AV 12th July 2014

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India's railway budget piles for bullet trains

First & Foremost Asian Weekly in Europe

Australian government gives temporary relief to Lanka asylum seekers See Page 25

Indian High Commissioner hosts reception to honour Indian community stalwarts See Page 22

Gandhi statue to be erected Passport crisis outside Parliament Stranded in India with See Page 5

VOL 43. ISSUE 10

Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

80p

Osborne-Hague-Priti meet PM Narendra Modi in Delhi

12th July to 18th July 2014

their new-born twins

Kiran and Bina Salvi are the proud parents of two surrogate twins, Jai and Leela, born in India three months ago. Three

The Foreign Secretary William Hague and Chancellor George Osborne have announced plans for a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, the inspiration for non-violent civil rights movements around the world, to be erected in Parliament Square next year.

They made the announcement while visiting Gandhi Smriti, the Gandhi memorial in Delhi, on the second day of their visit to India. The memorial is located on Tees January Marg (30 January Road) at Gandhi's home and the site of his death on 30 January, 1948.

The Foreign Commonwealth office said that monument in a location of symbolic value for our democracy is a fitting tribute to this great man, which will inspire us all to uphold his ideals and teachings ahead of important anniversaries of key moments in his extraordinary life. Gandhi has a particular connection to

London, having studied here like so many of the talented young Indians.

Once installed, the statue will provide a focal point for commemoration next summer of the 100th anniversary of Gandhi’s return to India from South Africa to start the struggle for self-rule, as well as the passing of 70 years since his death in 2018, and the 150th anniversary of his birth in 2019.

It is intended that this important monument will be funded by charitable donations and sponsors.

The project has the full support of Government, and a special advisory group, led by the UK’s Culture Secretary, Sajid

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Javid, has been set up to support progress. The advisory panel will also include: Jo Johnson MP, Head of the Downing Street Policy Unit, Cllr Robert Davis, DeputyLeader Westminster Council; Sir Edward Lister, Deputy Mayor Policy and Planning GLA, Lord Desai, Lord Bilimoria, Priti Patel MP, the Prime Minister’s Diaspora Champion, and Sandy Nairne, Director of the National Portrait Gallery.

Philip Jackson, a leading British figurative sculptor, renowned for statues of the Queen Mother and Bomber Command, has been approached to take on this prestigious project.

The memorial will stand alongside those to other international leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Abraham Lincoln.

months later, Jai and Leela have yet to meet the rest of their family.

The twins, Continued on page 7

46 nurses return to India from Iraq

The Foreign Secretary said: "Gandhi’s view of communal peace and resistance to division, his desire to drive India forward, and his commitment to non-violence left a legacy that is as relevant today as it was during his life.

"He remains a towering inspiration and a source of strength. We will honour him with a statue alongside those of other great leaders in Parliament Square."

The Chancellor said: “As the father of the largest democracy in the world, Continued on page 17

tarmac at the Kochi International, a senior airport official said.

Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy received them at the airport.

Family members of nurses, on whose face a sigh of relief was writ large had assembled in large numbers to see

Forty six Indian nurses, who were held captive

by ISIS militants in Iraq, returned home by a special Air India flight to a happy reunion with their families in Kochi, Kerala, bringing to an end their about monthlong ordeal. The special aircraft, which also had on board about 137 others, touched down the

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Keith Vazwith MP

Keith Vaz MP

Gita Joshi

decisions and the opportunities that present themselves for the gallery. I also act like a matchmaker for a buyer and art. My role lets me present buyers with art that they like, and often love.

Sometimes I have to guide them to the art that is right for them, other times show them something they might not have considered. It is hugely satisfying seeing them so happy with their choices, and I often get photos of the artwork installed at their homes.

Gita Joshi has a background in art history and trained in curating at Central St Martins. After working for Royal Commissions, architects, and in investment banking she founded Orso Major, a contemporary art gallery, and moved to premises in central London in December 2013. As a collector, Gita had been buying art by artists who were going on to be Royal Academicians and were being nominated for major art prizes. Orso Major was founded to bring this experience to new buyers. Using art, she also helps companies transform their offices into inspiring spaces to do business and at the same time, become Patrons of the Arts.

1) Please tell me about your current position?

I am the gallery director and chief curator at Orso Major Gallery. Orso Major is a contemporary art gallery showing work by established artists. It is online and also at 19 Lower Marsh, London, SE1 - a vibrant street of independent shops close to Waterloo Station and the Old Vic Theatre.

2) What are your proudest achievements?

Recently the gallery participated in the London Festival of Architecture.

Seeing Orso Major listed in the brochure between the Danish Embassy and the Sir John Soane museum was exciting. Suddenly it felt my peer group was much

wider than I had thought.

3) What inspires you?

Some of the beautiful art that I get to be around all day and the artists that make it are phenomenal, and definitely inspiring. Lower Marsh is a wonderful location - a street that has had a market for over 200 years and is full of characters. The chimes of Big Ben can be heard at the gallery and I love being right in the heart of the capital.

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

The art world can feel like a closed place and a lot of people work for free to get experience but I decided to take a different path and start my own venture, which has been far more rewarding.

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

I met with Natalie Massanet, the founder of Net-aPorter.com last year, and the value of believing that anything can be done and having a strong vision still stays with me. She founded one of the earliest luxury online retail businesses and has built something that a lot of people thought couldn’t work at the time.

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

I love the freedom of making

Drug Dealer found guilty of an internet trade of deadly weight pills and illegal steroids A criminal, who ran a website that sold a deadly weight loss drug which has killed several young people, was found to have been behind a global drugs

operation worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Jamil Rashid, 31, ran the online business selling illegal bodybuilding steroids to thousands of

customers from his suburban house in Hemel Hempstead.

He pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges of supplying controlled Class C drugs and money laundering the proceeds of his business, which in one year alone made him nearly £500,000.

His role in the drugs operation can now be reported, after his 19year-old girlfriend, Amber Blamey, was found guilty of supplying controlled Class C drugs following a trial at St Alban’s Crown Court.

Among the drugs Rashid sold was 2,4Dinitrophenol, commonly know as DNP, which, though banned for human consumption, has been marketed and sold in pill form as a slimming aid, regardless of its potentially fatal consequences. The drug came to national prominence after claiming the lives of several young people.

7) And the worst? Perhaps having too many roles at the gallery. I am hanging the work and have to be my own IT department some days, as well as managing the marketing of the gallery and the finance side.

Changing from paint splattered overalls into glamorous evening wear in record time has its challenges!

8) What are your long term goals?

As an art dealer my goals include placing art in to businesses and allowing people to enjoy beautiful art at work.

Also developing the gallery so it becomes known for presenting art by collectable artists. As a cultural activist I work with groups andother professionals who are passionate about London and culture. Our goal is to ensure that the Arts survive even when funding has been cut from Government. We are working to find active ways for art and enterprise to collaborate to continue the important role of Arts and Culture in society.

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

I would add visual and performing arts as a compulsory part of education. Studies have shown that people who regularly engage with culture through the arts, whether it be visiting museums, art classes, taking part or regularly going to see plays, dance or music are more likely to be better citizens, more likely to vote and take an active and caring interest in their communities.

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

I think Leonardo da Vinci would be fun. He was able to turn his hand to so many things and if nothing else, he might even build an aircraft to get us out of there!

Britain faces new attack from explosive devices concealed in phones

Britain has been warned of a new attack from jihadi bomb makers, who possess the “devilish technical skill” to make explosive devices concealed in mobile phones and tablet computers, Parliament’s intelligence watchdog has said.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, has reportedly warned that the British public has grown complacent about the threat of a terrorist attack on UK soil and that the lack of vigilance is “seriously disturbing”.

The former Foreign Secretary, who received a secret intelligence briefing on the latest transatlantic airline bomb plot, has said that he has “no doubt” extra security searches at airports are necessary.

Intelligence services in both Britain and the

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US believe that alQaeda’s chief bomb maker, Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, who is thought to be based in Yemen, has linked up with jihadists in Syria to pass on his skills.

Security services believe al-Asiri has developed more sophisticated bombs contained principally in electronic devices such as smart phones and hand-held computers, which can

evade current airport checks.

This week, the Department of Homeland Security in Washington will issue guidance to airports across Europe asking that new security checks on flights heading to the US are implemented. It is likely to lead to stronger checks on passengers at British airports and longer queues for passengers.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

COMMENT

ISIS message to Middle East and the world

In today’s globalized world a collective sneeze in one of its corners can lead to another catching cold.

The dramatic appearance of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has given rise to existential fears in the Middle East and beyond. Airports in the United States and Britain, to go no further, are on red alert. Transcending these concerns are longterm consequences for regional peace and peace emanating from the declaration of the Universal Caliphate of Islamist fantasy. The instrument for its realization is a formidable military force of Sunni jihadists in occupation of a swath of land, from northern Syria through central Iraq to the borders of Jordan and Saudi Arabia; and the sophisticated media that takes the messianic ISIS voice across continents. Iraqi government forces have disintegrated, and the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, is now within the sights of the new barbarians. The Shia-dominated regime of Nuri-el-Maliki leads a precarious existence, uncertain of its future salvation.

Kurdish-populated northern Iraq is likely to secede, following a promised referendum by the regional autonomous authority. If this comes to pass the sovereign Kurdistan may become a magnet for the restive Kurds who inhabit southern Turkey. The Iraqi segment of Kurdistan, with its abundant oil reserves, has an effective army to protect its sovereignty. A fragmened Iraq looms ever larger. These are as yet early days, but Iraqi Kurdish leaders have started preparing for this possibility by announcing their intention to develop close ties with friendly India. The fact that the 46 released Indian nurses (45 from Kerala and one from Tamil Nadu) interned by the ISIS at Tikrit travelled to the Kurdish city of Ebril, from where they emplaned for India, tells of significant working contacts between the parties. New Delhi, it is reported, used all its regional assets – diplomatic, political, financial, as did the Kerala government, with its telling influence in the Gulf – to bring its citizens home on a chartered Air India aircraft. More revelations about their release will surely emerge in the fullness of time. About 39 Indian migrant workers, mostly from Haryana and Punjab, languish in captivity.

That said, ISIS has issued a menacing statement on Kashmir, where the Hurriyat, overtly and covertly, advocates the State’s accession to Pakistan. A mob went on the rampage at news that a Pakistan Jihadi leader, Madani by name, had been killed in an encounter with Indian troops. Prime Minister Modi’s one-day visit to the valley to inaugurate a new rail link with the plains carried a firm message of Indian resolve. The return of the Hindu

Kashmiri Pandits to their ancestral homeland, from where they were forcibly dislodged decades ago by jihadi thugs, has raised the hackles of the Hurriyat faithful, providing the combustible mix ISIS would seek to exploit at the appointed hour. Such is the looming challenge that is taking shape about which there can be no Indian denial.

Looking through a glass darkly, we need to ask why the hopes generated by the “April Spring” have so cruelly turned into despair. Egypt is under the iron heel of a military dictatorship, the early shoots of democracy in the Maghreb have withered, and monarchist autocracies hold sway in the Gulf.

These questions were addressed recently in an absorbing discussion (in contrast to the limp parody in Gavin Esler’s panel discussion on the BBC) on Al Jazeera Television by an Arab academic at an American university and two authoritative Arab peers. The academic attributed the blight of the Arab lands to “tribalism, Islamism and Arabism.”

By which he meant the absence of a pluralist culture without which democracy cannot take root, let alone prosper; and the deep-seated tradition of authoritarianism in its varying forms. These problems have been compounded by the double dealing and cynicism of Western governments for the past century, from the Sykes-Picot carve-up of the Middle East, as Ottoman rule fell apart, resulting in the creation of artificial frontiers and new states under the dominant influence of Britain and France, to the destructive American presence that subsumed British and French influence after the Second World War. The Facebook picture of US Senator John McCain and ISIS leaders during their movement’s incubation, before its jihadi columns started to roll, tells a dismal tale of political myopia driven by primordial conceit. To every regional or international crisis, Senator McCain has a steadfast solution: send in the Marines.

In a pretentious edit-page article in the Hindu newspaper, Satyabrata Pal, a former Indian diplomat and a leading light of the human rights mafia, proffers an Indian solution to the Iraq imbroglio, in keeping with his previous big-bang suggestion that India, at one fell swoop, negotiate a simultaneous settlement of the Kashmir, Siachen and Sir Creek disputers with Pakistan in the interest of a sub-continental Kantian peace. A lifelong pursuit of departmental files and their rancid pieties and clichés is starkly evident. The absence of wide reading in history and the consequent absence of reflection makes silence the truest wisdom. No investigation, no right to speak. Or write.

A.K. Antony, a senior Congress minister in the Manmohan Singh government, in a robustly honest analysis - for which he has received the warm commendation of BJP patriarch, L.K.Advani – has concluded the party’s manic focus on minorities was one of the major causes of its undoing in the recent generalelection.. It riled the electorate, got under the skin of voters who had tired of vote bank politics. Mr Antony’s introspection is much to be admired. He is, after all, a member of Kerala’s minority Christian community. But ‘minorities’ in Indian political discourse is usually code for Muslims, India’s largest minority by many a mile. Other faith communities are miniscule by comparison, nor ideologically driven. Mr Antony’s decision to bring this fraught subject out

of its political closet into the public sphere bespeaks sound sense and probity. The roots of vote bank politics, alas, are embedded in history.

Mahatma Gandhi got the Congress party to support the militant Khilafat agitation conducted by the Moplahs of Kerala, in 1920-21, for the restoration of the defunct Ottoman Caliphate (which is the goal of ISIS today) - a grievous error of judgment, opined the Poet Rabindranath Tagore, and Sri Aurobindo, Hindu mystic classical Greek scholar and Sanskritist. Both men warned of the dire consequences of bringing the Islamic Caliphate into the Indian political mainstream.

Hindu-Muslim unity, which was Gandhi’s goal, could not be forged on such febrile platforms.

How right they were.

India is again the flavour of the season for Western politicians. French Foreign Minister Laurant Fabius came calling to speed up talks on the sale of his country’s Rafale warplanes to the Indian Air Force, and cement closer economic and technological ties with India. Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and Foreign Secretary William Hague visited Delhi with impressively large delegations in the quest of the rich pickings of a fabled Indian market. With a new government in Delhi, and early signs of a leaner bureaucracy is the making, India’s time had evidently arrived. British participation in India’s projected industrial corridors, a more comfortable Indian tax regime, and deeper commercial interaction, expanding twoway investment, enhanced defence and security, more tourism and stronger educational and people-to-people links, came up for discussion against the background of the Indian Budget. If the sky is the limit, why not reach for the sky?

There can be no profit without calculated risk.

The Indo-British relationship, overall, is steady as it goes: more substance than drama.

Meanwhile, an Indian eatery, Gymkhana, which opened for business in London last year, has taken first place in the UK’s prestigious National Restaurant Awards Top 100 list. “It’s a truly national picture of the restaurant industry,” explained Stefan Chomka, Editor of Restaurant, the magazine behind the awards.

Food, glorious food. What better than the subliminal joys of the palate to deepen people-topeople awareness, for the pleasures of haute cuisine are renewable at the snap of a finger, a generous purse an obliging waiter and a chef whose art is enriched by the diner’s appreciation. “I have now eaten more than 25 of the 35 savoury dishes on offer and every single one was utterly, utterly out of this world,” wrote the rhapsodic Times critic Giles Cora. Another helping, if you please!

Congress debacle rooted in obsessive focus on minorities: Antony

British ministers to visit India

3 People often say motivation doesn't last.

But neither does bathing. That's why we recommend it daily - Hilary Hinton 'Zig' Ziglar (1926- 2012)

Sarah Teather MP Liberal Democrat MP for Brent Central

Protecting tenants in the private rented sector Every year, backbench MPs like myself can enter what’s known as the Private Members’ Ballot. This is a bit like a lottery, with the 20 MPs selected given the chance to table their own Bill.

Unlike most legislation that we debate and vote on, Private Members’ Bills are introduced by MPs who are not government ministers. It’s therefore a rare opportunity for MPs to directly address an issue of their choice. In recent years, MPs have tabled Private Members’ Bills on everything from deep sea mining to mental health services.

This year, I was lucky enough to be one of those selected.

As an MP for an inner London constituency, I regularly see people in my office who need help with their housing situation – whether it is because they are homeless, struggling to pay their rent, or because they need a repair carried out to their property.

One particular problem that affects private tenants is what’s known as retaliatory eviction.

Shockingly, some landlords evict tenants if they ask for repair work to be carried out to their home. Housing charity Shelter say that just over 213,000 people across England have been evicted or served with an eviction notice in the last year after complaining to their landlord about a problem that wasn’t their responsibility.

The threat of this happening means that tenants are often scared to report a problem to their landlord, even if it means living in unsafe or unsanitary conditions. Shelter say that 12 per cent of renters have not asked for repairs to be carried out in their home because they fear eviction – this rises to 19 per cent for households in receipt of housing benefit.

Everyone should have somewhere comfortable and safe to live. But all too often, tenants put up with things like damp, dangerous electrical fittings and mould because they are too scared to complain. If your child is in a local school, or you live near to friends and family, it’s understandable that you would not want to risk losing your home.

That’s why I have decided to use my Private Members’ Bill to change the law to stop this happening. I really believe this would make a real difference to renters in Brent, and to the 1.3 million renting families across England.

This is only about stopping landlords who evict tenants simply because they have reported a serious problem in their home.

Most landlords are good and want their tenants to report problems to them, so they will benefit from these proposals.

I hope my colleagues in Parliament agree.

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Brave cancer battler Ulrika in race against time to find stem cell donor

Brave Ulrika Dandekar needs a life saver. The 21year-old from Solihull was given the devastating news she had a rare type of blood cancer, called Anaplastic Lymphoma, just just three months ago. And she knows without a stem cell transplant she will not survive.

Now a desperate search has been launched for a donor – but the odds are stacked against Ulrika, with just one in 125,000 likelihood of finding a match because of her Asian background.

Her emotional plea for help comes at the start of National Transplant Week on Monday.

“When you are in my position, desperately in need of a donor, and you are told the statistics it’s devastating. I have a six per cent chance of surviving. When I found this out I couldn’t stop crying... you start wondering whether you will get better. You hear your parents talking about your cancer to friends and how it’s growing faster than the drugs are working. I am a 21-year-old who should be out studying, working,

Ulrika Dandekar, from Solihull. (Inset) Ulrika before her ilness and (below) undergoing treatment

partying, holidaying and discovering myself. But I’m not. Instead I am struggling, crying, hurting, forever waiting. I’ve always wanted to join medical school to become a life saver but here I am instead fighting, every day, to save my own life,” said Ulrika, who had dreams of becoming a doctor.

No-one in Ulrika’s family is a donor match which means doctors will have to find an unrelated donor, taking the search worldwide. She added: “The longer we leave it the harder my body will find it to recover and fight the cancer. We need to find a stem cell donor

as soon as possible.”

Ulrika also took part in this year’s Race for Life at Cannon Hill Park, raising almost £1,000 for Cancer Research UK. It was the fifth time she had taken on the course but this time, instead of running, she was wheeled around, having just had chemotherapy. *If you would like to help Ulrika and are aged 16-30 contact Anthony Nolan on 0303 303 0303 or www.anthonynolan. org Those aged 16-49 can contact the British Bone Marrow Registry on 0300 123 23 23 http:// www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/bonemarrow

Spiritual Festival

Bhajan enthusiasts from the Midlands and across the UK will descend in Luton this weekend for Guru Purnima, an annual Indian festival devoted to teachers.

The round-the-clock event will feature dandiyaraas, discourses, food, as well as singers and musicians, male and female, old and young. Once again, Pragjibhai Ladva, left, the veteran guru of traditional Gujarati bhajans and chorus will lead the programme, which will take place at the Hindu Mandir (LU4 0PS) in Lewsey Farm this Saturday (July 12) from 6pm onwards.

Septugenarian Pragjibhai’s inspiration comes from the Late Hirji (bapa) Gokani,

right, who radiated the vision and mission of the foundations of Hinduism, Sanatan Dharma, across East Africa. Hirjibapa’s legacy continues, thanks to his disciples in many parts of the world.

Separately, Khimdas Bapu and his multi-talented sons Rohit and Arun of Tuhi Ram Seva Trust will offer aspiring bhajan enthusiasts from across the UK the platform to

showcase their talent.

Khimdas Bapu, of Wembley’s Naklank Sweet Mart, has for decades also inspired many, old and young, and continues to do so.

This free festival will take place also this Saturday (Jul 12) at Prajapati Gnati Hall, Hounslow, London (TW3 1UG) this Saturday (Jul 12) from 2.00pm till early hours of Sunday.

Rushey Mead Mela offers fun for all the family Families went back to school at the weekend to sample a host of attractions. Rushey Mead Mela took place at Sandfield Close Primary School, Leicester, on Saturday.

A DJ pumped out music as children enjoyed a bouncy castle and slide, football and cricket challenges and a bungee trampoline.

Former pupil Keta Bakrania took his two children along. "It was brilliant event and one that brought the whole community together. I used to go to the school when so it was great too see the place full of chil-

were my favourite thing."

Tina Narayan, of Rushey Mead, took her five-yearold sister Katrina, five. The 24-yearold said: "I used to go there and Tina goes to the school so it was lovely to Meeshal Bakrania, five, tries out the be back. The chilelectric go-karts at Rushey Mead Mela dren had fun and I had a good time dren having a good time. It talking to some of my old is often hard to find someteachers. Tina had a great thing to do to entertain time trying on the police the children but this was officer's uniform and sitideal." ting in the police car."

His son Meeshal, five, The event was organsaid: "It was absolutely ised by the school's parent fantastic. The go-karts teacher association.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

Armed robber flees shop empty handed after hammer threat Police are hunting an armed robber who fled a city newsagents empty handed – after being chased out by a brave hammer-wielding shop assistant.

The masked raider was caught on camera after bursting into Monica News in Somerville Road, Small Heath, with what appeared to be a handgun. But he raced back out when brave shop worker Sajid Hussain, 40, refused to hand over any cash and waved a hammer in the robber’s face.

The botched raid took place at about 10.40am last Tuesday and was caught on camera inside the shop.

Shop owner Mudasar Majeed, who was at a nearby cash and carry at the time of the robbery, praised his shop assistant for his

Shop assistant Sajid Hussain

bravery.

“The chap walked into the shop and had a gun half-covered under a cloth.

He asked the assistant to put everything from the till into his bag. Luckily the guy had a hammer behind the counter and chased him away from the shop. He acted very quickly and very

bravely. He was pretty shaken up [Wednesday], but was not hurt and nothing was taken. He was back at work which just shows the kind of man he is. It’s the first time we’ve ever had anything like this happen and it won’t make us shut up shop, that’s for sure,” he said.

Punam's flowing locks cut off to aid patients An 11-year-old girl has sacrificed her long locks in aid of charity after watching her aunt suffer through breast cancer.

Punam Patel, of Rushey Mead, Leicester, says she wants to do all she can to support her aunt, Kamini Raja, and other cancer patients.

"Sometimes it's a bit hard to see her in so much pain.

I'm excited that I can do something to help other people," said Punam.

The youngster's "lovely, thick, luscious hair," which reaches right down her waist, will all be donated to make wigs for cancer patients. She is also raising money for MacMillan Cancer Support, through sponsorship. "She wants to be able to participate in the journey with her auntie. It could make up to two or three wigs for cancer patients. My sister is like a second mum to Punam and

she has really been affected by it," said Punam's mother, Priti Patel.

The youngster has collected close to £80 so far but is still taking donations.

Kamini, who is still undergoing treatment, found the aggressive cancer in her breast in March last year, just two months after receiving a clear mammogram. "It was just such a shock. Everyone knows of someone with cancer but you never think it's going to affect you so closely," said Mrs Patel.

The Patel family are also looking to hit a £10,000 fund-raising target to help the oncology ward at Leicester royal Infirmary buy two new reclining chairs for people undergoing chemotherapy treatment. "We saw my sister struggle in the other chairs.

It's not the nurses' fault or the hospital's fault, they

just need more money to be able to buy more of these chairs. There are so many people in there receiving treatment," Mrs Patel said.

The Patels are planning numerous fund-raisers during the summer, including fetes and tombolas. To donate towards Punam's big hair chop, go to: h t t p s : / / w w w. j u s t giving.com/Priti-Patel

The family of a 101-yearold woman has called on a judge to overturn a council's plan to close a residential home.

The family of Amrutben Karia launched a passionate campaign to halt the closure of Leicester's Herrick Lodge after the city council floated controversial plans to axe the home along with two others – Elizabeth House, in New Parks, and Nuffield House, in Western Park. The case came before Mr Justice Silber in London's High

Court Friday.

Mrs Karia's QC, Helen Mountfield, urged the judge to overturn the council's plan to close Herrick Lodge, arguing the proposals ignored the devastating impact of the closure on Mrs Karia. She has lived at Herrick Lodge for the past 14 years, the barrister explained, adding that it is the only home in the area "providing services specifically aimed at the cultural needs of the Asian elderly". It has its own temple as well as a specialist

kitchen providing Gujarati-style vegetarian meals, and is situated within walking distance of her relatives.

However, council lawyers are defending the closure plan, insisting that there is no question of Mrs Karia being uprooted unless, and until, a suitable alternative home can be found for her.

After several hours of debate, Mr Justice Silber reserved his decision on Mrs Karia's judicial review challenge. He will give his ruling at a later date.

Punam Patel

Woman, 101, urges judge to keep Leicester residential home open

Eight bailed in Sparkbrook shooting Eight men arrested over a fight in which a man was fatally stabbed in Birmingham have been bailed.

Ullah Khan, known locally as Ikram Elahi, 28, was stabbed in the neck in Sparkbrook on Wednesday as violence broke out between two groups of men.

Police said two men held on suspicion of murder were being treated and would be questioned "once declared fit".

Four of the men released had been detained on suspicion of attempted murder and violent disorder. They have been bailed, while inquiries continue, with strict conditions

attached "including not to enter the city", police said.

The other four men, aged 24 to 27, who have been given police bail while inquiries continue, were arrested last Thursday on suspicion of violent disorder. One man was slashed and a third victim was shot and wounded.

UK

High Commission hosts reception to honour Indian community stalwarts

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

ry, oncology and antiretroviral segments.

In the wake of the company’s announcement in India of plans to invest £100 million in its British subsidiary alongside the UK Government, he appealed to the Indian Government to also do more in the field.

