AV 12th October 2013

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Gandhi Jayanti – A celebration of 144 years

See Page - 8

VOL 42. ISSUE 24

40 more nations to receive visa on arrival India is set to roll out the red carpet for foreign tourists. The government on Monday cleared a slew of measures including extending visa on arrival (VoA) to 40 countries, establishing an online application system for visas and facilitating visa on arrival for pensioners and those attending conferences.

The decision means foreign tourists will be able to apply for an Indian visa from the comfort of their homes while citizens from 40 countries including the US, the UK, Germany, France, Brazil, Russia and China among others will avail visa on arrival when they land on Indian shores. The government has also agreed to extend visa on arrival to foreign travelers above 60 years of age from all countries and cut down the time taken to give visas to groups that are keen to attend conventions.

"There has to be a change in mindset towards the way we treat foreign tourists.

Continued on page 26

First & Foremost Asian Weekly in Europe

Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

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12th October to 18th October 2013

5 Indian states to go to polls between Nov 11 and Dec 4

Asians on the rise in the Cabinet

Tanveer Mann

Cameron's David Cabinet Reshuffle quietly took place on Monday, in both a bid to strengthen the existing power base with the likes of the brightest MPs, such as Sajid Javid and Shailesh Vara as well as aesthetically rearranging to reflect the growing, multicultural population. Last year's controversial Cabinet Reshuffle in September is all too fresh in people's minds and thankfully this year, PM Cameron, urged by provocation from George Osborne, seems to have abandoned its mostly allwhite, all-male bias. The face of the Conservatives is rapidly evolving with these small but significant steps, in an effort to promote younger MPs from ethnic backgrounds and more women.

With a strong backing form Chancellor George Osborne, the Cabinet reshuffle marks the first time all three main parties rearranged their teams on the same day. Six of Osborne's supporters were promoted in the ministerial reshuffle, including rising

Shailesh Vara MP

star, Tory MP Sajid Javid, former Parliamentary private secretary for Mr Osborne, who has jumped up two steps to become the new Financial Secretary to the Treasury only three years after his election to Westminster.

The son of a bus driver and a state school educated former banker, Mr Javid has shone out amongst the brightest members of the Tory MPs in a mere three years, proving to be a trustworthy yet defiant leader in the Commons. Mr Javid was born in Rochdale, Lancashire, but was brought up in Bristol. At 25 years old, he became a Vice-President of Chase Manhattan Bank and later

will go to polls on December 1 in a single phase while Madhya Pradesh will vote on November 25 in a single phase. The national capital of Delhi will go to polls on December 4 along with Mizoram.

Chief Election Commissioner of India VS Sampath announced the dates for the Assembly polls in New Delhi. Over 110 million people are eligible to elect 630 MLAs in these polls. A total of 130,000 polling stations Continued on page 26

Millions across 13 districts of Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions are facing the worst blackout in years as power

employees continued to be on strike to protest the bifurcation Andhra Pradesh and creation of Continued on page 26

Shutdown in Andhra over Telangana issue

Sajid Javid MP

a director of Deutsche Bank.

However, his love of Politics flourished under Margaret Thatcher’s premiership and he soon gave up banking to focus on politics. With a penchant for the community, Mr Javid has become extremely grounded with community affairs and has attended numerous events, including the launch of the Asian Voice Finance Business Insurance magazine this Summer. His new position comes as a celebration for the Asian community, after some felt he was given a less prominent position in the Cabinet reshuffle of 2012.

Continued on page 2

Let the Pyar sparkle this Diwali

Five states - Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Delhi and Pradesh, Mizoram - will go to polls between November 11 and December 4. The counting of the votes in all the five states will take place on December 8.

With the announcement of the election schedule, the model code of conduct has come into effect in these five states.

Chhattisgarh will be the first state to go to polls and will vote in two phases on November 11 and November 19. Rajasthan

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Keith Vazwith MP

Keith Vaz MP

Neeraj Mistry Neeraj Mistry, MD, MPH, joined the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases in July 2010 as Managing Director.

With a focus on advocacy and resource mobilization, he creates partnerships and bridges crosscutting development themes to grow and strengthen the movement of controlling and eliminating neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). A public health physician, Neeraj was a founding member and former Vice President of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GBC).

Neeraj serves on the Board of African Services Committee and the International Advisory Board of the END Fund, the world’s first private philanthropic initiative to combat the seven most common NTDs. Following the completion of his medical training at the University of the Witwatersrand Medical School in Johannesburg, South Africa, he focused on HIV/AIDS, occupational health, family practice and sexual and reproductive health.

Dr. Mistry also worked at the National Health Service (NHS) in London and with Merck & Co. Inc. dealing with public affairs for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He holds a Master's degree in Health Policy and Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is currently reading for a Master’s degree in Liberal Arts at Johns Hopkins University. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife and two daughters.

1). Please tell me about your current position?

I am Managing Director of the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases (Global Network), an advocacy initiative of the Sabin Vaccine Institute dedicated to raising the awareness, political will and funds required to advance the neglected tropical disease (NTD) cause. My role is to institutionalize NTDs in global and local structures that tackle health, social and economic advancement of communities worldwide. I frequently meet with politicians, business leaders, and health and development experts to help make linkages between NTDs and ongoing efforts to achieve sustainable progress.

Our organization works on behalf of the 1.5 billion people living on less than $1.25 a day.

While other health and development issues affect people we can identify with – those in affluent, urban-dwelling professional classes – NTDs affect forgotten communities who have no champions and cannot speak for themselves.

Economically, the greatest benefit achieved is when we address those that are worst off first.

2). What are your proudest achievements?

My proudest achievements are the inclusion of NTDs in the United Nations’ High-level panel report on the post-2015 development agenda; policy integration of NTDs across Latin America, Africa and Asia; the launch of END7, an international advocacy and fundraising campaign run by the Global Network to raise awareness of NTDs in the gen-

eral public; and stimulating high levels of interest in wealthy governments to contribute investments. Most important, however, is the mischievous smile I saw on a five year-old child after he had been dewormed.

3). What inspires you?

People, including their complex and unique ways, personalities, characters and talents, inspire me. This is the reason why I’m involved in NTDs. By tackling NTDs, we give people the chance to express their personalities and the talents they possess. Ultimately, as human beings, we want some form of self-determination, and our work to control and eliminate NTDs at the Global Network is the minimum we can do to enable that self-determination.

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

An obstacle to overcome is institutional rigidity and the misbelief that progress can’t happen when we are open to flexibility, creativity and innovation. Unfortunately, many institutions that reside over policies and programs for the general public have little

Asians on the rise in the Cabinet Cabinet reshuffle abandons white, male bias for ethnic inclusion

Continued from page 1 The reshuffle has also welcomed northerners into the Cabinet, in what has been called the 'flat cap' Tory reshuffle, to form the strong team that will 'fight' in the general election.

The Conservative MP for North West Cambridgeshire, Shailesh Vara, has become a Parliamentary under secretary in the Ministry of Justice, replacing Helen Grant, who has moved to the Culture, Media and Sport department.

Vara, who is experiencing his first Ministerial appointment, after being an Assistant Whip in the coalition government, was born in 1960 and qualified as a solicitor before entering Parliament in 2005. He studied

at Aylesbury Grammar School and Brunel University where he graduated in law.

He is noted amongst his peers and especially the PM, who he accompanied on a trip to India this year. He remains a long-standing friend of the Asian Voice newspaper.

Vara is also the Chairman of the Conservative Friends of India. His Co-Chairman, Ranjit Baxi said: “On behalf of Conservative Friends of India, it gives me great pleasure in extending our warmest congratulations on the Ministerial appointment of our CoChairman Shailesh Vara MP. We wish him every success and look forward to continue working closely with him.”

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appetite for creative strategies that will yield greater benefits.

However, I have overcome this challenge through my passion in my beliefs, and ultimately, by keeping my focus on the people that we serve.

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

I grew up in South Africa, which like many countries has complex paradoxes, yet through that complexity emerged a clear focus personified through Nelson Mandela.

When I met him, I thanked him for his inspiring fight for human rights, which led to my work championing issues of social justice. As a South African Indian, I am also inspired by the human rights efforts of Mahatma Gandhi.

Ultimately, the fight against NTDs is a fight for human rights for these neglected communities in order to bring them to a level of full social and political participation.

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

The best part about my job at the Global Network is the people I work with ranging from people in the organizations, institutions, and governments we partner with to my daily interactions with my team and most importantly, people in the communities that we serve.

We’re all united by a common goal of helping people lead fulfilled lives through the control and elimination of NTDs by 2020.

7). And the worst?

The process of navigating bureaucracies can be a longdelayed process that has tried my patience because it means that sometimes people who need immediate treatments don’t receive them fast enough.

Fortunately, positive momentum on NTDs is taking place in endemic and donor countries, regional bodies and international organizations that is helping to overcome this.

8). What are your long-term goals?

I believe in the principles of universal access to health care and other essential services and want to be part of the process to achieve that goal.

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

I would work to develop and implement policies and programs that promote tolerance and acceptability in order to strengthen our empathic connection to each other and move from individualism to harmonious co-existence. This is a universal philosophy whose essence is captured in Buddhism and Hinduism, as well as the South African philosophy of “ubuntu,” which simply states, “I am because you are.”

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

If I were marooned on an island with no hope of rescue, I would choose to live my remaining days with pure and utter artistic enrichment and fulfillment – Leonardo da Vinci—who, as a Renaissance person embodied the curiosity of a scientist, the flare of an artist, the drive of an engineer and the heart of a philosopher.

Copland school Headteacher handed suspended jail term over false accounting A decorated and “inspirational” former headteacher who was accused of a role in an alleged £1 million fraud has been cleared of the offence - but convicted over false accounting.

Sir Alan Davies, who was knighted for his services to education, walked free from the court after pleading guilty to creating a false paper trail on bonus payments and allowances.

Davies, who resigned from his £160,000-a-year post at the Copland School in Wembley, north London in October 2009, was handed a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years.

But he and five other defendants viz. Dr Indravadan Patel, Richard Evans, Martin Day, Columbus Udokoro and

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Michele McKenzie no longer face legal action over the more serious offence of conspiracy to defraud after prosecutors agreed to offer no further evidence.

Davies also had a charge of money laundering dropped.

Speaking outside Southwark Crown Court after being sentenced, Davies said he had been vindicated of accusations that payments had been dishonest.

His conviction related to paperwork completed retrospectively in support of payments of around £300,000 to which he was legally entitled.

Prosecutor John Black QC said the six charges of false accounting to which Davies admitted related to payments made dating back to 2007,

totalling £315,000, and including several bonuses for Davies himself.

William Clegg QC, defending Davies, said the offences which referred to eight pay documents - needed to be taken in context.

Judge Deborah Taylor described Davies’s offences as “serious”.

In a statement released through their solicitor Sarnjit Lal, Dr Patel and Mr Day - both former governors at the school reportedly said they were pleased their long wait for vindication had come to an end in court.

Police began their investigations after concerns by Brent Council.

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COMMENT

Somerville College: Oxford’s ‘Gateway to India’ India’s distinguished links with Oxford University, one of the world’s great seats of learning, is set to reach another level. The philosophers Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Bimal Motilal were Fellows of All Souls College, as was the Economics Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. The three held university chairs and added lustre to their own and their country’s name. Professor Radhakrishnan was President of India, from 1960-65. Now comes the welcome news that Somerville College, where the late Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi studied in the 1930s, has established the Indira Gandhi Centre for Sustained Development (IGCSD) with a 3 million pound grant from the Government of India, and a matching 3 million pound grant from the University of Oxford. The Centre is now ready for take-off with the appointment of three Indira Gandhi Scholars from India for the current academic year (October 2013-2014), who will be joined by two resident Fellows, all with specialist fields in Sustained Development. Somerville College Principal Alice Prochaska, whose vision and dynamism, gave life to a project she made her own, got the ball rolling with the following words: “I hope to see the Oxford India Centre (to be built on land adjacent to Somerville College donated by the university), within which the Indira Gandhi Centre will be located, as becoming a sort of ‘Gateway to India in Oxford’”.

Somerville College was founded in 1879 for women and opened to men in 1994. Somerville’s India connection, however, began within a few years of its foundation, with the arrival of Cornelia Sorabji from Bombay, to study for the Bachelor of Civil Law degree, which she attained in 1893, the first woman - not just an Indian woman – to have graduated from this exclusive male bastion. Cornelia was a member of the brilliant Oxford circle presided over by the leg-

endary Master of Balliol College, Benjamin Jowett, to which allusion was made by John Maynard Keynes in his masterly “Essays in Biography”. Cornelia Sorabji dedicated her life to the uplift of Indian women, fighting their cases in the Indian courts in the search for justice, in defence of their human rights. She chose to cast her lonely furrow rather than float with the tide of the nationalist mainstream, a decision she explained to Mahatma Gandhi in a private meeting in which they spoke their minds with robust honesty and without compunction.

Cornelia Sorabji was a prolific letter writer, to close family, friends and acquaintances and to the great and the good of England and India. These have been beautifully edited and published by Kusoom Vadgama in London, whose researches in the British Library can only be described as a labour of love. It is right and proper that India’s near forgotten luminaries are restored, however belatedly, to the gallery of eminence. That said, we pick up the threads of the Indira Gandhi Centre and its plans moving forward.

From three Scholarships a year, the IGCSD hopes, in the fullness of time, to increase these to five.

For now, Professor Venkataraman Ramakrishnan, a Nobel Prize winner in chemistry in 2010, and Honorary Fellow of Somerville College, also University Professor at Cambridge, has been invited to address the first of the Indira Gandhi Centre seminar series – no better way surely to flag-off an ambitious intellectual enterprise. The journey into the future promises to be a rewarding one. To equip itself for the arduous undertaking the IGCSD seeks to raise private funds, hopefully reaching 20 million pounds by 2017, when the new Oxford India Centre will be opened. Such institutions are where the fruits of the Indo-British relationship are best revealed.

Germany, exemplar of good governance The world educated Germany in democratic government in the aftermath of World War II and the destruction of Hitler’s Third Reich. It is Germany’s turn to repay the debt. The grand coalition of Angela Merkel’s ruling Christian Democrats and the Opposition Social Democrats, forged in the national interest, has much to teach recalcitrant Republicans in the United States, who have stalled the Budget because of bruised egos, and Indian MPs, whose brawling and unseemly ways have brought parliamentary business to a virtual standstill for much of the time these past four turbulent years.

Berlin today is a haven of tranquility and prosperity, to which young Europeans flock in search of gainful employment. Youthful Jews from Israel are travelling there in droves to escape the persistent tension and threat of war in their country’s troubled neighbourhood. Over and above this, the new Germany is Europe’s economic powerhouse, its manufactures are the envy of the country’s competitors. While Britain and France are proud to be on Uncle Sam’s lead and follow their master into

regions where angels fear to tread, Germany, wisely, keeps well away from regime change adventures, offering instead the solace of ritual incantations on Western solidarity.

But to India we return. Hyperbole is now a national pastime transcending the seasonsi, the media being the foremost practitioners of the black arts, but amateurs, too, are tempted to throw their in their hats, from time to time. Take the case of noted Bengal physicist Bikash Sinha, who recently raged in Kolkata’s Telegraph newspaper at what he perceived as his country’s headlong descent into chaos and eventual disintegration. An afternoon shopping in the city amid the teeming Durga Puja multitudes looking for the best saris, a range of other apparel, not speak of spiced delicacies for the taste buds, at the most affordable prices, the civil conversations at sales’ counters, with barely a cross word to disturb the peaceable transaction, should calm the Sinha nerves. It is an apt endorsement of marketplace discipline: supply and demand operating in joyous unison. Chaos and disintegration seemed light years away.

Medical research saves lives in India Japanese encephalitis, a viral disease that affects animals and humans, is transmitted by mosquitoes, pigs and water birds, causing inflammation and membranes around the brain. Symptoms include high fever, headache, sensitivity to light, stiff neck and back, vomiting, confusion and, in severe cases, seizures, paralysis and coma. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) the disease has infected more than 10 million children globally. The good news is that Jenvac, a vaccine developed in a publicprivate partnership by scientists at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the National Institute of Virology (NIV) and Bharat Biotech International Ltd, and released at the weekend by the Health Ministry, will be available to the public in single and five doses. Jenvac can be administered in a single dose during epidemics for mass vaccination.

Expensive by Indian standards at Rs 160 per dose, the vaccine will be administered free of cost under the National Immunization Programme. Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad described Jenvac as an “Indian solution for an Indian problem.” He explained: “Not only is this India’s first fully indigenous vaccine, but it is also based on an Indian strain.

Therefore, it is expected to improve efficacy besides availability and affordability.” With approximately 4 million people affected in 171 districts, India needs 10 million doses for comprehensive coverage. The interventions are being implemented in 60 priority districts in Assam, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Negative news in India, and about India, being the norm, a Lancet report informs us that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded programme has prevented 600,000 HIV infections over the past ten years, breaks the mould. The Avahan India AIDS Initiative, launched in 2003 as a large-scale, targeted intervention preventative programme, was implemented in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Manipur and Nagaland. The study looked at 69 districts in the first four states and its assessment indicated that over the initial four years 42 per cent of HIV infections were averted.

Over ten years, the figure rose to 57 per cent. The latest study, based on a mathematical model, was carried out by the School of Public Health, Imperial College, London, in association with a number of organizations, including the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, National AIDS Research Institute, Pune, and St John’s Medical College and Hospital, Bangalore. The report found that AIDS prevention benefited from greater and better use of condoms, in turn benefiting from improved distribution and social marketing. “With high coverage, these programmes have the potential to substantially reduce concentrated HIV epidemics,” said its authors. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation helped power India’s remarkable polio eradication programme of nationwide vaccination. The Gates’ have deep pockets and equally capacious hearts.

They are humanity’s blessing.

3 The process of learning consists not so much in accumulating answers as in figuring out how to formulate the right questions - Gordon Livingston MD (2004)

“Our London” Navin Shah

GLA Member for Brent and Harrow

Protecting the cost of living There’s a sigh of relief that the Party Political Conferences are over but reflecting on the conference ‘season’ I think this year the conferences have been much more than just the stage managed media circus.

The conferences have in my view provided the electorate with clear choices and sound debates about what parties have to offer and the ideological stance of the parties. This was particularly the case with the Conservative and Labour conferences.

There seems to be a general consensus that the Tories have moved to the right of the centre (attributed to the resurgence of UKIP as one of the reasons) and Labour to the left of the centre!

With just over a year and half left to the General election this makes political landscape vivid and challenging for the politicians and people.

Not a partisan comment from me but the Labour Conference was received with greater interest and seen as the most successful of the lot. In particular Ed Miliband’s speech was full of depth and provided a distinctive approach of Labour under Ed’s leadership. The speech was very well delivered and had some meaty policy announcements as well as a direct challenge to the Prime Minster on the matter of leadership and integrity. Protecting the cost of living was the mantra. Promise to freeze gas and electricity bills for almost two years remains the most memorable pledge which goes to the heart of the uncontrolled and ‘irresponsible’ form of capitalism and the need for strong regulations. There is enough evidence that privatisation of the utilities has not worked and there is a strong public support to curb excessive increases of bills.

There was also massive support for re-nationalisation of public transport at the conference.

The obvious response from the critics is to

marginalise all this as a lurch to the left under ‘Red Ed’ but that is a wholly irresponsible because the people of this country do want their services to be affordable, efficient and service providers to be accountable which is not the case with those privatised services.

Ed’s central theme was ‘Britain could do better than this’.

Following the freeze of utility bills Ed’s speech on housing was vital which promised building 200,000 homes a year by 2020. Coupled with cost of living crisis the country is facing a major housing crisis. As Ed mentioned ‘If we carry on as we are, by 2020 there will be two million too few homes in Britain. That is the equivalent of two cities the size of Birmingham.

We’ve got to do something about it and the next Labour government will’. I Agree with the challenge to private developers who sit on valuable land, blight the localities and development of much needed homes. I strongly support the approach of ‘use or lose the land’.

On the NHS Ed was right in mentioning how Labour in power rescued the NHS from Tory waiting time targets of 18 months and the A&E crisis. The A & E crisis are back again with the closure plans and the plans to privatise NHS through the backdoor that nobody voted for. In an open challenge to David Cameron Ed was clear that he would relish the debate with the PM and he said to Mr Cameron ‘be my guest’.

This was important because with the policy issues Ed linked ‘character’ and leadership. On the character issue the challenge was robust – for example Ed suggesting when it was Murdoch versus the McCanns, Cameron took the side of Murdoch and when it was the tobacco lobby versus the cancer charities, Cameron took the side of the tobacco lobby.

4

MIDLANDS VOICE

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

Anger after 10ft statue is removed at Tyseley temple Birmingham: Bengali Hindu worshippers have demanded the reinstallation of goddess Durga at Shree Laxmi Narayan temple, pictured. The worshippers are planning to demonstrate outside the Shree Laxmi Narayan temple in a bid to get the tenfoot, fibreglass image of goddess Durga put back on public display.

A petition has been launched to have the statue reinstated, which has been signed by all casts and creeds. The protest seems in vain however, as temple trustees have insisted the statue, removed when a £300,000 restoration project was launched last December, is too big and out-of-keeping.

Instead, they’ve offered to pay for a smaller, marble version of Durga, a goddess of particular importance to

Bengali Hindus, and place it in an upstairs temple.

A spokesman said: “There are so many sects and deities – that is the beauty of the Hindu religion. But if they all brought their own deities there would be no room in the temple.

“We have to move to meet the requirements of the temple and look at what is best for the whole community.”

Subrata stressed Bengalis only agreed to take down the idol because they believed it would be put back when work was completed. The 44-year-old added: “We don’t think it is too big because they have not given us the chance to conduct a feasibility study.”

And he dismissed claims the statue does not fit into the temple’s new design.

“Our religion is very broad

and there is no uniform design. That caters for people’s different tastes and spiritual temperance.

“We have got statues that have been worshipped for ten years. They have a particular attraction. They are made of fibre-glass, so the features stand out more. That would not be the case with marble.” A previous protest was scrapped while talks with temple leaders took place.

Now they have broken down, a new demo is

planned.

The temple president Mukesh Ladwa said there is not much more his team can do.

“We have bent over backwards over this,” he told The Birmingham Mail, “and have asked for their input and constructive comments over the size and shape of the marble deity.

The fibre-glass one was installed as a temporary measure ten to 12 years ago.”

Man found guilty of attempted murder after hit-and-run Manchester: A motorist who drove into a group of revellers and left a blind man brain damaged is facing a lengthy prison sentence after being found guilty of four charges of attempted murder.

Aqab Hussain, pictured, used his Vauxhall Corsa to launch straight into the revellers after his night out celebrating the Muslim festival of Eid. CCTV captured the 21-year-old driving the wrong way down Princess Street in Manchester city centre before striking partially-sighted Michael Ward and two of his friends, Paul Hulme and Martin Harris, at the junction of John Dalton Street.

Mr Ward, then 28, from Bolton, was scooped up on the bonnet before being ‘deposited’ at the side of the road by the veering car. His injuries were so severe that he was in intensive care for twenty days and spent around four months in a high dependency unit.

Meanwhile, Mr Hulme suffered fractures to his right leg after being 'flipped into the air', while Mr Harris suffered only minor injuries. A fourth member of Mr Ward's group, Thomas Mallanphy, narrowly escaped injury

after stepping back from the road, Mr Hussain's Manchester Crown Court trial heard.

Hussain, of Gateshead Close, Rusholme, denied four charges of attempted murder in the trial but was found guilty by a unanimous jury after three-and-a-half hours of deliberation.

The victims were targeted after being the 'aggressors' in a brief street fight with Mr Hussain's group in Albert Square in the early hours of August 21 last year.

Earlier that evening, both groups of men had been enjoying a night out at Silk’s Gentlemen’s Club at Lloyd Street. But after leaving the lapdancing venue, a member of Hussain’s group was punched in a scuffle with someone from Mr Ward’s group.

After the warning ‘just watch’ – Hussain staged the hit and run, described as 'despicable' by prosecutor Ian Metcalfe.

After sustaining multiple skull fractures, a blood clot and bruising on the brain, Mr Ward had to have a piece of his skull JANANI JANE TO TRAN JANAJE, KA DATA KA removed and lost BHAKT, KA SHURVEER NAHITAR RAHEJE the use of his right VANZANI, TU MAT GUMAVISH NOOR arm.

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The defendant, who was linked to the incident by a trail of circumstantial evidence, quickly left the country for Pakistan but was arrested at Manchester Airport six weeks afterwards.

After being found guilty Hussain was remanded in custody by Judge Robert Atherton and is now expected to be sentenced on October 31.

The Crown Prosecution Service has welcomed the verdict. Rachael Pavion, District Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West, said: “Aqab Hussain used his car as a weapon, he sought revenge by driving at speed deliberately at the four men with a clear intention to kill.

“After he struck his victims, he drove from the scene and showed complete disregard for the harm he had caused.

"Eye witnesses, together with CCTV and forensic evidence helped to prove that he was the driver of the vehicle that had collided with the victims. The CPS has worked closely alongside the police to piece all the evidence together and present a strong case to the jury, who have today accepted the prosecution case and delivered a guilty verdict. As a result, Aqab Hussain has been brought to justice and he must now take responsibility for his dangerous actions.”

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Councillor resigns over ‘bullying’ Herefordshire: County councillor Russell Hamilton (Cons; Pontrilas Ward), right, from Herefordshire, has resigned over what he claims to be “disrespectful and bullying” behaviour. Mr Hamilton, pictured, who was cabinet member for environment, housing and planning, claims to have been threatened in the council chamber and described the behaviour of some of his colleagues as unacceptable. He said “those events” had prompted him to make the decision to leave. A deeply emotional Mr Hamilton, who said he had no interest in public life in the future, also complained about councillors “bickering over petty issues, playing to the gallery and politically manoeuvring”. A statement from Herefordshire Council said a by-election would be held.

Herefordshire Council in the Midlands has 55 councillors, 12 female, 43 male. None are from an ethnic minority community.

Happy great, grandmother celebrates 100th Birthday

Leicester: A fun-loving greatgrandmother who has lived in Leicester for more than 40 years has celebrated her 100th birthday.

Maniben Morar, pictured, was born in Kachholi, Gujarat, India, in 1913, married young and worked washing linen. She and her husband had four children, two sons and two daughters, before she moved to Leicester in 1967.

Grandson Sanjay said: "She has outlived her husband and all of her children but still has us 13 grandchildren, 33 great-grandchildren and, over in India, two great-grandchildren. When we talk about India and ask if she would like to go back to see it, she says 'no, Leicester is home'."

