AV 13th May 2017

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Vol 46 | Issue 2

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INVISIBLE, FORGOTTEN, SUFFERERS: PLIGHT OF WIDOWS AROUND THE WORLD

WHY YOU SHOULD SUPPORT THE DISADVANTAGED WIDOWS IN INDIA

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Kejri takes bribe, alleges minister

Arvind Kejriwal

For someone who entered politics as an anti-corruption crusader, claiming a clean image, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal came under extreme shock when a bribery scandal broke in the Aam Aadmi Party last week. After being sacked from the state cabinet last week, Kapil Mishra pointed his finger at the party convener alleging that he took a bribe of £200,000 from Health Minister Satyendra Jain.

Mishra also claimed that Jain told him that he had sealed a £5 million land deal in favour of Kejriwal's brother-inlaw

Continued on page 26

Asian risktakers build Britain's wealth Full Story on P16

BY LEICESTER GIRL’S DEATH The death of health worker Meera Dalal in Leicester has shocked and saddened the community. Families and friends have been pouring in to pay tribute to the youngster, who took her life at 25, believed to be resulted by the physical and emotional abuses allegedly caused by her Indian-origin ex-boyfriend.

Meera Dalal, 25, was found dead at the property in Syston, Leicestershire, after suffering alleged long-term abuse from her partner, who was reported to the police on a number of occasions but never faced charges. She was even taken to hospital after one particularly brutal beating and told her doctor she had been having suicidal thoughts, the Loughborough hearing was told.

Ashok Dalal, pictured with Meera's sister Sonia Hindocha, found his daughter's body at the family home in Syston, Leicestershire

Trendsetting Asian candidates swarm snap election Rupanjana Dutta

Meera Dalal, 25, who killed herself after suffering emotional and physical abuse

After the abusive relationship ended, she had moved back home to live with her family.

Speaking to Asian Voice, Dalal's grief-stricken father Ashok, who comes from Saroti, Uganda said, “We went to the Coroner's office on Friday, that clarified that Meera

MUMBAI DELHI GOA BANGALORE KOCHI AHMEDABAD

did commit suicide. She suffered from physical and emotional abuse, she kept complaining to police, but kept taking the complaints back.

“I have lost my dear girl and it still hurts. I don't think we'll ever get over it.

Continued on page 4

£375 £388 £367 £368 £367 £368

The 2017 Snap Election is unique in its own way. Not because it has been called mid way after 2 years of the majority rule by the Tory party, not because the Labour party is in such a despicable state, not because Lib Dems are rising like a falcon from the ashes, but mainly because Indians may be again the game changers in this election.

Continued on page 2

HYDERABAD CHENNAI AMRITSAR TRIVANDRUM KOLKATA

Cllr Ameet Jogia

£373 £367 £369 £388 £371

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Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

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Trendsetting Asian candidates swarm snap election

Continued from page 1

In the last General Election, the Tories won a majority, with the diaspora support.

There is an emerging trend here. First, newbies especially young aspirants are contesting against experienced and seasoned MPs. In 2015, it was Conservative party's Kishan Devani standing against Labour's Keith Vaz. Devani did not win, but what he gained was a second to none experience, that will help him go a long way in his political future.

This year we have Cllr Ameet Jogia, standing from Brent North, against Labour's Barry Gardiner.

Barry has been an MP for 20 years, and a Shadow Secretary for International trade, seen in every other Asian event, but his recent alleged involvement in a payment controversy from a Chinese firm, has raised some doubts in people's minds. Memories are short-lived, but the Tory party is seizing the opportunity with both hands.

They have placed local boy, fresh faced and enthusiastic Ameet Jogia right at the heart of Brent North's bid.

In his maiden speech after becoming one of the youngest Councillors in 2014, Ameet spoke of his experience of being homeless as a child in 1990 and how Harrow Council helped him and his family back on his feet. Ameet had in fact paid tribute to the Labour Party during the debate in their efforts to help the vulnerable, but explained why his experiences made him a Conservative, “I’m a Conservative because I believe in empowering people to be the very best they can be; to stand on their own two feet.”

“I’m not telling you my story because I want your pity. But because I don’t want to be written off another right winger who doesn’t understand what it’s like to be poor.”

Ameet Jogia is a rising star within the Conservative Party and is commonly referred to as the “Tory blue eyed boy” within Conservative circles.

Ameet has been a long standing Tory activist and signed up to the Party on his 16th birthday, working and climbing his way up the Tory ranks ever since.

Now out campaigning from door to door, speaking to Asian Voice he said, “Brent has been dominated

by Labour for the last 20 years. Whilst the rest of the country has been turning blue, many people I have spoken to feel left behind by a Labour's leader Jeremy Corbyn whose ideas from the 1970s don't resonate with the residents

of Brent. It is therefore time for change in Brent; time for a young and fresh face with new ideas...”

If he wins, he promises to be more accessible; particularly to young people.

“If elected I would very much like to engage with more younger people who

Malhotra Seema in Feltham and Heston area.

She was formerly the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. There will be many such names by 11 May. Last year it was Simon Nair who opposed Seema Malhotra in the same con-

Shailesh Vara

Seema Malhotra

Virendra Sharma

feel disillusioned with politics and encourage them to get involved,” added Jogia.

This is not the only example. Rahoul Bhansali from Brent Central is standing against Labour's Dawn Butler, whereas Meera Sonecha is standing from Leicester South against Jon Ashworth from Labour party- a similar equation, where new entrants are are competing against experienced and successful MPs. Labour's former Councillor Navin Shah, who became an Assembly Member later, is standing opposite Tory's Bob Blackman- again someone who has been an MP for Harrow East over 7 yearsknown among the diaspora, helping the community as much as he can. But Navin Shah belongs to the community- with a family (daughter and wife) in politics (as Mayor/Councillors) and been serving the locals since 1994.

Both Harrow and Brent have a high population of Asian (Hindus) living in the area.

Secondly, it is a given fact that Indians have integrated into the country better than any other ethnic communities. The success has reached that stage, where one Indian-origin candidate is fighting the other this election- more in number than 2015.

Samir Jassal is standing for thev Conservative party, against Labour's

Cllr Reena Ranger

and Suella Fernandes.

Patel and Sharma were Ministers in the Theresa May cabinet. The 10 sitting MPs will contest again, while several individuals joined parties amid a belief that the Indian community is moving away from Labour to the

Priti Patel

Navin Shah

Bengali to be in the electoral fray in the UK. Dasgupta, a lecturer at the Loughborough University has been living in the UK for past eight years and became a member of the Labour Party seven years ago.

“It is a great honour to

Amna Ahmad

MP Paul Uppal

entrepreneurs of the UKDr Rami Ranger. There is also Resham Kotecha standing from Coventry North West, and former MP Paul Uppal trying to make a come back in Wolverhampton South West.

From Lib Dem Party Amna Ahmad, is the candidate in Sutton & Cheam.

The seat is run by a Lib Dem Council, was Lib Dem between 1997-2015 and also has Lib Dem MP Tom Brake next door.

Amna is only 31 and also spent time in foster care when she was a child – and is one of the rising stars in the party.

Zaffar Haq is standing from Harborough, Oadby and Wigston. Well-known local NHS campaigner Zuffar Haq is one of the first candidates to announce that he is standing in the snap General Election on 8th June. He said, “It is important to offer a voice to the tens of thousands of local people who are worried about the direction in which the Conservatives want to take our country.

“I want to represent you: fighting to improve the NHS and opposing cuts to schools.

“A Hard Brexit will be damaging for our prosperity and security. We need to fight to stay in the Single Market at the very least...”

Make sure you vote this election

Rohit Dasgupta

stituency. But Seema thinks Labour's history with minority and race relations is unparalleled.

Speaking to Asian Voice, she explained how Theresa May's immigration figures or steps on equality or NHS or even pensions for women are sending out wrong signals. “The Labour party gives importance to families- something close to the diaspora values.

What Theresa May is doing is ruining family lives.”

More Asian candidates enter politics

In 2015, the Conservative party had fielded 17 candidates, while Labour had put up 14. In all, there were a record 59 candidates from the community with influence in several constituencies.

The 10 Indian-origin MPs were: Keith Vaz, Valerie Vaz, Seema Virendra Malhotra, Sharma, Lisa Nandy and Priti Patel, Shailesh Vara, Alok Sharma, Rishi Sunak

Meera Sonecha

Rahoul Bhansali Conservatives in recent elections. This could be because of the increasing wealth in the community, but also because the Labour party has been accused of undermining Hindu feelings and Narendra Modi's fandom under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.

As senior Labour MP Virendra Sharma launched his campaign in Ealing Southall, new faces such as Labour’s Rohit Dasgupta (East Hampshire) and Preet Kaur Gill (Birmingham Edgbaston) were confirmed as candidates.

Labour’s Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) along with Gill will seek to be one of the first Sikhs to be elected to the House of Commons.

Rohit K Dasgupta, who was born and brought up in Kolkata and graduated from Jadavpur University only eight years ago, is contesting the elections from East Hampshire seat on a Labour Party ticket. He will be the first Indian

be fighting a seat for Labour Party in this election and offer a credible alternative to the Tories,” Dasgupta told Hindustan Times, describing East Hampshire as a ‘tough constituency’.

The Kolkata boy, however, is up against odds.

The seat is a stronghold of the Conservative Party, which secured more than 50% votes in 2010 and 2015. Damian Hinds is representing the seat since 2010. Dasgupta’s campaign promises to focus on the issues of housing, education, health and fair living wage.

The new entrants (not candidates) include Ankit Love (son of Panthers Party leader Bhim Singh) who joined the Liberal Democrats, and former BBC journalist Pankaj Dubey, who joined Labour.

From Conservative party Cllr Reena Ranger has been selected as the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Birmingham Hall Green.

Reena, is the daughter of one of the biggest

Faith Communities have a great opportunity to effectively engage in British politics in order to demand that Political Parties draw up policy plans to tackle issues that affect us. The right to vote has been hardwon, and it is the duty of everyone in public life, to make sure everyone who is eligible to vote is able to vote. Remember - by being registered means that Politicians will listen to you as they know you have the power to decide who wins and who loses in the forthcoming the General Election.

The Hindu Council UK has joined an initiative by Department for Communities & Local Government (DCLG) and other Faith Organisations across the UK to encourage people from faith communities to take part in this election.

On Monday 15th May there will be a day long ‘Tweet Storm’ where faith leaders, organisations and individuals will be tweeting out to encourage voter registration.

This is not an exhaustive list and there will be many more additions till end of this week. Asian Voice will keep you notified with all snap election updates regularly.

C MMENTS

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Strategic deficits in India’s political culture It would scarcely be an exaggeration to say that Indian rebirth since August 1947 has been hobbled by a strategic deficit in its broad perceptions of the world, hence of its immediate and wider environment. Following the latest jihadi atrocity on the Line of Control in Kashmir, and continuing jihadi violence in the State, General Bepin Rawat, the Army Chief of Staff, declared that Indian foreign policy fell short of comprehensive strategic content. Looking through the country’s print media one can detect a state of permanent stupor at the rancid pieties of the print media and their relentless recycled waste.

Former officials, now hibernating in retirement with comfortable pensions, topped up with media fees, have a constant refrain that salvation lies in further talks with Kashmiri jihadists and their Pakistani handlers; and ritual self-flaggelation involving handwringing and breast-beating. Their preferred theatre has been played out over six decades and more with no tangible results.

The goal for such self-proclaimed advocates of peace in our time is clearly the main chance of a well lubricated peace fellowship at some US or UK think tank, where prescriptive mantras guarantee a rich haul in cash.

These worthies are much given to raising the spectre of a nuclear Armageddon unless India talked some more with Pakistan, played continuous Test cricket with it, traded more closely through non-existent open markets and other such hallucinatory projects.

Think of Prime Minister Vajpayee’s walking the talk to the nirvana of Lahore in February 1999, and the surreptitious conflict sprung upon India in Kargil, a few months later in which some 700 and more Indians soldiers lost their lives; think of the invitation to the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to attend Prime Minister Modi’s swearing in ceremony in New Delhi; think of Mr Modi’s dash to Islamabad to attend a Sharif family birthday bash. In between times came jihadi attacks on Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, and subsequent assaults on the Indian Air Force base at Pathankot.

Intellectual inertia has led to complacent intelli-

gence. How else can one explain the repeated intelligence failures to detect and abort Pakistani-primed jihadi insurgency in Kashmir and jihadi attacks elsewhere in the country. Truth is that India has never had a coherent Pakistan policy; it is content with the solace incantations, of the knee-jerk to the desired well constructed mailed fist of proportionate power. Indian punishment to date has never fitted the Pakistani crime.

India’s priorities wax and wane. There is still no unified command of the military staff, recommended by the Naresh Chandra Commission way back in 2001; three Air Force chiefs have complained of an understrength force of 12 squadrons; defence acquisitions move with the proverbial pace of the tortoise; and the Defence Ministry is under the concurrent charge of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Confusion is worse confounded.

To clear muddle heads, read Tavleen Singh’s column in the Sunday Express (April 23). It starts thus: ‘The Kashmir Valley has become a war zone today because of radical Islam. This is the exact genre of Islam that caused the terrorist attack in Paris last week.

And the same genre that lies at the root of all jihadi terrorist attacks in Kashmir. Until we admit this, we cannot begin to talk of peace, just as it is impossible to defeat the worldwide jihad as long as moderate Muslims continue to support it, albeit inadvertently, for reasons of piety, faith and community, so will it be impossible to defeat the jihad in Kashmir… If anyone has doubts about Islam being the centre of the current spate of violence , please watch the video released recently by…Zakir Rashid Bhat…the commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, saying: “When we pick up the stones or guns…the sole motive should be the supremacy of Islam, so that Sharia is established there.” ‘ Hurriyat doubletalk, notwithstanding, it is time surely to wake up to the ground realities of Kashmir.

Sleep walking to the abyss has ceased to be a comfortable pastime.

India’s exponential UK footprint A recent report by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the British consultancy firm, Grant Thornton, reveals that Indian companies invested £4.25 billion in capital expenditure in 2016, and recorded revenues of £47.5 billion as contribution to the British exchequer.

‘This year’s tracker shows a continuing expansion of Indian footprint in the UK. Yet, the UK must not take the presence of Indian companies for granted,’ said Anuj Chande, head of the South Asia Group of Grant Thornton. ‘In the years ahead, as the Indian economy develops to becomes one of the largest and most powerful in the world, the opportunities to boost investment into the UK will grow. To realize those opportunities the UK must ensure that, as it tends to its relationship with the wider world post Brexit, it protects and promotes the factors that make it such an attractive destination for Indian investment,’ he

added.

The report which monitors the fastest growing Indian companies in the UK said there were 55 companies with revenue growth rates of over 10 per cent, the most outstanding being Datamatica Infotech, a consulting IT and provider of other outsourcing services, with a revenue growth of 103 per cent. KSK Power Ventur, a power generation company was listed second to Datamatica Infotech.

Other fast-growing companies mentioned in the report include Bharti Airtel’s UK operations and the BIO Agency, a digital transformation entity acquired

by Tech Mahindra last year. The impressive ascent of Indian companies in the UK provides a secure platform for burgeoning trade and investment between India and Britain and secures a post Brexit future of prosperity and closer understanding between two historic partners.

Satellite with regional message India’s latest satellite – GSAT 9 – launched on a GSLV rocket last Friday (May 5) has been designed to bond the peoples and governments of South Asia through technology. In a teleconference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Afghan Prime Minister Ashraf Ghani said: ‘If cooperation through land is not possible, we can be connected through space.’ Afghanistan is the region’s only country with which India has no common border and transit facilities for trade continue to be denied by Pakistan, which, predictably, reacted with a surly comment on the purpose of th e exercise.

Mr Modi also spoke through videoconference with the leaders of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. They congratulated India for its technological success, and to Mr Modi personally, for turning his ‘vision into reality.’ President Yameen of the Maldives said: ‘Neighbourhood first policy’ was a unique gesture. ‘The launch is historic as this is the first time that a country has launched a satellite for the free use of its neighbours.’

Envoys of all six countries were invited to witness the lift-off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on India’s east coast.

The 2,230-kg spacecraft, costing around Rs 430 crore, will aid communication, broadcasting and internet services and disaster management and telemedicine, tele-education and weather forecasting.

Other aspec ts of the launch include the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) capability to launch heavier communications satellites with indigenous Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicles (GSLV). Second, the launch confirms the viability of India’s cryogenic technology which makes heavier satellite launches feasible. The next launch - a 5 tonne satellite - will require the more powerful GSLV Mark III rocket for lift-off into this higher 36,000 mile orbit. Third, the launch will surely expand India’s footprint in the commerce of space, with its proven costeffective record. Fourth, the South Asian Satellite is a high point in India’s space diplomacy, a milestone in Indian outreach to its neighbourhood and the world beyond.

The story of India’s space adventure has been something of an epic. In 1963, its first rocket was launched from the backyard of a church in Thumba, Kerala. Each step of the journey into the unknown was carefully choreographed – steady as she goes. The success from one stage to the next was remarkable, with the odd setback punctuating major achievements in space science and engineering.

ISRO’s moon-shot – Chandrayaan 1 – heralded a coming of age; the satellite to the more distant Mars was truly spectacular, but the best surely is yet to come. The Indian space odyssey is well into its stride.

Nothing wondrous can come in this world unless it rests on the shoulders of kindness - "The Lacuna"

by Barbara Kingsolver (2009)

Complacency is the Conservative Danger Not since Michael Foot, could an election be so one-sided. But still complacency is always a danger for the presumptive victor.

Class used to be the best post-war predictor, then it became interest rates – because that determined the money in our pockets.

My politics tutor at Oxford was the leading authority on General Elections – Dr David Butler. This was a man who sat down for drinks with Churchill to discuss election strategies – and indeed with pretty much every Prime Minister since.

Dr Butler and I would sit for my tutorials, one to one, discussing modern British Government. He had been persuaded out of semi-retirement by another politics tutor to teach me over the Summer before I started work in the US Congress on a bursary I’d won.

When I remove all the nonsense on policy issues that people think wins elections and cut to just bare statistics the findings are pretty amazing.

Oh, and race does not impact elections, neither does immigration or the NHS – or leadership.

So it is the following statistics will show exactly that; fight and argue over immigration and other ‘issues’ and ‘policies’ but none of it will be as good a predictor as I am about to give you: First, Labour’s dispersion of voters is such that they can at merely 36% of the votes still win an election – as in 2005. Never before in the history of British elections has a party won with such a low percentage of votes.

Never in the history of British elections has a party had just enough of its voters spread efficiently so that with such a low spread of voters it can win enough seats.

To understand this – think of it this way; we have a system whereby if you win a seat by 10,000 votes, you win it just as much as if you won by 1 vote. Tory voters tend to give themselves thumping large majorities and so in a way to say the Conservatives have a poll lead is irrelevant because you are only counting a lot of people in constituencies you’ve already won not people in ones where you need to win from Labour. Labour tend to have lower majorities, but more of them – it’s just the way their vote is spread and so they tend to win more seats per voter.

So pronounced is Labour’s advantage that in 2005 more people actually voted Conservative than Labour in England– but the Conservatives won 92 fewer seats than Labour within England (285 to 193).

Put another way Labour can get 55% of the seats with only 36% of the votes cast. Whereas everyone else combined with 64% of the votes can only manage 45% of the seats.

This ‘voter efficiency ratio’ – my own creation is even worse for the Lib Dems: with 2/3rds as many votes as Labour they only got 1/5 as many seats as Labour.

Does every vote count? Well Conservative ones less than Labour.

Just in case Labour were getting complacent, about losing.

Asian Voice is published by ASIAN BUSINESS PUBLICATIONS LTD Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, (Off Coronet Street) London N1 6HW. Tel: 020 7749 4080 • Fax: 020 7749 4081 Email: aveditorial@abplgroup.com Website: www.abplgroup.com © Asian Business Publications

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'Three Musketeers" terror trial: Jurors to hear evidence in secret for next three days The trial of the alleged "Three Musketeers" terror cell was plunged into secrecy as jurors were told they would hear evidence behind closed doors for the next three days.

Naweed Ali, 29, Khobaib Hussain, Mohibur 25, Rahman, 32, and Tahir Aziz, 38, are on trial at the Old Bailey for allegedly preparing to strike an unknown target on British soil. They were arrested on August 26 last year after a partially constructed pipe bomb, hatchet and imitation gun were discovered by security services in Ali's car.

The Seat Leon had been parked at the Birmingham depot of Hero Couriers, a

Tahir Aziz

Naweed Ali

fake firm operated by undercover officers tasked with infiltrating convicted terrorists Hussain and Ali's lives through delivery shifts.

Ali's defence team have claimed an undercover officer 'Vincent' planted the pipe bomb and other incriminating evidence in the car before MI5 arrived to bug it.

Before going into "closed evidence" jurors heard from Hussain's plumbing tutor Mark Lewis, from South and City College in Birmingham.

Mohibur Rahman

The court heard Hussain had enrolled on a two-year gas fitting course in September 2015 but by the spring of 2016, his attendance khad dropped off.

They were also shown a stainless steel pipe and compression stop end caps which he said Hussain was instructed on how to fit in his first month. He told the court he did not use the exact brand of caps or pipes on the course he ran but they could serve the same function.

I just can't believe that she's not here any more. She was a very bubbly and happy girl. Always laughing and joking with everybody.

Everybody loved her so much and she loved everybody.’

Meera's mother Daksha Dalal, 55, told the BBC that her daughter had complained to police but alleged that her “ex monster boyfriend” had forced Ms Dalal to withdraw her complaint minutes before she took her life.

Meera’s sister, Sonia Hindocha, 29, reportedly said: “I feel like she has been

let down by the police. She was so scared but after every incident with the police she retracted her statements and the case was dropped. Meera turned up at my house once and she was so badly beaten yet nothing happened. She was in a vulnerable position but the police never questioned why she kept pulling her statements.”

The death of Meera, who had worked as a liaison officer at a private hospital for Nuffield health in Leicester, had stunned her friends and work colleagues. Sonia added: "They all loved her and had a really good relationship with

Driver gets suspended jail sentence for ploughing into a dad-of -four

A dangerous driver who knocked down and seriously injured a father-of-four as he crossed a busy Leicester road has been given a suspended jail sentence. The victim, who was off work for eight months after the crash, underwent extensive surgery after suffering multiple fractures to his pelvis, ribs and right leg.

Sharif Khalifa (28) pleaded guilty to causing serious injury to the 56-year-old pedestrian - a keen snooker player who had formerly played at county level - by

driving a Vauxhall Astra dangerously in Belgrave Road, near the junction with Cooper Street, on November 3, 2015.

The defendant's insurance company is in the process of settling a civil claim with the victim.

Khalifa, of Vancouver Road, St Matthews, Leicester, was given a 16 month jail sentence, suspended for two years and was ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work. He was banned from driving for two years and will have to pay £1,200 court costs.

her and they all knew she loved her job as well."

A substantial police report dating back to 2013 documents a number of alleged incidents reported against Miss Dalal's ex-boyfriend.

A spokesman for Leicestershire Police said: 'Following the death of Meera Dalal, the force identified issues in relation to the investigation and consulted the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Following a public complaint in the weeks following her death, the force referred itself to the IPCC, who took this as an independent investigation.'

However, the commission found that there was no case to answer for the four officers involved in the complaint.

IPCC Commissioner Derrick Campbell said: 'My sympathies are with the family of Meera Dalal following their sad loss. We conducted a very thorough investigation and as well as regularly updating the family we have met with them to discuss our findings.’

In a report read out by assistant Carolyn Hull, it stated: “She was seen by one of the doctors and told them she had recently ended her threeyear relationship, during which she suffered emotional and physical abuse. She said

Jurors were also told about some facts which were agreed between the prosecution and defence, which included previous terrorism convictions. The court heard how Ali and Hussain were jailed for three years and four months after they admitted preparation of terror acts.

They had travelled to Pakistan to attend a terror training camp in August 2011 but abandoned their plans and flew home after speaking to their families.

she had moved back to be with her family and her family were being very supportive.”

Her parents, who have set up a domestic violence awareness campaign in her honour, made a formal complaint to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

In addition, a JustGiving page has raised more than £6,000 for Refuge, a charity that supports women in similar situations to Miss Dalal.

Sonia said: “The money goes to Women’s refuge and helps others in a vulnerable position who are going through a similar thing. I wouldn’t want anyone to be in the position we are in, I want women to know that there are so many places they can go and so much help they can get. Don’t suffer in silence because there is so much help and your family is always there.”

A community stalwart from Leicester told Asian Voice,“I feel extremely saddened by this incident. This should not happen to anybody. Can you imagine the grief of the parents who have lost their young daughter? I have known Ashokbhai for years. He was a lively person and loved music. Now he has grown so quiet, it is heartbreaking to watch this family suffer. The community is standing by them in these times of despair...”

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Boy invites Queen to his fifth birthday and gets a reply

Khobaib Hussain

Community distressed by Leicester girl’s death Continued from page 1

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Shaan from Walsall pictured with his letter and reply (Picture: NTI)

A schoolboy has received a reply from the Queen after he invited her to his fifth birthday party. Shaan Dulay, four, was so impressed after learning about Elizabeth II at school that he asked mum Baljinder, 39, to arrange for them to meet.

When she told him Her Majesty might be a bit too busy at Buckingham Palace, Shaan suggested: ‘Maybe she can come here instead.’ He was planning a party for his big day on June 25 and thought that would give the Queen time to arrange a trip to his home in Sandwell, West Midlands.

But after penning the invite on March 13 the youngster had begun to lose hope when a letter with the Royal seal arrived through his letterbox on May 3.

The response from Her Majesty wished him a happy birthday for June 25 – although it stated that she would not be able to attend his bash.

In Brief

Midlands Summer Ball & Awards

Businesses across the Midlands are being encouraged to enter the annual Summer Ball Awards.

Organiser Ninder Johal, past President of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce and Board Member of the Black Country LEP, said: “The awards seek to celebrate and highlight the ever increasing importance of the business community and its great contribution to the local, regional and national economy.”

The awards will take place on 30th June 2017 at Wolverhampton Racecourse. The deadline for entries is next Friday (19th May).

To find out more telephone 0121 526 3141 or visit www.summerbusinessball.co.uk

Man pleads guilty to driving without due care

Shaun Aaron Chudasama (25), from Leicester, pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention on the M1 southbound, between junctions 21 and 20 at Enderby, on October 13.

While he was in the outside lane of the motorway, he drove too close to the vehicle in front and, having undertaken it, he moved back into the outside lane and drove too close to the rear of another vehicle.