A recipient of India's highest civilian award, the Padma Bhushan (by the President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 2005) Dr Hameid said, “This is something we Indians can take a lesson from the British as to how the British Government here is Dr Yusuf Hameid, wife Farida Hameid, HE Ranjan Mathai, encouraging us to Lady Vatsala Virdee and Sir Tejinder Virdee come and do research with the benefits Hall, Dr Hamied said the who has just been knightthat they are giving us." “stepmotherly” treatment ed by the Queen for his “By and large the given to this sector in crucial role in Geneva in stepmotherly treatment India has to stop. helping to discover a that we have got over the This came right after Higgs Boson fundamental years has to stop and we UK Chancellor George particle, and chemist Dr. have to be encouraged to Osborne's announcement Yusuf Hamied, head of do more,” he said. about Cipla’s UK investthe Indian pharmaceutiDr Hamied also ment plans during his cal company, Cipla, who expressed the hope that ongoing visit to India has been conferred an new Indian the between 7-9 July. The Science Honorary Government would take funds are aimed at the Doctorate by Cambridge strong action over the launch of a range of drugs University for helping to issue of monopolies in in the areas of respiratosave the lives of 10 mil-

A cocktail reception was hosted by HE Ranjan Mathai, the Indian High Commissioner to Britain on July 7th, in honour of experimental physicist Prof Tejinder Virdee, of Imperial College London,

5

lion AIDS sufferers in Africa and making India “the pharma capital of the world”.

Present with his wife Farida, addressing the guests at the High Commission's Nehru

Mrs Bubbli Bhogal, Sir Tejinder Virdee, Ms Natisha Virdee, Lady Vatsala Virdee, HE Ranjan Mathai, Mrs Rashmi Oza, Mr Bharat Oza and Mr Amrik Bhogal

the healthcare sector.

“I have been fighting with our Indian Government that we should have a system so that there is no monopoly in healthcare; it is about saving lives and cannot be regarded totally as a business. There has to be a humanitarian approach to healthcare.

“Luckily for us, in the new Government we have (Finance Minister) Arun Jaitley who represented our company (Cipla) in many cases against multi-

nationals when he was free to act as a lawyer. He knows the whole subject of intellectual property inside-out.”

“One satisfaction that I have is that he won’t sell the company out as far as intellectual property is concerned and hopefully India will decide its own destiny in healthcare and pass laws that benefit our country,” Hamied added..

Sir Tejinder Virdee, was present at the reception with his family

including wife Vatsala, daughter Natisha, sister Bubbli Bhogal, sister’s husband Amrik Bhogal, Lady Vatsala’s brother Bharat Oza and his wife Rashmi Oza. The Indian-origin professor who attributing his success to his wife, added: “Looking ahead a little bit, finding the Higgs Boson has posed a conundrum. It implies that there is some new physics around and that is setting us up for the next 15-20 years.”

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UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

Kapil’s Spriha Srivastava

Watching the God play at Mecca

Some of your childhood dreams remain with you even though you may grow up. For instance going on a holiday to mountains or getting proposed in the most surprising way. Well for me, apart from many others, one of the biggest one was to see Sachin Tendulkar play. I have grown up in a Cricketloving family and the days when India played we would finish our work early in the day to sit back and watch the match. Some of us would wear our lucky t-shirts while others would be superstitious enough to eat the same bag of crisps they had when India won. From there to my three year stay in Trinidad and Tobago where I met all the legends like Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul as a starry-eyed teenager.

Cricket is a religion for Indians and I have grown up in one such family where people would go to crazy lengths to see a match and cheer for Team India. So, when I came to know that Sachin Tendulkar is coming to London in the summer to play as part of Lord’s 200-year anniversary, I knew I had to go and watch him.

The 200-year anniversary of the current Lord’s ground is being celebrated in a number of ways throughout 2014. In addition to Anniversary Day, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) hosted a MCC v Rest of the World match on Saturday 5th July. The year will culminate in a series of Gala Dinners held in a marquee on the famous Lord’s outfield.

The MCC XI was captained by Sachin Tendulkar while the Rest of the World side was captained by Shane Warne. MCC is the world’s most active cricket club, the owner of Lord’s Ground and the guardian of the Laws and Spirit of the game.

Founded in 1787, it issued the first code of Laws in 1788 and moved to its current home in 1814. There are 18,000 Full and 5,000 Associate Members of MCC. MCC also has a World Cricket committee, which is chaired by Mike Brearley and contains eminent

current and former players and administrators – including Rahul Dravid and Shaun Pollock. It has a remit to act as an independent think tank, debating issues and making recommendations about the health and state of the game and to commission research.

The MCC XI team included Sachin Tendulkar (India, captain), Saeed Ajmal (Pakistan), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies), Rahul Dravid (India), Aaron Finch (Australia), Umar Gul

sive 132 runs. The big star of the match was Aaron Finch who went on to make 181 runs and took the MCC team to victory.

It was also great to see Shaun Tait bowl to Adam Gilchrist and Brett Lee bowl to Shane Warne, although Warne suffered a fracture in his hand after that ball and couldn’t play any further.

The Lord’s Cricket Ground, also known as the Mecca for Cricket has a long history. The current Lord’s Cricket Ground is its third incar-

(Pakistan), Brian Lara (West Indies), Brett Lee (Australia), Chris Read (England), Shaun Tait (Australia) and Daniel Vettori (New Zealand) Meanwhile, the Rest of the World team included Shane Warne (Australia, captain), Shahid Afridi (Pakistan), Tino Best (West Indies), Paul Collingwood (England), Adam Gilchrist (Australia), Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh), Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka), Kevin Pietersen (England), Virender Sehwag (India), Peter Siddle (Australia) and Yuvraj Singh (India) The crowd cheered and screamed to see their Little Master in action.

He shared some light moments with players like Brett Lee and Yuvraj Singh. One of the best moments was when Yuvraj Singh touched Sachin Tendulkar’s feet during the game before going on to make impres-

nation. The first ever match played at ‘Lord’s Cricket Ground’ came in 1787 when businessman Thomas Lord staged a game between Middlesex and Essex at a newly built ground in what was then known as Dorset Fields.

By 1811, MCC had moved to a new Ground in the Eyre Estate of St John’s Wood.

This ground proved unpopular but when plans emerged for the Regent’s Canal to be built straight through it, Thomas Lord gratefully accepted compensation and moved the Ground to its current location in 1814.

And so it’s been 200 years for Lord’s and what better way to celebrate than to have all the top players come together and challenge each other.

I have seen lots of Cricket but this for me was a dream come true.

And thus it’s never late for a childhood dream to come true!

Let us know what you think.

Email Spriha at aveditorial@abplgroup.com

KHICHADI Follow me on Twitter: @kdudakia

by Kapil Dudakia - email: kapil@abplgroup.com

Swami’s Galore

House of Commons turns Saffron The British Board of Hindu Scholars leading organisations come together (BBHS), a unique project set up by the and lend support.

National Council of Hindu Temples UK I note from the NCHT Press Release (NCHTUK), was launched with great which stated; ‘Noticeable by their expectations at the House of Commons absence were the Labour MPS with not on 3rd July 2014. The a single one attending, event was hosted by none even the Hindu ones such other than our very own as Virendra Sharma MP Conservative Party MP for Ealing and Seema Alok Sharma who was Malhotra MP’. I asked ably supported by his colSatish Sharma the Sec. leagues Bob Blackman MP Gen. of the NCHT if MPs (Chair of the All Party were made aware – assumParliamentary Group for ing that maybe there Hindus). The event also might have been an oversight.

Typical of the marked the 35th anniversary of the services the detailed planning by NCHT has given to the Satishji, he confirmed that community. all MPs on the APPG for Alok Sharma MP with Hindus were aware and Shri Madhavaji Turumella that therefore there was (Vice Chair of BBHS) no reason for a no-show The BBHS is a unique and there were no apologies Alok Sharma project. Its aim is to bring either. Then it occurred to together the leading scholars from varime. The event was being conducted in ous Indic and Vedic traditions that are Committee Room 14 of the House of able to give deliberations and guidance Commons, the very same room that was on the range of issues that affect not used by Labour MPs to host an antionly our community, but also the wider modi event on 26th February of this community. It will allow for the values year. It all made sense, the Labour MPs obviously found it too disheartening of Sanathan Dharma to guide society in that their full attempt to undermine PM the 21st Century.

Modi ji had failed, and now in the very In attendance were scholars, same room the NCHT was launching swamis, leading community leaders and the BBHS and had turned the colour to people of other faith. To name but a saffron. I have to say I am not surprised few, Dr Ranjeet Rishi – direct disciple of with the level of disrespect shown by Swami Karpatriji of Varanasi, Shri the Labour MPs. Playing politics is one Turumella Madhava Kumara Sharma thing, but to dishonour our spiritual President of Dharmic Faiths, Swami swamis, gurus and scholars in this way Surya Prabha Privrajika (Minister for shows what value they put to our comReligion) and Dr Jasdev Singh Rai munity.

Director Sikh Human Rights Group.

Back to the event, Baroness Verma The list is not exhaustive, but it put the sentiments nicely by saying, gives a flavour of the calibre of people in ‘The BBHS will have an important role attendance. In the words of Smt to play in the wider debate of respect Truptiben Patel (VP of Hindu Forum of and honesty within the framework of Britain), ‘As a community we have ancient disciplines and how it responds delivered in most sectors with exemplaand reaches out to minds that expect ry success and determination. However greater evidence and explanations from it had become increasingly clear that our texts’. This was underpinned by a there was a gap in how our dharma was message from Swami Vivekananda on being perceived by the community, socibehalf of Omkarananda Ashram in ety at large, the media and also Switzerland Austria, India and the UK Parliament’. This is an important point in stating, ‘May the BBHS serve as a being raised; all too often there has not beacon of light and a powerful voice for been a body that can give a coherent harmony and collective understanding, reasoned pronouncement based on our in the words of our Earth’s most ancient Sanathan Dharmic traditions on emergscripture the Rig-Veda 2, 27, 11 : ing issues that affect our community Neither the right nor left do we distinand that has let us down. guish, neither the east nor the west, I was also pleased to see that some simple and guided by the wisdom may of our leading Sampradayic organisawe attain the light beyond all fear.’ tions also supporting this venture. A congratulatory note from Prabhu Shri Like all initiatives, they are always well meaning. The hard task starts now Shrutidharma das (ISKCON) was read in gently, but with purpose and strategic out and greatly appreciated by the audisteps to ensure that on key points ence. Historically one of our downfalls emerging in the nation and within our has always been the disunity within our community, the BBHS can contribute own organisations. Leaders often fail to markedly with its insight. I will follow realise and recognise their dharma and this development keenly. I wish it well in trying to protect their own small self and hope that it will, in time, show by interest, they end up doing great damits work to be worthy of our support age to the community as a whole. now and in the future.

Therefore it’s always nice to see the

TALK OF THE TOWN ON

Sunday 6.30pm, 13th July, 2014 (part 1) and repeat on Wednesday 7.00pm, 16th July, 2014 repeat Sunday 6.3pm 20th July, 2014 (part 2) and repeat on Wednesday 7.00pm, 23rd July, 2014 repeat

Channel: Sky 781

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

7/7 bombings memorial in Hyde Park vandalized on 9th Anniversary The 7/7 memorial commemorating the victims of the 7 July bombings in London was vandalized just hours before survivors and bereaved families gathered to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the attacks.

The stainless steel columns of the memorial in Hyde Park were sprawled with red and black slogans overnight saying "4Innocent Muslims", "Blair Lied Thousands Died" and "J7 Truth".

A spokeswoman for the Royal Parks said the slogans had been removed after their discovery early on Monday morning by the park's manager.

She reportedly said: "We found it this morning.

It has now been removed and the memorial can go ahead as planned.

Obviously, we are very disappointed."

Video footage and photos tweeted by the London Live broadcast journalist James Banks shows the full extent of the defacement.

Scotland Yard said in a statement that police had launched an investigation into the vandalism. Police urge anyone with information that could help the investigation to call 101.

22-month-old girl choked to death whilst at nursery

Tiya Chauhan, who was 22 months old, died after choking on jelly at a day nursery where children were allowed to move around freely, an inquest heard on Monday 7 July.

Tiya Chauhan died after nursery staff found her lying unconscious in an activity area.

Her father, Dipa, 37, reportedly told an inquest that he and his wife, Chetan, who works for the Ministry of Defence, had considered moving their daughter to another nursery after she was twice bitten on the face.

Mr Chauhan, an IT consultant, reportedly said Tiya was “smiling and quite happy” when he dropped her off at Dicky Birds Nursery in Wimbledon, south London, on Aug 23, 2012.

After breakfast, the nursery began “free flow”, where the toddlers were

UK

36 years for racist thugs who attacked two men for not being Muslim

Abu Bakr Mansha Ibrahim Mohamed

able to roam around between three rooms. Just after 9.30am, Tiya was found lying unconscious.

Staff called an ambulance and paramedics found a raw jelly cube in her airway. She died the following day at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, the inquest heard.

Mr Chauhan said that he had not been made fully aware that the “free flow” policy had been introduced. The inquest continues.

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Six Muslim thugs have been jailed for 36 years after viciously attacking two men almost to death with baseball bats, simply because they were black and non-Muslim.

Ringleader Abu Bakr Mansha - who was previously jailed under the Terrorism Act for plotting to kill or harm a decorated soldier - was with a teenage boy when the pair began the unprovoked attack at a busy Tesco store in Bow, east London.

Mansha assaulted the

Javed patel

Salim Jada

two victims before following them home to discover where they lived then called four other thugs to help. They beat the two men in a horrific attack which left both victims needing hospital treatment for two broken wrists and a fractured skull.

The Inner London Crown Court heard there was both a religious element and a racial element to the attack on the two men, who were black and non-Muslim.

All six of the attack-

Zuber Kara

ers, who the Met Police confirmed were Muslim, pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm with intent.

Mansha, of Newham, north London, was jailed for 10 years. The teenage boy, who is currently 17 years old - was sentenced to an 18-month detention and training order. Salim Jada, 32, and Javed Patel, 29, were jailed for eight years each. Ibrahim Mohammed, 32, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years' jail, while 30-yearold Zuber Kara, received a two-year jail sentence.

Passport crisis: Stranded in India with their new-born twins

Continued from page 1 along with their parents have been stranded in India due to a delay in their UK passports.

Mr and Mrs Salvi came to India from Bolton, Greater Manchester, around three months ago to take their babies back to their home in UK. However, due to the closure of the over-

seas offices of the UK government there has been a processing backlog across all British centres.

Labour MP Julie Hilling approached Home Secretary Theresa May and spoke to her about the difficult time that the couple is going through. She reportedly said, “They are desper-

ate, running out of money and stuck in a hot hotel room in India.” The two children were born premature at a surrogacy clinic in Anand, Gujarat on March 3 and were granted UK citizenship, however due to the delay in the processing the family is unable to return to the UK. Kiran Salvi, the father and also an IT

specialist, reportedly said, “When we ring the Passport Office helpline we get a request for a reference but for overseas applications there is no reference number.”

According to Mr. Salvi, on April 30, the High Commission in New Delhi told them that their applications were verified correctly and

020 3757 4963

were being sent to Liverpool for further processing.

He added, “We have not had any information since then and after being told initially that these applications would take a maximum of eight weeks to process, the website now says that figure has been extended to 16 weeks.

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UK

Reaching for the Moon!

As I See It

“A week is a long time in Politics” - so said PM Harold Wilson 46 years ago, when the British economy was in the doldrums and the Chancellor had to fly frequently to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington with a begging bowl for financial assistance.

Six weeks ago, the electors of India gave a landslide victory to Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party and the National Democratic Alliance. For the first time, after 30 years, Narendra Modi was able to form a government on the basis of his own party and, especially, universally accepted as the maker of the miracle.

During the election speeches, Narendra Modi promised an all-encompassing revamping of the Indian economy, as well as the administration. PM Modi has now seen the details of the data on the Indian economy. It is a horrific situation - the hard facts of rising expectations and shrinking national resources, inevitably need some harsh actions. No pain, no gain, as they say.

While this week's column is written at noon in London on Tuesday, the Railway Minister has finished his railway budget presentation and has left the Lok Sabha (the Lower House of India's Parliament). Indian railways are state-owned and employ nearly 1.5m people and carry some 25m passengers every day. It is a national artery but the UPA government has been unable to provide suitable financial and managerial resources to the railways. Last February, when they passed an interim budget, they hiked the passenger and freight fare to a very huge extent, perhaps knowing fully well that the UPA government was on its last lap and the incoming government would have to carry the can.

Out of this compulsion, as well as implementing the NAMO government strategy in the last two weeks, Narendra Modi's Cabinet has agreed to bite the bullet and prescribe a bitter medicine to hard pressed passengers and freight users.

The Railway budget appears to be well-balanced and pragmatic. It has not offered “bribes” to certain sectors, to remain in power. It doesn't need it. The priority on passenger safety, welfare, punctuality, modernization and overall stream lining are promising. The reaction appears to be not too bad.

Of course, the Congress and other decimated parties would naturally create uproar. That is the price you pay for a democratic form of government.

China have no such problem.

The response from Mr Rahul Gandhi is noteworthy: “Some States have not been properly catered for.” A divisive and uninspiring comment from someone who was being groomed to be the Prime Minister of India for the last ten years. The proof of the pudding is in eating. But PM Modi is capable to use his popularity to usher in the change needed in the Body Politic of India.

Armed chair administrators as well as chattering boxes will have their own opportunity. It is also more than a mere coincidence that the two senior most Cabinet members (George Osborne and William Hague) are in India today. They are likely to meet Mr Modi, during their two-day visit. Mr Modi is fully aware of the coalition government's formation and the operating salvo in 2010.

George Osborne and the Cameron government faced massive problems of deficit and its consequences. Facing strong opposition, George Osborne prescribed his medicine and the country swallowed it with lots and lots of hesitation. After 4 years of pain and consequent problems, the British economy is in a much better shape now – perhaps one of the best in the OECD countries.

The Railway budget is followed by the General budget and if the Railway minister had to tread through carefully, spare a thought for Arun Jaitley, a brilliant lawyer and articulator, who as the Finance Minister of India, has to prepare and present his prescriptions for Indian economy.

Mr Jaitley is a very close colleague of PM Modi and in most issues, they think alike. Whether it is inflation, public sector borrowing requirements (deficit), taxation, infrastructure development, the glut in the manufacturing sector, as well as other innumerable challenges, they need to be addressed in Mr Jaitley's first budget. How would he handle the policy paralysis and the lack of able and effective administration of the last ten years of UPA government? How can he begin cutting the huge amount of subsidies in food, fertilisers, fuel and so many other fields? Of course, the poverty alleviation is a heavy responsibility for the new government too.

There are other issues which have a priority too, if India has to begin a rapid developmental journey. To jumpstart the economy, for the size, population and the problems of a sub continent, is

not easy by any count.

But then, before he became the Prime Minister, Narendra Modia had experience of running Gujarat as the Chief Minister for 12 years. Publicprivate partnership, privatization of the stateowned enterprises, gradual reduction in the subsidy culture etc. have been smoothly implemented in Gujarat and consequently it has a very balanced budget and one of the lowest unemployment in India. The labour in Gujarat is least prone to strikes and they have been handled more correctly and tactfully by the employers too.

In the 12 years of Narendra Modi, Gujarat has done some excellent work in tall road management and the road licensing administration. Online land registry has removed the red tape and reduced scope for corruption. A one stop facility for various large and giant projects have made Gujarat an attraction for major investments both from the national and international corporations. Fast track processes have been praised by one and all.

Narendra Modi has removed the middle man's role wherever possible to a large extent. His Gujarat stewardship was based on consolidation, expansion and an incremental progress strategy. Service and satisfaction of the consumers and the citizens was perhaps his main mantra.

Perhaps, readers will be interested to know how Gujarat government embarked earlier on the Thatcher model of privatization and public private partnership.

In 1990, Gujarat saw the end of the Congress rule when a coalition government between Chimanbhai and Keshubhai Patel's Parties formed their government. Gujarat was very different then.

Chimanbhai and Keshubhai knew me fairly well and they talked to me through a very senior journalist, Bhupatbhai Parekh, and requested me to organize a meeting with the British Prime Minister during their forthcoming visit to UK. I politely explained to the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister that the British Prime Minister normally doesn't meet any Chief Minister of a state of India unless they have been specially invited to visit the UK but both of them were adamant. Fortunately, I was able to approach PM Thatcher through Mervyn Kohler, the PM's special aide, Sir Rhodes Boyson MP, Shantoo Rooparel and JK Gohil (leading Conservative Asians).

Eventually, a 20 minute slot was arranged in the PM office for the visiting pair from Gujarat. I sat in that meeting and was very impressed when CM Chimanbhai greeted the British PM with a small gift and asked a straight forward question: “PM, please tell us about privatization? We have been impressed with the way you have transformed the British economy, which is now fifth or sixth in the world and was called the “Sick Man of Europe” when you become PM in 1979.” PM Thatcher must have been very impressed and inspired by the question and she explained how she was able to privatise British Telecom, British Leyland, coal mines and other important enterprises which were sucking some £2/3 billion as subsidies every year.

An almost one-way discussion went on for about 40 minutes and PM Thatcher, when approached by her special assistant about the next appointment, just waved her hand and told them she was engrossed in a very important discussion.

This 20 minute meeting went on for 40minutes.

What was the gain?

On his return, the Chief Minister and his Deputy embarked on the lessons they received in the House of Commons. Gujarat has the largest number of private ports today. Electricity, as well as several loss making state concerns, were privatized. This process was taken further by Chief Minister Narendra Modi and he is renowned as a pro-business, no-nonsense administrator, who does not engage in corrupt practices and his nationalism is beyond doubt.

The economic challenge for Narendra Modi and India is full of pitfalls, but no action is not the option. India cannot have that luxury. The Modi government has already signalled the foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in the Defence industry and other sectors.

The Railways Minister has already welcomed FDI initiatives in the railway infrastructure development. There are so many other welcoming proposals about outsourcing and part privatization of the Railway system. The Modi government has raised himalayan-sized expectations of the people of India. There are so many challenges and so many obstacles. We eagerly await the main budget proposals but so far so good. Modi has begun well.

- CB

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

The significance of religious holidays and welfare of our community

Shefali Davda

A petition that has attracted over 120,000 signatures in support of establishing a national holiday for Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Muslims across the UK to celebrate their prominent festivals, Diwali and Eid, was rejected by the UK Government earlier this month.

The e-petition, labelled 'Make Eid & Diwali Public Holidays', was hosted on the UK government website and was successful in generating substantial debate across online chat forums and social media platforms, as well as the printed media across the UK. The petition that was received by the House of Commons caused a particular stir amongst some circles, not least because even celebrations such as St George’s Day are not marked as public holidays in the UK. The petition itself was initiated by an individual named Jon Timmis in August last year, namely on the following basis: “The number of Muslims and Hindu's in this country it is only fair that we allow them to have the most important days in their faiths recognised in law. By giving them public or bank holidays for these days we would be going some way to help to recognise the importance of these faiths to many within the country”.

Indeed, if the petition had led to the festivals of Diwali and Eid being recognised as public holidays, these would have been the first nonChristian religious holidays to be recognised as such in the UK. There were therefore seemingly legitimate concerns that granting public holiday status to Diwali and Eid could well have led to a surge of requests from other faiths for their festivals to also be recognised in this way.

Not withstanding the substantial support for the petition, the proposal was eventually duly rejected by The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (“DBIS”), with the rejection itself accompanied by the following statement from the department: "Whilst we appreciate a new national holiday may benefit some communities and sectors, the cost to the economy remains considerable and any changes to the current arrangements would not take place without a full consultation."

Pratik Dattani, former Chairman of the City Hindus Network commented: "The Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) says that each bank holiday costs the UK economy £2.3bn. The impact of this was seen most evidently in 2012 when an extra holiday for the Diamond Jubilee meant a dip in quarterly GDP growth.

Having said that, the UK has

far fewer Bank Holidays than Germany, Australia, South Korea, the US and many other developed countries."

Many community and religious leaders had themselves steered away from involvement with the petition, citing reasons such as the impracticality of setting dates for holidays based on the lunar calendar (causing major planning issues for both schools and employers), as well as the fear of seeming to be a block to integration, for their refusal to become involved . There was further confusion specifically in respect to the festival of Eid, with it being unclear as to which of the two annual Eid festivals was covered by the petition.

Shahid Khan, Member of the Unity of Faiths Foundation and Chair of Governors at Villiers High School took the view, “Public holidays based around festivals are good for community cohesion however it’s not the right time for the UK to be looking at this. The recent petition does have a point to be raised however more dialogue is required around the issue.”

Although many critics had opposed the idea behind the petition, it was duly noted that the UK has only eight bank holidays per year, the second lowest number of bank holidays in the world behind Mexico. Regardless of the festival being promoted, the economic impact of including more bank holidays in the year was a key factor behind the decision to reject the petition, however even the statement released by the DBIS noted the UK’s limited number of bank holidays.

With the rejection of the proposal now confirmed, the question that arises is how members of the respective communities will respond to the rejection of their key festivals not being recognised as public holidays. With specific respect to the Hindu community, one would envisage the rejection of the proposal as causing a very limited stir, for reasons such as the adaptability of the Hindu faith and community, as well as the recognition that religious holidays and the welfare of one’s country (in this case in economic terms) cannot be divorced from one another.

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

Leading Lights

Rani Singh, Special Assignments Editor

The First British-Born Pakistani to Play Professional Cricket in England Operations for the C r i c k e t Foundation. He planned and executed the grassroots programme, Chance to Shine.

The StreetChance scheme run by the C r i c k e t Foundation has helped 38,000 children away from the world of possible crime, drugs and detention and into cricket since 2008. I attended the StreetChance Achievement Awards last Thursday at Lord’s.

Wasim is author of Brimful of Passion: Wasim Khan - From the ghetto to Pro Cricket and B e y o n d , named Wisden Book of the Year 2006. In 2008, he was voted number 11 out of a list of 50 of most influential people in cricket.

Wasim Khan first got seriously interested in playing cricket at 12, watching and playing with photo credit: http://portraitcollective.com

Wasim Khan is Chief Executive of the Cricket Foundation.

Wasim made his First Class debut for Warwickshire in 1995 - the year they won the double, including the county championship. The lefthanded batsman moved from Warwickshire to Sussex in 1998 and spent seasons at Hove before a spell at Derbyshire in 2001.

He was one of the first British-born Asians to make county grade.

During his First Class career he scored nearly 3,000 runs at an average of 30.15.

After retiring from First Class cricket in 2001, he helped to promote the game in schools in Birmingham, setting up Khan Cricket in the Community. In 2003, he moved into national cricket administration, becoming Community Development Manager at the Professional Cricketers' Association.

In 2005, Wasim became Director of

Wasim Khan MBE

local boys, then seeing the West Indies play England on TV. Until then, Wasim Khan had been more interested in football, playing in the Birmingham Under 15s Football team.

Wasim spoke to me in an inner city estate a stone’s throw from Lord’s.

It’s an estate where his charity is working with multicultural children who are being drawn away from negative influences by regular free cricket

coaching schemes.

