cycle in which you become more compassionate, sensitive and get in deeper touch with these traits. This phase in the twelfth house is said to give us spiritual protection.

Meditation and retreats may be particularly helpful to you now.

The New Moon on the 11th lights up your solar eleventh house. This phase brings benefits and fresh energy to networking activities, long-term goals and organizations in your life. Achieving your goals tends to come more easily. Income from your business or career is likely to increase. You can rely on your friends for their help and support.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19

The New Moon on the 11th rejuvenates your solar tenth house. This phase will bring increased public recognition and professional success. This can be a time of career advancement, and success in business. Your worldly or public status may change for the better. Integrity, directness, and honesty will get you everywhere now.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20

SPORTWORLD

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Hockey medal after 33 years AsianVoiceNews

India turned on the heat on Netherlands and won the bronze medal in the World League hockey finals at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International stadium in Raipur. Thirty-three years after they clinched bronze in the Champions Trophy, India won a 15-goal thriller and sealed the third place with a 8-7 scoreline via shoot-out as both teams remained tied on 5-5 after regulation time.

Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh was in the thick of action during the nerve wracking shoot-out, bringing about three invaluable saves.

While Birendra Lakra and skipper Sardar Singh scored for the hosts, Billy Bakker and Seve van Ass netted for the Dutch before

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Manpreet Singh was fouled by goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak. Rupinder Pal Singh stepped up to convert from the spot to send the stadium into a frenzy. India struggled to call the shots in the early stages of the game and the Dutch regularly caught them off guard. Max Caldas' men edged ahead in the 9th

minute when Mirco Pruijser scored from a deflection to notch up his third goal of the tournament.

Moments later, it was once again a case of missed opportunities as striker SV Sunil failed to control a long cross from Ramandeep Singh near the edge of the inner circle

with only Blaak to beat to draw level. For a side seeking to end their journey on a high, India lacked the penetration as they were made to rue the missed chances before the tide turned.

Dutch midfielder Van Ass put in a decent cross for Niek van der Schoot before the latter pulled off an exquisite reverse flick from inside the `D' to double the lead for the European outfit. Targeting the top of the net, van der Schoot made no mistake as Sreejesh stood stranded.

Down 0-2 and having wasted two penalty-corner opportunities in the firsthalf, India began exerting considerable pressure on the opponents' backline.

Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

England's first Muslim rugby star releases autobiography

England's first Muslim international rugby player, Ikram Butt's autobiography Tries and Prejudice, is now available for Kindle users. Tries and Prejudice is the revealing autobiography of former Featherstone, Leeds, Huddersfield and London rugby league star, who now heads up the British Asian Rugby Association.

The Guardian has described the book as “fascinating window into British Asian cultureâ€?. The book, written by Ikram Butt in conjunction with rugby league expert Tony Hannan, is available for ÂŁ5.99 from http://goo.gl/x4nozI

Man-of-the-series: Parth Mehta

Amir Khan likely to meet Brook at Wembley British boxer Amir Khan will be forced to take on Kell Brook at Wembley Stadium in an all-British summer superbout after Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines turned down Khan as the opponent for his final bout. Brook, the IBF welterweight champion, has been chasing Khan for years, while Khan, the former WBA and IBF light-welterweight champion, had hoped for contests with Floyd Mayweather, of the United States, or Pacquiao.

But with Mayweather retired and Pacquiao saying that he will have only one more bout, Khan will be forced to take on Brook as he is the only biggest contestant available.

Amir Khan Amir Khan came to the limelight after he won the silver medal in 2004 Olympics. He became Britain's highest-profile boxer with an impressive professional fight record; having won the World Light Welterweight Champion in July 2009 after his life changing fight against Andreas Kotelnik.

Over the past four years

Amir has ridden high at the top of his game to a rapturous reception in Britaine and beyond. Sensationally losing for the first time in his professional career to Columbian bruiser Breidis Prescott in September 2008 - the tempest of conjecture and condemnation fuelled media frenzy was followed in quick succession by a gruelling and inspirational new training regime in LA. The boy from Bolton came back to the ring with brutal vengeance as he sent Oisin Fagan flailing to the floor in December 2008.

Khan did not just convincingly put the boy down for a compelling victory - he exuded a fresh, calm, persona; a measured aggressor

spearing his prey with a jab as he circled, finding his target and then unleashing a flurry of blows, taking him apart and sending him to the floor twice inside the first round‌ 97 seconds into the second it was all over.

Khan's World Title Fight in July 2009 with Kotelnik was an extremely intense match. Both were on top form but it was Khan’s display of speed, stamina and boxing skill that saw him victorious.

Living to box has been a self-proclaimed obsession for Amir; one that has turned him from a talented streetwise boy, into a selfassured man and not forgetting to mention, World Champion.

31

VICTORIOUS AGAIN: The Malta cricket team The newly formed European Development League was held in Malta, where the Malta Cricket team sealed their 2-1 victory against the MAN OF THE SERIES: Hungary national cricket team. The Parth Mehta Malta Cricket team's win against Hungary has consolidated their excellent record; in their previous last 12 international matches, they outstandingly won 10, whilst they only lost two. They've also beaten Poland, the Czech Republic and Russia in the game of cricket. The match was a great display of coordinated team work

by Malta, which led to the award for the Man-of-the-Series being bestowed to Parth Mehta (four for 14). The gifted baller, Parth Mehta, also played in the Herts Cricket League Premier Division, in 2014, where he played for the Hemel Hempstead Town cricket team. In the match, Mehta took four for 32 and aided his team to be triumphant against Welwyn Garden City. After Malta's victory, Parth Mehta was presented the award by H.E. Jane Lambert, the Australian High Commission to Malta, at the Marsa Sports Club. The talented 23-year-old all rounder, Parth Mehta aspires to be part of the English cricket team in International Cricket. He aims to work hard in order to turn this dream into a reality.