She now lives with family members in Belgrave. Her family booked an event room at Sizzlers Restaurant, Melton Road, Leicester, as a venue for a celebration attended by 150 people. "Her favourite music was played and she had a really good time," said Sanjay.

Racing to raise cash

Leicester: Four big-hearted members of the Wanza community in Leicester will take part in a relay race this Sunday (Oct 13) to help raise money for Barnardo’s, the UK’s largest children’s charity. Chirag Parmar, Jayendra Parmar, Kiran Solanki and Vikram Solanki will take part in the Leicester Half Marathon. Their fundraising target is £500. Barnardos works with over 190,000 children, young people and their families every year. To make a donation visit: www.justgiving.com/wanzaleicesterruns.

One year on, Taliban vow to “kill” Malala Yousafzai again

Birmingham: The Taliban has voiced its decision to kill 16 year old Malala Yousafzai, pictured, once again, after she criticised Islam. The shooting of Malala by a gunman who boarded her school bus in the valley of Swat in northwest Pakistan a year ago, caused worldwide revulsion and left Malala in an extremely critical situation.

Shahidullah Shahid, a Taliban spokesman, said "She accepted that she attacked Islam so we we tried to kill her, and if we get another chance we will definitely kill her and that will make us feel proud."

As reported by Sky News, he added: "Islam prohibits killing women, but except those that support the infidels in their war against our religion."

News of the death threat has surfaced after it emerged that Malala is among the favourites to win the Nobel Peace Prize.The teenager had angered the Taliban with her public, outspoken and courageous pleas for girls to be educated.

In a BBC Panorama programme, Malala told how girls in the UK should not take their education for granted. "I want to tell the students of UK to think that it is very precious, it's very prestigious, go to school," she said. "Reading a book, having a pen in our hands, studying, sitting in a classroom is something very special for us because once we were deprived from it and because what we have seen in Swat".

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

Gurkiren Kaur’s family hope new tests will reveal truth over her death The family of a Birmingham schoolgirl who had died in India under mysterious conditions, and believed to be the target of a bungled organ harvesting attempt hope new tests will finally reveal what actually killed her.

Organs said to belong to Gurkiren Kaur Loyal were returned to Britain over the last weekend,.

The eight-year-old’s family said they were relieved but have asked for DNA tests to be conducted to ensure they actually belonged to her.

They said they also hoped a new post-mortem examination would provide conclusive answers

over her death.

The Birmingham Mail exclusively revealed in May how the Hockley schoolgirl died in a clinic in the Punjab during a holiday. Her family said she was being treated for dehydration when she was given a mystery injection which apparently claimed her life.

Gurkiren’s mum Amrit told Mail that her daughter had been “murdered” and family friend, Birmingham councillor Narinder Kooner, reportedly said it was “highly probable” she had been killed in a bid to harvest her organs.

The child’s body was later returned to Britain

Parents Santokh Singh Loyal and Amrit Kaur Loyal

Gurkiren Kaur Loyal

without its vital organs, which have only now arrived back in the UK. In a statement Gurkiren’s family said: “We have mixed emotions of sadness and relief now we know that, finally, the organs have been returned.

“We still have a fear as to whether they will be Gurkiren’s organs and will be requesting a DNA test.

“We hope they have been stored in an appropriate manner so we are able to request a further post-mortem examination and find out what she was injected with.”

Family of murdered Scottish mother appeals to review investigation The family of a Pakistani woman from Scotland who was murdered in “suspicious circumstances” whilst she was on holiday in Punjab, Pakistan have appealed to authorities there to review the investigation into her death. Mumtaz Sattar, 38, from Port Glasgow, died soon after arriving in Lahore with her husband Abdul on 21 September.

Mr Sattar claimed his wife died after the couple had drunk poisoned tea before they were thrown out of a taxi they caught from Lahore Airport.

A post-mortem report has however revealed that a bone in Mrs Sattar’s neck was fractured suggesting that she had been throttled.

Mr Sattar has now been arrested after his wife’s family asked the High Court in Lahore to investigate the police han-

dling of the case.

The family’s lawyer Aamer Anwar told BBC Scotland: “A serious allegation has been made of bribery of police officers that are involved in the case. At each and every turn the family appears to have been obstructed, as a result of which advocates lodged a petition at the High Court in Lahore yesterday in which they name one murder suspect and ask for the authorities to bring the police officers concerned to the High Court to answer questions.”

Suspicions were raised after Mr Sattar applied to obtain travel documents to return to Britain days after his wife’s death and reportedly threatened her family with taking the couple’s two children, aged 10 and 13, back to Pakistan.

Mr Sattar’s residency status in Scotland is

British Sikh activist to surrender before police?

A British Sikh cofounder of a far-right group that protests Islamic extremism, who fled from jail ahead of a court hearing last week, will reportedly hand himself in to police, an India media has reported.

The trial of Guramit Singh Kalirai, a 31-yearold English Defence League (EDL) activist, was going on at Nottingham Crown Court for taking part in an attempted armed robbery but he fled ahead of the court hearing, the Times

have spent quite a lot of time researching the issue and speaking to Muslim elders.

“There is nothing specifically written in the Koran about wearing a beard. It is a choice those boys are making. However inclusive we are, we have standards to maintain.”

But a relative of one of the youngsters labelled the decision as “pure discrimination”. The family member, who did not wish to be named, told the newspaper: “Because these boys cannot shave their beards for religious reasons, they are being put in isolation for

of India has reported. He was reportedly given a jail sentence for six and a half years in his absence last week.

Guramit, along with two accomplices - Andrew Wheelhouse, 31, and David Mura, 26 - was accused of tying up a shop assistant and threatening to slash his throat in a failed robbery bid in Nottingham.

Fugitive Guramit proclaimed his innocence in a Facebook post after being found guilty of a violent robbery. In his message,

the former EDL leader claimed he was stitched up by police and said he would turn himself in only when he has a new lawyer.

Report claims Churchill wanted to use chemical weapons against tribes of N. India Winston Churchill wanted chemical weapons to be used against “troublesome” tribes in north India during British colonial rule to suppress them, a noted historian has claimed citing an official memo, according to a report by a daily newspaper in the UK. Giles Milton, who has written a number of nonfiction historical books, has illustrated Churchill’s commitment to the use of chemical weapons, explaining that he had supported their use against rebellious Indian tribes in early 20th century when he was not the Prime Minister.

“What I found really

shocking was when he (Churchill) wrote this internal memo to the India Office, along the lines of ‘we should use it against the tribes on the North West front. They’re really troublesome, let’s gas them,” Giles was quoted as saying by The Telegraph.

“There’s a line in the memo that says, ‘I really don’t understand this squeamishness about poison gas’. Today that reads pretty badly,” Milton said.

The British historian made the remarks following his appearance at the Wigtown Book Festival to promote his new book “ Russian Roulette”, the paper said.

Asked what impact this revelation could have on the image of Churchill as one of Britain’s greatest historical figures, Milton said: “He’s a great Briton but there are other sides to his character. He was advocating the mass use of chemical weapons.”

Exam results disallowed at top performing school after investigation Mumtaz Sattar

unclear.

Mr Anwar had earlier said Pakistani authorities have been told Mr Sattar should not be allowed to leave as he is the only witness to his wife’s murder.

Mr Anwar reportedly said: “He knows how the system operates, both in this country and in Pakistan, and what we hope is that he will put pressure on the authorities to help bring the killers to justice. It is as simple as that - the family want justice”.

Exam results at England’s top primary school have been recalled after an investigation revealed staff had ‘irresponsibly’ changed children’s answers on five scripts.

Dennis Guest, chairman of governors at Newton Farm Nursery, Infant and Junior School in Ravenswood Crescent, South Harrow, wrote to parents to confirm the Standards and Testing Agency (STA), had annulled the school’s 2013 Key Stage 2 Statutory Assessment Tests (SATs) results for mathematics, and grammar, punctuation and spelling, but not for

Muslim boys isolated in school for not shaving beards Two Muslim schoolboys are isolated and have been barred from class at a school in Lancashire for not shaving off their beards.

The 14-year-olds were placed in “isolation” from the start of the new term at Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School in Accrington, Lancashire, the Lancashire Evening Telegraph reports.

The school’s headteacher said the matter was not one of religion but about dress code.

Xavier Bowers told the newspaper: “We have not taken this decision lightly. I

5

six-and-a-half hours every day.

“They are not being allowed to mix with anybody or speak to friends. It is pure discrimination.

They chose that school because it is within their area and has good results.

The school has to have an open policy and they have to take in people from all religions.”

Bowers added that the clean shaven rule had been in place for some time, although two boys were allowed to keep their beards on religious grounds as an “exception” last year as their GCSE exams

approached and the school did not want to place them under “unfair pressure”.

He said that a number of other Asian boys were then spoken to and it was made clear they must return from the summer clean shaven.

Following the newspaper interview, Bowers issued a statement via Lancashire County Council in which it appeared the school was not backing down from its stance.

It is understood talks are ongoing between the families of the two boys and the school to resolve the issue.

reading, all sat by pupils in year 6 in mid-May. A pupil’s parent said: “Lots of parents are concerned that no meeting has been held by the headteacher to give further information or answer parents’ questions and some of the parents are going to write a letter to request that. They want to make sure it’s all transparent and to learn exactly what the problems are. They are really concerned about potential impropriety.

They are really outraged.”

The STA, which pores over random samples of completed papers to scrutinise the administration of SATs, conducted an investigation into the school between June and September after “evidence that raised doubts” was found in Newton Farm’s submitted scripts.

Five had been altered although the STA would not reveal the sample size

to give an indication of how wide the cheating might be.

Run by the praised headteacher Rekha Bhakoo, the school had the joint highest average point score per pupil of any school in England for its 2012 SATs, with 90 per cent of youngsters achieving a Level 5 or better in both English and maths.

This was despite 70 per cent of its pupils speaking English as a second language.

Council leader Susan Hall (Conservative) said: “It is grossly unfair that these children will not now receive some of their SAT results because of the irresponsible conduct of others. The decision on what action is to be taken now lies with the school governors, but I would strongly urge them to utilise any and all disciplinary measures at their disposal.”

Stalybridge man jailed A man from Stalybridge, Greater Manchester caught with illegal tobacco and alcohol has been jailed after an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Sanjay Mistry, 42, of Montague Way, Stalybridge was originally arrested in 2011 after he was found handling illegal cigarettes, hand rolling tobacco (HRT) and wine in Ashton-under-Lyne. A subsequent search of his home in Stalybridge and other properties he controlled in Ashtonunder-Lyne revealed large quantities of illegal excise goods.

Despite being under investigation by HMRC, Mistry was caught again later that year with similar products in his vehicle. HMRC seized the items and calculated that he had evaded more than £83,000 in duty.

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

A Matter of Honours

Ethnic communities encouraged to nominate more and more suitable candidates for Honours List Rupanjana Dutta Receiving a Queen’s Honour (in New Year’s list [NY] and Birthday list [BD]) for outstanding achievements in different fields is no longer uncommon amongst the British Asians. But out of 1180, who have received an award in summer this year, only 6% reportedly has been of ethnic background.

As part of the determination to increase the number of recipients in the Queen’s honours lists from black and ethnic minority backgrounds, the cabinet office hosted a roundtable with the representatives from community and ethnic media, to discuss how the government can interact more effectively with communities that are under-represented in the honours lists and engage them better.

Each year thousands of unsung heroes are recognised in the Birthday Honours or New Year’s Honours lists but BME communities are consistently under-represented – making up just 5 - 6% of the recipients.

In a country in which racial and gender discriminations are still rampant and where the ethnic minority makes only 12% of the whole population, it is perhaps very ambitious

Lord Kakkar

to consider that raising awareness only amongst ethnic community can solve the problem. In fact women have never made up more than 47% of the honours list and at the Queen’s Birthday list 2012, the proportion dropped to 41%. There is a clear representation demarcation between the north and the south, especially between London and other regions (see chart), and it is evident that the South gets comparatively more successful candidates in the list.

Challenges also include successful ethnic candidates refusing an honour, because of their disapproval of the use of the term ‘empire’ at the end of an honour, given its colonial intonation.

It is evident that this issue of more and equal nomination and representation actually requires much deeper attention. It

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deserves the mainstream limelight and widespread support- which the government still seems to fail to address.

At the roundtable Richard Tillbrook, head of the Honours team in Cabinet Office gave a short presentation on how the honours system works including how to nominate.

He explained that the honours system recognises people for making other people’s life better Whether someone gets an honour - and the honour they get - is decided by an honours committee.

The committee’s decisions go to the Prime Minister and then to the Queen, who awards the honour.

He went on to explain further that anyone can nominate someone for an honour. But to receive an acknowledgement one may not hear anything till about 12-18 months.

All nominees are checked by various government departments to make sure they’re suitable for receiving an honour.

This may include checks

by HM Revenue & Customs.

People get honours for achievements in making a difference to their community or field of work, enhancing Britain’s reputation, long-term voluntary service, innovation and entrepreneurship, changing things, with an emphasis on achievement, improving life for people less able to help themselves, displaying moral courage and doing difficult things.

Honours are given to people involved in different activities, including: community, voluntary and local services, arts and media, health, sport, education, science and technology, business and the economy and civil or political service.

Also on the panel was Dr Yvonne Thompson CBE from the Economic Honours Committee who is currently giving a series of talks in communities about demystifying the honours system and promoting nominations for people from BME backgrounds. She explained how she has organised road shows to increase awareness and how she would need .

Lord Kakkar who has recently taken up the Chair of the Health Honours committee had also joined the discussion, explaining how the feedback from the community is important to make the system better.

Know someone worthy of nomination from your community? It is easy.

Log on to https://www.gov.uk/honours and download the form.

Kapil’s

KHICHADI

by Kapil Dudakia - email: kapil@abplgroup.com Follow me on Twitter: @kdudakia

NaMo Tathastu So the much await declaration by BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) to nominate Shri Narendrabhai Modi – the lion of Gujarat – to be their official candidate for Prime Minister in the 2014 Indian election has happened. The BJP took their time but in the end they came to the right decision.

The instant Shri Narendrabhai’s name was announced every social media site went into the stratosphere.

The only game in town was Shri Narendrabhai – or NaMo as he is affectionately known in the social media world. So what does this mean for India?

Well let’s start with the basics. Shri Narendrabhai has successfully won three successive terms in Gujarat and has just completed 12 years as Chief Minister. During his tenure the very map of Gujarat has changed. He has instilled in the people of Gujarat a certain level of confidence that anything and everything is possible. We have heard of the massive infrastructure developments, the huge inward investments (not only from within India, but also from other countries) and we have seen delegation after delegation of high profile politicians from various countries making a beeline for Gujarat - and the list goes on and on. Yes there is still a lot to be done but what is clear is that without Shri Narendrabhai, Gujarat would have been left decades behind the rest of India.

Shri Narendrabhai has found the knack of mixing good old fashioned morals and ethics with the new modern derivatives of management. He commands attention from the old and the young in equal measure. People of all faiths and all ethnic communities gather in their tens of thousands to listen to him. From those who are considered as high intellectuals to those who might not have had the opportunity of a formal education. From those who are billionaires to the aam aadmi in the street.

His is a presence and a personality that captures the hearts and minds of the masses. He is a man of the people, for the people.

India is at its cross roads. It can choose to remain in the past with the politics of nepotism, or it can accept the challenge of the 21st Century and say with one voice, we are ready to take our rightful place in the world. It’s a country that is steeped in rich history that has the moral, ethical and spiritual treasures that can save the world. India was a sleeping giant but as it awakes, it needs a driver that has the capability to steer a path leading the nation and its people to pastures a new and the boun-

tiful.

There are countries in the west that have made grave errors by trying to undermine Shri Narendrabhai. Top of the list is of course the USA. Even the UK under the leadership of the then Labour Government imposed a diplomatic ban on the state of Gujarat. Can you imagine that – western countries imposing various types of bans on Shri Narendrabhai and Gujarat whilst the Indian Prime Minister and Indian Government stood by and watched from the sidelines. No western leader or government would have ever stood by and allowed any democratically elected representative from their country to be so mistreated by a foreign entity. Yet in India party politics comes first, even if that means the honour of the country has to be compromised. I am glad to say that the new Prime Minister of UK, David Cameron quickly understood the importance of Gujarat, of Shri Narendrabhai and of course India.

Recently he came out and openly stated: "We believe that closer engagement with Gujarat, including Chief Minister Narendra Modi, is now the best way to achieve our wide-ranging objectives there - including on human rights - and ensure that the UK can provide a full and consistent range of services across India". It won’t be long before the other nations realise the error of their ways and have to come crawling to Shri Narendrabhai.

The challenge for the people of India now is to elect Shri Narendrabhai and BJP to lead their next government.

It is their chance to elect someone who can affect change on a massive scale throughout India. If the people allow their vote to be bought by the charlatans, then in the end only they and their generations to come will suffer. As they say, if you don’t use your vote wisely then don’t complain when you suffer the consequences.

India needs a new start. It needs to become vibrant with fresh ideas full of energy and vigour to stimulate the huge potential of the youth. To garner that genius that is in India should be the primary focus of any new government.

India has everything; it now needs a leader that can champion the nation and its people. Will the people of India do the right thing? Only time will tell – but let us remember that many decades ago it was a man from Gujarat who led the salt march and showed the British the way out of India. I think it is time we allowed another man from Gujarat to lead the nation to its rightful place at the top table on the world scene. Jai Hind.

Sardar Patel Centenary Celebration postponed

A major plaque unveiling event to mark the centenary of one of India’ greatest statesmen, Sardar Patel being called at the bar, has been postponed. The event, which was being organised by The IndoBritish Cultural Exchange UK & India, was due to take place at Middle Temple in London on October 27. Readers may recall coverage about Sardar Patel in last week’ issues of Asian Voice on page 8.

In a news release issued this week, event organiser Praful Patel of IBCE UK & India said: ‘We regret to announce that due to unavoidable circumstances, the Middle Temple event originally planned

for 27th October at 4pm has been postponed. It will be rescheduled in the coming months.’

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

For your free international sim o2.co.uk/sim or any ø store Minimum top-up £10. Prices correct as of 17 September 2013. UK calls to landlines. Terms apply, see o2.co.uk

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Gandhi Jayanti – A celebration of 144 years

L-R: Mr. C B Patel, Dr Virander Paul, Councillor Lazzaro Pietragnoli, Mr. Virendra Sharma, Mr A.A. Jinnah and Dr Nanda Kumar.

Tanveer Mann

commissioner and ministers and many more friends support these two events here on the 2nd October and 30th January.

Gandhiji had a very humble beginning but became one of the greatest humanbeings because of his fight for human rights, equality and freedom through peace, non violence and friendship. Let us come here every year as often as possible.”

Dr Virander Paul, the Acting High Commissioner of India, said: “Gandhi Jayanti is an occasion for us to reflect on the life and contribution of the father of our nation. Gandhiji taught us of the overriding importance of following the path of truth and he firmly believed that the message

Gandhi as the “most important and iconic figWednesday 2nd ure of the 20th century” October marked the 144th and said, “even in a counbirth anniversary of try like Italy, where I was Mahatma Gandhi and born, he is greatly respectmany esteemed members ed and his teachings are of the British Indian comvalid even today.” munity gathered at his He continued: “I realiconic statue in Tavistock ly hope that we can learn Square, London, to celethe lesson from Gandhi, brate the occasion. which of course was a The event was organpolitical message but also ised by the Indian High a personal one too, peace Commission in associaand non-violence were not tioon with India League just something that we and attendees included Dr have to do as a state, but Virander Paul, the Acting we have to do it from High commissioner of inside ourselves as a first India, Deputy Mayor of step. I really hope that we Camden, Councillor will all be inspired and Lazarro Pietragnoli, apply the same moral valBritish Indian MP ues to our lives and to our Virendra Sharma, Mr society.”

A.A.Jinnah MP Rajya Mr. Virendra Sharma, Sabha, India and other MP said: “I hope the senior representatives world will follow from Indian organiGandhi’s teachsations based in ings, message, Britain. his way of life, Attendees paid a which is relevant floral tribute to today as well.

Gandhiji followed by When we are short speeches from talking about dignitaries, bhajans Te r r o r i s m , and vedic prayers by inequality, indistudents of the vidual rights in Bharatiya Vidya society, we still Bhavan (UK). talk about what Virander Paul paying a floral tribute to Compere for the Mahatma Gandhiji Gandhiji’s statue event was Dr said at that time Nandakumara from the of history is that the victoand what his message Bhavans. ry of truth and love is would have been today. I Every year, before inevitable. He led us by hope the world will conGandhi Jayanti, both example, he showed us tinue to follow and adopt Dhirubhai Panchal and courage and conviction in the principles of Srikumar Roy from the standing up to adversity Gandhiji.”

Indian High Commision Mr Sharma concluded and embracing the truth. prepare for the event by the speeches by quoting Millions and millions of devoting time to the mainGandhi. “I offered you people all across the world tenance and cleaning of peace, I offer you love, I continue to be inspired by the statue. They were also offer you friendship, I see the Gandhian philosophy, in attendance. The statue your beauty, I hear your of humanism, compassion was unveiled by the Prime needs, I feel your feelings, and non-violence. There is Minister Harold Wilston my wisdom flows from the an undeniable and essenin May 1968 on the highest source, I salute tial universality of anniversary of Gandhi’s that source in you, let us Gandhi’s ideas and ideals birth. that will remain relevant work together for unity Chairman of India across the nation. Let us and peace”.

League, CB Patel try and live by those prinA short vote of thanks (Publisher/Editor of ciples and ideals.” was given by Mr. Sukhdev ABPL) said: “I have been Councillor Lazzaro Singh Sidhu Minister coming here for the last 47 Pietragnoli, Deputy Mayor (Coordination), Indian years. Every year, the High of Camden, referred to High Commision.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

Adil Ray: “People are mature when they can laugh at themselves”

Sunetra Senior

Discover more about this new cultural sensation as we talk exclusively to Mr and Mrs Khan.

In the making from about a decade beforehand, comedy series Citizen Khan finally hit our screens on 27 August 2012. Set in Sparkhill Birmingham “the capital of British-Pakistan”, the show centres on Mosque community leader Mr Khan and the rest of his family Mrs Khan and daughters Shazia and Alia.

Humorous antics ensue as he tries to balance a renegade ego with the responsibilities of a husband and father, “Mr Khan tries to run the mosque as a community leader” creator/actor Adil Ray explained, “but it is in Birmingham, and he should be looking after his family, so it is quite comical.” Shobu Kapoor, Tv’s Gita Kapoor in Eastenders and actress playing Mrs Khan, brought to light the show’s precious little touches like “a sofa with the plastic left on.”

This is all clear in the opening credits with Khan (Adil Ray) waving manically to random locals in his bright yellow-almost vintage- Mercedes, as his forbearing family roll their eyes to the heavens. And the actual episodes aren’t bad either! Whether Khan is fobbing off his motherin-law to get into Sparkhill Business Association, or jeopardizing older daughter Shazia’s wedding for the sake of self-promotion, the show has a distinct type of humour that is as clever as it is slapstick.

Only Fools and Horses and Fawlty Towers are Ray’s childhood influences, and give the sitcom a multicultural feel that is fluid and unassuming. For example having a ginger haired Muslim convert (My Family’s Kris Marshall) and Khan teaching British pub etiquette, and, though he is speaking in a strong Indian accent, Khan’s colloquialisms are often very English, with mannerisms that even seem reminiscent of a more outspokenand bearded-version of Mr Bean!

Meet the “Man…no, People of the House”

Ray first showcased caricatures like Mr Khan on the Asian Network, and with the help of Goodness Gracious Me’s Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto, developed a concept echoing the dynamic stir of the Asian cult-classic, twenty years prior.

With the first series yielding 3 million viewers each week and going viral fast, Citizen Khan has acquired a passionate new-age fol-

lowing of its own. The main reason, we found out, is the universal appeal: “I have always liked the familial idea behind sitcoms”, commented Adil. “Some of my earliest memories are sitting down with mum and dad and watching as a family. I learnt the impact of watching together.” Shobu also told us, “I have teenagers come up and say how much they love the show.” This is not only true for different generations, but across culture too, “Muslim family is just context,” Adil elaborated.

“Deep down, we can all identify with Mr Khan.

People from Jewish, Catholic and Eastern European backgrounds say ‘that’s just like our family’. We have themes that are really broad.

Children failing exams etc.

Anil and Richard are so great at using rich Asian content that translates into the mainstream”.

Adil’s good-nature and conscientiousness extends to his team too, “There about 50-60 people involved in the show-cast, camera and production crew-and it would not be possible without them.”

Though there are a lot of laughs with big characters across the board, Shobu’s personal bubbliness and Alia’s (Bhavna Limbachia) trademark grimace spring to mind, it takes discipline to get polished performances and a strong narrative.

“Remember it’s a liveshow” said Shobu, “intense and busy; it’s like a theatre performance every Thursday.”

Citizen Can-Series 2 is Here

Despite a couple of hundred complaints about negative stereotypingsome from within the Muslim community- the BBC has commissioned a second series due to good ratings. Kicking off last Friday, it will air every week 9.30 pm on BBC One. “We are delighted” said Adil, “we earned the slot.” Regarding controversy Shobu stated: “It’s a sitcom, and this

is just a family. I’m writing a play adapted from Moni Mohsin’s book Tender Hooks. People ask ‘how can you write about Muslim women?’ But we are all human. People are mature when they can laugh at themselves.”

Citizen Khan certainly does broach humanity in a competent way.

The essentialist individuality of characters is so widely and soundly established that social setting becomes secondary. Adil stated “Khan’s got flaws in his character, but he is a person with a heart and concerns, and in that way is like us and all our parents...Alia is a favourite because so many young women can relate”.

Part of the show’s charm is the everyday narrative keeping us emotionally invested as well as entertained; it embraces family life through an incidental lens of culture, “We ask ‘what’s the story today?’ And the jokes come along after.

Investigating race relations is for documentary and satire, and that’s fantastic. We write comedyour short-term legacy is people relating.”

And the buzz is set to continue with the arrival of Season 2, “It’s bigger and broader” announced Adil. “We have Amjad (Shazia’s fiancé) going for a health check and Mr Khan discovering Facebook for the first time. There’s a lot of guest casting. Wonderful actors with generous giving parts.”

Last week’s episode featured The Vicar of Dibley’s James Fleet.

Shobu added, “The first series laid a foundation and we just kept on building.” Without wanting to add chilies to the curry too soon, we hope this means wedding time for Shazia, though Adil has said he wants “to develop her more as an independent woman.”

There’s only one way to find out what really happens- catch brand new episodes like ‘Naani’s Day Out’ on BBC 1, or visit BBC iplayer to stream recent shows online.