When that vehicle moved into the middle lane he continued in the outside lane accelerating up to 102mph. He was fined £513 with a £51 victim surcharge and £85 costs and nine penalty points were put on his driving licence.

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UK

British shine in Hindi language competition Smita Sarkar

Hindi language is gaining popularity in the UK and many Indophiles are learning the language at various institutes across the UK, for a plethora of reasons.

The High Commission of India at the India House in Aldwych for the first time co-organised an Annual Hindi Speech Competition on Saturday, 6th May, and the event was a bit hit with nearly 250 people turning up to participate and watch the people competing in different categories.

The Competition begun with the 5 to 8 year-olds, then the 9 to 12 year-old category and finally the 13+. There was a special category for competitors who came to Britain at the age of 3+.

Alyssa McVey, pursuing her research degree in biochemistry at the University of Cambridge, won in the 13+ category.

She spoke to Asian Voice, saying that she felt really nervous, especially about forgetting her speech, but kept reciting the speech in her head whenever she'd start to feel nervous.

“I had to give a short speech on one of five topics. I chose the topic, “bandar kya jaane adarak ka svad,” which is a Hindi proverb that describes those that don’t know something cannot appreciate or understand its value.

“I wanted to start learning Hindi after I first visited India three years ago. I had a really positive experience seeing the country for the first time and meeting my friends and their families and learning about their culture and lifestyle.

They were all very welcoming. Going forward, once I am fluent in Hindi, I see it as a way to communicate with millions of more people than I could before, and perhaps learn more about India.

“Even though I started learning Hindi because of my love for 'Shahi Paneer' and Bollywood, there is a good possibility that it could open opportunities professionally for me once I complete my degree through collaborations in either industrial or academic research.

Alyssa takes Hindi lessons at Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan in London, and watches Bollywood movies,

Naomi Canton Participant at the Hindi debate and speech competition

listens to Hindi and Punjabi songs and tries to converse with her desi friends. But Hindi is not an easy language for a British to learn.

The biggest challenge of learning Hindi is pronunciation, said Alyssa.

There are so many sounds

Alyssa McVey, winner of the Hindi debate and speech competition

in the Devnagari alphabet that do not exist in English.

And Naomi Canton, a freelance journalist, a linguist currently living in Hertfordshire, in their second year Hindi language education at the Bhavan agrees about the difficulties.

“The most difficult part first of all was remembering how to write the Devanagari script, as well as the gender of words.

Then it became remembering which ‘sh’ or which ‘d’ to use in dictation as there are several. Being able to pronounce certain sounds like ‘bh’ and ‘th’ and ‘dh’ and to distinguish between them is also really hard as our mouths and tongues are not used to it and we just have ‘t’ and ‘d’ in the English language.

But the real challenge for Naomi was remembering an entire 3 minute speech in foreign language off by heart and then delivering it without a paper copy or any prompts in front of an audience at India House, that included several senior members of

the Indian Government.

Some of the students delivered their speeches really well with humour and smiles, and for many like Naomi it helped build her confidence. Many British Asians were keen that their children learn their mother tongue and are connected to their roots, making special efforts to take them for classes on weekends or in the evenings.

“I first travelled to India as a backpacker when I was 19. That was when my love of the country started. I have then been travelling back and forth to India ever since including living there for three years from 2007 to 2010 to work as a journalist there. I was a Special Correspondent at The Hindustan Times in Mumbai.

“You don't need to speak Hindi to get around India, though you do need it to understand Bollywood films which I adore!. I am also a linguist and I love languages.

I studied French and German at ‘A’ level and read Japanese at the Oxford university. I especially like languages that are a challenge. Hindi is quite a difficult language so I find it mentally stimulating to learn.

“It is mainly attending the weekly Hindi class at the Bhavan and doing the homework. I also meet an Indian lady once a week and we do private HindiEnglish conversational exchange. I really enjoy that especially teaching her English and teaching her British customs as she has recently moved here. She teaches me Indian customs too and we have forged a great friendship through our weekly conversation class.”

It is not just personal friendships that grow stronger through languages. Brexit may also improve financial opportunities for the two countries and knowing Hindi would definitely help. According to Naomi, “India being an emerging superpower is the future so to have an Indian language under one’s belt is an investment for the future especially now with Brexit happening, I imagine the UK will be doing much more trade with countries like India once we have left the EU.”

Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

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Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

Father-of-two tortured before death Jimmy Prout, 45, was tortured and murdered by a gang of four people he considered his friends. A court heard that Prout, 45, was subjected to months of intense abuse before his body was dumped on wasteland.

The five accused, Ann Corbett, 26, Zahid Zaman, 43, Myra Wood, 50, and Kay Rayworth, 56, deny the murder and causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult. They pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice.

Jury at Newcastle Crown Court heard the group of five had a relationship with an almost “cultish dimension”. Following a series of events in late 2015, a handful of serious assaults were carried out against Prout, including knocking his teeth out with a hammer and chisel.

Prosecutor Paul Greaney, QC, said, “In effect, over a period of time, Jimmy Prout was not just mistreated, he was tortured. The prosecution case is that the four defendants took part in that violence against Jimmy Prout, either inflicting injuries directly or assisting or encouraging the other members of the group to do so. In the end, this conduct was to cause the death of Jimmy Prout.”

Elaborating the kind of 'dark ages' abused rendered on the victim, Greaney said, “Awfully, on one occasion, Jimmy Prout's scrotum was sliced open and his testicle was

Jimmy Prout

removed; he was then forced to eat it.” He said evidence suggested Prout died on February 9, 2016, and his body was dumped on a wasteland 100 metres from his home where it was partially eaten by animals and had begun to decompose. Following that, the accused allegedly began to cover up their tracks, fleecing Prout's bank account all along, and asking people if they have seen him as they pretended to look for him.

The police received a call from one of the accused, Zaman, on March 25, claiming Corbett had attacked him and killed Prout, attempting to “throw her to the

Myra Wood

Ann Corbett

Kay Rayworth

Zahid Zaman

wolves”. Officers, on visiting 35 St Stephen's Way, North Tyneside, found Zaman, Rayworth, and Wood who claimed to have written letters from Corbett confessing to the murder. Greaney said it was “pure theatre” as they all knew the victim was dead for over six weeks.

“He was repeatedly assaulted and subjected to dreadful indignities. In fact, we do not understand the defendants why deny that this is so. They accept that Jimmy Prout was assaulted, but each of them wishes to reduce his or her own involvement in events seeking to blame one or more of the others. In truth, they were in it together,” Greaney said.

Lost teen gang-raped over pizza shop A lost 16 year old girl was went through two different ordeals on the same night, both stripping her of her dignity and body autonomy. A drunk teenager, who was attacked after she headed home following a night out with friends, stopped at 555 Pizza in Ramsgate to ask for directions, when four strangers took her to a room above the takeaway and had their way with her.

Restaurant owner Tamin Rahani, 37, Shershah Muslimyar, 20, Rafiullah Hamidy, 24, and

a teenager who cannot be cited for legal reasons, all raped her multiple times, laughing “as they put her through the ordeal”.

Canterbury Crown Court heard that the teen who was definitely drunk and had not given her consent to the men. Prosecutor Simon Taylor said, “The girl was undoubtedly drunk and was walking the streets alone late at night.

The Crown's case is that her drunkenness, youth and vulnerability would have been recognised by the defendants and it was

these factors that they took advantage of in the couple of hours that followed.”

He said the girl was taken to Rahani's flat above the restaurant. “Once there she was raped by men on multiple occasions.

Through drink, and most likely the trauma of what happened to her, she was unable to provide any detailed descriptions. The girl had found herself in a room of the second floor above a takeaway. In that grubby room, with an uncovered mattress on the floor, multiple males had

Prince Philip steps down from public royal services Prince Philip has announced that he is retiring from all public royal duties at the age of 95, after years of dedicated services to Britain. The Queen has given her full support for him to step down.

The Duke of Edinburgh's wellearned retirement this autumn was announced at a top secret emergency meeting called by Buckingham Palace and was reportedly attended by other royals including his daughter Princess Anne.

The difficult decision was made by the Prince himself and he has decided to step back just before he and the Queen reach their 70 year platinum wedding

anniversary in November 2017.

The Queen will continue her public engagements as always. In a statement Buckingham palace said: 'His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh has decided that he will no longer carry out public engagements from the autumn of this year. In tak-

ing this decision, The Duke has the full support of The Queen.

'The Duke of Edinburgh is Patron, President or a member of over 780 organisations, with which he will continue to be associated, although he will no longer play an active role by attending engagements'.

sex with the teenager. She says she did not consent.

What is clear is that each of the men took the opportunity to have a little ‘fun’ at her expense, Taylor added.”

He said the teen had drunk alcohol which was the equivalent of being twice over the drink-drive limit. The girl was later found “sobbing and distressed” by a woman returning home who took her into her home for safety. The four accused have denied all charges, and the trial will continue.

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Teen raped outside Shepherd's Bush Centre A 17 year old girl was forcibly taken towards the entrance of West 12 Shopping Centre in Shepherd's Bush, where she was brutally raped, in London. The victim and her friend were reportedly approached by two men while shopping, on October 27, last year. After spending some time together, they went to Central London before returning to the mall by bus.

The women were split up, an one of the men, identified as Ahmed, forced the victim towards West 12, where he launched a vicious attack on the teenager. The two women later left the area and went home before contacting the police. The two men identified themselves as Mohamed Saif and Ahmed, but it is yet to be determined whether those are their real names.

Described as 5 ft 9 ins, of medium build with black spiky hair, the man was

wearing blue jeans, a dark bomber jacket, and light trainers.

Investigating Officer from the Met's Sexual Offences, Exploitation, and Child Abuse Command, DC Rebecca Thomas said, “These two men took advantage of the victim and her friend. They lured them both into a false sense of security before trying to ply them with alcohol; which the women refused. I would appeal to anyone who recognises the man in the CCTV to contact police. I would also like to speak with anyone who saw him in the company of the other man- who called himself Mohamed Saif- and two women over the course of Thursday, 27, and Friday, 28, October.”

UK based Indian author loses his mother UK-based Indian-origin author Vikram Seth's mother has passed away at the age of 86 at her residence in Noida on 5 May at 10:28pm. Seth, whose books A Suitable Boy and An Equal Music grabbed worldwide attention, divides time between Salisbury in the UK and Jaipur.

Leila was the first woman to become a judge in the Delhi high court and in 1991 went on to become the first woman Chief Justice in a state high court. In addition, she had also become the first woman to top the London

bar exam in 1958. She was the author of a memoir and a children's book about the preamble to the Indian constitution. She has also played a big role in making the law, that punished Nirbhaya's rapists last week.

First Indian-born female elected to the Court of Common Council London businesswoman Rehana Ameer has been elected as a Councillor of Vintry ward in the City of London elections- A first in 950 years of the City of London Corporation's history. The first UK woman politician from Tamil Nadu, Ameer had migrated from Chennai, to study MBA in International Business. Highly experienced in IT she has successfully managed and delivered large, complex, and multi-country IT and Business Transformation projects for multinational companies in the City and worldwide.

Also called the Square Mile, the City of London is the financial district and historic centre of London and the oldest continuous municipal democracy in the world.

Rehana Ameer

Rehana's key focus areas are road safety, improved air quality, mental health and well-being, safer city, and a better representation of 'all' types of businesses as part of the Brexit negotiati ons.

Rehana has been

appointed to the Planning and Transportation Committee, Markets Committee and Community & Children's Services Committee within her role as Common Councilman of the City of London Corporation.

UK Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

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Indian Ministers Goyal and Gadkari to visit London

Piyush Goyal

Shri Nitin Gadkari

Indian Union Minister Piyush Goyal, Minister for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines and Union Minister of Road Transport and Highway and Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari are visiting UK, to attend UKIndia award at London's Sheraton Grand on Friday 12th night organised by India Inc. Before the awards on 12th, they will be attending the 4th annual UK-India conclave, speaking about Global Partnership: A New Era in UK-India Relations.

Goyal will then be interacting with the diaspora at the Navnat Centre organised by Overseas Friends of BJP at Hayes on Saturday 13 May at 6pm to celebrate the guiding phi-

Pandit losophy from Deendayal Upadhyaya, his concept of Integral Humanism and his birth centenary along with the completion of three years of the Modi government.

He will be speaking about the Integral Humanism along with the various initiatives of the Modi Government.

Gadkari will be opening the market at London Stock Exchange on 11 May morning.

To attend Goyal's speech at Navnat Centre you can register at https://www.eventbrite.co. uk/e/pandit-deendayalupadhyayas-concept-ofintegral-humanism-3year-achievements-ofmodi-government-tickets34232104145?aff=es2

7

Royal Society elects Indian scientists as Fellows Royal Society has elected 3 Indianorigin scientists as fellows, for being known for their expertise in genetics, computer and ecology. Royal Society, is the world’s oldest scientific academy in continuous existence and headed by Nobel winner Venki Ramakrishnan.

On Friday the Londonbased Royal Society announced the 2017 election of 50 scientists and 10 foreign members for their outstanding contributions to science. The three Indian-origin scientists included are Krishna Chatterjee from University of Cambridge, Yadvinder Malhi from University of Oxford and Subhash Khot from New York University.

Chatterjee, from Metabolic Research Laboraties under

Yadvinder Malhi

Krishna Chatterjee

University of Cambridge, is well known for his discoveries of genetic disorders of thyroid gland formation, regulation of hormone synthesis and hormone action, which have advanced fundamental knowledge of the thyroid axis. The Royal Society speaking about Chatterjee's and the department's particular interests said, “Our principal research interests are in genetic and molecular endocrinology, with particular emphasis on disorders nuclear hormone synthesis and action. We study several human disorders: Resistance to Thyroid Hormone (RTH),

defined broadly as abnormal circulating thyroid hormones with tissue refractoriness to hormone action; and PPARgamma gene defects associated with lipodystrophic insulin resistance.”

Malhi is a Professor of Ecosystem Science at the School of Geography and the Environment and Programme Leader in Ecosystems at the Environmental Change Institute, Prof. Malhi's research interests focus on interactions between forest ecosystems and the global atmosphere, with a particular focus on their role in global carbon, energy and water cycles,

Subhash Khot

and in understanding how the ecology of natural ecosystems may be shifting in response to global atmospheric change. More recently his interests have expanded to include the impacts and limitation of tropical deforestation.

Khot is a mathematician and theoratical computer scientist who is currently the Julius Silver Professor of Computer Science at NYU. Khot's unexpected and original contributions are providing critical insight into unresolved problems in the field of computational complexity. He is best known for his unique games conjecture.

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Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

Tendulkar visits Indian Naval ship docked in East London

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

INS Tarkash sailing into Canary Wharf

Around a thousand of Indians living in the UK take tour of the ship on Sunday Rupanjana Dutta Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has been spotted in London, ahead of his film's release. The eagerly awaited sports film, Sachin: A Billion Dreams, which chronicles cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar’s journey from a young boy to one of the most celebrated sportsmen of all time, will be releasing in the UK on 26th May 2017.

Directed by awardwinning filmmaker, J ames Erskine, starring Sachin himself, this stunning film allows fans to walk into the Master Blaster’s life and also feature India's cricketing legends M.S. Dhoni and Virender Sehwag.

Speaking about the film, Sachin Tendulkar said, “This film has helped me relive the important moments of my life through its making. I

remain a private person but realised that there is much I have not revealed or spoken about to those who have been instrumental to my life and career, especially the fans. I hope the film will be yet another avenue for fans who have showered their love and blessings on me to c herish the journey that we undertook together for over 24 years.”

On Saturday 6 May, he met the crème de la crème of the Indian community and diehard cricket fans at the Surrey County Cricket Club in South London.

On Sunday 7 May Sachin with his wife Dr Anjali made their way to the Indian Naval ship INS Tarkash, docked at Canary Wharf in London for 3 days, where he met ship's Captain Rituraj Sahu and the Acting High Commissioner of India to UK, Dinesh Patnaik. INS

Ambassador Patnaik, Sachin Tendulkar, wife Dr Anjali and Captain Rituraj Sahu

Tarkash, a state-of-the art stealth ship, is in the UK for naval exercises and to mark UK India Year of Culture 2017 and almost a thousand of Indian people from various parts of the UK, including women and children gathered to cheer for him.

They danced to the patriotic music played at the occasion and waved their Indian and British

flags, standing at the gallery behind Lyca Mobile's Canary Wharf office. They were later given a tour of the ship in batches. Among many Indian organisations visiting were Indian Ladies in the UK (ILUK)- a group that has almost 20,000 Indian women from the UK as their member and another group called Indians in the UK- who

Photo courtesy: Raj D Bakrania, PrMediapix

met the cricketer on board.

"It is a very historic moment. This is the first time an Indian stealth frigate has docked at Canary Wharf in London.

We wanted Indians living in the UK to come and be part of this historic event,” Ambassador Patnaik told the newspaper.

The Captain of the ship described how the

ship has sailed from Mumbai on 5 April 2017, making the first long hault at Crete, Greece and then reaching UK on Sunday. Packed with a high density of weapons and sensors and manned by a highly motivated crew of 320 personel, she is one of the most potent platforms of Indian Nav y.

This is the ship's first trip to the UK with this crew.

London Marathon - raising funds for underprivileged children Smita Sarkar

Vishal Patel, center Director of Travelpack running for charity Childreach International at the London Marathon

Vishal Patel, one of the Directors of Travelpack was nominated this year to run the London Marathon to raise money for the charity Childreach International. He has raised £3,843 so far and aims to raise £10,000 for them.

Speaking to Asian Voice, Vishal said “Everyone has different motivations, some have lost a loved one to a disease, others are doing it for fitness and personal reasons.... There are lots of noble charities and causes, it is a great platform to raise the awareness of their cause: cancer research, help the aged, childrens' charities, etc. Please support me and Childreach International, which support children across the world in various ways.

Please see all the good work they do on http://www.childreach.org .uk/

"You can donate towards the amazing work they do with children via my donation page which https://mydonate.bt.com/ " C h i l d r e a c h International is a global child rights movement, working in Brazil, India, Nepal and Tanzania to ensure that children can take a stand and fulfil their potential, be happy, safe and free and enjoy the right to live, learn and play.

Their mission is to restore child-rights and empower children to create positive change through community based solutions, ensuring children have improved access to education, protection and healthcare. We will work in communities to develop and demonstrate best practice, engaging and collaborating with key players to take the work beyond the boundaries of the organisation.

In India, Childreach International has been

working in the district town of Hisar since 2011 in partnership with the largest employer in the town, Jindal Steel. While the town has enjoyed rapid economic growth, the status of girls and women remains extremely low.

The project works through two main areas: the coordination of the work of the Social Activists – married women, almost all of whom have never worked before and who are trained to become community activists to go door-to-door speaking to pregnant

A beneficiary of the Childreach International in Nepal

women, to advise and empower them and the strengthening and support of the first ever Girls’ Action Group in this area, to tackle the low value of girls by empowering teenage girls in the community, who can spread messages of girls’ education and their potential to their peers and to adults.

UK Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

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Rani Singh, Special Assignments Editor

Senior Indian News Anchor Jabaakhi Borthakur’s Love for English and England This is a story about a famous face from Indian television news and a private part of her life that the public has no knowledge of. Jabaakhi Borthakur presents the news on Doordarshan. She lives and works in Delhi.

Background

Jabaakhi describes herself as being born in a small “Nondescript town in a North Eastern state in India called Assam. The town's name is Tinsukia and even in India most people only know it through a train service called Tinsukia Mail. Both my parents are lawyers which led me to pursue a law degree initially and subsequently practice in the Supreme Court of India for a year.

Jabaakhi Borthakur chooses the UK as a destination of choice whenever she has the opportunity, and is in London to attend a conference as well as report on the run up to the British general election.

What draws her to the UK?

impart freedom and justice to all communities and faiths.

“I remember when I was six-seven years old my father would read me the poems of Wordsworth, Shelley, Coleridge etc.

From then I developed a deep liking for the English language. I bought books like "30 Days for a More Powerful Vocabulary" etc and tried to improve my vocabulary. Something in the language touched my heart. It sort of awakened me. That's why I pursued it for my Bachelor's and Master's degree in University. With the UK I have a deep emotional bond developed from childhood through the language of English.

I love the British sense of fairness, transparency, the inclusive institutions Jabaakhi Borthakur t h a t

Let’s Make May Purple for Stroke

Actresses Shelley King and Shobna Gulati are supporting the Stroke Association’s awareness month: Make May Purple for Stroke. They join thousands of people putting on purple-themed fundraising activities to raise money for essential research into stroke treatment.

Shelley explained why she was involved: “My mother sadly had a fatal stroke and as a family, we know the heartache and misery that this condition brings. We’ve been robbed of a loving mother and grandmother and that’s why I’m supporting the Stroke Association’s Make May Purple for stroke. Stroke is frighteningly more common than people think. There are 1.2 million stroke survivors living in the UK, so please do what you can and help to raise much needed funds for the Stroke Association.

Doing it together, we can conquer stroke.”

South Asians have a higher risk of having a stroke as they are more likely to have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.

Shobna added: “I found out that people from South Asian backgrounds, like me, are twice as likely to have a stroke at a younger age.

The Stroke Association supports survivors and their families from all cultural backgrounds to rebuild their lives after stroke. But this fantastic charity needs our help. So join us and get in the purple spirit while raising vital funds and awareness for them. Together we can conquer stroke.”

Find out more about Make May Purple, visit www.stroke.org.uk/makemaypurple.

I won an Indo-UK scholarship a few years back for a course at the London School of Economics. I had a chance to visit the country and interact with people. It further cemented the bond and love for it's people and public institutions. Now I am here to attend a peak performance, motivational workshop by one of the world's leading life skills teacher Tony Robbins.

And also to cover the snap elections.

Jabaakhi Borthakur has had a chance to study broadcast journalism in the UK and finds clear differences between her work in India and here.

“Anchoring for Doordarshan is different from private news channels or any other public broadcaster like the BBC. It is government controlled and has an `official' environment.

There is not much scope for journalists to express their opinion or c o v e r i s s u e s independently or be critical.

T h e scripts

9

teaching you things of are based on a pre-vetted immense value on the way. format. It is more technical I do not believe in the conin approach without scope cept of winning an Oscar for much creativity or critifor a first movie. There will cism. Anchors also have to be nothing more left to follow a strict dress learn and you won't code, which is not even remotely value what you got.” close to other Jabaakhi is I do not private chanwell respected by believe in the top Indian politinels or public broadcasters. cians and leadconcept of The public ers, and millions winning an broadcaster in recognise her Oscar for a U.K. works face, but there are independently first movie still surprising and uses cutting thing the public edge technology does not know about and has very high her job and about her. standards of journalShe explains, “The ism. Anchors conduct an surprising thing the public does not know about my open and healthy debate job is that we as news on political issues without anchors perform live shows parroting government most of the time. But they agendas. Therefore, the don't know that we deliver anchors in UK, I suppose and read news as it hapexercise wider independence and openness.” pens, sitting in the studio, even if it is three am . Even if it's a bad day at home, we Biggest Challenges have to consistently keep up our energy levels and Jabaakhi finds that her deliver a good bulletin. biggest challenge is to keep What maybe the public learning and growing. She doesn’t know about me is says, “I have always overthat I am actually a quiet come the hurdle of achievperson who loves conteming my goals through it's plating the universe and spiritual understanding. I watching the stars, espebelieve that success is both cially on a clear dark night. a goal and as well as a jourI harbour a next life desire ney. The major reason for of becoming a top scientist setting a goal is to give who will uncover the mysfocus. In the process of tery behind the much achieving the goal, it's not talked about dark matter what you get but who you and dark energy - the two become. This spiritual lesbaffling secrets of the unison is only possible when verse.” you let time take its course,

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Birmingham B33 9LZ 1 / 1A Audley Road and 8 / 12 Glebe Farm Road, Stechford Comprises 5 retail units and 7 self-contained residential flats above. Includes Post Office and Lloyds Pharmacy.

Rent £100,480 p.a.x.

Lockerbie DG11 2DG

Majority let to Barclays Bank Plc until 2026 (subject to option).

Offices let to Solicitors.

Rent £68,000 p.a.x.

1 - 5 Mains Street Let to The Factory Shop Limited until October 2023 (No breaks).

RPI linked rental increase in 2018. £63,436.36 per annum exclusive rising to a minimum of £71,772 p.a.x in 2018 p.a.x.

RETAIL INVESTMENT

PUBLIC HOUSE & RESIDENTIAL INVESTMENT

London SE1 5UE Thomas A Becket, 320 - 322 Old Kent Road (A2)

Two retail units located on historic and bustling market street. Unit 524 let until 2025 (no breaks).

Rent £38,000 p.a.x.

Let to Rock Island Food & Leisure Ltd until 2032. Includes 4 Residential Units. Residential Redevelopment potential of upper parts (subject to consents).

Rent £133,800 rising to £138,800 in January 2019 p.a.x.

RESTAURANT INVESTMENT

SHOPPING CENTRE INVESTMENT

Salford M6 5DS

Barrow-In-Furness LA14 1DB

London E3 5ES 522 - 524 Roman Road, Bow

KFC, Rossall Way Let to Kentucky Fried Chicken (Great Britain) Limited t/a KFC until 2033 (no breaks).Approximately 247.03 sq m (2,659 sq ft) with 23 car parking spaces.

Rent £70,000 p.a.x.

BANK INVESTMENT

Birmingham B31 2SY 1401 - 1403 Bristol Road South (A38), Longbridge Let to TSB Bank Plc until 2022.

Important 2017 Rent Review outstanding. Notice served quoting a new rent of £20,000 per annum exclusive.

Rent £13,000 p.a.x.

John Mehtab: +44 (0)20 7034 4855

Unit 11 - 15 Portland Street Tenants include Debenhams, WH Smith and Body Shop.

106-space rooftop car park with important reversion in 2021.

Asset Management Potential.

Rent £495,355 p.a.x.

SUPERMARKET INVESTMENT

Chard TA20 2AJ Sainsbury’s Supermarket, 30 Holyrood Street Entirely Let to Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd. Approximately 1,699.37 sq m (18,292 sq ft).

Rent £190,000 p.a.x.

www.acuitus.co.uk

10

READERS’ VOICE

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

Why are cows venerated by Hindus?

I write in response to Mr Jubel D’Cruz’s letter (AV 29 April 2017) titled ‘Government’s priorities’, in which he asks why Hindus, who in his opinion worship cows, do not give the same value to other creatures such as rats and fish, giving their association to various Hindu deities, such as Lord Ganesha’s mount and Matsya avatar (fish) as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. This view is rather myopic and partly false, and I would like to clarify further.

