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Asian Voice wishes its Indian and Pakistani readers ‘A Happy Independence Day’.

Please see page 18-22 for our Independence Day special and page 28 for more news on the ‘Independence day’ celebration in the UK VOL 39. ISSUE 15

Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

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;;; 7&286&:*1 (42 Julia Roberts is a practicing Hindu

Indian soldiers’ heroics in Leh tragedy too 177 killed, 400 missing in flash floods

The picture of a Hindu guru who was a devotee of Lord Hanuman attracted Julie Roberts, the pretty woman of Hollywood to Hinduism. She has now said she is a practicing Hindu, regularly visits temples along with her husband and three children. She also chants mantras and prays at the temples.

In a recent interview on ‘Good Morning America’ show, she told Continued on page 23

The jawans of Indian army are battling against heavy odds as the rescue operations in Leh, one of the most remote and difficult terrains in Jammu and Kashmir that was hit by a deadly cloudburst and flash floods Friday last week. The BRO, a section of the army that maintains roads in the border areas has been successful to partially restore the Leh – Manali highway. Of the 475 km stretch, 222 km section between Manali and Sarchu was restored on Tuesday, while work is going to restore the rest of the section. The highway is an important link that

17 Brits and French among 3,000 tourists rescued

Debris of damaged houses and vehicles are pictured after flash floods in Leh, east of Srinagar on Monday

connects Leh with rest of India.

Meanwhile, stories of heroics of the soldiers are

emerging as they are fighting hard to save lives of people trapped in mud and debris after the devastat-

ing floods. Naik Prem Dorji saved the lives of two Ladakhi families, but in the process lost his own.

Details available on Tuesday suggest that 23 foreigners were among 165 killed in the flash floods, while more than 400 are still missing.

Authorities have been able to rescue more than 3,000 Continued on page 23

Kenyans for a new Constitution Greater checks on presidential powers were among changes Kenyans endorsed in a peaceful referendum, which came two years after allegations over vote-rigging in a presidential election ignited violence that killed 1,300 people.

The new legal framework addresses the corruption, political patronage, land-grabbing and tribalism, which have plagued Kenya since it won independence from Britain in 1963.

The referendum win could help Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s presidential bid in the next elections in 2012, analysts said.

Continued on page 23

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Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

one to one Keith Vaz MP with

Diane Abbott MP Hackney North and Stoke Newington 1) What inspired you to follow a political career?

I decided to become an MP because people told me I couldn’t do it. I wanted to show them that I could. I have always been interested in politics and served as a local councillor in Westminster before becoming an MP. I was very proud when I was elected in 1987. But stepping into Westminster for the first time was quite intimidating. The chamber was full of older, white men and I would often get stopped by security who didn’t believe a young black woman could be an MP. Westminster is still very male dominated but things are changing, slowly. I have served my constituency of Hackney North and Stoke

Newington for 23 years but still managed to double my majority in the last election.

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

My mother

2) What are your proudest achievements?

My son.

6) You are a newly-elected MP. What is the best thing about your current role?

I’m certainly not a new MP but probably the best thing about my job is getting up in a morning, switching on the news, seeing a story and thinking someone should really say something about this and realising that you have the platform to do so. I was the first MP to ask for the government to make a comment on the earthquake in Haiti earlier this year.

I’m also able to speak up on issues I disagree with, such as the Tory MP who

3) What advice would you give to someone wishing to pursue a career in politics today?

Follow your dreams and never let anyone tell you can’t do something.

It is sad that there are not as many women or ethnic minorities in Westminster as I would like. But if I had listened to those who said I couldn’t do it, or that I wasn’t good enough to do it, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

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

Killer tracked down by mobile phone pictures jailed A “cold-blooded” killer who shot a shop worker and seized £10,000, then went shopping with his girlfriend, has been jailed for a minimum of 27 years.

Police tracked down Mohammed Ali Mahmood, 30, after finding his mobile phone containing pictures of him posing with his Russian Baikal pistol.

Mahmood, known locally as “Crazy Ali”, ambushed Khurram Ashraf and his boss as they locked up and left with the day’s takings from a money transfer shop in Longsight, Manchester, on December 3, demanding: “Give me the bag, I have a gun,” Manchester Crown Court was told.

Mohammed Waqas, the shop owner, threw the cash, which was in a laptop bag, to Mr Ashraf, 30, and both ran for cover. Mr Ashraf threw the cash bag to the pavement as he was cornered between two parked cars by the killer, who “panicked” and “fired without thinking” before picking up the bag and running away, the court heard.

Mr Ashraf, who was shot in the stomach, was taken to hospital where he died the next day.

Meanwhile Mahmood took his girlfriend shopping to the nearby Trafford Centre, spending £140 on a new mobile phone, £390 on leather jackets from Selfridges and £90 on shoes. Police later found

Mahmood poses with a gun

£5,920 of the stolen cash under his bed at the family home in Longsight.

Mahmood, who is unemployed, pleaded guilty to murder, robbery and possession of a firearm and ammunition and was given a mandatory life sentence and told he must serve a minimum of 27 years before parole.

Sales assistant sobs as she’s jailed over £150,000 haul A sales assistant sobbed hysterically as she was jailed for stealing £150,000 of jewellery from the upmarket store where she worked, reports Leicester Mercury.

Bina Lodhia allegedly helped herself to 94 items, including diamond rings and designer watches, from Lumbers, in Market Street, Leicester. Last week, she was sentenced to two years in prison.

Lodhia (39), of Barclay Street, Westcotes, Leicester, was allegedly

said to have resorted to crime under pressure from a boyfriend. He was questioned but not charged with an offence, Leicester Crown Court heard.

The divorcee admitted stealing valuables – worth £62,916 at cost and with a retail value of up to £150,000 – between August and November 2008, as reported by Leicester Mercury.

Sian Cutter, prosecuting, said: “Documents showed she was undergoing financial difficulties.”

Getting elected 23 years ago. Hackney North Labour Party took a bold step when they adopted me as their candidate, but because of their faith, I became the first black female MP. Just weeks ago they went a step further, and nominated me for Leader of the Labour Party, another historic first.

Lodhia claimed a recent holiday in Dubai was paid for by her brother-in-law, not from the sale of any of the jewellery. She said she made no profit from the thefts, an argument which was not accepted by the prosecution.

In interview, she claimed the boyfriend had threatened to harm her daughter if she did not steal from work, as reported by Leicester Mercury. The court heard Lumbers had been refunded by its insurer.

has refused to allow women in Burkas to attend his surgeries.

7) And the worst?

As much as you would like to, you can’t attend every meeting or tackle every request that comes in. It’s about picking the issues that you believe in, but sometimes it can be difficult to say no.

8) If you were Prime Minister, what one thing would you change?

I would make the House of Commons more inclusive and open to people from different backgrounds. Politics can often be about who you know rather than whether you would make a good MP. I’d like to see more women and minorities taking up Parliamentary seats. I think the intensity of the job and the long hours can put women off, so perhaps that would be worth looking at.

9) If you could invite anyone, dead or alive to a dinner party, who would you invite?

Nelson Mandela.

Hundreds of fitness trainers, PR executives and IT workers allow to work in UK Hundreds of fitness trainers, public relations executives and chefs from outside Europe have been allowed to work in Britain under Labour’s “tough” immigration rules.

There are fears that multinational firms are exploiting a loophole that allows “intra-company

transfers” to bring cheap contractors in from abroad rather than offering jobs to more expensive native workers.

Figures show that 139,150 such “certificates of sponsorship” were granted between November 2008 and July 2010.

Of these, 34,365 were

given to people working in IT such as “software professionals” even though they are not on the shortage list.

A further 1,295 have gone to fitness instructors and others in sporting occupations; 3,475 to chefs and cooks; and 30 to hair and beauty salon managers.

Court tax victory boosts Portsmouth FC Hopes for the survival of cash-strapped Portsmouth Football Club rose last week after it won a High Court battle with the tax man.

HM Revenue and Customs attempted to block a proposed Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) put together by the club‘s administrators to help it out of administration and settle its debts. But last Thursday, the High Court ruled in favour of the administrators.

Mr Justice Mann said: “I propose to find in favour of the company administrators and dismiss the application of HMRC.” The judge said the CVA would stand and the administrators were free to find a buyer for the club.

HMRC said it was “disappointed” but would not appeal.

Portsmouth chief executive David Lampitt expressed his “delight and relief” and described the ruling as “a massive step

forward in the process towards getting this great club back on its feet”.

Speaking outside court, Peter Kubik, one of the joint administrators, said: “It’s very good news, we’re very relieved”. The next step was to “get on trying to sell the club.”

Hong Kong-based businessman Balram Chainrai, who put Pompey into administration in February, supposedly wants to be the owner for a second time, as reported by the Independent.

Mr Kubik told the national daily the administrators currently had “one and one only” potential buyer.

But he added: “Now that the issue of this (HMRC) challenge has gone away, there may be some more out there.”

Mr Chanrai’s representative Ashok Patel told the daily: “We are, of course, very pleased with the decision because we are the only purchaser the judge mentioned in his judgment.

“Mr Chainrai was very happy because it opens the way for the only realistic solution, which is for his company to purchase the club and stabilise the club and to continue in the Championship.”

If HMRC’s application had been successful it could have led to the club facing a further points penalty before the start of the season, increasing the threat of it facing liquidation.

Gregory Mitchell QC, appearing for HMRC, described Portsmouth FC as “a much-loved club with a long, proud history going back to 1898”.

“Its existence is threatened because it has for some years spent well beyond its means.”

A face to face exclusive interview with Mr Ashok Patel, Senior Partner, Balsara & Co, the representative of Balram Chanrai (in this case) will be published in the coming issues of Asian Voice.

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

COMMENT

Celebrating Independence Day August 15 will mark the sixty-fourth year of India's Independence. Despite setbacks, errors of leadership, trials and tribulations, some emanation from abroad, others homegrown, India has come a long way. Its birth at partition, amidst a welter of bloodshed and violence, was unpropitious. There were Jeremiads aplenty in the West, of people, who seeing through their glass, darkly, foretold the country's inevitable disintegration. Even as late as the 1990s, certain media voices in Britain advised Prime Minister John Major against accepting the Indian invitation to be the guest of honour on the country's Republic Day in New Delhi, as the India was likely to implode as was the case with Yugoslavia.

Against all the odds India has survived and official visits to India are much prized today by foreign dignitaries anxious and determined to develop close ties with the country in their respective national interests. The India economy has emerged from the shadows of excessive state control into the sunlight of liberalisation and reform. Yet it should be recognised that, warts and all, the platform of industrialisation was created in the first decades of independence, with state enterprise leading the way in the context of a private sector which, at the time, lacked the necessary experience and capital to undertake such ventures. The intervening years have witnessed the remarkable evolution of private sector Indian companies who have spread their wings as international and domestic brands.

The old derisory “Hindu rate of growth” has given way to a brisk trot and may even become a gallop in the years to come. Prime Minister David Cameron referred to India as “an uncaged tiger”, which was why he embarked on his ambitious joiur-

ney to the country at the head of a delegation of cabinet ministers and business executives.

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and US President Barack Obama will make their own high profile visits to India sometime this year, a sign surely of the country's current standing in the world.

India was not felled by the global financial meltdown because its regulatory regime ensured a safe banking regime in contrast to thse operating in the West, where speculative activities were rife, leading to the collapse of major banks in the the US, UK and elsewhere. For India, it was better to be safe than sorry, hence it has returned to a high growth trajectory. Indian science and technology will ensure the manufacture of competitive value added products.

Post-cold war global politics has yet to yield the promised peace dividend which optimists forecast would follow in the wake of the Berlin Wall's disappearance. Such hopes were belied by the emergence of non-state actors promoting terrorism, their work actively but covertly supported as part of the statecraft of certain dysfunctional regimes, a number of whom are located in India's neighbourhood.

India is thus faced with an unprecedented security challenge. The challenges of poverty alleviation, economic growth and national security goals operate within the paradigm of democracy and the rule of law, a very Indian miracle indeed, keeping faith with the broad contours of Mahatma Gandhi's vision for India's future. Long may the miracle continue. But for all India's achievements, there is no room for complacency or backsliding. There is much that is fragile in India. There much more to be done to secure her future.

Looming shadow of Islamism The respected investigative reporter Andrew Gilligan has drawn an apt comparison between Islamism and Islam. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, he states: “Islamism should never be confused with Islam. Islam is a religion practised by millions of British citizens who have never sought to overthrow anything in their lives.

Islamism is a revolutionary political doctrine supported by a small minority of Muslims, whose aim is to overthrow secular democratic government and replace it with Islamic government.” Mr Gilligan quotes Syed Mawdudi, the founder of Islamism, who proclaimed: “Wherever you are, in whichever country you live, you must strive to change the wrong basis of government, and seize all powers to rule and make laws from those who do not fear God.” According to Mr Gilligan, “Our new ministers appear to be moving towards a clear and obvious policy, of no official support for Islamism. But they face surprising resistance from the people supposed to carry out their wishes, the Civil Service.”

Mr Gilligan cites the case of a ministerial adviser sympathetic to Islamism, one Mohammed Abdul Aziz, who is an honorary trustee of Britain's most Islamist controlled institutions, the East London Mosque.

Mr Aziz wrote a paper – leaked the Telegraph – suggesting that the new ministers would do well to

appear in public alongside Islamist organisations which promote [in Mr Aziz's words] “a message of divisiveness, expressing intolerance towards communities in the UK.” Mr Aziz went so far as to recommend that officials should deal with certain groups which may support [Mr Aziz again] “ violent extremism in Britain.”

A Home Office civil servant, Sabin Khan, was suspended for criticising Home Secretary Teresa May, for “her huge error of judgement” in denying entry into the UK of an Islamist preacher Zakir Naik, who is on record as saying, “every Muslim should be a terrorist.”in defence of Islam. The East London Mosque, condemns terrorism in public, yet it has repeatedly hosted talks by Anwar alAwaki, an al Qaeda leader. His most recent talk was advertised with a poster showing New York under bombardment.

There is frequently a fine line between freedom and licence, between the freedom to speak freely on issues of substance without crossing its civilised limits into the licence of propagating hatred and the murder of perceived opponents of the Cause. Such licence would imperil the peace of the realm, whose fruits are open to all law-abiding citizens. Society could be irreparably damaged.

Remember London's 7/7 and the terrorist threats that have been nipped in the bud since then.

Pakistan's traumatised people deserve every support The people of Pakistan who are faced by a catastrophe unique in scale and human suffering deserve every help from all quarters of British society. No political or ideological differences with rulers of that country should impede contributions of money and goods to the suffering masses of Pakistan. The pictures on television of raging torrents consuming human lives and valuable livestock must be doubly horrendous when witnessed first hand by reporters and aid officials.

Nature's unforgiving wrath has destroyed huge swathes of rich farmland, imperilling the people's livelihood in the weeks, months and, possibly, even in the years to come. Pakistan is a country double the size of the UK, with almost three times its population. Putting it back on its feet will be no easy task.

Those with doubts about the direction of the aid, should direct their offerings to bonafide British charities. That way they can ensure that the money goes to the people in greatest need, that will be the surest guarantee that such aid does not fall into the hands of those likely to misuse it.

What is presently occurring in Pakistan should be a reminder to people everywhere, of the terrible consequences of ecological and environmental damage caused by uncontrolled commercial activity, of haphazard tree felling, leading to the destruction of forests and the exposure of loose soil to the elements. It is a dire warning from Nature.Humankind have lessons to learn – but learn them fast, we must. 0therwise a global catastrophe awaits us.

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Thought for the Week There is no such thing on earth as an uninteresting subject; the only thing that can exist is an uninterested person.

-G.K. Chesterton (1905)

Steve Pound, MP Ealing North (Labour)

Cementing the Coalition Most of the MPs have now left the Palace of Westminster and left the building to the builders and to me. Life goes on and the work continues but the structure of the building is changing and the shape of government shifts and shimmers as well.

The first one hundred days of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition government have passed and now seems the time to assess the progress of the parties and to take the temperature of the new politics. Two patterns are emerging and becoming solidified into normality.

The Conservatives have made a conscious decision to do as they have always threatened to and have consigned the welfare state to the intensive care unit without benefit of medical support. The exsanguinating cuts are not an inevitable response to the global financial crisis but a distinct philosophical choice and represent the most significant recasting of our polity since the Attlee government of 1945 – albeit in a wholly different direction.

Chancellor Osborne has shown himself to be more steely than many had anticipated him to be and he has won control of the domestic agenda in a way that is reminiscent of Gordon Brown’s reign at the Treasury.

Prime Minister Cameron is sent abroad to smile and shake hands.

Being something of a neophyte PM he has not yet acquired the diplomatic gloss of obfuscation and shows a tendency to say what he thinks in a style that many may find rather

refreshing – even if it is leading to coronaries in the diplomatic corps.

I am sure that every reader of Asian Voice would cherish the opportunity to hear the conversation taking place this week between David Cameron and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari!

The other strand is one in which the once proud and independent Liberal Democrats have sold their souls for a mess of potage and are now being used as human shields by a Conservative party that has achieved their seduction and is now moving towards their destruction.

A few Liberal democrats may luxuriate in their Ministerial cars and newly redecorated offices but they will have to face the people one day soon and I do not envy the yellow rosetted politician who has to justify the utter ruthless destruction of the entire school building programme, the antiEuropean statement of May 21st.,the ending of Child Trust Funds, VAT raised to 20%, the inchoate mush of the pathetic “big society” fantasy and the assault on the public sector that will impact with such brutality on the huge swathes of the private sector that depend on government contracts.

Today’s Liberals may be ringing the bells but tomorrow’s will be wringing their hands – heaven help them when the Court of Public Opinion assembles at the ballot box!

So 100 days have passed – new patterns of politics emerge and Labour bides its time while choosing a new leader. Then the fight back will really start.

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 www: abplgroup.com © Asian Business Publications

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David Cameron’s statement about Terrorism Hon. Prime Minister’s statement about Pakistan exporting terror has displeased Muslims in Britain and Pakistan. Yet President of Pakistan continued his visit to Britain, in spite of heavy floods there.

Cameron in UK and A. A. Zardari in Pakistan will face wrath of voters.

India warned for last ten years about terrorist training camps in Pakistan. West woke up when terrorists from such camps reached the west.

India’s was proved right when world discovered that attacks on WTC on 9-11, in UK on 7-7 and on Mumbai on 26-11, involved some terrorists trained in Pakistan. Ground Zero and Kasab are proofs of truth in Cameron’s statement.

Mr. Cameron’s visit was a booster to India and Britain. India offers an indispensable lifeline as loyal Commonwealth partner. It is admirable that Britain has taken steps to strengthen ties with India and reap the harvest of Indian economics.

Britain and the whole world should note that while GDP in the west is not reached 6%, India is passing 8% mark and is marching towards double figure.

Therefore it is the rupee that must grow stronger. But US dollar and UK pound are growing stronger, which is used as an indicator of recovery from recession.

Ramesh Jhalla Via Email

Second Struggle for India’s Independence Mr. Ramesh Jhalla probably considers my criticism of gurus unfair as many of them teach Hinduism to our youths and help propagate Hinduism globally.

The sadhus I have seen are poorly educated, inarticulate in foreign languages and not literate enough to satisfy the hunger of our youth and guide them in their spiritual quest or to liberate them from corrupt politicians. They freely interpret the shashtras as they please and I doubt if majority of them even know, let alone read Hindu scholars Mr. Jhalla mentions.

Religion can hardly salvage India.

80% of the poor in India live in villages in dire miseries. They go to Sadhus for mouthful of food or godly solace for hope and survival. They believe Sadhus will deliver them from poverty and the miseries loaded upon them by their mismanaged and dysfunctional government.

The sadhus oblige them by drugging them out of their dreadful existence and comfort them by quoting shashtras which put blames on their fates or past karmas.