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

Leading Lights

Rani Singh, Special Assignments Editor

The Specialist in Indian Art Sought

by International Museums Prahlad Bubbar is an internationally recognised specialist in Indian and Islamic art, and owns his own Cork Street gallery in London. He is known for his expertise in Mughal, Rajput and Pahari painting. His first exhibition held in London in 2001 focused on the great Indian photographer, Raja Deen Dayal. Since then Prahlad has placed works of historical importance and beauty in collections across the globe including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Museum Rietberg, Zurich, and the David Collection, Copenhagen. He is a regular participant in Asia Week, New York, and Asian Art in London.

Prahlad’s past exhibitions include Pleasures of Princes: Indian the Paintings, Indian Paintings and Photographs which received wide acclaim from international scholars and collectors. Dazzling and Spirited: Indian Court Paintings, held at Asia

Prahlad Bubbar

House, London, was accompanied by a series of lectures.

Prahlad Bubbar grew up in Florence. I asked him how Italy and other countries converged in him.

only

£2 -

“Growing up in Florence, I was the only Indian in my school or in the city for all I knew.

Being surrounded by some of the world’s great Renaissance masterpieces, I began to realise the

importance of art. When I travelled back to India I saw works of the same magnitude and importance that had never been exposed to the world - one such site is the series of wall paintings in the Badal Mahal in Bundi, Rajasthan. This is the 'Sistine Chapel' of India, yet there is not a single book dedicated to it.”

In Florence, Prahlad was attracted to the art of the Surrealist school of painters. One of the first exhibitions he attended was curated by Arturo Schwarz.

In the 1960s, Schwarz had travelled to India where he was taken with the mythology and its imagery, inspiring him to write books on the subject and to collect Indian paintings and sculpture which he mainly acquired in Paris and New York.

Schwartz and Bubbar met in 2007 and Bubbar was introduced to Schwarz’s collection of Indian miniatures. This exhibition stems from their friendship and mutual interests.

Prahlad spoke exclusively to the Asian Voice to explain, “The exhibition The in Indian Surreal Painting is an important show for me as it is a culmination of many years' interest in Surrealism, conceptual art and the

Classical painting traditions of India. The opportunity to curate and handle the collection of Arturo Schwarz, the legendary curator, friend of André Breton, Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp, is a dream come true - especially as I have known and venerated these artists' work since I was a teenager.”

I pointed out that Prahlad works in a rarified world. So how was he making his work available to those of us not in the habit of visiting special art museums? He replied: “A number of my clients are museums that are visited by thousands of people annually and many do not charge entry fees. I see myself as an ambassador for Indian art and culture and have worked hard to promote the cause of classical Indian painting which is well appreciated in the west but is still relatively less known in India.

The educational system in India is lagging in the study of its indigenous art history.”

So did that mean that Prahlad was influenced by one particular region, I asked, finally.

“The language of art is universal and has no boundaries. The human urge to express oneself truthfully is timeless.”

The exhibition also features significant works

from the Tantric traditions of India.

Tantra can broadly be defined as referring to practices based on a group of historic texts called ‘Tantras’, which emphasise specific rituals, secrecy and the importance of the teacher (guru) in the pursuit of spiritual gain.

The Surreal in Indian Painting will be accompanied by a catalogue featuring essays by Arturo previously Schwarz, unpublished in English. It will throw light on themes in Indian painting, appealing not only to collectors of Indian miniatures but also to lovers of Indian religion, philosophy and European surrealism.

The Surreal in Indian Painting: Select Works from the Arturo Schwarz and other Private Collections, an exhibition of twenty-four paintings dating from the 17th to the 19thcentury, will be staged by Prahlad Bubbar at his gallery at 33 Cork Street, London, to the 15 November 2013.

The exhibition is timed to coincide with Islamic Art Week and Asian Art in London.

“The language of art is universal and has no boundaries. The human urge to express oneself truthfully is timeless.” (photo courtesy: jenni@suebond.co.uk)

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YOUR VOICE

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

I will miss AV and GS

Krishna and Caste

Lalu and fodder scam

These senseless slaughters

Having earlier shelved my planned holidays to Egypt because of the political unrest in that country, we decided to bask in the warmth of Sunny Spain. We are away this week enjoying the hot climes of the costal resort of Costa Blanca in Benidorm. This is in close vicinity of Valencia, the famous city of Spain’s legendary hero, EL Cid. I am glad to say that while I am away, I do not miss my favourite AV and GS. I log into the ABPL website in my Blackberry’s browser and could read the “Your Voice” column of AV on page 8, and this contribution of mine. I am also glad that I am able to get up to speed on what is happening in England and around the world by reading the two papers on the ABPL website. It is a great relief and reassurance that the e-editions of these papers are providing me with the facility to read my favourite “Your Voice” column even from abroad. I wonder whether similar facility is available to readers of other papers. I also wonder however that if people could read the papers on-line like this then there is little incentive to subscribe to them or to purchase them at the news agents. So what benefit ABPL gets by making them available as e-papers online? Having said this, I will state categorically that there is no comparison with the hard copies of the actual full sized versions. I must confess that I always pre-empt the arrival of the papers through the post by first having a glimpse on the website a day or so before!

It has been mentioned that humans are born equal, but there are so many evidences in the present day that Kaliyug shows low evidence of any equal status.

Are men born free at all ? It seems animal are born free, but humans keep them in bondage. Humans exploit children for labour too.

Even Lord Krishna, who was born divine, came to earth to do his duty, And his first duty was to kill his Kansamama, who had kept his parents imprisoned.

With Lord Krishna came Kaliyug and the lessons of Karma to attain moksha.

The Caste System in India must have been existing since the days of Dinosaurs, but rooted well over 5000 years ago, I believe since the birth of Lord Krishna. Gita states clearly about castes & their purposes in day to day life, like warrior class etc. In Hindu tradition, four main castes are said to be origin from the head, arms, thigh & feet of Brahma, the Creator.

Vedanta is the final school of Hindu philosophy that developed teachings of Upanishads.

In Mahabharata, the war started to fight with Koivorovaas. and even Lord Krisha was unable to stop it. Question was about the "good versus the evil" and the subject of Karma.

Even today caste systems exist in India. Landlords fighting/killing dalits and vice versa, to protect their own human rights. Concepts of castes have improved with time, but its ugly side still comes to surface often.

Recently the Indian supreme court passed a judgement that convicted politicians should be disqualified from holding the post immediately and this controversial ordinance was rejected by the UPA government under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi. The UPA government wanted the convicted politicians to continue in office till the end of the term provided they are not paid. This was meant to save Lalu Prasad Yadav who was convicted for five years in fodder scam whose party supports the government. The President of India was not happy with the ordinance and wanted to discuss with senior congress politicians.

Meanwhile when the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in America to meet Barack Obama and to address the UN assembly, the congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi trashed the contentious ordinance on shielding convicted legislators describing it as 'complete nonsense’.

Rahul Gandhi has deliberately undermined the authority of the Prime Minister in his absence with full understanding of his mother.

It was expected that Manmohan Singh will resign from the post as a protest undermining his authority which he failed to do. Sonia’s coup to bring her son failed.

When President Obote of Uganda went to Singapore for Commonwealth conference, he was overthrown by general Amin. We have to watch very carefully to what extent Sonia Gandhi will push her son to become the Prime Minister of India with the help of her cronies.

Although more than 81 innocent Christians, men women and children were brutally murdered in suicide attack while praying in an All Saint Church in Peshawar, packed with 350 Sunday worshippers, in the frontier Pakistani city, it has hardly touched the conscious of the West while all the attention is centred on the attack on the shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, although such attacks on the ethnic minorities in Pakistan are weekly occurrences while the Mall attack was one-off Al-Shabaab brutality in Kenya, at least let us hope that it was so.

Could it be that Pakistanis who died were pure ethnic people while the victims of Kenya massacre were multinationals, including many Westerners? Thousands of Pakistanis, besides Hindus and Christians and that include many Muslims from Shia, Ahmedia, Ismalis, Sufis and other sects, are routinely butchered in cities like Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar without a murmur either from the Pakistani government or the West. It is a forgotten part of the world not on the Western map. Could anyone imagine what would happen if this was happening in European country?

Many feel that Pakistani government is aiding and abiding in such massacres by passing draconian laws that treat women and non-Muslims with scant respect. Then Pakistan is not unique.

More people die in Shia Sunni rivalry in Iraq than the rest of the world put together. Some 800 people died in Iraq last month.

How long the West is going to turn a blind eye to such mass murders. Have we got no conscious?

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford

Narendra Modi as a manager rather than a leader

In politics, as well in big business, there is a culture of glorifying the influence of the Prime Minister, or PM designate, or CEO of a multinational business, as the sole or prime motivator behind success or failure of a country or a company.

UK prime ministers have up to 40 personally appointed advisors from tax payer's money on top of 14 cabinet ministers and 14 civil service first secretaries behind the scenes.

India is a vast country with diverse demographics and 1.27 billion people to manage, Narendra Modi should from now begin the process of selecting and nominating his key team of 23 cabinet ministers with 23 portfolios. It is best not to appoint advisors at all and waste tax payer's money. They generally conflict with civil servants and/or cabinet ministers. It is better to lead, inspire, manage, train and empower the latter two groups only.

It should be his official team, rather than just himself, that he should present to the Indian nation, to manage this complex country with huge problems in so many areas as no one individual can manage them all on his own.

Such a move will also put brakes on the harmful envy that may be created all round if Narendra Modi becomes too popular as a single individual to his own detriment.

Jay Thakerar Via Email A leader has to show from now that not only he is a good leader nationally, but also a good manager/ delegator with inter-personal and human resource skills who can pick up a corruption free team that would work harmoniously, effectively and fast if the people of India gave the team the mandate to do so in 2014.

Nagindas Khajuria Via Email

Modi and temples

It is surprising that Narendra Modi equated temples with toilets. It is correct for religious but short sighted Hindus at all levels to express disgust towards a staunch Hindu.

Hindu opponents of such equation should note that spiritual cleanliness is impossible in disgusting physical insanitary condition.

Considering shrewdness / forte of Mr. Modi, this remark may be dismissed as mistake or considered as a red herring to lull adversaries into false sense of stagger

by Mr. Modi. As shrewd politician, the word-“temple” also might have been used intentionally to avoid the anger of Non Hindus by excluding names of their places of worship.

Hindus, as majority population, has done nothing to alleviate insanitary conditions in last 66 years of independence as against building magnificent temples in India / abroad. I witnessed filthiness during my journeys across India from

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Arun Vaidyanathan Via Email 1948 to 2001.

Insanitary /accepted state of India is well known globally. In 1959, Louis Malle, -French film maker capitalised on insanitary hell in India. Despite protests, insanitation continued due to lack of toilets and other reasons.

After more than 50 years, conditions never improved and film “Slumdog Millionaire” showed heaps of dung. This shows total disregard / helpless acceptance of insanitary condition by powers –eg temples; being a major force having failed to enforce positive measures.

Therefore Mr. Modi is justified to feel disgust and equate toilets with temples.

Japan names cleaners as Environment engineers; west calls them dustmen; dog owners clean pets’ dung. India can similarly elevate sanitary profession.

Ramesh Jhalla Via Email

Satya meva Jayate

It is believed that the President of India does not make any announcement during a turmoil in India that Mrs Sonia Gandhi, the President of the Congress, occasionally reads a few sentences in Hindi from a previously written letter, and that the Prime Minister of India prefer to speak less- nobody gave the required lengthy speeches as normally expected by the nation.

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Bhupendra M Gandhi Via Email But lately the President of India elected by Congress took a decision not to sign the ordinance put forward by the Congress led government, which would have allowed the corrupted politicians to be elected in Indian parliament, though the government apparently earnestly wished to have it certainly signed.

As a matter of fact this ordinance was against the law recently made by the Supreme court of India to disallow the corrupted politicians to be elected in parliament.

It appears that the Congress led government has an eye on simply number to form an alliance government by hook or crook, rather than having honest members in the party and government to function honestly and impartially.

All honour goes to the impartial President of India who used his own own concluding finding not to sign the more objectionable Ordinance and that speaks a lot more from the President of India for the Indian nation to ease the turmoil created by corrupted people.

It is now absurd to think that the President of India can be compelled, ordered or obliged to do things against his own wisdom.

R N Patel Essex

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

Change Makers

11

Amin family celebrates Nina’s success

Satish, Our Dance Tutor who taught us to perform in 3 sessions. Reenal, Age 9.

As a pupil of Sai School of Harrow, I look forward to going to after school classes, the Saturday school offers Vocal, Tabla, Veda chanting or Dance from 12pm to 1pm.

When I started this term, I thought I’d give dance classes a try which are run by Satish Shah, the wellknown choreographer.

On the 1st day, we were told that we need to prepare a dance in 3 weeks for the Unity of Faiths festival.

The Lower School Head Teacher Chhaya Aunty had decided that for Unity of Faiths, she was going to merge music from 6 different religions and mix the music so the dance can align with the theme of the Festival.

The 1st week we learnt moves for a Ganesh Dance and a vibrant chant of Buddham Shraanam Gachami. In the 2nd week, we learnt steps of a Fire dance to represent

The Amin family held a glittering party at Sheraton Skyline to celebrate Nina Amin being awarded an MBE this year in the Queen’s Zoroaster and an upbeat Qawali Song on Allah. In the 3rd week, we learnt moves of O Happy Days to incorporate Christianity and finally a Sikh song.

Right at the end of the 3rd week, we put all the 6 sequences together and practised the complete dance. It was hard at first as every 2/3 minutes the music changed and we had to remember the line up correctly.

Last Sunday when we arrived in Southall for the festival, we met up back stage in a marquee for the final rehearsal and before I knew it, we were led to the back of the

stage to come and perform. Standing next to us was Monty Panesar, the cricketer who was going on before us.

As I took my position on stage, I looked out and saw hundreds of people watching us and waited for the music to start, I was nervous but wanted to make sure I give it my best shot. I remembered all the steps and before I knew it, I heard people clapping from the ground saying More, More…

That was my 1st public performance and I can’t believe Satish Shah taught us to perform a dance in such a short time.

‘Luxury Haven Guilford’ to become more affordable A wide-ranging local consultation was launched last week in the desirable borough of Guilford, to address the need for affordable housing and ensure the area does not become a rich enclave. An area with a sizeable Asian community, the local Council is calling on all residents in the Green Belt borough to help determine housing and growth priorities over the next 20 years.

The Asian population of Guildford account for just under 6% of the total population, at 7820 people, according to the latest Census, with a rise in the number of people identifying themselves as ‘Asian’ including Chinese, Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani. Monika Juneja, the lead Councillor for Planning and Governance, has been vocal about the need to include and accommodate all the communities.

The consultation is the biggest public consultation in the history of the borough that aims to deliver a sustainable plan for economic and social growth in the area by enabling the well-managed development of homes, shops and places of work.

The Surrey area is fast becoming known as the UK’s most exclusive place to live and Guildford town was recently named the UK’s ‘luxury shopping capital’ with average prices for a detached

Left to right: Guildford Borough Council’s head of communications Carole Humphrey, Guildford Mayor Diana Lockyer-Nibbs, Guildford borough Council Lead Councillor Stephen Mansbridge, Councillor Monika Juneja and others

home in the borough nearing £700,000.

Current population trends mean that thousands of new homes will be needed in Guildford borough between now and 2031, while a 2008 survey of local business owners

by Guildford Borough Council found many concerned about their workers being able to afford to live in the area.

Throughout October and November, the community will consider the issues facing the borough and set development priorities until 2031. The conclusions made through the consultation and ongoing research will feed into a Local Plan for Guildford borough that the Council hopes to adopt in 2015.

“Our borough is much more than a luxury haven – it’s a great place to live, work and visit, and we want to keep it that way.

The reality is that we have a full urban area, and a real need for affordable housing locally”, said Cllr

Monika Juneja.

“We want to encourage people to stay and build lives here – everyone from teachers and doctors to young people and entrepreneurs. And we need to ensure we have enough homes to sustain a future for our children and grandchildren here. This might mean asking difficult questions about how we plan for the future. For example, how can we stop local people – commuters, businesspeople, the young and the old – being priced out of their own borough?

And is there a way to grow sustainably – balancing our vision for a strong, diverse local economy with the spirit of the Green Belt Act? “With house prices increasing throughout the country and a notable lack of space for new building in our borough, this is the right time to have a discussion locally about what kind of future we want.

We want a blueprint for the future that is measured, manageable and

Birthday Honour List.

Some 250 guests attended including the Aroras, Lord Popat, Dheeraj Hinduja, Keith Vaz MP, Rami Ranger and close

family, friends and KPMG colleagues.

It was a fun event organised by Shirish, Sheena and Chiraag for Nina Amin

Starved toddler’s drug addict mother gets 15 years for manslaughter The mother of fouryear-old Hamza Khan, who was starved to death and was left a mummified corpse in his cot for almost two years, was jailed for 15 years on Friday for her “wicked conduct” toward her son and neglect of her other five children.

Amanda Hutton, an alcoholic mother of eight children was found guilty of manslaughter by a jury at Bradford Crown Court.

Police, who discovered Hamzah’s mummified, insect-infested, undersized body in a tiny cot two years after he died in December 2009, were also horrified to find his siblings rummaging through the pungent squalor that they called home.

According to Hatton, she did not even inform Hamzah’s dad, Aftab

Hamza Khan

Khan, because she “didn’t want to break his heart”.

Judge Roger Thomas, QC, told Hatton that her offences “demonstrate a most fundamental and serious breach of any duty that an individual in decent society can owe to others, namely the duty that a parent owes to her or his young children to take proper care of them”.

He told Hutton that she “must be regarded as a real danger to any child with whom you may live, or in any way have care of in the future” and that

Hamzah’s death was “as bad a case of unlawful killing of a child by a parent as it is possible to imagine”.

A serious case review is under way into how the body remained undiscovered in his mother’s house despite the involvement of the authorities.

The manslaughter of Hamzah involved “failing to provide him with anything like adequate nourishment over a long period of time - in short, you starved him to death” The Judge also stated, “your deviousness and entirely purposeful conduct in keeping various agencies away from you and your children so that what you were doing was not discovered must be a feature of this case that I should take into account in sentencing you today.”

Indian entrepreneurship student scoops top prize at International Enterprise competition An Indian Entrepreneurship student from the University of Nottingham has been awarded the top prize at a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style competition during the UKTI’s Entrepreneurs’ Festival in Manchester.

The student, Ashutosh Pathak, was part of the ‘Brobotics’ team, which boasted participants from seven countries and five continents.

The international enterprise competition was held to mark the launch of The Sirius Programme. Spearheaded by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), The Sirius Programme is a pioneering scheme to bring the world’s best entrepreneurial talent to the UK. The 12-month start-up support and acceleration package is open to students and recent graduates with an early-stage

business idea or business plan. Successful applicants receive a full range of support including investment, a place in one of the world’s best business accelerator programmes, mentoring and logistical help with relocating to the UK. Ashutosh Pathak, pictured, from The University of Nottingham said: “Winning this award has given us all great confidence in our entrepreneurial ability. Not only was this competition a great opportunity to work as a team with people from all over the world, it allowed us to each develop our business acumen too.

We can’t wait to apply for The Sirius Programme with the hope of being one step closer to transforming our business ideas into a reality within the UK”.

The Sirius Programme is part of UKTI’s commit-

ment to supporting global graduate talent by helping young people from around the world develop and make their business ideas a reality in the UK. For more information and to apply visit www.siriusprogramme.com.

Places will be allocated each month between October 2013 and January 2014, and the deadline for entries for November’s intake is 31 October 2013.

based on the wishes of the community.

“No growth is not an option. What we need is to consider all the options that will enable us to grow as a community in a man-

ageable way – delivering the best possible future for the borough.”

The potential options available to the borough in the future Local Plan range from protecting her-

itage areas from planning and private acquisition to the finding of land for housing and business development outside the borough’s crowded urban space.

12

MEDIA WATCH

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

October 2 was Gandhi Jayanti, the birth anniversary of the Mahatma, who joined the disparate parts of a fractured society and welded them into a nation, before marching it to Independence.

That was one of the 20th century’s truly great achievements. The ritual lamps were lighted to his hallowed memory, moralizing mantras dutifully intoned by the Indian media and politicians. On parade were the usual tableaux of intellectual mediocrity, of people unable to explore his life and work in their fullest dimension, lacking courage and intellect to measure his luminous successes against his painful failures - the lot of even the very good and the very great down the ages. Why Partition?, against which Gandhi had fought all his life, for example. No questions were asked lest a can of worms be opened. The historian Aparna Basu had two thoughtful concluding paragraphs in her Telegraph edit-page article. (October 2).

Apropos of Gandhi’s work in South Africa, she writes movingly: “This was his first large-scale and successful civil disobedience. It is truly amazing how he mobilized Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Parsees and Christians, miners, plantation workers, women and traders to march with him to defy unjust laws……courting imprisonment without raising a finger against their opponents.”

Smuts tribute

Mahatma Gandhi

Aparna Basu continues: “Gandhi presented the minister of the interior, Smuts, a pair of sandals he made in prison.

Smuts wore them for many years, even though,” in his words, ‘I may feel that I am not worthy to stand in the shoes of so great a man.’ ” Eventually, the white apartheid regime negotiated itself into liquidation, for which its leader, de Klerk, deserves great credit. Warts and all, Smuts, de Klerk et al (and British leaders too), as believing Christians, possessed both conscience and moral sensibility which, in the end, resolved a crisis through a civilized win-win solution.

the unbeliever has been its consuming passion from womb, to birth and adulthood. The massacre of 85 Christian worshippers outside a church in the Pakistani city of Peshawar is simply the latest atrocity. The Nawaz Sharif government offered an embarrassed apology, the sort delivered on treading the toes of a fellow passenger on a bus. There was no national uproar, no attempt to galvanize the public, as The Hindu’s Correspondent in Pakistan (October 1) pointed out.

Several years earlier the world was treated to the degrading spectacle of the Punjab governor Salman Taseer being shot dead by his bodyguard because he had sought justice for a poor Christian woman, who he believed, had been wrongfully jailed for having blasphemed against the Koran. The country’s legal fraternity went ballistic in support of the killer. Enough said.

Non-violence and its limits

Great as he was, Mahatma Gandhi never grasped the true nature of Evil in its ultimate forms. His opponents in South

the beleaguered Jews of Europe to resist Hitler through non-violence. The Mahatma was proshocked by the foundly Holocaust, as he was by the America’s use of atom bombs against Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Answer: non-violence is no more a magic talisman than war, each works in the appropriate context. With sections of humankind still prone to war and violence it cannot be otherwise.

“Red Napoleon” Giap dies

Vietnam’s legendary General Vo Nguyen Giap, described as the “Red Napoleon,” died at the weekend, aged 102. When peaceful means to achieve Vietnam’s peaceful liberation from French colonial rule had failed, following prolonged negotiations in Paris in 1946, France opted for war to subdue a people it despised as feckless and easily cowed. There was a hard and bloody lesson to be learned.

Eight years of bitter conflict ended in Vietnam’s historic victory over the French Expeditionary Corps at Dien Bien Phu. The Americans guilty of similar hubris were driven out of Vietnam in April 1975, while the invading Chinese were routed in February 1979. Vo Nguyen Giap was the military genius who led his armies to these astounding victories against two great powers and a superpower.

He was one of history’s great captains. Like his mentor Ho Chi Minh, General Giap was a friend of India. BJP Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee insisted on calling on the General, then in retirement, to pay his respects and those of the Indian people. Today, Vietnam lives in peace and friendship with France and America. The past as history is remembered, but indomitable Vietnam decided that it was time to move on (Hindu. Telegraph, October 5,6)

Indian Army in terror battle

killed 19 of the intruders. Five Indian soldiers have been wounded in the exchanges. The fighting is drawing to a close as the noose is tightened. The thickly- forested, mountainous Shala Bhata terrain along the Kishenganga river overlooks a strategic Pakistani road network (Times of India, Hindu, Telegraph October 6)

Impact on PM’s talks in US

Indo-Russian project from conception to operational development. This supersonic cruise missile, with its 2.8 Mach (almost thrice the speed of sound) and 300 km range, is the only type of its class in the world. An Indian variant includes a “seeker” and new software that enables this ramjet air breathing missile to hone in on a specific target located in a cluster of urban buildings. A second variant can manoeuvre in mid-flight and loop over mountains to reach its target. It already operates from land and sea platforms. The Army’s BrahMos missiles, significantly, are based in Arunachal Pradesh, adjacent to China’sTibet.

Together with the five Agnis, 1,II,III,IV and V, BrahMos has put India in the top missile league (Asian Age, September 20)

New tailwinds for Kaveri engine

Manmohan Singh

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in New York addressing the UN General Assembly and holding talks on the sidelines with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, who was bluntly informed that there could be no meaningful progress in Indo-Pakistan ties until Pakistani-sponsored terrorism on Indian soil had ceased. Mr Sharif issued a routine denial of Pakistani involvement, saying that Pakistan itself was a victim of terrorism. That doesn’t invalidate the living truth of one group of terrorists biting the hand that once fed it, while another group obeys its master’s voice (Times of India October 1)

Formidable BrahMos

The indigenous aero engine Kaveri that was put on hold after a lengthy gestation is all set for the final stage of its development by a fresh financial government support. The engine was designed to power the Indiabuilt Tejas warplane and, in time, other fighter aircraft as well, thus saving billions of dollars in foreign exchange imports.

The new plan was announced by DRDO Director General (Aero section) K.Tamilmani and Director, Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) C.P. Ramanaryanan. The Kaveri’s last big flight-test took place in Russia in 2011, when it was fitted on an IL-76 transport plane.

Although 90 per cent of flight envelope was covered, five problems remained. GTRE has been working on these and solutions are in sight. GTRE plans to test the perfected engine in the next few months (Hindu October 2)

Lalu’s 5-year sentence

Jinnah, Pakistan

Contrast this with Mohammed Ali Jinnah and the Pakistan he founded. Hatred for

Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Mohammed Ali Jinnah

Africa and India had a moral conscience and sensibility to which he could justly appeal.

Militant Islamism, Italian fascism and Hitler’s Nazism were of a different category. Hence Gandhi’s support for the PanIslamic Khilafat movement in India was misguided, as was his advice to the Jews in Palestine to place themselves unquestioningly under feudal Arab monarchies, or his absurd counsel to

In what is fast becoming the biggest infiltration route in recent years for terrorists from across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, has forced the Indian Army to move into a high operational gear to abort the exercise.