Whereas I concur with his view that in a secular democracy like India, religion should not be politicised, and completely agree that the government needs to do more to stop rape and killings (as any sane government would be expected to do anywhere), I feel that to question the faith of a billion people and their beliefs is insensitive. India is a land that has for millennia welcomed people of all faiths and creeds to her shores.

At independence, instead of driving out non-Hindus, the Indian people chose to coexist in harmony with people of all faiths, as the vast majority have always done so in the past.

Firstly, Hindus venerate rather than worship the cow. You will usually not find in any Hindu temple a main ‘murti’ or image of a cow. The main reason for considering the cow sacred is not even due to Lord Krishna’s liking of cows, rather the cow is given the status of a Mother. Ludicrous as this may sound to some, there is profound science behind this.

In the animal kingdom, ‘Mammals’ stand out from other classes by the ability of the female members to nourish their children with nature’s most nutritious food – milk.

The word ‘Mammal’ is related to ‘Mamma’ which in Latin means ‘Mammary gland’ – the organ that produces milk. ‘Mamma’ also means Mother. Milk forms the first bond between a mother and a child, and after our first year of life, this divine task of providing milk for billions of humans world over falls primarily on the cow, and not rats or fishes!

If for thousands of years Hindus regard the cow as a mother, does it not make sense to protect her? Hindus are expected to respect all life with the principles of ‘Ahimsa’ (non-violence) and ‘Pranidaya’ (compassion to all beings), which is also why many choose to be vegetarian.

Even in the Mughal era, the great emperor Akbar who was a devout Muslim abolished killing of cows as a sign of respect for the majority of his subjects – one of many things that earned him his title of greatness.

Dr Jaimin R. Bhatt Glasgow

A bully is always a coward

Teresa May's decision to hold a General Election on June 8, 2017 reminds me of this 19th century proverb.

As a leader of the entire nation, Mrs May fully understood that the parliament as well as the entire nation has been and still is deeply divided on EU membership itself as well as on the question of the final Brexit terms.

Surely when the parliament and the entire nation are divided about what constitutes best terms possible, Mrs May should have set up a cross-party, multi-discipline team embracing the physical sciences, biology, engineering, economics and public health to decide on UK's proposed terms to be led by the leader of that team.

Instead, Mrs May has been acting irrationally like a bully who is afraid of debate in parliament. She knew that the other political parties were behind in opinion polls by a substantial margin. So she took advantage of the situation also aware that opportunity never knocks twice.

Often parliament itself is not consulted and decisions are made by the Cabinet, sometimes not even the full Cabinet (the Executive). Again hundred or so Conservative members of parliament on civil payroll as junior ministers, etc are often forced to vote in favour of government regardless of their judgement.

Political parties can come and go as government every five or ten years; Brexit agreed terms will last for at least a generation.

This is a time for a united cross party transparent counter proposal terms to EU, not time-wasting to engage in verbal slinging match like the ridiculous Prime Minister's Question Time.

I hope the final outcome of this General Election is an effective coalition of Labour, Liberal , SNP and the Green Party "in the national interest" rather than an arrogant Conservative Party that claims that theirs is the only party that knows what is best for the country.

Nagindas Khajuria By email

Study Party manifesto before you vote PM’s announcement that while she would protect ever rising “Overseas Aid” budget of 0:07%, highest in Western world, she would ditch “Pension Triple Lot Guarantee” thus punishing OAP voters. She may also abolish free bus passes, TV licence and Christmas bonus for pensioners.

The demise of UKIP, recent local council election results and unassailable myriad lead in “Opinion Poll” has dented PM’s judgement. With ever changing political scenario, President Trump performing a spectacular U turn, putting Britain behind EU on trade deals; thus denting Special Relations, it would be unwise for PM to ignore voters’ concern. Accident prone Boris Johnson’s personal attack on Labour leader and PM’s unwillingness to participate in TV debate has already dented Conservative’s sincerity.

Chancellor is rightly ditching party’s commitment not to raise VAT, NHS and Income Tax, as five rear is a long time to make such commitments in a topsy-turvy world. But Government’s past record to abolish 10% rate for the poor while cutting 50% rate to 45% benefiting higher earners, may not install much confidence.

Perhaps these plutocratic approaches, unpredicted announcements and overconfidence in taking victory for granted, may provide golden opportunity for Labour to prove opinion polls wrong. After unexpected Brexit and Trump election outcome, it would be extremely fool-hardy for Conservatives to test voters’ loyalty. Even “Right Wing” newspapers are questioning her “Overseas Aid” commitments when money is badly needed at home. Readers should scrutinize Parties’ manifesto before making up their mind!

Bhupendra M. Gandhi By email

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

The Mahatma’s Mentor

Long before the outstanding play, “Yugpurush” hit our shores, I have been addressing Shrimad Rajchandraji as Gandhiji’s spiritual mentor on these very pages – that Mahatma Gandhi learned his lessons on ‘satya’ and ‘ahinsa’ from this Jain philosopher.

“Satya” and ‘ahinsa’ were the Jain doctrines which Gandhiji used as his weapons in his quest to gain independence for India from the mighty British.

Besides being indirectly instrumental in India’s acquisition for independence, Rajchandraji will also be remembered for his 142 gathas (couplets) of Atmasiddhi shastra which he wrote at one sitting in just two hours to fulfill the wishes of a dying man who wanted to meditate on something spiritual in his last hours. We all should be proud of these two great souls who followed in the wake of Lord Mahivira.

Mahavira was a real man who, after attaining Keval Gnana (total knowledge/ omniscience), spread the message of non-violence, truth, non-stealing, right conduct and non-possessiveness.

He campaigned against the barriers of caste, creed and faith. His doctrines of Right Faith, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct are the three jewels, Ratnatraya, of Jain Philosophy by which to achieve the ultimate goal in life. He explained that from eternity, every living being (soul) is in bondage of karmic atoms that are accumulated by its good or bad deeds.

The ultimate objective of his teachings is how one can achieve moksha – total freedom of the soul from the eternal cycle of birth, life, pain, misery and death.

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford

Destruction of Christian crosses in Mumbai

Christians in Mumbai are protesting against the demolition of crosses by the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) that were built by their ancestors and are over a hundred years old. They say that the demolition is done without any prior notice being given to them or without any documentation or court orders. They further say that the present ruling party politicians and the government is just harassing them as they want to wipe out Christianity permanently from the country.

Local residents suspect that the authorities are doing this in connivance with the police to claim land for property developers because land is a premium commodity in the city. Christians are just 2 per cent of the 14 million people in the city of Mumbai according to a recent government census. Despite being a minority community, Christians, majority of them Catholics, are well acknowledged because of the reputed schools, colleges and medical facilities they run.

The government has been pushing pro-Hindu policies to the people of the country and two years back it has even banned the consumption of beef making it an offence punishable by a five- year jail term. By demolishing crosses and other Christian structures, our faith in Jesus Christ will not diminish; instead it will only increase.

Just because we Christians are peace loving people, the government and the present day ruling party politicians have been taking an upper hand of us.

Jubel D'Cruz, Mumbai, India

Killing of soldiers by Pakistan

Beheading of two Indian soldiers, by Pakistan soldiers with impunity is horrific.

Between 1999 and 2017, there are seven instances of Indian soldiers being killed, mutilated and beheaded. Shamefully and unfortunately this has not provoked deterrent measures by leaders. India is also to be blamed, as it is not undertaking any stern and rapid retaliations. Politicians utter useless and futile statements, instead of immediate surgical strikes. Pakistan grows bolder by this delay.

India has neither will to wage outright war as revenge, nor it has strong will to undertake nonviolent yet effective measures. It is also unfortunate that army is not given fullest powers to tackle enemy forcefully. It is only the discipline that Indian army is not taking over the reins a la Pakistan army in the past.

It is general consensus among intellectuals that India must punish Pakistan by following nonviolent measures: Sever diplomatic, trade, commercial, tourist, pilgrim and cultural activities. This will starve money going to separatists/dissidents.

Patriotic Indians must stop all pilgrimages to holy pace in Kashmir and Pakistan for at least ten years. Starve Pakistan and stone pelting riff raff of revenue that flows from Indian tourists and pilgrims. But are Indians and Hindus united?

Ramesh Jhalla By email

45th Anniversary of AV/GS

Congratulations and best wishes to ABPL and his team for the 45th birthday of Gujarat Samachar and Asian Voice.

For these excellent newspapers are a sign of their hard work, dedication, love and CB’s treatment of his team as his family.

My best wishes to you all.

Vishnubhai Mohandas By email

Akshayapatra

I refer to your news item in GS of 29th April 2017 and was sad to learn of the news item related to Akshayapatra printed. I followed up the matter immediately with the Akshayapatra office to investigate and advise your readers as I am deeply aware that there is a large number of readers regularly supporting Akshayapatra's mid day Meal programme. This was a reported incident which when investigated by the authorities summarised that the infestation did not take place during cooking or any Akshaya Patra activities. The govt gave a clean chit.

The same pulav was sent to 100s of other schools and no sickness/illness were reported and given the food is cooked at 95 degree plus - the rodent would not have survived thereby proving that this incident had origins outside of Akshaya Patra. The govt is investigating how the teacher found the rat!!

ABPL group has been the founding supporter since The Akshayapatra Foundation Uk ( "TAPF") was established. I wish to re assure your readers and donors that TAPF remains vigilant and will continue to uphold its highest standards and continue on its mission "that no child should be deprived of education because of hunger".

Harin Thaker Tooting

EDUCATION

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Avanti House Secondary School underway The building work for the highly anticipated permanent site for Avanti House Secondary School is well underway.

The main school block has taken shape with speed, the skeleton of the sports hall has been assembled, and, the large outdoor space earmarked for the multi-use games area all enable us to visualise the main features of the school grounds already.

Completion of this project is expected for April 2018!

India’s dying Mother

Recently I watched a documentary on TV and was shocked to see the pathetic and horrible condition of our holy mother Ganga. At the foot of the Gangotry glacier Gaumuk is where the river Ganges which is 2525km long starts its journey and end in the Bay of Bengal. Due to the gross negligence at various levels billion litres of raw untreated sewage is dumped in the river on a daily basis plus unknown dead bodies, ashes of cremated bodies, religious offerings, chemicals from factories etc. People who drink its highly polluted water suffer from life threatening diseases like typhoid, hepatitis, dysentry etc and countless people are dying. When Narendra Modi became Prime Minister of India he said Mother Ganga is our soul and we have to revive her. The cleanliness of Mother Ganga is each anc every citizen’s responsibility as well as the government’s sacred duty to save our dying Mother Ganga.

Sudha Rasik Bhatt Glasgow

Justice for Nirbhaya and a mother’s devotion

It is a good judgment indeed by the Supreme Court to hang the rapists of the Delhi 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case. But what about the juvenile, Mohammed Afroz? He should have been castrated. This would teach other rapists a lesson; those who keep treating women like sex objects and throw them away when they have satisfied their lust. Its high time men treated women with dignity. After all, a woman too is an educated person born from a mother's womb.

Meanwhile, in India, Mother’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in the month of May, every year. But in many other countries of the world, Mother’s Day is celebrated on an entirely different time of the year. Everywhere in the world mothers are respected for their extreme devotion towards their children. And on Mother’s Day children pay their humblest tribute to their mothers and also thank them for the best of care and upbringing. Just as in the West, many Indians too take Mother’s Day to reflect on the importance of mothers in their life. A mother has very special place in the heart of her children. She takes care of her child about everything at each moment.

Our mothers are like a security blanket to us because she saves us from all problems.

Jubel D’Cruz, Mumbai, India

Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

11

Indian-origin girl trumps Hawking in Mensa IQ test Rajgauri Pawar, a 12 year old powerhouse of knowledge scored a remarkable 162 in the British Mensa IQ test, beating Albert Einstein's estimated score and Stephen Hawking's 160. Her score landed her a space in the elite British Mensa membership for high IQ talents across the globe.

“I am just feeling on top of the world and can't explain in words. It's an honour for me to represent India on foreign soil and achieve such a feat,” Pawar said. She said she was nervous before the test. “But it was fine and I'm really pleased to have done so well.” She also added, “I would like to pursue medicine in the future and am also inclined towards topics including Physics, Astronomy and Environment.

I was preparing for entrance exams to secondary schools. I secured admission at Altrincham Girls Grammar School, which is one of the coveted institutions in the UK, and my parents suggested that I attempted the British Mensa IQ test. Anyone

Rajgauri Pawar

above the age of 10.5 years can take the test. As it was something different and was like a competition across all age groups, it sounded interesting and worth focusing on.”

Dr Her father Surajkumar Pawar, a research scientist at the University of Manchester, said that currently there are just 20,000 such individuals, including around 1500 children, who fall in the 2 per cent percentile.

“My daughter with a top 1 per cent score leads the tally, making her one of the youngest to achieve such a feat.”

Rajgauri said, “It was challenging. The test was kind of a mixed bag, easy at the beginning and got tough at the end. The key difficulty was completing the test in time. So you are basically judged based on your skill set to manage time and the correctness of your answers.”

Rewarding career in media

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12

MEDIA WATCH

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

An innocent woman’s long and tortuous struggle for justice was vindicated by the Bombay High Court in an a damning indictment of the Gujarat police for its ‘dishonest investigation’ of the Bilkis Bano case, in which an expectant young mother of nineteen was brutally gang-raped during the March 2002 antiMuslim riots which followed the massacre at the Godhra railway station of a Hindu group returning from a pilgrimage. The court upheld the convictions and life sentences of 12 individuals and set aside the lower court’s acquittal of five policemen and two doctors for tampering with the evidence in an attempted cover-up.

The bench of Justices V.K. Tahilramani and Mridula Bhaskar upheld Bilkis’s testimony as ‘completely trustworthy,’ in contrast to the evidence of the police that was ‘flawed with a dishonest investigation.’

The doctors, opined the court, were ‘were not only casual in conducting the post-mortem [of the victims of the mob violence] but suppressed,’ material evidence involving the accused persons.

Bilkis Bano’s Statement

‘My rights as a human being, as a citizen, woman and mother were violated in the most brutal manner, but I have trusted the democratic institutions of our country.

Bilkis Bano

Now, my family and I feel we can begin to lead our lives again, free of fear... This has been a long, seemingly never-ending struggle…close friends who have stood with me through it all know how much my husband Yakub and my family owe to them for their unstinting support and love throughout this battle. For, journeys like mine cannot be made alone. I am deeply grateful to the CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation] and to my lawyer who represented me during the appeal process in the Honourable Bombay High Court.’ (Telegraph, Hindu, Times of India, May 5) Politicians, including Gujarat ministers, and others have been tried and convicted; so, too, were those responsible for the Godhra killings. There can now be closure to these terrible and shaming events.

Nirbhaya case death sentences confirmed

The Supreme Court of India upheld the death sentences in the traumatic Delhi Nirbhaya gang

April 24, lost their lives. The search to catch other culprits continues (Times of India May 5).

Pakistani ambush in Kashmir

The ambush of an Indian security force along the Line of Control in Kashmir and the deaths and decapitation of Paramjit Singh and Prem Sagar, have aroused unprecedented indignation across India. The Pakistan authorities have demanded ‘actionable evidence’ of Indian accusations, a routine exercise dating from the Pakistani-sponsored terrorist attack on Mumbai on 26 November 2008, and other such assaults. In this instance, the trail of blood from the site to the Line of Control in Kashmir and its surrounds is stark evidence of culpability.

Nirbhaya’s parents Asha Devi and Badri Singh Pandey

rape case. ‘The accused found an object of enjoyment in [the victim Nirbhaya] for their gross, sadistic and beastly pleasures…for the devilish manner in which they played with her dignity and identity is humanly inconceivable,’ said Justice Dipak Mitra.

Justice Banumathi, the woman judge on the Bench, said: ‘There is not even a hint of hesitation in my mind. If at all there is a case warranting award of death sentence, it is in the present case.’

Parents reaction

The four accused – Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Akshay Kumar Singh, and Vinay Sharma, had appealed their sentences, which resulted in a marathon hearing.

Their lawyer had pleaded for life sentences on the plea that this was their first criminal offence; they were young, had repented and reformed.

The victim, Nirbhaya, was a paramedic student in her early twenties. Her parents Badri Singh Pandey and Asha Devi said there was a long way to go before women in India were assured of their full rights and protection under the law, but they were satisfied that justice delayed, in this case, was not justice denied. (Hindu, Times of India May 6).

Sukma arrests

In a major breakthrough, four Maoist insurgents have been tracked down and arrested for the deadly ambush in jungle in which 25 members of a CRPF force in Sukma, Chhattisgarh, on

Indian response

Pakistani denial is evidence of a frozen state of mind that clearly requires more effective methods of de-frosting than the customary exchanges of blank charges of premeditated television sound-bites. India’s Army chief General Bipin Rawat has promised a reply at a time and place of his country’s choosing. Meanwhile the Army has intensified its security operations in parts of the valley, as jihadi robberies of banks and street violence intensifies. Every action must have an equal and opposite reaction is the first law of Newtonian thermodynamics.

(Hindu, Times of India May 5).

Sukhois on Punjab frontline

The Halwara-based 221 Squadron of the Indian Air Force, dubbed ‘Valiants, ’ has inducted its frontline SU 30 MKI fighter aircraft on the Punjab border facing Pakistan. It is the most lethal multi-role strike force in the IAF. The formal induction was made

by Air Marshal S. Hari Kumar of the Western Air Command (Hindu April 25).

BrahMos upscaled

The Indian Army has carried out a successful test of its most advanced BrahMos III Land Attack Cruise Missile in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the second in quick succession.

The test was an operational configuration by the Army’s South Western Command-based 1 Strike Corps. Testing BrahMos at this location brings the strategic Malacca Straits within its range and signifies the changing strategic dynamics in the Indian Ocean.

Incredible feat

This fifth consecutive test of BrahMos III to hit a land-based target in ‘top attack’ mode was an ‘incredible feat by any other weapon system of its genre,’ said

an Army statement. The supersonic BrahMos missile, a joint India-Russian joint venture, has land, air and sea variants. Its original 290-km range has been extended to 450 kms and plans are afoot to increase this to 600 kms. Its present steep dive capability makes it an ideal precision strike weapon (Hindu May 4).

Taliban attack leaves 150 dead soldiers

A lethal Taliban attack on an army base near Mazar-e-Sharif resulted in the deaths of 150 Afghan soldiers. The soldiers were unarmed as they ate their lunches. General Dawlat Waziri, a spokesman of the Afghani Ministry of Defence, declined to specify the exact numbers of dead, but local reports suggest that the death toll varied from 140 to 150 and rising. The Taliban spokesman, Zabibullah Mujahid, said the assailants were led by four Afghan soldiers who had been working for the Taliban (Hindu April 23).

BJP sweep Delhi polls

The BJP swept the Delhi State elections in a landslide leaving the Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Admi party bewitched, bothered and bewildered. Congress, too, fared badly. The BJP triumph was attributed by the media to the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Indian Express, Times of India, Hindu April 27).

Top bureaucrats for Akbar’s Israel visit

Six top departmental secretaries are to accompany Minister of State at the External Affairs Ministry, M.J.Akbar, to Israel to prepare the ground for the historic visit of Narendra Modi, the first by an Indian prime minister, in early July.

They are: Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, Agriculture Secretary S.K. Pattanayak, Water Secretary Amerjeet Singh, Parameshwar Iyer, Secretary Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ramesh Ahbhishek, Secretary Defence Production, A.K. Gupta, Secretary Science, and Technology Secretary Ashutosh Sharma.

While defence is the bedrock of the Indo-Israeli relationship, agriculture is a leading second, with deep involvement of Israeli experts in the sector, and in water-related issues such as water harvesting and desalination. Science and technology underwrite the paradigm (Times of India May 3).

India pact with Eurasia group

India is set to formalize a free trade agreement with the Russialed Eurasian Economic Union, clearing the deck for negotiations on deepening trade with four former Soviet republics that include Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, plus Russia. The trade agreement is expected to open up new markets for India.

‘The FTA with the Eurasian countries was dictated by by India’s need to diversify into new

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

markets. We have targeted trade of $ 30 billion with the five countries by 2025 and $15 billion annual investments,’ said Sunil Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to St Petersburg on June 1 for the Economic summit will be the backcloth for crucial talks with Russian President, Vladimir Putin (Hindu April 29).

Infosys to hire10,000 Americans

India’s second-largest software company, Infosys, announced plans to hire 10,000 American staff over the next two years. As part of the initiative, Infosys will open four technology and innovative hubs across the country. The company said these hubs would focus on cutting edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing and big data.

These centres would also serve clients in key sectors, financial services, manufacturing, healthcare and energy (Hindu May 3).

Supreme Court rejects Hindi language petition

The Supreme court of India rejected the petition of a BJP activist that the Hindi language be made a compulsory subject in schools across India. Hindi is mandatory in Classes 1 to 9 in Central Board Secondary Education, but President Pranab Mukherjee refused to make it mandatory in education institutions in the country’s non-Hindi speaking belt. (Telegraph May 5).

India’s visiting guests

President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan

President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades

Prime Minister of Sri Lana Ranil Wickremesinghe

UK Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Pre-election 2017 faux pas Diane Abbott recently made her second faux pas at a television interview where she grossly underestimated Labour's local election losses. She said the party has suffered a net loss of 50 seats, and was corrected by the interviewer, who informed that the Labour was down by 125 seats. She told the interviewer at ITV that “well the last time I looked we had net losses of a hundred but obviously this is a moving picture.”

She had recently got branded for her interview at a television channel as 'most excruciating' when she muddled figures about Labour's promise to introduce 10,000 additional police officers. When asked how much the policy would cost, he told LBC “well, erm... if we recruit the 10,000 policemen and women over a four-year period, we believe it will be about £300,000. No. I mean... sorry. They will cost... they will, it will cost, erm, about £80 million.”

Former Labour Advisor Kevin Meagher branded her performance 'unforgivable' and the interview an example of what 'unprofessional politics' looks like – stating that the policies were being ridiculed because of the manner in which the shadow home secretary presented it.

Labour candidates, including those close to

Jeremy Corbyn Diane Abbott

Jeremy Corbyn are airbrushing him from election campaign literature of more than a dozon of his shadow ministers, as they seek to avoid a Tory landslide. Rebecca Long-Bailey, right, and Richard Burgon are among those who have failed to mention the labour leader in the recent campaign literature. Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary has failed to mention the Labour leader once in a two page election leaflet. Shadow secretary of trade, Barry Gardiner have also missed his reference in leaflets.

Labour surrendered 320 seats last week, and Labour's local election candidates blamed Corbyn is "radioactive" on the doorstop. This margin, if replicated at next month's general elections will spell a huge victory for Theresa May. Andrew Percy, the

Northern Powerhouse Minister told The Telegraph, “Jeremy Corbyn’s closest allies are trying to take voters for fools by airbrushing their nonsensical and embarrassing leader out of election leaflets – but voters won’t fall for it.

“It is a simple fact that any vote for any Labour candidate anywhere in Britain will be claimed by Jeremy Corbyn as a vote for him and his failed, disastrous and dangerous ideas.

“Putting him in Downing Street means putting a weak and floundering leader in charge of Brexit negotiations, sitting across the table from 27 EU leaders who have shown they are determined to do a deal that works for them.

"Jeremy Corbyn would embarrass Britain in Brussels, just as he has embarrassed Labour at home. It’s no wonder candidates want nothing to do with him,” he said.

May on immigration and the real picture PM Theresa May will be renewing Tories' broken promises on limiting immigration by 100,000 if she returns to No 10.

While visiting an Asian community campaign event in Harrow recently, May sought to end speculation stating “I think it is important that we continue, and we will continue, to say that we do want to bring net migration down to substantial levels. We believe that is the tens of thousands and of course once we leave the European Union we will have the opportunity to ensure that we have control of our borders here in the UK.” But how feasible will the target be? Overhasty immigration cuts could mean damaging the economy, and that could be a

bad policy. The target was proposed by David Cameron in the 2010 Tory manifesto, but was not met even after five years, in the 2015 manifesto.

May's target has been widely criticised, sitting uneasily on the rhetoric that the withdrawal from the EU will be a smooth process that does not risk labour deficit.

David Davis, the Brexit secretary said that social welfare, other public services, industry and the NHS will have to rely on immigrants for it to “continue to work.” Even with net migration running at nearly three times the desired level, the UK economy is at close to full employment.

Many are speculating that May might tweak the

Man charged with terrorism A man who was arrested near Prime Minister Theresa May's office in London last month has been charged with terrorism offences and will appear in court on Thursday, police said.

Khalid Mohammed Omar Ali, 27, of north London, also faces two counts of possessing explosives which police said related to activity in Afghanistan in 2012.

Theresa May

immigration numbers by removing foreign students from the count. Foreign students should not be included in the net immigration count as they are temporary visitors making an investment in their future and should not be discouraged from coming to the UK. Instead, the Home Office has tightened the rules so that foreign student visa numbers fell by 41,000 last year, a record lowest since 2002.

It is hard to see how May would meet the target, without significant reforms to the system for non-EU migrants; and a new approach will be needed for the highly skilled people important for the economy - students or those visiting families.

13

So where are our chefs? Holding our politicians to account....

During the EU Referendum campaign I constantly kept on thinking about the pros and cons of both sides of the argument. After which I decided to back the remain campaign. The results came in and the will of the British people must be carried out (although what type of Brexit is still up for debate). However after the campaign I couldn't help sit back and try to think of the most ridiculous comments or promises that were made during the campaign.

Which I must admit, was no easy task! Let's face it both sides came up with some what ludicrous comments - whether it was the emergency budget by the Remain side or the 350 million for the NHS by the Leave campaign.

After much deliberation - it is safe to say the most far fetched of them all had to be the one made by the now International Development Secretary Priti Patel, who was a leading Leave campaigner, when she said leaving the EU would allow them to relax non-EU immigration rules and “save”

British curry houses. The £4bn a year British curry industry backed Brexit after Leave campaigners promised to make more visas available to skilled chefs from the Indian sub-continent; which primarily included India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

This is an issue however that goes beyond party politics, Brexit and General Election 2017.

There are many such examples of fooling the BAME communities (or for that matter the electorate at large) by politicians of all parties. It is about the much bigger picture of holding our elected representatives to account.

As a third generation proud born Brit with Indian roots, a son of Ugandan Asian refugees who came to the UK in the 70's; I strongly believe the British Asian community (of which I am a member of) must wake up and smell the coffee.

We need to be less mesmerised by the glamour of political campaigns and events, the pictures with ministers or figures of authority, the razzmatazz of the fancy venues or anything else of that sort.

By Kishan Devani FRSA, BAME Community Activist

Instead we must look to hold our elected representives accountable by questioning, dissecting and probing the promises they make to us from their podiums and at the doors when they come to acquire our votes.