Not a single sadhu has a moral courage to speak against corrupt politicians.

It is time for Politicians to know that they can no longer hold on to power because of their grandfathers, fathers, sons, or husbands had fought during independence struggle with Gandhiji, nor can they be allowed to perpetuate their hold on power either by keeping the poor uneducated and powerless or pleasing the minority by extending special favours.

FIRST & FOREMOST ASIAN WEEKLY IN EUROPE

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Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

Promoting Green issues

Harrow PCT

Zardari’s visit to the UK

I am sure many of your readers will be a sorry to hear as I was that Brent Labour Councillors have voted to axe a popular award-winning scheme to encourage local people to recycle - despite the fact that Brent Council pays more than £6million in landfill tax and that the £90,000 scheme would help to reduce this cost.

Brent Council, now under Labour control following the local elections in May, say they will cease the Green Zones work begun by the then Liberal Democrat-led Council. Brent has 12 Green Zones, the most recent being Campbell Gordon Way, and these innovative projects have reached over 2000 residents. The Council has also audited several businesses as part of a trial to establish a business waste recycling advice service, ran a Bag Free Wembley project, and started to help establish Lexi Cinema as a green hub for the community. All this is likely to end under Labour.

Moreover, axeing Green Zones will almost certainly cost residents more than the £90,000 it saves. But we should hardly be surprised by the move, as it seems to follow a string of anti-environmental moves by the new Labour administration.

Labour are already targeting the Council’s dedicated Climate Change post, and they worked with the Tories to scupper Brent’s Green Travel Plan a short while back. On Brent Council, only the Liberal Democrats now seem to be working to promote green issues and deal with the huge environmental challenges we face.

Asian Voice readers may be aware of the disgraceful conduct and financial mismanagement of Harrow PCT which, despite a 5% funding increase this year, faces a massive £25 million deficit. However, they may not have heard that the PCT is balancing its books by cutting services to some of Harrow’s most vulnerable people.

The cuts they intend to make will see £2 million axed from the mental health budget, including around £1million for services for those with the most serious mental health needs – such as those who may pose a threat to themselves or others.

Additionally, nearly £250,000 has been axed without consultation or adequate warning from grants to mental health charities and voluntary groups; including Mind in Harrow, Harrow Mencap, Rethink, Harrow Carers and Sneh Care.

Aside from the devastating impact on those afflicted with mental health problems, this scattergun approach to cuts is also unjustifiable financially; as without local support services mental health patients will seek (more expensive) help at our A&E departments, thereby increasing Harrow PCT’s costs.

Pakistan`s President Asif Ali Zardari is on his visit to France and UK, enjoying five star hotels at the time when thousands of people in Pakistan have died and became homeless due to the recent flooding in Pakistan. He should have been present with his people giving them assurances and making Government officials, police and the military to help those people to safer places. People of Pakistan Origin should support the initiative of MP Mahmood and the Labour peer Lord Ahmed for turning down the invitation to meet Mr Zardari on Thursday.

I am very pleased to know that some people gathered in front of his London Hotel and demonstrated holding banners. If he thinks he is coming here to protest against the remarks made by the British Prime Minister that “Pakistan is exporting terrorism” then he could have done that better from his office.

Truth will remain the truth and it is now the right time to develop the new policies which should help to raise the living standards of poor people in Pakistan, than waisting millions in defence equipments. India wants Pakistan as a strong, health and capable nation to look after itself. Pakistan is a small country and I am sure with right policies it can develop much faster than India.

Cllr Daniel Brown Lib Dem Councillor for Alperton

Cllr. Susan Hall Leader of Harrow Council Conservative Group

Encourage goat’s milk All Hindus are Karma bound. Therefore all Gujarati Hindu NRIs must refrain from drinking locked up cow’s milk.

Cows are sacred for Hindus, they should be let free. As Gandhi did, you have to encourage goat’s milk and other by products of goat’s milk.

Devnagiri script

Lokesh Patel Via Email

On page 23, the article about Apsaras (24.07.10) by Shri Rajen Vakil was excellent. The picture from Konarak was a relevant depiction. If printing technology permits, can the names be added in Devnagari scripts in brackets? Also the Hindu Experience event on the 25th of July, was an interesting read.

Nadia Kanya Chatterjee London Dear Nadia, We are doubtful about the use of Devnagari script, as it is an English newspaper. But we will keep your suggestion in mind, and make it applicable if possible.

- AV Poor Indians have suffered enough for past 63 years from this second set of looters of India Swami Ramdev has now challenged them to quit their power and go!- just as Gandhiji did when he ordered the British looters to quit India.

Every right thinking Indians should support Swamiji’s crusade and be ready for second struggle for India’s independence.

Gulab Mistry Via Email

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Cameron’s courage of conscious In the postings on the internet of thousands of internal memos and personal thoughts, observations by the NATO soldiers linking Pakistan’s secret service with Taliban, there is nothing new, as India has been telling the world that Taliban is in fact a creation of Pakistan’s ASI. Now David Cameron has shown the courage of his conviction and publicly admitted what he and Obama has known for some time. Until now, British politicians had buried their heads in sands, being the ostriches, the three monkeys that see, hear or say no evil and American politicians are no different. They are unwilling to say in public what they admit in private. Their belief, anxiety is that without active support from Pakistan, the West can never defeat Taliban. Pakistan plays on these sentiments and extracts billions of dollars in aid that keeps the economy floating, stops the nation from going bankrupt.

It is obvious that until the West changes the Pakistan’s culture of violence, most of which is directed against their own people, against Shia, Ahmedia, Daudi Bhora, Ismaili and Sufi Muslims, it would not be possible to eliminate Taliban that has grassroot support, especially in the North West Frontier provinces.

Unless Pakistan prospers on economic, education, social and democratic front, it

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Dharam Sahdev Ilford

Slave Labour in India I would like to draw the attention of your readers regarding the item published in sunday newspapers concerning slave labour in India. Indian companies who make clothes for some of the biggest names on the British High street such as GAP, Next and even Mark & Spencer pay starvation wages. The workers are paid 25p (less than 20 rupees) an hour and they are forced to work overtime at the same rate of pay. If they refuse to work overtime, they are sacked. They are forced to work seven days a week while their children fended for themselves in the slums and they are paid paltry sum of £4.00 for a 16-hour day work.

Even though Indian politicians of all political parties claim India is shining, majority of Indians live below poverty line.

The prosperity and the better standard of living in China when compared to India is due to control of the population growth just by one percent. It is easy to criticise Indian companies for employing slave labour, but there are companies in developing countries who pay far less than what Indian workers are paid. The only way to improve the standard of living in India is to control the population and provide better opportunities for young people, who form nearly fifty percent of India’s population.

Arun Vaidyanathan Via Email will never be able to free itself from the internal strife that keeps the nation from exploiting its true potentials. After all, Pakistanis and Indians carry the same genes. Only the religion keeps, divides two nations, one on the path to become a super power while the other will struggle to stay afloat.

Bhupendra M Gandhi Via Email

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‘Smile Pinky’ too gets the Oscar Boyle says Mumbai dwarfed the statuette

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Cricket crazy Indians for the first time was seen so euphoric on Monday morning, as they expected a couple of Oscars. British Indians in the UK, Dharavi slums, the shanty township of Mumbai, a village in Uttar Pradesh and almost the entire Bollywood waited in expectation, glued to their TV sets. They burst into celebrations as one by one, their heroes, the actors of the British Indian film and the music maestro, A R Rahman bagged the top awards in the world of entertainment.

British actress Kate Winslett also won the Oscar after having missed it almost five times earlier.

‘Smile Pinki’, a short documentary on a cleft-lipped Indian girl in Uttar Pradesh directed

by American director Megan Mylan, won the Oscar for the Best Documentary (Short).

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UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

Hollywood only wants Asians to play terrorists, taxi drivers or geeks Hollywood is institutionally racist, according to the Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel, who claims Asian actors are limited to roles as terrorists, taxi drivers or geeks, as reported by a national daily.

When the story of a boy from the Mumbai slums became the surprise hit of 2009, winning eight Oscars, it was expected that Patel’s career would take off.

However, the 20-yearold from Harrow, northwest London, has been frustrated by the lack of decent roles on offer and is currently jobless.

“Because Slumdog was such a big hit there was a lot of pressure in terms of what I did next. For my second film I wanted a role that would stretch me, but all I was getting offered

were stereotypical parts like the goofy Indian sidekick,” he said.

“Asian actors tend not to be sent Hollywood scripts that are substantial or challenging. I’m likely to be offered the roles of a terrorist, cab driver and smart geek... I want to show that I have versatility. You have to remember that, before Slumdog, the last film about India that went big at the Oscars was Gandhi, as played by Ben Kingsley. The fact that me and Freida have any kind of platform in Hollywood is a big step forward.”

Freida Pinto played Patel’s love interest in Slumdog Millionaire and is now his real-life girlfriend.

The Indian-born former model has had more success than Patel, winning a role in Woody Allen’s lat-

Maidenhead Magistrates’ Court this Monday and faces suspension from the Tory party.

Peter Dale-Gough, the acting leader of Slough Borough Council’s Conservative group, told the Daily Telegraphy Choudhry had told him that he and his first wife took part in a religious ceremony but were not married by law as they never went through with the civil ceremony.

It is believed he met his

Dev Patel with Freida

est film.

Patel said he was hoping to overcome prejudice.

“I’m buzzing with adrenaline and raring to go, but I have to be realistic. Being an Asian actor, it’s never going to be easy. Hopefully the industry is changing

and the casting directors will be less focused on colour so that people like myself can get through the door.”

The young actor still lives at home with his parents and travels on public transport.

second wife, who is a GP in her 40s, through online dating and the couple married in Pakistan.

They split after she learnt his first marriage may not have legally ended and he is understood to now live with his mother and his three children.

Choudhry has agreed to stand down as the council’s Conservative leader but vowed to clear his name.

Slough Borough Council declined to com-

ment, as reported by the national daily.

Met fails to carry out proper checks on background When we were small, we always idealised the bobbies as the ultimate figure of security, who never failed to turn the wrong into right.

But from the recent incidents it has become difficult to trust the police with the same intensity.

Lets see why.

The officer who was filmed hitting Ian Tomlinson moments before he died during the G20 protests was reemployed by the police despite having being accused of illegally arresting a motorist during an off-duty road-rage incident.

Simon Harwood retired from the Metropolitan Force in 2001 with unresolved disciplinary charges of

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unlawful arrest, abuse of authority and discreditable conduct hanging over him.

The Met re-employed him twice, promoting him to its public order unit, which policed the G20 demonstrations in London last year. In 2003 he temporarily rejoined the police ranks with the Surrey force.

Mr Harwood, who was filmed striking Mr Tomlinson with his baton and pushing him to the ground, will not face criminal proceedings over his death after a decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

If proper checks had been conducted Mr Harwood could have been blocked from rejoining the force and prevented from

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Marmalade Drops You say Burqa, I say Bikini

By Deepti V. Patel

Tory council leader steps down after being charged with bigamy The leader of the Conservative party on Slough Borough Council has been charged with bigamy, reports the national media.

Councillor Pervez Choudhry (pictured), 52, was arrested on last Monday before being released on bail.

Choudhry defected to the Tories last year after he was originally elected as a Labour candidate for the Central Ward.

He is due to appear at

5

being employed by the Surrey force.

In the second instance, two police officers have been suspended from duty after they were filmed attacking the car of a disabled pensioner.

One officer smashed Robert Whatley’s side window with his baton before leaping on to the bonnet of his £60,000 Range Rover and trying to

kick the windscreen in.

Mr Whatley, a retired businessman, was originally stopped for failing to wear a seat belt.

He claims he told the officers he was reversing and drove off thinking his explanation had been accepted.

Instead the officers followed him for 17 minutes along country lanes before he pulled over.

Last month the French lower house passed a law, which subject to the Senate’s approval in September will ban French women from wearing the burqa in public places. Any woman found in contravention of the law will be fined approximately 200 euros and any man forcing his wife to wear the burqa will be fined 40,000 euros. It will not come as a shock then, that the burqa ban is already causing much controversy not only within the Muslim community in France but across the world. Is this a microcosm of S. P Huntington's clash of civilisations or can the French state successfully liberate women - forcibly?

It was the French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau who famously wrote in his Social Contract, the oxymoron, that it was the role of the State to force man to be free. Now Rousseau we can safely assume did not have the burqa in mind when he wrote his famous treatise on freedom.

Several centuries later this is effectively the idea underpinning this piece of legislation. In the West the burqa is viewed as an icon of misogyny and modern politics. However amongst its wearers, Muslim women, the burqa has mixed reviews.

Some women love their burqa they feel free behind it, they enjoy the anonymity the power of knowing they choose who can look at them. Others find it restrictive, a form of control over everything they do, it overshadows the inhabitant’s identity taking on an identity they did not choose for themselves. France is not the

first country to take such measures. The full veil was banned in Turkey some time ago however since 2008 a law was passed relaxing previous legislation as it had gained some what of a comeback. Earlier in this year Syria banned the niqab from being worn in universities or schools as it was viewed as a symbol of radical Islamic politics in a country which views itself as secular.

When we stop and pause it does seem strange that on the one hand we have male religious clerics stating women are required to wear the burqa and on the other hand male politicians stating women are now banned from wearing the burqa. Where in all of this decision wrangling did a Muslim woman get a choice – which is the whole point of sorry story in the first place.

Effectively the burqa debate boils down to choice. Choice is such a wonderful thing when we are freely able to make them. A women’s clothing is about choice. Some women love bikinis they feel powerful and beautiful, others dread the summer months because of a fear of what they will look like on the beach. Burqa or bikini it’s a woman’s fundamental right to choose what she wears and a ban on that, is a ban on the freedom of self – expression. History dictates once something has been prohibited it normally becomes more even more popular and leads to subversion. If it is real change the French government seeks then they should seriously consider adopting another strategy.

Restaurants may be forced to reveal calorie counts Often we have thought about the delicious tikka masala the Indian restaurant servesaround the corner. We have wondered, “What makes the food so tasty?

Is it the extra creme or the oil or the other spices?”

When it could be that extra fat added to the curry, restaurants now might be forced to reveal the calories in their dishes. Not only restaurants, take-aways and pubs could be also forced to print menus calculating the calories

in meals under government plans to combat obesity.

Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, has signalled he will change the law if food businesses do not respond to attempts to introduce a voluntary industry sys-

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UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

Kapil’s

Baby thrown in front of doubledecker bus A seven-month old baby was thrown into the path of a double-decker bus by a teenage girl after he was ripped from the arms of his terrified sister.

Tavish Dabedeen (pictured) landed in a bus lane outside a station as the vehicle approached, but the driver was able to avoid the helpless child.

A 14-year-old girl was arrested as the baby was rushed to hospital where incredibly he was found to have only minor injuries and bruising.

Horrified commuters ran to Tavish’s aid after the teenager and another girl targeted his family who were visiting shops.

A pair of teenagers fol-

lowed the scared family to West Croydon station where they lashed out at the mother and her 13year-old daughter before throwing the child in the road. The father Rajiv Dabedeen was not present in the scene. The 42-yearold businessman said: ‘I was distraught, my son could have been killed, and my wife and daughters were attacked in broad daylight. I was only minutes away from picking them up when I got the call from the police telling me they had been attacked. We were all so relieved when the scans came back from hospital giving Tavish the all-clear, it could have ended much worse...”

by Kapil Dudakia - email: kapil@abplgroup.com Zardari the Zero

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: ‘A 14year-old girl was arrested later the same day and taken to a south London police station. She has been bailed until September pending further inquiries.’

The girl was held on suspicion of actual bodily harm while the hunt for the second girl continues.

Commercial entities to set up legal services

By Rupanjana Dutta A law has been passed in the Legal Services Act, that allows for the creation of Alternative Business Structures, which means not only lawyers can own legal services, but it means someone like Tesco could also set up a legal service,

or another commercial entity could go into business with a law firm. It would come into effect from next year.

Some existing law firms are reported to be considering floating their business on the stock markets to allow investors a share of ownership. There is also talk

of private equity firms looking to invest in law firms It is a major change to the current situation where firms are owned by lawyers themselves. In terms of regulation, there is a new regulation regime in the making and various new bodies being established too.

British couple murdered over daughter’s arranged marriage

By Dhiren Katwa The tragic news about the double shooting of a Birmingham couple in Pakistan over an arranged marriage has been beamed across the world.

Taxi driver Gul Wazir and his wife Begum from Alum Rock were brutally gunned down following a dispute over a planned marriage between the couple’s daughter and a man in Pakistan. The tragic “honour killing” incident happened last Monday in Salehana, a village in the remote and dangerous Nowshera province. One of the couple’s sons is also believed to have been shot, but survived the attack. He is in a stable condition in hospital. It is understood the couple have already been buried and the Foreign Office said it was providing consular assistance to the family. This week, another of the couple’s son’s, Umar, was organising a memorial for them at an Islamic centre in Bordesley Green.

According to reports, the shootings came two days after the couple agreed to pay the equivalent of £18,800 to the bridegroom, who is also their nephew, in compensation. There are an estimated 55 per cent of British Muslims married

to first cousins. British Pakistani children make up one third of birth defects registered in Britain, despite making up only three per cent of all UK births.

A family friend told local newspaper the Sunday Mercury that the Wazir couple had already promised their daughter to a man and when that arrangement ended Mr Wazir was not happy. “Gul and his wife went to Pakistan to try to sort it out, but this man went crazy and shot them for breaking off the engagement. This is a tragedy.

They were honest, decent people.” He described Mr Wazir “a quiet, humble, good man,” adding: “He got on with his work, loved his children and was a regular at weddings and funerals and all community events. We all respected him, he will be sadly missed.” Neighbour May Sparrow, a pensioner who knew Mr Wazir since he was about 18, paid tribute to him as “a proper Brummie” who idolised his family.

The North Western province of Pakistan where the couple were murdered is less than 100 miles from the Afghan border. The area has become a hotbed of fundamentalism, with honour killings a feature of the

KHICHADI

Khalid Mahmood MP

strict Islamic code being enforced in the region.

Muslim MP Khalid Mahmood (Lab; Perry Barr) described the news as “shocking”. He said: “This sort of thing should not be happening in this day and age.”

Mr Mahmood, who himself has a chequered and controversial marital background, added: “People need to take it very seriously, when they make these kind of arrangements, that their children are happy with that and that they have a proper dialogue with their family.

If the child refuses the marriage it’s seen as an insult. I think people need to realise that if they want to continue their ties with their relatives in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, they need to be aware of the extent, when their children aren’t overly enthusi-

I have to say that never did I think that we would witness a President of any country who would so openly have such disregard for his own people as exhibited by Zardari.

A man, not of the people, or for the people. Yet he insisted he is the leader of ‘Pakistan Peoples' Party. Well Mr Zardari whilst your geography might be poor, let me guide you, your people can be found wanting of food, water, shelter and medication in the east, not in London.

Just when you feel that no politician can fall to any new depths, someone comes along and takes your breath away.

He excused his behaviour by saying that he had given the Prime Minster and Cabinet the power to sort the mess out and therefore he was not required. What is equally damning is when his son, Bilawal Bhutto said that his father was doing everything possible to raise money by hop, skip and jumping from one 5 Star destination to another. Well Bilawal I think you will find that in times of such serious natural disasters, the international community would oblige with a mere phone call.

The people of Pakistan should now wake up and see what it has created since independence, a totally corrupt infrastructure that shows no evidence of any sense of ethics, morality or any code of honour.

Civil governments have let them down as have military dictatorships.

Whilst millions starve and thousands die, Zardari actually thinks it is more important that he launches his son’s political career in the UK? I am reminded of the saying, ‘Whilst Rome was burning, Nero was playing his fiddle.’

Sow the seeds of terror This is now the most dangerous time for Pakistan.