As a boy, Wasim’s cricket talent was spotted by his teacher, Peter Bolland. “He asked me; ‘Where have you learnt your cricket?’ I said, ‘From watching TV, Sir.’ He said to me; ’I think you might have something.

Play this shot. I might send you for the Wa r w i c k s h i r e Under 13 trials.’” Wasim did not have any whites, so Mr Bolland, who became his cricket mentor, brought him some whites and equipment. The schoolmaster became a surrogate sport parent, driving Wasim to training sessions and fixtures. “I was the only Asian, non private school boy in that white middle class squad in 1984. In the summer, they made me captain.”

He described his reasons for loving the game.

“There’s a lot of strategy involved; it’s a war of attrition. The longer game really tested your ability.

That was something I affiliated with. It was bat against ball for long periods of time. Nothing was happening.

Here’s a bowler bowling to a batsman, trying to get him out.

He’s blocking the shots; he’s not letting him win. It was one man against the other. There were actually 11 fielders, so it was 11 against one.

I then played through the country age group squads and was selected to play for the England Under 19s in 1990. At 19, during that year, I got offered a professional contract for Warwickshire. My salary was about seven and a half thousand pounds for six months. It didn’t matter to me

“Having to go through all those hardships; through rain and sunshine, actually toughened me up, gave me resilience, and I really wanted it.” because it was a childhood dream of mine.

People said to me, when I was growing up, ‘You’ll never become a professional cricketer because it doesn’t happen to people like us.’ I wanted to be a professional cricketer. I was the first British- born Pakistani to play professional cricket in England.” This was despite the fact that his parents’ generation scoffed at his chosen career, not believing it to be a “proper job,” even when Wasim appeared, playing, on television. “So I had very little support

9

from a young age. I lost my father at 15. So I had to do it for my mother and sister.”

Wasim told me that his biggest challenge at the time was his fear of himself. “I felt quite fearful walking into a big institution like Warwickshire. It was about, ‘Can I get over my fear of belonging in this environment. Because they were all public school boys. They’d all had good upbringings. Their parents would bring them to the ground and I had to catch three buses, taking up to two hours to get there.

But I was the only one to go on and make it out of those 11 players. Having to go through all those hardships; through rain and sunshine after school to get to Edgbaston actually toughened me up, gave me resilience, and I really wanted it. It was the only thing I had and I made sure I gave it my best shot and I made it. I’d wanted to be out there for eight years. Two or three of my friends and I found a little hole in the fence at Edgbaston. We’d catch three buses just to go and watch the game. We’d be absolutely mesmerised by these 11 guys playing on beautifully manicured greens. When I became a professional cricketer, in pre-season training I ran past the fence we used to climb through. It had been boarded up.”

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YOUR VOICE

Benefits from learning languages

I agree with M. Samani that ployglots have sharper minds and retain healthy mental faculties in old age. This is my personal experience from residing in Kenya, India and now in UK. I had to use more than six languages for communication with family, relatives, friends and local ethnic persons.

Anglophobia arises from fear that learning English can alienate one from mother tongue, religion and culture. This is true only in few cases. Majority of Anglophones are more Hindu/ Indian than their counterparts in India.

If local state language is insisted upon whereby English language is marginalised, a person is handicapped in neighbouring state. Also all useful global data is universally available in English. Any aspirant of global knowledge may have to wait till it is translated in local language where essence and importance may be lost or wrongly prioritised in translation.

Also note that India’s independence movement succeeded only when and because Gandhiji and freedom fighters were educated in English at home and in England. All India’s scientists, godmen and famous prominent personalities spread Indianism and Hinduism in English language.

English language assumes vital importance with advent of electro-computer tools, that can be used by all and sundry.

Ramesh Jhalla By email

Entry through back door

It is practically impossible for scrupulous PM David Cameron to control EU immigration and bring down the annual net inflow under one hundred thousand, as he promised in the Conservative manifesto at the last election.

Some EU members give out citizenships. Hungary granted citizenships to 600,000 people last year, mainly from the Balkans on unconventional grounds that they were once citizens of the AustroHungarian Empire.

Spain and Portugal facilitated entries of South Americans as they were once their colonies. Many Goans have come here from India through Portuguese passports easily obtainable in Goa. Most prefer to settle down in Britain once they are EU citizens.

This tidal wave will turn into a tsunami unless the EU acts. But with JeanClaude Juncker now the new unelected EU supremo with synonymous German backing, PM Cameron is unlikely to clawback legislative powers surrendered in haste in the past.

This is a propaganda victory; fiduciary advantage that equates overt UKIP who is already a major force in EU, eclipsing both Labour and Conservative last May in EU elections with their policies. It will be an interesting, intriguing, convivial election next May that may change Britain’s political demography.

Righting a wrong

What a co-incidence! On Thursday July 3rd morning as usual I was reading Asian Voice on the internet here in Markham, Canada and at that time my wife switched on our TV to the Aastha channel to watch Shri Moraribapu’s religious discourses from the Vatican City, Italy.

While he was narrating the story of the “Mahabharat” I saw Shri C.B. Patel publisher of Asian Voice/Gujarat Samachar in the audience. Exactly at that time Shri Bapu was saying that if any wrong is committed to you, your family or nation you should not only protest loud and clear but fight it strongly until the wrong becomes right.

And at that time I thought of Conservative MP Priti Patel strongly protesting in her petition to the BBC Director General Tony Hill regarding the baseless, negative and prejudice news in BBC News Night about Shri Modi, BJP during recent India’s federal election and Asian Voice/Gujarat Samachar joining whole heartedly in Priti Patel’s mission by urging it’s readers to sign petition forms to show their support.

Shri C.B Patel in the past has fought for injustice done to the Hare Ram Hare Krishna temple, Air India’s direct flight to Ahmedabad, India and many other community related issues.

Here in Canada Indo-Canadians also strongly signed petition against Toronto Star and in particular Haroon Siddiqui, it’s Hyderabad born and educated writer for publishing biased, unbalanced and prejudiced articles at the time of India’s election.

Suresh and Bhavna Patel Markham, Canada

Sabudana

Sabudana is a popular food eaten during periods of fasting and at religious events.

We make “khhichadi” or “vada” from sabudana. But Is sabudana vegetarian or non-vegetarian, and is it suitable for Jains and other vegetarians to consume?

Sabudana is made from a root which looks like sweet potato. This root is crushed into a pulp and then put into pits of about 40ft x 25ft. These pits are in open ground and the pulp is allowed to rot for several months. Thousands of tons of root rot in these very brightly lit pits where millions of insects get attracted by the light and fall into the pits.

Water is added everyday resulting in 2” long white coloured eels are born similar to the way in which pests are born in gutters. They cover the walls of the pits and get crushed together with the root pulp in the manufacturing process. This mixture is then converted into a paste.

This action is repeated many times over a period of five to six months.

This paste is then passed through round mesh and made into small balls and then polished. If this is how sabudana are made, it should not take much imagination to decide whether it is okay for Jains and other vegetarians to use them in cooking.

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ASIAN VOICE

‘Life’ – a project for the not-so-fortunate

Your article (AV 5 July p25) on ‘Life’ a charity with headquarters in Rajkot was very interesting.

The photo of the six-storey HQ building shown in your magazine is structurally and architecturally truly a state-of-theart construction and the view from its roof terrace of the Race Course in Rajkot is stunning.

Your article quotes statistics over the past 30 years: Life’s has distributed 59,000 units of blood or blood components; carried out 624,000 screenings for thalassaemia; assisted in building 2,200 homes for the homeless in Mumbai; donated sewing machines and given IT training to 4,500 widows; planted 243,000 trees from seedlings and donated them when they reach 10 feet; built 65 modern primary schools and 5 health centres in 70 villages in Gujarat.

During my trips to Rajkot over 15 years, the officials took me to several villages to see the schools; experience yoga; visit the Blood Bank building; visit the trees plantation project and critically review their audited accounts. Their modus operandi is to involve the villagers themselves; the donors; the State government; and the Central Government. That way not only larger pools of funds are generated, but also there is expertise, coordination and understanding at entire country level.

I would encourage parents to send their children during summer holidays to visit an NGO such as ‘Life’ in Rajkot or ‘Anarde’ in Mumbai that have been running with total dedication and professionalism. The trustees would make their stay and visit most enjoyable and educational.

Nagindas Khajuria By email

Removing Sharia law

In the recent judgement in the Indian supreme court, the judges have declared in a test case that Sharia law has no legality in India and therefore cannot be enforced. India is a secular country where every religion and people irrespective of caste are treated in the same level.

In India Sharia court acts as a parallel judiciary with no regard for the Indian constitution and laws. Fatwa is only option and some of the fatwas rules goes against Human rights and infringes the personal liberty. In one case Sharia court forced a young daughter-in-law to marry her very old father-in-law since he raped her and he could not be prosecuted because of sharia court judgement.

Sharia court banned Muslims from singing Vande Madaram since worshiping Motherland (Madaram) is against their religion.

If Indians (except the Congress party and their stooges) believe in one nation there should be one law for everybody.

I suggest the Indian government should pass a law removing the power of the Sharia court and make it into an advisory body. The government should make sure all laws such as divorce law, property law and the minimum age of Muslim

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Lovely ladoos!

I must thank our good friends Kirit and Ranjan Patel, both keen readers of Asian Voice, who presented my wife and myself with some delicious home-made ladoos, Baroda-style, the other day.

We see this friendly retired couple regularly on our respective constitutional walks around our corner of Middlesex and always have lots to chat about.

Ranjan has kindly agreed to let us have the recipe and we look forward to trying it out ourselves.

What a tasty treat!

Rudy Otter By email

Rape a hideous crime without exception

Rape is a horrendous crime and should be condemned without reservation. So the fossilized foul-mouthed utterance by Babul Gaur, BJP Law and Order Minister in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly under CM Shivraj Singh, that “Sometimes it’s right, sometimes it’s wrong” should have been condemned.

Such ambiguous statements after two girls have been raped and hanged rubs salt into the wounds. He should have been ostracised and removed from his post rather than the BJP issuing a lame statement that these are his personal views.

Politicians in public life and occupying high posts have no right to express personal views in public. Such occurrences reflect badly on BJP. Many politicians like flamboyant Mulayam Singh Yadav opposes death penalty for rapes with fiduciary equivocate “boys are boys” statement which is detrimental for dignity of women who should make sure that these vermin are never elected again. But by the time next election comes around, it will be forgotten. No wonder India has attained notoriety, seen as unsafe for women and tourism has declined sharply.

It is time for India to clean-up her act, regain reputation as “Ram Rajya” for visitors who were once valued, decorous guests in safe haven of tranquillity.

Kumudini Valambia By email girls and other personal laws are applicable to every Indian citizen.

The Congress party under Rajiv Gandhi failed to remove Sharia court from Indian penal system to satisfy Muslims for the sake of vote bank politics. Indians voted for a change in the political, social and economic system and they want one law for every Indian citizen. At last the present government is doing something for Indians and they should not betray them.

Arun Vaidyanathan By email

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NHSF (UK) June Committees’ Day 2014 As the National Hindu Students’ Forum (UK) begins its new year, it does so with a degree of excitement and anticipation. A new national committee brings with it the desired need to continue building on the success of its predecessors, whilst also introducing the values of our organization to a greater Samaj.

The new academic year kicked off with Imperial College London hosting the first annual event, June Committees’ Day on Saturday 21st June 2014. Over two hundred delegates took part in the event representing around 40 university societies across the country. The aim of the day was for the chapter committees to plan for the upcoming academic year and gain skills which would be useful for them; this was done through instructive workshops.

The theme of the day was emphasising a stronger sense of family this year, with a united drive to work together.

Raghav Chandegra, Campus Coordinator said “Chapters were given the opportunity to envisage their successful year in chapter breakouts, and

collaborate during their Zonal breakouts with their neighbouring universities.”

The day marked the growth of the NHSF (UK) family with Exeter and Brighton formally joining NHSF (UK) during the event. Much attention was given to the need to create leaders for the community and to build on inter-chapter networking.

“Our values and work should reflect the spirit of Hindus in our Samaj”.

Vishal Patel, Head of the Strategy Team, along with Aislinn Mae, National Committee Learning Officer, conducted the Presidents Workshop, the largest of

the day; which saw 47 presidents and vice-presidents gathered to aim and inspire sewa and leadership from the grassroots of the community.

With 80 percent of the NHSF (UK) National Committee being new this year, it marked a start of the fresh new approach.

NHSF (UK) Advisory Member Sunilji Pala, in his closing speech to the delegates, highlighted the need to serve the Hindu community and the importance of Hindu societies nationally in achieving this task.

For further information contact prteam@nhsf.org.uk or info@nhsf.org.uk

High Court of South Africa, Professor Mervyn King; sustainable events expert and three-times Managing Director, Fiona Pelham, who heads up the companies, Positive Impact, Sustainable Events Ltd and Organise This; former professional road-racing cyclist and national champion, Sid Barras, and Leigh-Anne Stradeski, Chief Executive of Halifax’s National Children’s Museum, Eureka!

L e e d s M e t ro p o l i t a n University Vice C h a n c e l l o r, Professor Susan Price, said: “We are delighted to recognise such a wide variety of individuals who have made a significant Qari Asim contribution to their field and are each an inspiration to our students and graduates. This summer’s awards are varied, with key people from a range of backgrounds including business, arts, law, sport and the music and entertainment industry. We are very much looking forward to welcoming them to our Headingley Campus to celebrate with us as we recognise the achievements of our graduating students.”

Leeds Metropolitan University awards honorary degree to mosque leader

C h a r t - t o p p e r s Rudimental, Coronation Street Producer Stuart Blackburn and former Leeds United player and manager Eddie Gray are among the well-known names to be awarded honorary degrees at Leeds Metropolitan University’s summer graduations.

The Graduation ceremonies and celebrations will take place from Monday 21 to Friday 25 July at the University’s Headingley Campus.

Honorary awards will also be conferred upon one of the world’s foremost authorities on corporate governance, reporting and sustainability, mosque leader, Qari Asim, who has worked tirelessly to build bridges between communities in Leeds since the 7/7 terror attacks; Senior Counsel and former Judge of the

Anjool Malde Memorial Trust is pleased to congratulate its ten latest worthy Award Winners for 2014. Anjool’s Trust, a legacy to Anjool (Jools) Malde (19842009), makes annual awards to the UK’s brightest and talented across key areas of activity and interest that Jools himself was passionate about.

Each Award is professionally judged along pre-agreed criteria and carries prize money to help the beneficiary to advance their interests and ambitions. Running since 2010, the Awards’ key purpose is to recognise, inspire and celebrate graduate talent.

Anjool an accomplished young broker who jumped to his death from the top of one London’s most exclusive restaurants clutching a glass of champagne. The Trust was set up to keep alive Jools’ legacy of a kindred and enlivened spirit that lit up so many

Navjeev Singh, Karen Pollard, Rob Krawczyk, Sami Ibrahim

lives and inspired and helped others to make most of their talents. The AMMT is embarked on a number of initiatives and awards that reward, inspire and promote bright new talent as a legacy to his memory.

Jools Scholarship for academic excellence and citizenship (co-hosts St Peter's College, Oxford): Karen Pollard, Navjeev Singh, Rob Krawczyk,Sami Ibrahim. l Jools Award for Photography: Inaugural

(co-hosts: Stockton Art Development & Cleveland College of Art & Design – CCAD): Michelle McDonald & Mathew Skelton. l Jools Fellowship: for Enterprise &Innovation ( c o - h o s t s Enternships.com)- James Saward-Anderson. l Jools Awards for Journalism: (co-hosts Cherwell and The Oxford Student)- India Miller & Ben Goldstein. l Jools Award for Music (co-hosts Guildhall School of Music & Drama)- Will Glaser.

Hinduism, pointed out that collective worship in one faith tradition was inappropriate now as all the students in UK schools no longer belonged to a single religion. Moreover, provision should be made for nonbeliever students also so that they felt included without being forced into some kind of worship they did not approve.

Compulsory collective worship in a religion, to which one did not belong,

could be suffocating.

Religion should be voluntary and should not be forced en masse, Rajan Zed added.

On another note, Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev John Pitcgard has said that compulsory acts of worship in assemblies were more suited to the 40s and could put children off religion.

According to him, this is evident because of the decline in Christianity in Britain.

2014 award winners:

l

Hindus want UK school worship assemblies to be multi-faith

Hindus stress that statutory school assemblies in United Kingdom (UK) maintain schools should be replaced by multi-faith prayer sessions or spiritual reflection.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, stressed that in view of increasing diversity of present day UK, the Collective Worship part of 1944 Education Act needed to be seriously relooked into.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of

Illegal shisha tobacco seized More than 100kgs of illegal shisha tobacco has been seized from city businesses after a joint operation conducted by the police, HMRC customs officials and Leicester City Council.

Officers visited seven shisha cafes on 26 June and found that five of them had non-duty paid shisha on the premises.

One business had nearly 45kgs of illegal shisha tobacco on the premises.

In total, the haul represents up to £20,000 in evaded duty on the tobac-

co. Officers also found numerous health and safety contraventions at five of the businesses, ranging from unsafe electrics, gas cylinders stored unsafely, poorly maintained heaters, and fire doors propped open to smoking shelters that did not comply with smoke-free laws.

The unannounced visits are part of a long-term project to improve safety at shisha cafes after two fires at shisha premises in the city. Members of the public have also raised ongoing concerns about

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Anjool Malde Trust announces 2014 Award Winners

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working practices and health and safety at some shisha cafes.

Investigations are ongoing and further action may result.

Councillor Sarah Russell, assistant city mayor responsible for neighbourhood services, said: “We visit these businesses regularly to ensure they are aware of their responsibilities.

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MEDIA WATCH

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The flawless launch of a PSLV C-23 rocket bearing five foreign satellites were placed in orbit from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) spaceport at Sriharikota, on the country’s east coast. There was the expected galaxy of scientists and engineers, including some from the countries whose satellites were aboard the rocket.

However, the new Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, was the cynosure of all eyes. In a smooth 20-minute mission, ISRO launched the 714-kilogramme French earth observation satellite SPOT-7, the 14 kg German AISAT, the two 15 kg each Canadian NLS7.1 (CAN-X4) and NLS7.2 (CAN-X5) and the 7 kg Singapore VELOX-1. The PSLV C-23’s four stages, having fulfilled their purpose: the 4-storey heat shield protecting the satellites from turbulence and splitting in two, splashed into the Bay of Bengal. The five satellites in due course attained their

service lines led by consulting, assurance services, infrastructure services and engineering industrial solutions,” Mistry explained (Hindu June 28)

Upcoming Kovvada nuclear power plant

es in Lahore and across the country; and his Laskhar-e-Taiba will keep seeking recruits for its jihad against infidel India, without let or hindrance. Human perversity is an earthly affliction curable only through appropriate scourging on Mother Earth (Hindu, Business Line, Times of India July 1)

IM agent held

The lesson of realism was driven home late last week, when 57 year-old Bangladeshi operative of the Indian Mujaheedin (IM) was arrested at a Kolkata railway station as he stepped off the

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius with India’s Sushma Swaraj

10 years. The Rafale was chosen over its American and European rivals way back in 2012.The French Minister remarked: “The discussion is developing in a very positive way and….we are confident about the final outcome.”

Hope springs eternal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the Space scientists

respective orbits. Congratulating the ISRO scientists and engineers on yet another success – they have put 40 foreign satellites of the 67 launched overall – Mr Modi, speaking in English, said the launch was “a global endorsement of India’s capabilities….Our space scientists have made us a global leader in one of the most complex areas of technologies. We are proud that our programme is indigenous.

Generations of scientists have worked to make India a selfreliant space power. ” It assuredly was. His address in English (he is normally given to speaking in Hindi with crowds) was meant to connect with the ISRO team, the majority of whose members, being from India’s south, have a rudimentary grasp of Hindi. Spicing the occasion with a touch of humour, the Indian Prime Minister noted that ISRO’s Mars mission cost less than the Hollywood film “Gravity.” ISRO’s financial arm Antrix is now earning substantial revenues from these foreign launches. The once money guzzler has turned into valued money-spinner.

SAARC satellite

Mr Modi capped his speech with a request that ISRO design and launch a multi-purpose SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) satellite for the well-being of the people of South Asia. Space diplomacy at work, no doubt. No harm in making a vision statement, as long as expectations are kept strictly in check. Pakistani terror chief, Hafeez Saeed, will keep making anti-Indian hate speech-

train he had boarded at the border town of Bongaon.

Mohammed Zahid Hossain was no ordinary catch, having planted the explosives at the German Bakery in Pune in February 2010, which blew away four teenage Kolkata college students enjoying themselves on a pleasant afternoon, traumatizing parents, families and friends.

Deadly quartet

Hossain, who had brought his deadly cargo from Bangladesh, is believed also to be a courier in the smuggling of fake Indian currency notes from Pakistan into India. He was close to IM explosives expert Abdul Karim Tunda, Anwar Hossain Mullick and IM head Yasin Bhatkal, the murderous three already in police custody. Their capture at different times and in separate locations across the country is a noteworthy achievement for the National Intelligence Agency and anti-terrorist units of State police forces (Telegraph, Times of India July 3,4)

Rafale deal in bag

French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, said he was confident that the Rafale aircraft deal with India was on track for final signature. He was speaking to reporters following comprehensive talks on Indo-French relations with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj in Delhi.

Apropos of the projected multibillion dollar sale of 126 Rafale warplanes for the Indian Air Force (estimated at $15-17 billion), the cost to be spread over

Talks between the cash-strapped French company Dassault, Rafale’s manufacturer, and Indian representatives had proceeded slowly on such issues as product sharing responsibilities, technology transfer etc, the latter of critical importance for the IAF. “Genuine progress” had apparently been made in these negotiations to warrant Minister Fabius’s optimism. A long negotiation, however, shouldn’t be too long, he commented wryly.

The present one could provide a model for enduring Indo-French partnerships in the defence sector and in other areas (Hindu, Business Line, Times of India July 1)

Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of infrastructure parks in India. These will entail clusters in a range of areas. The hope is that these will lead to a larger flow of Chinese investment into India and reduce its ballooning trade deficit with China. The modalities of such projects were included in a separate agreement under which working parties from both sides will decide on locations and structures (Hindu July1)

TCS charts global role

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s leading software company, is confident that 201415 will bring a host of opportunities for growth across multiple industries and markets, said Cyrus Mistry, Chairman, TCS and Tata Group. Addressing shareholders in company headquarters in Mumbai, Mistry outlined TCS performance in 2013-

B.N. Jagtap, Director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Chemistry Group, said the India’s 9,500 MW nuclear power park project at Kovvada, in Andhra Pradesh, would be a major force in meeting the country’s power requirements.

Speaking to reporters at Kovvada, Chief Engineer G.Venkata Ramesh said the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) was gearing up to speed up the project, with the bifurcation of the State done and dusted and a new regime in place in Delhi.

About 884 hectares would be required for the site, while the cooling water for the operation of the six units would be sourced from the nearby Nagavalli river (Hindu July 1)

Sweet goodbye

M.K.Narayanan, West Bengal Governor until last weekend, took his leave (seven months before the expiry of his tenure) of the troubled State’s political establishment in Kolkata’s Raj Bhavan. A former director of India’s Intelligence Branch (the wing in charge of internal security), he later became national security advisor to then prime minister Manmohan Singh. His posting to West Bengal owed a great deal to its political and social turbulence and exposure to perceived security threats.

Indian experts for Brahmaputra

A significant fallout from Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari’s visit to China has been Beijing’s willingness to allow Indian hydrological experts to tour Tibet and monitor the flows of the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra river and assuage Indian concerns about the ongoing dam projects there. The agreement was based on the “principle of reciprocity.” China had been reluctant to permit such access to Tibet. The monitoring will take place from 15 May to 15 October every year on a daily basis. The data will be provided by three Tibetan stations at Nugesha, Yangcun and Nuxia. China had previously assured India that its dams would not interfere with the downstream flows of the Brahmaputra, but the lack of transparency on its part was a source of continuing Indian anxiety, as its waters are a critical source for the agriculture and ecology of eastern India. This could be the first step in wider cooperation on trans-frontier rivers and flood control (Hindu July 1)

Cyrus Mistry

14 when profit grew 16 per cent in dollar terms and 30 per cent in rupees. He referred to the five digital forces of new technology, including mobility, big data, social media and cloud computing and robotics, that would be drivers of growth into new territory. Together, this would be a global game changer. “The ongoing investment of the company in these recent trends will enable us to play an impactful role in the technological revolution.

The company’s full services capabilities continue to be leveraged by customers with new

M.K. Narayanan

Firm, yet tactful, Mr Narayanan maintained a stable and friendly relationship with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee – no small feat with one so volatile and unpredictable. The state unit of the opposition BJP described Mr Narayanan as “one of the most praiseworthy Governors, who performed his duties impartially.” Asked about his experience, the departing governor replied: ”What can I say….Everything was wonderful.” Voila! (Hindu July 3)

Chinese Industrial parks in India

China and India have also signed a Memorandum of

Indian nurses return from Iraq - See commet page 3

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

London to launch first legal guide dedicated to Hindus

Not many women either. A young Indian lawyer asked if there were likely to be barriers for her? And of course there is the perennial ever dull question of ‘can women have it all?’ Let’s get some things straight: Men don’t have it all! I know no man who has a great career and lots of time with their family Did it ever occur to you that women may just be more sensible than men in not wanting to work 24/7 in a law firm or an investment bank to enrich others at the price of time with their husbands and children?

I know ample Partners at law firms in tears that their lives have been wasted in

Jogger dubbed 'hero' after fighing off sex predator attempting to rape girl

Nightclub doorman, Abdull Oun, pictured, has been called a hero after he came to the rescue of a woman who was about to be raped. Abdull was running in Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow, when he heard the victim's screams and ran to the scene before knocking the attacker with a kick.

The victim, who does not wish to be identified, was heading home after a night out with friends at Kushion nightclub, in Bath Street, just before 2am on June 15. She decided to walk to her west end home but as she went through the park the predator jumped on her.

“I tried to fight my way out but he was too

strong. I screamed but he put his hands on my mouth. I bit him and managed to scream again, yelling: ‘Help!’

Suddenly a chap wearing red shorts appeared from nowhere with a little black puppy. He flykicked the beast off me, which completely knocked him out,” she reportedly said.She

added: “He is a hero, a gentleman and my saviour. It’s like he woke me up from a very bad dream. I just wanted to send out a big thank you for his heroism and hope there are more people like him in this world.”

Abdull reportedly said: “I don’t feel like I am a hero. It’s a man’s job to protect the innocent. If I see a person in danger then I will intervene. I would not want to ignore it and then read the next day that a woman had been raped or murdered.”

Abdull said the attacker was a white Scottish male, in his mid 30s, around 5ft 11in and of medium build. He was wearing a blue hat and dark blue clothing.

Boxer Amir Khan denies assault

British Pakistani boxer Amir Khan has denied any allegations of arrest on twitter.