On the flipside it is imperative that the British Asian community in particular look to promote and allow their younger generations to come away from the elder generations preferred careers for them of Medicine, Accountancy and Law (which they have excelled in), and allow them to pursure careers in public life, such as Media, Journalism or Politics. The changing of attitudes from the grass roots in turn would also have a knock on affect on the current BAME politicians.

SANITATION FOR EDUCATION IN INDIA APPEAL Haasani’s Story The provision of water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in schools ensures a healthy environment and protects children from illness and exclusion, benefiting both their education and health. Children who are healthy can fully participate in school and get the most from their education. Hygiene lessons in schools help promote practices that prevent water and sanitation related diseases, as well as encouraging healthy behaviour in future generations of adults. School is therefore an ideal setting for teaching good hygiene behaviours that children can also carry home.

Girls are particularly vulnerable to dropping out of school, partly because many are reluctant to continue their education when toilets and washing facilities are not private, safe or often, simply not available. When schools have appropriate, gender-separated facilities, this obstacle to attendance is removed.

Until recently, Haasini aged 9, didn’t know what a toilet was. She used to have to go home from school but as her parents were at work, often she didn’t return to school for the rest of the day.

A toilet was installed in her school in 2016 following a series of hygiene lessons. In the beginning she was reluctant to use it as it was such a new experience for her and she still did not have a proper toilet at home. The turning point was the hygiene awareness activities conducted by our local partner MARI and once she got used to it, she was able to concentrate on her studies at school more. Haasini started putting pressure on her parents to get a toilet and at the same time, people in her village were also being encouraged to construct them, so her father used the opportunity to get one built at home.

Today, all members of her family understand the importance of washing their hands with soap after using it and before taking

meals, as taught in the school.

MARI is very confident that Haasini will be a good student when she grows older and enters into Secondary school. The teachers have also observed that since MARI introduced this programme, children’s attendance generally at the school has improved.

We want to build child-friendly toilets and washing facilities in 13 schools, and deliver workshops within their communities to raise awareness of the importance of good hygiene, and its subsequent impact on children and their education Just £25 can provide a hygiene workshop for up to 40 primary school children.

You can help us to reach our appeal target of £15,000 to launch this project.

To support: Either, fill-out the online donation form: https://hope-for-children.org/sanitationeducation-appeal/ or send in cheques* made payable to “Hope for Children” to:- 6 Progression Centre, Mark Road, Hemel Hempstead HP2 7DW *please write Sanitation for Education on the back of the cheque. If you do not include this reference we cannot guarantee that the money will be allocated to this project.

14

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TLIGHT

www.asian-voice.com

Ishaan Malhi: Real Estate Renegade Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

realised that the corporate world was not for me and left to work with, for and invest in early-stage technology businesses. During my time working in Venture Capital, I was going through the mortgage process and with that mind-set realised the industry was ripe for disruption. That - in combination with my background and aspirations is what led me to starting Trussle.

'Purchasing your next home can be as easy as buying coffee'

Sunetra Senior

Ishaan is part of that North-East London start-up movement, enhancing modern tech and also its good name. The CEO and Founder of Trussle – the UK’s first online mortgage broker – Ishaan makes the normally arduous process of securing a mortgage as straight-forward as ordering a cup of coffee. “Trussle aims to preserve all the excitement of purchasing a new home without the stress of finding the right mortgage for it. We provide a clear and sage, friendly service, and see you through the entire process.

Where other brokers and broker sites might not be as accessible and perhaps even obstructive, Trussle eases your concerns both emotionally and financially, keeping you connected every step of the way.” The conscientious company was actually borne out of Ishaan’s own frustration with finding a first home, where the additional fees and many protracted phone calls led him to draw the conclusion that: “the real estate industry was still very backward and unnecessarily complex.”

*** Thus, merging his background in real estate, finance and technology with later experience working with and investing in early-stage tech companies, Ishaan came to the natural place of founding the trendy Trussle: “the combination of my professional experience and personal disappointment led me to solve the problem I faced firsthand, using technology as my tool.” The online mortgage brokers have already won Prop Tech start-up of the year, been named on Tech City’s Upscale website as one of their 33 exclusive companies, and rates excellent on Trustpilot as decided by customer opinion. “From the social recognition to customer satisfaction,” Ishaan added, “everything keeps us motivated to carry on and solve the next issue.” And Trussle are particularly proud to be specialists in a lifestyle market, as opposed to just another Financial-Tech company with an outreach limited to the corporate world. Ishaan specifically stated on the subject: “we understand that getting a mortgage is more than a financial transaction. We look beyond the monetary aspect, realising the emotional part that it plays in people’s lives. We try and treat our interaction with customers as a relationship rather than a transaction. We are also very progressive. Your typical mortgage brokers won’t have developers, marketers and designers to the same extent that we have. We are trying to re-invent a mortgage process from scratch, which means looking at every aspect of our brand in equal measure. Currently, there are around 15, ooo high street brokers helping you navigate through 10, ooo products from over 90 lenders. We have developed an algorithm and an intuitive interface which allows consumers to easily navigate through this process at any time of the day from any device to find the most suitable mortgage for them. Combining our technology with first-class customer service ensures that our consumers will have the best of both worlds.” In this way, Ishaan’s company moves forward, not just existing, but thinking on the edge of technology; rightly treating the industry as a platform that should make a deep difference to people’s everyday lives. “The best part of the job,” Ishaan aptly finished, “is getting the positive customer reviews. Getting the perfect home is both a big financial decision and a very sentimental experience so it’s really something to get that delicate balance right.”

Tell us a bit more about the business model?

We don't believe in paying fees for advice so we are completely free to use. Also once you successfully complete on your mortgage, we will continually monitor it for you, automatically alerting you if there's a better deal available and switching across, so you don't pay more than you should.

Do you feel that business is in your blood?

I was raised in a family of entrepreneurs so have always been exposed to start-up business, be it technology or textiles and that has certainly had an influence on me starting my own business. After just 2 years in the investment banking world, I

What do people tend to look for when buying a home?

Certainty! People do have a lot of questions and anxiety during this emotional endeavour so what they really benefit from is outside certainty and reliability as an anchor. It can be a daunting process, from figuring out what you can afford to where you are in the purchase journey. People want clear communication and honest management of expectations from start to finish.

What are your future plans with Trussle?

We’ve been delighted at how fast we’ve grown in such a short space of time. Just over a year since launch, we've grown to 25 people, raised £6m in venture capital and have signed partnerships with household brands such as Zoopla, uSwitch and Revolut to name a few. We're constantly thinking of ways to make the process faster, more convenient and more straightforward and will work closely with lenders and regulators in the industry to get there.

Can the customer meaningfully confide in you?

Despite being predominantly online, well over 100 people have rated our service 5* on popular reviews site, TrustPilot, and we've even received a box of chocolates from some customers! Ultimately our vision is to secure you the right mortgage in just a few taps but for such an emotionally and financially sensitive transaction, we'd like to retain the human aspect to those that still want it. We'll always have a friendly customer success team on hand to discuss your questions and believe this approach ensures consumers of all shapes and sizes will always confide in us.

Finally, what’s been the most challenging part of being a tech start-up?

Focus is the one thing that can often make or break early-stage businesses because by definition, we are so resource constrained. It's exciting to have ideas upon ideas but prioritising, executing and learning from right ones is the biggest challenge.

W

www.trussle.com

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Royal romance is nearly official Prince Harry's American girlfriend Megan Markle was caught on camera kissing and giving a supportive hug to the prince at the Audi Polo Challenge in Coworth Park, Ascot. Miss Markle was seen with her arm around Prince Harry, as they shared an embrace in the car park. The couple had made their first public appearance on Saturday when both Price Harry and Prince Wiliam competed in the polo tournament.

While there have been no official announcements yet, certain incidents in the recent days are been seen as a step closer to making the royal relationship official. Later this month, they will be attending Pippa Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge's younger sis-

ter's church wedding to hedge fund millionaire James Matthews.

The invites were sent to married couples only, singletons could not bring guests. Miss Markel will be attending the ceremony as Prince Harry's plusone at the at St Mark's church in Engelfield, six miles from where Pippa grew up with elder sister Catherine and younger brother James.

Miss Markel, who lives in Toronto has been dating Prince Harry for nearly a year, staying with the Prince in his home in Kensington Palace. She had accompanied the prince to one of his closest friend's wedding in Jamaica recently and it's just a matter of time when they would come out in the open with an official announcement.

Gurkha workers left unshielded to asbestos Nearly 200 former Gurkha soldiers were left unprotected to deadly dust from the asbestos material, while building a luxury apartment on a multi-million pound building site a court heard recently.

The workers were not given overalls or gears to ward off the harmful asbestos dust. The ordinary dust masks and safety goggles, boots and ear plugs were not sufficient to ward off the dangerous material.

A survey at the site found asbestos on the floor, ceiling, tiles, adhesive, door surrounds, lavatory cistern and on the floor ducts and stairs. The workers were exposed to these conditions from February to April 2013

and again between February and June in 2014.

Rebecca Chalkley, prosecuting, said the workers would not know if they had been affected by the asbestos for the next 25 to 30 years, saying that “we just don't know what the long-term effects will be.”

An asbestos contractor said that the building looked like a 'war zone' and that the company did not care about the risks to the workers.

Judge Heather Norton heard the company bosses did not impart any asbestos awareness training, and then went into liquidation, for a company with an average £10 million, this information was received with suspicion.

Congratulations Rajnish Trivedi of Bollywood Pan for his wedding with Riddhi Patel on 7th April at The Langley banqueting in Watford. May this marriage be filled with special memories you can treasure forever.

www.asian-voice.com Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

“Katha is not a religious gathering; it is a conversation about life.”

Morari Bapu

THE SSE ARENA, WEMBLEY 1 3 TH

-

1 2 T H A U G U S T : 4pm - 7pm 2 0 T H A U G U S T : 9.30am - 1.30pm Prasad will be served daily

www.ramkathalondon.co.uk • www.moraribapu.org RamKathaLondon 07404 572 022

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UK

Asian risk-takers build Britain's wealth

www.asian-

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

Rupanjana Dutta

The Sunday Times Rich List has once again proved that the diaspora would strive to outdo everybody else, may whatever challenges they face. In this Brexit climate, with uncertainties everywhere, the fortunes of rich have been supercharged by a certain boom, with record wealth and more billionaires than ever before.

The 29th edition of this list reveals that this year's 500 richest individuals and families are now wealthier than entire top 1000 were in 2016. This includes 3 entrepreneurs, originally from India,on top 10 and at least 65 individuals or families of South-Asian origin, predominantly from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and a few exciting new entrants.

There are 134 billionaires based in Britain, led by Indian born entrepreneursSri and Gopichand Hinduja, with a total wealth of £16.2bn, up by £3.2bn since

Position 1 3 4 27 27 40 60 63 65 105 107 128 130 133 191 194 202 227 228 228 234 275 275 293 293 313 336 354 369 371 374 402 443 450 453 475 513 521 525 565 584

Lakshmi Mittal

last year. The duo are transforming Westminster's Old War office Sri and Gopichand Hinduja into a luxury hotel, year. having turned their father's New entries include business into a vast empirenames of Surinder Arora from finance to property to and Family at position 443 oil to plastics. on the list (Hotels, Mumbai born David and £258mn), Sharan Pasricha Simon Reuben are at third at 819 (Hotels, £135mn), place with a wealth of Nitin Sodha and Family at £14bn, earnedthrough prop840 (Pharmaceuticals, erty and internet, up by £130mn) and Raj Manak at £900mn from last year.

929 (Construction, At the fourth place is £117mn).

Lakshmi Mittal, the steel Fifteen years ago, there tycoon, with a wealth of were only 21 UK based bil£13.229bn, which is actually lionaires in this Rich List. up by £6.109bn from last Yet over the past 1 year, 19

Jasminder Singh

Bhikhu and Vijay Patel

have seen their wealth rise by more than £1bn within a single year. While people worry about Britain's future outside the EU, the total wealth of Britain's 1000

richest individuals and families have reached above £658bn- a 14% rise from last year. combined The wealth of the top 500 from the Rich List surged to £580.3bn, more than the £575.6bn total wealth of the 1000 richest people in 2016. This i n c l u d e s Aristocrats as well.

Not all money is made through the City of London or through property or manufacturing. Singer Adel has earned £125mn as a debut, after a lucrative world tour

Asians in the Sunday Times Rich List 2017

Name Srichand and Gopichand Hinduja David and Simon Reuben Lakshmi Mittal and Family Nathan Kirsh Sri Prakash Lohia Sir Anwar Parvez and family Anil Agarwal Sunil Vaswani and Family Simon, Bobby and Robin Arora Zameer Choudrey and Family Navin and Varsha Engineer Jasminder Singh and Family Raj, Ton and Harpal Matharu & Family Mohsin and Zuber Issa Bhikhu and Vijay Patel Lord Paul and Family The Jatania Brothers Ranjit and Baljinder Boparan Abdul Bhatti and Family Adalat and Arshad Chaudhary Peter Simon and Family Amit and Meeta Patel Gautam Thapar and Family Kuljinder Bahia and Family Younus Sheikh and Family Tom Singh and Family Fakhruddin Sutrewalla and Family Lord and Apurv Bagri Kishore Lulla and Family Firoz Kassam Sukhpal Singh Ahluwalia Kartar and Tej Lalvani Surinder Arora and Family Vikrant Bhargava Rashid and Aziz Tayub and Family Bhupendra Kansagra and Family Ratheesan Yoganathan Lord Alli Moni Varma Vipul Thakrar and Family Iqbal Ahmed and Family

Wealth £16.2bn £14bn £13.229bn £3.977bn £3.977bn £2.95bn £2bn £1.972bn £1.92bn £1.207 bn £1.2bn £1.035bn £1.017mn £1000mn £675mn £660mn £630mn £544mn £540mn £540mn £530mn £450mn £450mn £420mn £429mn £385mn £350mn £334mn £319mn £315mn £310mn £290mn £258mn £253mn £250mn £240mn £220mn £218mn £215mn £201mn £198mn

Area Industry and Finance Property and Internet Steel Cash & Carry, property & Investment Textiles and Plastic Cash and Carry Mining Transport and Food Discount stores Cash & Carry & Pharmacies Pharmaceuticals Hotels Property and Hotels Fuel distribution Pharmaceuticals Industry Toiletries and Property Food Cash and Carry Cash and carry Fashion Pharmaceuticals Industry Travel Cash and Carry Fashion Food Metals Media Hotels and Property Car parts Health supplements Hotels Gambling Discount stores and property Industry and aviation Telecoms Media Food Food Food

Nathan Kirsh

Up (^) or Down (v) £3.2bn ^ £900mn ^ £6.109bn^ £393mn v £1.037bn^ £150mn ^ £1.32bn ^ £572mn ^ No change £127mn ^ £100mn ^ £115mn ^ £155mn ^ £300mn ^ No change £80mn v £10mn ^ £114mn ^ £30mn ^ £30mn ^ £20mn ^ No Change No Change £64mn ^ £90mn v £15mn ^ £10mn v £64mn £134mn ^ £30mn ^ £10mn ^ £15mn ^ New entry No change No change £20mn ^ -

Sri Prakash Lohia

and her Grammy winning album.

However, while more than £10.4mn have been donated by 30 people on the Rich List, regrettably there has been only one Asian on the list of these donors (philanthropists), proving that we still have a lot left to learn from the Jewish community.

It only has the name of Nathan Kirsh (on the 6th position), who has so far donated £500,000.

The List is an example of the number of risk takers in this country and how they have built their empires by spotting opportunities. They don't hate change but they thrive on it.

Wealth & Position in 2016 £13bn,2 £13.1, 1 £7.12bn, 11 £4.37bn, 21 £2.94bn, 37 £2.8bn, 39 £680mn, 174 £1.4bn,75 £1.92bn, 55 £1.08bn, 106 £1.1bn, 103 £920mn, 123 £862mn, 132 £700mn, 164 £675mn, 175 £740mn, 154 £620mn, 194 £430mn, 267 £510mn, 224 £510mn, 224 £510mn, 224 £460mn, 255 £460mn, 255 £356mn, 312 £510mn, 224 £370mn, 301 £360mn, 310 £270mn, 389 £185mn, 564 £285mn, 370 £300mn, 350 £275mn, 384 £253mn, 415 £250mn, 418 £220mn, 460 £240mn, 437 £201mn, 514 £215mn, 478 £191mn, 556 £205mn, 505

16

UK

Asian risk-takers build Britain's wealth Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

Rupanjana Dutta

The Sunday Times Rich List has once again proved that the diaspora would strive to outdo everybody else, may whatever challenges they face. In this Brexit climate, with uncertainties everywhere, the fortunes of rich have been supercharged by a certain boom, with record wealth and more billionaires than ever before.

The 29th edition of this list reveals that this year's 500 richest individuals and families are now wealthier than entire top 1000 were in 2016. This includes 3 entrepreneurs, originally from India,on top 10 and at least 65 individuals or families of South-Asian origin, predominantly from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and a few exciting new entrants.

There are 134 billionaires based in Britain, led by Indian born entrepreneursSri and Gopichand Hinduja, with a total wealth of £16.2bn, up by £3.2bn since

Position 1 3 4 27 27 40 60 63 65 105 107 128 130 133 191 194 202 227 228 228 234 275 275 293 293 313 336 354 369 371 374 402 443 450 453 475 513 521 525 565 584

UK Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

www.asian-voice.com

Lakshmi Mittal

last year. The duo are transforming Westminster's Old War office Sri and Gopichand Hinduja into a luxury hotel, year. having turned their father's New entries include business into a vast empirenames of Surinder Arora from finance to property to and Family at position 443 oil to plastics. on the list (Hotels, Mumbai born David and £258mn), Sharan Pasricha Simon Reuben are at third at 819 (Hotels, £135mn), place with a wealth of Nitin Sodha and Family at £14bn, earnedthrough prop840 (Pharmaceuticals, erty and internet, up by £130mn) and Raj Manak at £900mn from last year.

929 (Construction, At the fourth place is £117mn).

Lakshmi Mittal, the steel Fifteen years ago, there tycoon, with a wealth of were only 21 UK based bil£13.229bn, which is actually lionaires in this Rich List. up by £6.109bn from last Yet over the past 1 year, 19

Jasminder Singh

Bhikhu and Vijay Patel

have seen their wealth rise by more than £1bn within a single year. While people worry about Britain's future outside the EU, the total wealth of Britain's 1000

Wealth £16.2bn £14bn £13.229bn £3.977bn £3.977bn £2.95bn £2bn £1.972bn £1.92bn £1.207 bn £1.2bn £1.035bn £1.017mn £1000mn £675mn £660mn £630mn £544mn £540mn £540mn £530mn £450mn £450mn £420mn £429mn £385mn £350mn £334mn £319mn £315mn £310mn £290mn £258mn £253mn £250mn £240mn £220mn £218mn £215mn £201mn £198mn

Area Industry and Finance Property and Internet Steel Cash & Carry, property & Investment Textiles and Plastic Cash and Carry Mining Transport and Food Discount stores Cash & Carry & Pharmacies Pharmaceuticals Hotels Property and Hotels Fuel distribution Pharmaceuticals Industry Toiletries and Property Food Cash and Carry Cash and carry Fashion Pharmaceuticals Industry Travel Cash and Carry Fashion Food Metals Media Hotels and Property Car parts Health supplements Hotels Gambling Discount stores and property Industry and aviation Telecoms Media Food Food Food

Nathan Kirsh

richest individuals and families have reached above £658bn- a 14% rise from last year. combined The wealth of the top 500 from the Rich List surged to £580.3bn, more than the £575.6bn total wealth of the 1000 richest people in 2016. This i n c l u d e s Aristocrats as well.

Not all money is made through the City of London or through property or manufacturing. Singer Adel has earned £125mn as a debut, after a lucrative world tour

Asians in the Sunday Times Rich List 2017

Name Srichand and Gopichand Hinduja David and Simon Reuben Lakshmi Mittal and Family Nathan Kirsh Sri Prakash Lohia Sir Anwar Parvez and family Anil Agarwal Sunil Vaswani and Family Simon, Bobby and Robin Arora Zameer Choudrey and Family Navin and Varsha Engineer Jasminder Singh and Family Raj, Ton and Harpal Matharu & Family Mohsin and Zuber Issa Bhikhu and Vijay Patel Lord Paul and Family The Jatania Brothers Ranjit and Baljinder Boparan Abdul Bhatti and Family Adalat and Arshad Chaudhary Peter Simon and Family Amit and Meeta Patel Gautam Thapar and Family Kuljinder Bahia and Family Younus Sheikh and Family Tom Singh and Family Fakhruddin Sutrewalla and Family Lord and Apurv Bagri Kishore Lulla and Family Firoz Kassam Sukhpal Singh Ahluwalia Kartar and Tej Lalvani Surinder Arora and Family Vikrant Bhargava Rashid and Aziz Tayub and Family Bhupendra Kansagra and Family Ratheesan Yoganathan Lord Alli Moni Varma Vipul Thakrar and Family Iqbal Ahmed and Family

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

AsianVoiceNews

Up (^) or Down (v) £3.2bn ^ £900mn ^ £6.109bn^ £393mn v £1.037bn^ £150mn ^ £1.32bn ^ £572mn ^ No change £127mn ^ £100mn ^ £115mn ^ £155mn ^ £300mn ^ No change £80mn v £10mn ^ £114mn ^ £30mn ^ £30mn ^ £20mn ^ No Change No Change £64mn ^ £90mn v £15mn ^ £10mn v £64mn £134mn ^ £30mn ^ £10mn ^ £15mn ^ New entry No change No change £20mn ^ -

Sri Prakash Lohia

and her Grammy winning album.

However, while more than £10.4mn have been donated by 30 people on the Rich List, regrettably there has been only one Asian on the list of these donors (philanthropists), proving that we still have a lot left to learn from the Jewish community.

It only has the name of Nathan Kirsh (on the 6th position), who has so far donated £500,000.

The List is an example of the number of risk takers in this country and how they have built their empires by spotting opportunities. They don't hate change but they thrive on it.

Wealth & Position in 2016 £13bn,2 £13.1, 1 £7.12bn, 11 £4.37bn, 21 £2.94bn, 37 £2.8bn, 39 £680mn, 174 £1.4bn,75 £1.92bn, 55 £1.08bn, 106 £1.1bn, 103 £920mn, 123 £862mn, 132 £700mn, 164 £675mn, 175 £740mn, 154 £620mn, 194 £430mn, 267 £510mn, 224 £510mn, 224 £510mn, 224 £460mn, 255 £460mn, 255 £356mn, 312 £510mn, 224 £370mn, 301 £360mn, 310 £270mn, 389 £185mn, 564 £285mn, 370 £300mn, 350 £275mn, 384 £253mn, 415 £250mn, 418 £220mn, 460 £240mn, 437 £201mn, 514 £215mn, 478 £191mn, 556 £205mn, 505

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

17

UK witnesses landmark 500th show of award-winning Yugpurush drama Conceptualised by Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur and written by Gujarati playwright Uttam Gada, Yugpurush, the theatrical masterpiece and award-winning drama which has been taking India and the UK by storm, was staged at the Alban Arena in Hertfordshire in a landmark 500th show in the gracious presence of Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshbhai. In a period of just over six months the play has been staged in over 170 cities across India and the UK, since its launch in November 2016 in Mumbai.

The drama, a unique celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of the Jain saint and philosopher Shrimad Rajchandraji, pays tribute to the transformational relationship between Him and India’s great leader Mahatma Gandhi. The historically significant, yet little known relationship between Mahatma Gandhi and his spiritual mentor Shrimad Rajchandraji was a friendship that forged the character of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi into the ‘Mahatma’ or Great Soul, and shaped the Independence of India through the principals of non-violence and truth. In a speech at Ahmedabad in 1921, Gandhiji stated, "I have often declared that I have learnt, and learnt much, from the lives of many persons. But it is from the Kavishri's (Shrimadji's) life that I have

Position 6

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27 Position 598 616 636 636 663 674 694 723 748 748 749 815 819 819 832 840 868 929

Name

A scene from the play

Trupti Patel, Nemu Chandaria OBE, A S Rajan, Pujya Gurudev Shree, CB Patel and Dr Jagdish Dave

Asian Female Entrepreneurs

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

Baljinder Boparan Meeta Patel

Name

Zayn Malik Amir Khan

through the eyes of elderly Gandhiji recollecting his first meeting with Shrimadji in Mumbai, through to their letter exchanges whilst he was in South Africa. As Gandhiji faced internal and external struggles Shrimadji becomes his spiritual bedrock and the profundity of their relationship is revealed. Thereafter Shrimadji’s writings, thoughts and philosophy continue to guide Gandhiji as he pursues his life’s mission.

Gandhiji said of Shrimad Rajchandraji, “The more I consider His life and His writings, the more I consider Him to have been the best Indian of His times.” Letter to HSL Polak 26th April 1909.

After the show CB Patel enthused that, “We are privileged to be media partners for this unique experience and experiment. There are some things that require

learnt the most. It was from His life that I understood the way of compassion."

Invited guests from media, government, corporates and faith groups joined an enthusiastic and captivated audience to be part of this unique celebration. Mr A.S. Rajan, Minister of Coordination at the High Commission of India, Mr C B Patel, Chairman of APBL Group, Mrs Trupti Patel, President of the Hindu Forum of Britain, Mr Nemu Chandaria OBE, Chairman of Institute of Jainology, and Dr Jagdish Dave President of Mahatma Gandhi Foundation were invited on stage to receive mementos of the special show from Pujya Gurudevshri, founder of Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur, and took part in the candle-lighting ceremony prior to the show.

The story unfolds

Wealth £35mn £23bn

Wealth

Company/Area

2016 position

£1.15bn

Biocon

48

£450mn

Pharmaceuticals

80

£544mn

2 Sisters Food Group

The Young Rich Area

Music

Boxing

Up/Down £5mn ^

£5mn ^

Name Sanjay Vadera and Family Tony Fernandes Tarsem Dhaliwal Koolesh Shah Nick Dhandsa and Family Lord Verjee Raj Sehgal and Sanjeev Mehan & Family Anwar and Yakub Patel Pradip and Manish Dhamecha Nitin Passi Kirit and Meena Pathak Aran and Arvan Handa and family Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith Sharan Pasricha Sir Anish Kapoor Nitin Sodha and Family Nandlal and Deep Valecha Raj Manak

65

more and more repetition.”

A.S Rajan added that, “The master-disciple relationship is an important part of Indian philosophy and when I learned that Mahatma Gandhi had a teacher, a Guru that had a profound impact on his life I thought I would like to learn more about it, and this play did not disappoint.