The astic, that the family overseas will feel they’re being slighted.”

Mohammad Siddique, Mr Wazir’s former boss at Manor Cars in Birmingham, described the news as “devastating”.

A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police said: “The murder enquiry is being carried out by the authorities in Pakistan and we will support their

Government has failed and the military has been very slow off the mark to help the masses. In the gap that has been created, the extremists have stepped in willingly.

They will serve up a cocktail of deceit, prejudice and extremism under the guise of humanitarian aid. And in years to come, this home grown anarchistic terror will continue to consume the nation from within, as it does today.

The seeds of terror are thus sown in every generation, and with that, generations are destroyed of their humanity. What remains is hate coupled with no hope.

I spy with my ...

I was amazed to learn that some 200 CCTV cameras at a cost of £3m were installed in the district of Sparkhill in Birmingham. The majority of the population in the area being Muslim and of course of Pakistani origin. This was the ‘Preventing Violent Extremism’ agenda that was wheeled out by the Labour Government under a huge fanfare with millions of pounds in funding. As it stands all these cameras have never been turned on for the purpose they were installed, namely to spy on everyone within the area encircled by this eye in the sky. The controversy has created a massive public relations dilemma for the Government who might have wanted to use the facility as it stands, but also aware that every terrorist in the country now know exactly which area they should avoid.

It seems to me, the very purpose for this ‘ring of steel’ has now been compromised.

What is interesting is that this was a Labour initiative, rightly or wrongly they actually thought it was a good idea, or at least the people they sought advice from thought it would be great to put a whole community under siege. So what you have is a coninvestigation as and when required.” The Foreign Office said it distinguished between forced and arranged marriages. A spokeswoman said its dedicated forced marriages unit dealt with 1,700 cases a year, and had the ability to send officers to Pakistan, India and Bangladesh to rescue people seeking a way out of a

struct of the previous Labour Government in an area that has since elected a Labour MP. So what does that tell you about the local people and their voting intelligence?

This should also show to Governments of all shades, the need to have sound advice from people who have the confidence to tell it, as it is.

All too often political parties tend to look for ‘yes’ man and women who willingly roll over and allow their masters to tickle their underbelly.

Whilst such individuals may help massage the political ‘ego’ of a party, they do little to give guidance that will hold water in times of crisis.

Muslim ‘Anti Terror’ Camp I found it interesting to note that over the weekend hundreds attended an al-Hidayah event to learn how to fight arguments of the extremists.

The event was held at University of Warwick campus and was attended by many who subscribe to the views of the Muslim scholar Dr Muhammad Tahir-ulQadri. The Minhaj-ulQuran International (MQI) movement originating from Pakistan is seen by many as moderate in nature and one that has openly challenged the extremists from within the Muslim community.

What is even more interesting is that their leading cleric announced recently a ‘fatwa’ against all those who incite violence in the name of Islam. The pronoucement came via a 600 page detailed ‘fatwa’ declaration that gave the clearest advice to every Muslim that terrorist attacks are unacceptable.

This is a small step, but I do hope that in time the "ideological infection" that has taken place can be eradicated from within. This will require peace clerics of all persuasion to galvanise their congregation en-mass to stand any chance of success. forced marriage.

The killings come just a few months after Mohammad and Pervaze Yousaf, from Nelson, Lancashire, were gunned down in a graveyard in north-east Pakistan. They were shot in May after the arranged marriage of their son Qamar to his cousin broke down, sparking a family dispute.

7

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

Face to Face with Anshul Gupta

Presents

By Maninder Kaur 1) Tell us about childhood, and your experience of growing up as a British Asian?

I count myself as being very lucky because for the most part I had a very good childhood. That is not to say that I did not experience racism; one of my first memories was when I was about five years old and was walking to school. On the other side of the pavement were two girls, perhaps seven or eight years old, who were chanting out “Look it’s a Paki boy, it’s a Paki boy!”, whilst their mother, who was walking alongside, said absolutely nothing to them.

But I am glad to say that was a long time ago, and Britain today is a modern, cosmopolitan and vibrant place which welcomes all types of people. I believe the British are a tolerant and fair nation who are open minded about people from different cultures, races and lifestyles.

2) How important is your family life to you?

My family life is the bedrock upon which the rest of my life is based. I live in a house which has three generations under one roof, and we get along very well, as we all have different things to contribute to the mix.

We are all there for each other, and are able to support each other. They say that no man is an island, and a stable life is the best way to form a solid foundation upon which to lay one’s emotional, spiritual and personal development.

3) Why have you not chosen medicine, after studying it for so long?

After having been in the system for so long, I decided that the public sector wasn’t for me, I’m probably too temperamental!

Seriously though, I found that the NHS had become too bureaucratic and burdensome, driven by targets and managers, not the needs of patients.

Once I was in Accident & Emergency and I saw that in one bed there was a patient who had crushing central chest pain – red flag for a heart attack. But the doctor on duty was ordered by a manager to see the patient in the next bed who had a minor complaint and was perfectly stable, but was about to breach the four hour wait imposed by the previous government.

When I saw that, I knew that I didn’t’ want to work in a system like

2010

The 10th ASIAN ACHIEVERS AWARDS (AAA) 30th September 2010 NOMINATION FORM The prestigious Asian Achievers Awards is hosted every year by UK’s leading news weeklies Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar to honour British Asians par excellence. If there is someone you know who has broken boundaries and deserves recognition for their unique contribution to the community and the nation then please nominate them for one of the awards listed below.

Make sure that you fill in this application form and send it before the 20th August 2010 by post, fax or email to Mr. L George, email: aaa@abplgroup.com, Tel: 020 7749 4013 fax 020 7749 4081. If you are sending it by post the address is Mr. L George, ABPL Group, Unit 2, Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, London N1 6HW.

The theme for this year Asian Achievers Awards is “British Asians Turning ADVERSITY into OPPORTUNITY through RESILIENCE, SACRIFICE and DETERMINATION”

Award Categories ●

● this, that put tick boxes and rules over patients’ needs and common sense. Only if the system changes might I be tempted back, and I’m not the only one.

But that is to take nothing away from the thousands of doctors and nurses and other healthcare staff, that day in and day out work long hours under difficult conditions to produce their very best for patients. I admire their dedication, professionalism and competence tremendously.

Some of the nurses in particular were so wonderful they were angels; I don’t think I could ever compare myself to them.

4) What’s the greatest satisfaction you gain from your work?

I think it is the extra, the “added value” that I can bring to something.

When I can use my skills or expertise or my sense of a larger vision to bring something special to a project that benefits not only the participants involved, but also society in a wider sense. I read somewhere once that most men when they are alive are concerned with only what they can get from society or others; but when he is gone a man is remembered for what he gave to others.

5) Where do you see yourself in five years time?

I don’t have a defined road map or a plan, so I’m afraid I don’t have a specific answer to that question. I do know that I have lots of interests, so I could end up down any one of those paths, depending upon where my luck takes me. One of my friends has saying, which goes something like, “The best way to take care of the future, is to take care of the present”, and that is something that I absolutely believe in too.

● ● ●

AAA Platinum Award for Business Person of the Year A Business Person who is a success in every sense of the word and can demonstrate a gen uine passion for social issues.

AAA Gold Award for Professional of the Year Professionals in any field who have scaled the heights of their chosen profession.

AAA Gold Award for Woman of the Year In recognition and honour of a woman who has made a significant mark in any chosen field.

AAA Gold Award for Sports Personality of the Year Awarded for excellence in sports.

AAA Gold Award for Achievement in Community Service In recognition of any individual’s service to community

●

●

● ●

AAA Gold Award for Young Entrepreneur of the Year Young entrepreneur with a proven track record of soperating a successful business. Must be aged below 35 yrs.

AAA Gold Award for Achievement in Media, Arts and Culture Someone who has made a mark in print and broadcast media, cinema, art and culture.

AAA Gold Award for Business in Community A business house that has made a demonstrable contribution to community.

AAA Gold Award for Uniformed and Civil Services Outstanding achievement in uniformed or civil services or contribution to the community through any of the above services.

Application Form Name of nominee Award category nominated under Present occupation/profession

Contact details (address/tel/email/fax)

Your name and contact details

Please explain briefly why you wish to nominate this person.

(Use a separate sheet)

To nominate online please visit www.asianachieversawards.com NOMINATION AND SELECTION PROCESS a This is a unique event where readers nominate and an dependent panel of judges comprising of eminent personalities selects the winner. a Judges’ decision is final. ABPL Group will not entertain any dialogue with members of the public regarding the judging process. a In order to ensure a high degree of transparency and fairness, the management and members of the staff of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar will play no role in the nomination or judging process. a You can nominate yourself if you wish to. a Nominations and entries must follow the prescribed format and bear the signature of the applicant.

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a You may use an additional sheet if the space provided is insufficient. a The winners will be announced at the AAA Awards ceremony on 30th September 2010. a Asian Voice, Gujarat Samachar will publish the names of the short listed candidates and winners after the event. They will also appear in our e-edition www.abplgroup.com a All nomination forms must reach our offices on or before the 20th August 2010.

Note: Any changes to the above including changes to the categories will be published giving sufficient notice to respondents.

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Dee Katwa

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

Midland Voice Contact: Dhiren on 07970 911 386 or dhiren.katwa@abplgroup.com

President’s people tell him to go back home Scores of Pakistanis vented their anger by shouting abuse and waving placards at their president, Asif Ali Zardari, during his controversial visit to Birmingham last Saturday. One demonstrator was wrestled down as he hurled a pair of shoes at the president.

The protest took place outside the International Convention Centre where hundreds of Pakistanis had descended. Among competing protests by groups from various political organisations, one man shouted over a megaphone for an independent Kashmir, while others urged the president to go home, chanting “Go Zardari go!” One banner read: “Zardari, part-time president!” and another “Thousands dying; president holidaying!”

The event had raised expectations that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, pictured,

son of the president and the late Benazir Bhutto, would make his first major political speech here after graduating in June from Oxford University. But in an apparent attempt to appease anger at home over the floods, Zardari Junior cancelled plans to attend. Instead he went to the High Commission in London to collect donations for the flood victims.

During Mr Zardari’s address, he was flanked by his daughter Asifa Bhutto.

Choudry Munir, 65, from Aston, said: “The people of Pakistan do not

agree with 95 per cent of Zardari’s policies. He shouldn’t have come here with what is happening in Pakistan.” Student Faisal Ibrahim, 27, said: “There is so much devastation in Pakistan and Zardari

goes on holiday.

He is neglecting the people who need help the most.” The purpose of Mr Zardari’s visit to Birmingham was to launch the political career of his son.

A YouGov poll of more than 1,900 people, carried out last week for The Sunday Times, backs David Cameron’s criticism of Pakistan, made on his trip to India. Up to 66 per cent of respondents agreed that David Cameron was right to say Pakistan “looks both ways” on terrorism and does not do enough to prevent its export.

Homosexuals forced to marry

The relationship between you and your manager can determine your job satisfaction and work effectiveness. If the relationship is good, then we work effectively but if the relationship is bad, then we are often unhappy and work poorly. An inaugural lecture by Professor Robin Martin, pictured, of Aston Business School, will uncover what determines the quality of the relationship we have with our manager, how this relationship changes over time and how it can be improved. The lecture next month, which is free and open to all, is part of the British Science Festival, Europe’s largest annual public science event, from 14 – 19 September at Aston University, Birmingham. To book a seat or to find out more visit www.britishsciencefestival.org

Officers from West Midlands Police have flagged up concern over rising numbers of homosexual men and women being forced into arranged marriages because their ethnic minority families refuse to accept their sexuality. DC Harjindra Rennison from West Midlands Police describes the issue as “hugely sensitive”, adding: “If you can imagine how shameful it is for some families when individuals reject a forced marriage in the first place, to then explain that you are rejecting it because that person is not the same sex, can be very difficult. It is one of the most shameful things that could happen to some families, so we know we have to take it extremely seriously.” DC Rennison emphasised that forced marriage was not acceptable in this country “under any circumstances”. If you are a victim of forced marriage call West Midlands Police on 0845 113 5000.

Spy cameras, public meeting More than 150 angry residents chanted “take them down” at a public meeting last Wednesday held as part of the controversial CCTV camera saga which saw 218 cameras, 72 of which were covert, installed without consultation in predominantly Muslim populated suburbs in Birmingham. Bishop Derek Webley, pictured, chairman of the West Midlands Police Authority, who tried to restore order, told attendees: “this is not a consultation but it is a chance to find out how the trust and confidence in the police have been affected.”

PM visits East End Foods On his return from India, British Premier David Cameron last week met bosses at West Bromwich-based East End Foods to learn about the company’s trade to and from India. Director Jason Wouhra, pictured, said, “we talked about our view on how tough things are”. The company, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, is currently developing Birmingham’s old HP Sauce factory site with a view to creating new jobs.

News in Brief Final farewell to Yajay The funeral of tragic murder victim Yajay Sudra took place last Thursday. Scores of mourners turned out to pay their final respects to 21-year-old Yajay, pictured, who was stabbed just yards from his Birmingham home as he returned from a late-shift at Birmingham International Airport on July 9. A 15-year-old schoolboy has been charged with Yajay’s murder.

Public trust in charities The Charity Commission has revealed that 42 per cent of the public think ‘ensuring a reasonable proportion of a charity’s income reaches the end cause’ is the most important single factor influencing their trust.

New elephant home A new £1 million attraction in the Midlands, The Uda Walawe Elephant walk at Twycross Zoo, has been opened by Nihal Jayasinghe, commissioner for Sri Lanka. It’s believed to be the first Sri Lankan elephant habitat in the world.

Drug dealer jailed

Do you get on with your boss?

Paramedic retires after 41 years Hats off to Midland paramedic Steve Perry who has retired after serving the NHS and West Midlands Ambulance Service for 41 years. And, amazingly, he’s not taken a single day off work for sickness during his entire career. Steve, pictured, from Wolverhampton, was based in the Black Country but has also worked in North and East Africa.

Married to Christine, the couple, who this month celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary, are currently on holiday abroad. Steve, 57, has a very active retirement ahead of him, including pursuing his voluntary youth coordinator role and rekindling his past hobby of fly-fishing.

Photo: West Midlands Ambulance Service

8

Convicted drug dealer Mohammed Aslam Mirza, pictured, has been jailed for 18 months for failing to pay back a £50,000 confiscation order, which was made in 1992. Since, unemployed Mirza, 66, of Small Heath, Birmingham, had avoided paying the amount owed. He was arrested on July 20 and jailed last week.

Workshop on Women A workshop called the Four Faces of Women will take place at the Nishkam Civic Association, part of Guru Nanak Gurudwara, in Soho Road, Handsworth, on August 28. To book a place call 0121 351 1381.

Pharmacist scoops accolade Midland pharmacist Taseen Iqbal has been voted ‘Community Pharmacist of the Year’. Taseen, 28, who beat off stiff competition from fellow professionals, nationally, received the award at a ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel. Taseen, pictured, is manager of Modi’s Pharmacy in Halesowen. He joined the company in 2005 after four years studying for a masters degree in pharmacy at Portsmouth University.

Payslip peeps One in six employees would secretly read a colleague’s payslip if they had the chance, according to Solihull-based Institute of Payroll Professionals (IPP), the professional body for individuals working in payroll in the UK. And one in five (18 per cent) of workers discuss their salary with their colleagues.

Cyber networking at work

Patriotic gathering

Facebook and Twitter are costing the UK economy a massive £14 billion in lost work time. A poll of 1,000 workers by MyJobGroup.co.uk found 55 per cent of the working population now access social media while at work. Six per cent of employees – two million workers – do it for over an hour a day.

India’s 63rd Independence Day celebrations will be held at the Indian Embassy in Birmingham this Sunday morning (Aug 15). The packed, vibrant programme will include a welcome address by the Consul General Mr C Gururaj Rao, poetry, patriotic hymns, speeches and a vegetarian meal.

EDUCATION/COUNCIL

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

EDUCATION NEWS

Young Open University student numbers increase The number of young people taking Open University courses has seen a sharp rise, the educational body has said.

Its figures show an "unprecedented" 34% increase in 18 to 24-yearolds doing a distance learning degree.

Some 70% of Open University students study part-time, allowing them to earn money while taking a degree.

The university says this can bolster students' chances of getting a job at the end of their studies, and frees them of student debt.

The Open University (OU) now uses the internet to publish lectures and recently recorded 22.5m downloads on iTunes.

The university claims this is a world record for the number of iTunes downloads. They are distributed through the "iTunes U" educational area of the online service.

The OU now has 525 courses available on the internet, with 162,000 students taking online courses.

In any 24-hour period, there will be 45,000 Open University students working online.

Harrow primary schools offer 'halal-only' meat option A north London council is offering its primary schools the chance to serve only halal meat on its menus.

Nine Harrow secondary schools already provide pupils with meat prepared according to Islamic law in a scheme that has been running for two years.

Harrow Council said it had received "no complaints" about serving halal-only meat, with vegetarian and fish options.

Now 52 primary schools in the area will have the option of taking part in the same programme.

Harrow councillor Brian Gate said it would be the choice of individual schools as to whether or not they chose to use catering firm Harrison Catering Services, which serves halal-only meat.

"The decision about

whether to use an individual provider is for schools to make, as the funding is delegated to them," Councillor Gate said.

Halal is meat from animals that have been slaughtered in accordance with Sharia law.

Masood Khawaja, president of the Halal Food Authority (HFA), said he welcomed the move but stressed that pupils should not be forced to eat halal meat.

"It's commendable for any local authority to introduce halal meals for Muslim students and pupils, but we also say that it should be properly labelled.

Non-Muslims should have a choice as well," he said.

The Muslim Council of Britain said parents who wanted their children to eat halal meat "should be given the freedom and choice to do so".

Ealing and Southall’s Muslims and Sikhs join together to improve relations Individuals from Ealing and Southall’s Muslim and Sikh communities met for the very first time last Friday to discuss ways to bring the two groups closer together.

These representatives formed the Muslim and Sikh Media Monitoring and Response Project, the first group of its kind in Britain.

The group has been created in the wake of reports of poor relations in some parts of the UK between Sikh and Muslim communities. It is also known that the British National Party is pushing tensions between Muslims and Sikhs in the UK to

the cost of their education, with the better-off paying most.

He added: 'We're talk-

A CROOKED former council benefit fraud investigator who used his specialist knowledge to cheat taxpayers out of almost £200,000 has been jailed for more than two years.

Badrul Islam, aged 46, made phantom housing benefit payments on behalf of two separate lettings agents in East London.

Islam, of Henniker Road, Stratford, used his expert knowledge of Newham Council’s systems to make backdated payments to his collaborators - but he was caught red-handed by the council’s internal audit team, who uncovered the scam during a routine check.

The case was then passed to the council’s own counter-fraud investigation team, which carried out the criminal enquiry.

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breaking point. Earlier this year for example, a Sikh, Rajinder Singh became the BNP’s first non-white member and it is feared that the far-right party may forge alliances with anti-Muslim individuals from Sikh communities with a view to using them as cover for their racist policies.

The Project will now meet every eight-weeks to have discussions around issues in the media that have been reported and which are not conducive to positive relations between the two communities. This may include discussions on web and newspaper reports and

blogs which are increasingly being used to corrode relations.

At the first meeting, locals talked about their religious identities and shared their experiences of life in the borough. They discussed examples of cooperation and conflict, as well as sharing ideas for local events to promote inter-religious harmony.

The group aims to develop joint projects and events between the two communities. Such good practice may also act as a beacon for other communities within the UK, particularly in the West Midlands where Sikh and Muslim relations need

support and strengthening.

The project’s organiser and director of Faith Matters, Fiyaz Mughal, said: “Relations between Muslims and Sikhs are portrayed very negatively in the media and in blogs on the internet. We hope that this project will encourage cooperation between the two communities in Ealing and Southall, and help people speak out against messages of hate and division.