However, a spokesperson of Khan on Friday had confirmed that the former world champion was taken into custody by police in his hometown

Bolton after the alleged altercation with two 19year-old men - both reportedly known to the boxer - as they were returning from a mosque. The men were hurt but not seriously injured. A police spokesman also confirmed the arrest.

The

police confirmed on Tuesday, as we went to press, that the allegations of assault made against the former world champion boxer have been withdrawn. Khan's management said the matter would not be pursued further.

In particular, a fairly lax approach is generally taken to regulation during peak festival periods when it is possible that maximum harm can be done to visitors.

In order to address these issues, the HLA initiated it first pro bono project which was to produce a legal guide assisting communities in identifying legal issues that require attention.

Students from universities across the UK undertook the preliminary research focussing on legal areas of importance to communities which was then edited by a group of legal professionals to produce the HLA Guide for the Community.

The Guide was successfully launched in Midlands with people from various professional and personal backgrounds supporting the event.

Bob Blackman MP for Harrow East and Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for British Hindus said, “I am extremely pleased that the HLA has taken the initiative to compile such a guide to assist the Hindu community. This guide is very much needed and the HLA has filled a void that has strengthened the community. I very much look forward to seeing further practical guides such as this in the future. I am certain that this will be well received.”

A new study has revealed that due to the harsh visa restrictions placed by the UK government, highlyskilled workers from around the world are increasingly being put off from coming to Britain, resulting in a decrease of the talent pool available to UK businesses. The study, carried out by the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, reveals that British businesses have less access to the global talent pool because of the government's anti-immigration policies. The Observatory's analysis of the UK's Labour

Force Survey statistics revealed that the number of recent migrants from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), which includes countries like India, fell from 154,000 in 2011 to 94,000 in 2013, a decrease of 39 per cent. The report said: "There has been a negative trend in this number since 2011, when policies to reduce net migration to the UK presumably began to have the bulk of their effects.”

The UK business secretary reportedly told a national daily: "The net migration target...has clear-

ly had a damaging impact on UK plc by reducing the talent pool available to companies based here. The harder we make it for international companies to employ the very best executives, the harder it is to sell the UK as a place to do business and foster employment opportunities.”

Conservative ministers have brought in a range of tighter curbs on working migrants in a bid to meet the prime minister’s 2010 promise of driving down net migration to the “tens of thousands” by the next election.

made their way out to the war-torn country explicitly in order "to do jihad".

West Midlands Police said that while they were in the UK the pair had done some in depth research, bought equipment and contacted Islamist extremists, before

travelling the wellknown route through Turkey to get inside the battle lines.

Ahmed, who was born in Bangladesh, moved to Britain as a child, while Sarwar, who is of Pakistani descent, was born in Britain. On Tuesday 8 July, they each admitted one count of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorism acts contrary to section five of the Terrorism Act.

Highly skilled Migrants put off by Visa curbs

Two British men who fought in Syria admit terror offences on their return

Two British men from Birmingham, who spent eight months fighting in Syria, have admitted to preparing to carry out terrorist attacks.

The childhood friends were arrested at Heathrow Airport when they returned from Syria in January.

Woolwich Crown Court heard that Mohammed Nahin Ahmed and Yusuf Zubair Sarwar, both 22, had

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endless boring meetings. The money is addictive. The devil gets you in the end if you let him.

Success is not being a Partner at a law firm or seven figure salary or a Mercedes.

Success is living life how you want to on your terms.

After 100 rejections from Barrister’s chambers and then from investment banks – I set up my own firm. There is no success or failure – only your story and how you see it. Remember a majority at every election didn’t want the Prime Minister – so much for success.

Separate ego from success. Do you want it because you think it sounds good to shallow people, or do you want it because it is a real purpose. Do you want to serve? Or have a title? The latter will always be unfulfilling.

The ultimate success will be to a job of purpose – something which is fulfilling.

Money is called compensation for a reason. Your job has to be your passion and not the end of a conveyor belt. I left the Bar because like many people I realised success was difference, not being the same. I set up an asset management company in Mayfair for fun not greed – to know I could. There is the old story of the fisherman in Brazil who meets an American tourist. The tourist says, ‘these are the greatest fish, you should let me turn it into a business’.

‘Why’ asks the fisherman. ‘So you can franchise the boats, then we can build a restaurant, brand you, raise capital through the bank to build a chain, then go global and then IPO.’ Says the American.

‘Why?’ Asks the fisherman again.

‘So you can retire here in your village and fish all day’. There is a silence.

On 17 July the Hindu Lawyers Association (HLA) will launch its first ever legal guide dedicated to Hindu communities in London. The guide is aimed at providing communities with an insight to their rights and responsibilities so that they can spot potential legal issues and obtain advice. The event is to take place at Irwin Mitchell Solicitors and will be attended by representatives of the legal profession and the Hindu Community. The HLA recognised that there was an information gap as to when communities should obtain legal advice and/or utilise the law to improve practices within their community.

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Wrong school, wrong degree, wrong clique, wrong skin?

I write to you after participating on a panel on diversity hosted by the Lord Panel and with Baroness Scotland, the former Attorney General. It was organised by City Hindu Network Founder - Dhruv Patel.

Is there a glass ceiling for British Indians?

Wrong school, wrong degree, wrong clique, wrong skin?

Here is a sample of just some of the new cabinet and the University they went to.

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Vivek Oberoi talks Philanthropy Me and We

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Some people talk the talk and others walk the walk.

Vivek Oberoi, described as a Bollywood actor, social worker, adventure sports enthusiast, poet, pilot and dreamer, inspired over 120 guests to walk the walk as he does so gallantly at the Women Empowered event in Support of Sewa Day on Tuesday July 1st.

The event was to raise awareness for Sewa Day, an initiative to remind one that charitable giving is not always about donating money, it was, many a times about donating time - the concept of selfless service that generations of Indians (and many others under a variety of names) have known as 'sewa'" was being revived to a mass audience.

Best known as an award winning actor in films such as Company, Saathiya, Shoot Out at Lokandwala and Krish 3, Vivek’s philanthropic work is understated but overwhelming. He has been awarded the Red & White Bravery Award in 2006 for helping rebuild a village which was severely hit by the tsunami. He delivered 6 truck loads of relief to villages and adopted a Tsunami damaged village; he runs a school near project Devi offering education to underprivileged girls who have been abandoned by their families; he supports the Cancer Patients Aid Association and Banyan which rehabilitates homeless women with mental illnesses and many more. He has been recognised by FORBES Asia for his charity work.

He is one of only 4 Indians on the list and the only Bollywood star and also the youngest. He has donated over $3m, helped raise over $25m but has also given something just as valuable if not more and that is his time.

Reena Ranger, Chairwoman & Founder of Women Empowered (WE) welcomed the guests to the event explaining that WE is a wholly social initiative which aims to empower

women (and men) to make the best of their individual skills and talents aimed at Engaging, E n c o u r a g i n g , Empowering and Enabling women(and men) to do whatever that special thing is that makes a difference to their lives as they see it.

Reena Ranger, on behalf of WE presented the trustees of Sewa Day with a cheque for £5,000 to help them to continue their work. Another £2000 was raised on the night bringing the total to £7000 raised by the WE community.

Manoj Ladwa, Founder and CEO of the MLS Chase Group and Sewa Day trustee addressed the audience and said: “Sewa is that special thing that will never come back to us once given. Vivek Oberoi, by pledging to be an ambassador further enforced his mission to support the cause. Sewa Day does not choose social activities, it is your choice and could be as simple as speaking for a little time with someone who was lonely.

Arup Ganguly, Chairman of Sewa Day said: "We are honoured and delighted to announce that Vivek Oberoi is going to serve as an Ambassador to Sewa Day." Vivek Oberoi touched the audience with heartfelt stories of his mother who he described as the epitome of Sewa, as she

The Bhavan Centre in association with Milapfest will be putting on an exciting event showcasing upcoming and established Indian classical artistes from the UK and India. On the 19th July the Bhavan Centre in London will throw open its doors in a day of sublime music and dance. Some incredible musicians and dancers

have been hand picked for this annual event.

The centre works tirelessly to propagate and promote Indian culture through performing arts all year round. One of the centre’s main aims is to train budding musicians and dancers transforming them into professional artistes and performers.

Perhaps the prime example

Reena Ranger, Manoj Ladwa, Arup Ganguly, Vivek Oberoi and Gurinder Chadha

selflessly dedicated her efforts to caring for cancer patients and terminally ill patients daily. He reflected and endorsed the notion of women empowerment, attributing his own empowerment to his mother.

Speaking of his own experiences and what awakened him to selflessly engage in sewa, he said: “I was going through a difficult point in my life, then one day my mum said I should come with her to the memorial hospital and I saw children dealing with cancer and my problems seemed ridiculous and so small in comparison.

That kick-started my journey and I realised there was so much to do

in life.”

An integral part of the event involved a question-and-answer session hosted by the celebrated film-maker Gurinder Chadha OBE. Sponsor of the event Harmeet Ahuja, CEO of Sun Mark Ltd said “At the core of our philanthropic values is the belief that we should do all that we can to help those who are less privileged in order to change lives and lift communities out of poverty. This is something we are constantly striving to achieve, and so as a result of this we are honoured to have partnered with the organisers of today’s event.”

Bollywood superstar Vivek Oberoi on his brief visit to London last week, met up with Justice Minister Shailesh Vara MP and also saw Prime Minister's Questions. Following their meeting, Mr Vara said: "It was a great pleasure to meet Vivek and to take him to Prime Minister's Questions. He thoroughly enjoyed the experience and it was clear from our conversation that he is very knowledgeable about the British political system."

Bhavan to host cultural festival

of its success is Vina player like Hari Sivanesan. pictured, He is a brilliant musician of the younger generation, who was taught under one of the top Karnatic music teachers in the UK, Sivasakti Sivanesan. He’ll be accompanied by Sugan, a Mridangam player also trained at the renowned centre by M.Balachandar.

Pandit Ravi Shankar invited Hari to tour with him for his Festival of India tour throughout the States in 2004 and 2005. In 2011, he performed a solo concert at the Royal Albert

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

Roko Cancer's Ambassadors Reach New Heights

Roko Cancer's Legal Ambassador Gurpal Oppal, together with the charity's Global Ambassador Kulwant Dhaliwal, reached new heights on Saturday 28 June by taking part in the UK's Mount Snowden Hike. Kulwant and Gurpal raised £500 for the benefitting charity Khalsa Aid, a humanitarian group.

Mount Snowdon, in a picturesque part of North Wales, reaching a staggering 7.8 miles (or 1,085m) and is one of Britain's most popular peaks.

Gurpal Oppal participated along with over 300 hikers, arranged by Jaspal Singh & Amit Singh Hayer of Khalsa Aid. The team successfully navigated their way to the top...a bit like Roko Cancer which, unlike Mount Snowdon, will continue to scale new heights. Gurpal & Kulwant will next be taking part in the British 10k London run on the 13th July 2014. Visit our website www.rokocancer.org to find out how you can support this top team.

Village Development Council had its AGM recently at St. Lawrence Church Hall in Edgware.

An initial 2 minute silence was observed to pay homage to its recently deceased members. Chair Jyotsna Kalbande rendered welcome and presented reports outlining various projects and fund raising activities of VDC. A review of ongoing projects through audio visuals was presented. Shashwat project supports Tribals in Pune District by repairing and introducing boats with galvanised iron sheets. Fishermen were also provided with 150 kg of fishing nets. Shrivali Trust activities create improved livelihood opportunities for 300 poor families.

Laxmi Eye Institute conducts eye camps in remote areas of Raigad district through a fully equipped mobile unit. This project was overseen by Mr and Mrs

Warty. The institute helps in detecting and treating cataract, Glaucoma, refractive errors, diabetic retinopathy and corneal blindness. Till date more than 1900 patients have been checked and treated.

Village Development Council London was formed in 1979 under the patronage of the High Commissioner of India for the UK Nanasaheb Gore.

In the last 35 years VDC has funded a range of projects in the areas of Healthcare and Medical Assistance, Education and Development, Community Development, Water Supply, Disaster Relief and Agriculture. Funds are raised through sponsored walks, dinner dances, barbeque parties and through general appeal. A Charity walk will be organised on 27 July in Cassiobury Park in Watford.

Vote of Thanks was given by Charu Patki.

Hall as part of the BBC Proms. Also performing on the night will be Pandit Ranajit Sengupta – he his renowned for his energy and incredible skill on the Sarod. He is one of the leading musicians of his time. He’ll be accompa-

nied on Tabla by maestro Kousic Sen. Taking to the Bhavan stage will be two enigmatic Kuchipudi dancers Sarvani Yadavalli and Prateeksha Kashi, who will be sure to bring some elegance to the day’s events.

Charity holds its AGM

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

Television star supports campaign and raises awareness of Dementia within South Asian communities

Tough Film on Girl Trafficking opens London Indian Film Festival

Rani Singh

Dr. Ranj Singh

It’s important for people to realise that people with dementia can lead independent, high-quality lifestyles, if they have the right help. Become a Dementia Friend with me so we can grow together into a supportive society.’

Established by Public Health England and Alzheimer’s Society, the campaign tackles one of the biggest health issues facing society. Of the 665,000 people in England and Wales living with dementia, it is estimated that approximately 25,000 are from ethnic minority communities.

This figure is expected to rise significantly as the ethnic minority population ages. By 2026 it is likely to have doubled to nearly 50,000 and by 2051 to over 172,000 – representing a seven-fold increase in 40 years.

The European premiere of the gritty drama, “Sold,” is also the opening night of the fifth annual London Indian Film Festival which runs from 10-17 July.

The Executive producer is Emma Thompson, who is also president of the Helen Bamber Foundation that works with survivors of human trafficking in London.

The film is based on real life events and is an adaptation of Patricia McCormack’s novel of the same name. The story tells of a 13year old Nepali girl’s struggle for survival after being sold into prostitution in Kolkata. Niyar Saikia plays the central character, Lakshmi.

Gillian Anderson and David Arquette also feature in the film.

Indian Journalists’ Association members were given a special screening at the luxurious Mayfair Hotel, followed by a Q&A. At the preview was the London Indian Film Festival’s gifted Director, Cary Rajinder Sawhney.

Cary is also the long standing South Asian programmer for the London Film Festival. He told me exclusively that he chose “Sold” to open the festival “because the opening night film should be innovative, have a great story, be crowd pleasing, but should attract critics and create a debate. So Sold was an obvious choice with great talent, powerful issues, well made, a nice cultural mix. At the London Indian Film Festival we don’t shy away from kick-xxxx issues as well.

Child trafficking is a global horror that happens all over the world, including London and Britain. I’ve seen about five different versions of the Patricia McCormack novel in festivals and this is definitely the best of the versions based on the novel. This is the most inspirational. It shows that people can help themselves. It’s nice to show a story where women are not the victims. It’s a film about women, but where women are active protagonists in their own fate.” He told me

Photo courtesy Jan Waldman Brown

Popular television personality and resident house doctor on This Morning, Dr. Ranj Singh has joined the Dementia Friends Campaign to help raise awareness of dementia amongst South Asian communities.

The Dementia Friends campaign aims to give people an understanding of what it’s like to live with dementia, dispel common myths and the stigma associated with the disease, which exist within South Asian communities, and encourage peoto become ple Dementia Friends, to help those living with the disease.

Joining the campaign to show his support for Dementia Friends, Dr. Ranj says: ‘It takes patience, kindness and a little bit of knowledge to help people living with dementia. In South Asian communities in particular, dementia may be ignored, dismissed as ‘madness’ or a shameful illness and, quite often, the community lacks sensitivity and tolerance. It’s time to dispel these myths and actually understand what it means to have dementia.

Becoming a Dementia Friend is an excellent way to do this. It gives you all the information you need on supporting someone with dementia. For people with dementia, having positive and supportive people surrounding you can make such a big difference. A little bit of support can go a long way.

UK

Neerja Naik

that the films in this year’s season come from all over the subcontinent and that much of the LIFF festival’s backing comes from the Sunmark Pure Heaven, BAFTA, BFI, Cineworld, Grange Hotels and Asian Single Solution. The LIFF’s programmer, Naman Ramachandran, was also present. I am reliably informed that he has an eidetic memory; a talent in our field!

Sold’s producers and director worked closely with Indian and Nepali organisations dealing with child trafficking and was collaboration with the US too. Dr Tshering Lama, country director for Childreach Nepal, told me that trafficking is so rife in his country that in some places there are no girl children over the age of 10.

Tshering met film director Jeffrey Brown and producer Jane Charles around four years ago and told us that 20,000 girls from Nepal have been sold. He did research in two high risk districts and found that parents are always tricked by traffickers.

He also told us that due to the lack of sanitation and toilets in schools, there is a huge dropout rate of girls once they hit puberty.

He said, “Many children walk two to three hours to get to school.

Education and keeping girls in schools makes it difficult for traffickers to get to them. Most teachers are not trained.” Tshering told us about a self help group of sur-

15

vivors who have gone back to Nepal. So Tshering and the film team are promoting a “Taught not trafficked” campaign to teach parents and kids not to have kids go to the cities for work, no matter how tempting the offer may be.

British Indian actress Neerja Naik played another trafficked character called Anita, who befriends Lakshmi in the brothel.

Neerja told me that shooting in Kolkata was hard but “Amazing.”.

She met Oscar - winning director Jeffrey D. Browne in New York and that opened her eyes to the novel; she soon signed after that.

Neerja said to me, “The strength of Sold, I feel is that there is hope at the heart of it.

It is a call to action. Being involved with Sold has opened my eyes to the number of children being trafficked in the world, to work in the sex industry. As someone who has had the privilege of an education I fully support Childreach I n t e r n a t i o n a l ’ s #TaughtNotTrafficked campaign to make it easier for children in Nepal to stay in school, making them less vulnerable to being trafficked.”

To get into role, meeting survivors during rehearsals helped; “They came on set. We sat together. What struck me was the strength of their human spirit.

Going from the hotel to the brothel set, a real house, every day, was amazing.”

The acclaimed British film and theatre director Peter Brook once wrote that a test of a good piece of art was to leave the audience thinking and “Sold” has disrupted my life. I was shaken by what I saw on screen and experienced events that I did not know about. Knowing that this tragic phenomenon grows and is happening not only in my home town but across the world has caused me to consider investigating further. While I sleep soundly in my bed at night, thousands of tortured youngsters are suffering.

I salute the LIFF team and all those behind this brave film. Most of all, I salute the survivors of the terrible industry it talks about.

Hundreds gather for first Rath Yatra Procession in Harrow

Hundreds of worshippers, from Dharma Bhakti Manor in Stanmore, gathered for a procession through the streets, to celebrate the chariot-pulling procession of Rath Yatra.

Celebrations commenced at 12:30pm with a special prayer to mark the commencement of the procession from Queensbury Park. Three colourful thrones on cartwheels pulled by hand – one each for men, women and children – containing statues of the Lord Shri Jagannathji, Shri Balbhadraji and Subhadra Devi deities were the main attraction of the Rath Yatra celebrations.

Devotees listened to an aarti as hundreds of people pulled the chariots to the temple. Two broom

carriers walked in front of each chariot sweeping the floors and devotees followed while praying, dancing and singing.

Priya Varsani, a youth at the temple, reportedly said: “Singing and dancing to the Maha Mantra

accompanied by musical instruments was really enjoyable. My service towards the Lord was to sing the Maha Mantra throughout, which created a peaceful and joyous atmosphere on the procession route. It was also

really good to see the young children get involved and pull the chariot throughout.”

The Mayor of Harrow, Councillor Ajay Maru, was one of the political guests of honour at what was the borough's first

ever Rath Yatra event.

Uma Kumaran, the Labour parliamentary candidate for Harrow East, reportedly, said: “What was especially meaningful was seeing residents of all races and religions stop to take

photos, join in and cheer the procession along. It was a treat to tell people that this festival is the reason behind the English word 'juggernaut' – meaning unstoppable force, which is what Lord Jagannath represents.”

UK

Morari Bapu’s Ram Katha in Rome comes to an end

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Morari Bapu’s 9 day recital in Rome has been hailed as a ‘great success in building HinduChristian relations’ by those that attended the event.

The Ram Katha, which took place a stone’s throw away from the Vatican, finished on Sunday 6th July amidst euphoric scenes from the devotees present.

Lord Popat, one of the organisers of the recital, said “this marks a really historic moment in Hindu-Christian relations.

To hold an event of this nature with very senior members attending is more than we could have dreamed of two years ago, when we started planning this”.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

Lord Popat and other dignitaries doing arti of Ramayan on Bapu’s Vyas Pith

and Cardinal Tauran -the President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue- addressed the Katha on behalf of the Catholic Church. He also attended the recital and addressing the audience of nearly 1,000, where the Cardinal said, “I must humbly acknowledge that this is the first time ever that I am present in a spiritual discourse organised by followers of other religious traditions.”

He spoke of the importance of cultivating a “mutual underMorari Bapu being assisted by Rupin Popat to present a silver bowl standing of each with dry fruits and shawl to Cardinal Tauran other’s spiritual heritages, appreciation of faiths; it has been a great “We’ve had over 1,000 what we have in common success.” people from around the and respect in matters on During the week Bapu world attend; we’ve had which we disagree.” held meetings with Senior several Ambassadors and Bapu paid tribute to Members of the Vatican, dignitaries join us, all in the spirit of truth, love and compassion. Everyone has been very complimentary and said they’ve learnt so much about the similarities between the two

Guests enjoying Bapu’s katha

the life of Jesus Christ during his Katha touching on his principles which mirror those of the Hindu faith.

It is the first time that a Hindu recital of this

nature has taken place in Italy. Morari Bapu has held over seven hundred of these events in India and around the world, including Jerusalem, Bhutan and the moun-

tains of Tibet.

He is now scheduled to travel to Central America for a Ram Katha in Panama which runs from the 19th to the 27th July.

Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Communities wait longer for kidney transplants

The latest Organ Donation and Transplantation Activity Report published by NHS Blood and Transplant during National Transplant Week (713 July), reveals that three out of ten patients on the UK’s active kidney transplant waiting list at the end of March 2014 were from Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities. However, only 25% of patients who received a kidney transplant during 2013/14 were from these communities. On average, they will wait a year longer for a transplant than a White patient.

Kidneys are allocated according to many factors, with blood and tissue type amongst the most important and matching is likely to be closer when the ethnicity of the donor and recipient are closer. As only a small percentage (6%) of deceased donors are from BAME communities, this can delay a suitably matched kidney being found for BAME patients.

Last year was another record year for organ donation and transplantation in the UK. More than 4,600

transplants were carried out with 3,509 patients benefitting from organs donated after death.

There were 1,320 deceased donors in the UK. Only 74 of them were from BAME communities. Of those: • 39 were Asian • 17 were Black • 18 were from other ethnic backgrounds Figures from NHS Blood and Transplant reveal that families are more likely to agree to organ donation going ahead if they were aware of their loved ones decision to be a donor. This year’s National Transplant Week seeks to address this and is asking people to “spell out” their donation decision. The aim of the campaign is to help to increase awareness that families will be asked about organ donation if their loved one is in the position to donate their organs and to encourage more people to join the NHS Organ Donor Register. Also pledging his support to the campaign is actor Wil Johnson.

In the past year there has been a slight increase in con-

sent among BAME families.

Just over a third (35.9 per cent) approached about organ donation said yes in 2013/14 compared to 33 per cent a year ago. Although this is encouraging progress, this figure still lags behind the consent rate seen in white families which currently stands at 63.3 per cent.

Kirit Modi, Chairman of the National Kidney Federation (NKF) said: “I welcome the increase in the number of kidney transplants and the small increase in the number of deceased donors from an Asian background.

However, we have a long way to go to reach our aspiration of becoming world class and the NKF will continue to both support and challenge NHS Blood and Transplant, the four UK governments and hospitals until we have no one who dies while waiting for a kidney transplant."

To join the NHS Organ Donor Register visit www.transplantweek.co.uk or call 0300 123 2323 or text SAVE to 62323. It’s also important to talk to those closest to you about your organ donation decision.

Success story of Sheeba Young

Sheeba Young had a genetic condition called Hyperoxaluria, which was passed on from a faulty gene from both parents. The genetic condition caused Sheeba’s kidneys to fail and she needed to have a combined liver and kidney transplant. Sheeba was 100 per cent dependant on a machine to keep her alive. Three times a week Sheeba had to undergo dialysis, in addition to this Sheeba needed to have several operations due to huge stones in her kidney but it was her transplant that enabled her to have a second chance at life.

In October 2002, eight months after being placed on the transplant waiting list Sheeba received the call that would change her life.

Sheeba said: “I clearly remember that day, I was out at Canary Wharf station waiting for a friend to pick me up as I was really weak.

I nearly passed out with joy and called the hospital to confirm that the phone call was from them.”

Since her transplant, Sheeba has been able to have a normal life and is very active. In April this year, she completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge and she has also taken part in the British Transplant Games winning gold

medals in three events – the discus, the 5k cycling time trial and the 10k cycling race.

B u t S h e e b a believes she is one of the lucky one’s.

Her sister, who lived in Sheeba Young India was not able to benefit from a transplant and died in November 2008.

“Betty lost her life following a long battle with her illness. She was not able to get the transplant she so desperately needed. Today more than 10,000 people in the UK are in need of an organ transplant to save or dramatically improve their life and we need more people to make the decision to donate their organs after death.

If it is something that you believe in, then please join the NHS Organ Donor Register and let your family know what your decision is.”

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

Gandhi statue to be erected outside Parliament

Continued from page 1 it's time for Gandhi to take his place in front of the mother of Parliaments. He is a figure of inspiration, not just in Britain and India, but around the world. New Indian Prime Minister Modi invoked his memory in his inaugural speech to Parliament. I hope this new memorial will be a lasting and fitting tribute to his memory in Britain, and a permanent monument to our friendship with India."

Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport said: "As Chair of this special advisory group this is a poignant moment for me. My parents were born in British India with first-hand experience of partition. The effect it had on millions of people contributed to my

decision to take up public service.

"Celebrating Mahatma Gandhi’s reverence and greatness, a man who fought equally for everyone, in the form of a stat-

ue in Parliament Square is a fitting tribute. No matter what your background, history, or religion this statue will allow people from around the world to look upon him and appreciate his endeavour and successes for humanity."

The Gandhi statue will be the 11th statue to be erected in Parliament square and the second in London. A Gandhi statue is also there in Leicester and was unveiled by the Home Secretary Alan Johnson in June 2009.

What Peers and MPs have to say:

The statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament Square is a fitting tribute to a great leader who led India to independence through non-violent means.

There is a lesson here for other democracies in the world. War or conflict do not solve problems. It destabilises nations. The way forward towards justice, liberty and peace is best achieved through non-violent means.

Parliament Square with Gandhi’s statue will continue to remind generations to come that we all have a responsibility to sustain our democracy through peaceful means.