Whenever Mahatma Gandhi had a doubt or confusion or situation he needed help with he turned to his Guru, Shrimad Rajchandraji and he got the answer. The soul connection is another important element of Indian philosophy and the union of body, mind and soul are beautifully depicted in this play”.

Yugpurush highlights the values of expanding one’s capacity to love and give selflessly, respecting diversity, supporting truth, fostering trust, and building lasting communities. This initiative aims to spread these values that shaped Gandhi’s beliefs, and supports the construction of the Shrimad Rajchandra Hospital a new 200-bed multi-speciality charity hospital in South

Gujarat, India through all surplus proceeds from the shows.

Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur, led by the spiritual visionary and modern day mystic Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshbhai has a strong and dynamic presence in the UK with centres including London, Manchester, Leicester and Birmingham. All centres are involved in a range of charitable, educational and spiritual activities with the aim of furthering the Mission’s goal “To realise one’s True Self and serve others selflessly.”

Audience enjoying the play

The accolades and awards bestowed upon the play in India, including the prestigious Dadasheb Phalke Excellence Award for Best Play, and the Gujarati Transmedia Screen and Stage Awards for Best

Position

Name

£18mn, 36

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Ranjit and Baljinder Boparan

Wealth £190mn £184mn £178mn £178mn £170mn £166mn £160mn £155mn £150mn £150mn £150mn £137mn £135mn £135mn £134mn £130mn £126mn £117mn

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Navin and Varsha Engineer

Area Perfume Aviation Frozen food Hotels Care homes Finance and retailing Fashion and Property Pharmacies Cash and Carry and property Internet retailing and Fashion Food Hotels Football and Hotels Hotels Art Pharmaceuticals Gas Services Construction

and minds of people throughout the world.

The play concludes its tour of the UK with shows in London, Birmingham and Bolton until May 14th. For more information visit www.yugpurush.org

Wealthiest Husbands and Wives

Wealth and Position in 2016 £30mn, 24

Drama, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor, pay tribute to the depth of the relationship portrayed, and the talents of its creators.

The play is currently touring in four languages including Gujarati and Hindi in the UK, and is being prepared in English with the hope of taking this hearttouching story to a wider audience. The message of peace, non-violence, truth and love espoused by these two philosophical titans is more relevant today than ever before, and will have a lasting impact on the hearts

Wealth

Position in 2016

£544mn

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£1.2bn

Up (^) or Down (v) New Entry New Entry New Entry

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Wealth & Position in 2016 £180mn, 582 £162mn, 636 £135mn, 754 £130mn, 766 £170mn, 612 £165mn, 626 £160mn, 640 £145mn, 721 £140mn, 734 £132mn, 764 £150mn, 685 £128mn, 792 £135mn, 754 £130mn, 766 £143mn, 730 -

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FINANCIAL VOICE

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Infosys to hire 10,000 US workers, open tech hubs

Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

As the Trump regime triggered fears of tightening the H-1B visa programme, Bengaluru-based Infosys said it plans to hire 10,000 American workers in the US over the next two years, and open four technology centres too.

The first centre is expected to open in Indiana, in August. The company, in a statement, said the Indiana technology hub is expected to create 2,000 jobs by 2021.

“Infosys is committed to hiring 10,000 American technology workers over the next two years to help invent and deliver the digital futures for our clients in the United States,” said Infosys chief executive officer Vishal Sikka. The IT services firm said it would hire experienced technology professionals

Vishal Sikka Chief Executive Officer, Infosys

and recent graduates from major universities, and local and community colleges, to create the talent tools for the future. It would also have training programmes in key competencies such as user experience, cloud, artificial intelligence, big data and digital offerings, along with core technology and computer science

skills.

Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy has repeatedly appealed to Indian companies asking them to reduce their heavy dependence on the H-1B visa programme. He also said that Indian IT firms should focus on local hiring in the US, and that they needed to “stop using H-1B visas and

sending a large number of Indians to those countries to deliver services.”

Just last month, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order, directing federal agencies to implement a 'Buy American, Hire American' strategy. He had also called on the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Labour, and the Secretary of Homeland Security to “propose new rules and issue new guidance, to supersede or revise previous rules and guidance if appropriate, to protect the interests of United States workers in the administration of our immigration system, including through the prevention of fraud or abuse.”

Chiefs of two PSU banks in India shifted The Union Government replaced two high-profile public sector bank chiefs in a first of its kind move, in addition to appointing five new MDs and chief executives at state-run banks struggling with stressed loans. The appointment came shortly after an ordinance was signed by President Pranab Mukherjee that empowered the Reserve Bank of India to order action against loan defaulters apart from getting lenders to initiate insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings.

The government moved Punjab National Bank managing director and CEO Usha Ananthasubramanian to

Allahabad Bank, and Bank of India's Melvyn Rego to Syndicate Bank.

“Some of the bank chiefs have not been doing enough. They just sit idle for two-three years and refuse to take any decisions, letting banks suffer,” a financial ministry official said.

Announcing details of the ordinance, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

said the government was not satisfied with the way the public sector banks were operating.

“The object of this act is that the present status quo cannot continue.

And the present status quo is that not much was moving and, therefore, a paralysis in the name of autonomy is detrimental to the economy itself and, therefore, that real-

ly requires to be broken.” he said in a media brief. Soon, an official notification was released stating that Corporation Bank executive director Sunil Mehta will replace Anantha-subramanian as PNB chief, while Canara Bank ED Dinabandhu Mohapatra will move to Bank of India in place of Rego.

Indian Overseas Bank's ED R Subramania Kumar is made MD and CEO, and Oriental Bank of Commerce ED Rajkiran Rai G will move to Union Bank as MD. Earlier, top designations in banks were given to experienced bankers who were “promoted” from smaller entities.

ment's 'Economic Survey 2017', for following “inconsistent” standards while rating India vis-a-vis China, saying they have not taken into account reforms measures like GST, which is a “poor” reflection on their credibility. Fitch had last upgraded India's sovereign rating from BB+ to BBBwith stable outlook on August 1, 2006. It later changed the outlook to neg-

ative in 2012, and then again to stable in the following year. “The sovereign ratings at BBB- balance a strong medium-term growth outlook and favourable external balances with a weak fiscal position and difficult business environment.”

It added that the business environment is likely to gradually improve with the implementation and continued broadening of the structural reform agenda.

“The impact of the reform programme on investment and real GDP growth will depend on how it is implemented and the extent to which government continues its strong drive to improve the still-weak business environment.”

World Gold Council's report suggests that the uptake for gold in India for January-March this year was 124 tonnes, up 15 per cent compared with the overall demand for the same period in 2016. The same increase was identified by city-based jewellers when business was dull due to high gold prices and a strike by jewellers.

Managing Director of NAC Jewellers, N Ananthapadmanabhan said that while the demand this year is 10-15 per cent more, business has been average due to competition as more jewellery chains are coming up. He said, “Demand is back and we are not losing out on business, but we are not able to register significant growth.” Even with the rise in demand as compared with the previous year, it still is the second lowest in

Melwyn Rego & Usha Ananthasubramanian

AsianVoiceNews

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Cognizant offers VRS to senior executives Cognizant Technology, under pressure from activist investor Elliot Management along with other business headwinds, has offered a golden handshake to a select category of senior employees, reducing its wage bills.

The company sent out mailers to its D+ category employees, giving them an option to exit the organisation on a cordial note by accepting either six or nine months' pay as severance package, depending in which category the employee sits.

Sources said, “There could be at least 1,000 colleagues who may be eligible to this.” A company spokesperson said, “We are offering a voluntary separation incentive to some eligible leaders, representing a very small percentage of our total workforce. It is related to our overall company strategy to accelerate our shift to

digital and to deliver highquality, sustainable growth.” Cognizant has been under the market's lens after its breakneck speed growth over the past two decades began to slowdown. It lowered its growth guidance thrice last year. For 2016, it registered revenues of $13.5 billion, up 8.6 per cent from $12.42 billion for 2015. For 2017, its revenue was estimated to be from $14.5 to $14.84 billion.

While directors are offered the nine-month packages, AVPs and SVPs will get the six-month deal. In a first, best performers only received 95 per cent of their variable pay for 2016, a major drop from the usual 150 per cent to 200 per cent they used to earn earlier. With over a third of its workforce in India, Cognizant has given over 100 per cent to top performing employees between 2009 and 2015.

India cuts oil import plans from Iran India plans to order a quarter less Iranian crude oil than last year, as state refiners cut term purchase deals over a row between New Delhi and Tehran on development of a natural gas field. The drop in volumes follows India's threat to order state refinersHindustan Petroleum, Bharat Petroleum, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd, and Indian Oil Corp, to reduce purchases from Iran.

The volume cuts would set back India's imports of Iranian crude for this fis-

cal year at 370,000 barrels per day. India is Iran's top oil client after China and last year imported about 510,000 bpd of crude from the country.

Private refiners Essar and HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd have renewed last year's term contracts to buy 120,000 bpd and 20,000 bpd respectively. Analysts said other than the gasfield row, India is also taking advantage of a narrow price spread between European oil benchmark Brent and Middle East price-setter Dubai crude.

the five-year time frame from 2013.

PR Somasundaram, MD, World Gold Council, India, said, “Gold demand has increased compared to the previous year, but in absolute terms, it is still low. It was close to 190 tonnes in 2015 and 167 tonnes in 2014. In fact, this quarter was the only one among the previous four quarters when jewellery demand went below 100 tonnes.”

Even with, the council has put up a conservative estimate of 650-750 tonnes as

the annual demand, expecting the introduction to GST to impact consumer demand. Somasundaram added, “Though the introduction of GST is widely welcomed by organised players, as it seeks to mandate transparency and enhance consumer value, there are concerns about the level of tax. We are putting up a conservative demand considering shortterm challenges including PAN registrations, GST and restrictions on cash transactions.”

Fitch keeps India's ratings at Gold shines in Jan-March, but BBB-, unchanged for 11 years demand 2nd lowest since '13

US-based rating agency Fitch kept India's sovereign rating unchanged at 'BBB-', the lowest investment grade with stable outlook, citing weak fiscal position. It, however, expects India's growth rate to accelerate to 7.7 per cent in fiscal 2017 and 2018, from 7.1 per cent in fiscal 2016. The Indian government, and several commentators have been questioning ratings assigned by global agencies arguing the country's economic fundamentals have improved significantly over the last few years, but not have taken into account by those rating firms.

The agencies were even slammed by the govern-

REALESTATEVOICE

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HMO, THE WAY TO GO AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

I have a friend who keeps talking about how he should have bought more property when credit was plentiful i.e. pre 2009.

Should Have, Would Have and Could Have, are terms which should not be used when it comes to property.

There is no point looking in the rear view mirror, that environment is history and probably isn’t coming back.

Suresh Vagjiani

Sow & Reap London Property Investment

The market has moved on, and to buy a property in the conventional way, i.e. having the title transferred to your name, you need a bigger deposit, one which will need to be even larger for portfolio landlords by 30th September of this year; when the restrictions will be extended from individual BTL landlords to portfolio landlords. The new stress test which came into existence on the 1st

AGONY AGENT Each week, we answer a reader’s rental property question, from first-time landlords to experienced owners. Agony Agent, is here to help!

under Assured Shorthold Tenancies; however, a landlord can only bring a residential tenancy to an end by obtaining a court order for possession.

Q: Can I evict my tenants if they lied on the tenancy application / references?

One very useful ground for possession for landlords is via a Section 8 Notice, Ground 17, one of "false statement by tenant".

Ground 17 can be used where it can be proven that a landlord or agent was induced to grant a tenancy by a false statement made knowingly or recklessly by the tenant, or even someone acting on the tenants’ behalf.

A: To cut a long story short, it’s highly unlikely you will be able to. Here is why: The Housing Act 1988, as amended by the Housing Act 1996, makes provision for the possession of residential properties let

BUY TO LET OPPORTUNITY

St John’s Wood Road, London NW8 Purchase Price: £775,000

January 2017 is based on a 5.5% interest rate and a 125% rental cover.

Under this test, rental income of £1,000 per month will allow you to borrow £174,545 from the lender. In outer London, this criteria still allows you to borrow typically 75% of the property value, however, as you venture into the centre of London, the amount you can borrow slowly begins to drop to a point where it no longer makes any sense.

The rental income overtakes the value of the property and governs the amount you can borrow.

We have a property worth £1.8m in Bryanston Square, W1, and the rental is only £800pw, this equates to a yield of 2.3%.

This would allow us to borrow £605k, which equates to only one third of However, you need to know that possession under Ground 17 is discretionary and the court would take a few things into account before a judge would decide whether or not to evict.

These factors include the nature and seriousness of the false statement, and if the statement was the main reason to the granting of the tenancy.

Also, remember that courts tend to be sympathetic to tenants in difficult circumstances and so on discretionary grounds, courts will often make allowances for tenants who are in debt or out of work etc., and may not necessarily award

Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

19

the property value. In order to buy this property now as a Buy to Let investment, you would need to have a £1.2m deposit plus costs.

As values have increased in recent years, rents have not kept pace, the new regulations which have come in have compounded the issue of borrowing even further.

So, there are two sides to the equation, one is the borrowing and the other is the rents. There isn’t much you can do on the borrowing side, as this is the criteria set by the regulating body. However, there is something which can be done on the rental side, especially in the case of larger properties.

Implementing an HMO licence can increase your rental income and,

therefore, increase the amount you can borrow.

And indeed turn your BTL investment into a cash cow rather than one which just covers costs, and can finally start to give you an income. There is wide spread ignorance on matters surrounding HMO licensing and implementation. We are currently implementing a

very clever scheme in a building in St John’s Wood, and will apply it shortly after to a building in W1, and then Notting Hill. This will turn the investment from a plain vanilla average market deal to one which becomes a solid deal, bringing in cash flow on a month on month basis, and yet there is no compromise in location.

we said, no guarantees however, if they plead debt, out of work, illness etc. …you may be back to square one! The truth is, that I have never yet met a landlord who has managed to evict on Ground 17.

If you are in a situation like this and need some help or a second opinion then please feel free to contact me.

Richard Bond Lettings Manager Sow & Reap

possession, or the judge may delay the possession order for a long period to give the tenant/s more time.

If your tenant lied on your Tenancy Application Form and made false statements that could to be judged to have been unfair, and the main or sole reason for the issuing of a tenancy, and you have proof of this on your tenant’s application, then you probably do have good grounds and good evidence for the granting of a possession order. A completed Tenancy Application Form should normally give you, the landlord, all the evidence you need to use Ground 17 successfully. BUT… like

l

Overlooking the world famous Lord’s Cricket Ground l Purpose built l Two bedrooms l Two balconies l 24 hour porter service l Share of freehold l Expected value after minor refurbishment is £1,000,000 Call us now for more information!

20

FINANCIAL VOICE Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

Consultant Editor Financial Voice Alpesh Patel

Dear Financial Voice Reader, It happens to the best of us. Nothing we do seems to be right. Well it happens in trading as well. You pick a signal, and the price moves against you, like it knew what you were doing.

1. First, don't worry, it's not you, it is the nature of the markets, that sometimes trends are very small. So what we do, is find the time frame that is picking up the trends and letting us get in on them and stay in them.

2. Second - and this is where I have often been sneaky - outsmart the market. If just as a trend starts, and people jump on, and the big traders reverse on us, knowing they can wrong foot us, then don't do it, instead, do the opposite.

Yes, where there is a buy, do a sell and vice versa. What about stop loss? It's still on the screen, it's the 'TP' and you can to be ultra-cautious, use the stop loss as your profit target and not worry about adding to winning positions.

At the time of writing, I have been talking for weeks about my favourite trades in GBPAUD. I know, you are probably thinking ‘what is the Australian Dollar, and who knows about it?’

I do not trade based on some deep macroeconomic analysis, or being smarter than other people. That’s not it.

I ride the coat-tails of others. I let them establish a trend then I copy it and follow it. That’s it.

So how and why do we pick what to trade? The best traders in the world use tools for trade selection. That is all we are doing.

1. Our goal is to make sure we have winners, and profitable trades. We greatly increase our chances of success by ensuring a little preparation. Whilst you can use the indicator on any pair and time-frame because the underlying principle of momentum and multiple indicators, across multiple time-frames and price confirmation obviously holds true, you can also increase your chances of success with a little prep.

2. I find certain currencies a lot easier to trade with smooth trends. Actually the ultimate skill to pick up is spotting smoothly trending pairs with long enough trends which are being consistently picked up.ie the market is simply not wrong-footing us.

Most people wrongly thing trading is about how often you are right. They look for the Holy Grail of being right 90% of the time. Yet they ignore even traders like George Soros are billionaires from being right slightly more than 50% of the time. How is that possible?

Worst still, too many people thing profits come from just picking the right 'risk, reward' ratio. So they will talk wrongly about 'profit targets' and reward to risk ratios. The problem is they are too often misinformed by well-meaning academics and instructors from 'institutes' and 'academies' and not by actual traders - and by actual traders, I mean hedge fund managers, not amateurs.

Of course if you are a beginner, I want you to get used to hitting profits and so take profits (TP) where more advanced traders will add to their winning positions. If you do not add to the big wins, or at the very least let them run and not cap them (see image below) because you are badly taught about risk/reward and profit targets, you will only ever break even in all your trades overall (because you will have 0% big losses, 50% small wins and 50% small losses).

And so you will blame your win/loss ratio ie that you are not winning and calling the market right often enough.

That is simply wrong.

Look, a coin is right 50-50. And God is right 10/10. So you are going to be 6/10 or 7/10 at best because you will be somewhere between chance and God! It is about how much you make when right, not how often you are Godlike!

Whereas, if you let those profitable trades run you will have 40% small losses and 40% small wins and 20% big wins.

So what is the truth about profits and winning?

My mentor, Bill Lipschutz, former Global Head of Forex Trading at Salomon Brothers put it this way in my book, The Mind of a Trader, (Financial Times) - he said it was about how much you make when you win, not how often you win.

HPCL-Mittal to set up petrochem unit for $3bn State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and NRI steel tycoon Lakshmi N Mittal's joint venture HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd is all set to invest nearly $3 billion in setting up a petrochemicals com-

plex at their Bhatinda refinery, Punjab. The company intends to set up a naphtha cracker with a capacity of up to 1.7 million tonnes for producing raw material for making plastics, HPCL chairman MK Surana said.

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Liberty takes control of Tata Steel's speciality steels division AsianVoiceNews

Liberty House said it has formally completed the 100million-pound deal to acquire the speciality steels division of Tata Steel UK, and has now taken control of a unit in South Yorkshire.

The acquisition will protect over 1,700 jobs at three major sites at Rotherham, Stocksbridge and Brinsworth in South Yorkshire, smaller sites in Bolton, Lancashire and Wednesbury in the West Midlands and two distribution centres in China.

The company issued a statement quoting executive chairman Sanjeev Gupta as saying, “Today marks a step change for the Liberty House Group because we are taking on strategically important capacity that will drive expansion in the years ahead. It will help us achieve our GREENSTEEL vision and facilitate investment in

Chairman of liberty steel Sanjeev Gupta

engineering products, thereby reducing the supplychain gaps in the UK, especially in automotive and aerospace sectors.” Liberty House also plans to create 300 new jobs at the plant in the coming months, as it intends to expand the capacity of the unit, the statement said.

It said it would invest up to 20 million pounds in new expanded plant and equip-

ment in the first year alone to boost competitiveness and secure international market leadership for the business, which is being relaunched as Liberty Speciality Steels. Gupta said, “By investing to acquire Speciality Steels we are casting a big vote of confidence in the future of British industry. With the right business model and an innovative approach, the UK

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

steel and engineering sectors can recover and thrive. The government is now pursuing a new post-Brexit industrial strategy and steel must be at the heart of that strategy.”

Production from the arc furnaces is expected to rise to over a million tonnes per annum. “Through increased output and improved positions in the UK, North American, and EU markets, the business can improve its competitiveness and reestablish itself as a global force in the supply of engineering steels. We are aiming to improve capacity utilisation and productivity for the benefit of the whole business. We are also in discussion with the trade unions on how we can work together to facilitate our ambitious growth plans,” said chief executive of Liberty Speciality Steels, Jon Bolton.

GOPIO chairman meets RBI chief over demonetised currency Dr Thomas Abraham, Chairman of the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin, confronted RBI Governor Dr Urjit Patel during a talk at Columbia University.

Diaspora Indians with foreign citizenship are not allowed to deposit or exchange their demonetised Indian currencies and many who travelled to India were turned down by the Reserve Bank of India at five of its branches, which currently still accept banned currencies from NRIs who are Indian citizens.

GOPIO estimates that OCI card holders and non-OCI card holders with foreign

GOPIO Chairman Thomas Abraham with Urjit Patel

citizenship possess over £500 million worth of demonetised currencies.

“This is gross injustice to more than 50 per cent of the overseas Indians who have been deprived of their hardearned income,” said

Abraham. The organisation had launched an online campaign appealing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow OCI/PIO card holders as well as diaspora Indians with foreign citizenship to deposit or

exchange their demonetised Indian currencies at the Reserve Bank of India.

Abraham presented a copy of all issues and comments raised by diaspora Indians.

“This is a major issue for the diaspora Indians and it is a created issue and needs to be resolved,” said GOPIO International President Niraj Baxi.

“Indians who left India to earn their living should not be deprived of their hard-earned money because they were not in India to deposit the demonetised notes when Indian banks were accepting the notes,” Abraham said.

RBI gets power to act against defaulters The Indian government has promulgated an ordinance empowering the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to issue specific instructions to banks to act against defaulters and also initiate bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings under the law, while promising more steps to ensure that banks get cracking on tackling bad debt amounting to over £60 billion.

While details of additional steps would be announced shortly, finance minister

Arun Jaitley told reporters that the new targets being fixed for the state-run lenders as part of the annual exercise would link additional equity support to immediate “cash release initiatives“ such as sale of assets, closure of non-profitable branches, reduction of overheads, steps to turn around the business and strengthening of credit appraisal process.

While some of the steps such as sale of non-core assets have been discussed in the

past too, banks failed to have much headway. For the moment, the government has focused on the legal provisions through the Ordinance to let RBI to issue “directions to any banking company or banking companies to initiate insolvency resolution process in respect of a default under the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016.”

The Ordinance also empowered RBI to set up sector oversight panels that would

help shield bankers from possible action by investigative agencies looking into loan restructuring proposals. The fear of agencies such as CBI, Comptroller & Auditor General and the Central Vigilance Commission have been cited by bankers to hold back decisions.

Vedanta Hedging wins award for fastest growth Vedanta Hedging has won the Silver Award & Finalist for the fastest growing business, at the Business Excellence Forum awards held in April this year.

CEO of the FCA authorised company, Abhishek Sachdev collected the award held at Harrogate International Centre.

“Our mission hinges on

the very best customer service, outstanding value and second-to-none technical expertise. Our team work as a cohesive and dynamic unit to ensure deliver on this every day and this is a fantastic recognition of that success. Thank you to all of our clients and professional partners in supporting

our growth and we look forward to continue working with you,” Sachdev said.

Founded in 2011, to give transparency to mid-market companies when they enter hedging contracts, Vedants Hedging is the UK's largest FCA authorised derivative consultancy helping SMEs.

WORLD Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

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SA court asks Zuma to give reasons for firing Gordhan AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

JOHANNESBURG: South African High Court has ordered President Jacob Zuma to present with reasons for his decision to fire finance minister Pravin Gordhan in a cabinet reshuffle, leading to sovereign debt downgrades. The court application was filed by Opposition party Democratic Alliance, which also called for a no-confidence motion against Zuma in the Parliament.

“We got the order that we wanted with some very minor adaptations and it allows us now to go ahead with the main review application into the rationality of dropping Gordhan from the cabinet,” said DA lawmaker and head of executive, James Selfe. Several Opposition members and members within Zuma's cabinet, including Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, said that Gordhan was removed on the

basis of a “spurious” intelligence report. It accused Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas of plotting

with banks in London to undermine the South African economy. The deputy was fired too.

“We expect that document to be part of the record,” said Selfe. While Ramaphosa usually backed Zuma, his recent criticism of the sacking was a peak into the widening differences in the ruling African National Congress.

In a bid to reassure markets, Zuma has said that he expected the addition of several younger ministers would add energy to his cabinet. He has so far not given any specific reasons for removing Gordhan and replacing him with new Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba.

ISLAMABAD: A 20-year-old Indian woman alleged that she was coerced to marry a Pakistani citizen at gunpoint when she requested Indian High Commission in Islamabad to repatriate her.

Uzma filed a plea with an Islamabad court against her husband Tahir Ali alleging that she was being harassed and intimidated by him. She also recorded her statement before a magistrate.

Alleging that she was forced to marry Ali on gunpoint, she said: "My immigration documents were snatched," she was quoted as saying.

Uzma said she did not want to leave the Indian High Commission premises until she could safely travel back

to India. According to reports, Uzma's husband met her in the High Commission in the morning but was not present in the court. The Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi said that the immigration documents state that Uzma obtained the visa under the visit category.

Pakistani authorities have said that the Indian citizen did not share her plans to marry in Pakistan when she applied for the visa and expressed her intent to visit her relatives in Pakistan.

Uzma last week approached the Indian High Commission with a request to repatriate her to India. But her husband, Ali, alleged that his

wife had been detained by the mission.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said in a statement that "the Indian High Commission informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that an Indian national, Ms Uzma, 20, had approached them with the request to be repatriated to India."

Zakaria said that according to the Indian High Commission, she claimed to have married Ali and alleged that she later came to know that he was already married and has four children.

Government sources in New Delhi said the Indian woman has sought the help of the Indian mission in Islamabad

on May 5. The High Commission is providing necessary consular assistance to her and is in touch with the Pakistan Foreign Office on the matter and the girl's family in India, said the sources.

Uzma and Ali reportedly met in Malaysia and fell in love after which she travelled to Pakistan on May 1 via the Wagah border. Their 'nikah' was solemnised on May 3.

But the situation changed when they visited the Indian High Commission. Uzma went inside the building of the mission and did not return, according to her husband. Ali has filed a case with local police that she was detained against her will.

Pravin Gordhan with Jacob Zuma

Indian woman forced to marry Pak man

In Brief

21

US man beats up Asian

NEW YORK: A 48-year-old man in the US has been charged with hate crime after he pummelled an Asian man in the face screaming “We are white power,” “Go back to your country!

What are you doing here?,” police said. Steven Zatorski, stormed up to the 30-year-old victim in New York and started kicking him. Witnesses alerted a cop, who arrested the alleged attacker.