By sharing information, we can act quickly to resolve tensions, and hopefully we can use Ealing as an example to the rest of the country.”

Benefit cheat caught by council colleagues

Tuition fees to be replaced by graduate tax Student tuition fees are set to be ditched in favour of new charges based on a graduate's income, universities minister David Willetts said.

In a surprisingly frank intervention, Mr Willetts said ministers had a 'preference' for funding universities through a 'graduate contribution' in future rather than the current fees.

His comments appear to preempt an independent review of university funding by former BP boss Lord Browne, and suggest that Business Secretary Vince Cable has won the Cabinet row over plans for a graduate tax.

Mr Willetts, who enjoyed a fee-free education at Oxford, said the exact design of the graduate 'contribution' was still to be decided.

But he said it would be 'progressive', adding: 'As people earn more, they pay more back.' He said graduates typically earned £100,000 more over a lifetime than non-graduates and should contribute to

9

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Newham Council’s executive member for housing and customer service, Councillor Andrew Baikie, said: “Badrul Islam was a senior benefits officer with 13 years’ experience at the council, who systematically abused his position for personal financial gain.”

Islam was sentenced to two years and four months imprisonment at Inner London Crown Court on Thursday 5 August after he had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to make fraudulent payments. Two let-

tings agents who participated in the con had pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to make fraudulent payments.

Moin Uddin Ahmed, aged 55 of Berkeley Road, Manor Park, owns Eurobangla lettings agency in East Ham Dulal Haque, aged 40 of Windsor Road, Forest Gate, owns Elite estate agent in Upton Lane, Newham.

Islam, who was sacked as a result of the counter fraud team’s inquiry in May 2007, was sentenced to two years and four

months imprisonment, Ahmed got 14 months imprisonment and Haque was sentenced to one year in jail for his part in the scam.

Islam had previously been entrusted with checking unusually large payments.

However, unbeknown to him, the council’s internal audit team had also been tasked with checking large payments. The audit testing sample showed potential internal fraud and a subsequent investigation identified Badrul Islam as the culprit.

MEDIA WATCH

10

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

Scrutator’s It is now accepted that India has an assortment of world-class companies which belong to the country's private sector. The Tata Group heads this list on virtually every count. Its 140-year history is interleaved with the evolution of the Indian polity as we know it today. Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister described Jamsetji Tata, founder of the House of Tata and a visionary and philanthropist to boot, as one of the makers of modern India. Tata has become a global brand; in one form or another, it looms over every continent. It is a driver of innovation and a symbol of excellence.

Jaguar Land Rover is a UK automobile manufacturer, as Corus is a UKbased steelmaker. The Tata Nano is the world's cheapest car and also the smallest. Now, Tata is poised to add another string to its bow with its novel and inexpensive water purifier. The Wall Street Journal's Arlene Chang writes from Mumbai (July 6): “Thomas Edison, widely known as the father of the electrical age, would probably not have imagined that a product inspired by his famous invention – the electric bulb – would be one that wouldn't use electricity. Tata's Swach (the Hindi word for clean) is a water filter that uses natural materials and nanotechnology to purify water, doesn't need electricity, meets US Environment Protection Agency norms for bacteria and costs less than $22. It was inspired by Edison's electric bulb, but unlike that invention, it was developed for consumers in rural India who don't always have access to electricity.”

Poor man's device Sabaleel Nandy, head of the water-purifier business at Tata Chemicals Ltd, said: “Right from the beginning, we were very clear that the product to be developed keeping in mind

from New Delhi for the Financial Times (August 5), writes: “Tata Group ....[has] called time on the career of its veteran chairman Ratan Tata by setting up a panel to find his successor. In a statement, Tata Sons, the Group's holding company, said it had begun a global search for a successor, consider-

Ratan Tata displaying the Swach water purifier

households that didn't have electricity. It was always meant to be a poor man's device.”

According to Arlene Chang, Gopalakrishnan, vice chairman of Tata Chemicals was given the following brief: do for drinking water what Edison did for electricity. Mr Gopalakrishnan took an earlier Tata water filter concept that used rice-husk ash, a byproduct of polished rice, as the main filtering component, and the process moved on. “The result: After four years of toil, Tata unveiled the Swach....The Swach cartridge resembles Edison's electric bulb and is made up of a composite of ricehusk ash and fine particles of nano-silver, which inhibits bacteria growth. Just like an electric bulb, the cartridge also has a fuse. In this case, the fuse prevents water from passing through once its purifying capacity of 3,000 litres of water is exhausted.

Swach is presently sold in the Indian states of Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Global search James

Lamont,

reporting

ing external as well as internal candidates, to replace Mr Tata when he retires in December 2012.”

By then, Mr Tata would have served for 21 years as the group's chairman. He has a “towering reputation in India for business acumen and corporate responsibility....The 140year old group has has 98 operating companies, including India's biggest vehicle maker, its largest information technology outsourcing company and the world's seventh largest steelmaker. Noel Tata, Mr Tata's 53year old half brother, was recently appointed head of the group's international operations, raising the prospect that he might be a candidate for the chairmanship.” We shall see. Pace your bets, gentlemen, please.

Australian coal assets The FT's James Fontenella Khan in Mumbai and Lachlan Colquhoun in Sydney reported that Adani Enterprises, India's largest importer of coal, had bought coal assets from Australia's Linc Energy for a total of $2.72 billion, in a move to meet the country's growing

demand for energy as it seeks to achieve double-digit growth.

The Indian group acquired Linc's Galilee thermal coal assets in Australia's Queensland for $456 million and will pay an extra $2.26 billion in royalties for coal production.

“Adani's moves makes a lot of sense.,” said Arvind Mahajan, natural resources analyst at KPMG. “A lot of Indian companies are in the market to acquire new assets as the demand is reaching record levels. We expect demand for for thermal coal to increase 90 per cent over the next five years, as more roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects are set up.”

The deal will also help Adani Power, a subsidiary of the Ahmedabad-based group, to build the 6,000 megawatts of capacity it plans for 2012. Mr Mahajan said that Australian assets were more expensive than those in Africa, but this was offset by significantly better infrastructure.

Award for Indian firm An Indian Express report (July 2) told how D light Design, an Indian social enterprise that brings innovative solar lanterns to households across India and other developing countries had won the top Gold Award at the Ashden Awards for `Sustainable Energy 2010. The prize worth £40,000 was announced by noted British environmentalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough.

D light Design was chosen for designing, manufacturing and marketing high quality durable and affordable solar lanterns. In the words of the judges, the enterprise was chosen for the Gold Award for “its passion and dedication to the cause of ridding the developing world of the health and pollution problems associated with the use of kerosine lighting through the design, manufacture and promotion of durable and affordable solar lanterns in India and across the developing world.”

The judges were particularly impressed with the company's highly effective marketing strategy which has put solar lighting within reach of over a million people in 32 countries with significant potential for further expansion.

Rohtang Pass Reporting for the New York Times (August 5) from the forbidding heights of the Rohtang Pass, Lydia Polgreen told of the Indian effort to punch a tunnel through the Pir Panjal spur of the Himalayas, a feat, when completed in five years time, would constitute a true engineering marvel. With China building an imposing infrastructure in Tibet, which would enable Beijing to apply significant military pressure on India along the Himalayan heights, India had been forced to respond appropriately in the interests of its national security, said Ms Polgreen quoting a number of Indian defence experts. She writes: “But now, India is racing to match its rival for regional

Congress President Sonia Gandhi unveiling the foundation plaque of the Rohtang Pass Turnnel

and global power, building and bolstering airstrips and army outposts....finally after it was first proposed – building a tunnel to bypass the deadly Rohtang Pass....Several other tunnels, which would allow all-weather access to Ladakh, which abuts the Tibetan plateau, are also in the works....The challenges of building a long tunnel in the rough environment of the Pir Panjal are enormous....The tunnel will sit beneath a more than a tunnel of snow-covered rock for much of its length.

Ventilation will pose a huge problem. People who live on the other side of the Rohtang Pass say the tunnel will transform their lives.”

They are totally cut off in winter. The tunnel will turn an ordeal of several hours in the summer, into a brisk 20-minute trip. “For the engineers building the tunnel, it is not merely a matter of logistics, but also a matter of national pride,” explains Lydia Polgreen.

Vietnam, India Vietnam News (July 27) reported the visit to the country of India's army chief General Vijay Kumar Singh, who was accorded a warm welcome in Hanoi by his hosts. Vietnam and India have always had a close relationship, but the looming menace of China has brought them into an even warmer embrace. Both nations have also drawn closer to America, in the case of Vietnam a truly remarkable development in the context a bitter past when they fought a savage war. Now, America has allowed Vietnam to reprocess spent fuel from US-made nuclear reactors, just as Washington has done with India.

China was not consulted on either deal. “Vietnam hedges its China risk” is the title of an absorbing analysis in Asia Times online (July 20). It says, “China's aggressive behaviour [it claims the entire stretch of water from Taiwan to Singapore, including the Paracel and Spratley islands and also a part of Vietnam's land border] has made other ASEAN nations without a direct stake in the island disputes take notice....By openly wading into the South China Sea dispute, the US has given ASEAN support to develop a more coherent response.”

Vietnam has also drawn closer to Russia.

India's oil stake “India is another regional player finding common strategic cause with Vietnam. On July 27, the countries agreed to strengthen their defence cooperation during a visit by General V.K.Singh...New Delhi and Hanoi share China-related strategic concerns and have enjoyed historically close ties forged in their common anticolonial struggles....An ostensible commercial deal could deepen India-Vietnam strategic ties.

BP, which is raising capital to cover the cleanup costs of its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico,” is from Vietnam. retreating “According to reports, Vietnam's government has given approval to a consortium of state-owned Indian energy firms and Petro Vietnam to buy out BP's stake.”

Zardari fever Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's visit to the UK didn't go down terribly well with many of Britain's Pakistani community, who questioned his presence in foreign parts when his country was facing a natural catastrophe of biblical proportions.

British and American scribes were no less scathing. “Cameron should count his fingers after shaking hands with Pakistan's Mr Ten Per Cent” was the title of historian Michael Burleigh's excoriating article in the Daily Mail (August 5). “Zardari has been nicknamed Mr Ten Per Cent (and more recently Mr Hundred and Ten Per Cent) for his rumoured habit of skimming off of millions in kickbacks....Indeed the Pakistan People's Party, which Zardari took over from after his wife's death, is referred to as the Permanent Plunder Party,”said Mr Burleigh.

Thomas Friedman in The New York Times (August 2) referred to Pakistan's “Great (Double) Game” in Afghanistan. Christine Lamb in The Sunday Times (August 1) explained Islamabad's modus oprandi through its intelligence service. She described General Ashfaq Kayani's “charm offensive”with the visiting Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, which involved rounds of golf in the slyvan setting of a Himalayan course, “wrong-footing the Americans, something in which Pakistan's military have had decades of experience.”

Enough said.

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

Bringing health and education to the slums of India schools in Delhi. The iniIn India, thousands of tiative focuses on pre-pripeople live in slums withmary and primary schoolout access to basic educachildren, providing each tion and clean water and school with a ‘remedial sanitation. centre’ that supports Where there are them in developing readschools, they are often ing and writing skills. overcrowded and provide Teachers receive proa low quality of teaching, fessional training on how and if you are a girl you are more likely to drop to make their lessons out after primary school. more interesting and creMost households don’t ative, and how to estabhave running water or lish positive discipline. toilets and health centres In addition to this, are often too far from the children, parents and area. school staff actively take Jonaid Jilani One of Oxfam’s priorpart in the school develalised groups, to particiities is to provide health opment plans. pate in it. We hope that This model of 20 and education to disadthis model will be sucschools will be extended vantaged communities. cessful and that to other schools so that Last month Oxfam in Municipal Corporation more children will benefit India joined forces with a Delhi will look into the in education and health, local non-profit organisapossibility of replicating it thanks to the interactive tion called the Society for in all their schools so that education modules and All Round Development all children of Delhi in hygiene camps.

(SARD) as well as the the future can participate Oxfam estimates that Municipal Corporation of in and contribute to 15,000 children will get Delhi to develop a new India's successful develeducation and health help on the prevention opment". service model in a numand treatment of illnesses The project’s ultimate ber of slums in the Indian support through health goal is to give access to capital. and hygiene camps. equitable and high quality The project allows Nisha Agrawal, CEO primary education and more children to receive of Oxfam India said: health services to 25,000 basic education and also "India is aspiring for a to 30,000 people in the gives them access to betmodel of inclusive growth most deprived communiand development in the ter quality health services ties in Delhi by 2012-15 coming years. But growth in coordination with local and to develop a model to can only be inclusive if it health service providers. be replicated by other provides equal opportuniThe project’s first step organisations in the ties to all, and especially is to directly help 600 future. to the poor and marginchildren in 20 selected For more information about Oxfam and its India project or to donate please call 0300 200 1242

Jewels of Romance Wedding preparations are all about details and many brides-to-be start with finding the perfect location and choosing the colours for the big day.

Applying the same standards to your honeymoon is also a fine maxim. In The Bahamas you can choose the colour of the sand you’d like to feature in your honeymoon photographs, from soft white, crushed pink coral or ripples of golden sand. Then into the ocean blues … every shade of green, azure and turquoise surround this collection of 14 main islands, from the palest blue shimmering over the sand banks off Long Island to clear aquamarine around the Exuma Cays, deep indigo blue of the Blue Holes of Andros and white tipped surf cresting the sapphire waves off Eleuthera.

It’s a stunning palette and blends perfectly.

Pastel coloured clapperboard houses line the streets of downtown Nassau and throughout the little settlements, or villages, of Hope Town in The Abacos and Harbour Island. Vibrant colours are found in the Androsia fabric from Andros or the bright costumes of the

Junkanoo Festival.

That’s the colours sorted, now choose the ‘soundtrack’. The more well-known islands of Nassau/ Paradise Island and Grand Bahama are the places to go for the lively sounds of many restaurants, bars,

nightclubs and shopping interspersed with the sound of hooves as the horse drawn surreys carry you around the

interesting sights of downtown Nassau. There are plenty of beaches and places for romance such as a trip over to Blue Lagoon for the dolphin or sea lion encounters.

Slow down to a really gentle pace after the wedding mayhem with at least a few days, if not your whole honeymoon on one of the Out Islands like Eleuthera or Exuma where the rhythm of life slows right down. The casual informality simplifies your honeymoon wardrobe to cool summer pretties to enjoy island-style bars and restaurants overlooking the ocean where a string of fairy lights and moonlit nights reflected by the ocean are the glitziest lightshows in town.

The major operators such as British Airways Holidays, Thomas Cook Signature, Virgin Holidays and Kuoni feature some of The Islands of The Bahamas while the specialist operator Bahamas Flavour offers tailor-made holidays to any, or all, of them.

For more information on The Islands of The Bahamas please visit www.bahamas.co.uk

11

Women convicted of wilful neglect at filthy care home for the elderly The Briars residential home

More care home owners who mistreat elderly residents will be taken to court, prosecutors have warned, after two women were convicted and sentenced for the new criminal offence of wilful neglect.

Asian home carers should also make sure that they take extra care as they could be easy targets of investigations.

Annette Hopkins, 61, the owner of a Southampton care home, was given a 30-week jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, fined £27,000 and ordered to pay £25,000 in costs last week after being found guilty of nine charges. She will also serve 200 hours’ commu-

nity service.

Margaret Priest, 56, the care home manager, was given 200 hours’ community service.

There were nine victims in what is the biggest case to be brought under the new offence. The law, which came into effect in April 2007, means that police no longer have to find evidence of assault before they bring criminal charges against care home owners or staff.

Police were alerted to problems at The Briars residential home after the death of Ronald Reed at Southampton General Hospital on August 9, 2007. He had large and badly infected bed sores that appeared to have

been untreated. A scene of filth and squalor greeted officers when they arrived to investigate the 34-bed home.

The police and inspectors after seeing the filthy scene at the care home, and they closed the home immediately for an investigation. They said that many of the residents required specialist nursing care and should never have been allowed to be at the home.

After 18 months of investigation, which required reviewing the deaths of residents some months before, they charged the two women with 16 offences of illtreatment and neglect against nine victims.

bahamas.co.uk

It makes everyone's day when Georgette joins us for lunch.

Brendal Stevens, captain, free-diver and chef – Abaco Island

To find out more call

0844 871 5162 From price is per couple, based on 2 adults sharing a Garden View Room, departing in economy from London Heathrow on selected departure dates between 01 Sep - 31 Oct ’10.

Book by 31 Aug ’10. Holidays are subject to availability and can be withdrawn/changed withoutnotice.A2.5%creditcard charge applies.

Calls to 0844 numbers cost 5p p/min, plus network extras. Holidays are operated by Thomas Cook Scheduled Tour Operations Ltd. ATOL 0606. ABTA V2185.

When you get married over here, be prepared to meet some unexpected guests.

I love taking honeymooners out on my diving trips as they are so pleased they said “I do” in The Bahamas. Of course, getting married on a beautiful beach or with a dolphin as the best man would make anyone’s big day extra special. But they always say that hand-feeding my old friend Georgette tops everything.

Bahamas from £2469 per couple. 7 nights, 3◆ SuperClubs Breezes Bahamas, ALL INCLUSIVE. Return flights with British Airways. Transfers included.

12

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Alpesh Patel Consultant Editor Financial Voice Dear Financial Voice Reader, I have a friend, a multimillionaire, who uses Indian astrology to place market bets. I like to think he makes money because he uses my Alpesh Patel Special Edition of Sharescope, but he says its because of his Indian astrologer. He emails his astrologer in Delhi, with specific stock names.

Now you may be wondering where I am going with this. Royal Bank of Scotland (don’t laugh) issued a research note about how astrology does indeed affect the stock market. Okay here are the summaries: If an investor had invested £1000 in FTSE in 1984, by now he would have approximately £5,130 by holding the index, which represents index performance.

Whereas trading FTSE according to moon phases would make a big difference. First, consider buying FTSE on the new moon and selling on the full moon, this would result in £12,116 overall figure for the same period. Having invested £1,000 in S&P in 1928, by now would outcome in holding £63,864 worth portfolio, while by implementing the proposed moon trading strategy, the value of portfolio would have been £1,502,689.

According to the same report, ‘When the Earth is at the midpoint between 2 planets of 45 90 135 and 180 degrees these are considered as difficult angles and tends to be tough times for stocks.’

On August 24th 1987 - 5 planets were on the same elliptical longitude this last happened 800 years ago.

This move preceded the 1987 crash. On August 6th 2008 - Mars-Uranus had a crash cycle preceding the 2008 collapse.

This August 1st +/- 1 week 5 planets will be aligned this will equal a cardinal climax and has not happened in 1,000 years ,so watch out stocks markets. The writer of thee RBS report expects a drop around October. And he’s talking around a 20% drop in the markets. So hold on to your hats.

What about me? Well my rich friend is convinced he wants to go into business with me, but that’s because his astrologer told him I am a lucrative business partner! Having said that the astrologer also told him he’d receive £20m last year and he did!

I wonder what CNBC or BBC would say if I told them my views on the markets based on astrology?

Using more conventional analysis, let me say this – earnings from companies are exceeding expectations so stocks are rising. But the broader economy is not doing so well. Consequently expectations will rise to more accurately forecast earnings and stock prices will take a bit of a hit I think.

Some key statistics I gave on CNBC this week: JP Morgan think the US markets will rise 16% to year end. They have already risen 66% since March 2009.

US corporate earnings are estimated to show the greatest annual improvement since 1998. (Just before the market kept on rising!). This is the fifth quarter that 70% of the 500 companies in the US S&P index have produced earnings to beat expectations.

Bloomberg reckon the market will be up 12% by year end from this week’s close.

Oh by the way...I went to the new Apple store in Covent Garden on Saturday. I’ve said it before. Buy Apple.