Islamist terrorists backed by elements of Pakistani special forces are entrenched in the Keran sector of the Kurpura district in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Indian Army have so far

Dr Sivathanu Pillai

“BrahMos is a formidable weapon system. It has offered more punch and strike capability for the three services strike capability. We owe it all to Dr A.S. Pillai CEO & MD BrahMos Aerospace and Dr A.G.Leonov, Director General, [Russia’s] NPOM,” said India’s Air Chief Marshal N.A.K.Browne, Air Chief and Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee at a celebration marking the 15th year of the

Lalu Prasad Yadav

Lalu Prasad Yadav, a former chief minister of Bihar has been sentenced by a court to 5 years in jail for his role in the notorious fodder scam. It brings a controversial and colourful political career to an inglorious close.

The wheels of justice grind slow; they grind exceeding well, reminding Indians that theirs is a republic of laws, that no-one is above the law.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

The Politics of Pledges – Election Time In the past month I have travelled from Delhi, Chandigarth, Amrtisar, Lucknow, Bangalore, Hyderabad and have yet to meet someone who says they will vote for Congress. I write to you from Hyderabad, arriving from Bangalore.

Hyderabad feels as shut down as America at the moment.

As electioneering starts in India, and Britain’s Party Conference season is over, I am reminded the season of pledges is about to commence.

The political mess as well as economic mess left by the credit crunch has left Harvard’s MBA programme to offer a pledge by their students: ‘I will refrain from corruption, unfair competition, or business practices harmful to society.’

Ummm ... okay so they are promising not to break the law in the future when they are unleashing the latest derivatives instrument and selling it for more than it’s worth to a bigger fool. Or if it’s legal, because they are one step ahead of the law, they are promising not to act in their self-interest but be charitable to the rest of society. Words are cheap.

The Indian Politician Pledge: ‘I promise only take as much money as absolutely possible and no more. I promise never to handle it myself, but have a relative take receipt. I promise to launder through Switzerland because it makes me feel Western and sophisticated. I pledge never to bid for the Olympic Games.’

The British Politician Pledge: ‘I

pledge if we ever get gold reserves ever again, we promise not to sell them £7billion cheaper than we could have done.

Also I pledge to undo and reverse everything the last Government did – good or bad and make lots of laws, whether they are needed or not. And I pledge to understand a collatoralised debt obligation and inverse yield curve at some point in the next 50 years and how market crashes happen. I also pledge to say what a great country this is – like an American would.’

The LibDem Oath: ‘We pledge never to let go of power again, and remember that 100 years ago we were the natural Party of Government and it was our Prime Minister who saved the world at the time of the First World War whose centenary is next year.’

The Labour Party Oath: ‘We pledge not to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory given how demographically our vote is spread we just need to avoid losing and keep our mouths shut. But I pledge not to talk down the country in Opposition.’

The Conservative Party Oath: ‘We pledge to get it that having lots of Conservatives in safe seats does not help us win an outright majority and we need to spread ourselves out of cliquey constituencies and mix a bit more’.

My pledge: ‘I promise to tell truth to power, regardless of consequence and implicit threats and how damaging it may be for my supposed ambitions.’

UK

Problems for workers seeking to claim benefits There has been much publicity lately by the government and all major political parties in making ‘work pay’.

In essence it has been boldly stated that those who are in work should never be financialBy Daniel Anderson ly worse off than those who are out of work. However there has been a number of benefit cases recently brought to the attention of Duncan Lewis that unfortunately casts doubt on this assertion.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that benefit agencies are, in some instances, seeking to impose their own stringent criteria in determining whether someone is actually in work for the purposes of awarding benefits.

For example, it is not uncommon for benefit agencies to now deny people benefits such as housing benefit, tax credits. At a time when more and more workers are on ‘zero hour contracts’ due to the current economic climate this seems a somewhat odd position to take. Such reasons provided are: n They do not have a contract of employment; n They do not have a fixed number of hours they work every week; n They do not earn a certain amount of money; n Their employer is not registered with Companies House and/or does not pay their respective National Insurance Contributions.

Duncan Lewis is clearly of the view this stance being taken by benefit agencies is actually unlawful. There is clear case law precedent which clearly establishes that providing that the work is ‘genuine and effective’ then such work is sufficient to enable the relevant individual to be awarded benefits by being classed as a worker. The criteria set for when ascertaining if work is ‘genuine and effective’ are straightforward and cover the following: (i) You must be working for a period of time; (ii) You must be providing services to another person or company; (iii) You must be under the direction of another person or company in pro-

13

viding these services; AND (iv) You must receive remuneration for providing services.

As will be apparent, Duncan Lewis is of the view that these criteria should be easily met in the vast majority of cases. There is no predetermined number of hours a person need work on a weekly basis nor a predetermined salary that one must earn (or even the fact that they be paid in money) in order to be classed as being in ‘genuine and effective’ work for the purposes of claiming benefits.

Of course, in a very small number of cases there are those who will be falsely claiming that they are in work as a ‘sham’ to exploit the benefits system. However, in the vast majority of cases benefit claimants are in work but simply the victims of the current economic climate in being underemployed and/or exploited by unscrupulous employers. It is therefore vital that those who are refused benefits despite being in work receive prompt legal advice and assistance to enable them to seek to challenge the decision of the benefits agency.

Recently Duncan Lewis assisted a client who had originally been refused both Housing Benefit and Tax Credits on the basis that it was decided she was not in work due to her only being paid ‘cash in hand’ for leafleting 3 days a week without having a contract of employment. Furthermore the client’s employer was not registered with Companies House nor did it make the respective National Insurance Contributions it should have. Nevertheless, following the firm’s effective legal representations, it was held that the client was in ‘genuine and effective work’ and as a result the client received back payments of over £10,000 in Housing Benefit and £30,000 in Tax Credits.

If you have or know someone that has been refused benefits despite being in work, Duncan Lewis’ experienced Welfare Benefits team can assist by seeking to challenge the decision of the benefits agency on your behalf.

Legal 500 Leading Law Firm Duncan Lewis Solicitors’ Welfare Benefits Team advises and assists clients across London and throughout the UK on a wide range of Welfare Benefit issues.

Author – Daniel Anderson is a Trainee Solicitor with Duncan Lewis.

Offices across London and throughout UK l City of London Harrow Hackney Islington Lewisham Shepherd’s Bush

Southall Tooting l Birmingham l Cardiff l Leicester

With over 500 Staff to Assist Tel: 020 7923 4020 - www.duncanlewis.com

Wife and mother-in-law clash over £10m assets A personality clash between a millionaire dentist and her “highly controlling” mother-inlaw is at the centre of a £10 million divorce battle.

Dr Sharma and her husband Sunny, 45, the scion of a “substantial” business dynasty, divorced in October last year after raising two children and establishing a highly lucrative niche dentistry business. She claims their marital assets were

worth up to £10 million.

The ensuing fight over ownership of five practices has resulted in an atmosphere of “unremitting hostility” between Dr Sharma, her ex-husband and his family, especially his mother, Kesh, London’s Appeal Court was told.

Of 12 highly successful dental practices set up over the years, Dr Sharma claims she owns seven and family judge, Mr Justice Simon, last year ruled

in her favour on the issue.

Now Mr Sharma, his mother, and his brother Rajesh are asking Appeal Court judges, Lord Justice Jackson, Lord Justice McCombe, and Lord Justice Floyd, to hand back to them five of the bitterly fought-over surgeries.

The Appeal Court judges have now reserved their judgement on the case, to be delivered at a later date.

14

UK

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Rick Stein talks about life, passion and his memoir

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

Barclays Hounslow October showcase success

Charu Smita

Rick Stein’s recently published much talked about memoir ‘Under a Mackerel Sky: A memoir ’ (2013), draws out almost everything you wanted to know about the food champion and renowned chef. In a recent event, he spoke about his life, his memoir, his fascination with Biryani, his message to budding food-professionals and much more. though, it was a bit ambitious.

CS - What inspired you to venture into writing a memoir?

CS - I want to shift the focus slightRS - Sarah, my wife, was the one who gave me this idea. One of the ly to your experience in South Asia, things about writing the memoir especially India. Did you find any was that after a while I realised, particular curry/ dish complicated that because what I was writing is to prepare? true and who I was writing about RS - For me the hardest thing to do are still alive, I had to be very careis to learn how to make a Biryani ful about what I said, so in a way it properly, but I managed to in the can be quite restricting. end. Funny enough, we (my team and I) picked up in Lucknow (an old city in North-India) what they CS - It must be hard to craft your called Pulao but only it wasn’t experiences into chapters. Is there Rick Stein Pulao! I think that Lucknow pulao any particular story that you wantwith myself throughout the book. is more like Biryani so that’s what ed to include in the book but ultiLooking at the diaries I wrote when mately had to cut out? we gathered from the shops. We I was much younger, I realised how RS - Well, not really. Mostly what I went to Tunde-ke-Kabab as well cautious I was and how much that did was to write too and we really liked irritated me because I realised how much about each place Lucknow, I must say. cautious I was. I realised that actuand the editor had to We had some really ally what I was doing quite modercut it all out and she did good contributors ately risky things and was more so very kindly. Basically there. pragmatic than cautious, but I it was a hundred pages always thought of myself as overlonger when I drafted CS - In small towns, cautious. So when I started looking it. Mostly, she just cut especially those in at it, I realised, “No, I was just out just the repetitive India, unfortunately, being sensible.” budding professional pieces. I am just trying chefs and food writers to think if I should have CS - What do you hope to accomare not paid due attenwritten about more. plish with this book? tion and there is no Funny enough I RS - I’d quite like it to sell well guidance for the pasthought I should have enough to be able to do more writsionate young talents. written more about ing! Probably it is hard for people to What would be your what it’s like making Cover of the book accept that as a chef I can also write advice to them? the television series, but so it is really to establish myself.

RS - Well, interestingly, in Punjab, when I came to read it, it was probably the least interesting part of the there was really well run technical CS - The title of your memoir is book to me. I covered everything, institute. I do not remember its ‘Under a Mackerel Sky’. How did but I found my early childhood very name right now but it was really you come up with it? interesting to write about; building well run and I suppose, that would RS - In the earlier part of the book, up a restaurant in Padstow. A lot of be my advice- to find their nearest I left for London to go to technical college and never ever to these stories were already put into Southampton to get on a boat to give up on their dream. I suppose it books. I think I liked writing most Australia. When I got out of the pub is difficult but I am only speaking of about people who mattered most to where I was having a large drink this place because we did film there me in my life like two or three menwith my friend, there was a mackerand we thought it was really well tors. el sky in high cloud and it was an run. So my advice would be to find indication of serious change in the your nearest local technical college.

CS - How long did it take you to get weather. I thought it would be perthe manuscript together? fect to describe the turning point of RS - I think it was about a year. I CS - Was there anything that surmy life since then. That’s when my was quite strict with myself as I prised you about your own self life changed, hence, the signifiplanned on writing about a thouwhile writing this memoir? cance. sand words a day. I didn’t manage it RS - Yes, I had this slight friction

THEATRE PREMIERE

Where did I leave my Purdah

On Wednesday 25th October, Watermans celebrated the UK premiere of ‘Where did I leave my Purdah’, a comic drama about the famed company theatres of India, presented by the Mumbai based, Primetime Theatre Company.

The show has been successfully performed in India and Dubai, and features a talented cast of five: Lillete Dubey; Soni Razdan; Neha Dubey; Sid Makkar & Selina Hotwani.

The premiere was attended by the Deputy High Commissioner, High Commission of India, Mr. Virander Paul and his wife, Mrs. Racheline Shadap, along with the chair of Watermans, Andrew Ward (Director of Corporate Relations, Brunel University); Maggie McNab (Watermans Board member); director of Watermans, Jan Lennox and eminent members of the local community.

Several councillors were in attendance including Cllr Pritam Grewal (Lab, Houns Central); Cllr Ajmer Grewal (Lab, Houns Central); Karam Mohan (Lab, Lady Margaret Ward), although he is better known as a journalist having covered a lot

Kishore Parmar ( Asian Voice) Mark Flatt (Hounslow Branch Manager), Kulbir Sahota (Business Manager), Sharon Singh (Assistant Manager), Raj Patel (Business Manager) K K Patel ( KBMD accountant) and Simon Robertson (Area Business Manager)

The Barclays branch and business team in Hounslow put itself right in the centre of the community last week when the branch invited personal and business customers to come together for an evening event aimed at showcasing all that is good about the local area.

The branch in the High Street was opened from 6pm to 9pm on Wednesday 02 October 2013 and around 400 people came through the doors to take part in the event.

Each of the three floors at the branch had a different theme with the ground floor holding a welcome and informal networking area and a buffet. Representatives from Barclays personal and business teams helped customers with advice and demonstrations of the bank’s latest innovative digital services designed to make lives easier. Other key organisations were also present including Hounslow Chamber of Commerce who offered business advice, and the UKTI offering support on trading overseas On the First Floor, Barclays offered their local businesses customers a chance to demonstrate their own products and services as a ‘Pop Up Shop’ and visitors were able to see 15 stands including accountants, a florist, solicitors, photographer, Kenya safari, a security alarm company, a perfume retailer and a magician.

The Second Floor conference facilities offered free seminars on subjects including one hosted by a local accountancy firm,

alongside the Barclays real estate team offering advice to commercial and residential property investors.

The event was organised by area business manager Simon Robertson working with Hounslow branch manager Mark Flatt. Simon Robertson said: “We want to be much more than just a provider of banking services and this event is just the first of many we plan to run.

The aim was to support our personal customers by introducing them to an array of expertise and local businesses and products, and also to give our business customers a chance to grow their network and promote their businesses to a wide range of people.”

“We were blown away by the enthusiasm of everyone who attended and it was a testament to the unique and vibrant nature of Hounslow that so much business was carried out and that the atmosphere was so positive throughout the evening. We are already planning for the next event.”

Kunverji Patel of KBMD accountants was one business taking part.

He said: “It was a wonderful and a unique idea. I’ve not seen this kind of a Showcase Event before. It puts networking on the map for businesses and as a business customer of Barclays I got to meet and potentially trade with a range of other companies.

I also met many potential customers. Barclays is doing wonderful work here.”

(Photo courtesy: Ranjit Singh Walia (Walia Digital Video)

Cast From Left to Right Sid Makkar, Lillete Dubey, Soni Razdan, Selina Hotwani & Neha Dubey

of the shows, for a Punjabi language newspaper: Primetime Theatre Company is headed by Lillete Dubey, a prominent Bollywood actress, who is passionate about developing English language theatre in India. The Company have been regular visitors to Watermans with their produc-

tions: Dance Like a Man (2003); Womanly Voices (2005); Sammy!

(2007) and Wedding Album (2009).

In 2011, Watermans presented a theatrical celebration to mark twenty years of Primetime Theatre Company - showcasing two productions (Dance Like a Man, and Love on the Brink) over a fortnight from

Lillete Dubey & Farrukh Dhondy Photo Ravi Juneja

29 March-Sat 9 April at Watermans.

(Photo courtesy: Ravi Juneja)

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013 Rupanjana Dutta

UK

The track record of Modi excites People of India

Piyush Goyal, a member of the Indian Rajya Sabha and a national treasurer for the Bharatiya Janata Party addressed a conference at Shakti Hall, in the Asian Voice office, speaking about the forthcoming Indian election.

Chartered accountant by profession, Goyal was elected to the Upper House in Indian Parliament in 2010. Bright and suave, he is also currently the Head of the Information Campaign Committee Cell of the Election Campaign Committee for the BJP, under Shri Narendra Modi, the Prime Ministerial candidate for India from BJP. Narendra Modi has faced many backlashes ever since the announcement about his role in the forthcoming election. A section of the NRI community is constantly criticising this popular figure including opposing his possible trips to Britain or the US. During a face to face interview with the Asian Voice, when asked if the Godhra controversies could tarnish Mr Modi’s chances to win in the forthcoming elections, Mr Goyal, a close ally of Modi said, “I think the people of India are smart.

They’ve seen people trying to nail Modi for something that he never did. They’ve seen his track record of a riot-free state for ten years. They’ve seen his track record of development, the lowest unemployment level in Gujarat, which is Central government’s statistic. They have seen that malnutrition has come down with the fastest pace in Gujarat (CAG report), the infra-

EXCLUSIVE

structures are unparalleled, power is available 24/7, water is available in every nook and cranny, public sector undertaking making a profit in that state- a state where by and large I have not heard of any corruption.

“The track record of Modi excites the people of India, particularly the youth who see in him the symbol of hope and change which India desperately needs.

Somewhat like what they saw in Rajiv Gandhi in 1984, youthful young man with modern ideas, who spoke of computers when there were Pyush Goyal (centre) with Dr Merul Patel, CB Patel, Dhruv Patel, Lalubhai Parekh, Pranav Bhanot, Manoj Ladwa, none in India, who spoke of Kamal Rao and other invited guests eliminating corruption. His have some coalition partners life and perhaps a role model. I example we were talking about failure let the people down and think the value of your suggespresently, we think we will have something like a viral network. for a number of years, people some more coalition partners You contact people on your tion, that guidance, that persuahave been looking for someone coming out between now and phone, and they contact people sion is huge, far more than even in his place and Modi is that perthe next election, and if that is on their phone and the circle what I have.” son.” so, even if we get a majority on expands.”

While the NRIs battle the The Non Residential Indians our own, we respect our partAnd where does Indo-British whims of a Coalition govern(NRIs) in Britain are anticipatners, it will be a government relation stand on this occasion? ment in Britain, it is not far from ing the 2014 election to bring a with all of them taken on board.”

“I think any good relationship their mind that if BJP does not revolutionising change in India, This time the Indian election can only be on the basis of reciwin by majority, the situation but how far can they influence campaign has also expanded its procity, you cannot have a situacould be tricky. But Mr Goyal the minds of Indians, given they boundaries, starting a new tion where India hopes it can seemed optimistic as he went on have no right to vote? To that trend.

Like Britain and especialhave all its intelligent people to to explain, “At the outset, the Goyal, who has been very warmly the US, much attention is Britain but not allow Britain to trend of coalition governments is ly welcomed and honoured by coming into Europe in recent being given to social media caminvest in India. And vice-versa, the Indian community here said, paigns. Elaborating on that subthe West cannot hope that that times. We were ahead of the “People in India look up to those ject, Goyal said, “In terms of they can invest in India, but curve, we got into it since 1989, who have migrated to foreign technology, we will probably close their doors to Indian we’ve gone through a long perilands, struggled and made it have Modi on every mobile knowledge. I think India and UK od of coalitions. I think people good in life, who are educated, phone soon. We already have partner using British capital and have seen through it and the failrelatively more prosperous than Modi very active on facebook, Indian workforce, the youth, ures that these coalitions often the typical Indian families back where he already has about 3 skilled manpower, together we represent. India today has home and its not jealousy but a million likes, Modi himself will could actually offer the world, matured enough to look for a feeling of pride that Indians have be participating on various promore technologically advanced strong government with a very for their better off brethren overgrammes, YouTube is full of his solutions, cost-effective solubig party at the centre and seas. When you say something to campaigns. More importantly, tions, in fact we could actually maybe a few satellite parties. My them , there is a huge value we’re using technology to reach capture the world,” added a very gut is BJP by itself will inch attached, because you are sucout to common people. For toward a majority. But we do eloquent Piyush Goyal. cessful, educated, and made it in

on 5.

5 nd 2 nd £2 Lo t £ a e e os e” v om th c ic sa .c o w vo t – w s t ho n e ho et r S sia ick rs ck to “A t to Ti ves de REE ves n In e co ur F oni Us yo ond m .l ai w cl ww

Engage with the market The London Investor Show LONDON OLYMPIA, FRIDAY 25 OCTOBER 2013

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

Hansika in supernatural satire

Aishwarya turns down offer, Priyanka grabs it

ishwarya has turned down an offer to be the face of a girl child camA paign launched by a controversial min-

ing giant. The honour, if one may call it that, was eventually bestowed on Priyanka Chopra. A counter signature campaign has since then been gaining momentum, urging Priyanka to back out from the offer. Supported by individuals and NGOs, the petition also requests the media house backing the initiative, to keep away from mining company.

L

ove, action and comedy are the forte of Sundar C, whose last film “Theeya Velai Seiyanum Kumaru” received welcome response from the audience as well as critics. Now the director, as promised at the release of the movie, has come to face the camera once again in his upcoming story, “Aranmanai.” The film stars Sundar and Lakshmi Rai in the lead and Vinay is cast as another lead.

The film also has Hansika and Andrea to its star cast.

“Aranmanai” has the same high points as every movie of Sundar's - romance, humour and action, but is interestingly set on a backdrop of supernatural thriller.

I can never compete with Khans: Ranbir

appy to experiment with his roles, actor Ranbir H Kapoor said he could never

Samantha returns all her remuneration

be in the same league as the three superstar Khans of the industry - Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir - as they are the "true superstars.”

When asked about his role in his latest film “Besharam,” he said, "It is a very 'besharam' role...uninhibited role. I took a risk with the role. As an actor, it is my responsibility to do every genre.” He will start shooting for Anurag Kashyap's "Jagga Jasoos" next month.

P

opular actress Samantha has surely earned respect from her peers for returning her entire remuneration to the makers of “Athharintiki Daaredhi.” Starring Pawan Kalyan and Samantha, “Athharintiki Daaredhi” was leaked online days before the film was to release. Naturally, it caused certain financial strain on the producers. While the film did open to packed audience when it was released officially, the film's director Trivikram and Pawan returned part of their remuneration. Samantha went a step forward and gave back all of her remuneration. Such a noble gesture has given her loads of appreciation from all the stars.

Lady cab drivers for Aamir Khan

ast year, Aamir Khan had featured a group of L female drivers from New

Delhi on his TV show. The ladies in question run a fleet of taxis driven only by them and earn their livelihood through that. Apparently, ever since he interacted with them, the actor only calls for their cabs when in the capital city. Even during the promotions of “Talaash” last year, he had hired a couple of their taxis and even made his co-star Rani Mukerji travel in them.

No bikini for me: Sonakshi Sinha

A

ctress Sonakshi Sinha, who was seen coming out of the water wearing a wet saree in “R...Rajkumar,” says she will not wear a bikini. Asked while other actresses are seen donning a bikini while on beach, she said: "No bikini...jitna hai usi se kaam chalao...be happy with what you get."

Directed by Prabhu Deva, "R...Rajkumar" also stars Shahid Kapoor. Sonakshi, who is going completely rowdy in "R...Rajkumar", says she enjoyed playing rowdy.

"I thoroughly enjoyed playing a rowdy in the film. I am quite thrilled about the film. I have not done anything like this before," Sonakshi told reporters at the film's trailer launch.

Shah Rukh voted 'best celebrity in rugged look'

Shah Rukh Khan has topped a list of male celebrities who look best in a rugged look.

According to a survey conducted by a matrimonial site, the 47-year old “Chennai Express” actor received the maximum number of votes and has been named as the best male celebrity in a rugged look, followed by Ranbir Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan. Others on the list included Virat Kohli, Arjun Rampal, John Abraham, Ranveer Singh and Ayushmann Khurrana.

Pooja Bhatt walks out of ‘Bad’ with the title

Actor-producer Pooja Bhatt, who was in the news for producing “Bad,” has apparently walked out of the project with the title. She says it was a mutual decision. Pooja said, “I am not part of the film anymore. The “Jism 2” director further added, “For me, the budget is the king.

No matter how good the script is, if the economics don’t sync well, it don’t work. I am trained under Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt and I took the decision as it was not financially feasible.” When asked her about the title of the film, Pooja confirmed that it remains with her. With Pooja walking out, the Randeep Hooda and Richa Chadda starrer doesn’t have any title as of now.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

Trisha tops the list of riskiest stars T

his is the age where cyber crime and cyber criminals are on the ascent every day. And when there is a craze for anything cinema among the general public, these miscreants capitalize on this trait of the gullible to their benefit completely. The riskiest celebrities across the web as regards the Tamil film industry has revealed that Trisha tops the list with 80 infected websites in her name followed by Arya (63), Surya (62), Samantha (55) and Vijay (50). When a fan tries to get information about their favorite star or download their pictures from a website, the cyber criminals embed the particular site with malware and get access to their personal information.

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Deepika Padukone makes her debut as fashion designer

ctress Deepika Padukone has made her debut as a fashion designer with Van Heusen Woman's 'Limited Edition' collection, which she has co-created. The 27-year-old, A who is known for her minimal yet classic style, has pitched in ideas for the collection

which is pegged around 'Old Hollywood' glamour where classic meets contemporary.

The palate of this co-created line features monochromatic shades for the uber chic, dusty rose pinks and cobalt blue. "We'll I'm hardly a designer. I think I am someone who has ideas but I'm not very good at executing. But I'm very open to seeing new things and sharing my ideas and then of course I need people to help me put it all together," Deepika said in a statement. "It's a little bit of what I already have and what I would like to see myself wearing. The collection is really about wearing your own personality. That's something I've always believed in. It's important to not forget who you are," she added.

"We are absolutely delighted to co-create a line with Deepika exclusively for Van Heusen. These dresses are an ultimate combination of style, class, modernity and substance. Women fashion followers have been quite influenced by Deepika's overall charisma and this creation sparkles with her elegant style," said Vinay Bhopatkar, Brand Head, Van Heusen.

Kareena Kapoor to get six pack abs B

ollywood actress Kareena Kapoor had once set the size zero trend in the town and now she is up for a new challenge. Kareena will be sporting six-pack abs for her upcoming film titled “Shuddhi.”

This movie which is being made by Karan Malhotra also stars Hrithik Roshan in the lead role. She went on a very strict diet and exercise regime to get the size zero look during her movie “Tashan.” This lead to many other actresses following her footsteps. Building a six pack look is not easy even for the men, but Kareena will go the extra mile to achieve this look.

It's quite common to see the male actors don this look but never have we seen an Indian actress sport the six pack abs. So Kareena will be the first one and this just makes everyone eager to see her in this avatar. At the moment Kareena is busy working with her next film titled “Gori Tere Pyaar Mein.” Once she is done with the film's promotional activities in November, she will start working towards her next challenge.

She will be trained in martial arts as her role in “Shuddhi” requires it. The shooting for the movie will go on the floors from December.

Ranveer and Anushka to pair together again

The “Band Baaja Baaraat” pair Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh will come together onscreen for director Zoya Akhtar's next.

As per the buzz, Zoya Akhtar has roped in the former flames for her next film and both of them, who had a bitter-breakup, have agreed to be a part of the project despite their awry equation. Priyanka Chopra will be playing Ranveer's sister in the film while Anushka will play his love interest.

When Zoya starting writing the script she was looking to cast Kareena Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor as siblings in the film but it didn't work out.