The incidents of hate crimes and harassment around the country have increased since the election of US President Donald Trump.

Punjabi man stabbed to death

WASHINGTON: A 32-year-old Indian man was stabbed to death in Modesto City of US when he was closing a store. According to his relatives, the victim, Jagjit Singh, battled for his life for nearly nine hours in hospital before succumbing to injuries. His brother-in-law said a customer had come to the store to buy cigarettes and Jagjit asked for his ID proof.

Finding the proof improper, he asked for a valid document. An altercation ensued and the customer left. Later at night when Jagjit was closing the store, an unidentified person stabbed him.

Nepal CJ reinstated after row

KATHMANDU: Nepal's supreme court reinstated the country's first woman chief justice Sushila Karki and directed parliament to halt her impeachment as the tussle between the legislature and the judiciary took a dramatic turn.

Just hours after the SC's interim order, chief justice Karki returned to office. SC assistant spokesperson Bishwo Raj Paudel said, “She will start legal work soon.” A single member bench of Justice Cholendra Shamsher Rana issued the order stating that the impeachment move was against the spirit of Nepal's statute. His order came in response to a writ petition against the motion to impeach Karki.

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WORLD

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Portugal PM welcomes Goans from across the world Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

LISBON: Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa welcomed Goans from across the globe last week, to a conference on Sustainable Development of Goa in the 21st Century. Held in Lisbon, the conference sought to examine several issues in the small state, that concern the Diaspora around the world, including in the UK and Portugal Goan.

Costa, who has roots in the Indian state and family connections, said there was a significant opportunity for the two countries to

strengthen their ties through both business and cultural initiatives, promising his

government would help in all possible ways. The one day conference examined

three themes; Economic Development, Culture and Education, and Environment. It also showed presentations from various Goa-based environmental groups and Economic development specials.

Speaking at the event, UKbased councillor Rabi Martin, said, “There is a scope for close cooperation but Goans abroad could only ever support those initiatives that were managed by Goans in Goa. It is not for us to tell Goa what it needs but to provide any support we are able to when they ask for it.”

punishing UK for a hard Brexit will only hurt France.

At a programme in BBC Radio 4, Macron said “I don't think anybody has an interest in a hard Brexit. I think we need to build a new relationship. There are interests on both sides. There is a negotiation to be carried out.”

Theresa May had spoken to Macron briefly on Saunday night, and it is said that she “reiterated that the UK wants a strong partnership” after Brexit. But warned him to respect the Le Touquet agreement that allows Britain to have border controls in Calais. While campaigning in London, May said that she was elected with a strong mandate which he (Macron) can take as a strong position into the negotiations. “ We need to ensure we have an equally strong mandate and an

equally strong negotiating position.”

Macron's win has brought in great relief to many French.

Speaking to the BBC, a student Margot Cadic, from Paris, said "I was a bit nervous during the day, but I'm relieved. I wish there had been a bigger gap between him and Marine Le Pen. " She had voted for Mr Macron in both stages of the election because she felt he represented her centrist and open values.

"The country would appear divided, but at least Macron had a large victory.

Hopefully, he'll be able to unite France. He understands that some people in France feel left out and misunderstood. He said he wants to represent them too.

That will be difficult. Both left and right parties have to reconsider their position, and if they'd be willing to change their views to have a coalition with him."

The common people have been rejoicing the win with celebratory meals, music and a great sense of sureness, while the The Front National will overseeing that Macron delivers his promises. For now, democracy and common sense seems to have prevailed.

Macron's win and what that would mean for the UK

In a sweeping victory, centrist candidate Macron won by over 66% to 34% of the vote, defeating far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in a decisive French election.39year-old Macron had promised to fight division and promote hope and reconciliation, setting up his centrist En Marche movement about a year back that hailed a massive historic result for the far right.

His win ends the decades-old dominance of the two traditional main left-wing and right-wing parties. In his first speech addressing jubilant supporters after the election results were announced, he said that a new page was being turned in French history.

"I want it to be a page of hope and renewed trust," he said.

Macron is President Hollande's protege and then economic minister, a former investment-banker running a grass root radical movement geared towards slashing the public sector. He created a profile for himself that resonated among people desperate for something new and optimistic, in the prevailing pessimistic mood in France.

His views have come across as young and compared to

Marine Le Pen's message on anti-immigration, anti-EU and anti-system. The big television debate before the elections on May 3rd positioned Le Pen as coming from the same extremist background as her father (who was considered a Socialist puppet in the hands of Germany's Angela Merkel) with the potential to destabilise the far-right presidency and a threat to global finance.

Macron has vowed to fight "the forces of division that undermine France" and was elected on a pro-EU platform, while Le Pen threatened to pull out of the single currency and hold an in/out referendum on France's membership of the EU. For the UK, Macron believes there is a 'strong mutual interest' in maintaining close ties with the UK, and that

Iran warns Pak over Pak officials accused of beating up N Korea envoy terror attacks LONDON: Head of Iranian armed forces has warned Islamabad that Tehran would hit bases inside Pakistan if its government does not confront Sunni militants who carry out cross-border attacks. Iran said Sunni militant group Jaish al Adl had shot border guards with long-range guns, fired from inside Pakistan.

Major General Mohammad Baqeri said, “We cannot accept the continuation of this situation. We expect the Pakistani officials to control the borders, arrest the terrorists and shut down their bases. If the terrorist attacks continue, we will hit their safe havens and cells, wherever they are.” Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad

Javad Zarif visited Pak last week, and asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to improve the border security.

Pak assured Iran it would deploy additional troops along its border.

Just last month, 10 Iranian border guards were killed by Sunni militants. In 2014, Iran had warned it would send troops to Pak to retrieve five Iranian border guards kidnapped by militants. Pak responded by saying such an action would be violation of the international law and warned Iranian forces not to cross the border. Iran refrained from sending its troops when a local Sunni cleric stepped in and resolved the situation.

KARACHI: North Korean embassy in Pakistan has accused the country's tax authorities of assaulting a diplomat and his wife, accusing armed officials of breaking into their Karachi home and holding guns to their heads. A written complaint addressed to the chief of Pakistan's Excise and Taxation department demanded action against the officials warning that the incident could seriously impact diplomatic relations.

The letter described that at least 10 armed men from the department burst into the diplomat's Karachi home on April 9 and attacked him and his wife,

dragging her by the hair and hitting both of them in the faces. The letter also alleged that they shot at photographs of the couple.

“This is a very serious issue and we have set up a highpowered investigating team to probe into the allegations framed by the Korean embassy,” said Shoaib Siddiqui, chief of the department. “We will examine the CCTV film so that we can identify the men,” he added.

Both the countries are infamously linked by the father of Pak's nuclear bomb, Abdul Qadeer Khan. They even share the same ally, China.

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PIO couple shot by daughter's ex- boyfriend

WASHINGTON: An Indian-origin couple has been killed in an apparent revenge attack by their daughter's ex- boyfriend who too was eventually shot dead in a stand-off with police in the American state of California. Mirza Tatlic, 24, fatally shot Naren Prabhu, a Silicon Valley tech executive, and his wife at their home in San Jose. The suspect had been in a dating relationship with the victims' adult daughter who was not at home,” San Jose police said. The relationship ended last year.

PIO in US saves co-worker, but gets robbed

NEW YORK: A 34-year-old Indian-origin man in the US saved the life of his woman co-worker from an oncoming train, but was robbed of his bag while trying to help her. Anil Vannavalli, a data administrator, was waiting for his train to work to Manhattan when 26-year-old Madhuri Recherla fell on the tracks at the Edison train station. While Vannavalli jumped onto the tracks to help her, police said a thief stole his backpack containing his laptop, headphones, cash, and his work ID card. Edison Police later presented a cheque of $1,000 to appreciate Vannavalli's effort.

US-Pak relation like a ‘critically ill patient’

WASHINGTON: Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States relationship with Pakistan is like a “critically ill patient” as one has to just try to keep it alive for the next day. Speaking with media reporters, Rice said, “You know you get up every day, you take the pulse, you deal with whatever fever has set in overnight and you just try to keep it alive for the next day. That's how I thought about Pakistan when I was there. It's a relationship you've got to have but it is tough.” When asked about Taliban, she asserted that the Southeast Asian country was not the “stalwart fighter” against particularly the Taliban in that area as compared to Afghanistan.

Nepali girl in Kathmandu mayor race

KATHMANDU: Ranju Darshana, a 21-year-old Nepalese woman became the youngest and only female candidate vying for Kathmandu's mayoral post. Darshana filed her papers for the May 14 local polls, the first to be held in over two decades, from the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC). She was nominated by Bibeksheel Nepali Party after she expressed her interest to contest for mayoral post based on the party's `open candidacy policy' last month.

Boko Haram chief injured in air strike, his deputy killed

KANO (NIGERIA): Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has been injured and one of his deputies killed in an air strike in northeast Nigeria, civilian and security sources said. Two Nigerian Air Force jets bombarded fighters who had gathered for prayers in Balla village on the edge of the Sambisa Forest. “Shekau was wounded in the bombings and is believed to be receiving treatment near the Nigerian border with Cameroon around Kolofata,” a source said.

“His deputy, Abba Mustapha, alias Malam Abba, was killed in the attack along with another key lieutenant, Abubakar Gashua, alias Abu Aisha,” the source added.

China's Communist officials found funding Dalai Lama

BEIJING: China's Communist authorities have disclosed the somewhat embarrassing fact that some party officials were actually donating funds to the Dalai Lama, who is regarded as “a dangerous separatist” by the country's rulers.

The disclosure came from a discipline watchdog suggesting that a crackdown on the Dalai Lama's secret supporters within the Communist Party is on the cards. The party would not take kindly to anyone undermining its authority on a sensitive issue like the Dalai Lama, observers said.

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Justin Bieber arrives in Mumbai for his first Indian concert AsianVoiceNews

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More than 50,000 Beliebers or fans of the singer is expected to attend the concert at the DY Patil stadium in Nerul on Thursday. This will be Justin Bieber's first tour to India and the first time the international star will perform in India.

It's busy times for the Navi Mumbai police with extensive security arrangements meticulously chalked out for the world-famed artist. All vehicles in the Mumbai-Pune Express will be monitored on the 10th May. Police personnels will be deployed at various entry and exit gates to provide overall security and avoid security breaches. Plainclothes police personnel will also be keeping

watch at the event throughout.

The Asian leg of Bieber's Purpose world tour is being managed by Delhi-based company White Fox – who have also engaged private security agencies for Bieber's security.

Bieber will be making the most of the India trip too, experiencing the exotic India to the max. According to Indian Express, a convoy of 10 luxury sedans and 2 Volvo buses will be accompanying him. A RollsRoyce has been reserved for Bieber himself. The following has been exclusively flown in for him: a ping pong table, a Playstation, an IO HAWK segway, a sofa set, a washing machine, a refrigerator, uphol-

stery, a wardrobe, a massage table, a jacuzzi, not one but two 5-star hotels, five dishes a day to be prepared by top chefs and named after his most popular tracks, a specially redesigned hotel suite incorporating Mogul paintings, antique furniture, Kashmiri bed linen and purple carnations.

The reservation of three hotel floor, an Indian Yoga Casket containing aromatic essential oils, a licensed female masseuse specially flown in from Kerala, 100 hangers, cans of wild berries and vanilla room freshners, a private jet and chopper on stand-by. The singer will surely be experiencing India in the Maharaja style.

In an effort to eliminate classroom hunger in India, the Akshaya Patra Foundation serves children safe, nutritious and hygienic food cooked in their world class kitchen. While they have always kept a strict check on their quality, a recent incident on April 19 marred the organisation's reputation.

Reports of a rodent being found in the vegetable Pulav served to children at Jamala School in Kalol, Gandhinagar ran a knife through Akshaya Patra's long withstanding image.

While the organisation had

no second thoughts about the efficacy of its operations, a detailed review of the kitchen plant was undertaken. “A team from the health department visited our centralised kitchen facility and found that the food safety systems of high standards are in place. Further, they were very much satisfied with the pest control measures implemented in our Gandhinagar centralised kitchen facility, which is fully compliant with the requirements of the Indian Pest Control Association (IPCA) guidelines,” the report read.

It added, “The cooking process was conducted in a hygienic centralised kitchen plant to provide food to beneficiaries in the schools. Standard Quality Assurance procedures followed on the day confirmed that all the processes were carried out as per requirements and there was no lapse in the food production and distribution. There is no possibility of such an incident to occur in the kitchen premises.”

“Akshaya Patra has also received feedback from the other school centres related to the same distribution route

Vogue India faces backlash for using white woman for tenth year in print cover

Meals supplied by Akshaya Patra fully safe

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which clarify that no illness of any kind was encountered after consumption of the food supplied.”

A not-for-profit foundation headquartered in Bengaluru, Akshaya Patra has been working since 2000 towards reaching more children with wholesome food on every single school day. It works with the Government of India and other State Governments, serving 1,500 children across 5 schools in 2000 to over 1.6 million children in 13,577 schools across 11 states in India.

The Indian version of the fashion magazine used Kendall Jenner for their tenth Anniversary cover, triggering bitter criticism stating that the occasion required an Indian woman and not someone who did nor embody or represent a real Indian woman.

The cover was put up on social media Instagram and was soon flocked by condemnation and disapproving comments, a woman saying that “[It is] sad that you're not encouraging young Indian girls to embrace Indian beauty standards but showcasing American reality show one(s).” “... how dare you white wash your own women [and] your own culture,” another wrote.

“This is disappointing on so many levels,” wrote another. “I like Mario Testino’s work but there are so many wonderful Indian models and any one of them would have been worthy of being on the cover of Vogue India – celebrating all things India. Disappointing VOGUE India!”

The 21-year-old model and social media star found herself at the centre of social media backlash as Vogue India has been knocked for reinforcing a negative intension to young girls of colour.

Jenner, the supermodel half-sister of Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian appeared on the front in an editorial shot by esteemed photographer Mario Testino.

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Sasikala files review plea in SC against conviction Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

NEW DELHI: AIADMK leader VK Sasikala has moved the Supreme Court seeking reexamination of its verdict in the disproportionate assets case, for which she is currently serving jail term. Filed by Sasikala, Amma's foster son VN Sudhakaran, and Sasikala's sister in law Elavarasi, the petition challenged the setting aside of Karnataka High Court verdict acquitting her and restoring

VK Sasikala

the trial court verdict in toto.

An advocate involved in the petition said Sasikala has relied on an earlier apex court

verdict of 1991, in which after the death of a prime accused, the proceeding against the coaccused was also abated in a corruption case. The SC had set aside the order acquitting all the four accused and “restored in toto” the trial court's decision in the 19-year old disproportionate assets case. The court found disproportionate assets worth £5.36 million, for which late Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa and

others could not account for.

Sasikala had been in jail in 1996 when the case was registered and later in 2014 after the Special trial court convicted and awarded a four-year sentence with a fine of £1 million. The apex court, which abated the proceedings against Jayalalithaa who breathed her last on December 5 last year, held that the criminal conspiracy was hatched at her Poes Garden residence in Chennai.

Green fields turn barren Kerala man transforms land as Cauvery dries up auto, impresses Mahindra TIRUVARUR: Vast stretches of the once fertile Cauvery delta of Tamil Nadu's Tiruvarur district has now reportedly turned into barren lands. The farmers in the region are considering giving up on agriculture as a source of livelihood. A local, Arogya Mary's husband died six months ago following a heart attack. She said he was heartbroken that there was no water to sow any crop.

Farmers in the Cauvery belt, who once used to produce three harvests a year, now have no water to even sow.

Only a handful of farmers can afford bore wells.

“I used to help my husband in the field but now I don't want to get back to agriculture.

There is no water. My children are studying and not interested in farming,” Mary said. Suffering from similar woes, Raja Lakshmi, 50, desperately tries to pump out some drinking water. “I have agricultural loan to pay off.

There is no water. There is no agriculture. There is no drinking water,” she said.

Two consecutive monsoon failures have left the river bed dry. Government officials said that the state should have received 189.5 TMC of Cauvery water from Karnataka till April, as per the Cauvery Tribunal, but has only received less than half of that.

“It's the worst drought in 140 years. For even getting water from borewells, you have to dig at least 500 feet deep.

There is no water for drinking. What are farmers supposed to do?” asked the president of Tamil Nadu Farmers Association, PR Pandian.

PATHANAMTHITTA: An auto driver from Kerala, who lived his dream in his own sweet way, was recognised and awarded for his talent with the help of the internet.

Sunil, transformed his threewheeler into a grand 4-wheeler Scorpio, an innovation which caught the eye of Twitter-user Anil Panicker.

Tweeting a photo of the automobile, Panicker tagged Mahindra Group Managing Director and Chairman, Anand Mahindra, with a post that read, “@anandmahindra .image shows how the scorpio design turned generic and popular among Indian roads. This mans way of “dream big”” The tweet did not go unnoticed, and a mightily impressed Mahindra

replied, “Iconic. A way to 'Rise;.

Thanks for sharing this. Can you help locate him? I'd like to buy it for our museum & give him 4 wheels in return.”

The auto driver was located within three days, in Tiruvalla town of Pathanamthitta and soon enough, Mahindra tweeted a photo of Sunil with his rickshaw and a brand new Supro- Mahindra's small commercial four-wheeler. Panicker responded saying, “Hi sir.

Thanks. I spoke to Sunil as well. It was an amazing feeling.”

Rahul finds a new admirer in Amarinder

cases, and states that he was absent twice for a long time from duty in 2012 and 2016. It concludes that the charges were proved following an inquiry and “punishment is being given.”

“Absent from duty in 2016 due to a rape and corruption case registered against him during his posting at Gurdaspur.

Inquiry is being conducted,” the note reads. Salwinder was made a witness in the NIA chargesheet but a parliamentary panel report earlier this year termed his “release” by terrorists as “questionable and suspicious.”

Army Major held for RJ wife's suicide

HYDERABAD: Police arrested the husband of radio jockey Sandhya Singh, 13 days after she was found hanging at the Army quarters in Bolarum. The police booked a case against Major Vaibhav Vishal, 30, currently posted in Secunderabad. “According to the complaint, Sandhya ended her life due to dowry harassment by Vaibhav Vishal, his mother Asha Singh, and his sister Khushi alias Megha Rai.” However, his statement could not be recorded as he remains in the Army area. “We were informed by Army officials that the accused is currently admitted in ICU of the Army Hospital,” DCP B Sumathi said.

Farmer offers reward for covering open borewell

BENGALURU: D Maranna, a farmer from Gangavathi has set aside Rs 100,000 from his farm income to reward those who cover open borewells. “Cover an open borewell, take a photo and Whatsapp it to my number 8861318934. You will be rewarded Rs 500,” he said. Every time a child accidentally falls into an uncovered pit, the tragedy becomes a national tragedy. “This should not happen. We should stop kids from falling into borewells and this can be done by covering all open borewells,” Maranna said.

Kerala issues order to reinstate Senkumar as DGP

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Government issued an order to reinstate T P Senkumar as the Director General of Police (DGP). The current DGP Loknath Behera has been made Director, Vigilance and Anti-corruption Bureau. The Supreme Court earlier issued contempt notice to Kerala's Chief Secretary for not reinstating Senkumar as state DGP. The response has been sought by Monday. The apex court also imposed a fine of Rs. 25,000 on the state for seeking clarification on it verdict of reappointing Senkumar as DGP. Earlier, the Kerala Government had filed a modification petition before the top court seeking clarification on its order to reinstate Senkumar as the state police chief.

CHANDIGARH: Haryana Assembly unanimously passed a bill, giving a 900 per cent hike in office allowance and 20 per cent hike in the salaries of the speaker, deputy speaker, leader of opposition and ministers. According to the amendment, the salaries of the ministers have been increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 and the office allowance from Rs 2,000 to Rs 20,000 per month. The increase would push extra expenditure of about Rs 5370,000 per year.

Rahul Gandhi with Amarinder Singh

SP Salwinder Singh

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Pay hike for Haryana ministers

Punjab to axe tainted Pathankot SP CHANDIGARH: SP Salwinder Singh, whose official vehicle was waylaid and used by Pakistan's Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists to reach and attack the Air Force base in Pathankot, is all set to be dismissed from service. Ever since the incident that occurred in January last year, Singh has been interrogated four times by the National Investigation Agency, and subjected to a liedetector test after he repeatedly denied any role in the attack that claimed the lives of seven security personnel.

A note for his dismissal was prepared by the Chief Minister's Office and the Home Department last week after analysing legal advice.

Five reasons have been cited for his dismissal, out of which, two are of serious nature and involved allegations of sexual harassment by a lady constable in Gurdaspur, and bigamy.

The note also said that he has been chargesheeted in both

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CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had the “potential” to become the Prime Minister of the country. In an interview to a news channel, he said he always found Gandhi “extremely perceptive and decisive”. “There was a deliberate attempt to undermine his image by calling him names.”

Singh said the time was right for a “generational change” in the Congress to cater to aspirations of the 70 per cent youth population of the country. He also spoke about the drug menace in the state, and said he could turn things around overnight, but his government had successfully

created the right “enabling environment” for the elimination of drugs, which were now less available. He also pointed out that it would be difficult to wean the youth completely away from the products, without offering them incentives like employment.

“Industrial revival will lead to large-scale creation of employment opportunities in the state,” he added.

Singh said his government was working to encourage farmers, 70 per cent of whom were small farmers, to diversify and shift from paddy to cash crops. “Such small farmers, who have less than 5 acres of land, will not be able to survive imposition of taxes as envisaged by the Nity Aayog.”

Police launch massive search operation in Pathankot

PATHANKOT: Punjab police have launched a massive search operation to track down three people who went missing after abandoning a robbed SUV at a village in Pathankot. Officers said the three were directed to stop at a checkpost at Berhampur in the district, but instead, sped through it. Pathankot SSP said the SUV was robbed by the suspects from Sambha in Jammu. The SSP said the three were not dressed in army or police fatigues, as was the case with the 2015 terrorist attack in Gurdaspur. The SUV had a fake registration number.

Haryana MLA under tax lens after raid

NEW DELHI: The Income Tax Department is currently probing a sitting Haryana MLA for alleged links with a food processing unit in Jind, where recently conducted raids unearthed unaccounted assets worth £1 million. Sources said the MLA has refused to appear so far, despite being summoned by the investigating officer. Identity of the person or the party he represents has been kept under wraps.

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Early Arrival of Islam in Southern India PM Modi gifted a replica of the Cheraman Juma Masjid to the Saudi King Dr. Hari Desai

I

n April 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s guest was King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The King is not only the ruler of Saudi Arabia, but is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.

Saudi Arabia’s absolute monarch, who is a tweetlover, has reigned since the death of his half-brother King Abdullah in January 2015. PM Modi gifted him a gold-plated replica of the Cheraman Juma Masjid in Kerala.

The PM tweeted on 3 April 2016 says : “In Thrissur district,

focus. Narendra Modi ji did great thing. It will help world to understand cultural evolution and Hindu liberalism. It’s also 2nd oldest mosque in world, Hindu king converted temple in mosque for Muslim traders. Secularist textbook misses this.”

The early arrival of Islam to India was through the traders from Arabia and not “through the bloody invasions by holding sword in one hand and the Holy Koran in another” as being conveyed by some misguided people. The political Islam arrived much later, in 712 AD, with Arab invader Muhammad bin Qasim in Sindh, by defeating the Brahmin King Dahir Sen. It may surprise one how the early

The gold-plated replica of the oldest mosque in India

Cheraman Juma Masjid is believed to be the first mosque built by Arab traders around 629 AD. Cheraman Juma Masjid is symbolic of active trade relations between India

Old pulpit of the Masjid

and Saudi Arabia since ancient times. According to oral tradition, Cheraman Perumal was the Chera King and a contemporary of the Holy Prophet.

Cheraman Perumal went to Arabia and embraced Islam after meeting the Holy Prophet at Mecca.

The mosque has an ancient oil lamp that is always kept burning and believed to be over a thousand years old.

People from all religions bring oil for the lamp as an offering.”

A tweet by Prof. Rakesh Sinha, Honorary Director of India Policy Foundation(IPF), can also be seen on the official website of PMO : “ India bringing this mosque in

arrival of Christianity and Islam in India was through the land of Kerala which is today called “God’s own Country”. The present day Kerala was a sea route for the traders from the Gulf to Ceylon(earlier Sighal Dweep and now known as Sri Lanka), the ancient ports on Malabar coast played important role for all the traders, whether they were Jews, Christians, Chinese or Arabs. St. Thomas, one of Jesus’s twelve disciples, is believed to have reached Kerala in the year 52 AD. Even today the Syrian Christians take pride in their ancestors being the Namboodiri Brahmins. Kodungallur (

Old pulpit of the Masjid

are Muslims, 18.38% are Christians, and the remaining 0.32% follow other religion or no religion. The most literate state of India has a track record of communal harmony barring some stray incidents of political rift. The Chief Minister of Kerala for two terms( 2004-2009 and 2011-2016), Ooman Chandy, has described the character of a Malayalee in a statement released some time back : “Kerala has been keeping close to its heart the teachings of its noble son and great social

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud with the goldplated replica of Cheraman Juma Masjid

anglicized name : Cranganore) on the south western border of Thrissur district was the capital city of the Chera dynasty. The Roman empire, the Chinese as well as the Arabs had a trading connection with various ancient ports on Malabar coast of Kerala. Dr. G. Krishnan Nadar in “History of Kerala” notes : “The Arabs came into contact with the natives and they took native women as wives. The union of the native women and Arab merchants produced a new race and they were called Moplahs, who speak Malayalam.”

Some of the historians like New Zealand-based Rakesh Krishnan Simha dispute whether King

The Plaque showing the year of building as 629 AD

View of the 1400 year old Cheraman Masjid of Kerala

only an Arab merchant but was also a “sahaba” or a companion of the Prophet.

A defunct Hindu temple or Buddha Vihar was handed over to build the first mosque in Kerala i.e.

Cheraman Jama Masjid.

Malik Ibn Dinar was the first Ghazi of the mosque,

Dr. A. P.J. Abdul Kalam visits Cheraman Masjid in 2005

Cheraman Perumal and the Prophet were contemporary, but most of the historians, including A. Sreedhara Menon, who wrote “A Survey of Kerala History”, prefer to present the legends that they were not only contemporaries but did meet in Mecca, King Cheraman embraced Islam and Holy Prophet gave him new name i.e.

Tajuddin, he married the sister of the king of Arabia, stayed there for five years and on his return journey he fell sick and died in Oman. Before his death, he wrote letters to his nominees to entertained Malik Ibn Dinar, who was not

succeeded by his nephew, Habib Bin Malik. Both Habib Bin Malik and his wife are entombed at the Cheraman Juma Masjid.