Gopinath takes another flight in aviation business Charter air services being launched in partnership with Tata Steels Captain G R Gopinath, pioneer of the low cost airlines business in India has struck a deal with the Tata group company – Tata Steel to start a charter air service. This is the second deal that Gopinath has struck after roping in Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries as a strategic partner in his cargo airline venture.

Gopinath sold his first venture – Air Deccan to Vijay Mallya led Kingfisher Airlines in 2007. It was

later converted to Kingfisher Red, the budget arm of the 5 star rated flagship brand – Kingfisher.

Now, the Ratan Tataled Tata Steel has entered into an agreement with another Gopinath-founded firm Deccan Charters, to run three daily charter flights between Jamshedpur and Kolkata.

Among other general aviation services, Deccan Charters offers aircraft maintenance, charter services and management.

Asian Voice -

Saturday 14th August 2010

Buffet, Gates get other billionaires to pledge for huge charity US philanthropists will also ask their Indian and Chinese friends to chip in Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, two of the leading American billionaires and leaders in charity have done an illustrious job, of encouraging other members of the super rich club to join them in “Giving Pledge” recently. The duo has also been successful in getting pledges from at least 40 for half of their fortunes to charity. They have also said they will request Indian and Chinese billionaires to pledge for charity.

Buffett has promised to give away 99 per cent of his wealth, while Bill and his wife Melinda Gates have pledged billions to public health.

They called up the fellow billionaires personally to collect the pledges. “We called 70 to 80 people in the Forbes list,” Buffett said on a conference call.

“It was a very soft sell but 40 signed up.” The latest offers are expected to inject at least $60 bn (£40 bn) into charities.

Buffett said some of those called went on “a tirade” about the Government and rising taxes. But he said that he would continue to pursue them. “Every saint has a past; every sinner has a future, so we’ll keep working.” Buffett and the Gates planned to hold private dinners around the country to enlist more members of the Forbes 400 rich list, particularly the younger ones.

Carlos Slim of Mexico leads the super rich club with a fortune of about US$53.5 billion, with Bill Gates (US$ 53 bn) and Warren Buffet (US$ 47bn) at no. 2 and 3 respectively.

The Giving Pledge was launched this year after a

Bill and Melinda Gates with Warren Buffett

secret meeting in 2009 with other billionaires, including the talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey, the CNN founder Ted Turner, the financier George Soros and the Los Angeles philanthropist Eli Broad.

Signatories to the pledge include Michael

Our charities that go unnoticed Our country has many people from our community who do so much for the less fortunate and give so much to charities. Some organise events that raise money for worthy causes. Some sign out a part of their very hard earned wealth for these valuable causes, people and charities. When America has always been better at marketing about their noble deeds, we Britons, especially the British Indians, maintain a low key.

It is time for us to step out and make some noise.

Asian Voice is compiling a SPECIAL FEATURE very soon about 'our charities that go unnoticed'.

It is your duty to let our community and our country know what we do, how we serve our community and how money is not about luxury but also for community services. If your company or family has a separate Charity Trust/Foundation or if your company or family allocate money and sponsorship for human activities like health, education etc, please let us know. It will be a privilege for our renowned publications to tell YOUR story to everyone!

Bloomberg, the Mayor of New York, the film director George Lucas, the entertainment executive Barry Diller, Mr Turner and the energy mogul T. Boone Pickens.

“During even the depression’s worst years, my parents gave money —

Diesel car sales zoom past petrol models in UK New figures disclose the change of ratio for the first time ever Figures of car sales for July in UK have shown that diesel cars have been sold in more numbers than petrol cars.

This has happened for the first time in the country, as diesel cars are 15 to 20 per cent more fuel efficient than petrol ones.

The shift is a sign of the change of economic times.

The figures given by the Society of Motor manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) say diesel car registrations accounted for a record of 50.6 per cent in July. These cars

about 8 per cent of their annual income of $2,200,” Lorry Lokey, the founder of Business Wire, wrote in a letter on the Giving Pledge website. “I remember saying to my mother that we can’t afford that.

But she said we have to share with others. I

cost about £1,000 more but, for those using the cars regularly and for long distances, they prove economical.

July also witnessed a decline in overall registrations of cars, figures going down by 13.2 per cent. It was the first decline in a year.

learned from that.”

The former Citigroup executive Sanford Weill and his wife, Joan, said: “Our pledge is this: we will continue to give away all of the wealth we have been so fortunate to make except for a very small percentage allocated to our

children and grandchildren between now and the time we pass because we are firm believers that shrouds don’t have pockets.”

One surprise supporter was the co-founder of Oracle, Larry Ellison. In a “To whom it may concern” letter, he said he had already assigned 95 per cent of his wealth to a trust and given away hundreds of millions of dollars for medical research and education.

“Until now I have done this giving quietly — because I have long believed that charitable giving is a personal and private matter,” Mr Ellison wrote. “So why am I going public now?

Warren Buffett personally asked me to write this letter because he said I would be ‘setting an example’ and ‘influencing others’ to give. I hope he’s right.”

Letters of intent signed by the billionaires show that much of the money will be channelled at improving health and education in America and abroad.

Bloomberg wrote in his pledge letter: “Making a difference in people’s lives — and seeing it with your own eyes — is perhaps the most satisfying thing you’ll ever do.”

Buffett has promised to donate more than 99 per cent of his estimated $47 billion (£30 billion) fortune and is giving most of it in annual instalments to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “We’re hoping that America, which is the most generous society on Earth, becomes even more generous over time,” said Buffett.

Government of India stake in SBI to be reduced Lok Sabha passes bill for lowering govt. holding to 51 per cent State Bank of India (SBI), the largest government of India owned bank will now see the stake of the govt. go down up to 51 per cent from the currently mandated minimum of 55 per cent.

Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament passed a bill earlier this month to enable the bank to raise more capital from the market.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said the public sector charac-

ter of the bank will continue as he moved the bill in the house. With the passage of the bill, the premier PSU bank will be able to raise the authorised capital to Rs. 50 billion from the current 10 billion. The Left parties had opposed the bill.

Currently, the government of India holding is 59.41 per cent.

SBI will now be able to raise more capital from the market and also issue bonus shares.

FINANCIAL VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

13

Property Focus Suresh Vagjiani Managing Director of Sow & Reap, a Property Investment & Financing company.

India Land of Contradiction I write this week from India, having spent time in Mumbai.

In India contradictions survive side by side as if it were normal to do so.

Everything is just blended here. So much commotion and so many cars jostling for every inch of space on the streets. Here you have the most holy men in the world and the most corrupt living side by side coexisting in the same space.

These contradictions also extend themselves to the property market. In Mumbai, you have the most expensive property in the world, namely Mukesh Ambani new home costing £500m and only a stone through away from it Asia biggest slum Daravi in Central Mumbai, made famous in the recent hit Slum Dog Millionaire and a subsequent BBC documentary.

On one end of the scale, we have the Ambanis monstrous tower costing $1bn, which is currently under construction.

It consists of accommodation for 600 staff. It is the equivalent of a 60 storey building it house, 3 helipads, 6 parking floors to park the 168 imported cars, a gym floor, an entertainment floor and a few guest floors. Ambani’s new private heaven will occupy more than 48,000 square feet of the prime most land in one of the most expensive cities on the planet.

As per 2001 census, 54.1% of the city’s population lives in Dharavi – Asia’s biggest slum.

Mumbai has now spilled over to its neighbouring areas, giving rise to a hand-full of suburban domains.

It is actually very derogate to call this a slum. It actually is the heart of Mumbai. People live seemingly happily and actually

thrive. The slum spreads laterally. This is the issue.

This takes up much valuable land. Instead, the plan is to do away with this thriving and productive community and to lock them up in tower blocks. This will then destroy the fabric of the all-important Indian family network, which is one of the most fundamental reasons why Indians not only survives, but also thrive happily.

In exchange for rehousing eligible households in 300 square-foot flats and providing some requisite infrastructure, amenities and commercial space, developers win the right to build developments on the rest of the land for sale on the open market.

The plan has been widely marketed as a win-win solution: a model of slum redevelopment through public-private partnership to be exported around the world.

The project is ridiculously lucrative. Once a no-man’s-land on a peripheral marsh, 590acre Dharavi has found itself in the center of globalizing Mumbai, surrounded by three major railway stations, a bus station and the two major east-west link roads. Most importantly, the Bandra-Kurla Complex, Mumbai’s new financial hub, flanks it where land values rival those of Manhattan and Tokyo.

It continues to be the entry point for many of Mumbai's migrants and has been home to many families for generations. It has provided affordable shelter, economic opportunities and social mobility for countless people.

Dharvi has attracted

support from the most surprising places. The Prince, who visited Dharavi in 2003, cited it as a model for environmentally and socially sustainable settlement because of the way it was organised around people’s needs. He was struck by what he described as

al economic output in Dharavi is estimated at $1 billion.

I was amazed to see the levels property prices had reached within this city. The prices in Central Mumbai surpass the expensive price in areas of London.

the “underlying intuitive grammar of design” that, he said, was “totally absent from the faceless slabs that are still being built around the world to ‘warehouse’ the poor”.

The economic statistics of the settlement are astounding. They recycle 95% of Mumbai’s waste, there is no such thing as junk here, and everything is recycled and reused.

One million people are reported to call Dharavi home, but for many, it is also their place of business.

Other products manufactured in Dharavi’s cottage industries include soap and leather. One leather worker was so successful that he exported 25,000 belts to WalMart in the United States; he has since moved up and out of Dharavi. The annu-

The difference is India has one of the strongest growth rates in the world and the property market in Mumbai will be a ridding on this wave. I can see most NRIs being priced out of this market in years to come.

We have identified projects that are yet to experience capital growth.

The centre of gravity is shifting within the city as pockets in London have done. A similar story can be said of Paddington where our office is located.

In proximity, it is walking distance to Baker Street and Mayfair. Yet it was always seen in poor repute until about 10 years ago when the streets started to be clear up and the Paddington regeneration scheme started to gather momentum.

I remember when one

bedroom apartment where being sold for £275,000 in the new development of West End. Admittedly, I thought this was excessively high. The actual valuation of the property was £350,000, this was sold at £275,000 because it was a now money down deal.

This means no money in – all fees paid and the property is yours. I thought it was way too expensive. The current prices are now nothing less than £425,000.

These also came with 2 year rental guarantees. If this is what happened in London only 9 years ago, think what a similar effect will be happening in an economy which is developing as fast as India and in the most sought after city in India.

The same effect will be compounded exponentially.

India runs on two things: connections and trust. Cores of Rupees are commitied based on these two factors, often in cash. I heard of a man who employed a pest control expert to come in and cleanse a room of white ants. The room was chock a block full from floor to ceiling of currency in cash and the white ants where eating into it! The reaction of many NRI’s is that you cannot trust Indians in India.

I am not saying do not tread carefully. You must tread very carefully but at least make a move. The level the majority of builders are working on nullifies the need to check title. The development itself needs to have clear paperwork for the developer to gain funding. In addition, many banks are lending on the completed project. At loan to values of 80%, they have more to lose then the purchaser should the title not be clear. They do not simply

lend on one unit the majority of the development could be funded by them. Their legal departments would have checked more thoroughly than any one before clearing a project. Our consultants are not new entrants to the market, they have had decades of experience in the Mumbai property sector and they will be there to oversee the development until completion. In developing markets, it is experience and more importantly, trust.

In truth, many developers are simply not bothered about selling abroad.

Why would they be, when all of the developments they are in do get sold out within days? Sometimes, even when they mention they have acquired a building to redevelop, the investor wants it without full clearance simply based on the past performance of the developer.

Why would they want to deal with the objections of the NRI mindset when everything is sold out as soon it is announced? In fact, most do not.

This is the challenge we face as agents going into this market. Our objective is twofold, firstly to convince the developer the added exposure his development will gain through a relationship with the UK, and secondly with the NRI to answer all possible objections from a title clearance to investment related question.

We are currently putting together a very special and exclusive deal in one of the up and coming areas in Mumbai for our clients, which we believe will rocket in capital values.

This is a soft launch and is aimed primarily at investors. If you are interested, please register your interest at info@sowandreap.co.uk or call us on 0203 384 5323.

n Mortgages n Commercial Finance n Property Sourcing n Gujarat Properties - Sale & Resale T: 0207 706 0187 F: 0203 014 8484

E: info@sowandreap.co.uk W: www.sowandreap.co.uk

31 Southwick Street, Paddington, W2 1JQ Registered in England No. 05083823

14

financial voice

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

Leadership Matters Maria Fernandes maria@abplgroup.com Last week I explained how the temporary cap would work. This week I am looking at the long term proposals for a cap.

PERMANENT CAP A consultation has been announced to consider a number of options. The deadline for responses is the 17th September 2010. There are in fact 2 elements to this :1. The UKBA will look at how the limit should be applied (UKBA).

2. The Migrant Advisory Committee then will look at what level the Government should set its limit.

UKBA Consultation The options offered are the following :Pool This adopts the system in New Zealand. Applicants who pass the points test would apply under Tier 1 or 2 and would be entered into a pool of candidates. The UKBA would then select the best candidates. It is not clear how ‘best’ candidates will be selected. If someone was in the pool for over 6 months without being invited to come over they would be removed from the pool.

First come first served This adopts the Australian and US system. Under this method, applications for permission would be dealt with in the order in which the UK Border Agency receives them. When the limit is reached no more applications would be accepted.

It is not clear whether each country would specific limits if there was just one number. In theory applicants in New York for example whose applications are decided within a matter of days and weeks would use up the limit.

This would mean that applicants from other countries would not be able to qualify.

Auction For this method the UK Border Agency would invite employers on a quarterly basis to bid for allocations of Certificates of Sponsorship (formerly work permits). A limited number of certificates would be available and these would be given to the employers who bid to pay the highest fee. This method would be highly advantageous to large multi national companies who have unlimited funds.

Other Conditions In addition to the above proposals there are also other plans such as: • Raising standards of English language qualifications.

• Introducing a requirement that the employer must hold health insurance for employees.

• Wider responsibilities for employers to make a practical commitment to upskilling British workers for example by supporting national or local apprenticeship and other similar schemes.

• Requiring employers to work with local providers and job centres and contribute towards investment for training.

• By requiring all shortage jobs to be advertised before recruiting overseas staff (this was the situation before the shortage was in place following rec-

ommendations by Mac advertising requirements were lifted. It is difficult to understand and why a job that is accepted to be in acute short supply would need to be advertised and what benefits this would bring to the process.

Highly Trusted Status A little mentioned change is the plan to introduce highly trusted status for employers under Tier 2. This is already in force for Tier 4 (students) and is planned for introduction in April 2011.

The MAC consultation MAC has been responsible for taking very detailed evidence on national shortages and as a result Chefs were placed on a shortage list for the first time in years.

The deadline is 07/09/2010 that responses are sent. It will be necessary for all hospitality industry to look specifically at the likely impact of these changes to their businesses.

They have now been asked to prepare a report taking account of the impact of migration on economic, social and public services. The deadline is 07/09/2010. MAC recognised that they will need to take into account the following: • The time, cost and policy implications of accelerating any required upskilling of UK workers.

• Feasibility of other alternatives to migrant labour including paying higher wages and increased mechanisation and the use of new technology.

MAC have commented that there may be a small reduction to begin with followed by smaller or larger reductions in successive years and acknowledges that Tiers 1 & 2 can only reduce net migration up to a point.

MAC have highlighted the fact that there are complex issues which require specific data. For example they would need information on how many migrants leave the UK having previously entered via Tier 1 or 2. This will to a certain extent require them to estimate the impact of policies particularly where the data is in short supply or only partly available.

The intention of the cap is to reduce migration in Tiers 1 and 2 by 5%. The regulations indicate that there will be very strict controls over the grants of CoS. Those who did not use their CoS are at a disadvantage as this is forming the basis of the calculation for this year.

The temporary cap is done on a month to month basis and so there is also likely to be a backlog. Expect major changes ahead.

Business leaders have expressed concern about the intervention of quotas. It is important for everyone to consider the proposal and to respond to the consultation.

For expressing your view on http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/ sitecontent/documents/aboutus/ workingwithus/mac/mac-consultationannual-limit/ Maria Fernandes has been in practice exclusively in immigration for the past 25 years and is accredited in Immigration Law by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Fernandes Vaz is based at 87 Wembley Hill Road Wembley in Wembley and can be contacted by telephone on 02087330123, by email on info@fernandesvaz.com.

With Great Responsibility Comes…

According to myth, when George Washington confessed to his father that he had cut down a cherry tree, all was forgiven because he had admitted his deed. The lesson that it is always better to speak the truth rather than lie, is an important one; although one wonders, would his father have been quite so forgiving if George had burnt the house down?

Justice is about balance – we do wrong, we suffer the ‘proportionate’ consequences. For example, if we are caught speeding, we can admit it, justify it and even apologise for it, but the fine is the same and we still have to pay it.

But sometimes, the consequences far outweigh the ‘crime’. On Friday it was announced that Mark Hurd, the President and CEO of Hewlett Packard (HP) had resigned (with encouragement from the Board) after he was the subject to a sexual harassment probe. Now the allegations were not

actually proven, however, HP stated that he had contravened the Companies ‘standards of business conduct’ and as a result he had to step down.

Ethics and values are becoming more and more important in today’s workplace. It is no longer accepted that as long as you perform well at work, you can do as you please outside of work (unless you are a footballer). Many of us have seen the now famous clip from Spiderman when Uncle Ben tells Peter Parker, ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ So by the very nature of Hurd’s position, it is only fitting that he should leave.

It would however, be wrong to think of Mark Hurd as some sort of corporate rogue – he is widely credited as the architect of HP’s revival over the past 5 years.

Under his stewardship, the Company regained its position as the largest computer manufacturer.

Carlos Maia honoured with “Distribution Master Figure 2010” Award Managing Director of Staples Portugal, Carlos Maia has been named “Distribution Master Figure 2010” by the International Faculty for Executives.

The group publishes many industry and trade magazines related to HR, distribution, logistics & transportation, and business, among others. For the past 20 years, it has selected and awarded personalities, brands and products that are market leaders based on innovation, leadership, and brand proposition. Carlos was awarded this year’s Master Figure award for the distribution sector!

This prize came as

recognition for all hard work and innovation processes that Staples printed on the national market. Carlos Maia is Staples Portugal’s CEO – STAPLES INC Group – since June 1996, and also member of Staples International’s Executive Board, co-founder of Staples University and member of Staples Council for people development.

“This is a terrific honor for Carlos and for Staples Portugal, since the award is given by others in the industry and is the highest recognition for professionals in our country,” said Joaquim Garcia, HR Director, Portugal.

By Amit Patel

So was it really fair to force him out? Did the punishment fit the crime? In mitigation, Hurd also admitted that he "realised there were instances in which I did not live up to the standards and principles of trust, respect and integrity that I have espoused at HP". So, just as Washington senior forgave the young George, why couldn’t HP forgive Mark Hurd? Without knowing the full facts of the case it is difficult to assess if the punishment fits the crime or not.

However, when things go wrong one thing is evident, with great responsibility comes even greater consequences.

(Amit Patel has over 15 years experience in the field of Leadership and Human Resource Management).

Africa assets of BP on Reliance, Essar radar Two of India’s leading private oil giants – Reliance Industries Ltd. owned by Mukesh Ambani and Essar Oil owned by the Ruias are among about half a dozen firms interested to buy the fuel marketing assets of troubled British Petroleum in African countries of Tanzania, Botswana, Namibia, Malawi and also possibly Zambia. BP wants to sell off assets to generate cash as it has liabilities to meet over the Mexico oil spill.

According to sources, Reliance and Essar have offered between $400 to 500 million for BP's assets.

A South African firm and National Oil Corp of Libya are said to be other serious bidders among about half a dozen firms who have evinced interest.