- Lord Navnit Dholakia Deputy Leader of the Lib Dem party, House of Lords I am delighted to learn that a Gandhi statue will be erected in London’s Parliament Square. It will be befitting that a great man like Mahatma Gandhi is getting the appropriate recognition he deserves in our country.

I am personally an ardent admirer of what he has done for the world and particularly for India.

- Lord Noon of St John’s Wood Kt, MBE Mahatma Gandhi is a hero not just to the South Asian community but to anyone across the globe who has ever stood up for peace, freedom and democracy. He is a towering, inspirational figure in British and world history and fully deserves his place next to Mandela, Lincoln and Churchill in Parliament Square.

- Seema Malhotra MP for Feltham and Heston

Mahatma Gandhi was a towering figure in the 20th century whose message of peace and non-violence has been echoed throughout the globe by world leaders. It is a fitting tribute that he should be honoured by having a statue in Parliament Square. Mahatma Gandhi was called to the Bar in London and Parliament Square would have been a familiar sight to him. I suspect the thought that there would one day be a statue of him in the Square never crossed his mind.

- Shailesh Vara Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice “As one of history’s most celebrated world leaders, it is so fitting that Gandhi’s legacy will live on in London’s Parliament Square. His philosophy has inspired so much positive and peaceful change around the world, and Britain’s Indian community can be proud that his life and achievements will be recognised with this honour - Priti Patel MP for Witham UK India Diaspora Champion If anybody deserves to be placed in Parliament Square then Gandhiji does. He was the role model for both Martin Luther King and Mandela and he should really be in Parliament Square as someone who influenced so many leaders who took on his teachings and followed them through.

- Baroness Shreela Flather

Modi flags off special train to Vaishno Devi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week inaugurated the 25 km train service between Udhampur and Katra, enabling pilgrims to now take a direct train from Delhi to the base camp of Vaishno Devi shrine in Trikuta hills.

“Today's historic,” said Modi. “By the blessings of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, we succeeded in achieving our aim of connecting the world-famous shrine with the rest of the country. I've come here to Vaishno Devi.

I remember I began the

election campaign from here, and today we begin our development journey from here,” he added Modi said, it was the “most auspicious occasion” to launch the train, as “on the one hand, the Amarnath Yatra is on, and on the other the holy month of Ramzan is in progress”. He suggested the new train be named ‘Shreeshakti Express’ and described the new line as part of the ambitious Kashmir rail-link project that will connect the Valley with the rest of the country.

“We’ve to further increase rail links in Kashmir,” Modi said. The state has gone through several problems and “we want it to be prosperous and peaceful”, he said, adding it was the desire of every Indian to ensure that the state progressed and its youth got employment. “It’s our duty and we will do it whether we are in power in the state or not,” he said. “I want to give a message to the people here that the journey started by Atal Behari Vajpayee will be taken to its logical conclusion.”

UK - INDIA

17

Foreign Secretary and Chancellor conclude successful visit to India

Britain to upgrade Ahmedabad trade office to new Deputy High Commission The Foreign Secretary William Hague and Chancellor George Osborne concluded their visit to India with a meeting with newly elected Prime Minister Modi to discuss the new government’s reform plan and how the UK and India can work together to the benefit of both countries. The duo was also accompanied

by UK India Diaspora Champion Priti Patel MP. They are the first senior British politicians to meet Modi since his landslide victory in May. They followed in the footsteps of senior French and Russian ministers as foreign politicians scrabble to win contracts in the infrastructure boom promised

by Modi. This visit was aimed at opening up investment opportunities for UK firms in India’s defence and infrastructure sector, as well as attracting Indian investment to the UK. The duo met Raghuram Rajan, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Finance Minister Arun Jaitely.

intended to promote.

The Foreign Secretary announced more generous UK support for India’s most talented students through a quadrupling of the UK’s funding for Indian Chevening scholars over the next two years, and the granting of 500 GREAT Awards to support Indian students studying in the UK. Chancellor Osborne added that India was, “on an exciting journey of reform” under the new Prime Minister, and called for the country to see the UK as a “reliable companion on that journey”.

“Let us link hands and embrace the future together," he said.

On arriving in Delhi on Tuesday, the Foreign Secretary and Chancellor

They started their visit in Mumbai on Monday, 7th. There, the Chancellor announced three major commercial deals between UK and India, helping to cement the close economic relationship between the two counties. These are: • £20 million of investment from automotive giant Mahindra in electric car research and development facilities in the UK; • Up to £100 million of investment from Indian pharmaceutical company Cipla in the UK for a range of drugs, clinical trials and research and development; and • A £250 million contract with MBDA UK for the supply of Advanced Short Range Air to Air Missiles for the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Jaguar fleet.

These investments demonstrate the attractiveness of the UK as a centre for cutting edge research and development.

They are also examples of the modern economic relationship between Britain and India the trip is

announced plans for a statue of Mahatma Gandhi to be erected in Parliament Square.

In a more than twohour long meeting between Swaraj and Hague wide range of issues were discussed ranging from civil nuclear cooperation, bilateral trade and extradition.

They also discussed building on the already warm relationship between the UK and India. Following the meeting it was confirmed that the UK’s trade office in Ahmedabad would become a new Deputy High Commission, giving British businesses new and improved links to trade and investment opportunities in the state of Gujarat and providing enhanced consular services to the large British Gujarati community.

Apart from economic ties, civil nuclear cooperation, extradition, counterterrorism and cyber issues security situation in Iraq and Afghanistan were figured during the delibera-

tions.

Swaraj demanded extradition of British citizen Raymond Varley, accused of being a part of an international paedophile ring and abusing children in Goa in the 80s and 90s. Responding her, Hague gave assurance that his government will look into it.

The two sides also talked about enhancing bilateral trade with India inviting British companies to invest in its BangaloreMumbai Economic Corridor infrastructure project. “By November, India is expected to give a ‘perspective plan’ to the UK presenting various ‘nodes’ where they can invest,” said officials.

“Discussions were on economic ties because these are very robust countries and there is a great expectation from the UK that these will be moving to the next level,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said. The two-way trade between the UK and India stands at USD 15 billion with the UK being the third largest investor in India.

Both the sides agreed to soon launch negotiations for civil nuclear cooperation pact, nearly one-and-a-half years after UK Prime Minister David Cameron and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh decided to have such a pact.

Osborne also announced that Indian pharmaceutical company Cipla will be investing £100 million in its UK subsidiary to manufacture and supply a range of medicines in the area of respiratory diseases, cancer and HIV/AIDS. At his meeting with Finance minister Arun Jaitley, the Chancellor discussed strengthening the economic partnership between the two countries in infrastructure investment and financial services.

Ahead of the visit, the Chancellor met acclaimed Indian film actor Amitabh Bachchan in London on Friday. Over the last decade the Indian film industry has shot over 50 films in the UK.

18

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

Dear Financial Voice Reader, I write this week’s column while planning my summer break to Singapore and Thailand. I always wanted to be one of those foreign correspondents who sits down at a remote bar, surrounded by tropical palm trees under a wooden fan, served a Singapore Sling (non-alcoholic) with his white cotton top drenched through with sweat as the humidity soaks the skin and clothes. And so it has happened last year when I was in Laos and this year too will happen.

There is a book called ‘The Man Who Sold His Ferrari and Became a Monk’. Last year I crossed the mighty Mekong river, to a secluded monastery where I was taught by Buddhist monks how to meditate. What does this all have to do with finance? Everything.

When I wrote my first book, The Mind of a Trader, about the psychology of success in making money through trading and business, as with all my books it began with a dedication and quote from the Hindu Scriptures. The reason was in the recommended reading I said the most appropriate book for success in trading is the Bhagavad Gita.

Since I wrote that in 1997, courses and books have sprung up around the US on the management teachings and lessons from the Gita for finance and business.

Summer is a good time to recharge your investment abilities. The key is mental control. That is what meditation is about. The ability to focus, without swerving.

The serenity and power that comes from that was shown in the faces of each of the monks. I have never seen that except in the face of billionaires. The knowledge that all is in control. All is as it should be and nothing can cause them to lose balance, not their bodies, not the environment, not the markets (in the case of the business persons!).

Success in trading and investing is about being able to focus on what should be done, has to be done, and that is pre-determined, with certainty – almost knowing it has already been written and done (in your plan before you entered the trade), a little like for monks who know all is written in the plan of Karma – ours is but to act it out. And so it says in the Gita.

I am not stretching a point on this hot humid night in order to meet a word count. This is truly how it is.

The irony is, get it right and be like a monk in your trading and focus on when to act and not act, which is so much what the Gita itself is about, and you will have the Ferraris to give away.

As I cycled along the Mekong river this evening I was reminded of one of the greatest British traders – a man called ‘Sugar’ – he was Japanese and a FX trader at Salmon Brothers in London and was known for cycling around the trading floor on a bicycle. The monks taught me mediation does not mean being still and cross legged, but also in motion. It is deliberate focus. So I look forward to getting my Ferrari back! The planning begins in Koh Samui.

ArcelorMittal eyeing Italian steelmaker Lucchini

ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steelmaker, is considering making an offer for Italy's second largest steel producer Lucchini, said Gianni Venturi, ¿ЬєઅЦ´ ╙¾» ¶³Ц¾¾Ц ╙¾¥ЦºЪ ºΝЦЦ ¦ђ?

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national co-ordinator for Italian union FIOM CGIL. Lucchini was declared insolvent in 2012 and later placed under "special administration" - a procedure designed to save large companies and avoid heavy job losses. It fell victim to the 2008 recession that has cut Europe's steel demand. "There hasn’t been a formal expression of interest yet but in the last few days ArcelorMittal has been carrying out a sort of due diligence of the Piombino," said Gianni Venturi.

Both ArcelorMittal and Lucchini declined to comment. Also in the running for Lucchini are India's Jindal Steel and Power and JSW Steel, though they are not interested in the company's blast furnace in Piombino, which employs around 4,000 people directly and indirectly.

India should avoid fiscal slippage: World Bank

India’s new government should avoid fiscal slippage as it seeks to revive the economy, the World Bank's India director Onno Ruhl said. He made the comments after finance minister Arun Jaitley warned of tough measures in his first budget on July 10, saying "mindless populism" needs to be checked as India aims to boost growth.

"It's really important to underline that it (inflation) is a long-term threat to the economy," Onno Ruhl said. "I wouldn't advise higher deficits ... it is very possible to stimulate growth without letting go of the deficit."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces the challeng-

ing task of reviving the economy at a time when wholesale price inflation is at a five-month high and retail inflation remains above 8 per cent.

The previous government's interim budget in February set a deficit target of 4.1 per cent of GDP for the current financial year. The gap has already

hit $ 40 billion, or nearly half of the target for the full fiscal year that started in April.

Like Ruhl, private economists expect Jaitley's maiden budget to shift the policy focus from consumption to investment and seek to broaden the government's narrow tax base.

Ruhl said implementing a proposed goods and services tax (GST) could be a game changer that would simplify India's complex array of taxes and levies and boost its growth trajectory.

"It's a big-ticket item, it will unify India as a market. It will also underpin revenues," he said, adding that a GST could even help India offset the impacts of rising oil import costs or weak monsoon rains.

The World Bank said in a 2014 report that India has one of the world's most rigid labour markets, where regulations often end up encouraging firms to stay small and dodge labour laws.

Supermarkets are facing mounting pressure as people increasingly favour discount rivals and small local stores over traditional superstores. Across the developed world, the primary form of food retail for the past 50 years is under attack from smaller rivals on high streets, discount food retailers and from the relentless march of online shopping.

Sales from Walmart’s core US stores have also been declining for more than a year, while France’s Carrefour and Germany’s

Metro are in the midst of turnaround plans.

According to Andrew Seth, author of The Grocers and Supermarket Wars, a reported “gradual revolution” is taking place.

However, Planet Retail has said that supermarkets over 25,000 sq ft are still the biggest sales channel, accounting for about $1.8tn of sales globally in 2013. Yet the retail consultancy forecasts that between 2013 and 2018, all other channels will grow faster.

Many experts believe

the current transformation of the food retail industry is the biggest change since the arrival of the supermarket 50 years ago.

This can be due to the fact that smaller shops understand the needs of the locality and community better than the larger stores, and hence why they have survived through the economy's ups and downs.

More older people and couples without children have less of a need to fill up their freezers, whilst the general consumer is shopping more locally and more fre-

quently, for both convenience, and to help manage their stretched household budgets. In order to save money wherever they can, consumers are turning to the German discounters or warehouses such as the US’s Costco. Pound shops are increasingly adding fresh food to their ranges as well.

There are some hopes that with economic recovery, the pressure on supermarket operators will ease.

But judging by local shoppers, this looks highly unlikely.

Android and analysts find too hard to make estimates, the operating system is really crucial to the existence of the company.

The search engines and the ads on the map services get lots of users on a daily basis through the Android devices, which add to the revenue of the company.

These services are also offered on other operating systems, but Google is required to pay revenue. As for Android users, Google gets these revenues for itself.

Pichai’s colleagues see him as a diplomat and a highly skilled person.

Caesar Sengupta is the vice president, and has worked with Pichai for 8 long years. He say, “I would challenge you to find anyone at Google who doesn’t like Sundar or who thinks Sundar is a jerk.” Soft-spoken and self-deprecating, Pichai can see the future

and make plans that come out as a breakthrough.

Born in Chennai to an electrical engineer father and a stenographer mother, Pichai got his exposure to technology from what his father used to tell him about the daily work and challenges in office. From a very humble background, Pichai was a good student and managed to crack the IIT examinations and land up in IIT Kharagpur. He won the additional scholarship to Stanford University, and went on to make it big. After a Ph.D., he did a few other jobs before landing up in Google. The rest is history.

Managing Android is the toughest job at Google, and Pichai has been doing it perfectly to the best of his abilities. According to him, proper care should be taken to sustain the place Android has in the current market.

Supermarkets are being forced to refocus as small local stores take over

Indian American Sundar Pichai is the most powerful man in mobile

Sundar Pichai, the chief of Google’s Android division, has been tipped as the most powerful man in mobile. He is tactful, tactical, and has made a mark in the mobile world with his brilliant and off the track ideas.

Pichai was a product manager at Google, 10 years back. His work was related to the search bar, which can be found in the upper corner of all the different Web browsers. It was Pichai who brought up the idea to wage a war against the web browsers with the launch of Chrome.

He was able to persuade his bosses to do it, and that has helped Google get a place in the browser market, and that too the most popular one. It has also the foundation for the Chrome operating system which runs on Chromebooks, which are cheap laptops. In 2011, Pichai was put in

Sundar Pichai

charge of Google Docs and Gmail. It was 2013 that Larry Page, the CEO, gave him the charge of Android.

With this, Pichai found a place in the list of the most powerful technology executives in the whole world.

According to Page, Pichai “has deep technical expertise, a great product eye, and tremendous entrepreneurial flair. This is a rare combination, which is what makes him a great leader.”

Even though Google never reveals anything about the profitability of

REAL ESTATE VOICE

Plugging the hole

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

Suresh Vagjiani

Sow & Reap A Property Investment Company

19

We’re currently having some difficulty in getting a seemingly straight forward remortgage over the line. At first glance things seem easy, there’s a current valuation at £4.765m and we’re only asking for £2.7m, only 56% of the valuation. It’s a good security with £260k coming in rent, with £180k guaranteed for the next ten years rising with RPI and the rest on short term AST’s.

Hence it seems straight forward, except this is a high street bank doing the remortgage and they have become slow and pedantic, asking the most finicky questions. This has dragged the remortgage past the date we anticipated, forcing us to extend our loan with the current bridging company for another few months; adding unnecessary expense to the project.

There have been some issues with the building; the first is an illegal flat which our investigations show has been in existence for over four years, we are currently gathering evidence on this so we are able to legalise the flat. The other issue is we are insisting on non-recourse borrowing this means no one gives any personal guarantees on the loan. This is the basis we got the bridge on, and this is the basis we will be looking to get the bank loan on.

Ou r investors are passive in ve sto rs an d therefore righ tly so they shou ld not be put t in g their o ther asset s on the lin e for somethin g they have no cont rol over, not eve ry le nde r und erstand s this and in fact most d o not. Th is cau se s a big re st riction in which lend ers we can approach .

Most borrowers do not actually realise that whenever they sign a mortgage agreement they are giving a personal guarantee on the property. This means if the lender does not recoup the money they have lent to you they will come after your personal assets. There is a myth which we have seen time and time again that some borrowers want only to remortgage their Buy to Let properties and not their main homes, they think this way their main homes are protected. This is an illusion, when you sign any mortgage deed all your assets are at risk, unless it’s one where no personal guarantee is taken, known also as a non recourse loan.

Therefore if you’re going to refinance to raise money it pays to take it from the cheapest source which is normally your personal home rather than your BTL properties.

This deal was done in July of last year for £2.675m and £1.4m was put up in cash for this deal. The uplift has been over £2m in one year, and we haven’t quite finished with the property yet. We still feel there’s another £1m to be gained from planning from this deal. We were only charged £26,750 in stamp duty for this property because our lawyer knew what he was doing. I have come across many lawyers who would have wrongly charged £187,250 which equates to 7% on this transaction and it is very doubtful the HMRC would have come back to refund the excess stamp duty if it was overpaid.

le nde r co me up with any more obstacles and one can ne ve r be too care ful when d ealin g with lend ers, it’s pru dent to always have a co uple of exit s in place in case on e of them f alls o ut of bed.

The dictionary definition of a bridge is a structure carrying a road, path, railway, etc. across a river, road, or other obstacle.

Another definition is something intended to reconcile or connect two seemingly incompatible things.

One means to take you from one place to another across an obstacle, the other means to mediate between to seemingly incompatible situations. Both describe the use of bridging loans very well, the word bridge is well placed to describe what these loans do.

The property when purchased would never have qualified for a conventional loan, it had too many holes in it, both literally and paperwork wise. A bridge gave us valuable time which helped us overcome these issues. A bridging loan is never designed for the borrower to stay on it, it is always a means to an end. The loan company want to see you have a viable exit strategy in place before you take a loan out with them.

Coincid entally an othe r bridging compan y who came to se e me for more business just last week said they we re hu ngry fo r business, so nat urally I put this deal on the table an d asked them t o perf orm. An d in all fairness pe rfo rm the y d id, I met them o n Thursd ay and t he compl etion is set for the follo wing week Tu esday, just t hree working days l ate r. The rate is sl ig htly bett er an d we can stay with them po tentially for an other 12 months wit hout any pen alt y or default in terest rate should our high stree t

B r i d g i n g c o m p an i e s t e n d t o b e a l o t m o re f l e x i b l e w i t h t h e i r u n d e r wr i t i n g c r i t e ri a, o f t e n p r e p ar e d t o l o o k pa s t so m e o n e ’ s c r e d i t h i s t o ry a n d si m pl y f o c u s o n t h e a s se t i t s e l f . T h i s i s t h e wa y t h e b r i d g i n g m ar k e t h a s g ro wn b y 50 % s i n c e l as t y e a r , t h e y ar e f i l l i n g u p t h e v a c u u m c r e at e d b y t h e c re d i t c r u n c h . M a n y o f t h e c o m pa n i e s a l s o ac t h o w b an k s u s e d t o m an y ye a rs a g o w h e r e pe r so n a l re l a t i o n s h i p s a n d h i s t o r y c a r ri e d s o m e w e i g h t . I f yo u have done suc cessful deals with t hem t he y are li kel y t o l o o k p a s t a n y m i n o r i s su e s w i t h t h e b u i l d i n g w h e re as wi t h a m ai n s t re am l e n d e r i t w i l l c a u s e a n u n c r o s s a b l e obstacle to th e deal.

London Street, London, W2 Purchase Price: £2.1m

On another note, we hope to exchange on a deal in Hampstead today in Platts lane, in a leafy part of Hampstead. This is a one bedroom ground floor flat with a share of freehold. The deal is a good one with some margin in it, but the real value is you have the possibility of extending out into the basement. The only flat which has access is the ground floor flat, this means subject to negotiation with the other two freeholders there is a chance to nearly doubling the value of this flat by turning it into a duplex flat and thereby increasing the square footage. In fact the previous owner was using the basement until the other freeholders objected, she didn't have the funds to purchase this space and so it remains empty and unused. This project may take time, perhaps even years just to come to an agreement. The owner was asking for circa £700k but has only come down in price because she has found something else to purchase. It has been bought as a permanent hold, and if the extension happens all well and good it will be the cherry on the pie, if it doesn't the pie isn't too bad on its own!

The Real Deal

l Freehold property in this highly sought after location l Currently arranged as six commercial units l Planning permission in place to convert it into four residential units and one commercial unit l Approx 3,250 sq ft area l End value after conversion expected to be more than £3.25m l Will benefit from the cross rail regeneration now in full swing l 30 seconds from Paddington station Call us now to reserve!

0207 993 0103

We provide a turnkey solution. Contact us now:

Specialists in

Central London Property Sourcing

info@sowandreap.co.uk

www.sowandreap.co.uk

55 Bryanston Street, Marble Arch Tower, London, W1H 7AA

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Tips of the Week

l While letting out a property you must conform to all areas of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). If you don’t have sufficient time or don’t want the hassle, you should ask an expert to deal with it.

l It is the landlord's responsibility, not the agent’s, to ensure annual checks are carried out on items such as gas, water, electricity, oil, sanitary, hot water and space-heaters, and that any repairs are completed when necessary.

Failure to do this may result in prosecution, fines and/or imprisonment.

LEGAL VOICE

India to become third largest economy by 2030

20

India is set to become the third largest economy in the world by 2030, according to latest estimates by a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report.

The London-headquartered accountancy giant said the rapid rise of the Indian economy with its young workforce would push it up from being the 10th largest economy in 2013 to the third largest by 2030, pushing the UK back into sixth place.

“In the longer run, other emerging markets may overtake the UK, but only India looks set to do so before 2030 according to our latest projections,” PwC said in its latest economic outlook.

China, the world’s second largest economy, is expected to close the gap with America by 2030, while Mexico is predicted to be the 10th largest

Barclays earns Rs 3.82 bn profit in India operations

UK lender Barclays Bank has finally turned the corner in India with a net profit of Rs 3.82 billion for FY14 as compared to a loss of over Rs 560 million. The British lender had made an illtimed entry into India's retail market in 2007 and, after an initial phase of expansion, started downsizing its operations as part of an international restructuring following the global financial crisis.

The bank has completely exited the retail and commercial lending operations which it began in 2007 after making aggressive provisions for loan losses, shutting down some branches and its ATM network. It is now positioning itself as a corporate bank providing wealth management and investment banking services.

"Our India franchise has delivered a strong set of numbers despite a difficult macro-economic environment in the last financial year. Our conversations with clients suggest that business sentiment has improved markedly in recent weeks and we're already seeing transaction activity beginning to pick up meaningfully," said Jaideep Khanna, CEO & country head, Barclays India.

"A strong focus on controlling costs while at the same time boosting revenues has helped us achieve an improved cost-income ratio of 37.9% against 55.8% in the previous financial year," he added.

economy by 2030, above Canada and Italy, both G7 nations.

Only a couple of years ago there were forecasts that Britain would rapidly become a second-class economic power and would need to defer to the BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China in the near future.

China has ranked above Japan for a decade as the world’s secondbiggest economy.

By some calculations Brazil leapfrogged the UK in 2012, with Russia and India close behind.

Britain’s fall was partly related to the costs of the banking crisis and the recession that followed, coupled with a sharp decline in the exchange rate, which knocked about a quarter off the country’s value in relation to its main rivals.

But since the beginning of last year the econ-

omy has recovered all the lost ground from the recession and banks have begun lending again.

Russia will close the gap on the top eight, but its reliance on the oil and gas industry for growth and its rapidly ageing population will prevent it jumping up the table as quickly as previously thought.

Only India will move ahead of the UK by 2030, though it will be sharing a projected GDP of $ 6.1 trillion among more than 1.5 billion people, only half as much again as the UK’s predicted output of $ 4 trillion, produced by a population less than a 20th the size.

PwC urged policymakers in the UK to implement further structural reforms to ensure that it remained ahead of emerging markets.

India's private sector output witnessed significant uptrend in June as both manufacturing and services sector registered solid rate of expansion, driven by robust order flows and stronger business sentiment, an HSBC survey said.

The headline HSBC Services Business Activity Index was at a 17-month peak of 54.4 in June rising from a modest 50.2 in May, HSBC said adding that "the Modi wave has struck the service sector".

A reading above 50 shows that the sector is expanding, while a reading below 50 depicts that the output in the sector is contracting.

"After months of subdued activity, the Modi wave has struck the service sector and lifted growth to a 17-month high," HSBC Co-Head of Asian Economic Research, Frederic Neumann, said.

Moreover, optimism

regarding the output levels in the services sector for the next 12 months remained positive in June, owing to factors such as end of the elections, planned increases in marketing budgets, forecasts of stronger demand and ongoing improvements in India's economy.

Meanwhile, the HSBC India Composite Output Index, which maps both services and manufacturing, rose to a 16-month high of 53.8 in June, up from 50.7 in the prior month.

"New business flows

and stronger business sentiment supported the rise.

Some of this is simply pent up demand being unleashed," Neumann added. He further said faster reforms due to political stability should fuel the growth momentum further. However, tensions in the Middle East and below normal monsoon remain the main concern areas. "Be sure to expect some bumps along the way, as tensions in the Middle East and the absence of monsoon clouds play spoil sport," Neumann said.

pared to earlier level of 100 per cent of the net worth as per the last audited balance sheet of the company, it said.

"It has been decided to

restore the limit of Overseas Direct Investments (ODI) or Financial Commitment (FC) to be undertaken by an Indian Party under the automatic route to the limit prevailing, as per the extant FEMA provisions, prior to August 14, 2013," it said.

Last year, RBI had reduced the ODI limit to 100 per cent of a company's net worth from 400 per cent for all companies.

However, the restriction was not applicable on public sector firms like Oil India and ONGC Videsh.

India’s services sector growth surges in June

RBI eases overseas investment norms for Indian corporates The Reserve Bank of India relaxed norms for overseas investment by Indian corporates by raising their borrowing limit.

"It has, however, been decided that any financial commitment exceeding USD 1 billion (or its equivalent) in a financial year would require prior approval of the Reserve Bank even when the total financial commitment of the Indian Party is within the eligible limit under the automatic route...," RBI said in a notification.

The financial commitment should be limited within 400 per cent com-

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

Maria Fernandes

Marriage problems

Although the Immigration Act 2014 has received Royal Assent which means that it is an Act, most parts of it have not yet come into force and require further measures to make them effective. On the 14th July 2014 one measure did.

This concerns the right to marry. In the past the Home Office introduced a scheme requiring parties to obtain a Certificate of Approval before they could marry. The House of Lords found that the scheme was unlawful under article 12 of the European Convention of Human Rights as it restricted the right to marry not only of those conducting sham marriages but of a much wider pool. It was also found to be discriminatory because there were favourable requirements for Anglicans.