Paresh Rawal to make biopic on Narendra Modi

P

aresh Rawal whose maiden production 'Oh My God!' got the cash registers ringing is now set to produce his second venture - a biopic on BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. Rawal will also play Modi in the film. A source close to the development said, "Rawal and Modi go back a long way. He is quite in awe of Modi."

"I hope I am being modest but I am the obvious choice to play Modi's role," he said and added that he shares a great rapport with Modi. "Modi writes lovely poetry. As and when I have issues on theatre, I do get in touch with him," said the actor who campaigned for Modi during Gujarat state elections last year.

When asked whether he had taken permission from Modi to make a biopic on him, Rawal replied, "Yes. And he has no issues about it. When I told him about this, his first response was, 'Film banani hai, toh bana lo'."

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

Financial Voice

Dear Financial Voice Reader, How important for our readers is the American shutdown? More importantly what are the opportunities?

This week the currency market had no news events to provide direction so investors remained focused on discussion in Washington. On Monday President Obama expressed his optimism that there are enough votes in Congress to pass a “clean” bill to raise the debt limit, while House Speaker John Boehner said on Sunday he wouldn’t bring funding or debt-limit bills to the House for discussion unless they were linked to broader deficit talks. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew was quoted on Sunday saying that Congress is “playing with fire” if it doesn’t raise the debt limit by Oct. 17, after which the U.S. wouldn’t be able to borrow money to pay its bills.

The US Dollar continued to move lower almost across the board as investors are trying to hedge themselves from the chance that the US government might default on its obligations.

Analysts predict that this is an extremely slim possibility since the US has never defaulted in the past but this doesn't prevent investors from cutting their dollar positions. This uncertainty is hurting both the US Dollar as well as the market in whole as investors remain cautious and undecided, however we remain confident that a solution is bound to come sooner than later.

In the European region retail sales surprised the markets coming better than expected on Thursday and this fact followed by the uncertainty in the US has led EUR/USD above 1.3600. However, the Single currency quickly withdraw from this level on Friday and is hovering in a range between 1.3550 and 1.3600. I remain optimistic that the Euro will look for higher levels as the situation in Washington hurts Dollar's outlook. The remaining of week holds no major news events for the Euro so I expect a rather smooth ride for the currency until the weekend.

On the other hand, the British Pound was hit from some aggressive profit taking as the currency weakened after 5 consecutive bullish days on mixed economic data.

The Pound lost quite a lot of ground on Friday as it fell almost 150 pips, reaching the 1.6000 barrier before rebounding higher. We're not surprised as it was about time the Sterling traders took some profits of the table and we remain confident that the trend higher will continue. The Bank of England's Rate decision and Asset Purchase targets on Thursday will be critical for the continuation of the upwards momentum.

European stock markets remain on hold as the fiscal crisis in the US is leading investors to remain on the sidelines and wait it out until a solution is reached. However, the US stock markets are falling with Dow Jones giving back all its September gains and on Friday the critical 15,000 points level was also breached. If the situation in Washington doesn't reach a point where a solution is at least in sight I expect investors to remain cautious thus giving short-sellers the chance to make a killing over this current uncertainty. Patience is advised and careful treading is needed as the second US shutdown week evolves.

Ukash and MoneyGram launch money transfer online

Ukash, the leading online cash payment provider, along with global money transfer expert, MoneyGram, has launched a service which makes it easy for people living in UK and soon in France, Spain and Nordics to send money abroad. For consumers who don’t want to put their financial details online it’s an ideal solution. And marking the launch of the service, Ukash is offering money transfer from just £2.99 to Poland, India and Pakistan for a limited period.

With an Ukash code, up to £200 can be sent online at www.ukash.com for collection at any of MoneyGram’s 328,000

outlets in nearly 200 countries around the world, either as cash or direct to a bank account or e-wallets.

“From foreign workers who don’t have a UK bank account and want to send money home, the new Ukash Money Transfer service offers people a safe, easy solution at the click of a mouse”, explained David Hunter, Chief Executive Officer, Ukash. “This is the first service to offer domestic and international money transfers online with ‘cash.’ Once they have their Ukash code, which can be obtained at over 50,000 convenient UK locations, they can transfer cash instantly, and at a competitive rate.” said Hunter.

Help to Buy Mortgage Guarantee launched

A landmark £12billion scheme to help thousands of people buy a home of their own will be officially launched today (Tues 8 Oct) by the Prime Minister and Chancellor.

High Street banks including Natwest, RBS, Halifax and Bank of Scotland will start offering new Help to Buy mortgages this week.

Virgin Money has also confirmed they will participate in the scheme, and will be offering new guaranteed mortgages to borrowers in the New Year.

Aldermore Bank has confirmed that it is joining the scheme in January, and is exploring whether this date can be brought forward. Natwest and RBS customers will be able to start the process of applying for a mortgage today, with other banks to follow in the next few days.

The Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee is aimed at thousands of people

frozen out of the housing market because they cannot afford large deposits of up to 20 per cent of a property’s value.

It means someone trying to buy a £200,000 house currently needs to save up a deposit of £40,000.

Leading banks will offer a range of new Help to Buy mortgages – up to 95 per cent of the property’s value – for homes worth up to £600,000.

Under the scheme, buyers will only need a deposit of as little as 5 per cent. Depending on the size of deposit, the government will then guarantee up to 15 per cent of the property’s value, in return for a fee from the lender.

The launch of the scheme has been brought forward by three months, as the details are finalised and lenders are in a position to start offering the mortgages.

Lenders can start offer-

ing the mortgages now, and they will be guaranteed by the government from January 2014. As it usually takes a few months for borrowers to go through the mortgage completion process, this delay is not a problem for lenders. If borrowers do complete before January their mortgage will be included in the scheme.

On the launch of the scheme the Prime Minister said: “Too many hardworking people are finding it impossible to buy their own home - people who can afford the monthly mortgage payments but haven’t got rich parents and can’t pay the deposit up front. There is a need for Government to act. Buying your first home is about far more than four walls to sleep at night. It’s somewhere to put down roots and raise a family. It’s an investment for the future. Above all, it’s a sign that everything

you’ve put in has been worth it. Our Help to Buy Equity Loans, have already helped over 15,000 people buy a new home.

But we've got to go further and finish the job we've started,” he said.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne said: "Through Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee I want to help those families that have saved for years, earn decent salaries, but cannot afford the deposits currently being asked for by the banks. I want young people to have the same chance of getting on the property ladder as their parents and grandparents.

"Too many people are still being denied the dream of owning their own home, which is why we have brought forward the launch of this scheme, so as of today borrowers can start applying for a mortgage with a five per cent deposit.”

Building trade relations with Africa

Trade relations between Britain and Africa are set to grow even stronger, thanks to the launch of the Africa International Business Forum. The AIBF, whose vision and mission is to facilitate and promote business opportunities across the globe with particular focus on Africa, was officially launched at the House of Lords on Monday this week. Its president Lord Paul Boateng, who in 2002 became the UK’s first black Cabinet minister and most recently served as British High Commissioner to South Africa, said: “We need to breathe new life into the African continent, and we

cannot afford to wait for that. We need to have a global community. It has to be a partnership that is based on mutual respect.”

The event was compered by Tamanna Verma.

Speakers included AIBF Chairman Ashok Verma, Baroness Verma, Lord Hameed, Lord Dolar Popat, Vikkas Puri, Vijay Goel and M Dikko Ladan, Consul General of

Niger. Lord Sheikh used his opportunity to speak to promote and praise himself. The event also saw the unveiling of Africa Business International, AIBF’s inaugural flagship magazine. Guests included veteran community leader from Leicester Jaffer Kapasi, Mukesh Naker of British Hindu Voice, Vishal Mukesh Ladwa, Robin Marsh of Universal Peace Foundation Mak Yong Yang from the High Commission of Singapore, Manoj K Raut, CEO and Director of IoD New Delhi and Tony Singh from DVK Group Limited. To find out more visit www.aibfonline.com

India has topped the global chart of remittances with a whopping $71 billion in remittances in 2013, just short of three times the FDI it received in 2012, according to a revised World Bank forecast.

Top recipients of officially recorded remittances for 2013 are India (with an estimated $ 71 billion), China ($ 60 billion), the Philippines ($ 26 billion), Mexico ($ 22 billion), Nigeria ($ 21 billion) and Egypt ($ 20 billion), the report said.

Other large recipients include Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Ukraine.

As a percentage of GDP, the top recipients of remittances, in 2012,

were Tajikistan (48 per cent), Kyrgyz Republic (31 per cent), Lesotho and Nepal (25 per cent each) and Moldova (24 per cent).

"These latest estimates show the power of remittances," said Kaushik Basu, senior vice-president and chief economist of the World Bank. "For a country like Tajikistan they constitute half the GDP. For Bangladesh remittances provide vital protection against poverty. In terms of volume, India, with $71 billion of remittances, tops the global chart. To put this in perspective, this is just short of three times the FDI it received in 2012," he said.

"Remittances act as a

major counterbalance when capital flows weaken as happened in the wake of the US Fed announcing its intention to reign in its liquidity injection programme.

Also, when a nation's currency weakens, inward remittances rise and, as such, they act as an automatic stabiliser," Basu said. According to World Bank estimates, India and China alone will represent nearly a third of total remittances to the developing world this year.

Remittance volumes to developing countries, as a whole, are projected to continue growing strongly over the medium term, averaging an annual growth rate of nine per cent to reach $540 billion

in 2016.

Global remittances, including those to highincome countries, are estimated to touch $550 billion this year, and reach a record $707 billion by 2016, the Bank said.

Remittances to the developing world are expected to grow by 6.3 per cent this year to $414 billion and are projected to cross the half-trillion mark by 2016, the report said.

"Remittances are the most tangible and least controversial link between migration and development," said Dilip Ratha, manager of the Migration and Remittances Team at the Bank's Development Prospects Group.

Baroness Sandy Verma and Lord Boateng

India tops global chart of remittances

FINANCIAL VOICE

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

19

Everything is for sale

Suresh Vagjiani

Sow & Reap A Property Investment Company

When we purchased a block of flats in Kilburn High Rd our original aim was to refurbish and then resell. This later changed once we saw that the Housing Association was not only willing to fund the full refurbishment costs but also will rent the building from us at £180,000 per annum on a ten year rental contract. This is in addition to the £80,000 already coming in from the other five flats held on ASTs. It was then decided to keep the property, and instead of reselling it, to refinance it and extract money in this way.

That was until I met a Nigerian tube driver who has someone in Nigeria who is desperately looking for a long-term high yielding BTL property. This tube driver was also into property and had done rather well from it, he had purchased a whole block in Westbourne Terrace with no money down. This was in the good old days, when you could use the discount on a property as the deposit and banks were lending at high Loan to Values. He made money by eventually selling the block and then decided to invest it in Nigeria, building property. This was many years ago and he's still waiting for the returns, meaning the chances are his money has disappeared into a black hole never to be seen again. When a Nigerian has issues investing in Nigeria, what hope do the rest of us have?

I must admit alarm bells started ringing in my head as the last time I dealt with a Nigerian in a property transaction I ended up getting attacked. The property was sold by a Nigerian with a Nigerian tenant in the flat; the tenant, despite a letter from the lawyers which stated we were the new landlord, refused to recognise us as the new landlords and consequently refused to hand over any rent. When we tried to go and collect in person he struck out and attacked me. The police were called and the whole episode was videoed, as I suspected he would be difficult. In the end we had to evict him using the proper channels, he even had the nerve to turn up in court to defend himself!

Of course one example isn’t sufficient to tarnish the whole nation, therefore here's another: a while ago, when we wanted to place a mortgage from an overseas client from Nigeria we rang up a well known High St Bank's international department to see what the application process was. The person on the other line told me on the phone they do not accept any application from Nigeria, full stop; irrespective of the client profile. I asked if they could put this in writing, they refused but stated this was set in stone and any application submitted would be simply declined.

However, this is a country which is doing well and growing, even though it may be difficult to transact in and with; so it would be unwise to dismiss it completely. Money is being made in Nigeria and is flowing into the London property market without a doubt. Industries are booming there, along with this there is a high level of corruption as well.

on the market, as we are open to selling it at the right price. Although not openly marketed, we only need one person to purchase it, not the whole market to know about it. So if this is a serious offer we will entertain it. There are means and ways to ensure the offer is a serious one.

One way is for the buyer to put a non refundable deposit down with the lawyers, subject to the right legal paper work being received, the buyer is given a set period to exchange. If they do not do so by this time they lose the deposit. If the buyer is serious they should have no issues in doing this.

The hurdle in this kind of scenario is often the solicitors, especially on the buyer's side who at times is more concerned about covering themselves than actually getting the deal done. They put so many clauses in the agreement to the point where it's hardly worth anything.

Nonetheless if the lawyers are decent this can be done to secure the sale prior to exchange, it always helps if the firms know each other, this means they can sing form the same hymn sheet and get the transaction done quickly.

Another way is to check they have proof of funds sitting in the lawyer's account ready to exchange. This shows intention and the ability to purchase.

It's rare to get a lump as big as this with a solid guaranteed income, without any breaks or money to be spent for the next ten years. In the interim the property will go up in value, a 5% increase means a £225,000 uplift on a purchase price of £4.5m; and a 5% uplift is a modest assumption, given the ripple effect which is causing Kilburn prices to go on an upward trajectory.

Any letter showing proof of funds has to be treated with caution, as many forge statements to pull in contracts. Or they use one proof of funds to pull in multiple contracts, once the contracts are in they then start to resell the properties and keep delaying the sellers using tactics from their lawyers. A good way is too call the bank and cross check the statement and ask if this is the only transaction which it is being used for.

This property wasn't on the market, but when a request came through which matched the stock that we had, it automatically became

The Real Deal

l Off market

Brompton Rd, Knightsbridge

Rest assured we will be doing very thorough due diligence to ensure the purchaser is genuine, and we have seen the many tricks purchasers use when they have no intention of purchasing but have another agenda.

It will not take long to figure out if this is a genuine buyer; either way we are not in a desperate situation of having to sell, which is a fortunate position to be in.

It is dangerous in this situation to stop our other avenues, namely refurbishing the block and refinancing; both are still in full motion. It is when you’re in a position of strength both psychologically and in reality that you find you can attract a strong offer. It is never good to negotiate from a position of weakness. Blagging your position only takes you so far, it is far better to spend money on valuations and doing groundwork, look at it as if paying an insurance premium; it may go to waste but it gives you peace of mind should the sale not occur.

l Short Lease

l Cash purchasers only

l The lease extension is likely to cost £550k l End value expected to be £1.55m

l Rare to get this much margin in this location

Purchase price £550,000

Call us now to purchase!

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

Follow us online:

Sowandreapuk

SowandReapProperties

Tips of the Week

lAlways focus on the capital growth of an investment property - never sacrifice this for yield as the bulk of your money will be made in the rise in property value, rental income is secondary. This is driven by location. l A property crash is not like a stock market crash, you won’t lose all your money as the property is a tangible asset class, and it cannot disappear. Even buying a dud property is like having a bad haircut if you wait long enough it will grow back.

20

FINANCIAL VOICE

Carrots and Sticks

Maria Fernandes

maria@abplgroup.com

utumn is here and with it the new Immigration A Bill which will, according

to the Home Secretary, contain carrots and sticks.

The carrots, she explained to Andrew Marr, are measures to end abuse.

Pressed on this issue she told him that the visa service would be reformed to enable those who qualified to enter. Vague on policy and on carrots.

When it came to the stick however, her eyes glistened. There were sticks aplenty. She wanted to end in-country rights of appeal for foreign convicts, all 140 of them.

Health tourists would be stamped on hard. It appeared that those who needed emergency health would not be provided it.

Imagine a baby requiring emergency health care and a doctor shaking his head and turning him away. Are we seriously going to allow this to happen? And what if the person has a contagious disease or a mental disorder which can risk public health? What then? Then there is the visitors’ bond scheme where someone would have to put up £3000 to ensure that a relative or friend leaves the country. The scheme was first thought of over 10 years ago, investigated and found to be unworkable. What has changed since then? Other than the Government.

Italy has always been thought of as more restrictive when it comes to immigration. Yet the recent tragedy at Lampadusa where several hundred people perished whilst attempting to seek a better life led to actions which indicated that there is common humanity.

There was a day of national mourning and the Pope was amongst those who expressed deep regret about the needless deaths. The UN Commissioner for Refugees spoke movingly about the need to stop the traffickers from preying on this desperation.

Had this happened on our shores how would our authorities have reacted?

Refugees, whether they are coming for political reasons, civil war or to escape economic hardship need to be welcomed and there must be measures agreed at an international level to keep people safe wherever they are and whatever their circumstances. As Clinton has always stated, we are all interdependent and their deaths are our collective responsibilities.

We live in a country which has political stability and we take our security for granted. We must lead the debate for a better life for all. This is hardly likely to happen whilst the battle rages around carrots and sticks.

Leading Indian industrialist Ratan Tata has been inducted into the prestigious US National Academy of Engineering for his "outstanding contributions to industrial development in India and the world".

Tata, chairman emeritus of the Tata Group, was inducted as one of 11 new foreign associates of the private, independent, non-profit institution that provides independent advice to the US federal government on matters involving engineering and technology.

Besides Tata, eight Indian-Americans were among 69 new elected members taking the total US membership to 2,250 and the number of foreign associates to 211.

The new IndianAmerican members are: Anant Agarwal, president, edX, for contributions to shared-memory and multicore computer architectures, Murty P. Bhavaraju, senior consultant, PJM

Interconnection, N o r r i s t o w n , Pennsylvania, Ashok J. Gadgil, director and senior scientist, environmental energy technologies division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for engineering solutions, Ganesh Kailasam, research and development vice president and global research and development director, performance materials division, Dow Chemical Co., Freeport, Texas, Vijay Kumar, UPS foundation professor, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of P e n n s y l v a n i a , Philadelphia, Bal Raj Sehgal, emeritus professor of nuclear power safety, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, Pradeep S. Sindhu, founder, Juniper Networks, Sunnyvale, California and Krishna (Kris) P. Singh, president and chief executive officer, Holtec International, Marlton, New Jersey.

Ratan Tata, 8 Indian-Americans in US engineering academy

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

Chidambaram may cut Rs 200 bn spending to avoid 'junk' rating

India’s finance minister may have to slice at least Rs 200 billion ($3.2 billion) from government spending to prevent a budget blow-out, which could threaten to send the country's credit rating into "junk" status, two ministry officials said.

P Chidambaram will make a final decision on whether to go ahead with the cuts at the end of October, when he gets an update on revenue collections, the officials, who have direct knowledge of the process, said.

If he goes ahead with cuts, the minister would likely focus on areas of discretionary spending but keep programmes, such as

P Chidambaram

food subsidies, in place as state and national elections near, these officials said.

Chidambaram, who last year oversaw cuts worth over Rs 1 trillion, is aiming to prevent the budget for the fiscal year to March 2014 from stretching

beyond a deficit target of 4.8 per cent of GDP. A budget blow-out would be a concern for credit ratings agencies.

India has the lowest investment grade rating and Standard & Poor's maintains a negative outlook. A cut to "junk" status would raise its borrowing costs and could trigger further panic on financial markets after the rupee fell as much as 20 per cent this year and the economy posted its weakest growth in years.

The officials said that Chidambaram had briefed federal officials on Sept 17 on the need for prudent spending, even though in public he has said that the

budget remains on target.

"With oil subsidies up by about Rs 300 billion, the government may have to cut expenditure by around Rs 200 billion in addition to usual savings of around Rs 300 billion at the end of the year," said a senior finance ministry official.

Doubts that economic growth and tax receipts will match budget assumptions, and slow government asset sales also pointed to the need for spending cuts, the officials said.

However, a spokesman for the ministry said there were no plans for cuts at present and that "departments have been instructed to manage within the allocated funds".

buying from rental plants in that country.

The interconnection on the Bangladesh side comprises 500 MW High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) substation at Bheramara, about 27 km in 400 kilovolt transmission lines from Bheramara to the Indian border and a link to the Bangladesh electricity grid.

ADB helped finance the USD 199 million interconnection facilities in Bangladesh with a USD 112 million loan. Stateowned transmission utility Power Grid Corp built and financed the infrastructure on the Indian side.

Arundhati Bhattacharya, who took over as the new chairperson of the State Bank of India (SBI) Monday, is the first woman to be appointed to the top job at the country's largest lender. She succeeds Pratip Chaudhuri who retired on Sept 30. Bhattacharya, 57, who has been managing director (MD) and chief financial officer since August 2013, will hold the office for a period of three years. Her elevation came after the glass ceiling was broken in 1996, when Tarjani Vakil took over as head of Exim Bank. Vakil's appointment was followed

by Ranjana Kumar, who was appointed chairman and managing director of Indian Bank.

my has been under pressure with the recent depreciation in the rupee and capital outflows adding to structural constraints.

The prime minister’s economic advisory council (PMEAC) scaled down its growth forecast for the current fiscal to 5.3% from 6.4% earlier. Referring to the finance ministry’s decision to infuse additional funds in PSU banks to enable them to provide cheaper auto and consumer goods loans, Rajan said the scheme was still being worked out.

“I just want to emphasize that discussion is taking place on what can be done. Something will be announced as and when the scheme will be put together,” he said.

The decision to infuse additional capital in PSU

banks, over and above the Rs 140 billion provided in the budget, was announced after a meeting between Rajan, finance minister P Chidambaram and economic affairs secretary Arvind Mayaram.

Panel to scrutinize new bank licences Raipur: The RBI on Friday set up a three-member committee under former governor Bimal Jalan to scrutinize applications for new bank licences, which are expected to be awarded by January. “We have set up the committee under Bimal Jalan for bank licences, Usha Thorat (former RBI deputy governor), C B Bhave (former Sebi chairman) and Nachiket Mor (financial sector expert),” RBI governor Raghuram Rajan said.

India starts power supply to Bangladesh from Oct

Marking a key step in bilateral co-operation, India started supplying electricity to Bangladesh, through the new transmission line between the two nations.

"Electricity began to flow from India to Bangladesh through a new transmission line, marking South Asia's first-ever high voltage direct current (HVDC) interconnection between two countries," the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which has part financed the project, said. Early last year, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd, the trading arm of power producer NTPC, and Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) had inked an electricity purchase pact.

The transmission line would link India's eastern power grid with the western electricity grid of Bangladesh. "Testing of the sub-station installations had completed early September but the inter-

connection became operational from October 5," ADB said in a statement.

The multilateral lender said the trading arm of NTPC began to supply to the Bangladesh Power Development Board under a government-to-government contract.

"Initial supply will be increased to 250 MW in November 2013 and a further 250 MW will be added by the end of 2013. The project could eventually be scaled up to allow 1,000 MW of power flows," ADB said. This arrangement would help Bangladesh to purchase power from India at cheaper rates than

Arundhati Bhattacharya is new SBI chief

RBI expects 5-5.5% growth in current fiscal

The Reserve Bank of India said the economy would grow by 5 to 5.5% in the current fiscal, pinning its hopes on good farm output and improved exports.

“We have no reason to dispute the growth rate projected by the government at 5 to 5.5%,” RBI governor Raghuram Rajan said after a board meeting.

He based his optimism on expectations of a good kharif crop, improvement in exports and core sector performance data.

“The first estimate of kharif crop is significantly above the first estimate of last year. I think if we see some pick-up in exports...core sector is improving in performance.

We would hope we would reach that range of 5 to 5.5%,” he said.

India’s economic

Raghuram Rajan

growth rate slipped to a decade low of 5% in 201213 and declined to 4.4% in the first quarter (AprilJune) of the current financial year.

The ADB on October 2 lowered its growth projection for India in the current fiscal to 4.7% from an earlier estimate of 6%. It said the country’s econo-

FINANCIAL VOICE

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

21

Foreign Exchange

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

US Government Shutdown Saga Continues The government shutdown in the US and the debt ceiling has been and will continue to remain in focus until a resolution can be found in the political impasse.

US Republican speaker John Boehner remains adamant that the House cannot increase the debt ceiling without concessions on issues like healthcare reforms – an issue that the Obama administration are not willing to negotiate on.

Treasury secretary Jack Lew warned yesterday that American would default on its debt if the ceiling cannot be raised before the 17th October. A US default would be unthinkable, given the impact it would have on the world economy. And judging by the lack of further weakness in the US dollar, investors are seemingly optimistic that the US will manage to raise the ceiling in time and thus avert a default. Should the Senate come to an agreement then we would expect the US dollar to regain some of the lost ground it has experienced over the last few weeks.

The European Central Bank unsurprisingly held interest rates at 0.5% and Mario Draghi once again reiterated that risks to the euro zone remained on the downside adding that the recovery remains “weak, fragile and uneven” and also reiterated that bank rates would remain at current or lower levels for an “extended period of time”. So no change there then and whilst the ECB remains ready to implement the Long Term Refinancing Operation for a third time, it appears from

Draghi’s comments that this action would not be imminent.

The euro was also bolstered following an aversion of Italy’s political crisis. Enrico Letta stormed to victory in the confidence votes in the Senate yesterday with 235 votes in support and 70 against. It was a surprise U-turn by Berlusconi’s People of Freedom (PdL) party, who were pulled out of the government only just last week. Letta’s confidence vote should allow the necessary budget reforms to take place.

Adding to this, euro zone services output hit at a 27 month high as new business picked up and the number of job cuts may be coming to a halt. It appears that the negative sentiment that has been surrounding the euro for the last two weeks has seemingly diminished and as a result we may see a continuation of the euro’s recent gain.

Research firm Markit revealed that services in the UK dropped marginally to 60.3 in September from 60.5 in August. Another report showed that house price inflation in the UK only rose by 0.3% instead of an expected 0.5%. Also in the week, we had construction and manufacturing data which also fell short of expectations, so unsurprisingly we are seeing investor’s book profits on their long sterling positions.

Mark Carney issued a warning to prospective house buyers that interest rates will rise once the recovery takes hold. This was a bit of a surprise, given Carney’s recent attempts to talk down the possibility of a rise in interest rates before the Bank of England three year target.

Weekly Currencies

As of Tuesday 8th October 2013 @ 2.30pm

GBP - INR = 99.55

USD - INR = 61.77 EUR - INR = 83.95 GBP - USD = 1.61 GBP - EUR = 1.19

EUR - USD = 1.36 GBP - AED = 5.92

GBP - CAD = 1.66

GBP - NZD = 1.94

GBP - AUD = 1.70

GBP - ZAR = 16.03

GBP - HUF = 350.19

www.rationalfx.com

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

22

PAKISTAN-BANGLADESH-SRI LANKA

In Focus

18 members of Pak Hindu family convert to Islam

Lahore: Eighteen members of a Hindu family in Khanpur area of Pakistan's central Punjab province have converted to Islam, local residents said. Seven men and 11 women of the family adopted Islam during a ceremony conducted by Mian Ghaus Mohammad, custodian of the Khwaja Ghulam Fareed shrine at Jhok Farid. They recited the Kalima Tayabba, the Islamic confession of faith, and converted to Islam, local residents were quoted as saying.