GMR group of India’s stake in UK’s Intergen up for sale

Rao was last year reportedly interested in buying Liverpool Intergen, one of the biggest electricity producers in Britain is about to see a new owner for half of the stake.

GMR croup of India, founded by G M Rao had bought the 50% stake about two years ago with a debt.

Now, as the group is facing problems in paying up the debt, they have decided to sell of the stake.

Interestingly, GMR group are also the owners

of the Delhi Daredevils team of the IPL. They were reportedly interested in buying the Liverpool football club a year ago.

Intergen owns three power stations in Britain, supplying electricity to 2.5 million homes.

GMR group are also partners in the new Hyderabad International Airport in India as well as a new terminal at the Istanbul airport.

They bought the Intergen stake at about

US$2.1 billion, while now the group is expected to get just around US$ 1 billion (£625 mn), incurring a possible loss of more than 50%.

The group has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch to find a buyer.

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, owner of the other 50%, could buy the stake.

Other infrastructure investors such as YTL of Malaysia are also expected to be interested.

FINANCIAL VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

15

Foreign Exchange Rajesh Agrawal is the Chairman & CEO of RationalFX, Currency Specialists.

For any further information call 020 7220 8181 or e-mail info@rationalfx.com

Can UK Afford To Import From Commonwealth?

It has been well published that the UK have been hit more than most countries during the current world recession. It has been the financial sector that has been hit the hardest and with one the UK’s being it’s financial sector the UK have paid the price more than most.

With the UK importing more than they export these days the value of what the UK importers pay for their goods is paramount in the profits that they make. In these tough financial times it can mean the difference of staying afloat as a company or going to the wall which unfortunately has happened to so many.

The UK has many trade partners worldwide with the Eurozone, US and China probably being their biggest trade partners. The UK though still trade a considerable amount with the commonwealth, but will that continue with the exchange rate on Sterling taking a massive hit during the recession against the main commonwealth pairings.

With many of the main commonwealth countries being high yield currencies, it has been dif-

ficult for Sterling to regain its strength on the exchange markets to get back to pre-recession levels. The UK economy does seem to be coming out slowly from recession but its fragile economy is still showing flaws.

This doesn’t go unnoticed by exchange dealers and though Sterling has rallied on many pairings it is still suffering against the main commonwealth pairings. Such currencies as New Zealand, Australian and Canadian Dollars have freely traded at their all time high levels during the recession as has

the South African Rand. They all have been less hit than most of the major economies during the recession and have been able to sustain this for various reasons.

As I mentioned earlier they nearly all have high interest rates so have benefitted from carry trades when risk appetite is high. Also to benefit the Aussie has been the investment into their country mainly of the commodity side from China. In New Zealand’s case it is has been their little exposure to recession and high interest rates that has aided the exchange rate.

In Canada they have had a good time economically which the country having good supplies of oil and other commodities have benefitted from.

South Africa have always done well when commodity prices have risen but also they have had a boost with the country holding the World Cup for the first time this year.

If exchange rates stay around these levels it is going to make purchasing from the commonwealth countries expensive and in the more competitive markets that we are experiencing your could expect to see a fall off in trade from the UK and the rest of the commonwealth. Value has become the key word in any business transaction these days and no one pays over the odds for any goods or commodities. With the Commonwealth Games coming up later in the year in India it will hopefully get the leaders of these countries to meet in a more informal way to discuss this and hopefully come up with a solution to assist future trade.

It would be a travesty if trade dwindled as historically trading with the commonwealth was the opening to the world for the UK.

Weekly Currencies As of Tuesday 10th August 2010 @ 10am GBP - INR = 73.2332 USD - INR = 46.32 EUR - INR = 61.04 GBP - USD = 1.5799 GBP - EUR = 1.1992 EUR - USD = 1.3181 GBP - AED = 5.8043 GBP - CAD = 1.6296 GBP - NZD = 2.1827 GBP - AUD = 1.7307 GBP - ZAR = 11.4253 GBP - HUF = 332.96

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

Bollywood

16 Asian Voice Saturday 14th August 2010

‘Mangaatha’ is a different game, says Venkat Prabhu Venkat Prabhu is brimming with joy for getting the opportunity to direct Ajith’s 50th film, ‘Mangaatha’. “I know my responsibilities and will make the film a wholesome entertainer in all ways,” he says.

“Ever since there were media reports that I was being considered for Ajith’s next, there were requests from his fans that I should make an out and out action entertainer with loads of comedy in it,” he says.

“I am hopeful of fulfilling the expectations of Thala fans,” he says and adds: “One can see a cool Ajith in this film, who takes ultimate risks to achieve his goals. At the same time, there will be

always a smile on his face.” Ask him as to how Ajith’s feeling about the movie, Venkat Prabhu proudly replies saying that Ajith, who recently completed 18 years of his film career, is totally energized and upbeat about the project.

Ajith even said that ‘Mangaatha’ will make sure his career is steady for the decade to follow!

Venkat Prabhu concludes that on the whole, ‘Mangaatha’ will be a different game.

‘Naan Mahaan Alla’ Censor Complete ‘Paiyaa’ Karthi’s latest movie ‘Naan Mahaan Alla’, directed by Suseendran, has completed its censor formalities and has been certified U/A by the Regional Censor Board.

IndiaGlitz intelligence reported saying that a few cuts were suggested to be incorporated and the movie has been certified U/A. ‘Naan Mahaan Alla’ is releasing on August 20th.

Coming from the director of ‘Vennila Kabaddi Kuzhu’, Suseendran is excited about his new movie. A

lot of expectations are surrounding it as Karthi is on a high after his ‘Paiyaa’. Yuvan’s music for ‘Naan Mahaan Alla’ has already started creating the essential curiosity besides the film’s teasers that promise of a super hit in the making!

I’m bad, please don’t hate me: Namitha Please don’t hate Namitha if you’re a hardcore fan of the glamorous actress. Well, It is not our plea, in fact the actress herself requested her fans on Twitter. She is playing a negative role in Suresh Krishna’s “Ilaignan” and this has made her ask her fans not to hate her in this role.

Namitha is currently busy filming Ilaignan in Binni mills in Sriperumbudur.

She recently posted “Well its out-n-out Vamp character! I m Bad! Pllllllllls don’t hate me after watching this film as u knw its not a REAL me”.

The movie is a screen adaptation of M Karunanidhi’s Thaai Kaviyam novel. Pa. Vijay, Meera Jasmine, Khushboo, Ramya Nambeesan and others are in the cast. The film is produced by S Martin,

Vidyasagar has scored the music, B L Sanjay is handling the camera and the movie is Suresh Krishna’s 50th movie under his direction.

Reinvention is Lara’s ‘mantra’ of success

Cricket is not just for men, says Rani She played a swashbuckling heroine smashing sixes out of the cricket field in her last film “Dil Bole Hadippa” and now actress Rani Mukherjee has turned spokesperson for the cause of women’s cricket.

The Bollywood actress who launched the first sports docu-drama on women cricketers, Poor Cousins of Million Dollar Babies in New Delhi, said that cricket is wrongly termed a 'gentleman's game'.

"Since childhood, girls are always discouraged from playing sports and are told that cricket is a gentleman's game, which is incorrect. Learning it for the film made me realise what a beautiful game cricket is. It is about technique, not power," Rani said.

The 25-minute-film directed by Sunil Yash Kalra features members of the national women's cricket team of India, over a period of 4 years and focus on their lives on and off the pitch.

"I know girls from humble backgrounds that join the sport for the love of it. That inspired me to do Dil Bole Hadippa as I got an opportunity to play a game, I didn't understand previ-

Bollywood actress Lara Dutta, an ex-Miss Universe, is currently in seventh year of her professional career and is all positive about playing a long innings for years to come.

What makes Lara confident about this continued run? Well, her 'mantra' is of constantly reinventing herself.

“It's as simple as that. I don't want to just sit down and say that I have been a model in the past and a Miss Universe with some good Bollywood hits behind me so I should just sit back and bask in that glory.

Sorry, there is no point in doing that. I have been enjoying a certain standing right throughout my career and I am not going to let anyone down”, says Lara whose sole release this year, “Housefull,” was a success story at the box office.

She is also one of the few leading ladies who have managed to carry off the skimpiest of outfits without even looking vulgar.

No wonder, it's the style sense factor that has come in handy here.

“Thankfully, I can never comes across as someone who is cheap because of the kind of mentality that I have”, she reasons, “So even if I am playing a bunny in Housefull or walking around on the beach in Blue, there would be a certain sophistication to my attire.

ously," Rani added.

The docu-drama sees the protagonists, cricketer Anjum Chopra and captain Jhulan Goswami, along with other members of the team, facing disparities and discrimination but fulfilling their long cherished dream of playing at Lord's cricket ground in London.

"We were working on a book when I saw a poster of WG Grace's mother, who was the propagator of women's cricket and we thought we'll do a film as well. The movie is not just a tale of disparities among men and women in the cricketing arena, but a story of the triumph of women's cricket despite the disparities that prevail," said Kalra.

The poster of the movie was unveiled by writer Jaideep Sahni of “Chak De” fame, along with Rani, Anjum Chopra and Minister of State for Commerce Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Says Bipasha, “John loved me in Lamhaa. He has done a film on terrorism in “New York” and he feels we both need to stretch ourselves as actors beyond entertainment.”

Says Bipasha, “Sure I am very proud of my physique. I've worked hard on it. But now I'm hungering for challenges as an actress. In Lamhaa I was not only in a burqa throughout I also got a chance to understand how life is lived in an atmosphere of crisis.”

Though she didn't plan it that way Bipasha's next two films Priyadarshan's “Aakrosh” and Rohan Sippy's “Dum Maro Dum” again feature her in films and roles that address themselves to socially -relevant issues.

Says Bipasha, “Until I finished Lamhaa I didn't notice that the next two films I've signed are about burning issues.”

While “Aakrosh” is about honour killing “Dum Maro Dum” is about the drug mafia in Goa. In both Bipasha pulls out all stops to deliver real performances.

Imran to romance Katrina now Imran Khan and Katrina Kaif have finally signed a film that will go on floors next month. After Sanjay Gadhvi’s “7 Days In Paris” ran into financial trouble and Emraan Hashmi replaced Imran Khan in Dibakar’s next, Yash Raj Films has signed Imran Khan and Katrina for their next.

Though still untitled, the film will be directed by debutante Ali Abbas Zafar, according to reports. Ali has written the script and the film will be the next

one to go on floors under the YRF banner as early as next month.

Yes, YRF has got a fresh new face in Imran but the actor too has benefited from this deal. As reported earlier, Sanjay Gadhvi’s film ran into financial trouble and

Emraan Hashmi replaced Imran Khan in Dibakar’s political thriller.

Apparently, Imran and Dibakar intend to do a film eventually but that’s for later. In the meantime, the two debacles have seemingly brought luck to both Imran and Katrina.

Our source said, “This is the first time Imran will work in a YRF Film. The film was not scheduled to start earlier but since Katrina had bulk dates to give, considering Dostana 2 was postponed, Imran also agreed and the film is ready to take off immediately.

Bollywood heartthrob Salman Khan is known to be straightforward but the actor, who will be the new host of reality show 'Bigg Boss 4', says he knows his limits and will not be disrespectful to anyone.

'I'm straightforward, but I'm not an obnoxious kind of guy who doesn't know what to say and where to say. I know that if I'm speaking to an elderly person, I should give him respect and if I'm speaking to a person junior to me, I should give him respect too,' Salman said in an interview.

'I know my limits. There is no reason to be disrespectful to anyone.'

'Bigg Boss' is the Indian

Priyanka Alva is Vivek Oberoi’s new fiancée Their’s may be an arranged marriage, but actor Vivek Oberoi and fiancée Priyanka Alva may well have been a love match, given how much they have in common.

The daughter of renowned dancer Nandini and late politician Jeevaraj Alva, Priyanka has a few close friends and lives simply. A business management graduate from London, she is involved in her mother’s work at the Artistes Foundation for Arts in Bangalore and, like Vivek, supports several charities and environmental foundations.

version of popular British reality show 'Big Brother'. It has celebrity contestants locked in a house under the surveillance of multiple cameras for a period of three months without any contact with the outside world.

Salman has stepped into the shoes of the host for the fourth season. The show has been earlier hosted by actors - Arshad Warsi, Shilpa Shetty and Amitabh Bachchan.

This year Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar's names were doing the rounds as the new host, but finally Salman's name surfaced.

So what newness does the 44year-old actor plan to bring to the show?

'I haven't planned anything, whatever I do will be spontaneous.

So I really don't know what is that new (thing) that I'll bring to the show. I'll be what I am,' he said. 'I'll just try to make it fun,' he added.

Salman, who earlier hosted the

Bollywood actress Dia Mirza feels that there is too much hype around size zero in entertainment world. The 28-year-old

Nandini said that despite rumours of an October wedding, no date has been fixed yet. “Yes, the marriage will take place this year. They are engaged, but the ceremony is yet to take place. It is an arranged marriage and we are very happy,” said Nandini.

game show 'Dus Ka Dum', is known to connect with the audience very well.

Asked about one quality that helps him click, the actor said: 'I don't know. I have no idea. The day I get to know, I'll be the biggest fraud on earth because when you come to know that, then you keep doing more of that to attract the audience. You are not natural then,' he said.

Asked which medium he finds more challenging, films or television, Salman said: 'In films there are a lot of re-takes, you are playing a character. But in television, you are what you are. Also, it's difficult to retain the attention of the public for a long period of time. So television is definitely tougher.'

The show is expected to go on air from October this year with 14 new celebrities locked in a house for close to 85 days - with 35 cameras following their every move.

No size zero for Dia Mirza star, however, says that it is more important to be fit than having a zero figure.

"There is so much hype around size zero. Media has a role to play in it. I believe in being fit and I don't like starving myself to look thin," the actress said. Dia, who herself is a size zero, feels that it is difficult to maintain such figure in the long run. "I feel that Indian men like slim girls but it is more important to be fit than to look thin. I remember when my first film 'Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein' released many people told me that I looked chubby but they also tell me that I looked my best in that film," Dia said. The actress said that despite her thin frame she likes to indulge herself with junk food once in a week.

17

Help

I want my audience to react positively to me and thankfully, so far the reactions have been heart-warming enough to make me feel good that I am doing things right”.

While she couldn't quite get into an action avtar in Blue, she could well be kicking some butt in the sequel to Shahrukh Khan's Don if the reports of her being signed for the film are indeed true.

“For me, reinvention is the name of the game”, says Lara, “It has always been the case. For my role in Blue, I had to be fit and be in perfect shape since the role required good deal of underwater sequences.

Now that's not something that you normally see a girl to be doing. Then again in Housefull, I had to be totally glam even though I played the role of a wife. All these films have helped a great deal for me personally”.

I’m straightforward, not obnoxious, says Salman Khan

Bipasha refuses to go back into hottie’s groove Bipasha Basu refuses to swing back into hottie’s groove after receiving favourable reviews for her role in “Lamhaa.” Both Bipasha and John Abraham are on to a new phase in their respective careers, he with Abbas Tyrewala's “Jhootha Hi Sahi” and she with “Lamhaa,” “Aakrosh” and “Dum Maro Dum.” In fact when John saw Bipasha in “Lamhaa” he was so blown way he immed i a t e l y advised her to get only into projects that bring out her acting skills.

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

A horror - thriller under the banner of M/s Rupali Aum Entertainment Pvt.Ltd, Help is a story of a sister being possessed by her twin sibling who had died at the age of 5. Produced by Sanjay Ahluwalia and Vinay Choksey, the film is directed by Rajeev Virani.

It is a story of a malevolent spirit that refuses to leave the human world and is out to exact retribution for past crimes committed against it.

Protagonist Vic is a successful horror film director in Bollywood and is married to Pia. Vic and Pia are going through a difficult time in their marriage and in the midst of these troubled times they have to suddenly rush to Mauritius to take care of Pia's ailing father.

On landing in Mauritius and going back to Pia's old family home, Pia is confronted by her distant past which she has not had to face since she left Mauritius as a young 5 year kid.

Little do they know that there's something in this house. Something ancient and dark that remains hidden and silent. It can only wait, having been concealed in the shadows for years, poised to strike again. When Pia finds out that she is pregnant, this darkly vicious spirit possesses Pia and starts to brutally kill the people close to her. As the darkness spreads, things start to get worse and the spirit tries to annihilate everything and everyone that comes in its way.

Now Vic has to race against time to save his pregnant wife, who seems to be possessed by the spirit of her twin sister Dia who died when they were both 5 years old. With the help of a renowned parapsychologist, Dr. Aditya Motwani, Vic has only 36 hours to discover the dark and terrifying truth behind Pia's family history of murderous madness and break the curse that has been put on them by a third mysterious other.

Deepak Pawar and Viddesh Malandkar have written the story, screenplay and the dialogues of the film while Lyrics have been penned by Irshad Kamil.

The lead cast consists of Bobby Deol, Mugdha Godse, Sophia Handa, Salim Fateh and Jyoti Dogra with Shreyas Talpade making a guest appearance.

New Hindi movies releasing this week 1. Help 2. Peepli (Live) 3. And Once Again

Top 5 Bollywood movies for the week No. Film Last Week Total Weeks 1 Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai New 1 2 Khatta Meetha 1 2 3 Tere Bin Laden 2 3 4 Udaan 4 3 5 I Hate Luv Storys 5 5

WatchIndia.TV Announces Wireless The latest technology of IPTV is now available on Wa t c h I n d i a T V, you can now watch all your favourite channels LIVE from India, directly on your TV. No longer any need for a PC, just connect the box, pick up the remote & watch!

The TV-Box connects to the internet, wireless option is available, to stream the content directly to your television set. This eliminates the need for a PC and makes the viewing all the more enjoyable.

The wireless TV-box is a plugand-watch device that will allow viewers from any Indian TV and Bollywood enthusiasts from every

country in the world to watch their favourite shows, movies and channels on their own TV, as if they were TV subscribers in India.

With the WatchIndia TV-Box you can finally watch your favourite channels directly on a TV without a PC. In 4 simple steps, you will be watching Internet TV on your TV within minutes: 1. Open box and take out TV-Box 2. Connect the TV-Box to Internet Router or wireless Internet network 3. Connect TV-BOX to the TV 4. Pick up Remote control and enjoy

18

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

India’s journey from 15 August 1947

By Dr. Premen Addy Nation building is arguably the most difficult task confronting any leadership in whatever part of the world you choose to look. It usually entails the transitional rite of passage from an agrarian to a fully industrialised society. In the case of India, with its multiplicity of languages and ethnicities, not to speak of the diverse religious faiths, the challenges were, and still are, especially daunting. The political management of the country had to be of a high order. India was fortunate in having at its helm, two men of outstanding vision and administrative skill: Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

In the context of the country's blood-stained partition, guaranteeing the country's unified structure was paramount; and it

Jawaharlal Nehru

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Dr. Homi Bhabha

“Ashok Stambh”

was Sardar Patel's great achievement to have integrated the country's princely states into the main body politic, enabling the subsequent federalism to take shape.

Home Minister Patel accomplished his work largely through peaceful means, the exception being Hyderabad where a limited military operation was launched in September 1948 when all

avenues of negotiation had failed.

The promulgation of the Indian Constitution followed. It enshrined democracy and the rule of law, including the right to free speech and thought of all its citizens.

Governments were to be elected on the basis of universal adult suffrage, a process that has become the bedrock of Indian political life. Yet this most

advanced political superstructure was welded to a socially poor and backward base, where literacy levels were abysmally low.

In the West, universal adult franchise had taken a century to evolve, it arrived on the back of an industrial revolution and the emergence of a stable middle class.