The new rules do not prevent marriages.

However they introduce increased measures to give the UKVI notice that a marriage is to take place between a non British or EU national. The period of giving notice to marry has been increased from 14 to 28 days. Marriages where one of the parties is a non British or EU national can only be conducted in designated registries. The regulations do not just catch those who are illegal but anyone who is a non EU national and will include students, Entrepreneurs or those under Tier 2. The

Registrar must refer all cases in of such a person to the UKVI and if they indicate that they want to investigate the matter further the period will be automatically increased to 70 days. Anglican ceremonies which were previously exempt from many of the regulations are now brought under this umbrella and the preliminaries will need to be completed before they can marry. The main change is that the procedures are brought forward to the point of a notice of marriage rather the marriage itself. It delays the marriage rather than prevents it.

In the meantime around 3600 applications for entry as spouses have been delayed pending the Court of Appeal decision which will decide (hopefully any day now) whether the law requiring British citizens to prove that they must earn a minimum of £18600 to bring in spouses must stay in place or be confirmed to be unlawful as the High Court decided.

Usually when a court decides a matter and this is appealed, the law remains good until changed. In this case the UKVI have left families unable to be re-united whilst it holds applications until a decision is reached.

Whichever party wins, the case will undoubtedly progress to the Supreme Court, making further delays inevitable.

To contact Maria Fernandes, please email at: info@fernandesvaz.com

India is Coca-Cola's 6th largest market

India has become the sixth largest market for CocaCola by volume sales, overtaking Germany as low price points and wider distribution helped the world's largest beverages maker increase sales in the second-most populous country. Coca-Cola India now trails the US, Mexico, China, Brazil and Japan after overtaking 13 global markets since 2006 when it was ranked 19th, CocaCola has posted on its website. Coca-Cola India now contributes 12% of the company's AsiaPacific region volume sales.

Ventakesh Kini, president at Coca-Cola India and South West Asia, said there was still huge potential for growth in India. "In terms of potential, we have just scratched the sur-

face....only a quarter of India's population has had our beverages," he said.

While a PepsiCo India spokesman declined to comment on India's contribution to its global sales, the beverages and snacks maker had last year claimed that India was a top five market for the firm globally. But this is not strictly an apple-to-apple comparison as PepsiCo's numbers include its snacks business, which is a faster growing business than beverages for the firm.

CURRENCY VOICE

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

21

Foreign Exchange

Paresh Davdra is the Dealing Director of RationalFX, Currency Specialists.

ECB leaves interest rates unchanged UK new car sales rose at the fastest rate for nine years.

British consumers exploited cheap car finance deals to buy models with lower running costs as sales rise 10.6% in first half of 2014 to 1.28m.

Again supporting confidence in the economy and demonstrates the banks optimism in lending at a wider level. The market is on track for 2.4m new car sales this year, up more than 6% on last year.

United Kingdom’s PMI services narrowly missed expectations of 58.1 and posted a figure of 57.7, but despite it being worse than expected, services which accounts for roughly 80% of UK GDP posted growth.

GBP’s recent strength continued despite the slightly below forecast figure, with GBP gaining against a basket of currencies.

The yield premium of British over German government bonds has reached its highest level since 1997. This is because the first UK rate hike is on the cards. Economists polled by Reuters believe it will probably come early next year but now attribute a 40% chance to a rise by the end of this year, compared

with 30% at a previous survey in early May. Showing people are slowly starting to sway towards it potential happening a lot sooner than initially thought.

The European Central Bank has left interest rates unchanged across the Eurozone .The main refinancing rate staying at a record low of 0.15%. Banks are still being hit with negative interest rates when they leave cash at the ECB with the deposit facility rate pegged at 0.10%.And the marginal lending rate (charged when banks borrow overnight from the ECB)

remains at 0.4%.

Mario Draghi reiterated the ECB's forward guidance.

Essentially that Eurozone interest rates will remain at present or low interest rate levels for an extended period. This should keep the Euro currency weak for an extended period.

The euro is under pressure after the ECB's messages last week that it could still opt for quantitative easing to fight low inflation. Also German factory orders disappointed in June with a 1.7% fall, but some of this is payback for a strong fig-

ure released in May. The Dollar momentarily showed some strength after US non-farm payrolls surpassed expectations and rose by 288,000 in June. This figure exceeded the forecast of 214,000 but only temporarily supported the greenback, with GBP/USD returning to the mornings levels shortly after.

On another positive note, the unemployment rate dropped to 6.1%, which is the lowest rate since September 2008, the same month that US investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed. Economists had expected the jobless rate to remain unchanged at 6.3%.

Despite this positive fundamental data the Dollar ended up level with its major pairings ahead of the 4th of July Independence Day holiday.

The Indian Rupee fell the most in more than two weeks on speculation oil refiners stepped up dollar purchases for crude shipments from abroad. The rupee also weakened due to concerns inadequate seasonal rainfall will hurt farm output and delay a recovery in the economy.

Weekly Currencies

As of Tuesday 8th July 2014 @ 4.30pm

GBP - INR = 102.37 USD - INR = 59.78 EUR - INR = 81.38 GBP - USD = 1.71 GBP - EUR = 1.26

EUR - USD = 1.36 GBP - AED = 6.29

GBP - CAD = 1.83

GBP - NZD = 1.95

GBP - AUD = 1.82

GBP - ZAR = 18.31

GBP - HUF = 388.79

www.rationalfx.com

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

22

SRI LANKA - LONDON

Australian govt gives temporary relief to Lanka asylum seekers

Melbourne: The Tony Abbott government has given a commitment to the Australian High Court that they will not transfer the asylum seekers boat to Sri Lanka without giving them 72 hours’ notice.

Amnesty International expressed relief that Australian High Court deliberations have put the transfer of asylum seekers to Sri Lanka's navy in doubt. One boat full of Sri Lankan asylum seekers was returned to the Sri Lankan authorities earlier this week, plans to handover asylum seekers from a second boat have been stalled by this intervention.

In an unprecedented move, the Australian government confirmed it had subjected 41 Sri Lankan asylum seekers to what it calls an ‘enhanced screening process’ via video link.

The asylum seekers intercepted at sea were apparently returned to the Sri Lankan authorities, after

the on-water screening process. Amnesty condemned the transfer.

In the latest development an application brought on behalf of a second boat carrying 153 Sri Lankan asylum seekers intercepted by the Australian Navy on their way from India, is to be heard by the High Court later this week. The Australian government has said it won’t handover the asylum seekers without giving 72 hours’ notice to the High Court.

Amnesty International Australia’s Refugee Spokesperson, Graeme McGregor, said:

DG

à{

“The decision that the whole High Court will hear the challenge reflects the gravity of the Australian government’s deeply concerning proposal to return asylum seekers to a country where their lives may be at serious risk.

The Government’s temporary commitment that they will not transfer the asylum seekers to Sri Lanka without giving 72 hours’ notice is a small step in the right direction, but the asylum seekers remain indefinitely held at sea, setting a dangerous precedent.

“Throughout this

process, the Government has continually failed to provide even basic answers to the questions about the asylum seekers’ whereabouts and their safety. It’s taken a High Court challenge for the Government to even confirm the boat exists.

“There still remain many unanswered questions about the missing asylum seekers’ whereabouts. Asking asylum seekers only four questions each before handing them back to Sri Lankan authorities runs an extremely high risk of returning genuine refugees to torture, persecution or death. If the Australian government wants to address the loss of asylum seekers’ lives, it should not be returning them to a country where their lives may be in grave danger. Australia stands alone in failing to recognise the ongoing human rights violations taking place in Sri Lanka.”

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

In Brief

Foreign prisoners stay put in England, Wales jails

London: Prime Minister David Cameron’s promise to send foreign prisoners to the country of origin fails to take off. Official figures show that only 43 foreign nationals out 10,695 prisoners were transferred from jails in England and Wales. Figures show that just 162 foreign prisoners have been transferred under deals between 2010-2013. In the same period 321 UK citizens have come back from prison abroad to serve their sentences at home. This shows that the taxpayer is paying about £400 million a year for the imprisonment of foreigners from more than 150 countries.

Baby boys born in winter months may be left-handed

London: A new research has revealed that baby boys born in winter are more likely to be left-handed than those born in summer. Psychologists at the University of Vienna studied 13,000 adults and found that overall, 7.5 per cent of women and 8.8 per cent of men were lefthanded. They found that among the men, on a monthly average, 8.2 per cent of the left-handers were born during the period February to October. Yet during November to January, this number rose to 10.5 per cent.

TSA bans powerless gadgets on USA flights

Canberra: The Transportation Security Administration has banned powerless electronic devices on flights bound for the United States. Responding to a directive by the Secretary of Homeland Security, passengers may be asked charge their laptops, mobile phones and iPads – before being allowed on board. Those who fail to charge the gadgets won’t be allowed into the cabin and must be placed in checked baggage at “certain overseas airports”.

NOMINATION FORM

The prestigious Asian Achievers Awards is hosted every year by UK’s leading news weeklies Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar to honour British Asians par excellence. If there is someone you know who has broken boundaries and deserves recognition for their unique contribution to the community and the nation then please nominate them for one of the awards listed below.

Make sure that you fill in this application form and send it on or before 14th July, 2014 by post, fax or email to Mr. L George, Tel: 020 7749 4013, Fax 020 7749 4081, Email: aaa@abplgroup.com. If you are sending it by post the address is Mr. L George, ABPL Group, Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, London N1 6HW.

Please tick the appropriate category Entrepreneur of the Year ....................................................

Uniformed and Civil Services ............................................

Awarded to an entrepreneur with a proven track record of operating a successful business enterprise.

For outstanding achievements in uniformed and civil services or contribution to the community through any of the above services.

Achievement in Media, Arts and Culture ....................

Professional of the Year ......................................................

Someone who has made a mark in media including print and broadcast media; cinema, art and culture.

Achievement in Community Service................................

Professionals in the field of medicine, law, education, banking, finance and others, who have scaled the heights of their chosen profession.

International Personality of the Year ............................

In recognition for an individuals service to community.

Awarded to those who have acclaimed popularity internationally for his/her contribution in any particular sector and is recognised for their timeless philanthropic activities.

Sports Personality of the Year............................................

Awarded for excellence in sports.

Woman of the Year ................................................................

The award will recognise and honour a woman who has made a significant mark in any chosen field.

Business Person of the Year ..............................................

Awarded to a business person who is a success in every sense of the word and can demonstrate a genuine passion for social issues.

Lifetime Achievement Award ............................................

To honour those individuals, who during their lifetime, have made immense contributions in any given field. This remarkable individual can be marked as an example for the younger generation.

Application Form

Name of the Person you are Nominating: __________________________________________________________________________

Contact Details of the Nominee (Tel & email):_______________________________________________________________________

Present Occupation of the Nominee:_______________________________________________________________________________

Please attach the Nominees's CV which includes the following information (Please do not exceed a limit of 1000 words) (1) Personal background (2) Most important career achievements till date.

(3) Nominee's contribution to the community and nation.

(4) Future Plans, ambitions and visions.

(5) Any notable obstacles in the Nominee's career that has helped him/her to reach where they are today.

Summary- (Please include a summary in not more than 150 words why the nominee is worthy of winning the particular award in a separate sheet) Nominator’s name and contact details: ____________________________________________________________________________ Nominator’s current Occupation/Company: _________________________________________________________________________ Tel/Mobile: _________________________________ Email: __________________________________________________________

NOMINATION AND SELECTION PROCESS This is a unique event where readers nominate and an independent panel of judges comprising of eminent personalities selects the winner. Judges’ decision is final. ABPL Group will not entertain any dialogue with members of the public regarding the judging process. In order to ensure a high degree of transparency and fairness, the management and members of the staff of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar will play no role in the nomination or judging process. You may use an additional sheet if the space provided is insufficient. The winners will be announced at the AAA Awards ceremony on 19th September, 2014. Asian Voice, Gujarat Samachar will publish the names of the short listed candidates and winners after the event. The winners names will also appear in our e-edition www.abplgroup.com You can nominate yourself if you wish to.

Nominations and entries must follow the prescribed format. All nomination forms must reach our offices on or before 14th July, 2014

Protest against killing of Palestinian boy

Tel Aviv: Protests broke out in parts of Israel and Palestinian territories following claims that a 16year-old Palestinian youth who was abducted and murdered in a forest west of Jerusalem last week was burnt alive by his killers.

“The direct cause of death was burns as a result of fire,” said Mohammed alA’wewy, the Palestinian attorney- general.

Cameron under pressure on immigration

London: Liam Fox, the former defence secretary, in a speech demanded tougher action to curb migration from outside the European Union. He said that Cameron must adopt an Australian-style points system for immigrants if he wants to persuade voters that the government has a hope of limiting new arrivals. He called for an “open and shut” policy, which would leave the UK open to the skilled migrants demanded by business but closed to those who risk becoming dependent on the state.

Tory peer quizzed over rape claim

London: Lord Brittan, the former Tory home secretary, has been questioned by police over an allegation of rape. The former cabinet minister, who served as home secretary under Margaret Thatcher, was questioned but not arrested. One report said the alleged victim was a 19-year-old student who claimed to have been raped in Brittan’s central London flat after a blind date. The alleged incident took place before Brittan became an MP.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

In Brief

Private education brings better career prospect

London: A study shows that children who studied in private schools earn nearly £200,000 more than those who studied in state schools. The report finds that pupils from independent schools are more likely to achieve good A-level results, to take degrees and to attend the most selective universities. The report describes independent schools as “bastions of privilege where a small proportion of predominantly affluent families pay high fees for an education that is associated with higher attainment, good social networks and lucrative long-term employment outcomes for those attending”.

Buddhism helps me pray: Lord Williams

London: The former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Williams said that he spent 40 minutes daily to pray while performing breathing exercises as part of a routine influenced by Buddhism. He also spends time pacing slowly and repeatedly prostrating himself as part of an intense early morning ritual of silent meditation and prayer. He said that over the years increasing exposure to and engagement with the Buddhist world in particular has made him aware of practices not unlike the ‘Jesus Prayer’ and introduced him to disciplines that further enforce the stillness and physical focus that the prayer entails.

Cameron compares Speaker Bercow to one of seven dwarfs

London: Prime Minister David Cameron has compared Commons Speaker John Bercow to one of the Seven Dwarfs. Cameron while talking to journalists made a string of jokes aimed at the Speaker, who stands 5ft 6in tall. Cameron’s joke didn’t go down too well with John Connerty, co-founder of the Walking with Giants Foundation, which represents those with primordial dwarfism. “I would like Cameron and his ministers to sit down and listen and speak to people of extreme short stature and hear what they think about these sorts of remarks,” he said.

Law to help terminally ill to end life

London: The House of Lords will soon take up for consideration Lord Falconer’s draft law, which would allow the terminally ill to die if their life expectancy is less than six months. Attempts over the years to legalise “mercy killings” have all failed, the campaigners have manipulated the language in order to reframe the debate. In a stroke of propaganda genius, the Voluntary Euthanasia Society renamed itself Dignity in Dying.

Instantly, killing was transformed into dying. Killing is bad, but dying is inevitable. But there is strong opposition to the doctor- assisted suicide.

George Osborne and his pets

London: Chancellor George Osborne was recently interviewed by six children. When they asked him what he do with his children, he says his 11-year-old daughter, Liberty, loves to cook and he acts as her kitchen assistant. Then he said his first task of every day was to take the dog, Lola, out into the Downing Street garden. He has also a cat called Freya. He has also a hamster that lives in his top-floor Downing Street flat.

Recently the hamster disappeared. After two weeks, Freya found the hamster, three floors down, hiding in an electricity box. “She is now back in her cage, though she occasionally gets out and plays around in the bath,” said George.

Tourist among dozens killed in Kenya

Mombasa: A Russian tourist was shot dead in the port city of Mombasa, while gunmen killed at least 29 people in raids on two separate areas on the Kenyan coast. "It is unfortunate the lady who was shot has succumbed to injuries," Mombasa's deputy divisional police chief Tom Okoth said, confirming the woman's nationality as Russian. Earlier the Somali Islamist militant group alShabab said it had staged an attack on Saturday evening in the coastal area.

Doctors told to stop giving patients ‘cure-all’ antibiotics

London: A committee of MPs told doctors to stop prescribing antibiotics to keep patients happy. A report by the committee said that GPs’ reliance on the drugs as a “bottomless pit of cure-all miracle treatments” was contributing to the problem of drug-resistant infections.

The warning came after David Cameron’s call to tackle the crisis of antibiotic resistance, which he said was threatening to return medicine to the “dark ages”. The rise of untreatable illness could lead to the “unthinkable scenario” where people die from minor infections, the prime minister said as he launched a two-year review to address the problem.

LONDON - PAKISTAN

23

Exhibition on Sikh, Indian soldiers’ role in IInd World War

London: When the British Indian Army steamed into Marseilles in 1914 autumn, its ships disgorging Gurkhas, turbanned Sikhs and Afghans, they were cheered as heroes.

Later as they marched through the streets women ran out to pin flowers to their chests.

A professional force that had served from China to Khartoum, the Indian Army supplied not just manpower but a morale boost as Germany advanced. Although just 2 per cent of the population of British India, Sikhs famed for their fighting prowess - made up more than 20 per cent of this army. It was a Sikh, too, who became the first Indian fighter pilot in the Royal Flying Corps.

An exhibition opens next week in London to commemorate the Sikh community’s remarkable but little chronicled role, as well as that of the one million Indians who fought from the Somme to Gallipoli - more than all the Australian, Canadian and New Zealand soldiers combined. A tenth of these Indians were Sikh. “Now they are a footnote but then they were seen as

Coulson gets 18-month jail in hacking case

London: British Prime Minister David Cameron's ex-communications director Andy Coulson was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his involvement in hacking phones during his stint as the editor of media baron Rupert Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World tabloid. He was earlier found guilt of conspiring to unlawfully intercept communications between October 2000 and August 2006 after an eightmonth trial at the Old Bailey.

“Coulson has to take the major share for the blame of phone hacking at the News of the World,'' said Justice John Saunders while announcing his verdict. “He knew about it, he encouraged it when he should have stopped it.'' The judge said there was insufficient evidence to conclude he started phone hacking but there was ample evidence that it increased enormously while Coulson was the editor.

“All the journalists are distinguished.

Their achievements now count for nothing,'' he said.

“They were able to get away for so long because of the respect in which they were held as senior journalists.''

giants striding across from one continent to another, brave and bold,” says Harbakhsh Grewal, of the UK Punjab Heritage Association, which has organised the show.

The arrival of the first Indian soldiers to fight on European soil was hailed by one commentator as a moment “that should be retained on the Empire’s retina”. Cobbled village streets around Ypres rang with the cries of herdsmen transported from the North West Frontier, while the new smell of baked chapattis filled the air. “La toilette des Sikhs” became a talking point. One Daily Mirror correspondent remarked: “The combing and replaiting of their hair, which is often 2ft long, took a long time.”

Barns were turned into gurdwaras (Sikh temples)

where soldiers might continue to sing kirtan. In return Sikh soldiers wrote home, “These good people take more care of us than even our parents did”. One described, “The best custom in this country is that a man chooses his own wife, and a woman her own husband, and there are no disagreements and troubles after marriage.”

However, the exhibition catalogues, too, all the terror of modern industrial warfare - poison gas, shells and tanks - for Sikh troops more used to patrolling remote borders. “There is no fighting face to face,” one wrote. “Guns massacre regiments sitting ten miles off. Put swords or pikes or staves in our hands, and the enemy over us with like arms, then indeed we should show you how to fight face to

face.” Losses were heavy.

The 47th Sikhs were reduced from 764 men to 385 by November.

A Sikh princess, Sophia Duleep Singh, living in England, wrote movingly, “Men of the sunlit land found themselves under grey skies . . . understanding not a word of the languages heard around them . . . unable to distinguish friend from foe, and very soon confronted with the severity of a northern winter.

Trenches were little better than waterlogged ditches.”

A German officer described: “The only reminder of their presence was the sound of their compulsive coughing and sneezing in the silent nights . . . Poor fellows, sacrificed for British power and greed.” From the end of 1915 the bulk of the Indian Army was sent to the Middle East.

The exhibition follows the Sikh soldiers who returned home with new ideas that shaped Indian politics - but there were also those with mutilated limbs and shell shock.

“However, their stories weren’t recorded,” Parmjit Singh, the exhibition’s curator, says.

Kabul: Former World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani won Afghanistan's presidential election, according to preliminary results on Monday, but fraud allegations are set to spark a dispute over the outcome and stoke concerns of instability.

Ghani won 56.4 per cent of the run-off vote to ex-foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah's 43.5 per cent - a major comeback for Ghani after the first-round election in April when eight men stood to succeed President Hamid Karzai.

Officials said the turnout was more than

eight million in the June 14 vote out of an estimated electorate of 13.5 million voters - far higher than expected, and a figure likely to fuel weeks of arguments about fraud from both sides. The next president will lead Afghanistan at a pivotal time as US-led troops end their 13-year war against Taliban insurgents and the fragile economy struggles with declining international aid.

"We can not deny fraud and violations in the process," Independent Election Commission (IEC) head Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani told reporters.

"In some cases some security forces were involved, in other cases senior government officials like the governors or lower-level officials were involved."

Nuristani emphasised that the results would now be subject to auditing and adjudication of complaints, before the official result released on about July 24.

"The preliminary result in no way means the announcement of the winner of the election," he said. "After addressing all the complaints, the objections and the inspections, a change in the result is possible."

Islamabad: Amid an all-out military operation against the Taliban in North Waziristan, Pakistan's parliament passed a controversial anti-terror law, giving security forces unbridled powers, including shoot-atsight suspects involved in terrorism, arson and murder.

The "Protection of Pakistan Bill 2014" empowers an official of grade 15 (non gazetted officers/junior officers/ JCOs) and above to issue such orders. It also allows a suspect to be kept under detention for a period of 60

days after getting judicial remand.

Under the act, security forces can conduct search operations without securing warrant from a judicial officer. To allay apprehensions of rights groups, it envisages detention centre under the supervision of courts and provisions for judicial inquiry, if anyone was killed by security agencies under its ambit.

Another important feature is imprisonment for at least 20 years for those convicted of militancy.

Cyber crimes and offences related to information tech-

nology, as well as the crossing of national boundaries illegally have been included in the list of scheduled offences.

Punishments under these offences can be extended to 20 years.

The bill was adopted with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) voting in favour of the resolution. It will remain in force for two years. The draft bill was introduced in the National Assembly or lower house, by minister of science and technology Zahid Hamid on behalf of interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

Ghani wins fraud-hit Afghan election: Preliminary results

Pak parliament passes tough anti-terror law

24

INDIA

TDP sweeps civic bodies in AP, TRS in Telangana

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

Vijayawada: The Telugu Desam Party regained control over civic bodies in Andhra Pradesh while the Telangana Rashtra Samithi established a clear majority in cities and towns in Telangana.

The TDP bagged five of the seven municipal corporations in AP while the TRS won all the three municipal corporations in Telangana.

Mayors, deputy mayors, chairpersons and deputy chairpersons for civic bodies were elected in both

states.

Police had to fire in the air to rein in clashing TDP and YSRCP activists in Jammalamadugu in Kadapa district. Incidents of kidnap and protests were reported in AP and Telangana.

Of the 90 municipal chairmen posts in AP for which elections were held, the TDP won 74, YSRCP won 15 and Congress 1.

The Congress, which was in power for 10 years, bagged the chairperson's post in Atmakur town in

Nellore district.

Incidentally, this is the first win for Congress in AP post bifurcation. The Congress did not win even a single MLA seat in the Assembly polls.

In Telangana state, the TRS won 22 of the 50 municipal chairperson's posts for which polls were conducted. The Congress won 20 civic bodies followed by TDP in four, BJP in three and MIM in one.

The TDP won the mayor posts in Anantapur,

Chennai: More than one child gets raped every day in Tamil Nadu, shows the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) statistics.

Child rape cases increased from 292 in 2012 to 419 in 2013. In Chennai, child rape cases have increased from 45 in 2012 to 48 in 2013.

The law defines child as a person below the age of 18 years.

While cases of rape of adult women in Chennai have declined from 94 in 2012 to 83 in 2013, across the state it has gone up from 737 in 2012 to 923 in 2013.

There is a gradual increase in the number of child rape cases in the country from 8,087 in 2012 to 11,549 in 2013. Child rights activists say the number in TN has gone up by more than 20 times since 2001.

Activists argue that the legal system is slow to prosecute rape accused, but officials say more people file complaints now due to

increased awareness.

Experts say the actual number could be much more as the rapist is often known to the victims and societal pressure and stigma prevent such crime from being reported.

Child rights activist A Narayanan and director of Change India, an NGO, said there was gross underreporting of such cases. "The influence of alcohol and pornography could be the reason for the rising number of child rape cases. Children are often soft targets because they rarely get attention in nuclear families. Street children and orphans are the most vulnerable," he said.

Anuradha Vidyashankar, head of southern region resource centre of Childline India Foundation, said sex education in schools can empower children and prevent rape. "There is social stigma about reporting rape cases. But it is changing because of awareness campaigns," she said.

Chennai: A day after the National Human Rights Commission issued a notice to the Tamil Nadu government calling for a report within two weeks into the incident of building collapse in Chennai, Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa ordered setting up of an inquiry commission, headed by retired judge of the Madras high court Justice R Raghupathy.

"The one-man commission would also review the guidelines to prevent similar incidents in future," Jayalalithaa said in a statement.

The 12-storey underconstruction building collapsed during rains recently, claiming 61 lives. As many as 27 construction workers, belonging to Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, were rescued in a massive operation undertaken by government agencies, including national disaster response force, state

disaster response force, police, fire and rescue services, revenue, public works, health and revenue departments.

Jayalalithaa said the commission would conduct a probe into the reasons for the collapse of he building.

It will fix blame on those who are responsible for the incident, recommend guidelines for future course of action and submit a report to the government. "Based on this, my government will initiate action," the chief minister said.

Man emerges from rubble after 72 hours Meanwhile, on the third day a man was rescued from the rubble after 72 hours.

Kirron Kher set up in some sectors of the city. Kher also talked about setting up a senior citizens board, which would deal with issues faced by senior citizens Industrialists present problems to MP: Meanwhile, industrialists presented three basic problems to the MP, namely, the implementations of MSMED act in Chandigarh.

The industrialist pleaded, that any demand against this act which have not been validated by the administration for its legitimacy cannot be a reason for denying the lawful rights of the industry. The same, if any, should be dealt with separately. The lease hold allotments of industrial plots should be made free hold, as has been done in the neighbouring states.