Bangladesh ratifies extradition treaty with India

Dhaka: Bangladesh ratified an extradition treaty with India to enable the handing over of suspects and convicted prisoners between the South Asian neighbours, a government spokesman said. “The treaty will come into force shortly after exchanging copies of the ratified agreement between the two countries,” said spokesman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan. India has already ratified the agreement, he added. The ratification of the treaty paves the way for Bangladesh to transfer Indian separatist leader, Anup Chetia, to India.

Car bombing kills 15 in Pakistan

Parachinar (Pakistan): A suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into the compound of a rival militant commander in northwest Pakistan, killing 15 people, a government official said. The commander, Nabi Hanfi, was not present at the time of the attack. Hanfi has been battling the Pakistani Taliban in the Orakzai tribal area where the bombing occurred. Gunmen first fired shots at Hanfi's compound in Balandkhel village, and then the suicide bomber detonated his vehicle. The blast killed 15 people and wounded six others.

Pakistan faces sanctions over gas pipeline with Iran: US

Washington: Pakistan could face tough US sanctions if it goes ahead with the multi-billion Iran-Pak gas pipeline, a top American diplomat said. The Obama Administration is having discussions in this regard with Pakistan, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Windy Sherman told lawmakers at a Congressional hearing.

Pak groups honour former governor's assassin

Lahore: Several Sunni organisations have held ceremonies in cities across Pakistan to honour Malik Mumtaz Qadri, the policeman who assassinated former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer two years ago. The Sunni groups observed "Mumtaz Qadri Day" and lauded the policeman for his "valiant act" of killing Taseer in January 2011 for allegedly committing blasphemy.

Pakistan to release four Indian prisoners

Lahore: Four Indian prisoners, languishing in different Pakistani jails on charges of “illegal stay”, are set to be freed after a federal review board ordered their release.

Dil Bagh Singh, Sunil and two other Indians have completed their terms but are still being held in jail. An Interior Ministry official informed the review board comprising two judges of the Supreme Court that the government is taking steps to repatriate the prisoners who had completed their sentences. “Verification of nationality is required for the release of the foreign prisoners. And the process is underway,” the official said.

Baluchistan separatists threaten Pakistan

Islamabad: A prominent separatist commander in Pakistan's mineral-rich Baluchistan threatened to step up attacks on security forces after at least two soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb in the vast and lawless region. The renewed threat by ethnic Baluch rebels adds a layer of complexity for the new government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a country already plagued by a growing Taliban insurgency.

Disputes threaten post-2014 US-Afghan pact

Kabul: A planned deal to let US forces stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014 to fight al-Qaida remnants is under threat because of disagreement over the Americans' right to conduct military operations, Kabul says.

President Hamid Karzai is now directly leading the talks after they ground to a halt despite US pressure to complete the security agreement by the end of this month, said Karzai's spokesman Aimal Faizi.

The US plans to pull out the bulk of its 57,000 troops in Afghanistan by the end of 2014, but it has tentative plans to retain some bases and a smaller force of around 10,000 after that.

"The US wants the free-

Hamid Karzai

dom to conduct military operations, night raids and house searches," Faizi told reporters. "According to them, there are 75 al-Qaida operatives in Afghanistan, which is very strange as this agreement will be for 10 years to have the right to conduct military operations anywhere in the country.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

Unilaterally having the right to conduct military operations is in no way acceptable for Afghans." Faizi also said the two sides could not agree on how the bilateral security agreement (BSA) should define an attack on Afghanistan that would trigger US protection.

"We believe that when terrorists are sent to commit suicide attacks here, that is also aggression," Faizi said in a reference to Pakistanbased militants whom Afghanistan believes are supported by Pakistani intelligence services.

"We are a strategic partner of the US and we must be protected against foreign aggression. For us and for the US, that's the conflicting point. We are not of the same

opinion and we need clarity from the US side," he said.

Karzai has repeatedly said he would not be rushed into signing the pact, and that it may not be finalised until after his successor is chosen in April elections.

"If signed by the current president, he will be definitely held accountable in the history of Afghanistan if things go wrong," Faizi said.

US defence secretary Chuck Hagel described the pact as "critically important" as the US and its Nato allies plan the drawdown that will see most foreign troops leave the country by December 2014. I hope we'll have that agreement by the end of October, because we just can't move without it," Hagel said.

Mentor of 9/11 kingpin joins Tamil party in Lanka woos president race in Afghanistan Muslims with bonus seat

Kabul: A former Islamist warlord who is said to be responsible for bringing al-Qaida to Afghanistan and who trained the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, announced he was running for president, a move likely to be greeted with apprehension by the international community.

A conservative Islamic scholar, Abdul Rasul Sayyaf ran paramilitary training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the 1980s and 1990s, and it was there he meet al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. In 1996, Sayyaf helped Laden return to Afghanistan after he was ejected from Sudan. Laden stayed in the country under the protection of the Taliban until the Americanled invasion of late 2001.

Sayyaf was named in the 9/11 commission report as the "mentor" of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the key plotter of the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington. Mohammed attended the military camps organized by Sayyaf in Pakistan and from which several of the 2002 Bali bombers graduated.

"Today I nominate myself in

Abdul Rasul Sayyaf

order to serve my countrymen and my nation - I want to stand alongside the true servants of Afghanistan," Abdul Rasul Sayyaf said before he registered at the offices of Kabul's Independent Election Commission.

Western diplomats have previously talked of their concerns regarding Sayyaf 's nomination, given his deeply conservative views regarding women's rights and social freedoms, and his deep ties to militant Islam.

Sayyaf 's nominee for first vice president, Ismail Khan, will also worry the country's Western backers. Khan is a warlord turned politician who has been accused of seeking to re-arm ahead of the Nato withdrawal.

Chennai: Making efforts to bridge the communal divide, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) - which swept the elections to the Northern Province council in Sri Lanka - has decided to grant one of its two bonus seats to Ayub Nasmeen, their Muslim candidate who lost from Mannar district.

TNA spokesperson and MP Suresh Premachandran said the party has decided to give the other seat to a woman candidate, Mary Kamala Gunaseelan, a teacher from Mullaitivu who was also defeated.

"As a goodwill gesture, we have decided to have representation from the Muslim community," Premachandran said. In Sri Lanka, Tamils in the north and Tamil-speaking Muslims, both minorities in the island nation, were divided during the civil war.

Pakistan must end state-sponsored terror: Pranab Mukherjee

Brussels: Maintaining that India wants peace with Pakistan, India’s President Pranab Mukherjee has said no compromise could be made with the country’s territorial integrity and that statesponsored terrorism from across the border has to end.

In an interview, the President, who was on a visit to Belgium, also dismissed Pakistan’s contention that “non-state actors” were behind the terror acts in India. He said India wants good relations with its neighbours and has to accept the neighbour “the way he is”.

“He is my neighbour.

Whether I like it or not does not matter. Therefore, it is for me to decide whether I live with my neighbour in tension or in peace. We opted for peace,” said Mukherjee. “But one point is to be understood. No country can compromise its territorial integri-

ty. That is not possible,” he stressed.

He said Pakistan should dismantle the terror infrastructure on its territory.

“Terrorist activities must be curbed. And state-sponsored terrorism can never be accepted. Therefore, repeatedly we are saying, please dismantle the terrorist outfits which are located in your area,” he said.

He also rebuffed Pakistan maintaining that it is not state-sponsored terrorism, saying the non-state actors don't come from heaven.

“Non-state actors are not coming from heaven... Nonstate actors are coming from territory under your control,” he said.

"And not now, in 2004 Pakistan agreed that their territories will not be allowed to be used by forces inimical to India," he said when he was asked to comment that

India says that this is statesponsored terrorism and Pakistan says it is not statesponsored terrorism.

He said India does not have any territorial ambitions and wants peace with its neighbours while maintaining its own territorial integrity.

"In 1971, when Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was Prime Minister of Pakistan, India entered into an agreement which is known as Shimla Agreement...ninetyone thousand imprisoned soldiers, prisoners of war, were returned," he said.

"This was just to show the goodwill that in our basic foreign policy we do not have any territorial ambition, we do not have any ambition to export our ideology to any country or we do not have any commercial interests," Mukherjee said.

Suresh Premachandran

Nasmeen said the gesture could be perceived as a major step towards bringing the communities closer.

"Before the armed struggle, there was cordial relationship between Tamils and Muslims in the North. Tamil parties fielded considerable number of Muslim candidates. But, once the civil war began in 1983, a divide was created between the minorities," he said.

Pak army chief Kayani to retire as scheduled

Washington: Pakistan’s reviled Army Chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani said that he would retire from service on November 29, as scheduled, amid speculation that he is trying to extend his hold on the country, failing which he will be made ambassador to the United States.

Kayani issued a statement through the ISPR, in which he referred to reports to this effect and said “it is time for others to carry forward the mission of making Pakistan a truly democratic, prosperous and peaceful country that embodies the finest dreams our founding fathers had envisaged for us,” without fully squelching the speculation.

WORLD

In Focus

Ex-Philippines president charged with plunder

Manila: Former Philippines president and now congresswoman Gloria MacapagalArroyo and 21 other former and current government officials were among those charged with plunder for alleged misuse of 900 million pesos ($20.74 million) in 2009.

Apart from Arroyo, also charged with plunder were her former cabinet officials such as then executive secretary Eduardo Ermita, then budget secretary Rolando Andaya, and then agrarian reform secretary Nasser Pangandaman.

Indian charged in US with raping teenaged girl

New York: An Indian man, extradited to the US following an international manhunt for allegedly raping a 14-year old American girl, has been charged with rape, sexual abuse, and endangering the welfare of a child. Long Island, New York, resident Amit Singh, arrested in India for the 2009 rape of a girl who was walking past his house in Elmont on her way to school, was arraigned in Mineola, in Nassau County, according to local WABC. If convicted, he faces 25 years in prison.

Obama names IndianAmerican to key trade job

Washington: US President Barack Obama has named yet another Indian American, Kerala University physics graduate Arun M Kumar, to lead the trade promotion arm of the US Commerce Department charged with helping US companies succeed in markets around the world.

Kumar, who has been nominated Assistant Secretary and Director General of the US and Foreign Commercial Service, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce, would on Senate confirmation succeed another Indian American, Secunderabad-born Suresh Kumar.

Putin nominated for 2014 Nobel Peace Prize

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin has been nominated for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize by a Russian advocacy group for his key role in preventing a US missile strike on Syria and initiatives to dismantle Damascus’ chemical weapons. The International Academy of Spiritual Unity and Cooperation Among the Nations of the World has nominated President Putin as a candidate for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.

Underling Putin’s active participation in the search for a political and diplomatic solution to the Syrian crisis, group’s vice president Beslan Kobajia said those efforts made him deserving of the Nobel Prize, media reports said.

Six Indian schools to come up in Abu Dhabi

Dubai: Six new Indian schools are to open in Abu Dhabi in the next two years after education authorities in the UAE capital shut down a number of private Indian schools for violating land use norms. India's Ambassador M K Lokesh said that the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) has given an assurance that the interests of the students of the Indian schools facing shut-down would be taken care of, the Gulf News reported. Seven Indian schools face closure after the ADEC launched a drive against villa schools or schools that run privately on residential plots.

Riot in Kenya's Mombasa after imam killed

Mombasa: Young Muslims set fire to church, burned tires and clashed with police in Kenya's main port city of Mombasa, after the killing of an Islamic cleric his followers blamed on security forces. Sheikh Ibrahim Omar's death ignited religious tensions in the commercial and tourism hub in east Africa's largest economy, two weeks after Islamist militants killed at least 67 people in a raid on Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall.

23

US Congressman honours Hindu scriptures in Capitol Hill ceremony

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

Washington: US Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) honored renowned scholar of Sanskrit and Hindu Philosophy, Bhadreshdas Swami of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, in a special ceremony on Capitol Hill and decreed that his groundbreaking five-volume Sanskrit text, the “Swaminarayan Bhashyam: Commentary on the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahmasutras” be preserved in the library of Congress.

While an interest in all things yoga has led to a recent revival of Sanskrit and Indian culture in American popular consciousness, the American preoccupation with Indian philosophy and Sanskrit texts stretches back to the mid-19th century when Transcendentalists such as Ralph Waldo Emerson roamed the halls of Harvard, inspired by passages of the ancient Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita. Since that time, ancient Sanskrit texts such as the Upanishads and Gita have been contributing to our understanding of ourselves and our world in ways both subtle and overt. It was the Bhagwad Gita that gave Mahatma Gandhi the strength to continue his efforts to inspire peaceful transformation.

The ceremony honoured Bhadreshdas Swami as a modern-day interpreter of this very ancient tradition.

Bhadreshdas Swami’s Swaminarayan Bhashyam is a classical-style Sanskrit commentarial text on some of the most prominent scriptures of Hinduism which are revered by almost one billion Hindus worldwide. Many scholars have lauded the Swaminarayan Bhashyam as one of the great contributions to Hinduism and Indian philosophy in the past several centuries. Dr. Krishnamurti Shastri, Member of the Project Committee, Maharshi Sandipani Rashtiya Vedavidya Pratishthan of India has said that, this poetic commentary presents new insights into the secrets of Vedanta in comparison to any previous views on the subject.”

Pujya Bhadreshdas Swami, one of the most learned swamis in BAPS, is a scholar of Sanskrit and Hindu scriptures. After being initiated as a swami in 1981, he has been studying Sanskrit and Hindu scriptures for the last 32

years. Having completed a 500-page thesis on the Bhagavad Gita written entirely in Sanskrit, he has earned five Masters degrees as well as a PhD in Sanskrit.

He recently completed commentaries on the Upanishads, Brahmasutras and the Gita and is currently working on a commentary on the Vedas. In recognition of his achievements, the Kavikulguru Kalidas Sanskrit University (KKSU) in Nagpur awarded him a Doctorate of Literature as well as the honorary award of Mahamahopdhyaya, an honorary title given to prestigious scholars by the Government of India.

Bhadreshdas Swami is also a Project Committee Member of the Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Ved-vidya Pratishthan (MSRVVP).

After Bhadreshdas Swami presented the Swaminarayan Bhasyam to Congressman Hoyer, Hoyer presented the texts in a separate ceremony

to an officer of the Library of Congress. She welcomed the texts of ancient Hindu wisdom as an important addition to the cultural and intellectual wealth of the national library.

The Swaminarayan Bhashyam is named thus, as it encompasses the values revealed by Bhagwan Swaminarayan in a philosophy known as Swaminarayan Darshan. The five volumes of the Swaminarayan Bhashya address the modern need of religious and social pluralism and harmony in the world along with explaining universal ethical and spiritual values. As Bhadreshdas Swami explained to Congressman Hoyer, “When the sages of government and the sages of spirituality come together, the result is the spread of peace in the world.” Hoyer averred that, “Surely these commentaries written by you will bring peace and blessings to the millions who will read and benefit from them.”

Rome: Community of Sant’ Egidio a huge Roman Catholic Charity operating on over 70 countries holds a peace conference, inviting over 350 delegates representing different faiths, and international organisations like United Nations. It was at the instigation of Pope Paul II that first conference was held in Asisi in 1986. Since then every year the conference has been held in various European cities and has been building up from strength to strength.

This year the conference

was held in Rome which is also the headquarters of Sant’Egidio. The meetings were held in halls that were all a good reminder of the pomp and splendour of Rome.

The theme this year was ‘The Courage To Hope.’ After the grand opening ceremony, 32 workshops were held over a two day period culminating in a grand procession for peace.

His holiness the Pope also granted a short audience to the delegates in his palace and wished them well in their

deliberations.

The workshops comprised of a moderator and 5 panel speakers, on a subject relating to the causes of violence and terrorism in the modern world.

Institute of Jainology’s Director Jaysukh Mehta was invited to the conference as the only Jain delegate internationally. He was selected to be a panel member on the discussion panel titled ‘The Dialogue between Religions: a Road to Peace’ Along with him on the panel were the

Catholic Bishop of Belgium, Vice President, Islamic Society of Italy, Patriarch of Cambodian Buddhism with the moderator being the Archbishop of Barcelona.

Jaysukh Mehta’s talk can be seen at www.jainology.org .

Sant’Egidio (established ~1960)helps to relieve poverty, help with educational systems and provide care for the elderly. They have an army of volunteers all across Europe and also in some of the Asian and South American countries.

Community of Sant’Egidio holds peace meet

Egypt in turmoil as street clashes leave 51 dead

Cairo: Egypt stumbled deeper into turmoil after a national holiday celebrating the military turned to mayhem, leaving 51 dead across the country and exposing the deep divisions plaguing the nation.

The high death toll in clashes between security forces and Islamist protesters came as crowds from Egypt's two rival camps - supporters of the ousted Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, and backers of the military that deposed him - poured into the streets and turned on each other.

Several neighborhoods of the capital, Cairo, resembled combat zones after street battles that raged for hours. Morsi's supporters fired birdshot and threw firebombs at police.

INDIA

24

South

Pay auto smartcard

fares

through

Commuters in Chennai could by the end of next year be able to swipe a smartcard after an autorickshaw ride instead of paying cash.

The Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority has planned to include autorickshaws among various transit modes - including suburban trains, MTC buses, metro rail and the proposed mono rail - that the smartcard can be used for as a common payment option. Officials said they were likely to integrate autorickshaws under the unified system after working for the other modes of transit.

800,000 books in 7 days, for a Guinness record

A group of 25,000 students and young people in Chennai have come up with an initiative to collect 800,000 books in seven days.

The books collected will be used to set up libraries in 108 corporation schools in and around Chennai. Members of Rotaract clubs realised that many corporation schools did not have a full-fledged library. "You need a few stories and fun books to enjoy reading," said V C Naveena, an engineering student. "The main point of this initiative is to create an opportunity for happy reading in schools," he added.

Salesman ends life, names Manmohan in suicide note

A 32-year-old salesman Santosh Gowda with a shoe company committed suicide, citing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's alleged "bad administration" and failure to repel attacks by Pakistan as the cause. The suicide came to light when a neighbour peeped though the half-open door of his single-bedroom residence. A Pre-University course dropout, Santosh had moved to Bangalore 12 years ago.

Punjab

Another inter-caste couple fears for life

Amid the spectre of honour killings in Haryana, another couple, after four months of their inter-caste marriage, in Rohtak district has taken shelter in a police protection home apprehending threat to their life. A 23-year-old teacher, Sanjay, complained to police that parents of his wife Anjali might kill her, said investigating officer Satbir Singh. From an upper caste family, Sanjay fell in love with a dalit girl, Anjali, 23.

Urdu version of Guru Granth Sahib in 2 years

To disseminate principles and philosophy of the Sikh religion among Urdu-speaking population of the world, Guru Granth Sahib will soon be published in Urdu language. The translation of the holy book has been done by nonagenarian Devinder Pal Singh Sidhu, from Rampura Phul town of Bathinda district, which is being edited by experts at Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University in Fatehgarh Sahib. The university hopes to publish the Urdu version of Guru Granth Sahib within the next 1-2 years in phases.

SGPC seeks action against those hurting Sikh sentiments

While condemning the act of burning Saroop of Sri Guru Granth Sahib and vandalizing Vijyanagram Gurdwaa by anti-Telengana protestors in Andhra Pardesh, Shiromani Gurdwaa Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has sought strict action against those involved in sacrilegious act. SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said that Sikhs were deeply hurt on the incident of attacking Shikligar Sikhs and Gurdwara before burning Sri Guru Granth Sahib on the road.

Bangalore students bag Cambridge awards

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

For 18-year-old Ansaar Fatehally, computer programming is child's play. With little or no effort, this student from Bangalore's Inventure Academy has made it to the list of Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards, India.

When the award list was announced, Ansaar was one of the Cambridge Internationals AS-Level students who bagged the top slot in India for computing. The awards are given annually to celebrate the outstanding academic achievements of secondary-school learners in

India in the November 2012/June 2013 Cambridge examination series.

These results will be recognized by employers and universities around the world as proof of excellence. "I did Java in Grade 10 in ICSE syllabus.

That was good for my basics and got me interested in coding. I got so hooked to it I started doing projects. I made a sudoku solver and an electronic voting machine, which were used in the school. It is the basics that pushed me to do well in the exam," said Ansaar, who enjoys spending time at his father's wood-and-

electronics workshop.

For 17-year-old Asma Farhat, a psychology student at A level, the recognition wasn't a surprise. "It (the recognition) was obvious as I liked the subject a lot.

Although I took it up for the first time at AS level, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was never about getting marks," says Asma, who'll be heading to the University of Sheffield, UK, for higher studies.

The awards also celebrate the learners recognized for 'high achievement' based on outstanding performance in subjects which are not yet so

widely taken in India and learners who have achieved the total highest cumulative marks across a number of subjects. "These achievements are a credit to the partnerships which Cambridge has established with schools and demonstrate the dedication and commitment of teachers, support provided by families and friends, and learners' determination and passion to succeed. This success defines them not just as learners, but as Cambridge learners," said Rakesh Konjengbam, Schools Development Manager, India.

MDMK leader says party Jaya told to appear in could align with BJP Special Court from Oct 30

Tamil Nadu's Vaiko-led MDMK is not averse to aligning with an alternate front, including the one led by the BJP, to unseat the Congressled United Progressive Front (UPA) at the centre, a party official said.

"People are looking for a change, after being thoroughly frustrated with the last two terms of UPA. This is evident from the crowds that Modi (BJP's prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi) draws in all the places he addresses," an MDMK official said.

To a question whether the MDMK would be willing to align with the BJP, the leader said: "We have no hesitation. We have decided to stand in the 2014 parliamentary elections. We have to throw out the Congress government."

He said the timing of the election is not known and it is too early to say with which party MDMK would align, but he added the party has

an open mind on joining the front comprising of BJPDMDK-PMK, should such an alliance fructify.

Asked for his views on Modi's rally in Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu, the MDMK leader said: "The crowd gathered there was impressive, given the BJP's size in the state. It only shows that people want a change at the centre."

A senior BJP leader said that the party is exploring a possible three- or four-party alliance that includes actorturned-politician A Vijayakant-promoted DMDK to fight the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP may also rope in the MDMK and the PMK, he said.

accused seeking exemption The Special Court in from personal appearance.

Bangalore has directed Tamil When counsel for the accused Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and other submitted applications seekaccused persons in the disproing exemption from personal portionate assets case to appearance, the court asked appear “without fail” on all Special Public Prosecutor dates of hearing from October (SPP) G. Bhavani Singh 30. whether he had any objection.

The court observed in its As Singh said presence of order that “since the accused was not the matter is being required, the court fixed for arguallowed the applicaments on merits, tion on the condithe accused should tion that all the appear in person to accused should be know what argupersonally present ments are being “without fail” from addressed in the the next date of Jayalalithaa case.” hearing.

V K. G.B. Mudigoudar, judge of Sasikala, V N Sudhakaran and J Ilavarasi are the other the Special Court on Fake Stamps cases, passed the accused in the case. order as he is now holding Earlier, when the case concurrent charge of the came up for hearing, counsel Special Court for the disprofor the accused as well as portionate assets case against Singh produced the copies of Jayalalithaa following retirethe recent verdict of the ment of M.S. Balakrishna on Supreme Court setting aside September 30. the Karnataka government’s The court passed this order removing Singh from order as a condition to allow the post of Special Public the application filed by all the Prosecutor.

Although no Indian institution of higher learning is yet to make it to the top 200 in the Times Higher Education's (THE) World University Rankings list 2013-14, one new entrant - Panjab University- is closer to that elite group. Panjab University is the highest ranked Indian institution clubbed in the group of universities ranked between 226-250 ranks.

According to THE, this is India's best performance so far with five institutions making it to the top 400. The other Indian institutions featuring in the list are four Indian Institutes of Technology from Delhi, Kanpur, Kharagpur and Roorkee, all clubbed in the group of institutions between 351-400.

Meanwhile, the California Institute of Technology

retains its place at the top of the rankings for the third consecutive year, while Harvard University regaining the second place (up from fourth in 2012-13), a position shared with the UK's University of Oxford.

Stanford University slips from joint second to fourth.

According to THE, the improved engagement by India in the word-renowned rankings has seen it add three new entrants to the world top 400 list. The increased representation for India in the rankings follows a two-day National Policy Dialogue in May on international rankings, when THE representatives were invited to meet with senior university leaders by the ministry of human resources development and Planning Commission.

US-based rights group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), which had procured a court summons against Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for allegedly rewarding the killers of Sikhs, claimed that it would serve summons to the PM in New Delhi. The Sikh NGO had planned to serve the summons on Manmohan during his visit to Washington recently but could not do so because of "high security detail".

SFJ had obtained the summons on September 25 and will now deliver it to Manmohan in India according to the provisions of the Hague Convention on "service abroad of judicial and extra judicial documents". It has hired a Washington-based firm to serve the summons.

SFJ legal advisor Gurpatwant Sigh Pannun said the due to the high secu-

Vaiko

Panjab University beats Sikhs For Justice to serve IITs in global rankings summons on Manmohan

rity of Manmohan, the rights group could not serve the summons during the ObamaManmohan meeting at White House.

The 24-page human rights violation case filed by SFJ on September 25 before Washington DC district court alleged that Manmohan's culpability in the crimes of torture and extrajudicial killings of Sikh community started in 1991. The complaint said Manmohan approved and financed, as head of finance ministry, the infamous practice of "cash rewards" to members of security forces for killing Sikhs through extrajudicial means. The complaint further alleged that during his tenure as PM, Manmohan actively shielded and protected the members of his political party who were involved in attacks on Sikhs.

To advertise in our ‘Diwali Special’ Magazine 2013, Call today at 020 7749 4085

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

In Focus

28 killed in Assam road accident

At least 28 people, including women and children, were killed and nine injured in a road accident in Assam's Barpeta district, police said. The accident took place when two passenger vehicles coming from Bhubri district were hit by a truck near Dahla para area on National Highway- 38, under the Sarbhog police station. The police said most of the victims were brick kiln labourers and their families.

35 juveniles escape from reform home

At least 35 juveniles, who had been accused of rape, murder, assault and burglary, escaped from a reform home in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa District. The teenage offenders thrashed the cook of the reform home and fled after snatching the keys from him.

The cook, Arun Dubey, said that 35 boys ran away after beating him inside the reform home. "When I went there, the children who were within the jail pulled me inside and started beating me. They snatched the key from me and ran outside. Thirty-five boys were there," said Dubey.