The Indian miracle reversed this norm. The country's economic trans-

formation has moved in tandem with its democracy and has thus been broadly consensual. This remains so after 63 years of development. Finally, critical investments were made in science and technology, thanks to Pandit Nehru's vision, one which his foremost partner in the enterprise, the physicist Homi Bhabha, fully shared. Those investment are bearing astounding

fruits in a variety of fields, from nuclear technology, space, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, engineering, Information Technology and defence.

In a troubled and divided world, India's policy of non-alignment was designed to maintain the country's sovereignty in word and deed, however high the price. This visionary decision of keeping clear of power blocs, whatever the lesser errors and shortcomings of Indian foreign policy, has been beneficial to the country's national interest. A cursory look at the fate of nations drawn to the quick fix of alignment with one or the other superpower testifies to the wisdom of free India's founding fathers.

All in all, while there is much distance to travel the long march of progress, India’s accomplishments thus far have been little short of extraordinary. Jai Hind!

India in 17th century and the golden phoenix DR. Parimal H. Trivedi, Vice-Chancellor, Gujarat University Today India is called as an emerging economic power, emerging market and an emerging strong political entity. Look at history and this image of India today is nothing but the ancient golden image regained. Let us look at India of today and what it was a few centuries ago. One can do the comparisons from many angles. I take a few of these angles – economic, political, educational, technological and cultural one by one to show how the resurrection has happened.

The evidence from the ancient civilizations of Mohan jo daro and Harappa reveal that urbanization existed in India even in that pre-historic time. In order to bring about this urbanization, considerable economic advancement was needed. Today India is moving towards urbanization of the rural areas also but through a green process so that the negative impact of carbon emissions and climate change need not imperil the future of the society.

India is still an agrarian economy but its history of industrial development is unparalleled. Its skill in weaving fine cot-

Chanakya

ton cloth, skill in metal refinement, craftsmanship, earthenware manufacturing and manufacturing of agricultural implements are concrete examples of its economic development. Qualities of products were also highly appreciated in different countries.

During this period through establishment of the East India company, England 1600 and France 1664, the raw cotton and painted cotton were exported from India to Europe. The quality was found to be excellent; this quality is created problems in European countries by the end of 17th century due to popularity of cheap, low weight, Indian fabrics and specifically the printed cotton alarmed manufacturers in Europe.

Finally cotton import was prohibited in England and France, his-

Mohenjo daro

torian had noted it.

The metal of its national emblem – the Ashoka Pillar – is still beyond replication in spite of immense advancement in technology. This inherited capacity is amply evident now as Indian businesses are taking over many major enterprises the world over.

Today India may be looked upon as an emerging market by the customer hungry western world; it was a major world supplier of many commodities with its share in the world trade being as much as 25% a few centuries ago. An economic historian Angus Madison has mentioned in his book “The World Economy” during seventeenth century Indian’s share was 24% which was more than the whole of Western Europe.

He had further recorded

that in 1750 India’s share of the world trade was nearly 25% In 17th century, the fiscal system also was found to be effective and efficiently, functioning for the betterment of the society. About 33.3 percent taxes on agriculture production was levied.

Remissions were only granted when the monsoon failed. The state was extremely rich, said historian.

To accelerate the Indo-European trade during 17th century, the ports of Arabia Sea and the Bay of Bengal like Bombay, Surat, Calcutta and Madras had played vital role.

Trade as a tool for the early world globalization was very prosperous and profitable for the both the European and the Indian merchants. Consequently, the local Indian landlords gained the lot of power

and money.

This level of development was possible only because of its education system. Education was imparted to every person depending upon their future role in the society.

Thus while the workers got their skills from family patriarchs, the traders trained their own children. At the same time knowledge at advanced level was also available though one of the most eminent university systems in the world. Its universities like Nalanda and Taxshila are still icons in the field. It is no wonder India can still boast of much world class educational institutions. Not only that, it has also attracted the most eminent universities to its shores.

One look at the political economy of Chanakya shows that even in the sovereign system, state was considered to have huge public responsibility. The state was also considered to be responsible for development of infrastructure and to provide relief whenever economic problems occur.

So the drive towards inclusive growth today by the government of India is just a re-application of old goals in the new perspective.

Take Science and Technology.

Ancient

Indian contribution has been immense in this field. For example, take the basic concept of zero, vedic mathematics, astronomy and astrology, metallurgy, textile manufacturing, agricultural practices, weather forecasting were all areas in which India has considerable advancement to be considered a world leader.

India’s misfortune was that for centuries it was badly repressed by foreign rulers. But like the phoenix it has risen again.

Indian philosophy has always believed in rebirth. Each life would be at an enhanced level till total emancipation – nirvana – is reached.

So today India has indeed taken a rebirth like the phoenix to lead a more exalted life, for its citizen to lead a better life till total nirvana is reached.

Of course for years together India was ruled by different communities and had declined his performance temporarily in different sectors. But once again the India Economy is the centre of the Global Attention. As domestic consumptions drives economic growth in India, future hopes to play a vital role in bringing back the “Sone Ki Chidiya”

19

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

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Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

India: Miles to go yet!

By Prof. R. C. Popat Director, Sandipani Insittute of Eco. Research, Rajkot I am standing at present by the flagpole of 64th Independence Day of Republic of India at the beach of Indian economy.

When I stare at the dancing, waves, full of liveliness and dynamism of ocean of economy, my heart is overflown with the feelings of past memories, joyous moments of present and ambitious dreams of future. I want to share my feelings with you because good feelings get multiplied when shared. સહનૌ ધુનક્તુ is a mantra at the root of Indian culture.

It is said that Indian economy at present is a fast developing economy and described as future economic giant, capable of surpassing all developed economies in the world.

Really, I feel very happy by the sweet and pleasant sound of silver bells of hopes of ringing around my ears. But when I look back at the economy of ancient India before thousands of years extended to Vedic era, the picture I find is far more glittering and gorgeous than today.

Sudarshan Chakra of Shri Krishna or Pushpak aeroplane of Shri Ram were the symbols of highest level of technology developed in India. Knowledge

of the strategy of war (Chakravyuha) is received

by Abhimanyu, a son of Arjun even in the womb of his mother and the protection of the foetus in the womb of Uttara by Shri Krishna without any external treatment were the proofs of the development of bio-medical science in India. Births of Suryaputra (સૂયયપુત્ર)Karna by the solar energy and Vayu Putra (વાયુપુત્ર)Hanuman by the wind power through mantras are such genetic mysteries that even the presentday world has not imagined of it. Solar race (Surya Vansha) (સૂયયવંશ)of Ram and Moon race (Chandra Vansh) (ચંદ્રવંશ)of Krihsna are not just imaginary mythologies, they are the proofs of science developed in ancient India. People were economically happy and satisfied. Not a single incidence of the riots for a bread or drinking water is recorded in thousands of years of Vedic India.

Security was no problem.

Doors were open for Twenty-four hours without locks and keys.

Agriculture is the basis of Indian Economy Coming to medieval India, the Indian economy stood at peak in all the sectors like agriculture, trade and industry, education and science and technology. Textile industry

was highly developed at that time. Hand woven muslin by Dhaka artisans was so superfine that even Manchester of England could not produce the same quality of cloth by most modern machineries.

The spices grown by Indian farmers were world famous. The education centers of Nalanda Vidyapith, Takshashila Vidyapith and Vallabhpur Vidyapith were internationally renowned which attracted foreign students for study. Indian had highly developed trade with other countries like Java, Sumatra, Iran, England, etc. Sea routs for international trade were well developed in India.

But unfortunately, the period of British Rule in India proved to be the period of Sun Set. Two and half centuries from 1700 A.D. to 1947 A.D. were the gloomy years of economic frustration for India. Indian economy from all the angles was deliberately and completely ruined out by British rulers in the span of 250 years. At the eve of Independence on 15th August, 1947, Indian people were gifted with the heritage of the heap of ashes of Indian economy; severe poverty, unemployment and illiteracy were the problems of top priority for the government of Independent India.

(A Government of India Undertaking)

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But the nation rose up with the full determination of rebuilding itself again from the debris of the economy. Very prudent strategy of (a) neutral economic policy with the balance between capitalism and socialism, (b) Mixed economic system with the dominance of public sector and (c) track of economic planning for the development was adopted

by Indian in 1951 for a long term economic growth of the nation.

With the success of this strategy, Indian economy has by now come out from the dark tunnel of economic backwardness.

Swedish economist Prof.

W. W. Rustow has described the process of economic growth passing through four stages viz.

(1) Stage of economic backwardness, (2) Stage of economic underdevelopment (3) Take off stage and (4) Stage of self sustained economy. Indian economy which started its journey with the first stage in 1951 has already crossed first two stages and is now running through third stage of developing economy in the span of 60 years.

India has changed its track of economic development from socialistic approach to free and market economy since 1991 by adopting economic reforms through LPG programme – Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation. This U-turn of economic policy of government of India has totally brought the structural changes in Indian economy. Steering wheel of economic development has now been handed over to the private sector and gov-

ernment sector has been shifted to the back seat.

Monitoring sector so far has now accepted the role of guiding sector. A hero once upon a time is now playing the role of character actor. Consequently, number of private companies, local as well as multinationals, have got free sky to fly India. Corporate sector investment as well as foreign direct investment have increased to $ 19531 in 2007-08 form only $97 ml.

In 1990-91 Following are major macro indicators of growth of Indian economy since independence.

(1) There has been remarkable growth in Year 1950-51 2008-09

Agriculture sector 69 20

GDP from 3.3 percent only in 1955-56 to 7.5 percent in 2009-10. For current year 2010-11. 8.5 percent growth rate is estimated.

(2) Similarly, per capita income growth rate is also increased from 1.5 percent in 1953-56 to 6.5 percent in 2009-10. Per capita income is increased from Rs.5700 in 1950-51 is Rs.30,000 in 2009-10 (at 1999-2000 prices) (3) Food grain production during this period has increased to 227 mn tonnes from 55 mn tonnes.

The country which was dependent on imported wheat and rice during 1956-57 to 1970-71 has now become food exporting country. Indian agriculture has witnessed Green Revolution in 196768 and it is passing through second generation

Green Revolution at present Irrigation facilities are increased from 20 percent of GCA in 1950-51 (Gross Cultivated Area) to 49 percent in 2008-09. Lot of technological reforms have been witnessed in the Indian agriculture sector during this period.

(4) Indian economy has achieved a revolutionary growth in Information Technology, especially in post reform period. India at present the global no. 1.

(5) There has been structural changes in the national income of the country too. The percentage share of each sector in the composition of national income has been changed as under: Industry sector 16 24

Service sector 15 56

Such a remarkable progress in the Indian economy has been achieved during the span of 60 years since independence. I have witnessed the past since 1951 and I am witnessing the present which gives lots of hopes for future. Yet there are some dark patches in moonlight. Poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and over population are the dark patches; the challenges lie in removing these patches and make Indian economy absolutely clean and shining. Much has been achieved so far, yet much remains to be achieved in future. We all shall have to awake and work hard for it. Rest is a luxury yet.

Woods are lovely but dark; We have miles to go, miles to go.

Mallika Sherawat leads India Day Parade in USA

In the month of August every year, an India Day Parade is held in USA prior to the Independence Day celebrations in India on August 15.

Mallika Sherawat, the bollywood heroine who has made USA her second home, was the Grand Marshall of the India Day Parade in New Jersey. She dressed mod-

estly in a cream coloured salwar kameez and a tri colour sash.

The one-mile parade turned out to be quite a crowd puller. Hundreds of Indian Americans and even American locals joined in. With Mallika at the helm, the parade became the largest India Day Parade yet.

With both Indian and American flags in her

hands, Mallika cheered the crowd. The parade was organized by Indian Business Association jointly with other Indian American organizations.

The parade was accompanied by three marching bands and hundreds of marchers.

Later, Mallika even tweeted her exuberance.

“Mother India!! Jai Hind!!” she tweeted.

21

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

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22

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

How free are we?

By Spriha Srivastava India is celebrating its 63th anniversary of freedom and no matter wherever we are, this is one time of the year when every Indian wants to be present at a flag hoisting event, sing national anthem and then have authentic Indian cuisine. This is one day that brings us all together, no matter which part of the world we are in. I will be celebrating India’s Independence Day in London for the first time and as ironical as it may sound, I am really looking forward to it.

So this day signifies freedom. But what does freedom mean to us? It has a very personal meaning to each one of us. But on India’s 64th Independence Day, I decided to ask British Indians, what they thought freedom means for India. I was quite amazed with the responses I got because for people who live so far away from India and might have visited India only a couple of times in their lives, such deep thoughts should surely be appreciated.

Abha Singh, a student in Manchester said, “India is still not free. There is a long way to go. It is true that India has a government of its own but what about such deep rooted social evils such as poverty, caste discrimination, gender discrimination. Till the time India overcomes all this, one cannot say openly that India is a free country.”

Another person from London who wishes to remain anonymous said, “We are a free nation now and we do what we want to. We don’t have anyone killing our people and looting us without our permission. And this is a great achievement. I agree we have many more problems but we will slowly overcome all of them. I am extremely positive.”

Some of you might be thinking why am I asking this question 63 years later? Well to me it is an extremely pertinent question, not because I am trying to bring out the ills of my country but because for me freedom is not just being free from external control but it also means free from vices and evils. Today, we are a free nation in the sense that we pass our own laws and we make our own decisions but

how many of these laws and decisions reach those who are at the bottom rung of the ladder? How do they benefit from these decisions?

Let’s take the commonwealth games for example. The idea of hosting the games was to showcase India’s might to the world. But are we really doing that? We destroyed slums in order to show a masked face of Delhi, we are pumping heavy amounts of money into the infrastructure facilities and then we are fighting over corruption reports that are being shown everywhere. Is this is what you call a free India? I really want to know how and when this investment will help India in fighting its domestic and external problems.

Anupriya Rathod, a social activist based in Delhi said, “It is a great feeling to be a free nation and to be able to tell people that my country is the largest democracy in the World.

But when I look at those who are really facing the brunt of this system, I question my own belief system. We are 64 years old but there are still so many loopholes that will take many many more years to be filled.”

On this day, my idea is not to sound pessimistic but to be aware of the diseases that my country is facing as of now and to be able to do something about it.

One of the strongest point that works in favour of India is its high population of youth. This is something that has sent signals to countries around the world.

And this is the thing that will take India out of all its social evils and problems.

On its 64th Independence Day, India is much better than what it was few years back.

I consider it as a positive thing that we the young people understand the problems our country is facing and many of us have actually entered the field to ensure that those who have been suffering are taken care of. Will all these efforts, I can truly see India of my dreams – Free, Fair, Equal with no poverty, no unemployment and no discrimination at all.

That is when I will say “Happy Independence Day.”

A Tryst with Destiny incessant striving so that we may fulfil the pledges we have so often taken and the one we shall take today. The service of India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity.

The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye.

That may be beyond us, but as long as there are

stands forth again, after long slumber and struggle, awake, vital, free and independent. The past clings on to us still in some measure and we have to do much before we redeem the pledges we have so often taken. Yet the turning point is past, and history begins anew for us, the history which we shall live and act and others will write about.

It is a fateful moment for us in India, for all Asia and for the world. A new star rises, the star of freedom in the east, a new hope comes into being, a vision long cherished materialises. May the star never set and that hope

tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over.

And so we have to labour and to work, and work hard, to give reality to our dreams. Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world, for all the nations and peoples are too closely knit together today for anyone of them to imagine that it can live apart.

Peace has been said to be indivisible; so is freedom, so is prosperity now, and so also is disaster in this one world that can no longer be split into isolated fragments.

To the people of India, whose representatives we are, we make an appeal to join us with faith and confidence in this great adventure. This is no time for petty and destructive criticism, no time for ill will or blaming others. We have to build the noble mansion of free India where all her children may dwell.

The appointed day has come - the day appointed by destiny - and India

never be betrayed!

We rejoice in that freedom, even though clouds surround us, and many of our people are sorrowstricken and difficult problems encompass us. But freedom brings responsibilities and burdens and we have to face them in the spirit of a free and disciplined people.

On this day our first thoughts go to the architect of this freedom, the father of our nation, who, embodying the old spirit of India, held aloft the torch of freedom and lighted up the darkness that surrounded us.

We have often been unworthy followers of his and have strayed from his message, but not only we but succeeding generations will remember this message and bear the imprint in their hearts of this great son of India, magnificent in his faith and strength and courage and humility. We shall never allow that torch of freedom to be blown out, however high the wind or stormy the tempest.

India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru was considered a great and visionary leader. His speech delivered at Constituent Assembly of India in New Delhi on August 14, 1947 is considered as one of the best speeches in 20th century. Here goes the transcript: “Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially.

At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.

A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.

It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.

At the dawn of history India started on her unending quest, and trackless centuries are filled with her striving and the grandeur of her success and her failures.

Through good and ill fortune alike she has never lost sight of that quest or forgotten the ideals which gave her strength. We end today a period of ill fortune and India discovers herself again.

The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us. Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?

Freedom and power bring responsibility. The responsibility rests upon this assembly, a sovereign body representing the sovereign people of India.

Before the birth of freedom we have endured all the pains of labour and our hearts are heavy with the memory of this sorrow.

Some of those pains continue even now.

Nevertheless, the past is over and it is the future that beckons to us now.

That future is not one of ease or resting but of The National Flag of India is a horizontal rectangular tricolour of deep saffron, white and India green; with the Ashoka Chakra, a 24-spoke wheel, in blue at its centre. It was adopted in its present form during a meeting of the Constituent Assembly held on 22 July 1947, when it became the official flag of the Dominion of India. The flag was subsequently retained as that of the Republic of India. In India, the term "tricolour" almost always refers to the Indian national flag. The flag is based on the Swaraj flag, a flag of the Indian

Flag of India National Congress designed by Pingali Venkayya.

The flag, by law, is to be made of khadi, a special type of hand-spun cloth of cotton or silk made popular by M a h a t m a Gandhi.

The manufacturing process and specifications for the flag are laid out by the Bureau of Indian Standards. The right to manufacture the flag is held by the Khadi Development and Village

Industries Commission, who allocate it to the regional groups. As of 2009, the Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukta Sangha was the sole manufacturer of the flag.

Usage of the flag is governed by the Flag Code of India and other laws relating to the national emblems.

The original code prohibited use of the flag by private citizens except on national days such as the

Our next thoughts must be of the unknown volunteers and soldiers of freedom who, without praise or reward, have served India even unto death.

We think also of our brothers and sisters who have been cut off from us by political boundaries and who unhappily cannot share at present in the freedom that has come.

They are of us and will remain of us whatever may happen, and we shall be sharers in their good and ill fortune alike.

The future beckons to us. Whither do we go and what shall be our endeavour? To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman.

We have hard work ahead. There is no resting for any one of us till we redeem our pledge in full, till we make all the people of India what destiny intended them to be.

We are citizens of a great country, on the verge of bold advance, and we have to live up to that high standard. All of us, to whatever religion we may belong, are equally the children of India with equal rights, privileges and obligations. We cannot encourage communalism or narrow-mindedness, for no nation can be great whose people are narrow in thought or in action.

To the nations and peoples of the world we send greetings and pledge ourselves to cooperate with them in furthering peace, freedom and democracy.

And to India, our much-loved motherland, the ancient, the eternal and the ever-new, we pay our reverent homage and we bind ourselves afresh to her service.

“Jai Hind.”

Independence day and the Republic Day. In 2002, on hearing an appeal from a private citizen, the Supreme Court of India directed the Government of India to amend the code to allow flag usage by private citizens.

Subsequently, the Union Cabinet of India amended the code to allow limited usage. The code was amended once more in 2005 to allow some additional use including adaptations on certain forms of clothing. The flag code also governs the protocol of flying the flag and its use in conjunction with other national and nonnational flags.

INDIA

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

Mumbai port operations shut, oil spill plugged Port operations at Mumbai port have been shut following a collision of two ships. As both the ships were badly damaged, a huge oil spill resulted from one of the ships.