Gurgaon: Doctors at Fortis Hospital in Gurgaon say they have successfully performed a risky bone marrow transplant on a 10year-old boy from Iraq, to treat his rare genetic skin disease, Epidermolyasis Bullosa. Only seven people in the world had overcome the disease till now, and Ahmed is the eighth, the doctors said.

When Ahmed first started developing tight skin around major joints in his body, it was thought to be a strange epidemic disease.

Weighing just 17 kg before the surgery, he was unable to eat anything as he found it hard to open his mouth.

His skin became so fragile, that it used to blister or peel off at the slightest touch.

"The upper layer of the skin becomes extremely fragile. Due to contractures at major joints, Ahmed finds it difficult to stand straight and walk properly.

This boy, for instance, also found it hard to open his mouth, as skin around his

mouth was very tight," said Dr Satya Prakash Yadav.

Talking about the cause of the disease, Dr Yadav said that the disease is caused by a missing protein in the genetic constitution of an individual. "As parents of the child are blood relatives, collegial was missing in genes of both the parents and thus the child developed this disease," he said.

Doctors at Fortis decided to go ahead with a bone marrow transplant for Ahmed. Generally, BMT is done in cases of leukemia, thalassemia, bone marrow failure and immune deficiency. However, a bone marrow transplant has also been found to be the best treatment for Epidermolyasis Bullosa," said Dr Yadav. "This is the first time that a bone marrow transplant has been used to cure the disease in the country," he added.

Now Ahmed is fast improving and his knee and wrist joints are almost 70% more functional.

More than one child gets raped every day in TN

Chandigarh MP shows she cares for senior citizens

Chandigarh: Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher said that she would push for separate OPD hours for senior citizens at the city's government hospitals, including the PGIMER. She said this while addressing senior citizens at Guru Nanak Public School in Sector 37 during a function organized by Chandigarh Senior Citizens' Association. The event was held to discuss the problems faced by elderly residents.

"I will immediately talk to the PGI director about this, and also see that some benches are installed. Slips could be given to patients, and they should be called in an orderly way so that the process is more organized and convenient," she said.

Senior citizens informed Kher about the many problems they face. "Old people have to stand in long queues for 2-3 hours in hospitals.

Sometimes they even faint," said SS Lamba, president of the Chandigarh Senior Citizens' Association.

The senior citizens also demanded that separate government dispensaries be

Vijayawada, Rajahmundry, Eluru and Chittoor, while the YSRCP won in Kadapa and Nellore. In Telangana, the TRS won Ramagundam, Karimnagar and Nizamabad.

The TDP ensured that its nominee Noorjahan was elected unopposed in Eluru municipal corporation.

Although TDP has a clear majority in 64 municipalities, it scored convincing victory in another 10 municipalities to take its tally to 74.

Probe ordered into Chennai building collapse

South Brief

Rajiv Gandhi statue damaged

Hyderabad: Miscreants damaged a Rajiv Gandhi statue at Dammaiguda on the outskirts of the city on Sunday morning. At 8 am, locals noticed that the head of the statue at Dammaiguda X Roads was damaged and lodged a police complaint. Cops registered a case under sections 153-A and 427 of the IPC. A manhunt was launched to nab offenders.

Cong MLA booked for slapping cops

Bangalore: A case of assault has been registered against a ruling Congress MLA and his supporters for allegedly attacking two police constables, at a bar, when they objected to a party that was continuing past midnight. Hungund (constituency) legislator Vijayanand Kashappanavar (42) and his supporters were partying at a bar after 1 am.

When the constables started to click photos, the MLA and his supporters assaulted constables," police commissioner Raghavanedra Auradkar said. A case of assault has been registered against them, he said.

VCK may break away from DMK alliance

Gurgaon hospital performs rare surgery on 10-year-old

Chennai: Ending a eight-year honeymoon, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leader Thol Thirumavalavan indicated that his party was not likely to continue in the DMK alliance. He told reporters before his party's high-level committee meeting that he would get the views of cadres about VCK remaining in the DMK-led alliance for the next assembly election. The VCK had aligned with the DMK for the 2006 civic polls and continued the alliance for the 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections besides the 2011 assembly poll.

North Brief

Massive tree plantation drive in Amritsar

Amritsar: Amritsar administration has chalked out a plan for massive tree plantation in the district. Deputy commissioner Ravi Bhagat held a meeting with various officials for increasing green cover in the district under Greening Punjab Mission.

He reviewed the action plan chalked out by forest department regarding plantation drive in the coming plantation season and stressed upon the need to make utmost efforts to involve NGOs, government departments, village level institutes and community in this campaign.

Stray dogs kill blackbucks in Fatehabad

Fatehabad: Stray dogs mauled two blackbucks at Badopal in Fatehabad district.

According to Paryavaran Avem Jeev Raksha Bishnoi Sabha activists, the carcasses of the blackbucks were lying near the proposed site for NPCIL's residential colony. After complaints by the activists, the deputy commissioner issued orders to catch the stray dogs from the area. Sabha activists said they have been demanding to clear the area of stray dogs as the place is a natural habitat for blackbucks, neelgai (blue bull) and other wildlife. Earlier, several blackbucks were killed when they got trapped in the fencing of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd's 125acre land.

Woman doctor gets 3-year jail in sex determination case

Barnala: A Barnala court sentenced a local woman doctor to three years of imprisonment after being held guilty in a PreNatal Diagnostic Technique (PNDT) Act case.

Chief judicial magistrate Manoj Kumar Singla also imposed a Rs 5,000 fine on Dr Pushp Lata Mittal who runs a maternity home. The then civil surgeon, Dr Jagjit Singh of Barnala, had complained against Dr Mittal on April 21, 2012 for conducting illegal sex determination of foetuses. Barnala civil surgeon Dr Renu said, "Dr Jagjit had found Dr Pushp to be violating the PNDT Act and had complained against her."

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

TRAVEL - INDIA

25

India’s Railway budget plies for Bullet train

An African Safari Adventure

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ave you always dreamed about going on a safari adventure? For an H unforgettable experience, visit Kenya to

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After rejuvenating post flight , you’ll be driven to Masai Mara and will be shown many points of interest en-route including the Longonot earth satellite

shores. You’ll then go for an afternoon game drive in Nakuru National park where you can view the Big 5. You will stay overnight at the Lake Nakuru Lodge which offers a host of evening entertainment.

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station. Following lunch and an afternoon siesta, there is a late afternoon game drive set against the back drop of a beautiful sunset. You’ll stay overnight at Mara Sopa lodge which offers a wealth of wildlife, birdlife and natural flora in every direction. The lodge is luxuriously appointed with all the mod cons you need from a Sopa lodge in the bush.

The next day will include 2 game drives across the amazing Masai Mara to spot as many wildlife species as you can. The following day you’ll head to Lake Nakuru (you’ll most likely see herds of giraffes and gazelles en route) where the waters are often coloured shimmering flamingo pink, from the thousands of beautiful birds lining its

Sopa Lodge, which is set on the foothills of the awesome Mount Kilimanjaro. You’ll enjoy a full day game drive and a hot picnic lunch before heading back to Nairobi for your onward journey home.

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The main highlight of the Narendra Modi government’s first Railway budget was proposed highspeed bullet train. The first bullet train of India will run between Mumbai and Ahmedabad – two important business hubs of India, and increase the speed of passenger trains up to 200 km an hour on select routes.

Calling the railways an engine of development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the railway budget presented by the Union Minister for Railway DV Sadanand Gowda had its focus on transparency and passenger safety. The Rs.149, 176 crore budget presented in the Lok Sabha focussed on "transparency and integrity" as well as the safety needs of commuters, Modi said in remarks later.

The budget “keeps in mind the development of India. We can see the great use of technology also”, he said. “This budget shows where we want to take the railways and at the same time where we want to take India through the railways,” the prime minister said.

The budget “strengthens institutionalized mechanism” in the Indian Railway network, which carries 23 million passengers every day, he said adding that the railways play “a very important role” in the country's development. He said the country should have paid more attention to railways after independence in 1947 – Better late than never.”

Disclosing that he needs more funds for completing the Golden Quadrilateral Network the Railway Minister Gowda told the House, “Can I depend only on hiking fare and freight rates and burden the public to realise these funds? This is unrealistic. I need to explore the alternate means of resource mobilisation.”

Highlights of the Railway Budget

• Receipts in 2014-15 estimated at Rs.164,374 crore, expenditure at Rs.149,176 crore • Diamond quadrilateral to be launched for highspeed trains • First bullet train to run on Mumbai-Ahmedabad route • Trains on select routes to be speeded up to 160-200 km per hour • Ticketing to be further modernised to issue 7,200 tickets per minute • Dedicated freight corridor projects to be closely monitored • In the past, focus was on sanctioning projects rather than completing them; in the past 30 years, 676 projects sanctioned, of which 317 completed and 359 uncompleted. Now the focus is on completion of announced projects.

• To strengthen security in trains and at stations • Port connectivity taken up on priority • Fifty eight new train introduced • Special festival trains to continue • Wi-Fi at select stations and on some trains • Paperless railway offices in five years • Innovation Incubation Centre to be set up • Pre-cooked ready-to-eat meals to be introduced • Forty percent increase in expenditure on cleanliness; CCTVs to monitor cleanliness at stations • With 12,500 trains, railways move 23 million passengers every day; equivalent to moving Australia's population

He proposed to launch a scheme to bring in investible surplus funds of railway PSUs in infrastructure projects which can generate attractive returns.

Proposing private investment in railways through domestic and FDI, Gowda said growth depends heavily on availability of funds for investment in rail infrastructure. Internal revenue sources and government funding are insufficient to meet the requirement, the Railway Minister said, adding the ministry is seek-

ing Cabinet approval for allowing FDI in rail sector.

FDI, however, will be limited to infrastructure development and not allowed in operations, he said.

He said the concept of PPP has not been successful in raising substantial resources for railways. "It is my endeavour to pursue this in right earnest. It is our target that bulk of our future projects will be financed through PPP mode, including the highspeed rail, which requires huge investments."

26

INDIA - LONDON

46 nurses return to India from Iraq

Continued from page 1 their beloved ones return and were joined by political leaders from BJP and Congress at the airport. The ordeal of the nurses, who were working at a hospital in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, began when ISIS (Islamic State for Iraq and Syria) militants launched an offensive in that region on June nine.

Even as Indian authorities continued to maintain constant touch with their counterparts at Iraq for safe release of nurses, they were moved out on Thursday against their will and detained in the militant-held city of Mosul.

Efforts by external affairs ministry led to setting free the nurses held in captivity and they were transported in buses to Erbil International airport. The special flight that left Erbil arrived at Mumbai for a brief stopover for refuelling and catering supplies.

Besides the nurses, the flight also carried 137 other Indian nationals, including 70 from Kirkuk in the northern part of Iraq, 23 crew members

and three government officials, including a joint-secretary level IFS officer and an IAS woman officer from Kerala. Chandy thanked the Centre; external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, Indian embassy in Iraq and MEA for ensuring the return of nurses from strife-hit Iraq.

“The Centre has acted in complete understanding of the deep anxieties of Kerala. The ministry of external affairs and the Indian embassy in Iraq have made sincere efforts

in securing release of the nurses,” Chandy said.

Around 2,200 Indians residing in southern Iraq are likely to return home in one or two days, the Ministry of External Affairs informed. These include around 400 Indians in three batches from Najaf and Karbala.

A group of around 200 Indian nationals returned from Najaf by Iraqi Airways flight on 6th July.

External Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said that in

the next 48 hours, all the 1,600 people who have expressed their desire to come back on tickets paid

by Government would be transported.

Two other special flights from Najaf and Basra will bring 200 and 280 people respectively to Delhi shortly. A group of 117 passengers arrived on Tuesday morning in Delhi by a commercial flight that will be diverted to Najaf to pick them up. Indian Embassy in Baghdad has provided tickets for 600 of them while tickets for another 600 have been paid by their companies.

In addition, tickets are being provided to another 1,600 persons by government for their return.

Chartered flights are being organized and travel documents are being processed by the Indian Embassy in Baghdad for the Indian nationals who have registered to return home. Four mobile teams of six persons each have been placed in Najaf, Karbala and Basra apart from Baghdad to collect the details of those who would like to leave for home.

Last chance to send in nominations for the Asian Achievers Awards!

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

In Brief

Queen names biggest aircraft carrier made in UK

London: The largest ever warship made in UK has been named HMS Queen Elizabeth. The naming ceremony was done by the Queen at Rosyth dockyard.

The 65,000 tonne, 280-metre aircraft carrier was the work of 10,000 people from 100 companies across the country, working at six sites in the UK. Commodore Jerry Kyd, who will captain HMS Queen Elizabeth, said that it was “symbolic” of what the country could do together. The 900ft vessel, which can reach 28 knots, is the first of two aircraft carriers under construction in a £6.2 billion shipbuilding programme -well over the initial projected cost of £3.65 billion made six years ago.

Russian banker pays £160,000 to play tennis with Boris and Cameron

London: The Tory party has auctioned a game of tennis with David Cameron and Boris Johnson for £160,000 to the wife of a former Russian minister. She is a banker whose husband has donated £5,500 to the party in the last two years. Sir Alistair Graham, the former head of Britain’s sleaze watchdog said that senior Tories should publish details of meetings with foreign billionaires and party donors. He said that it was legitimate for the parties to seek donations, but it must be transparent.

Britain freezes assets of men said to have joined ISIS

London: The British government froze the assets of three British citizens reported to have been involved in terrorism-related activities in Syria. The Treasury added Nasser Muthana and Reyaad Khan, both from Cardiff, and Ruhul Amin, from Aberdeen, to its list of people targeted for financial sanctions, according to the list posted on its website. Muthana, a 20-year old student, appeared in an online video last month urging Muslims to join the militant group the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), his father Ahmed Muthana told the BBC.

Jihadist wants ‘flag of Islam’ over Downing Street, Buckingham Palace

London: A British man who claims he has been fighting alongside jihadists in Syria said that he won’t return to UK until he can "raise the black flag of Islam" over Downing Street and Buckingham Palace. In an interview, the man calling himself Abu Osama, said that he was fighting for the establishment of a caliphate - which he referred to by the Arabic term Khilafah - across the Islamic world. "If and when I come back to Britain it will be when this Khilafah comes to conquer Britain and I come to raise the black flag of Islam over Downing Street, over Buckingham Palace, over Tower Bridge and over Big Ben."

Breakthrough to prevent Alzheimer's disease

The prestigious Asian Achievers Awards, also known as People's Choice Awards, is hosted every year by UK's leading news weeklies Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar to honour British Asians who have shown par excellence.

The awards recognise the outstanding work of individuals from across all businesses and professions, and acknowledge the accomplishments of the finest of the UK’s Asian community. This year’s event will take place on 19th September at Grosvenor House Hotel and will pay particular homage to Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurs.

The Asian Achievers Awards salute individuals who are singularly responsible for bringing the Asian community to the centre stage of British life, and celebrate the exceptional and exemplary achievements of community members that are truly inspirational. The coveted Awards

were first envisioned as a standard of excellence that would create role models and encourage younger generations to follow in their footsteps. It is now successfully in its 14th year.

Previous special guests include Cherie Blair, Bollywood silver screen veteran Hema Malini, Rt Hon Dr Vince Cable, Baroness Shriti Vadera, exPM Tony Blair, Jack Straw MP, L o r d Sebastian Coe and David Blunkett MP to name a few.

The categories this year include: Entrepreneur of the Year, awarded to an entrepreneur with a proven track record of operating a successful business enterprise, Business Person of the Year, awarded to a business person who is a success in every sense of the word and can demonstrate a genuine passion for social issues, Lifetime Achievement Award, to

honour those individuals, who during their lifetimes, have made immense contributions in any given field to their community and the country and are an example for the younger generation, Professional of the year, for those in the field of medicine, law, education, banking, finance and others, who have scaled the heights of their chosen profession, Woman of the Year, which recognises and honours a woman who has made a significant mark in a chosen field and International Personality of the Year, awarded to those who have acclaimed popularity internationally for his/her contribution in any particular sector and is recognised for their timeless philanthropic activities.

Some previous winners at the esteemed Asian Achievers Awards include Professional of the Year Winners Professor Sunil Shah (2012) and Professor

Naina Patel OBE (2013), Lifetime Achievement Winners Lord Gulam Noon MBE (2012) and Hinduja Brothers (2013) and Woman of the Year Winners Shahnaz Hussein (2012) and Faridaq Gibbs (2013). An independent panel of high profile judges will shortlist nominees down to the finest in the community and the winner in each of the nine categories will be announced at the event. The People's Choice Awards are made for the people by the people, therefore we open up the platform to the general public to nominate achievers in their community.

If there is someone you know who has broken boundaries and deserves recognition for their unique contribution to the community and the nation then please nominate them for one of the awards listed on the website here http://aaa.abplgroup.com/ n o m i n a t i o n s / .

Nominations deadline: 14th July 2014.

London: After a decade of research, scientists at Oxford University and Kings College London developed a blood test which can predict the onset of Alzheimer's so that drugs could target the disease before symptoms appear. Clinical trials will start on people who have not yet developed Alzheimer’s to find out which drugs halt its onset. The blood test, which could be available in two years, was described as a “major step forward” by Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, and by charities which said it could revolutionise research into a cure. “Although we are making drugs they are all failing. But if we could treat people earlier it may be that the drugs are effective,” said Simon Lovestone, professor of translational neuroscience at Oxford. “Alzheimer’s begins to affect the brain many years before patients are diagnosed with the disease. If we could treat the disease in that phase we would in effect have a preventative strategy.” The new test, which examines 10 proteins in the blood, can predict with 87 per cent accuracy whether someone suffering memory problems will develop Alzheimer’s within a year. The researchers used data from three international studies. Blood samples were taken from 1,148 people, 476 of whom had Alzheimer’s, 220 with memory problems, and a control group of 452 without any signs of dementia. The scientists found that 16 proteins were associated with brain shrinkage and memory loss and 10 of those could predict whether someone would develop Alzheimer’s. Hunt said: “This is welcome research on an issue we’re made a national priority. Developing tests and biomarkers will be important steps forward in the global fight against dementia as we search for a cure.” Previous studies have shown that PET brain scans and plasma in lumbar fluid could be used to predict that onset of dementia from mild cognitive impairment. But PET imaging is highly expensive and lumbar punctures are invasive and carry risks.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

HEALTH STOP

Health & Wellness

Eat almonds to reduce the risk of heart disease

ost of us can relate to the concept of eating M soaked almonds early

morning. Whether it was hesitantly or by choice, we've been familiarized with the innumerable benefits of almonds. This is why these hearty nuts can be found in abundance.

They're used in desserts, in curries and even in our shower gels and body creams.

A new research gives us another reason to eat more almonds.

Researchers from Aston University, UK, have found that almonds can significantly increase the amount of antioxidants in the blood stream, reduce blood pressure and improve blood flow which can help in reducing the risk of heart diseases. These findings add weight to the theory that Mediterranean diets with lots of nuts have huge health benefits.

In this recent study, the

researchers tested the effects of a short term almond-enriched diet on healthy, young and middleaged men as well as on a group of young men with cardiovascular risk factors including high blood pressure or being overweight.

The controlled group ate what they normally would, while the group consumed 50 grams of almonds a day for one month. The final result showed that the group which ate an almondenriched diet had higher levels of antioxidants (alpha-tocopherol) in their blood stream, improved blood flow and lower blood pressure, potentially reducing their risk of heart disease.

Almonds are packed with a range of beneficial nutrients like vitamin E, healthy fats, fiber which increases the sense of fullness and flavonoids that have antioxidant proper-

Professor H e l e n Griffiths.

"You could replace a daytime snack with a bag of almonds or add them to your regular meals like porridge or muesli to help reduce your risk of heart problems," said Griffiths.

Apart from being good for the heart, they are also helpful in weight management and boost metabolism. Almonds are rich in manganese, copper and riboflavin which help in maintaining energy levels.

They are also good for warding off gallstones.

Health benefits of watermelon

atermelon has several health benefits.

W This juicy, sweet and soft

fruit are a perfect thirstquencher for any season.

This fruit is best eaten during summer because they are not only sweet but also juicy. It has approximately 92 per cent water and 8 per cent sugar content in it. It is also a good sun-protector.

According to a recent study, consumption of watermelon helps to cut down sun related damage by 40 per cent. The presence of the best antioxidant - lycopene helps to hunt down UV - induced free radicals that can cause sunburn and wrinkling.

Besides, this antioxidant also helps to reduce the risk of various types of cancer like skin cancer.

If you have sleep dis-

orders like insomnia or sleep apnoea, eating watermelon can help to treat it and aid a better sleep. Watermelon is rich in vitamin B6; this vitamin helps in the production of serotonin and dopamine. Both these chemicals are mood related compounds. When these chemicals are produced in the body, your brain becomes less sensi-

tive to disruptive stimuli like noise, and thus assures you good sleep.

Watermelons are also rich in electrolytes, sodium and potassium, thus it helps to avoid dehydration, caused by perspiration. Besides, the presence of potassium also helps to control your blood pressure level.

Watermelons are a good source of vitamins like

vitamin A, B and C. You don't have to worry about your weight, while consuming watermelon because they are low in calories and high in nutrient content.

How to choose the right watermelon?

Always choose a watermelon that is symmetrical and firm in shape. The watermelon you pick should be devoid of any cuts or bruises.

Turn the watermelon, and hunt for a yellow area.

The presence of a yellow spot on your watermelon is a good sign, as it states that the watermelon was placed on the ground during the ripening season under the sun. It also indicates that the melon is sweeter and juicier.

Now, slap your watermelon, if it sounds hollow then it is ripe.

tose binding protein (GBP) that changes shape when it attaches to glucose," a research by Sylvia Daunert from University of Miami in the US and colleagues showed.

The researchers engineered it in such a way that it would be stable in and out of the body for longer

periods to detect levels of glucose within the range in a diabetic person.

Currently, most patients with diabetes monitor blood-sugar levels by using a glucose meter. They prick a finger with a tiny needle to draw blood which they apply to a test strip inserted into the glucometer.

It provides a reading of the level at that moment.

But glucose levels change throughout the day, so many readings are needed.

That is not always convenient and some people find that pricking their finger is painful. As a result, many patients do not test their

blood as often as they should, risking complications such as seizures.

"For more continuous monitoring, some patients use implantable devices that measure blood-sugar as often as once a minute, but they are expensive, can only be used for up to a week and are not as reliable as conventional meters," researchers said.

They, therefore, set out to improve upon these limited options and they turned to a protein that has already been explored as a good candidate for use in a continuous glucose monitoring system.

Soon, a device to track blood sugar levels 24/7

inger pricking to monitor blood sugar levels F could be a thing of the past.

An implantable device to track your blood-sugar levels round-the-clock is the future with the scientists now having developed a new glucose-sensing protein.

"It is a glucose/galac-

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...

Help! I need to lose weight for summer!

Ayurvedic Diet to lose weight?

Ravi Bhanot

ties.

T h e t e a m believes that it is likely to be the combination of all these nutrients working together which makes almonds so healthy rather than just one particular nutrient in isolation.

"Our study confirms that almonds are a super food. Previous studies have shown that they keep your heart healthy, but our research proves that it isn't too late to introduce them into your diet - adding even a handful (around 50g) every day for a short period can help," said

27

JP MRPharmS Dip(Nutr) Dip(Hom) Dip(Ayurv) Dip(Stress Manag) Dip (Massage) Pharmacist, Ayurvedic, Complementary Health and Nutrition Consultant, Lecturer, Researcher and Author.

Interview with Ravi Bhanot on slimming.

He is a research chemist, nutrition and complementary consultant and inventor of the CoolSlim Plan 1. Why should I slim?

People slim for health reasons or to look great.

Whatever the reason may be the ‘why’ has to be strong, to lose weight.

2. Should someone have a slimming plan? It is not necessary but a slimming plan just helps one to be more disciplined.

3. What makes the CoolSlim Plan differ to other slimming plans?

Most plans work on eating low calorie food, high protein food or low carbohydrate diets or some sort of deprivation. However they do not work on a long term basis as the diet is not based on their staple diet.

CoolSlim Plan works on eating foods one eats normally but not so much focusing on calories or protein but on eating what we call LOW KAPHA energy foods and ensuring we get all six tastes in our diet.

4. What do you mean by low Kapha foods? What does this mean? According to Ayurveda, heavy elements, earth and water give Kapha energy. Kapha foods therefore tend to be heavy and add weight – for example milk and bananas. So we should emphasise on eating low kapha foods when slimming. Eating excess K factor foods and then not burning them off causes them to turn to fat soluble toxins – fatty tissue.

For a list of low K factor foods email ravi@coolherbals.com.

If you do eat high K foods balance it with low K

foods, for example have a lamb kebab (K+) with a salad (K-) food. Ideally you want to eat 50% salad and vegetables, 30% protein and 20% carbs. In the kebab roll, make sure you eat plenty of salad, some meat and lesser amount wheat pitta bread.

In ayurvedic terms, the universe like us humans is made up of 5 elements water, earth, air, ether (space) and fire. Food too is made of these elements. No food has the same amounts of these – a combination of these elements make different energies. There are three energies or doshas – vata, pitta, and kapha. From the five elements the From the five elements foods more with the elements of water and earth tend to be heavier and cause obesity.

5. What did you mean about six tastes? To satisfy the 10,000 taste To satisfy the 10,000 taste buds or so on our tongue, to feel full whilst eating we need to eat all 6 tastes- sugar, salt, sour, bitter, pungent and astringent. Generally we only eat 4 out of the 6 tastes in eating fast foods. We appreciate people who eat fast food are hardly going to stop eating these in the long run.

So we can encourage they get the other 2 tastes from spice mixes such as Kapha Spice Mix, a product that we make.

6. How much can I lose?

People generally lose 1 to 2 pounds per week. It should be emphasised there are other factors that are important such as having a specific goal, exercise, curbing the appetite and improving the digestive fire for digestion. There are some herbs that can help in this too. These are in the CoolSlim Plan Kit. As Prof.

Campbell of Bolton University says: "I see the CoolSlim Plan as the way forward in this jungle of obesity, unhealthy lifestyles, lack of motivation and exercise. You will be motivated to be the best you can be naturally."

Lose Weight Now!!

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28

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

E

Samantha rejects 'Queen' offer

ver since actor, director and producer Thiyagarajan announced that he has purchased the remake rights of Bollywood super hit film ‘Queen’ in all the four south Indian languages, people started speculating who will replace Kangana Ranaut in the remake versions. One strong speculation was that Samantha has been roped in for the role in all the four languages despite Thiyagarajan revealed that the casting is yet to be finalized. However, now it has been revealed that Samantha was

M

indeed approached by the makers for the lead role in the female centric film but the actress has politely refused the offer.

Samantha has confirmed this in a recent interview. Insiders reveal that Samantha felt that ‘Queen’ story suits to North Indian audience and suggested making some changes in script so that it suits the taste of South Indian audience. Since the makers were not game in making any changes to the script Samantha reportedly rejected the offer in a polite manner and wished all the best for the remake versions.