8 get life sentence for Hindu leader's killing

A court in Odisha sentenced eight persons, including a Maoist, to life in prison for the murder of a Hindu leader and four of his aides in 2008, a lawyer said.

The special additional district sessions court at Phulbani, the headquarters of Kandhamal district, about 200 km from state capital Bhubaneswar, also imposed a fine of Rs.10,000 on each of them, prosecution lawyer Ramesh Mohanty said. Those awarded the jail term and fine are Duryodhan Suna Majhi, Munda Bada Majhi, Sanatan Bada Majhi, Garnatha Chalanseth, Bijay Kumar Samseth, Bhaskar Suna Majhi and Budhadev Nayak and Pulari Rama Rao alias Uday. Rama Rao alias Uday was a Maoist leader while others are local residents, the prosecution lawyer said.

Lalu Prasad sentenced to 5 years in jail

Lalu Prasad, former Bihar chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal president, was sentenced to 5 years in jail in a fodder scam case by a special CBI court.. The court of Pravas Kumar Singh announced the quantum of punishment via video conference due to security reasons. Prasad has also been slapped with a fine of Rs 2500,000. Another former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra has been handed a 4-year sentence. He has been fined Rs 200,000. The court has also awarded 5-year jail term to bureaucrats BN Sharma, KM Prasad and Beck Julius. Former MLA RK Rana has been sentenced to 5 years in jail.

Lalu, who was convicted in the case along with 44 others, including former chief minister Jagannath Mishra ,is currently lodged in Birsa Munda Central Jail..

India test-fires nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile

India on Monday test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile with a strike range of 350 km from a test range at Chandipur, about 15km from Balasore. The surface-to-surface missile was testfired from a mobile launcher in salvo mode from launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range at about 9.14 am, defence sources said. "The missile was randomly chosen from the production stock and the total launch activities were carried out by the specially formed SFC and monitored by the scientists of DRDO as part of practice drill," the sources said.

Woman's leg cut off to steal anklets

In a bizarre incident, unidentified robbers chopped off the legs of a 50-year-old woman to rob her of her silver anklets in a village near Jaipur, police said. The body was found with the legs missing. Police suspect the robbers took away the legs after committing the ghastly murder. A police officer said the incident occurred in Shankarpura village near Phagi, some 35 km from Jaipur.

World’s largest Hindu temple to come up in Bihar

The world's largest Hindu temple, with a towering height of 405 feet and a hall with a seating capacity for 20,000, will be built in Bihar. The construction of the temple will begin after Durga Puja in West Champaran district, said an official of the trust that is undertaking the ambitious project. The proposed Virat Ramayan Mandir, at Janki Nagar, about 125 km from Patna, will stand almost double the height of worldfamous 12th century Angkor Wat temple complex in Cambodia, which is 215 feet high. The complex will comprise 18 temples with high spires, and its Shiva temple will have the largest Shivling in the world.

INDIA

Narendra Modi completes 12 years at the helm of Gujarat

AV Correspondent

BJP’s prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi has completed 12 years as Gujarat Chief Minister on Monday. Modi, who started his political career as a worker of Jansangh, took over the office of Chief Minister on October 7, 2001. Being a longest serving Chief Minister of the state, Modi emerged as one of the most important leader from Gujarat on national platform.

During his tenure Modi changed the way Gujarat was ruled earlier.

His penchant for technology reflected in state administration. The well travelled BJP leader’s global perspective put Gujarat on one of the most favored investment destination through his brainchild “Vibrant Gujarat Investor Summit”. The biennial event is being represented by over 100 countries across the globe.

The state pioneered in many directions. Gujarat government started a separate Climate Change Department, first of its kind in India. Only six countries in the world have a separate Climate Change Department.

Another achievement was implementation of e-governance. Gujarat has received more than 250 awards from UNOUNICEF, World Health Organization and Government of India for the various initiatives.

When Modi became successor of former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel, Gujarat was ravaged by the earthquake. To add to the woes, deficiency in electricity was causing detrimental effect on agriculture and industrial sectors. After winning 2002 election with thumping majority, Modi’s thrust was on development.

Under his leadership, steps were taken to make the state self sufficient in electricity. In the same year he came out with unique Vibrant Gujarat concept, which clicked and rest is history.

Modi adopted 360 degree growth model and set high targets for allround development. He wanted Gujarat to compete with China and not with other Indian states when it comes to growth rate. The state has adopted three-tier model focusing

Build toilets first and temples later, said BJP’s prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi while addressing youth at a function in Delhi last week.

Speaking frankly, he said that his image is that of ‘Hindutva’, but for him issues of governance like sanitation, etc were a priority. “I have said in my state: pehle shauchalaya, phir devalaya (toilets first, temples later),” he said, adding that all villages have temples, but not enough toilets.

He added that his mantra and approach to secularism were ‘India first’, coupled with justice for all, appeasement for none. He also said that he and his party shun ‘vote bank politics’.

“Secularism is a weapon for some politicians to fool the people.

But the public has now recognised such politicians who deceive them.

The prime minister must also realise these statements of the 1980s do not

work today,” Modi said, in a clear reference to the prime minister’s call, on his way back from the US, to secular forces to unite against the Gujarat chief minister.

Significantly, Modi was sharing the stage with Telugu Desam Party leader N Chandrababu Naidu, who had severed ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party almost a decade ago.

Naidu had also met BJP president Rajnath Singh recently, adding grist to the rumour mills that the Andhra strongman might be ready to form an alliance with its former partner.

Speaking on the occasion, Naidu not only raised the 1998-2004 NDA rule, but also singled out Narendra Modi for admiration for his ‘excellent work in Gujarat’.

BJP stalwart Arun Jaitley also addressed the gathering and called for all parties against corruption to join hands with the BJP. "Those who go with the Congress will sink with a party that is going

Narendra Modi

Build toilets first, temples later: Modi

on proper development of industry, agriculture and service sector.

And, because of a balanced development of all these three sectors speed of Gujarat’s economic growth never goes into a slump.

Gujarat’s industrial development has attracted the entire world and it has become the growth engine of nation. Having 5% population of India, Gujarat’s achievements are exemplary and commendable. For entire country’s share, the state contributes around 98% of soda-ash, 80% of diamond polish and exports, 75%, of salt production, 62% of petrochemicals, 53% of crude oil, 51% of chemicals, 35% of cargo handling and 30% of natural gas (offshore).

Because of an investor friendly environment, Gujarat has been able to attract investment in the

25

last six Vibrant Gujarat Summits.

Of the total Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) corridor, state has around 60% share in it and 40% of freight corridor passes from Gujarat, and to leverage such opportunities Gujarat became first state to develop Special Economic Zones (SEZs).

In Dholera it is building a city on the scale of an international business hub and GIFT City in Gandhinagar.

On agriculture front, linking knowledge and research of agriculture varsities to the farm under land to lab project reap rich dividends for the farmers. Soil health card also helped to increased yield. He promoted drip irrigation in the state. All these made huge difference the way Gujarat’s farmers used to till their farms.

And in just a decade’s time agriculture production increased from mere Rs. 90 billion to whooping Rs. 1,110 billion.

Modi was instrumental in bringing Nano car project to Sanand in the year 2008. After Singur controversy, Tata Motors were looking for a site and there were many states in the race to woo Tata, but ultimately Modi effect prevails and Nano plant commissioned on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. Now, Sanad is emerging as country’s auto hub.

BP CEO Bob Dudley to share dais with Modi

AV Correspondent

Europe’s second largest oil company and British energy major BP’s CEO Bob Dudley will share dais with BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on October 19 at the third convocation ceremony of Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU) in Gujarat’s capital Gandhinagar.

Almost a year after British High Commissioner to India visited Modi, which ended a decade long diplomatic isolation that many countries had imposed on the Gujarat Chief Minister after 2002 Gujarat riots, Dudley’s Gujarat visit is being closely watched not only by the Indian companies but also by the political parties.

Confirming the development official sources in the University said that the convocation will be presided over by Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL),

who is also the president of PDPU. Analysts in petroleum sector of India said that Dudley’s visit is being seen by the people connected with the sector as BP-RIL partnership in oil and gas is in some trouble with the authorities because of allegations of malpractice in the KGD6 block. Dudley is likely to meet important politicians including oil minister Veerappa Moily.

During his last visit to India earlier this year he also made it a point to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the prices of natural gas.

The British oil major plans to enhance its presence in India and as part of its strategy, the company came into strategic partnership with India’s largest company RIL. BP is also considering extending partnership with RIL in gas marketing too. Currently BP holds 30 per cent interest in eight oil blocks operated by RIL.

26

INDIA

Mend your ways or bail will be cancelled: Court to V K Singh

A Delhi court warned former Army Chief General V K Singh for making defamatory remarks against Lt Gen (Retd) Tejinder Singh, who had filed a criminal defamation case against him and four others, saying it would lead to cancellation of his bail granted earlier.

M e t ro p o l i t a n Magistrate Jay Thareja disposed of the plea of Tejinder Singh seeking cancellation of bail granted to the former Army chief but issued certain directions saying V K Singh should "mend his ways and refrain from repeating the defamatory remarks" against the complainant and not to use derogatory language about

the court.

"I deem it apposite not to cancel bail of accused no.1 (V K Singh) at this stage and give the accused no.1 a reasonable opportunity to mend his ways and refrain from repeating the defamatory remarks against the complainant and using derogatory language in respect of courts.

"It is clarified that in case in the future, if the

accused no 1 indulges in repeating the defamatory remarks against the complainant or use of derogatory language in respect of this court, then this court would be constrained to take a stricter view of the matter and cancel the bail of the accused no.1," the magistrate said.

The court also dismissed a separate plea of Tejinder Singh seeking withdrawal of exemption from appearance granted to the other four accused in the case. Tejinder had lodged a criminal defamation case against V K Singh, the then Vice Chief of Army S K Singh, retired Lt Gen B S Thakur and Colonel Hitten Sawhney.

Continued from page 1 will be set up by the commission. Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be used in all polling booths.

For the first time the ECI is deploying awareness observers to increase voters turnout in these states.

The commission will closely monitor the paid news round the clock. For the first time, None of the Above (NOTA) option will be included as per the recent Supreme Court order.

Sampath, who was accompanied by two election commissioners HS Brahma and SNA Zaidi said that the commission had made elaborate arrangements for a free and fair poll in these states. In Rajasthan, the ruling Congress is facing the main opposition BJP. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is fighting a tough electoral battle against for-

mer chief minister Vasundhara Raje led BJP. The Congress came to power in 2008 by defeating the BJP. In Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan of the BJP is eyeing a third term for the party. The BJP has been in power since 2003. The faction ridden Congress is taking on Chauhan, who is hoping to retain power on the basis his governance.

In the Naxal-hit Chhattisgarh, Chief Minister Raman Singh is making a strong bid for the third consecutive term. The opposition Congress is looking weak after it s top leadership was wiped out in a brutal Maoist attack early this year.

Delhi polls are being keenly watched by political observers. One of India's longest serving chief ministers Sheila Dikshit is facing her

Continued from page 1 separate Telangana state.

Employees of the state power generation, transmission and distribution companies began an indefinite strike on Sunday, as most parts of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema remained without power while several trains were cancelled.

The talks between power employees’ Joint Action Committee and officials failed as the employees refused to end the strike unless the central government gives an assurance that the state will not be divided.

Dozens of towns and hundreds of villages werewere without electricity as generation and transmission came to a standstill due to the strike in all 13 districts of Seemandhra, as

Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra are together known. With no exemption to emergency services, patients in hospitals faced severe hardships while drinking water supply was affected in many areas. Internet service was hit. Even ATMs and mobile phones collapsed in some areas.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

Electoral reforms not your job, govt tells Supreme Court

fourth and the toughest Assembly polls as the chief minister. Anti-graft crusader Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has changed the political equations in Delhi by making it a triangular contest. The main opposition BJP is hoping that a triangular fight will benefit the saffron brigade.

The Congress is also hoping that the AAP will eat into the traditional votes of BJP. In the tiny north eastern state of Mizoram, the ruling Congress is facing the main opposition Mizo National Front (MNF).

The Congress came to power by defeating the MNF in 2008. The MNF is making the Congress' alleged corruption a main election issue. The elections are being touted as the semi-final ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections due in 2014 April/May.

Stung by the recent spate of judgments ushering in a series of electoral reforms, the Central government told the Supreme Court that judiciary should keep off a plea to bar persons, against whom charges have been framed in serious offences, from contesting polls as the issue fell squarely within the domain of legislature and government's policy arena.

"The issue agitated through this petition are policy matter and come under the exclusive jurisdiction of the legislature and as a matter of fact, the area relating to issue agitated in the petition is covered by suitable statutory provisions in the concerned laws relating to election matter," the law ministry said in its affidavit.

The ministry also said, "It is also a settled position that the courts do not interfere in policy matters of the state unless the policy violates the mandate of the Constitution or any statutory provision or is otherwise actuated by mala fides." After addition-

al solicitor general Paras Kuhad submitted the affidavit, a bench of Justices R M Lodha and S K Singh asked the Election Commission to respond to the Centre's stand in six weeks.

It averted the immediate danger of the court adjudicating on a very sensitive issue, especially when many politicians, including elected representatives, are facing trial after framing of charges against them in serious offences. These politicians, under existing law, are entitled to contest elections because of the cardinal principle - an

accused is presumed innocent till pronounced guilty.

The Centre also said the issue had been engaging the attention of the government, which in the past had undertaken serious consultations on the Law Commission's 170th report recommending that on framing of charges against the accused in serious offences, he be barred from contesting elections.

It said the department related parliamentary standing committee on personnel, public grievances, law and justice in its report had disagreed with the view of the Election Commission.

Continued from page 1 All representatives of government agreed on extending visa on arrival to 40 countries and initiating an online system as soon as possible," planning minister Rajeev Shukla said.

The ministries of tourism and home affairs have been tasked with preparing a roadmap since initiating the visa on arrival scheme will require a large amount of infrastructure and manpower. So far, citizens of around 11 countries including Japan, New

Zealand and Vietnam can avail visa on arrival.

The government is closely reviewing the online application systems adopted by Sri Lanka where only electronic visas are issued for tourists on short visits. A consensus was reached on these issues during a high level meeting convened by the Planning Commission.

"We want to develop a world class visa regime. I am going to write to the home minister with the outcomes of the meeting aimed at liberalizing the

visa regime," Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.

The meeting included the national security advisor, Ahluwalia, representatives from the PMO, Intelligence Bureau, and ministries of external affairs, home and tourism.

"There was broad consensus on simplifying online visa system, relaxing visa regime for all types of conferences and senior citizen foreign tourist or foreign pensioners," Shukla said.

Vijayawada, one of the biggest transit hubs in south India, was the worst hit. Some trains ran with diesel engines.

The situation remained tense in Vizianagaram town of north coastal Andhra as an indefinite curfew continued. But curfew was relaxed for one hour Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile in New Delhi, four central ministers from Seemandhra met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and urged him to accept the resignations they gave after the cabinet decided to carve out a Telangana state.

Manmohan Singh sought more time to decide after meeting cabinet minister Pallam Raju and ministers of state K. Chiranjeevi, D. Purandeswari and K.

Suryaprakash Reddy.

Purandeswari said they told Manmohan Singh they would not attend offices to respect the feeling of the people of Seemandhra. "We stand by our demand for a united state. But this doesn't mean we are defying the party," she said. Four Congress MPs V Arun Kumar, Ananta Venkatarami Reddy, A Sai Pratap and Sabbam Hari also resigned. They also announced they are resigning from the primary membership of Congress Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, who too opposes the state's division, told some television channels that he doesn't rule out stepping down.

Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde assured the

people of Seemandhra that their concerns would be addressed. But this had few takers.

Jagan's fast enters fourth day YSR Congress Party chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's indefinite hunger strike against the creation of a separate Telangana state entered fourth day on Tuesday. Expressing deep anguish over the arbitrary bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Reddy had earlier blamed Congress President Sonia Gandhi for the 'crisis' in the state and accused her of exploiting sentiments of people to pave way for Rahul Gandhi to become the Prime Minister.

He further appealed to Sonia Gandhi to reconsider the decision, as creating a new state would badly affect the future genera-

tions of one region. "The division is arbitrary in nature and does not address all issues that are bound to crop up after the bifurcation," he said.

Centre may impose President's rule Home minister Shinde briefed Manmohan Singh on the situation in Andhra amid indications that the worsening protests and power crisis in Seemandhra region may lead the Centre to consider the option of putting the state under central rule.

Sources in the Union government indicated that in case Andhra chief minister, himself a Rayalaseema politician, vacillates on "tough" measures needed to restore order in Seemandhra, the Centre will not shy from invoking Article 356 in the Congress-ruled state.

5 Indian states to go to polls between Nov 11 and Dec 4

Soon, visa on arrival for 40 more nations

Shutdown in Andhra over Telangana issue

Visakhapatnam Airport ran on back-up power. In Hyderabad, authorities imposed power cuts for two to three hours. Hundreds of train passengers were stranded at various stations in Srikakulam district bordering Odisha as the movement of trains between Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam went haywire. Railways cancelled several trains in Vijayawada, Guduru and other sections.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

German firm Hettich prefers Vadodara for investment Hettich, the 125 year-old German hardware manufacturing company known for expertise in furniture fittings across the globe, sets up its first production unit in Vadodara, India. The $ 1.2 billion company plans to invest Rs 5 billion in coming years at the Vadodara facility.

By Mayuri Dave

Furniture fitting and hardware giant Hettich sees huge potential in India. Even in the time of economic slowdown, it has set up its first manufacturing facility at Vadodara, India. With a turnover in excess $ 1.2 billion and a global presence in 110 countries, the German giant plans to invest Rs 5 billion in India for the next five years. The company established operations in India by setting up a 50:50 JV with Adventz, the Saroj Poddar Group, in the year 2000.

The Vadodara plant will manufacture

and Delhi, but with an industry-friendly climate with excellent infrastructure coupled with surplus power. The company has acquired a plot measuring 13 acres.

Presently less than 1/3 of the area has been used, therefore, there is sufficient land available for further expansion and growth opportuni ties.

The company expects to export 40% of its production by 2016, by leveraging the Hettich’s global network and customer base.

The Vadodara plant employs latest technology, processes and safety

Dr. Andreas Hettich

Cargotech Wire Basket, primarily for the kitchen segment and initially for domestic use and later to meet Hettich’s global requirement. The company is also looking at the possibility of manufacturing complimentary products in future.

“The Vadodara factory will add to our existing product portfolio.

Base in India will help us in expanding our market share in the local market on one hand and de-risking our global businesses on the other hand.

Moreover, India can become a very efficient base for servicing our growing markets in South Asia and Middle East,” says Dr Andreas Hettich, CEO of Hettich Group.

Hettich said that his company would expand the product range at Vadodara plant in coming years. Interestingly the location of the plant was finalized after a detailed study that found Gujarat not only well connected with Mumbai

measures and will generate considerable employment for the local populace as well.

Hettich Group came into joint venture with Adventz, the Saroj Poddar Group Company and formed its Indian entity Hettich India Pvt. Ltd. Currently, the company’s business model is based on imports. With the commissioning of Vadodara facility, some products will be manufactured in India.

Hettich is the only brand worldwide, which has fittings and hardware to cater to all the three segments of furniture manufacturing, including office, residential and kitchen & bath with over 10,000 products.

The company was started in 1888 by Karl Hetti ch. Presently its products are being sold world over through 39 subsidiaries. It has 18 state of the art manufacturing plants across 7 countries spread over Europe, Asia and America.

INDIA

Different ways of Dussehra celebration in India Navratra. Garba, a folk dance of Gujarat is performed during the nine days of Navratra. Garba dance is the main attraction of the festival as people gather at one place and dance to the tune of folk songs. After the Arti of the goddess, Garba is performed throughout the

Dussehra is derived from Sanskrit word Dasha Hara, which means destroyer of evil or the ten headed evil Ravana.

Dussehra is a culmination of Navratra, devotional nine nights of Maa Durga.

Dussehra is also popularly known as Vijayadashmi. This festival symbolizes victory of good over evil. Dussehra is celebrated throughout India with zeal and fervor.

It teaches us that bad things never survive for long.

Dussehra is not just celebrated in India, but is popular among Indians living abroad. Dusshera in different states of India is celebrated in different manner but the message of the festival remains the same. Dussehra is celebrated with great pomp and show in north India and in West Bengal.

In Bengal, Orissa and Assam: In these states, Dussehra is celebrated in the form of Durga Puja. It is a 5-day festival in Bengal whereas in Orissa and Assam the celebra-

tions last for 4 days. The statue of goddess Durga is made and established beautifully in Pandals on the fifth day. Durga puja is performed on the sashti, Saptami, Ashtami and Navami followed by a great Puja held on the tenth day. Women offer Sindoor on the forehead of the goddess and on each other. In this way Sindoor holi is played amongst the married women.

In Gujarat: In

Gujarat, Dussehra is celebrated in the form of

27

night.

In the North: In North India, mainly in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, Dussehra is celebrated with Ramlila that ends with burning an effigy of Ravan, the tenheaded demon. It symbolises the victory of good over evil. According to Hindu mythology, Ravan kidnapped Sita, the wife of Ram, the prince of Ayodhya. Ram along with his brother Lakshman conquered Lanka (Ravan’s kingdom) with the help of Sugreeva (king of monkeys) and his army. The prince returned with his brother and wife on the auspicious day of Dussehra.

In Mysore: Dussehra in Mysore is a representative of great harmony between historical and religious culture. On this day, the entire city is decorated with flowers, diyas and bulbs. This city is famous for a gala procession of richly bedecked elephants on the brightly lit streets of the city. In Mysore, effigies of

Ravana, Meghnath and Kumbhkaran are burnt.

The Mysore palace is illuminated for a whole month during the festive season. The legend associated with the Shami tree finds commemoration during the celebrations here.

On Vijaydashami day, at the culmination of a colourful 10-day celebration, the g o d d e s s Chamundeshwari is worshiped and then taken in a grand procession on a Golden Ambari or elephant-mounted throne through the city of Mysore, from the historical Mysore Palace to the Banni Mantapa.

In Maharashtra: In Maharashtra, nine days of the Navratra are dedicated to goddess Durga and on the tenth day goddess Saraswati is worshipped.

This day is considered auspicious to start anything new.

In Nepal and Mauritius: Other than India, it is also celebrated in countries like Nepal, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, China and Thailand. People consider Lord Ram as the greatest protagonist of Satyuga even today. In Nepal people celebrate this festival in a wonderful way.

Goddess Durga and Kali are worshipped for nine days and on the tenth day the king applies abeer, rice and curd on his people.

not so. ”In fact, my viewpoint was detrimental to the UPA alliance”, he added.

The inter-action which was forthright saw Rahul outspokenly point out that when he decided to speak out on the subject he had asked Congress spokesman Ajay Makan where he was only to be told that he was at a media interaction defending the ordinance. “I told him you don’t need to defend it. I will come to defend you!”

Rahul bluntly blamed internal factionalism for the defeat of his party in Gujarat over the last two decades. “Our internal reasons are responsible for it,” he added.

Asked about his rival number one Narendra Modi’s perceived popularity as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Gandhi cryptically said: “Let us wait till elections. For the

last two successive general elections, the media has been predicting doomsday for us but in vain. The Congress Party is yet to begin its poll campaign.”

He emphatically denied that his party’s popularity was on the wane and said wait till the next elections. We will win, he said. Laying emphasis on decentralization of power at all levels in the political parties and the governments, Rahul regretted that for a population of 1.2 billion, just about a thousand people across the entire political spectrum takes all the decisions, including who would be elected to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas. “Most of our institutions and political parties are undemocratic.

In the Congress it may be 500 people and among the other political parties even less. A lot of problems arise due to this centralization.”

Rahul defends aggression against ordinance

AV Correspondent

All India Congress Committee (AICC) vicepresident Rahul Gandhi defended his aggression against the controversial ordinance on lawmakers which was finally withdrawn by Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. The scion of Gandhi family confessed that his words might have been too strong but the sentiments were correct and honest. ”I have a right to put my opinion in the party. More importantly most leaders in the party were against the ordinance”, he said.

While talking to newspersons at an interaction meet organized by Gujarat Media Club in Ahmedabad last week, Rahul said, “Even my mother (AICC president Sonia Gandhi) also told me that the words I used were too strong. Being a young person, the way I

Rahul Gandhi

raised my voice may be strident, but it was the feeling of many others too,” he asserted.

Asked if electoral considerations weighed heavily on his mind when he chose to voice his opposition to an ordnance that sought to protect convicted MPs and MLAs from disqualification and finally led to it being dumped, he said that it was absolutely

28

TRAVEL

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

‘Besharam’ fails to impress Spriha Srivastava

Ostrava…It’s A Blast!

strava, the third largest city in the O Czech Republic behind

Prague and Brno, might not spring to mind when considering a trip to central or eastern Europe.

However, things are changing in this Moravian city as it seeks to throw off its legacy image.

Named after the Ostrá river meaning fast, Ryanair’s direct flights now from London Stansted make it far more accessible.

Many famous people hark from the area including Ivan Lendl, multiple Grand Slam tennis champion, and Emil Zatopek, the long-distance runner nicknamed the ‘Czech Locomotive’, who won three Olympic gold medals at Helsinki. These days Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt runs at the city’s ‘Golden Spike’ meeting and says: “I feel at home here.”

Zatopek chose to be buried at the enchanting Wooden Townlet at the Wallachian Open Air Museum in Roznov pod Radhostem - 25 miles from Ostrava and a €3 train journey. Opened in 1925 it presents an amazing collection of folk architecture.

A few miles further away one can meander along the Beskydy mountains at 1,000 metres above sea level. Enjoy some excellent Wallachian cuisine and local Radegast beer in Libusin Restaurant at Pustevny.

The nearby ski lift offers an exhilarating ride down the mountain.

Dotted around are lush golf courses including one next to the funky Miura Hotel in Celadna village (pictured). It displays various art installations from the likes of Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol and Bombay born Anish Kapoor. And, it cer-

Emil Zatopek’s grave stone at the Wallachian Open Air Museum

tainly provokes a reaction.

Ostrava is unique, inspiring and perfect for a break. There are around 25 visitor attractions including an impressive zoo, several theatres and a mining museum at Landek Park that once descended to a depth of 600 metres. Go underground, but before doing so down a glass of Miners’ Flag, a stiff drink offered to visitors.

The Lower Vitkovice area is a major highlight consisting of a huge steelworks dating back almost two centuries. At one time it produced 9501,200 tons of pig iron a day and last tapped in 1998.

(Note: ArcelorMittal’s steel plant in Ostrava still operates). A glass lift takes visitors to the top of Lower Vitkovice’s blast furnace 1 and secures an awesome panoramic view over the town.