The mosque follows the architectural style of the Hindus and is built using brass. There are carvings in

The old lamp inside the Masjid

reformer Sree Narayana Guru, who exhorted the people to shun the way of divisiveness based on caste and creed. Tolerance is an integral part of the Malayalee psyche. This is what prompted Cheraman Perumal, the 7 CE Hindu ruler based at Kodungallur, to give away land for building a mosque, the first in India. And at a time when Jews were facing persecution in different parts of the world, it was King Bhaskar Ravi Varma, who gave perpetual asylum Achandratharam(so long as the moon and stars exist) to the 8th century Jewish merchant Joseph Rabban. Aryabhatta , the mathematician, is credited with finding the shape of the earth, some thousand years before Copernicus.

Shankaracharya of Kaladi, the great philosopher-saint

the place where the Imam recites the Friday prayer or Jumuah. This is built in the rosewood pulpit in 629 AD, some three years before departure of the Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) from this world. The mosque contains white marble that is believed to have been bought from Mecca. The mosque is believed to have been renovated so many times. The President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam also visited the Cheraman Juma Masjid on 29 July 2005 and o f f e r e d prayers. The followers of all the religions in Kerala continue to visit the Holy place to offer prayers and oil to the lamp.

The Cheraman Juma Masjid, the oldest and renovated one The site where St. Thomas landed of the country, bestowed in 52 AD is just five kilomeKeralites with wisdom and ter from the mosque at logical thinking. All of Kodungallur, famous these illustrious sons of Bhagavathy temple is just Kerala guided Keralites two kilometer away, through the centuries.” Do Mahadev temple and the we need to add anything old palaces of the Chera further? kings are 250 yards away.

There seems to be real reliNext Column: Maharaja gious harmony.

Ranjit Singh: A Great According to 2011 Ruler as a Role Model Census of India figures, of the total population of (The writer is a Socio33,406,061 in Kerala, political Historian.

54.73% of Kerala's resiEmail: dents are Hindus, 26.56% haridesai@gmail.com)

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INDIA-WORLD

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

CIA, South plotting to assassinate Kim: N Korea SEOUL: Kim Jong Un's North Korea has accused the US Central Intelligence Agency and South Korea's intelligence service of a scheme to attack its “supreme leadership” with a bio-chemical weapon, stating such a “pipe dream” could never succeed.

North's news agency KCNA quoted a ministry statement as saying, “The CIA of the US and the Intelligence Service (IS) of South Korea, hotbed of evils in the world, hatched a vicious plot to hurt the supreme leadership of the DPRK and those acts have been put into the extreme-

Kim Jong Un

ly serious phase of implementation after crossing the threshold of the DPRK.” It also added, “A

hideous terrorists' group, which the CIA and the IS infiltrated into the DPRK on the basis of covert and meticulous preparations to commit state-sponsored terrorism against the supreme leadership of the DPRK by use of biochemical substance, has been recently detected.”

KCNA said the two intelligence services “ideologically corrupted” and bribed a North Korean surnamed Kim and turned him into a “terrorist full of repugnance and revenge against the supreme leadership of the DPRK. They told him that assassination by use of

biochemical substances, including radioactive substance and nano poisonous substance is the best method that does not require access to the target, their lethal results will appear after six or 12 months.”

Tension on the Korean peninsula has been high for several weeks as concerns that North Korea might conduct its sixth nuclear test or test-launch another ballistic missile in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions, loom.

Meanwhile, Kim warned this week that US hostility had brought the region to the brink of nuclear war.

Project ‘Life’ undertakes humanitarian activities Began in 1978 under the patronage of Saurashtra Medical & Educational Charitable Trust, Project 'Life' operates in different fields of humanitarian activities since the past 38 years. With a goal to reach out to people living in the last mile, and improving their living standard, the organisation gives access to the inaccessible.

Several dignitaries and professionals have visited the organisation, including Christian missionary Mother Teresa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amitabh Bachchan and wife Jaya, Shabana Azmi, Morari Bapu, Sachin Tendulkar, and others. In the Education Sector, Project 'Life' contribution can be described as matchless. In the aftermath of the 2001 earthquake that ruined the rural areas in

several parts of Gujarat, Project 'Life' undertook an initiative to construct the building infrastructure of primary schools in several rural areas across the state.

Until now, infrastructure of 71 schools has been achieved.

The foundation has now set a goal of building 108 primary schools. It has also launched a 'Kit-based Science Education' programme with the sponsorship of the USA-based nongovernment organisations New York Life Foundation and Share & Care Foundation. The programme aims to well-verse the primary school going students from the remotest villages of Gujarat in science and mental aptitude.

Initiated in 2008, the 'Life Women Empowerment Centre' aims to make widows and

women living 'Below Poverty Line' self-reliant, by training them in trades like sewing, embroidery work, computer operation, catering and beauty parlour.

Trained women are provided with vocational-kits provided free-of-cost.

Project 'Life' also manages the 'Life Blood Centre initiated in 1981, state-ofthe-art infrastructure, spread across 15,000 square feet building area. The centre has issued 561,172 units of blood and blood components until now.

Project ‘Life’ through ‘Life Greenfield Centre’ addresses greening the environment initiative, for a better healthy tomorrow of the nation and citizens. Initiated in 1990, till now 251,165 plants nurtured up to 6-8 feet have been delivered, for replantation through ‘Life Greenfield Centre’.

Kejri takes bribe, alleges minister

Continued from page 01 adding that it was his decision to confront the Delhi CM about the scam that cost him his job. As media speculations began following his removal, several reasons came up, with the prominent two being Mishra's failure to fulfil the party's promise about the state's water shortage, and his public support for AAP leader Kumar Vishwas who criticised the party leadership last week for allowing MLAs to air allegations that he was undermining the government.

Mishra, meanwhile,

submitted documents to the Anti-Corruption Branch against Kejriwal in connection with an alleged water tanker scam. He also said he has sought an appointment with the CBI to register a complaint. Drama intensified over the weekend as Kejriwal maintained silence on the allegations, but his wife Sunita, chose to display her irritation, as she claimed the brother-in-law dragged in the controversy died. Jain, and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia attacked the sacked minister, saying he had “lost his mental balance” and lev-

elling “baseless allegations”.

Tweeting in Hindi, Sisodia said, “PAC is going on, even the embers in the funeral pyre of someone, have not gone cold and allegation is being made in his name.

Has humanity died? Such baseless charge. Get some evidence.”

Jain rubbished Mishra's charge, saying “no deal took place” between him and Kejri and it was just an “attempt to defame the AAP”. “He (Mishra) says Kejriwal's brother-in-law was to get the favour from a deal. It is shameful and disgusting. He is making alle-

NRG Centre: In 2011, Gujarat Government entrusted one of its six Non-Resident Gujaratis (NRG) centres to Project ‘Life’, Rajkot.

Whenever NRIs and NRGs visit their motherland they were given information regarding tourism, ‘Gujarat Card’ etc. by this NRG centre. Seminars have also been organized in past by this centre on topics of interest to NRIs and NRGs. For more details please contact Mrs. Bina Sanghvi Mr. Bhogilal Sanghvi Life Global UK, 36, Northwood way, Northwood HA6 1AT London : UK Phone : +44 (0) 7801 150338 (Mrs. Bina Sanghvi) Phone : +44 (0) 7484 332422 (Mr. Bhogilal Sanghvi) gation about a man who is dead.”

AAP characteristically chose to blame the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying it was a big conspiracy hatched by them through Mishra and that Kejriwal would not resign over the “baseless allegations”. It also asserted that Mishra was making such allegations against Kejriwal “out of desperation” after being expelled from the Cabinet. AAP leader Sanjay Singh said, “A game of exploitation is being played against the AAP. The BJP is hatching a conspiracy against the AAP through Mishra.”

International Court freezes Jadhav's execution The International Court of Justice in Hague has put a freeze on the death sentence given by Pakistan to Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian national it accused of spying. A letter has been sent to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in this regard.

The International Court's response came after an appeal from India, which

accused Pakistan of "egregious violations of the Vienna Convention" and sought a stay on Jadhav's death sentence. An official statement from the Ministry of External Affairs is awaited.

Pakistan claimed that Jadhav was arrested from the restive Balochistan province last year on March 3. A military court sen-

tenced him to death, alleging he was working as a spy for intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing or RAW. Pakistan also claimed that he was "a

serving officer in the Indian Navy."

India has rubbished the claims, saying Jadhav, a retired Navy officer, was kidnapped from Iran where he was running a business.

Pakistan has turned down 16 requests from India for consular access to Jadhav.

His mother of has filed an appeal at a higher court in Pakistan.

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Lets celebrate Fathers’ Day with Pitru Vandana - Bhuli Bisri Yaade Following the magnificent success of Matru Vandana events in London, Leicester, Birmingham, and Preston in March and April this year, and the heart-warming response to Matru Vandana Special magazine, Gujarat Samachar and Asian Voice now plan “Pitru Vandana with Bhuli Bisri Yaade” programmes across Britain on June 18 Fathers’ Day. A father is the pillar of a happy home, a role model to his children, the mere base on which an entire family sustains. He is always on the road; fulfilling a responsibility or a demand, striving for his family, doing his best to deliver the best. We give you the golden opportunity to express gratitude to the strongest person on the planet. A beautiful magazine will be released on the occasion, featuring doting fathers and their stories.

Those who wish to feature their father on the cover page of the magazine, along with a write up inside, arrange for an exclusive interview, or write a tribute, contact us.

To repay our patriarchs for years of undeterred strength and love, Gujarat Samachar and Asian Voice have personally requested famed Indian singer Maya Dipak to come down to the UK and enthral us with her

melodious voice. To make the evenings more memorable, the programmes will also feature local artists with old Hindi film songs, along with devotional renditions.

Gujarat Samachar and Asian Voice will organise two shows (including dinner) on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th June 2017 at Masefield Suites, Harrow Leisure Centre, Christchurch Avenue Harrow, HA3 5BD. On both days ticket prices for first 8 rows are £15 and for remaining seats are for £12.

If you buy tickets then you can get same number of free tickets for Anand Mela.

We are also happy to announce that Pitru Vandana with Bhuli Bisri Yaade shows will also be held at Cardiff on Friday 23rd June 2017. (For tickets please contact Vimlaben Patel 07979 155 320).

Another show will be held at Leicester, date with details for which, will be announced soon.

If you wish to share your information or need more details about the special magazine, organise shows and tickets, please contact Kamal Rao 020 7749 4001/ 0787 5 229 211 or email kamal.rao@abplgroup.co m and Kokila Patel on 07875 229 177 or kokila.patel@abplgroup.com

Sankarshan comes to Govardhan

The tallest deity form of Lord Balaram (known as Sankarshan) was installed at the foothills of Govardhan (Vrindavan) last week.

Lord Krishna devotees witnessed a unique sight when the statue, at a height of 24 feet, was installed across the Braj Bhumi. Thousands of Krishna devotees from all across the globe walk around the 21 km of Govardhan Parikrama path. The Balaram statue was given as a gift to Braj Bhoomi by Sri Srimanna Narayan Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji. It was sculpted by a dedicated group of 22, who chiselled a mono-

lithic black granite stone for over a year in the foothills of TirupatiTirumala hills. It was established on a 12 feet high podium at Sankarshan Kund, Anyore, Govardhan.

Development Director for Braj Foundation, Trikalajya Das said thousands of devotees from Delhi, ministers and senior officials of Uttar Pradesh and other eminent personalities witnessed the erection of the statue. For years, Braj Foundation has been working on a mammoth programme of restoring and recreating the Braj Bhumi heritage.

AsianVoiceNews

health & lifestyle

www.asian-voice.com

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

| Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

27

40% Asians Still Diabetic!

The Princess and the Dragon 'Are you out of your mind?' said Princess Leila, with her hands on her hips. 'It’s a dragon. A DRAGON! I am staying right here.'

'But princess ...' began the Knight.

'And take that silly armour off, will you?' interrupted the Princess, flapping her hands. 'It's making my eyes water.

What do you do, spend your days scrubbing it until you can see your reflection?'

She turned and trundled back into the cave from which she had come.

The Knight took his helmet off and sighed.

Looks like he had come all this way for nothing.

What was he going to tell the King? The poor man had promised half the jewels in his entire kingdom for the safe return of his daughter. Whereas his daughter … The Knight shook his head.

Debating whether to go after the Princess or head back to the castle, he was about to climb his horse when …

BOOM! All around him, the silent forest exploded in a flash of light. Birds flew off burning trees and squirrels ran up his armour in their haste to get away from the flames.

His horse bolted into the trees and didn’t look back.

The cave lay exposed as the trees around it caught fire and slowly withered away.

The Knight snapped his helmet back on, shook off the squirrels and ran full tilt into the cave, coughing as the smoke entered his lungs.

‘PRINCESS!’ he cried, desperately waving at the smoke but it didn’t budge.

‘PRINCESS!’ he shouted again. Only silence greeted him.

Trying not to think about the Dragon’s sharp jaws snapping shut on his outstretched arms, he began to slowly grope his way forward. He stumbled over loose stones littering the cave floor.

‘PRINCESS!’ ‘Shut up will you?’ hissed a voice in his ear.

Alarmed, he jumped back.

‘Princess?’ he said uncertainly. He didn’t know why he was whispering.

‘Let’s get out of here,’ said the Princess again and took hold of his hand, leading him back the way from which he had come.

The Knight walked uncertainly behind her,

stumbling now and again.

Out in the open air, the Knight stood coughing and wheezing, trying to get some air into his lungs.

‘Told you … not … to … mix with … Dragons,’ he spluttered.

The Princess glared at him.

‘I will have you know that the Dragon was a perfect gentleman. Or … a gentle egg, rather. It was his mother that was the problem.’

‘Wait … what?’ said the Knight. He coughed once more.

‘Well, for starters, she has really bad manners, blowing up the cave like that just because she found me playing with her egg,’ said the Princess.

She started pacing around the clearing. The Knight watched her wear a circle into the smoking grass.

‘We really should get out of here,’ he said, with a nervous glance back at the cave.

‘No,’ said the Princess, turning to look at the Knight. ‘I want a Dragon.

We are going to steal that egg.’

What happens next?

So the princess wants to steal a dragon’s egg. Is she successful and what about the poor knight who really doesn’t want to get mixed up in this?

Stay tuned!

Results show that a significant percentage of Asians, particularly Indian, are still diabetic and the numbers do not seem to have gone down in the last five years.

This is according to Ravi Bhanot, from Coolherbals, who supervised 60 adults being tested at the UK Diabetic Conference – part of the Ayurveda Festival on 1st May at the Nehru Centre in Mayfair, London.

Rita Sharma who headed the team of testers said “I was surprised that a high number of Asians still have high blood glucose levels.

We really need to address this problem urgently.”

“By enabling people to sample treatments and experience Ayurveda for themselves it gives people a chance to see options available in beauty, better health and well-being. It seems evident from our results that people need to take responsibility for their health and wellbeing on all levels –mind, body and spirit. It is only when you can try out treatments such as pain relieving potlis to relaxing reiki, toga and meditation and Ayurvedic doctor consultations can one explore options.’ –said Sushma Bhanot, Co-director of Coolherbals.

“It is not all gloom for the future of Asians and diabetes” argued Dr Serasinghe from Middlesex University “some herbs such as Triphala have shown positive results in controlling type 2 diabetes though more research is required.”

Heather Mason from The Minded Institute said “Research shows that yoga can affect the DNA in peo-

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ple. This can help in better health.”

S a n g e e t a Seedar, an NHS dietician aid “Asian diets need to follow the Government’s NICE guidelines. It is recommended that people with diabetes have a balanced meal with less carbohydrates.

“Dhruv Patel, a prospective MP for Brent North said, “Alternative health options may be a way forward to reducing drug costs.”

The results were done at the Ayurveda Festival.

Nehru Centre was transformed into an Ayurveda Oasis - with lush waterfalls, fragranced bouquets and aromatic mists. The front floor was converted into an ayurvedic spa from ayurvedic head massages, reiki, henna, ayurvedic facials and pain relieving treatments. To calm down after all this excitement, the Yoga and Meditation Zone was there to provide peace and sanctuary. Speakers from as far as the USA kept the audience captivated with interesting lectures on An Ayurvedic Way Of Life and The Paradox Of Happiness.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

One of the practitioners

The event saw a record number attending Nehru Centre. “I think this is a reflection of Ayurveda and alternative natural health and beauty treatments and products getting more popular.” said Ravi Bhanot, director of Coolherbals.

Ravi Bhanot addressing the audience

To get more information from the Experts who spoke about diabetes at the UK Diabetes Conference please email ravi@coolherbals.com.

The photographer was positioning my new husband and me for our wedding photos when he asked, “Have you ever modeled?”

My cheeks instantly turned red. “No, I haven’t,” I said.

“But I always thought ... ” The photographer interrupted me: “I meant him.” *** When asked for his name by the coffee shop clerk, my brother-in-law answered, “Marc, with a C.” Minutes later, when he was handed his coffee with his name written on the side: Cark.

*** A therapist has a theory that couples who make love once a day are the happiest. So he tests it at a seminar by asking those assembled, “How many people here make love once a day?” Half the people raise their hands, each of them grinning widely.

“Once a week?” A third of the audience members raise their hands, their grins a bit less vibrant.

“Once a month?” A few hands tepidly go up.

Then he asks, “OK, how about once a year?”

One man in the back jumps up and down, jubilantly waving his hands.

The therapist is shocked—this disproves his theory.

“If you make love only once a year,” he asks, “why are you so happy?”

The man yells, “Today’s the day!”

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Wanted to take my audience through an 'Baahubali 2' creates history by crossing electrifying emotional rollercoaster: SS Rajamouli £100 mn mark AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

13th May 2017

Charusmita

says, “I wanted the audience to feel the same intense emotions I felt when I envisioned these characters coming to life.”

'Baahubali – The Conclusion', just like its predecessor, is a visual feast. If you thought the first film was grand, this one ups the scale in terms of grandeur, heroism, music, and drama. Actor Prabhas, who did not sign any other film for four years just to work on this project, is endearing and fierce at the same time, while Ramya Krishnan as Sivagami is vulnerable and mighty. You can almost feel the plight of all the characters who fight with strong convictions of righteousness, except the brilliant Rana Dagubatti as Bhallaladeva, who fights and manipulates for what he thinks is his right.

'Baahubali – The Conclusion' must not be missed being watched on cinema screen of the largest dimensions.

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SS

Rajamouli's 'Baahubali 2: The Conclusion', starring Prabhas and Rana Daggubati in the leads has grossed £100 million at the worldwide collection in 10 days of its release. The multilingual film is all set to release in Japan and China, which will help the film in its box-office collection.

The total collections now stands at £104.7 million in 10 days. The Hindi version

itself has collected as much as £50.8 million in 10 days.

While fans have been looking forward to another sequel of the film, however, the ace-director made it clear through his tweet that there won't be any more films. "And with this last leg of promotion in London, my job with Baahubali film series is completely over. A big hug and thanks to everyone," he said.

Marriage forces star walkout of 'Naragasooran'?

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fter making a splash with his 'Dhuruvangal 16', young director Karthick Naren's follow up 'Naragasooram' features four central characters from the four states of the South. It was also reported that Arvind Swamy from Tamil and Naga Chaitanya from Telugu have been signed to play the leads in the film. However, Naga walked out citing dates

he cast and crew of 'Baahubali', SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus, was in London for the last leg of promotions for 'Baahubali The Conclusion'. As part of the UK India Year of Culture, the BFI has embarked on a celebration of Indian film throughout the rest of 2017, a series under which 'BaahubaliThe Conclusion' was selected to be screened on the 2nd of May at BFI Southbank.

Before the screening, Director SS Rajamouli, shared his vision and expectations from the film in a one-on-one with Asian Voice.

Amongst all the praise, for Rajamouli, the one thing that would draw him to the theatre as an audience is the strength of his characters and the powerful storyline of the film, a taste of which was given by the first film. As he says, “'Baahubali' is an interna-

tional film. While it is rooted in ancient India, it is not completely Indianin terms of architecture, music, and so on. It has a sense of aspiration and represents modern India to a great extent, especially with its female characters. I feel this makes it quite relevant to the BFI India on Film series.”

Rajamouli’s myriad inspirations ranged from the Amar Chitra Katha comics, folklore tales, ancient epics, to films like

'Ben Hur', 'Ten Commandments', and 'Braveheart'. As he puts it, “These have been inside my mind for the longest time, and this is why, there was not even a single day during the last 4-5 years of filming that I did not enjoy nurturing the film’s characters.”

His father, K.V. Vijayendra Prasad, narrated 'Baahubali' to him when Rajamouli was a child, and the characters were extremely gripping. He

Prabhas' wax statue at Madame Tussauds

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issue, prompting speculations of his impending marriage to actress Samantha. The latest two additions are Shriya Saran and Indrajith Sukumaran.

SS Rajamouli with Charusmita

rabhas' impressive acting in the 'Baahubali' franchise has made him a sensation across the globe. From over £25 million as pay, to ladies drooling over his rugged good looks, the actor has surely hit the jackpot with the film.

Now in the latest feather in his cap, the actor will get a wax statue at the famous Madame Tussauds, Bangkok. Prabhas is the first South Indian star to get his own wax statue, a feat in itself, beating superstars like

Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan. Excited, the actor said, “I am really happy to have been selected by Madame Tussauds' and I think this was only possible because of fans. I am grateful for their unconditional love and support. I am also thankful to my guru, SS Rajamouli, for the opportunity to work on this fantastic project 'Baahubali'.” A report said the actor met the artists where over 350 photographs and measurements were taken to get a close-to-life recreation of his likeness.

Meanwhile, the actor, one of the most eligible bachelors in tinsel town, reportedly received over 6,000 marriage proposals during the shooting for both 'Baahubali: The Beginning' and 'Baahubali 2: The Conclusion'.

Vijay Sethupathi donates 100 sovereigns of Gold

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irector SP Jananathan has begun a new organisation named the 'Ulagayutha Foundation', for which a press meet was organised last month, during which 100 technicians from South Indian Film industry were honoured. Several celebrities participated in the event, as a mark of respect to the veterans who were honoured. It was announced that Vijay Sethupathi sponsored the 100 sovereigns of gold to honour the technicians with gold medals.

'Sarkar 3'

An Indian political crime thriller film directed by Ram Gopal Varma, featuring Amitabh Bachchan in the lead.

Sunaina roped in for Gautham Menon's ENPT!

G 'Meri Pyaari Bindu'

A writer finds inspiration in her past memories and ex-girlfriend.

autham Menon's film with Dhanush has roped in Megha Akash in the female lead.

Already creating a good hype with its single songs 'Maru Vaarthai' and 'Naan Pizhaipeno', the latest update is that actress

Sunaina of 'Kavalai Vendam' fame will play an important role in the film.

She is also expecting the release of her film 'Thondan' with Samuthirakani. Her portions in Menon's upcoming have already been shot.

www.asian-voice.com

Akshay Kumar receives best actor award AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

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ce actor Akshay Kumar received his National Award for Best Actor ('Rustom') from President Pranab Mukherjee last week in a ceremony held in Rashtrapati Bhavan. His win for the role was long challenged by several who debated that Aamir Khan in 'Dangal' and Manoj Bajpayee in 'Aligarh' were more deserving. The debate heated up to the point that National Award jury chief Priyadarshan was accused of favouritism.

Dressed in a bandhgala, Akshay was accompanied by his wife and author Twinkle Khanna, and their 14 year old son Aarav. On receiving the award, the 'Hera Pheri' actor said, “To finally take my last few steps towards the President of India to receive my National Award felt almost

I don’t lobby for awards – Sonam Kapoor

Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

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unreal. I've never felt so light and so humbled at the same time. When one works day in and day out, as I do, something like this isn't just an honour, it's a moment in time where everything makes sense. No matter how hard the journey may have been, to stand here now, in front of

my family, is the cherry on this almighty cake we call life.”

Other awardees included Zaira Wasim for Best Supporting Actress in 'Dangal', Mohanlal who received the Jury Award, and Sonam Kapoor who was given a Special Mention for 'Neerja'.

eerja' actress Sonam Kapoor is on Cloud 9 since the moment she received her very first National Award for the movie. At the ceremony with her family, and alleged boyfriend Anand Ahuja, Sonam said, “It's amazing because I am here with my parents and it's a matter of great pride. For me receiving the award being Anil Kapoor's daughter is the biggest joy because I don't lobby for awards.

Funnily, I didn't feel any pressure or nervousness, I just feel light because this is a huge validation.”

Despite her role in the film being widely acclaimed, the 31 year old, however, failed to bag any Bollywood awards, with most of them going to her contemporary Alia Bhatt for her fantastic

country. However, what caught everybody's attention was the lack of shows in theatres owned

by Wanda Cinemas, the world's largest cinema chain owner.

After initially allotting 3,000 screens for the

film, the group reportedly backtracked, with 'Dangal' being shown in just 37 screens. A writer for box office tracker, Tieba said, “I found that there was nearly no film schedule for 'Dangal' in Wanda Cinemas. After close inspection, I found the company in charge of the domestic distribution of the film was Hua Ying Tian Xia, whose chairman and manager had previously moved from Wanda to Huaying.”

Another independent writer said, “Wanda is disgusting, probably because of Huayi's relationship. I cannot find one session (of the movie) in Taian Wanda c i n e m a !

Almost every city is like this! Wanda had a bad future, as they are so narrow minded and how can they

make progress!”

Well-known Chinese actor Deng Chao supported Aamir saying, “Friend comes from afar, ask you to warmly welcome him. Please repost and support.”

However, the film fared really well, tugging at the audiences' hearts. “I saw # “Wrestling” at midnight last night. This movie is definitely good and worth watching. Aamir Khan’s greatness lays in seeing India’s problems, and not just talks, but takes action to do revolutionary. Every movie has a significant impact and this individual has a huge impact on society and government.

There is no such filmmaker in China,” a user said. Another wrote, “Ran to see 'Dangal' and I really got a lot of things to say. Although not yet used to Indian films dubbed in Chinese, each time the two girls started wrestling and participating in various game, I was really excited. Everything could be changed in two minutes, 120 seconds.”

showing the channel was too “focused on middleaged, middle class audiences” and that it could “do more for the wider public, ethnic minorities and younger groups.” It also said that “too many older people, especially women, feel they're negatively portrayed on TV.” BBC also announced other

shows are 'The Little Women', 'The War of the Worlds', and 'Black Narcissus'.”

'A Suitable Boy', released in 1993, is one of the longest English language novels to have ever been published. It is about widow Rupa Mehra's efforts to find a suitable boy for her 19 year old daughter Lata.