Anirudh’s fan following touches a million

usic director Anirudh Ravichander has an official Facebook page and he is a frequent visitor in social networking sites. The tremendous fan following of the young composer is evident in the number of people following his Facebook page.

Anirudh’s official FB page has crossed a whopping one million followers and it is a phenomenon that has only been achieved by star actors like Vijay and Ajith.

The ‘Ethineechal’ composer has updated a thanks message for the phenomenal response for his

S

The story is about a small village boy who is neither handsome nor intelligent.

But his m o t h e r used to tell him that he is the most handsome boy on the earth and he will marry some beautiful Memsaab. Munna grows up by thinking and dreaming of getting married to a Memsaab. Finally, one day he lands up in a city to fulfil his dream. Weather he will be able to marry a Memsaab is the plot. Vinay Arts is the producers of the film. The film features Omkar Das Manikpuri, Razzak Khan, Ms. Jordiya Anna and Himani Shivpuri in main roles.

‘Humpty Dulhania’

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odel-turned-actress Kriti Sanon, who made her debut in Bollywood opposite Tiger Shroff in ‘Heropanti’, is currently busy shooting a Telugu film. With her new project, the 23-year-old actress is again going back to her South Indian roots as she made her foray into acting with Sukumar’s Telugu psychological thriller film “1: Nenokkadine.” “I am doing a Telugu film now. It is an ambitious film I am working on,” she said. The Delhi-born actress was in Jaipur to launch ‘Quickster Football’ watch of swiss brand Tissot at the company’s store.

She said that the watch is specially designed to time football matches. “With the football fever at its peak now, I guess it is the most suited watch that I could flaunt,” she said.

Rajinikanth plays dual avatar in ‘Lingaa’

u p e r s t a r Rajinikanth, who is currently busy shooting for Tamil action movie ‘Lingaa’, will reportedly be seen in dual avatar in the film. “Rajini sir is playing double role in the film. He plays a district collector in the present day of the story, while he will be seen in a different role in the flashback sequence. The

‘Munna Mange Memsaab’

FB presence. “Thanks to the 1 million fans on my Facebook page.. Keep blessing.”

Anirudh entered film industry in 2012 with the Dhanush starrer ‘3’. He has delivered back to back super hit albums with ‘Ethirneechal’, ‘Vanakkam Chennai’, ‘Velai Illa Pattadhari’ and ‘Maan Karate’. He is currently working on Vijay starrer ‘Kaththi’ that is being directed by A R Murugadoss.

Anirudh has also been recognized by fans as a talented singer and he recently recorded for the opening song scored by A R Rahman for director Shankar’s magnum opus ‘Ai’.

Kriti Sanon goes back to Telugu film

Sharma

Ki

“Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania” features Varun Dhawan as Rakesh Sharma (Humpty) and Alia Bhatt as Kavya Pratap Singh in lead roles. The film is produced by Karan Johar and directed by debutant Shashank Khaitan. When K a v y a P r a t a p S i n g h decides to make a trip to Delhi for her marriage shopping, she meets a young, carefree Delhi l a d , Humpty Sharma.

Humpty's father is the owner of a campus bookstore, where Humpty and his two best friends, Shonty and Poplu, have grown up. The rest is the plot of the film.

filmmakers have kept it a secret,” a source from the film’s unit said.

Rajinikanth and the rest of the crew are currently shooting in Hyderabad.

Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha has been selected to play the leading lady. Directed by K S Ravikumar, ‘Lingaa’ also features Jagapathi Babu in an important role. A R Rahman is composing the film’s music.

Aahana Kumra to work with Bachchan

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heatre actress Aahana Kumra will be seen in megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s TV show “Yudh.” Aahana, who has earlier worked in films is making her television debut with “Yudh.” She will be essaying the role of Amitabh Bachchan’s daughter in the show, who is playing an oncologist’s role. “I had never thought in my wildest dream that I will get a chance to work with Bachchan, that too so early in my career. I had thought, I will probably get a chance to do an ad.

Working him with for almost a year is like going on a ‘tirtha yatra’,” the actress said in a statement.

Abhishek, Riteish and Akshay in ‘Housefull 3’

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bhishek Bachchan will be joining hands with Akshay Kumar and Riteish Deshmukh in the 3rd instalment of laughter riot “Housefull 3.” After months of speculation on who would be directing the film, Sajid Nadiadwala has roped in writerdirector duo Sajid-Farhad. The film is all set to roll by this year end. Akshay Kumar and Abhishek Bachchan will be teaming after a gap of 12 years. The leading ladies for the film are yet to be confirmed.

29

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

I’m another selfie obsessed person: Alia Bhatt Alia Bhatt talks about “Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania,” her character’s obsession with Kareena’s Lehnga, and the new Siddharth in the SOTY Team. She wishes that like her last film, this one also reaches the 100 crore mark and reveals the qualities she would look for in her real life Dulha.

Shefali Saxena

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hat made you choose Kavya’s character?

She is a small town Punjabi girl, constantly talking and chattering, thinking that she knows it all. What really attracted me to this film was that the characters are very real, but the situations they are put in are very filmy.

There is a lot of speculation about similarities between Kavya’s character and Kareena’s character in “Jab We Met.” How true is that?

What I know is that every other Punjabi girl at the end of the day is obsessed with Kareena’s character from ‘Jab We Met.’ And this is just another girl, Kavya Pratap Singh who is obsessed with Kareena Kapoor, wanting to get married in a Kareena’s lehnga. So that is the motive of her life. I don’t know how different I am to be honest; we’ve unabashedly said that there is nothing different in the film. I’ve not tried to copy or mimic anybody. Obviously at the end of the day she is a Kareena Kapoor fan. She has that little nakhra in a certain sense.

Say something about Varun’s character.

Why his name is Humpty Sharma is very interesting. When he was young he was fat, he says, ‘jab main chhota thha tab main mota hua karta thha’ he used to be a chubby round little ball, so the girls called him humpty. And he’s like any other Punjabi boy whom you meet on the roads of Delhi. He thinks he’s very very cool, but he’s not.

How was it working with the SOTY team but with a new Siddharth on board?

Well, Siddharth Shukla is known worldwide as a TV actor. Many times we were shooting and he would get mobbed. Varun and I would be standing in the corner, looking at him like in awe! We wish we

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Media planning to black out Shraddha Kapoor?

had that many fans! He’s a superb actor, very professional, and he’s always on time.

How is Shashank Khaitan as a debutant director?

Not once did I feel he was a debutant director. He seemed more like an assistant director than a director because he would do all the running around!

He is so in control. A lot of this includes his life and his love story.

How did you come up with the idea of Humphies?

Humphie was my idea! It’s the first selfie poster. Selfies have become such a craze right now and I’m another selfie obsessed person. So when we were doing a photo shoot, I said let’s take a selfie poster and we did that. And I said let’s call it Humphie because it’s Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania.

Karan Johar says that DDLJ is the epic barometer of love stories in Indian cinema and HSKD is an ode to DDLJ. How much do you relate to this idea?

DDLJ is the all-time famous love story that the Indian film industry has, so if anybody talks about a love story you think of DDLJ, you think of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, so it’s not a particular story we’re making a tribute to, because you will see a glimpse of all love stories in our film that you’re in love with.

What qualities would you look for in your real life Dulha?

I don’t have a long list, but I know that the guy has to be tall dark handsome, humorous, chivalrous, funny and entertaining.

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Priyanka ridiculed on social media

ocial media is the dragon for stars who enjoy the ride, but it must be trained and Priyanka Chopra so far managed to create quite a following for herself on the internet with her selfies.

But recently the beast bared its fangs and frightened Miss PeeCee. The point is, PeeCee's recent attempts at challenging her internet followers to ask her any question. The dare, on a networking platform, backfired, with the actress and selfstyled signer being heckled mercilessly.

Everything from her rumoured plastic surgeries, to the controversy surrounding the naming of a street

Bipasha Basu wants more love

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t seems a c t r e s s Bipasha Basu hopes for love and genuine happiness to spread across the world.

"Wish there was more love in this world than hatred and anger!

Wish there was genuine happiness than just the need to hoard materialistic things," the Bengali beauty posted on Twitter. Bipasha`s latest release was ‘Humshakals’, which she chose not to promote. She will next be seen in ‘Creature 3D’. On the personal front, she is said to be dating Harman Baweja.

Preity joins hands with Saif Ali Khan

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after her father and even her so-called affair with Shah Rukh Khan, no topic was untouched.

PeeCee beat a hasty retreat, but not before exposing her vulnerability. This comes at a time when a certain troubled industrialist too has been mulling over the idea of using social media to counter the charges levelled against him by an irate former lover. We believe his well-meaning friends have strictly forbidden him from doing so especially after it became evident that his ex has managed to garner considerable support on the internet.

ollywood’s dimpled beauty Preity Zinta, is all set to reunite with her ‘Kya Kehna’ and ‘Salaam Namaste’ costar Saif Ali Khan for his upcoming film ‘Happy Ending’ after 16 long years.

Preity, who has been going through a rough phase in her personal life, was happy to be back on the sets with ‘Happy Ending’. The actress took to Twitter to express how she felt working on the sets after 16 years. Preity had also said earlier, “It’s amazing 2go back 2 the same location where I started my career.” While Saif’s character in Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK’s ‘Happy Ending’ will see him sport three different looks, Preity will be seen in a cameo.

Salman gifts Sidharth a watch

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m p re s s e d w i t h Sidharth Malhotra’s acting in “Ek Villain,” S a l m a n Khan gifted him a designer watch on the occasion, as a token of appreciation.

Sidharth said he had invited Khan, but he said he would be unable to attend it due to shooting. “He called me up and congratulated for good opening (of ‘Ek Villain’) and my performance. I had invited him and he first said he can’t come. But, he came and I think it was sweet of him,” Sidharth told reporters.

“A person of his stature doesn’t need to do this and I think he has a great heart.

He also gave me a watch, it was a sweet gesture,” the actor added.

here have been rumours that the shutterbugs are displeased with Bollywood’s rising star Shraddha Kapoor and they are planning to boycott her. It seems that two consecutive hits (“Aashiqui 2” and “Ek Villain”) have made the actress camera shy.

Unlike her ever obliging co-star Sidharth Malhotra, Shraddha has been turning her face away from the photographers too many times and has finally invited a ban from the camera-wielding community.

It all started when she refused to look up on her way out of the airport and then kept the lensmen hanging around on the sets of a reality TV show where she was making an appearance. The photographers were informed that they would have to wait until the shoot is over, which meant waiting for a couple of hours. The stance continued as she had refused to pose for them at two other events as well. Unless the photographers are appeased, she will be blacked out in the media.

When contacted, Shakti Kapoor covered up for his daughter, saying, "There must be a misunderstanding. My daughter is a sweet girl who never intentionally offends anybody. But yes, actors need to cooperate with the media."

Sunny Leone & her Pink Lips too hot to handle

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unny Leone packs a seductive punch in the song titled ‘Pink Lips’ from the film “Hate Story 2.”

From the teaser it seems like Sunny will continue to dazzle with her sexy moves. In the song Pink Lips, Sunny invites audiences to get wet with her. She is in a mood for a sensuous rain dance number and dons a hot pink lipstick in the entire song. Just like Baby Doll, this song too has been sung by the Meet Brother Anjjan and Khushboo Grewal. In the video, the actress is seen pulling off some great moves in several different seductive attires. When it comes to being sexy, the actress surely knows how to carry off her looks with a lot of style without looking cheap.

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UK

Firefighters make the World's Largest Naan Bread

A giant naan bread, made by a team of firefighters, is believed to be the biggest the world has ever seen.

The team from Hampshire, led by a fire officer called Dave Curry, created the huge Indian bread, weighing 26kg (57lb 5oz) and measuring 3.79m (12ft 5in) by 1.4m (4ft 7in) on Sunday 6 July. Footage of the record attempt at Eastleigh Mela will now be sent to Guinness for official verification. The current record naan, which weighed 9.5kg (20lb 15oz), was made in 2008. It is hoped the giant naan bread will be

confirmed as beating the current record set in 2008. The world record attempt also helped to raise money for a number of charities The previous giant creation was cooked by Loblaw Companies Limited in Brampton, Ontario, Canada and measured 2.89m (9ft 6in) by 1m (3ft 4in). The Hampshire firefighters' enormous naan bread, which was sold for £3 with a curry, helped raise money for The Fire Fighters Charity, Water Wells Project and Hampshire Hurricanes. It was created with the help of Badi Mirchi and Sanjha restaurants.

Coming Events

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Contact: 0300 123 23 23. l Saturday 19th July – Sunday 27th July Shreemad bhagwat krishna katha mahotsav at BIA Brent Indian Association, 116 Ealing Road, Wembley, Middlesex HA0 4TA. l Monday 21st July – Thursday 24th July 2014 – Geeta Updesh Discourses at SKLPC, West End Road Northolt, UB5 6RE – Dinner from 6pm and discourses from 7.30pm – 9.30pm. l 25th – 27th July – Hindu Lifestyle Seminar 2014 at Shree Kuth Leva Patel Community Centre, West End Road, Northolt UB5 6RE. Contact: 0779 353 1382.

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Over 100 Imams sign petition urging British Muslims not to go to Syria and Iraq

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20 Your communications are at their peak and any initiatives you take now will be well received by people in authority. An exchange of opinions ought to prove very enlivening at this time. Although the very practical affairs of life continue to be highlighted, you will still be very much in demand socially.

Saturn continues its journey through your opposite sign, lending its support for you to redefine your sense of self. It’s an exciting, expansive time, when you should find it easier to be who you are and do what you want : you may be surprised by just how far you can go. This is a tremendously exciting time for you.

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21

The focus is on finances this week, but that doesn’t mean you should worry yourself sick.

Rather, it is about finding new and improved ways to boost your earnings potential. Don’t let nebulous tendencies interfere with your plans. It’s fine to consider several options but don’t get caught up in indecision. Schedule networking opportunities later this week.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22

Sunni and Shia Imams from across the UK have come together to support a single unified cause; to urge British Muslims not to fall prey to sectarian divisions and to call on people not to travel to Syria or Iraq to fight in the escalating conflicts.

An open letter signed by more than 100 Imams from across major theological backgrounds and cultural groups urges “British Muslim communities to continue the generous and tireless effort to support all of those affected by the crisis in Syria and unfolding events in Iraq, but to do so from the UK in a safe and responsible way.”

Qari Mohammed Asim, Imam at Leeds Makka Mosque, who played a key role in developing the letter, reportedly said: “The scale of the humanitarian disaster in

Syria and the escalating violence in Iraq calls for an unprecedented response. As we near the end of the first week of Ramadan our message is simple, we have come together to urge British Muslim communities not to fall prey to any form of sectarian divisions or social discord.”

The letter commends the incredible work that British Muslim communities have already done to raise money for the plight of the Syrian people and pledges further support but reminds communities that any support they give should be from the UK in a safe and responsible way.

The collective action between the Imams was facilitated by Faith Associates, an organisation which works with Imams and mosques across the UK.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22

It is a great week for seeing real results.

You can accomplish more than usual with a little elbow grease - the keyword here is discipline. Your social graces will serve you well career-wise. Mixing business with pleasure will bring you benefits. You will achieve great success by being responsible and diplomatic.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23 You may find yourself hard at work behind the scenes, although that may not be apparent to others. You may find yourself caught up in a whirlwind of activity, with opportunities to advance on both the inner and outer level.

There’s a sparkle to your social life and you will have fun communicating with others.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23 You will find added scope and greater incentive to push full steam ahead with your cherished aims. You must be careful not to tread on other people's toes. This is the right time to talk things over with your loved one especially anything that has been worrying you or making you feel insecure.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23 Jupiter is transiting your solar tenth house for some time to come.

During this transit, you have the chance to make lots of money and improve your standard of living.

You are likely to feel more confident and enthusiastic about life. Your personal relationships are still going through a period of re-assessment.

Your horizons are most certainly expanding. Your philosophical thoughts will make your mind run wild. With Jupiter transiting your Solar 9th House, there will be many opportunities. Your financial affairs are looking up. Do not miss out on ways to better yourself in the coming weeks.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22

Bureau Chief: Nilesh Parmar (M) +91 94266 36912 Email: nilesh.parmar@abplgroup.com Consulting Editor: Bhupatbhai Parekh, Ahmedabad, 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 / Fax: +91 79 2646 12960 Email: horizon.marketing@abplgroup.com Business Manager: Hardik Shah (M) +91 992120 42936 Email: hardik.shah@abplgroup.com Advertising Manager: Neeta Patel (Vadodara) M: +91 9821212 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 Group (South India) Tel: +91 44 42041122/3/4 Fax: +91 44 212362973 Mumbai: +91 222471 4122 Email: jain@jaingroup.net Delhi Office: Tel: +91 44 931112811297

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SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21 Business partnerships are tested, some of them could challenge your authority. The more you live up to your own set of principles the more you will gain. Now is the time to cultivate an easier relationship with life, get out and about, explore fresh possibilities. Once you set your mind on a goal you must go for it.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20

The fiery planet Mars, continues to occupy your Solar 10th house for some time to come. Its influence will help you to maintain a high energy level and achieve positive results in anything that requires drive and initiative. If you are involved in a fairly competitive field of activity, you will be the one who comes out on top.

The prevailing pattern of planets gives you a marvelous opportunity. Take time out to strengthen close ties of affection, sort out emotional differences and proffer the olive branch to anyone who may have caused you pain in recent months. Venus throws an easy light on affairs of the heart - prime time for engagements and weddings.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19

Opportunities abound, so make the right choices.

You should enjoy a popular phase in your life where everyone wants to invite you to parties. This will give you a chance to meet people and pursue any romantic liaisons. There will be excesses associated with splashing out on luxury items which sometimes we do not really require.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

England selectors overlook Panesar

The Engla.nd selectors were in desperate need for specialist spin bowler and Monty Panesar is the best in the country, yet his omission to face India has gone without much comment.

From being a crowd favourite, his image was first tarnished in 2011.

Police were called after an altercation in a car park with his wife, from whom he is now divorced. He was fined for drunkenly urinating on bouncers at a nightclub last August, leading to his release from Sussex.

Unless Panesar convinces the selectors that he is back on an even keel, his 50th Test, against Australia in Melbourne eight months ago, will be his last. This season was meant to be a fresh start. He stayed in Sydney after the Ashes series to play for Western Suburbs, the prestigious club whose members include Michael Clarke and

In 2007 a golf day at Silvermere Golf Club was held by Hemendra Patel of Club 2000 Bar and Restaurant in memory of his late mother, Mrs Pushpaben C Patel.

Approximately 20 golfers comprising of family and friends attended this event and this led to the inception of C2K Golf Society.

The golf society has

Monty Panesar Mitchell Starc.

Jeff Cook, a former team-mate at Northamptonshire who captains the team, felt that Panesar had given himself the best chance of pushing for England selection this season. “He sorted out everything himself, which is unusual for an overseas player,” Cook said.

Panesar employed a personal trainer to get a better body tone after a chat with Andy Flower, the England team director at the time. He worked with Greg Matthews, the icono-

clastic former Australia spin bowler, on his game. Stints with television and radio commentary teams helped to boost his confidence.

“Monty was fine,” Cook said. “With a new coach and Graeme Swann retiring, he realised there was an opportunity and he left no stone unturned. We were impressed. The thing with Monty, he just wants to play cricket. He might let himself down in certain areas off the field, but you can say that about 90 per cent of players at some time in their careers.”

Back with Essex, things did not start well. A spat with Billy Godleman, of Derbyshire, in his first game caused the umpires to intervene. Then came the one-match ban imposed by the club. Panesar had been warned twice. He has taken

23 wickets at an average of 31.47 and Nigel Hilliard, the Essex chairman, has said that “the jury is still out” on the success of the two-year contract.

“Let’s be careful and not exaggerate,” Hilliard said. “We did not sign him to bowl out sides in April and May. We will see how he goes on for the rest of the season. We have not had a disciplinary problem other than his time-keeping. It is not a cautioning situation, that has long gone.

“We knew he was not the easiest person. He can be a bit moody, a bit reserved, a bit up and down, but he can bowl and it was a reasonable deal.

People said we should not touch him because he was difficult, but they said that about Jesse Ryder as well and Jesse has been brilliant for us. I hope Monty will be the same.”

now been running since 2008 and it was started off with initially 18 members, many of whom had just taken up the game. Over the years the society’s popularity grew which led to more and more members joining and we now had to cap our membership to 55 members and have a number of golfers on a waiting list.

The society holds 6 events during the year and have continued the tradition of holding a Memorial Event which normally takes place mid-season (July/August). The memorial event is held in memory of those friends and relatives and club members who have passed away.

This year Memorial Golf Day is being held at Mill

Green Golf Club on the 11th July 2014 and is supported by “Haathee Group”.

They raise funds for charitable organisations and in particular C2K Golf Society members have supported Northwick Park Hospital Renal & Dialysis Centre, Bal Gopal Foundation and various other charities.

Golf Society aims to raise money for charities

SPORT WORLD

31

Continued from page 32 But he is a positive player too. He has Twenty20 hundreds in the IPL, showing the versatility the modern batting star must possess.

He just wants to bat and bat and bat. These new Indian batsmen love cricket so much and are desperate for success in Test cricket because they love the format. You will be playing in the IPL with them but all they will want to talk about is Test cricket, asking: “How do I score Test hundreds?”

India were hammered during the last series, but we had Swann in those days and a couple of our batters made big runs. Cook was in form, Swann was bowling teams out and James Anderson produced beautiful reverse swing. We won crucial tosses and fought through a few tough sessions. England were at our peak as a side.

If England want to win the test they have to take 20 wickets. The key to that happening will be using Anderson, Stuart Broad and Liam Plunkett cleverly.

Plunkett should be used in bursts Plunkett’s pace can make the much desired difference if utilised properly. He needs to be managed the same way Michael Clarke used Mitchell Johnson last winter.

Bowl him in short bursts. You cannot Liam Plunkett bowl him for eight or nine over spells. If England can use Liam cleverly by keeping him fresh then he can punch a hole in the Indian batting. It could be a huge factor in the series because England will score enough runs. The young guys are playing beautifully. Sam Robson looks well organised and tough, Cook may regain his form, while Gary Ballance, Ian Bell and Joe Root provide the backbone. It is just down to the bowlers and arming them with the right tactics to win.

Three to watch Virat Kohli: Right-hand batsman, Age 25, Tests 24, 100s 6, Average 46.51 Murali Vijay: Right hand opener, Age 30, Tests 22, 100s 3, Average 35.24 Cheteshwar Pujara: Right hand bat, Age 26, Tests 19, 100s 6, Average 58.92 - Kevin Pietersen (Courtesy Times)

SPORT

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th July 2014

India's new stars can pose problems for England

The first test match between India and England which begins at Trent Bridge on Wednesday will be a close one. If Indian bowlers can deliver, then India have a better chance since their batsmen can score enough runs to win matches.

Since the pitch at Trent Bridge has not enough grass to favour the seamers, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay, M S Dhoni and Ajinkya Rahane will be able to score good runs. In the past the green surface helped the seamers enormously so that they can tilt the balance in their favour. Recently, the pitch helped Lankan batsmen Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews to score good runs. The pitch is going to help the Indian batsmen too. If you half a chance to Pujara he will make it full and then it would be difficult to dislodge him.

The home advantage has been lost after the

Cricketer Kevin Pietersen MBE, winner of International Sporting Personality of the Year category with cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar

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The National Association Of Goldsmiths Member

installation of the new drainage system, which turned the pitches into sandpits. Now the pitches offer very little to the seamers and even the spinners. When it spins, it does so slowly, so the batsmen will get enough time to negotiate the ball.

Though the groundsmen are doing everything to have more grass, they could not make much progress. Though the drainage system was installed with good intentions; to give the public as much cricket as possible by reducing the amount of overs lost to rain. It is good news for chief executives running grounds carrying the burden of heavy debts but in terms of the quality of cricket the public are seeing, it is not good enough.

The new arrangement will help earn more money, but it will not help the England cricket. It is going the help the Indian batsmen more, as they will get more time to negotiate the ball. It is something that has really changed since India were beaten here 4-0 three years ago.

One of the major problems facing the England

team is the loss of Graeme Swann. England captain Alastair Cook will find it very difficult when the opposition batsmen start going big; because he cannot get the assistance of Swann, who could defend and attack in equal measure. Swann made Andrew Strauss’captaincy look good and he made Cook’s look good, too, by making crucial breakthroughs when the opposition were threatening to take the game away. It was down to Swann’s genius, and not tactical masterstrokes.

The Indians respect Swann hugely, they think he is a fantastic bowler.

Indians will be happy to miss Swann’s spin.

The last tour was a farewell series for Indian giants, but this series will see the emergence of new stars on the Indian side.

Murali Vijay For Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid it was their last series. England fans will now get a chance to enjoy watching Kohli, Murali Vijay and Pujara the next generation of stars.

The new generation Indian batsmen all learnt from Tendulkar. They know that they cannot be another Tendulkar but they take inspiration from him. The young Indians would love to score runs in Test cricket like Sachin.

It is not just about the endorsements and money.

They know Test cricket is where men are made.

Sachin has set the standards so high. His statistics will never be

Virat Kohli

matched but even though the new generation will not reach his heights, still they post some incredible numbers. Look at Kohli.

He has already scored 19 one-day hundreds. No England batsman has got close to that and at 25 he still has at least 10 years left in the game.

He is a superstar raring to have a try at the England bowling. He is ready to face any challenges and prove his worth. Give him the chance to bat for a day and he will take the game away from you. Pujara is a slow scorer but Kohli can devastate an attack. He is technically sound, experienced and has the confidence of success. He is determined and always wanted to learn. He is strong all around the

Cheteshwar Pujara wicket. He can play any shot. He is one of those gifted players who can hit the ball from third man all the way to fine leg with comfort. He is perfect against pace. He scored a beautiful Test hundred in South Africa at Johannesburg against Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander, and another in Australia on a tour where India lost 4-0. He has scored runs against the best bowling attacks and is desperate to add to that by being successful in English conditions.

He has a great temperament, confident, and he backs his ability. He has that killer instinct and is ruthless when he plays.

He plays to win and is the modern Indian star.

Though on the field he is

Ajinkya Rahane

ruthless, off the field he is a fantastic learner and wants to emulate the greats. Virat is one of India’s biggest stars. He is one of those guys who when he is on the field, other players and some viewers will think he is an arrogant idiot. But he is a guy who plays to win. He loves cricket and he fights hard.

One another threat to England is Murali Vijay.

He is very correct, an excellent player. He is another one who always wants to learn. He hits millions of balls and is very like Jonathan Trott in that respect. Murali has so much time at the crease and great patience. He will bat for long periods and has a very good head.

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