Visitors can see inside the blast furnace, the

energy exchange unit now housing a Jules Vernethemed museum and the amazing ‘Gong’, an imposing former gasholder that is now a multifunctional arts facility.

The site also plays hosts to the ‘Colours of Ostrava’ festival, which last summer saw 70,000 visitors and Alanis Morisette perform.

Partygoers should head to Stodolni Street, a legendary entertainment district in the centre of town with over sixty bars and restaurants. It’s a street that never sleeps.

Here I would recommend Potrefena Husa, 15 Stodolni, offering local and international fare.

Kavarna Elektra near the town square provides a fine dining experience and a chance to taste excellent desserts from Ollies, a famous Ostravian bakery and cake shop. For more information on Ostrava see: www.ostrava.cz - by Roger Aitken

Sometimes I feel producers and movie directors look at a movie from a totally different point of view. If I have to like a movie, my first question would be – what’s the story? And then if the story is good and the plot is interesting I would look to find out what the star cast is and then probably watch a movie.

As a consumer I am spending money to buy a movie ticket and thus it is my right to do some research before I decide to spend my hard-earned money on it.

Lately the idea of making a movie has changed. The mantra today is to put a popular star cast together and then think of a story. My reference is to the film Besharam that was promoted as a comic film and producers expected that the father-motherson trio would be a hit at the box office because everyone would want to see how Ranbir acts with his parents (who are even better actors). But then the movie makers forgot something – a story!

Ever since Dabbang, everyone wants to make a masala movie with some roadside acting skills, language and lots of action in the film. I found Besharam’s action inspired from Dabbang but then Dabbang had a story line first and then Salman Khan. The film lived up to its expectations even the second time around because there was a strong script backing it. In Besharam, the script is a big challenge for your attention spans.

The film is about Babli (Ranbir Kapok) who fixes cars by day and steals them at night, and then donating the money to an orphanage where he grew up alongside his partner Amitosis Nag pal. He meets Tara (Pahlavi Shard), and instantly tumbles head over heels and there

starts his journey to woo the beautiful lady.

Reship and Neeta play a slightly corrupt, cop couple - Chubut and Bulbul Chautala. The movie has a predictable plot, atypical of masala flicks, using stereotypes of every kind. The love story between Babli and Tara is unconvincing.

Not that you need a why and a how, but it doesn’t build up at all.

I spent the entire movie trying to understand why Babli was called Besharam in the first place. He did exactly what heroes in other Indian movies do – wooing women, whistling, eve teasing so why the title of ‘Besharam’?

All in all, the entire movie was a complete disaster and sadly even the top notch cast and crew could do nothing to save the sinking boat.

Navratri fever in the UK

It’s that time of the year again and Indians in the UK are happily dancing to the music of Garba and dandiya all around.

Yes, you guessed it right, it’s the Navratri fever in UK and associations across UK are celebrating in the grandest manner.

Before going ahead, let’s see what the significance of Navratri is. It is a festival dedicated to the worship of the Hindu deity Durga.

The word Navaratri literally means nine nights in Sanskrit, nava meaning nine and ratri meaning nights. During these

nine nights and ten days, nine forms of Shakti/Devi are worshiped. The tenth day is commonly referred to as Vijayadashami or “Dussehra.” Navratri is a very important and major festival in the western states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Karnataka during which the traditional dance of Gujarat called “Garba” is widely performed. This festival is celebrated with great zeal in North India as well, including Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and the northern state of Punjab.

In UK, celebrations are taking place across London, Reading, Manchester Liverpool and so on. In Reading, Community group Gujarat Samaj is held an event at Bulmershe School in Chequers Way. Live music was provided by Navram from Birmingham and a grand Aarti was done in the end. In London, celebrations took place in Camden, Upton Park and so on where people went to worship Goddess Durga and were offered Prasad.

Navratri also marks the start of the festival season in UK. Coming right after Navratri is Dussera then Diwali and finally leading to the grand Christmas season in the country. Well Londoners, as of now it’s time to take your wear your best clothes and join the festival season in London.

Let us know what you think.

Email Spriha at aveditorial@abplgroup.com

India to be world's most populous nation by 2050

India will overtake China as the world's most populous country by 2050, according to a new French study which predicts the global population to surge to 9.7 billion people by the middle of the century.

The report by the French Institute of Demographic Studies (INED), predicts India will take the top spot with a staggering population of

1.6 billion to leave behind current world leader in population, China, at the second place with 1.3 billion people. The overall world population is projected to rise to 9.7 billion in 2050 from the current level of 7.1 billion, the report said. Currently, the world's most populous countries are China with 1.3 billion people; followed by India (1.2 billion); the US (316.2

million); Indonesia (248.5 million) and Brazil (195.5 million).

The study backs the population predictions by the UN and the World Bank. In June, a UN study predicted the global population to swell to 9.6 billion in 2050. "The world population has risen seven-fold over the last two hundred years and is expected to reach 10 or 11 billion.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

Bananas can enhance your beauty

Bananas are a healthy source of beauty-boosting vitamins A, B, C and E and minerals such as iron, zinc and potassium. They are also abundant with amino acids and antioxidants that provide nutrients to your skin and hair. Applying a facial mask made out of bananas may not be sexy, but don't let that stop you from getting your peel on.

Here are eight unusual uses for bananas: Moisturize dry skin: Not getting enough hydration from your lotion? Simply smash a

banana into a bowl and smooth it on your skin.

Leave it on for 15 to 20 minutes. Wash it off with lukewarm water and then follow with a cold splash of water to lock in moisture. Your dry skin will instantly feel softer.

Get rid of oily skin: Try whipping up a shinereducing mask by mixing one ripe banana and two teaspoons of lemon juice. The acids found in the lemon juice will break down the oil, while the vitamin C in the banana will control future oil production.

Remedy dry hair and

an itchy scalp: Similar to a banana facial mask, the oils and potassium found in the fruit can work wonders for the health of your scalp and strands. Break out your blender and toss in two overripe bananas, one avocado and yogurt.

Apply the creamy mixture to your scalp and wait at least 20 minutes before rinsing out with warm water.

Fight wrinkles: You can use this same combination for an anti-aging face mask. Bananas and avocados contain vitamin E, which is known to reduce the appearance

of fine lines and prevent age spots from forming.

Slough away dead skin cells: Keep your skin soft to the touch all year round by doing a weekly scrub made out of bananas, oatmeal and coconut milk. The grainy oats are a less abrasive alternative to sugar, and the coconut milk will restore a radiant glow to your skin.

Reduce puffy eyes: Eating a banana will reduce puffy eyes, as the potassium helps to counter salt intake that lead to fluid retention.

But rubbing pureed bananas underneath the eyes gets the job done, too.

Treat acne-prone skin: There's power in the banana peel! Before heading to bed, rub the inside of the peel along your face. Wash your face in the morning.

Repeat these steps at least once a day for one week, and your pimples should be gone. If you notice further skin irritation or breakouts, stop immediately and consult a doctor.

Soften cracked heels: Apply the pulp of two to three bananas to the soles of your feet, and the gooey mixture will penetrate deep to stave off dryness. No more rips into your tights!

Hair signs that indicate bad health

There is no denying that hair has become one of our most powerful accessories, an important part of our social appearance, affecting the way we view ourselves, and the way others view us.

However, more important is the fact that hair is actually a barometer indicating good or bad health. Disorders of the body like anaemia, thyroid problems, hormonal imbalance and problems related to general health can be dia gnosed by doing a hair test.

Therefore, problems with our hair should be taken seriously, because they are reflective of problems within.

Our hair reacts swiftly to changes in our body. It is nourished directly by the blood stream and any change in blood content on account of medication, hormones or lack of nutrients results in hair and scalp-related problems. Hair loss is nothing more than a signal of distress within the body.

Once the signal is recognised and the reason for it determined and treated, the hair goes back to its normal pattern of shedding which is so subtle that we may not even realize it is happening.

Hair problems cannot be ignored. If you notice abnormal hair fall, or growth, or excessive dryness of your hair and scalp and dandruff that refuses to clear, you need to contact a trichologist as soon as possible. Your condition may be more than just a bad hair day!

Research indicates that in cases of patients suffering from thyroid-related problems, there is imminent hair loss even when they suffer from viral fever. Other disorders that cause hairfall are as follows: • Cancer • Cardiac problems • Thyroid problems • Parathyroid problems • Addison's disorder • Cushing's Syndrome • Anaemia Nutritional deficiency,

especially in conditions of malnourishment leading to protein deficiency disorders like Kwashiorkor and Marasmas, which are characterized by dry and lightcoloured hair. Similarly, zinc deficiency causes diffuse hair loss, lighter coloured hair and eczema.

Similar changes are seen in cases of fatty acid deficiency. Viral and bacterial infections and general weakness of the body might also leave its trail in our hair.

• Hormonal imbalance • Polycystic Ovarian Disorder • Autoimmune problems • Ringworm • Infected tonsils or tooth problems • Kidney failure • Thrush • Fungal infection

Almost all disorders cause hair fall.

Therefore, to find out the state of your hair and your health, it is important to get a tricho-check done. It will analyze the state of your hair shaft, roots and other internal conditions. The hair tissue mineral analysis or the HTMA which is a revolutionary technology in the field of trichology.

HTMA is a safe and noninvasive trichological test. It measures the levels and comparative ratios of nutrient and toxic minerals found in hair. Your hair reflects the mineral content of the body's tissues. If a mineral is either deficient or present in excess, it indicates a mineral deficiency or excess within the body.

Hair is your body's barometer indicating good health or lack of it, and more often than not Hair problems are the first sign that something is going wrong with you internally.

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...

HEALTH WATCH

29

By doing household work you lose weight

You hate doing housework but you don't even get enough time to go to the gym or a dance class? Do not worry as household chores help you get fitter too.

Clean the tub: Scrubbing the tub is one of the best household activi-

weight. Washing dishes sheds a minimum of 125 calories per hour. So think about it!

Clean windows and mirrors: Cleaning windows may seem a little difficult but if you use the right tools, it isn't that hard. Besides, with little

ties to lose weight! In half an hour of scrubbing the tub, you'll burn around 200 calories! Not bad, right? Moreover, if you scrub the tiles as well as wash the bathrooms, you burn some extra calories.

Clean the floor: If cleaning the floors is one of your daily chores, never fret. It burns 180 calories per hour. So pull out your broom and mop and you are ready to go.

Wash utensils: After you know this, you'll be happy if your maid doesn't turn up tomorrow!

Washing utensils is also one activity that helps lose

hard work, you can burn 125 calories in 30 minutes.

The same goes for mirrors.

Make the beds: Here's a reason why hospital nurses are usually in shape.

Making the beds burns 130 calories per half hour. So even if you hate making beds, do it for your body.

Bathe your little one: Bathing babies is not only fun but also a way to lose weight and stay fit. It helps you get rid of 240 calories every hour.

Moreover, if you have a naughty little one who makes you run here and there, you may have a better workout.

Today, Ayurveda is considered an ‘alternative healing’ method, but this time honored and widely practiced science is known for first understanding the body before curing it.

Based upon the premise that the balance between the physical, mental and spiritual levels is the basis of good health, Ayurveda defines our bodies as products of one or more ‘Humors’ or elements.

Ayurveda groups the five elements of nature into three basic body types – Vata, Pitta & Kapha and uses ingredients from nature in formulations to correct the balances and bring about health and wellness. Listed below is a cheat sheet to help you understand this concept.

Kapha: People classified as kapha are easygoing, relaxed, slow-paced and tend to be overweight.

They are affectionate and loving, forgiving and compassionate. They have an essentially undemanding approach to life. These people are prone to colds

and congestion, sinus and headaches as well as to asthma and allergies.

Ayurveda recommends drying, stimulating oils to treat them.

Pitta: They have a medium physique, but are strong and well-built. They possess a sharp mind, good concentration powers and are orderly and focused. People with pitta classification are assertive and self-confident, passionate and romantic.

They have a strong digestion and a strong appetite; are uncomfortable in the sun or hot weather and are subject to temper tantrums, impatience and anger. Ayurveda recommends cooling, calming oils for them.

Vata: Vata people are creative, quick to learn but also quick to forget. They are generally slender, tall and fast-walkers. They tend to have cold hands and feet and are uncomfortable in cold climates. These people are excitable, lively and have fun personalities with changeable moods.

The healing powers of Ayurveda and types

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Subrang Arts at the forefront of community arts Subrang Arts is a leading South Asian Arts organisation in the Borough of Sutton and Croydon. Its objective is to foster and promote the rich cultural heritage of our art forms through Dance, Music, Languages, Arts Festivals, Exhibitions and other Cultural activities. It began humbly with a few die hard members and has now grown into an established Arts organisation presenting an annual series of Dance and Drama through an educational programme for young people as well as adults.

Through these programmes, it nurtures home grown budding and enthusiastic talents and fosters an awareness, appreciation of our rich heritage.

In celebration of its Silver Anniversary, it has embarked upon a very ambitious project. ‘Janak Dulari Sita’ - a theatrical extravaganza involving a cast of more than fifty local

talents of all ages. The production is in Gujarati with English narration intermittently by Harish Bhimani.

It is a spectacular dance drama with an extravagant array of glittering costumes, exquisite choreography and multi media projections. The colourful acts will bring endearing characters from the mythological archives alive and cast a spell of rare classical charm. The music, lighting, dance, and colours saturate the senses and transport the audience into ancient India, immersing them in a tale of gods and demons, kings and queens, war and retribution—and also love, duty, and honour.

This epic has become an integral part of the Hindu ethos and Sita is considered a paragon of virtue.

At its simplest, it is a story of good triumphing over evil. But it also exemplifies the struggle of each of us as we try to do the right thing, to follow the dictates of conscience. From scene to

Coming Events

n Friday 11th October 2013 – Institute of Jainology in association with the British Library is hosting a public lecture from 7-8.30pm at the Conference Centre, the British Library, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB.

COMPETITION Pankaj Sodha presents the Diwali Shopping Festival 2013 on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th October.

This is your chance to meet stars Rupal Patel and Devoleena, enjoy live entertainment, visit the shopping Bazaar and taste the delicious food!

All you have to do is answer the following question for the chance to win 4 tickets to the Festival. The first ten correct answers will win!

scene the story, choreography and music evoke the full range of human emotions.

Premiere Show at Fairfield Halls, Croydon was received with rave reviews. The production is now on a National tour.

Venue: University of Birmingham – 9th November, Peepul Centre, Leicester – 10th November & Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan - 23rd-24th November, 2013.

The production is directed and choreographed by Harsha Amin.

Veteran Music Director Ashit Desai has forged ties with Subrang together with play back singers like Suresh Wadker, Sadhna Sargam, Anuradha Paudwal, Aishwarya Majumdar, Hema Desai, and Devki Pandit.

Subrang Arts is also leading another innovative exhibition in celebration of the 150th Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, the great Hindu philosopher

and visionary. In collaboration with sv150, Subrang Arts will add a structured programme of educational and training elements to the exhibition which will be held in Thornton Heath in January 2014. Through this training, the youngsters will be able to add elements to the exhibition which will explore the great legacy of Vivekananda and celebrate Ancient Indian Civilisation and its influence on Modern world.

To undertake two major projects in one year for the benefit of local community, is indeed a huge achievement for Subrang Arts. The group is lead by a very committed and dedicated leadership who has a strong passion for excellence, respect for our values and history and offering their services for the greater good of our cultural heritage.

For further information, contact Lata Desai : 07752387133.

n Wednesday 16th October 2013 – Om Shakti Day Centre’s Grand Diwali Party from 9.30am – 3.00pm at Harrow Leisure Centre, Byron Hall, Christchurch Rd. Harrow HA3 5BD. Contact: 07930335978. n Thursday 17th October 2013 – Commercial Property Auction. Contact John Mehtab on 02070344855. n Friday 18th October 2013 – Charity Garba Marathon at Crest Girls Academy, Dollis Hill Lane, Neasden, NW2 7SN from 7.30pm – 11.30pm. n Friday 18th October 2013 – Raas Garba at Shree Jalaram Mandir Greenford, 39-45 Oldfield Lane South, Middlesex, UB6 9LB. From 8pm-10pm.

Contact: 020 8578 8088.

a) Ek Veer Ki Ardaas...Veera b) Diya Aur Baati Hum c) Saath Nibhana Saathiya

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21

Strengthen close ties of affection, sort out emotional differences and proffer the olive branch to your loved one. You often sabotage your emotional interests by keeping too much inside. However, your inner pressure builds up and manifests as irrational moods that others find hard to understand.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22

You know you have no choice but to streamline and re-assess your priorities before haphazardly saying yes to everything that smells like a potential opportunity. Try to create a balance between expansion and conservation. Jupiter in your sign makes you feel invincible, base your decisions on facts.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22

Relationships are experiencing major transformations - those with shaky foundations should be extra careful. Financially, you have everything going for you. A good time to put lucrative plans into action and reap the benefits of sound investments. Be prudent and do not fritter away your good fortune.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

At home, be at your diplomatic best and try not to tread on anyone's toes.

Passions will run from hot to cold, and relationships may suffer. Even the most strong-willed Leos will be more open to compromise to keep the peace. Plan your spending and set sensible budgets.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23

An inspiring boost to matters of communication but make sure your curiosity on a range of topics does not lead to a scattering of mental energy. With a surge of energy and enthusiasm, this is a favourable time to make fresh starts. Personal relationships may be more intense.

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

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22

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Don't take short-cuts in legal or official matters.

It will be only too easy to feel exasperated by bureaucracy but you won't be doing yourself any favours if you lose your cool. This is a fine time for you to get away from the mundane realities of life and relax.

Some of you will probably go abroad.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23 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. It’s fine to consider several options but don’t get caught up in indecision. Schedule networking opportunities later this week.

What is the name of the Star Plus programme where Rupal Patel features as Kokila Modi?

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ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20

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SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21 The prevailing cosmic pattern packs a powerful punch early this week. Having such potent energies, make you feel positive and confident in whatever you do. This is not the time to hold back or underestimate your potential if you wish to further an important aim. Some of you will try to get away from the routine chores.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20

As social life is likely to gather a pleasant momentum throughout this week, this is bound to present a better prospect, not only for striking up new friendships but also romantic encounters. This is going to be one of those times when insignificant events give rise to unexpected developments especially regarding work and health.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19

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

It is essential that you adopt a very open attitude now for this is a time of lucky opportunity and a chance to greatly enrich your working life and at home. New windows on the world are about to open and this is bound to have a maturing effect on you from now into the future.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20

31

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 12th October 2013

Mumbai beat Rajasthan to win second CLT20 title

The Champions League T20 final was the last competitive limited overs fixture for Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid and both were out for insignificant scores.

However, by the end of the match, Tendulkar was on the shoulders of his victorious Mumbai Indians teammates while minutes before, Dravid, who had come in as Rajasthan's No. 8, was cleaned up for 1 even as the chase unravelled badly.

Thanks to their powerful batting order and Rajasthan's late collapse Mumbai Indians completed the IPL-CLT20 double, after winning the final by 33 runs at the Feroze Shah Kotla. Chasing 203, Royals folded for 169 even after a fabulous start that saw them scoring 100 runs in nine

towards the fag end of their innings to have the last laugh.

India discard Harbhajan Singh finished with impressive 4-0-32-4 with three wickets coming in just one over, which proved to be the turn-

ing point of the match. Kieron Pollard chipped in with three wickets for 31. From 155 for three in 16 overs, the Royals collapsed dramatically to lose as many as six wickets for just 14 runs. Earlier, Mumbai Indians batsmen fired in unison to post 202 for six. After a solid start by opener Dwayne Smith (44) and a valuable 33 off 14 balls by skipper Rohit Sharma in the middle, Glenn Maxwell's 14-ball 37 cameo in the end took the IPL champions past 200-run mark. This was the highest total for the Mumbai Indians, who scored 142 runs in their last 10 overs.

Rajasthan had to chase the highest score in a CLT20 final to win the trophy, and it did not prove to be so as Dravid and his team were denied a fairytale ending.

general L Nageswara Rao. Srinivasan, 68, widely regarded as the most powerful man in world cricket, had been barred by the court from taking charge since his election as the BCCI chief for a third year on September 29.

Senior BCCI office-bearers welcome SC order "We have always respected the observations and orders of the apex court. We had complete faith in the judiciary. The BCCI accepts the court order with utmost humility. We are happy that Mr Srinivasan will be able to perform his presidential duties," said BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel.

"Mr Srinivasan had recused himself from the day to day activities of the BCCI and not for once did the

Board break any rules," Patel added.

BCCI joint secretary and Member of Parliament Anurag Thakur also welcomed the decision. "It's certainly a relief that Mr Srinivasan will be officially taking charge of the BCCI. He has been unanimously elected as the president of the BCCI and the members have a lot of faith in his abilities as an administrator," Thakur said.

Senior BCCI vice-president and veteran Cricket Association of Bengal official Chitrak Mitra said that Srinivasan taking charge meant that there won't be any "constitutional crisis in the board" which looked imminent during the last few days.

Argentina, 4,925, 6 (5) Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic, 4,610, 7 (6) Roger Federer, Switzerland, 4,515, 8 (9) Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland, 3,150, 9 (8) JoWilfried Tsonga, France, 3,115, 10 (10) Richard Gasquet, France, 3,095.

The WTA’s top 10 as of Monday (previous ranking in parenthesis): 1 (1) Serena Williams, United States, 13,260 points, 2 (2) Victoria Azarenka, Belarus, 8,485, 3 (3) Maria Sharapova, Russia, 6,941, 4 (4) Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland, 6,195, 5 (5) Li Na, China, 5,365, 6 (6) Sara Errani, Italy, 4,435, 7 (7) Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic, 4,315, 8 (11) Jelena Jankovic, Serbia, 3,860, 9 (8) Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark, 3,845, 10 (9) Angelique Kerber, Germany, 3,645.

He is one of the fittest athlete in the Indian team at the moment but star cricketer Virat Kohli finds Sachin Tendulkar the epitome of fitness and hopes to play with same vigour when he reaches the veteran batsman's current age of 40. "Hope I can play for the country for such a long span as Sachin (Tendulkar) has and remain as fit as he is. His fitness level is amazing. If I can achieve 60-70 per cent of what he has achieved so far in his career, I will be more than happy," said Kohli.

"His hardwork is very inspiring for the younger generation," he said.

Replying to a query, Kohli said South African speedsters - Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel - were the two most dangerous bowlers he has faced in his international career so far.

Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid

overs.

Despite openers Ajinkya Rahane (65) and Sanju Samson (60) chipping in with quickfire half-centuries, Mumbai Indians bowlers came up with impressive bowling performance

Srinivasan allowed to take charge as BCCI chief

The Supreme Court of India allowed N Srinivasan to take charge as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president and formed a fresh probe panel to investigate IPL 6 spot-fixing scandal.

"Srinivasan can take over as BCCI president, but we have also formed a new probe panel to investigate the case," ruled AK Patnaik, one of the two judges who heard the case.

The three-member probe panel will be headed by Mukul Mudgal, former chief justice of Punjab and Haryana high court. The court has asked the panel to submit the inquiry report within four months and directed the board not to influence or interfere in the

N Srinivasan

inquiry.

It is learnt that apex court has asked the BCCI chief to cooperate in the probe and should keep himself away from the probe. Apart from Mudgal, the other members of the three-member panel are senior advocate Niloy Dutta and additional solicitor

Nadal tops ATP rankings

Spain’s Rafael Nadal returned to the top of the ATP rankings for the first time in more than two years on Monday, overtaking Serbian Novak Djokovic, who dropped to second.

Nadal moved into the top spot of the rankings with 11,160 points to 11,120 for Djokovic. It is the first time Nadal has headed the table since July 2011. Djokovic had kept the ranking for 101 weeks.

Former world number one Roger Federer dropped another spot in the standings. A week after falling to number six, the Swiss landed at number seven this week.

Former world number one Jelena Jankovic jumped three places to eighth in the women’s tennis rankings.

Serena Williams would finish the season as world

Rafael Nadal

number one for a third time.

She leads an unchanged top seven ahead of Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova.

ATP top 10 as of October 7 (previous ranking in parentheses): 1 (2) Rafael Nadal, Spain, 11,160 points, 2 (1) Novak Djokovic, Serbia, 11,120 3 (3), Andy Murray, Britain, 6,895, 4 (4) David Ferrer, Spain, 6,710, 5 (7) Juan Martin del Potro,

Virat Kohli wants to emulate Sachin

Sania Mirza-Cara Black win China Open

Sania Mirza won her second title in a row as she lifted the China Open trophy with Cara Black, demolishing the challenge of Vera Dushevina and Arantxa Parra Santonja in straight sets, in Beijing here on Saturday. The eighth seeded IndoZimbabwean pair thrashed the RussianSpanish combo 6-2 6-2 in the summit clash, which lasted one hour and six minutes.

Sania and Cara had won Pan Pacific Open in Toyko last week and the two players have now won nine matches on the trot. It is fifth title of the season for the Indian ace and 19th overall. Sania had won the New Haven event with Chinese Zheng before teaming up with Cara.

Bangla bowler concedes 39 runs in an over

Bangladesh's domestic 50-over tournament Dhaka Premier League saw a world record being broken when Abahani Limited's bowler Alauddin Babu set the unfortunate record of conceding most runs in an over in List A cricket. The right-arm medium pacer conceded 39 runs in one over against Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club, breaking the previous record of 36 runs in the name of Netherlands bowler Dan van Bunge.

Alauddin's record-breaking over was the last of the innings, bowling to Zimbabwe all rounder Elton Chigumbura.

Djokovic thumps Nadal for fourth China Open crown

Novak Djokovic won his fourth China Open title in five years on Sunday, prevailing 6-3 6-4 in the final against Rafael Nadal.

The Serb continued his love affair in Beijing, improving his tournament record to 19-0 after brushing aside Nadal in an hour and 27 minutes to halt his run of three defeats against the Spaniard. Nadal had to reach the final in the tournament to displace Djokovic from the top ranking and the issue was put to rest on Saturday when Tomas Berdych retired with a back injury in his semi-final against the Spaniard.

Afghanistan qualify for ICC World Cup 2015

In a fantastic display of grit and determination, strife-torn Afghanistan qualified for its maiden ICC World Cup after defeating Kenya by seven wickets to finish second in the World Cricket League Championship in Sharjah. Deciding to field first after winning the toss, Afghanistan dismissed Kenya for 93 in 43.3 overs and then achieved the target in 20.5 overs with seven wickets to spare. The victory meant Afghanistan finished on 19 points - five behind champion Ireland, which qualified for ICC’s flagship event to be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand in 2015.