Panesar taking expert help to overcome personal problems

Monty Panesar is a spinner of international standard who has been facing a lot of problems in his personal life. His story is among the saddest and most puzzling in English cricket recently.

Panesar, the 33-year-old with 50 tests to his credit, should be in his prime, but because of his behavioural problems and alcoholism no county is willing to have him in their side.

Stories from Sussex and Essex, his past two counties, do not make happy reading.

He acknowledges the problems and stresses that both counties did their best for

him. He admits that he needed professional help and has been in the process of doing that, with the help of an experienced team of four: a performance coach; a hypnotherapist; a psychiatrist and a psychotherapist. “For a long time I was in denial that I had a problem,� he says. “It was in my first session with the hypnotherapist that I began to realise that something was wrong and that I needed help. The best way to describe it is that I have suffered from feelings of paranoia, and that these feelings were linked to my

Monty Panesar performances on the field.�

So accepting that he had problems beyond the ordinary - that he needed professional help to overcome them, he took time out and began taking regular medication from the early part

of the summer. He says, happily, that he has noticed a huge difference lately; his family have also noticed the difference. “I feel calmer; more mature, more in control,� he says.

Neil Burns, the former Leicestershire and Somerset cricketer now acting as Panesar’s mentor, agrees. These are medical issues beyond my expertise but, talking to Panesar, it is easy to recognise some aspects of his life as a professional cricketer, shared by many others, that must have contributed to his feelings of isolation and difficulty.

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didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have any particularly close friends,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Those that I spent most time with were often tied up with my job: the wicketkeepers Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d work with, my bowling partners. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When it came to the off season, I was thinking who are my friends? Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like that to change. Would I go for fewer wickets and more friends in cricket?

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve thought a lot about.â&#x20AC;?

Balance in life is essential but modern professional cricket, with its increasing demands, does not make that easy.

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Asian Voice | 12th December 2015

India win series against South Africa 3-0

www.asian-voice.com

Indian bowlers led by Ravichandran Ashwin showed outstanding perseverance to end South Africa’s dogged resistance and register a comprehensive 337 run victory in the final cricket Test, winning the four-match series by a historic 3-0 margin.

Needing a mammoth 481 to win, South Africa depended on their ultradefensive strategy before being bowled out for 143 in 143.1 overs, the last five wickets falling for a mere seven runs in a dramatic collapse. The 3-0 series win also enabled India to climb upto No 2 in the ICC Test rankings.

Fittingly Ashwin (5/61 in 49.1 overs) got the final wicket with an angular delivery that Morne Morkel left and was bowled, triggering scenes of celebration in the Indian dressing room and among the players on the ground.

Skipper Virat Kohli and Man of the Match Ajinkya Rahane picked the souvenir stumps as players engaged in hearty celebrations and also thanked the

spectators who gave them a standing ovation.

The Proteas, courtesy AB de Villiers’ 43 off 297 balls, looked like pulling off an improbable draw from the jaws of defeat before the Indian bowling came to life in the final session courtesy pacer Umesh Yadav’s fiery spell and Ravichandran Ashwin ending the stodgy De

Villiers’ near six-hour battle.

Ashwin produced a magical delivery - a sharp bouncing off-break that de Villiers played awkwardly and the resultant catch was taken by Jadeja at leg-slip.

The emphatic Test series victory more than made up for the losses in the ODIs and Twenty20s played earlier. Credit should also be

given to Umesh Yadav (3/9 in 21 overs) for starting the slide in the final session by rattling Dane Vilas and Kyle Abbott’s stumps.

Dane Piedt was gone when Wriddhiman Saha took a stunner.

The visions of victory were raised in the postlunch session, Faf Du Plessis’ (10, 97 balls) resistance ended when Ravindra

Jadeja bowled an armer which the right-hander intended to play for the turn. It hit plumb in-front much to the delight of Jadeja. India’s most successful bowler in the series, Ashwin got his 30th victim when JP Duminy (0) was caught plumb on the backfoot having played a dozen of deliveries. Having got a couple of wickets, the drooping shoulders of the Indian fielders suddenly had some life in them. The Proteas, who continued with their ‘Blockathon’ added only 21 runs in the first session of the final day consuming another 35 overs while the post lunch session produced 42 runs in 31 overs.

With a session left, it looked as if South Africa were inching towards one of their most creditable draws in Test history.

However, the Indian bowlers ensured that the hosts wrapped up the series in style. While the pitch made it easier for the South Africans but no credit can be snatched away from currently the world’s best bats-

man, De Villiers, who showed that a class player can change and adapt his game according to adverse situations.

SA's India defeat may embolden England The defeat of Hashim Amla's South African team

by India appears to have embolden England team as they were preparing to leave Heathrow on Thursday for their first test series against Proteas in five years. In recent years defeating South Africa was next to impossible. After their series loss in India, that invincibility has gone.

It may well be England captain Cook’s final trip as captain. Beating South Africa would be a great way to sign off given that England have managed just one series victory there since South Africa’s readmission, when Michael Vaughan led England to a 2-1 win in 2005. The fact that he ranks that alongside winning the Ashes in the same year shows just how difficult winning in South Africa is for an England side.