Aamir’s 'Dangal' unstoppable at Chinese box office

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amir Khan's 'Dangal' seems to have tapped success for eternity; now creating a storm in China.

Despite being caught up in a distribution controversy, the film released to almost 7,000 screens across the

Vikram Seth's 'A Suitable Boy' to be BBC's first drama with non-white characters

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he BBC has chosen Vikram Seth's 'A Suitable Boy' as its first period drama zero white characters. Written

by Andrew Davies, the book will be converted into an eight-part series, filming for which will begin later this year.

BBC's head of drama, Piers Wenger said it was part of “a deliberate

gamble” to adapt a novel with no white characters.

He said, “We know that the biggest risks deliver the biggest hits and in a landscape which is so fast changing, ideas need to be well ahead of the curve.”

BBC's announcement came just after its regulator Ofcom said they found audience feedback

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performance as a Bihari girl in 'Udta Punjab'.

Sources reported that the actress was quite disappointed with the response.

“Contrary to what people think, I work really hard on every project and I do it with a lot of integrity.

When a film like this ('Neerja') wins an award, it's reassuring as everyone

is part of a competition and the rat race. It's about putting your head down, being focused and working at your own pace. I've realised that aggression doesn't work in the long run. It affects you mentally and physically, and eventually burns you out. If you are kind and honest, it should be enough,” the actress said.

Amitabh Bachchan's 'Sarkar 3' in legal battle

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am Gopal Varma's 'Sarkar 3' got in legal trouble with Narendra Hirawat & Co who filed a case against the makers. The holder of copyrights of over 1,300 movies, the company also acquired the copyrights of 'Sarkar' franchise after the second part was released, and thus, is in possession of prequel, sequel, remake, and other irreversible world negative rights in perpetuity.

Shreyans Hirawat, executive head of Narendra Hirawat & Co., released a statement saying, “We are extremely disappointed with this move from the producers of 'Sarkar 3'. As a cautionary step, we even issued a notice to the makers in October 2016, but they have still failed to obtain permission from us for the release of the movie.

We bought all the legal rights of 'Sarkar' franchise years ago and are left with no other option than to approach the high court.”

He added, “Looking at the current situation, we are hopeful that the court will grant injunction and subsequently stop the release of 'Sarkar 3'.”

Meanwhile, a statement from production house Alumbra Entertainment & Media Pvt Ltd read, “The press release issued by Narendra Hirawat & Co is not only distasteful, represents false fact, but also against the law. The matter is currently sub-judice before the Bombay High Court. The press release falsely states that Narendra Hirawat & Co owns the prequel and sequel rights to movie 'Sarkar' along with remake rights.”

The third instalment of the franchise, 'Sarkar 3' featuring Amitabh Bachchan, is scheduled to release on May 12.

“Narendra Hirawat's own case before the Bombay High Court is that they are the assignees of only the remake rights of 'Sarkar' and nothing else,” the statement said.

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Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

Vishal and Shekhar Live in Concert After Shreya Ghoshal's full house show in April this year, Rock On Music brings you yet another raving concert. Get a taste of contemporary Bollywood with music directing duo Vishal and Shekhar as they set the stage on fire in UK this month.

The musicians who have been together since 1999, have rendered several hits in different genres over the years. They rose to popularity with their songs for 2003 hit movie

'Jhankaar Beats', for which they won the Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent.

Different personalities, with individual tastes in music, the two friends have composed songs for several hit films including 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan', 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani', and most recent 'Dear Zindagi'.

Vishal Dadlani is also the vocalist of Mumbai-based electronic band Pentagram.

He has collaborated with English singer and song

writer Imogen Heap for an episode of 'The Dewarists'.

Shekhar Ravjiani is a trained classical singer under Ustad Niaz Ahmed Khan, and has composed and sung Marathi songs.

They will perform in Royal Festival Hall, London, on 27th May, and in De Montfort Hall, Leicester, on 29th May. For further details, call on 0208 907 0116.

Jaipur Literature Festival in London set to showcase at British Library

Shrabani Basu, Vayu Naidu, Vidya Shah and William Dalrymple.

Supported by the Friends of the British Library, the inaugural 20th May Music extravaganza will come from Kabir Café.

A selection of free family activities and workshops accompanies the programme. Several discussions and debates on India in the global context will be at the core of the discussions. The festival will uphold and celebrate its core values which place equity, democratic access and free speech above all; with it's strong beliefs that for dialogue to be meaningful, there should be representation from all points of view.

The ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival returns to London presenting an opulent setting of South Asia’s literary heritage, oral and performing arts, books and ideas, dialogue and debate. The British Library spaces will be transformed in this two-day taster of the extraordinary free festival which takes place in the Rose City of Jaipur, India,

every January.

Plurality and inclusiveness will be at the core of this year's Festival programming. For a decade, the Jaipur Literature Festival has stood for diversity of ideas, languages,

Coming Events

l Brent Indian Association along with Sri Sathya Sai Organisation UK will hold a Free Health Awareness Day on May 14, Sunday at 10.00 am. 116 Ealing Road Wembley Middlesex HAD 4TH l RCOG Indian Liaison Group presents Spring Bonanza in aid of Global Healthcare India, The Silver Screen Divas on May 13, Saturday at 6.00 pm. The Bhavan 4a Castletown Road, West Kensington W14 9HE l Kshetra Dance Company presents its annual Bharatnatyam Dance Showcase on May 14, Sunday, from 5.20 pm to 7.30 pm. The Bhavan 4a Castletown Road, West Kensington W14 9HE l Sree Sree Thakur Anukul Chandra's Satsang on May 13, Saturday, 6.30 pm onwards, at the Brent Indian Association, 116 Ealing Road Wembley London HA0 4TH.

nationalities and subjects. The 2017 edition is no different in featuring multiple voices and viewpoints across genres collectively on one platform.

Writers so far confirmed include Ajoy Bose, Audrey Truschke, Chintan Chandrachud, Giles Milton, Guillermo Rodriguez, Helena Kennedy, JP Losty, John Elliott, John Keay, Jon Wilson, Katherine Butler Schofield, Meera Syal, Mihir Sharma, Namita Gokhale, Nayanika Mahtani, Neel Madhav, Patrick French, Philip Norman, Shashi Tharoor,

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Sneh Joshi

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20 Ideas and plans will come

easily to you during this period but with such volume be sure to channel your efforts well. Pitches and new proposals should be very positive as you will be more articulate than usual. You will also be able to assert yourself more readily but avoid heated discussions and don’t be hasty as it could cost you.

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 Mars is transiting your solar

second house this time, extra care should be exercised when it comes to new financial initiatives. There may be the need to resolve old, nagging issues regarding personal finances. Take this time to re-budget and re-think how you want to spend your cash during this period.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 Mars is transiting your solar 1st house. This transit helps you to assert yourself more than usual. You have lots of energy and are more enterprising. During this transit you may lose your temper more than usual. Avoid being hasty in your decisions and do not step on anyone's toes. Love affairs may also be pleasurable during this period.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22 With Mars moving through your solar twelfth house, this is the time to research and reflect upon your goals. It is also a time when much of your energy is channeled into private matters without any one knowing about your activities. Some may experience insomnia during this phase - a good time to relax and take up yoga.

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Mars is energizing your solar eleventh house now. Group activities and cooperative efforts are the best way to achieve your goals right now. You prefer to lead a group rather than follow during this period, and there are certainly ways to do so without stepping on others' toes. The best way to achieve your goals is to work as a team and network.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

You bring much energy, enthusiasm, and drive to your career as Mars is transiting your solar 10th house. You may be quite competitive during this period, preferring to achieve and accomplish things on your own. This is a good time for pursuing your goals, and, as you are self-motivated now, your enthusiasm can be channelled positively.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23

Mars continues to energize your solar ninth house.

Others find you easy to be around, as you are courageous and charismatic. You are strong and bold in your beliefs and convictions as well, and others tend to naturally follow your lead. You actively seek out new learning experiences and adventures without any fear.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22

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Mars is transiting your solar eighth house. This is a great time to find out what is important in your life and get rid of unwanted clutter and negative people who are clouding your judgement. Shared finances can come into focus, and these could lead to disputes and disagreements if you are not careful or insensitive in your dealings with others.

020 8518 5500

Mars has just moved into solar seventh house.

During this period, personal relationships can suffer as arguments arise due to unresolved issues. Tread carefully as some form of conflict, whether intentional or otherwise can rear its ugly head. On a positive note you are full of energy and ready to compete, so make sure you stay the course and win the battle.

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20 Mars animates your solar sixth house and energises your daily routine. You may have a larger workload but things tend to feel sped up during this period. Make sure you use that energy to take charge of your health and start a keep-fit regime.

However, beware of falling out with colleagues and channel that anger into more productive pursuits AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19

With Mars, comes increased creative and romantic energy but be sure to manage this carefully as you want to avoid the trouble that these areas can bring.

Your self-confidence will be wellreceived by others during this period but you are likely to take a few more risks and embrace your competitive nature. Just remember to remain sensitive to the needs of others.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20

Domestic projects and activities will get a welcome boost during this period with more of a focus on feeling secure and consolidating the home front. However, as you focus more on the home, there can be family conflicts or disputes. Your career may also be frustrated by others but don’t use this as an excuse to re-examine old wounds.

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England, Pak gain in T20I rankings AsianVoiceNews

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has released the annual update of the Twenty20 international (T20I) ratings with England climbing to second spot and and India sliding a couple of positions to be ranked fourth.

England, the 2016 World T20 runners-up, have become the biggest beneficiaries of the annual update, jumping three places - from fifth to second - and now sit behind tabletoppers New Zealand, by just four points. While the Kane Williamson-led team are sitting pretty with 125 rating points, Eoin Morgan's men have 121.

Pakistan is the other team which has gained from the annual exercise.

With the added five points, Pakistan are now equal with England on 121, only behind them in the third place due to decimal considerations.

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

While England and Pakistan have had reasons to rejoice, there was bad news for the inaugural World T20 champions India. The Virat Kohli-led side dropped six points and have now slipped to the fourth position - with 118 points. South Africa is the other team to have lost ground, dropping six points and now placed fifth, just one point ahead of sixthplaced Australia's tally of 110. The 2016 World T20 champions - West Indies -

Disappointing season for Gujarat Lions

have also lost ground and they are now placed seventh, with 109 points.

Amongst the associate nations, Afghanistan is the team that has benefited the most from the annual upgrade, strengthening its ninth position. With 90 points, they are just five behind eighth-placed Sri Lanka while Bangladesh complete the top-10, with 78 points. Netherlands dropped nine points and are now in the 14th position while Ireland also lost four

points to slip to the 18th rank.

The annual update, released on May 1, is a reflection of the team's form over the course of the season as well as the current form of the team in that particular format of the game.

The next World T20 is scheduled to be held in 2020, in Australia, and the top nine countries along with the hosts will make the cut for a direct entry into the tournament. The 2020 edition of the tournament will be a 16-team affair with the last six spots to be decided between the bottom eight - teams ranked from 11 to 18 - who will join the regional qualifiers in the ICC World T20 Qualifier, scheduled to be held in 2019.

The cut-off date for automatic qualification to the mega event is 31 December 2018.

NBA opens its first academy in India

Keshave Bansalstrates our commitment to It has been a disapThe National Basketball owned Gujarat developing talent and shappointing season for Association (NBA) has Lions is based in ing the game’s future here,” Gujarat Lions in IPL opened its training centre at Rajkot. Bansal is the said Tatum. “These 21 young 2017, the last year of Jaypee Greens Integrated youngest franchise athletes and those who will its existence. From Sports Complex in Delhi to own an IPL team. attend this academy in the next season, The National Capital Region Apart from captain years to come will receive Rajasthan Royals (NCR) for male and female Suresh Raina Suresh Raina, other world-class coaching and and Chennai Super players. Twenty-one elite team members are, training to help them fulfil Kings are expected male prospects, who were Aaron Finch, Aksh Deep their potential on and off the to make their comeback selected following a threeNath, Chirag Suri, Jason court.” from next season as their month, nationwide basketRoy, Jaydev Shah, Three experienced suspension will end in ball talent search, will receive Pratham Singh, Dwayne coaches have been selected to 2017. Dinesh Karthik, the scholarships and training at Bravo, Dwayne Smith, guide the development of the 31-year-old wicketkeeper NBA Academy India, the James Fulkner, Ravindra players. Ray Farrell, who has batsman of GL, said that first of its kind in the country.

Jadeja, Shubham Agarwal, coached at the collegiate level the team was not just good The opening event, which Brendon McCullum, in the US and conducted enough to qualify for the included a traditional Indian Dinesh Karthik, Ishan basketball camps internaplay- offs. “It has been an “lamp lighting” ceremony, Kishan, Andres Tye Basil tionally for 36 years, will absolutely disappointing on-court drills and a scrimThampi, Dhawal Kulkarni, serve as Technical Director season to say the least. We mage among the prospects, Manpreet Gony, Munaf and will oversee all aspects of have just turned up for the was attended by NBA Patel, Nathu Singh, on-court and off-court develparty and we are just not Deputy Commissioner Mark Pradeep Sangwar, Praveen opment.

Jacques good enough to qualify for Tatum and NBA India Kumar, Shadab Jakali, Vandescure, a former profesthe play- offs, as simple as Managing Director Yannick Shelley Shaurya, Shivlal sional player and former that,” he said. “There were Colaco.

Kaushi and Tejas Baroka.

NBA scout who has coached games where we lacked in NBA Academy will Later, Irfan Pathan who across Africa, will serve as the batting and a lot of games employ a holistic, 360went unsold during the Player Development Coach. in bowling, but overall it degree approach to player auction has been included Todd Gates, a former coach has been a disappointing development with focuses on as a replacement for at the NCAA Division I level season,” he said. education, leadership, charDwayne Bravo. Except a for 10 years, will serve as the Gujarat Lions and acter development and life few players like Suresh Strength and Conditioning Delhi Daredevils are lanskills. As part of the program, Raina, McCullum and Coach. WNBA Legend guishing in the bottom half the students will compete Dinesh Karthik, the perforJennifer Azzi will be the with 8 points each. The against top competition mance of other players Technical Director of the race for the play-offs has throughout the year and will were not praiseworthy. girls’ program at the acadebeen intensified with have an opportunity to be Other prominent my.

Mumbai Indians becoming selected for travel teams that Gujarati cricketers playing The official opening of the first team to qualify. play in international tournain the IPL 2017 are, NBA Academy India follows The race for the remaining ments and exhibition games.

Parthiv Patel playing for the launch of academies in three spots is still open, “The opening of our first Mumbai Indians, Yusuf Hangzhou, Jinan and with the like of Rising academy in India is an Pathan – Kolkota Knight Urumqi, China; Thies, Pune Supergiants, important milestone in the Riders and Axar Patel for Senegal; and the planned Sunrisers Hyderabad, NBA’s efforts to grow basketKings X1 Punjab. launch of NBA Global Kolkata Knight Riders and ball in India and demonAcademy in Canberra, Kings X1 Punjab still in the Australia. fray. Delhi Daredevils too IPL, 2017 - Points Table are with a chance. Suresh Raina's team topped the Teams Mat Won Lost Tied NR Pts NRR league stage last season, Mumbai Indians 12 9 3 0 0 18 +0.903 but two successive defeats Kolkata Knight Riders 13 8 5 0 0 16 +0.729 to Hyderabad and Bangalore saw their crash Rising Pune Supergiant 12 8 4 0 0 16 -0.060 out one step before the Sunrisers Hyderabad 13 7 5 0 1 15 +0.565 final of the competition.

Kings XI Punjab 12 6 6 0 0 12 +0.280 But this time, probably the Gujarat Lions 12 4 8 0 0 8 -0.369 last time, the performance of the franchise was below Delhi Daredevils 11 4 7 0 0 8 -0.660 par.

Royal Challengers Bangalore 13 2 10 0 1 5 -1.454

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Gandhi stamps, historic bat surge in value Asian Voice | 13th May 2017

A set of postage stamps featuring Indian freedom icon Mahatma Gandhi was sold recently for a whopping amount of £500,000, breaking all previous records for Indian postage. The 10-rupee Gandhi stamps were sold in a set of four in auction on April 19 by Jersey-based private collector-investor Stanley Gibbons in Australia.

Depicting Gandhi against a purple-brown backdrop, along with the dates of his birth and death, the stamps were commissioned shortly after India got independence in 1947, to commemorate the legend. However, before they could be released, Gandhi was assassinated, after which, the stamps were issued as a memorial on the first anniversary of independence. Only 100 of them, including four of the recently sold, had the word SERVICE printed over them, and given to the Governor General for official use.

Head writer at Paul Fraser Collectibles, Daniel Wade cited the increasingly wealthy Indian diaspora in the UK and elsewhere as the main reason behind the growing value of such items. “2011 figures from Artprice found that contemporary Indian artists secured 97 per cent of their sales in the US and UK. But we are slowly seeing increasing numbers of items repatriated to India-based collectors.

The reason being that wealth is growing among India's middle and upper classes. This is a trend set to continue.”

“The market for high-quality Indian rarities has been strong for several years and is supported by the on-going desire for the wealthy, Indian diaspora and savvy international clients to own these historic assets,” said Keith Heddle, managing director of investments at Stanley Gibbons.

A year prior, a collection of soil and grass stained with Gandhi’s blood during his assassination sold for £10,000.

The entire lot of Gandhi artefacts, which also included a pair of glasses worn by the father of the nation, fetched over £100,000. Paul Fraser Collectibles currently has a set of cutlery used by Gandhi during his incarceration at Aga Khan Palace up for sale, which is expected to sell for £75,000. Cricket memorabilia has also increased in value due to the growing number of Indian collectors. The bat that Indian captain MS Dhoni used to hit the winning runs of the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup finals sold for £100,000 at an auction in London that same year, breaking the previous record for a cricket bat.

“A recent McKinsey Global Institute study suggests India’s middle class will expand from five per cent of the country’s population to 40 per cent by 2027,” Wade said.

“That is a lot more people than before with the means to buy pieces of Indian heritage.”

Rishab Pant, Sanju Samson get pat from Sachin

Delhi Daredevils' Rishab Pant won massive praise from cricket fraternity by pulling off a sensational chase against Gujarat Lions in Match 42 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017. The 19-year-old caused carnage at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium during his 43-ball 97 and gave spectators entertainment worth their money.

Chasing an imposing 208-run total, Pant and Sanju Samson (61 off 31 balls) literally toyed with the Lions bowling attack by stitching a massive 143-run stand for second wicket in no time. It was raining boundaries and sixes when these two were at the crease and Lions skipper Suresh Raina had no answer to their brute power. Saurav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman and Delhi Daredevils' coach Rahul Dravid were among others who praised the young cricketers.

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Hyderabad strengthen its position

Sunrisers Hyderabad's move to opt for all-rounder Mohammad Nabi in place of the in-form Kane Williamson paid off as the hosts got a much-needed victory under their belt with a seven-wicket win over Mumbai Indians at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad. The win has helped Sunrisers, who have 15 points, strengthen its position in the points table.

They still have one more game to go against Gujarat Lions in Kanpur and a win there will make sure of their place in the play-offs. If not, they will have to wait for the other results to know their fate.

Gujarat dent Punjab's chances Gujarat Lions dealt a severe blow to Kings XI Punjab's knockout qualifying chances when they outgunned the hosts by six wickets. Chasing a challenging target of 190, Gujarat were propped up by a stellar knock by opener Dwayne Smith who came back to form with a 39-ball 74.

Ishan Kishan (29), captain Suresh Raina (39) and Dinesh Kathik (35 not out) also played crucial hands as Gujarat romped home with two balls to spare. The 19th over, bowled by Varun Aaron, proved to be critical as Karthik hit a six and four and 16 runs accrued to Gujarat's account, making their task of reaching the target much easier. Earlier, a century from Hashim Amla and a half-century by Shaun Marsh helped Punjab post 189-3.

Kolkata all but seal playoff spot Travis Head (75) and Mandeep Singh (52) did their best to help hosts Royal Challengers Bangalore post a challenging 158-6 in 20 overs, but openers Chris Lynn (50) and Sunil Narine (54) made a mockery of the chase with whirlwind knocks as Kolkata notched up a sixwicket victory to keep their Indian Premier League playoffs hopes alive. The intensity of the visitors' chase was such that they cruised to 50 runs in just 3.3 overs, as the pair used brute force to hammer a toothless Bangalore bowling attack, Lynn returning to action

after being sidelined for over a month with a dislocated shoulder suffered in the match against Mumbai Indians, showed no mercy as he clobbered to Aniket Choudhary for 14 runs in the first over with two fours and two sixes.

Mumbai first team in playoffs In a bid to repeat their batting heroics for a third successive time, Delhi Daredevils stuck to their policy of opting to chase against Mumbai Indians at the Ferozeshah Kotla. The move led to disastrous consequences after Mumbai went hammer and tongs and notched up a mammoth 212-3. In reply, Delhi sank to another shocking low, losing by an unbelievable 146run margin, the biggest in terms of runs in the IPL. Delhi only lasted 13.4 overs and managed 66 runs, their lowest in the IPL. The win assured Mumbai a place in the playoffs. Delhi's season, meanwhile, seems as good as over, although they still stand a chance if they can win their remaining three matches.

Big Ben leads Pune past Hyderabad It took a giant from England to breach Sunrisers Hyderabad's citadel this season. After having withstood the onslaught of five teams, the hosts finally tasted a loss at their favourite hauntRajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium. Big Ben stoked Rising Pune Supergiant's 12-run win and thereby strengthen their position in the points table.

Stokes all-round show was supplemented with a brilliant hat-trick by left-arm seamer Jaidev Undakat.

Pune have 16 points with two games left, while Sunrisers are left in pursuit of a place in the playoffs.

Chasing what turned out to

be a tricky 149 for victory, Hyderabad openers David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan gave their side a good start but two quick strikes by Stokes in the fifth over pegged the charge.

Sandeep stings Bangalore Kings XI Punjab can teach Royal Challengers Bangalore a thing or two about putting up a fight.

After posting a below-par total, the visitors defended with heart to condemn the home side to a humiliating 19-run defeat - their ninth in 12 matches - to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot.

Chasing 139 to win, RCB - a team in free-fall at the moment - limped to 119 all out at M Chinnaswamy stadium. Kings XI paceman Sandeep Sharma sparked a spectacular collapse with his incisive swing bowling, removing the home side's Big Three of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers within the first five overs. Only Mandeep Singh (46) and Pawan Negi (21) put up some resistance for RCB but perished trying to force the issue, much like their illustrious teammates on a pitch that proved harder for the home batsmen to play on. With half the team gone inside 11 overs, there was only going to be one winner.

Pant, Samson tame Lions in Daredevils' highest chase Records tumbled at the Feroz Shah Kotla as Rishabh Pant's blitzkrieg, well aided by Sanju Samson's blazing 50, helped Delhi Daredevils register their highest successful runchase with the seven-wicket win over Gujarat Lions.

Pant and Samson added a record 143 runs for the second wicket to help the home side keep their IPL 2017 campaign alive and, at the same time, knock Lions out of the playoffs race. Pant

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missed out on what would have been his maiden IPL hundred by three runs but ensured Daredevils stayed in the hunt throughout, despite a demanding asking rate.

Pune ride Tripathi's fireworks to defeat KKR Rising Pune Supergiant rode on little-known Rahul Tripathi's career-best 93 of 52 balls to win, by four wickets, an Indian Premier League (IPL) engagement against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens and take giant strides towards the playoffs.

Pune, now on 14 points from 11 games, moved to third spot with KKR staying on second with the same number of points as Pune from 11 outings. Replying to KKR's 155/8, Pune scored 158/6 in 19.2 overs.

Tripathi, who is playing his first IPL, brought up his fifty in just 23 deliveries with eight fours and three sixes. The Maharashtra batsman went from strength to strength after his halfcentury spanking chinaman Kuleep Yadav for three sixes on the trot in the 13th over.

It's not over for Delhi yet The Delhi Daredevils finally came to the party, ensuring they lived to fight another day in this IPL season as they beat Hyderabad by six wickets.

After the humiliating loss to Kings XI Punjab earlier, there appeared to be an all-round improvement in Delhi's batting department, ensuring that they managed to chase down a 186-run target against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Ferozeshah Kotla. This was Delhi's first win after having lost five matches in a row. Leading by example, Delhi captain Karun Nair (39 off 20 deliveries) played some exquisite shots to built a solid foundation while chasing the daunting total. His innings also ensured that the asking rate didn't go beyond control after Sanju Samson got out on 24.

Momentum was in favour of Sunrisers after an impressive 70 from Yuvraj Singh but local lad Rishabh Pant (34 off 20 balls) displayed some fearless stroke-making to make Delhi believe they could chase the total down.

Rohit Sharma & Mohammed Shami

Rohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami have returned to India's ODI squad, named in a familiar 15-man pool of players for next month's ICC Champions Trophy in England and Wales.

This will be Rohit's first international assignment since October, when he sustained a thigh injury during the ODI series against New Zealand.

During the ongoing IPL, he has scored 183 runs in 10 innings for Mumbai Indians, the first team to qualify for the play-offs.

Shami has not played an ODI since the 2015 World Cup semi-final, and now slots in as the fifth pace-bowling option behind Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav and Hardik Pandya. It can be argued that two wickets in five IPL games is no great shakes, but Shami has had the selectors' faith ever since he returned to international cricket last July after a long gap.

From the last ODI series India played against England at home in January - Amit Mishra was dropped for Shami and Rohit back to open the innings with KL Rahul ruled out of the tournament as he recovers from shoulder surgery. While naming the squad, the chairman of selectors MSK Prasad stated that Ajinkya Rahane, who in the last 12 months has opened the innings six times each with returns 144 runs, is the other opening option for the Champions Trophy.

Prasad said that the main players who were discussed at length for selection were Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Shardul Thakur, each of whom has been placed on standby for the tournament. The five players will train at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore after the IPL ends, and will have visas in place should the need arrive for any of them to fly to England.

The squad was announced following the board's SCG, where it was unanimously decided that India would defend its title after weeks of speculation over the team staying out of the tournament owing to a financial dispute with the ICC. The eight-team tournament will be played between June 1-18, with defending champions India pooled with South Africa, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Group B. Kohli's team is scheduled to open its campaign on June 4 at Edgbaston against Pakistan, followed by matches with Sri Lanka on June 8 and South Africa on June 11, both at Kennington Oval.

India squad: Virat Kohli (capt), R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Shikhar Dhawan, MS Dhoni (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Ajinkya Rahane, Umesh Yadav, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Shami

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Champions Trophy: Rohit, Shami recalled to India's squad

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