Many containers also have fall into the sea near Mumbai, endangering movement of ships.

The leak was plugged late on Monday after about 500 tonnes of oil had spilled out, Ashok Chavan, chief minister of Maharashtra told reporters.

The oil slick has spread over an area of nearly five kilometres around the ship, Captain Manohar Nambiar, the defence ministry spokesman said.

Clean-up operation One vessel, which was carrying a cargo of diesel and lubricant oil, tilted dangerously after the collision between the two Panamanian ships five nautical miles from the shore, triggering an oil slick.

Environmental emergency teams have been put on alert to mobilise for a clean-up operation, while

fishermen have been told not to venture into the sea until the all-clear has been given.

Broken patches of oil have been cleared around Elephanta Island, a world heritage site and tourist attraction in Mumbai Harbour, the defence ministry said in a statement.

The MSC Chitra was leaving Mumbai when it collided with the MV Khalijia-II, which was manoeuvring into port.

Thirty-three crew members were rescued. Both ships developed cracks following the collision.

Foreign experts have been called in to limit the damage of the oil spill triggered by collision between two cargo ships off Mumbai harbour as the leakage spread to new areas posing a major ecological threat to the city coastline.

As the Coast Guard and defence personnel waged a grim battle to plug the leak caused by the oil slick, Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) has appointed SMIT Salvage, a Netherlands-based company, to control the spill, a senior port official said.

"We have appointed SMIT Salvage to tackle the oil-spill. The company is working there with 11 off-shore vessels out of which six are from Mumbai-based Great Offshore Limited," the official said.

Another team of experts in handling maritime disasters has arrived from Singapore to assist in the salvage operations.

The Navy and the Coast Guards carried out anti-pollution operations for the third consecutive day today to check and neutralise the oil spill.

Harrow Borough Commander’s Tour de Force Dal Babu and daughter Shanti to travel 300 miles on cycle Chief Superintendent Babu will be undertaking the 300-mile challenge from next Wednesday 18 August, accompanied by his sixteen-year-old daughter, Shanti.

The Mayor of Harrow, Councillor Asad Omar wished Dal Babu well and said: “I selected Ovarian Cancer Action as my chosen charity for my Mayoral year because my wife died of Ovarian Cancer last year.”

“Ovarian Cancer Action are doing some wonderful work in raising awareness about the symptoms of the disease and I urge everyone to support the charity and spread the word to their friends, mothers, sisters, wives and daughters. This information and the knowledge of the symptoms will hopefully save some lives."

"I would like to thank

speaking extremely movingly about his late wife when he was made Mayor of Harrow. He said then that he was determined to raise awareness of Ovarian Cancer amongst women.”

“This is a really worthwhile cause and increasing awareness will help save lives.

"Harrow police work very closely with the Mayor and this is just a small way to thank him for all the time and effort he puts into helping the community. “Shanti, my sixteen year old daughter is really looking forward to this adventure. We have been training for the past few months and she is the envy of all her friends.” our Borough Commander Dal Babu for his very kind gesture and am touched that he and Shanti have

chosen to do this ride for Ovarian Cancer Action."

Chief Supt Babu said: “I remember the Mayor

Kenyans for a new Constitution Continued from page 1 President Mwai Kibaki cannot stand again as he has already served two terms. Final official referendum results showed 67 per cent of voters had cast their ballots in favour of the law, and 30 per cent voted “No,” Kenya’s electoral authority said.

To be adopted, the law required 50 per cent plus one vote of the ballot cast nationally, and at least 25 per cent of the votes in five of Kenya’s eight provinces.

US President Barack Obama, whose father was

Kenyan, described the referendum as a “significant step for Kenya’s democracy” in a statement issued by the White House.

The Kenyan “Yes” camp earlier claimed victory in the capital in front of a sea of supporters blowing vuvuzelas, chanting and dancing. Mr Kibaki called the victory “a renewal for the nation“.

“The historic journey that started more than 20 years ago has come to a happy end,” he said, flanked by Mr. Odinga and cabinet ministers who backed the new law.

“We shall soon

announce the date of promulgation of the new constitution,” said Mr. Kibaki, who promised to work with those who opposed the law in realizing the dream of Kenya’s founders.

Higher Education Minister William Ruto, leader of the “No“ side, conceded defeat before Mr Kibaki spoke, but quickly went on the offensive saying 60 per cent of registered voters had either abstained or said “No,” so there should be immediate consultations with the “Yes” side on amendments to the new law.

Julia Roberts is a practicing Hindu Continued from page 1 anchor George Stephanopoulos that her interest, “came from seeing a picture of a guru called Neem Karoli Baba and she was so drawn to this picture of this person that even as she did not know who he was or what he was about but felt a very strong interest.

Roberts added, “Hinduism is something I am very intrigued by and very interested in.”

Meanwhile, well known Hindu statesman Rajan Zed has warmly welcomed the 42-year old star into the religion, which is the third largest religion of the world and is followed by billions.

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Law to curb honour killings soon, says Chidambaram Asserting that honour killings bring dishonour to the families, the community and the country, India’s Home Minister P Chidambaram last week declared the government’s intention to introduce the Bill on the issue in the current session of Parliament even as RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav sought to put a spoke in the wheel by demanding an all-party meeting on the proposed legislation.

“GoM (on honour killings) bhagyavidhata nahin hai. It has to be done in an all-party meeting,” said the RJD supremo. He then went on to vent his anger on same sex marriage: “Apne desh me mahila mahila se shadi karegi, yeh theek nahi.”

Unperturbed by Lalu’s interruptions, the Home Minister went on to explain the need and contours of the proposed law that would identify crimes

and award punishment with “more severity”.

“Whoever is the cause of the crime, an individual or a collective, must be punished. My duty is to ensure that laws adopted

by Parliament are obeyed and enforced. Once the law is made, it must be enforced. We have to look ahead and build a society based on secular values and enlightened views.”

The Home Minister was replying to a calling attention motion on the subject moved by CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta in the Lok Sabha. He said he was confident the GoM would give its report shortly and his intention was to introduce the Bill in this session of parliament itself. He said the issue of whether it should be a standalone law or should amend the Indian Penal Code would be debated by the Union Cabinet.

793 Indians languishing in Pakistani jails, says MEA There are 793 Indians languishing in Pakistani jails for various reasons, and many of them are without any consular access. Of these 582 are fishermen who had reportedly strayed into neighbouring marine territory. The remaining 211 are prisoners.

According to the ministry of external affairs (MEA), Pakistan has allowed only 33 prisoners at the Indian high commission in Islamabad to get consular access, while 178 are languishing in jails. Consular access is provided by the embassy or high commission to its citizens under detention on a foreign soil.

To a question in Rajya Sabha on Thursday, India’s external affairs minister SM Krishna said the release of Indian prisoners from Pakistani jails had been a priority. He said the matter was raised

repeatedly with Pakistan when the foreign secretaries met first in February and then in June. More meetings took place when India’s home minister P Chidambaram visited Islamabad on 25 June and Krishna's talks in Islamabad on July 15.

Pakistan released on June 17 prisoners who were in Pakistani jails for 2 to 7 years, for illegally crossing the border, illegal stay, alleged spying, violating Foreigners' Act, Official Secrets Act and other laws.

An Indo-Pak Judicial Committee on Prisoners, consisting of four retired judges from each side, has been set up to recommend steps for expeditious release of prisoners from India and Pakistan. The committee has so far met thrice and has made several recommendations, the foreign minister said.

Indian soldiers’ heroics in Leh tragedy too Continued from page 1 tourists including 81 foreigners have been evacuated. The army has also suffered badly, with atleast 26 of their men missing. It is feared that their bodies could have been washed away to Pakistan occupied areas across the border.

The victims include three French, one Italian, one Spaniard, a Romanian woman, 15 Nepalese nationals and two Tibetans. Two French nationals and a Spaniard were yet to be traced, they said. The foreigners rescued include 17 British and French nationals, nine Dutch nationals, eight from Czechoslovakia, seven Germans and four

Israelis, according to IAF officials.

Apart from rescue efforts, the armed forces are also focusing on rebuilding communication links. The Army is also supplying tents to help district authorities set up makeshift hospitals and refugee camps. Army jawans have also been arranging for firewood for cremation of the dead and provisioning of generator sets. The Air Force has been ferrying medicines, relief material and doctors here using IL-76 and AN32 aircraft and has been flying out bodies of the victims to various places as the highways remained cutoff.

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INDIA

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

Indian magistrate, IO to depose on video link for Pakistan trial

In divine light

Pakistani court insists for deposition in 26/11 trials cial magistrate, cannot be sent to Pakistan. However, sources said he could appear through video conferencing in the Pakistani court without being subjected to cross-examination.

Pakistan’s contention is that the charges against the seven Lashkar-e-Taiba activists, including its operations commander Lakhvi, are based on Kasab’s statement in Mumbai and hence the magistrate and the investigating officer who were involved in recording that statement should appear before the anti-terror court there.

India has offered that the magistrate and the investigation officer (IO) involved with the case of Ajmal Kasab can depose before the Pakistan court through video link in the case being tried there for the Mumbai attack accused. There are indications that if the Pakistani court is not satisfied, India may finally agree to send the IO to Pakistan for the purpose.

India’s decision comes in response to the Pakistan court’s insistence on depositions from Mahale and additional chief metropolitan magistrate R V Sawant Waghule. It is aimed at

eliminating any alibi for Pakistani authorities to let off those, including Laskhar commander Zakiur-Rehman Lakhvi, who have been arrested.

Kasab’s confessional statement is crucial for Lakhvi’s trial.

India had earlier said that confessional statement of Kasab was part of the dossier submitted to Pakistan, and that it should serve the purpose of the anti-terror court.

Pakistan, however, got back saying that the court procedures mandated depositions by the magistrate and the IO. Waghule, being a judi-

Now, Big B’s date with Gods and Gandhiji in Gujarat

Now, khaps want ban on gay sex, surrogacy

After a date with lions in the Gir Forests, Amitabh Bachchan will now visit Porbandar, Dwarka and Ahmedabad as a part of his endorsement of Gujarat as a tourism destination. This is a part of Big’s propagation of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of nation. His second visit starts on Monday, 16th August.

Sources in the tourism department said, second round of shoots is titled as ‘Khushboo Gujarat Ki’ series. This time it will be Gandhi and gods. At Porbandar, Big B will shoot at Kirti Mandir, the place where Mahatma Gandhi was born, and the beach in the city where sand sculptures were erected recently. He will also shoot at Dwarka, Bet Dwarka and Nageshwar.

In Ahmedabad, shooting will be done at Gandhi Ashram and Lothal.

Bachchan’s third and final visit for promotion of Gujarat tourism is likely to take place some time in November, when he will visit Saputara.

"Bachchan has accepted Modi's invitation to visit Rannotsav festival in White Rann of Kutch, an annual winter festival.

We have even booked tents for him and his family," Vipul Mittra, state tourism secretary said.

Emboldened by the silence of politicians and government, khaps have upped the ante. In a mahapanchayat held recently, they warned the Centre against any new law curbing their freedom and sought a ban on homosexuality, embryo transplant and surrogate motherhood.

The Sarva Jatia Sarv Khap Mahapanchayat asked the Centre to abort the idea of enacting a new law against honour killings and accept their demands, including

amending the Hindu Marriage Act. The mahapanchayat held in Meham town of Rohtak district was attended by hundreds of people, including women, and about 100 representatives of various khaps. It adopted seven resolutions as speaker after speaker pitched in for strict adherence to social customs and traditions in marriages.

They also criticized the media, civil society and even judiciary for their views against the khap system.

Rajkot charity hospital celebrates a decade of services to the patients ‘Known as Dill without Bill’ Sri Sathya Sai Heart Hospital, Rajkot has completed 10 years of its journey of serving the patients. To celebrate this occasion, Sri Sathya Heart Hospital has started a general OPD facility.

Mayor of Rajkot Mrs. Sandhya Vyas, Chairman of standing committee Kashyap Shukla, and the Editior of Akila Daily Kirit Gantra were present on the occasion and conveyed their best wishes.

Working with the blessings of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, the Hospital is the only one in western India which offers costly heart surgeries without charging anything from the patients.

Last year, patients

from around 17 states were operated at this hospital including Kashmir, Mizoram, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Nagaland, etc.

This Hospital is the only ray of hope for poor and needy patients of weaker section of society.

On the auspicious occasion of completion 10 years of Seva yatra, Kirit Gantra inaugurated General OPD. With the help of this facility, now hospital offers check-up to patients for other diseases also, free of cost. Rajkot Municipal Corporation donated Rs. 4 million. A cheque was handed over to the trustees of the Hospital by Mayor Mrs. Sandhya Vyas and Kshyap Shukla.

In caring for the old, India worst – UK best A 30 country HDI puts India behind even Uganda India doesn't just have a poor quality of life, as reflected in its poor human development index (HDI), it also has a particularly poor 'quality of death'. That's the depressing message from a new index developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit to measure end-oflife care services in 40 countries.

India finishes at the

bottom of the list, which includes 30 OECD nations and 10 developing countries for which data was available. While finishing below the developed world may come as no surprise, what's revealing is that even Uganda is a notch above India.

The UK was found to have the best end-of-life care (despite a far from perfect healthcare sys-

tem), followed by Australia and New Zealand. The countries that fared the worst in the Quality of Death Index included countries such as India, Uganda, Brazil and China in that order from the bottom.

In Asia, Taiwan (14), Singapore (18) and Hong Kong (20) were ranked much higher than Japan (23).

By Rajen Vakil

The story of Abhimanyu Today, let us understand the character of Abhimanyu from the Mahabharata. Abhimanyu was the son of Arjuna and Subhadra, Krishna’s sister.

He learnt the art of warfare while still in his mother’s womb. Arjuna was explaining to Subhadra the techniques of breaking and destroying different battlefield formations such as the makarvyuha (crocodile formation), the kurmavyuha (tortoise formation), the sarpavyuha (snake formation) and finally, the chakravyuha (wheel formation).

While he was explaining the chakravyuha, Subhadra fell asleep.

Arjuna could only explain to her how to enter the formation and break it but could not explain to her how to escape from it as she had fallen asleep.

When Abhimanyu was young, Arjuna had to go for vanvaas and so he was brought up in Dwarka by his maternal uncle, Sri Krishna. Sri Krishna had put him in the hands of his son, Pradyuman, who taught him all the techniques of warfare.

In the beginning of the Mahabharata war, the first challenge was thrown by Abhimanyu when he attacked Bhishma’s chariot. On the tenth day, Bhishma fell and Dronacharya took over as commander of the Kaurava forces. On the thirteenth day, Dronacharya arranged his forces in the chakravyuha formation.

The night before, Duryodhana and Dronacharya had planned to take Yudhisthira as prisoner. Dronacharya told Duryodhana that if he could manage to get Arjuna away from the battlefield, then he would capture Yudhisthira. This work of taking Arjuna away was given to the two Trigartha brothers, who taunted Arjuna’s weakness – his Gandiva (bow) and Arjuna in reaction went behind them, away from the battlefield.

Seeing the chakravyuha formation, Yudhisthira was at a loss of what to do as only Arjuna knew how to break the chakravyuha formation. At this time, Abhimanyu said that he knew how to break the formation but did not know how to come out of it.

Yudhisthira assured Abhimanyu that all the Pandava warriors would be closely behind him as soon as he broke the formation.

Abhimanyu broke the formation and entered the chakravyuha but none of the other warriors could follow him as Jayadratha reclosed the formation right behind Abhimanyu.

Abhimanyu was then alone

in the chakravyuha where he fought a mighty battle, killing one-fourth of the warriors of the Kaurava army. When he killed Duryodhana’s son, Laxman, Duryodhana ordered all his warriors to attack Abhimanyu together.

Karna attacked him from behind and broke his bowstring, and then all the other warriors attacked him together and killed him.

Let us try to derive meaning from this symbology. Abhimanyu comes from ‘abhi’ meaning not frightened or bold and ‘manyuman’ meaning valorous. My teacher always said that the real yogic sadhanas are done when we go to sleep at night. The body is sleeping but we move into deeper levels of the dream world and gain both experience and knowledge. To enter deep inner spaces protected by layers of darkness and leaving the physical body (which is a kind of death), one needs fearlessness and valour. In the dream world, three minutes of dreamtime is equal to a whole lifetime. Abhimanyu learnt the deeper secrets of warfare in his mother’s womb and hence was able to learn knowledge of lifetimes just in a few months.

All students who walk on the path of Yoga must learn how to consciously move into deeper levels of sleep to gain knowledge the way Abhimanyu did.

Another meaning of Abhimanyu comes from ‘abhi’ meaning pride and ‘manyu’ meaning towards pride and vanity (abhiman).

When we start our sadhana, we have to create a new ego within us, the one that wants to practice the discipline of sadhana. This new ego decides everything for us – when we wake up, what practices we do, how we do them and how sincere we are in our efforts. Initially, this ego is very useful but as we progress on the path, it starts accumulating pride.

As we go deeper into our psychic nature and see our own faults and how we all hypnotised to the sleep of life, this very ability gives us the power to also see other people’s faults very easily. Out of this, a new pride (abhiman) is born – that we are progressing whereas other people are still victims of their faults. It is as this time that if this ego does not die, any further progress on the path will not be possible. This ego was initially needed to kill one-fourth of the Kaurava warriors, i.e. the obstacles in our psychic nature that hamper our progress on the spiritual path. But once this is done, this ego needs to die.

Once the devas (or the conscious forces) decided that there was too much negativity in the world and resolved that one of them take birth on earth to counter this negativity. Chandra agreed to send his son, Varchas, only on the condition that he would return when he was sixteen years old. Chandra said “Let Varchas be born as the son or Arjuna and when he is sixteen, he will enter the chakravyuha, be killed and returned to me”. Hence, Varchas manifested on Earth in the form of Abhimanyu.

The ego, with its pride and vanity are born out of the imagination of the mind. Chandra means the mind. When the student practices taking his attention beyond the mind, imagination is the biggest barrier from which he has to free himself and this is represented by Abhimanyu, the manifest son of Chandra.

We must note that Abhimanyu could only be killed because Arjuna was led astray. We had previously seen that Arjuna is the emotional centre and they were able to lead him astray by taunting his bow.

The bow represents our diaphragm and whenever anyone offends us, it first affects our breathing and then our emotional centre.

If our breathing is in rhythm, then there is no question of feeling offended or hurt. To kill imagination (Abhimanyu), the emotional energy must be occupied elsewhere and thus they could kill Abhimanyu when Arjuna was not present. As Sri Krishna and Arjuna were returning after killing the Trigartha brothers, Arjuna felt a deep emotion as if a great calamity had befallen. This was because he could sense that something wrong was happening despite him returning victorious. Our emotions have cognitive powers and can sense divine future events before they happen but this cannot happen till we are free of imagination.

Abhimanyu can go into the chakravyuha but cannot come out of it. If we understand this, we can realise that in life, pride gets us into many situations which we find it very difficult to escape from.

(Edited by Chintu Gandhi.)

The author is in the U.K. to provide practical yoga (through rhythmic breathing) sessions and talks up to the 19th of August. These will be free to attend. For details, please email 3srb@live.com or call Chintu on 079 04981705.

World

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

The Hindu Experience - Apple Tree The Hindu Experience took place on 25th July 2010 with over 5000 people attended. Some feedback: 'I would like to thank the team of the Hindu Experience for organising one of the best events I have attended thus far. The event definitely created an excellent platform to promote the Hindu way and life and brought the community together. I must congratulate you for the slick way the whole event was conducted. You guys have beaten the Military on precision and timings. The message was clear for all to see and I believe lot of efforts given by all made this day a historic moment. What I was mostly impressed with the whole thing was that it was the youths who took the lead. I am proud to be a Hindu and to see so many of our youngsters so much dedicated and knowledgeable in the work of Dharma. Once again congratulate to the team,” said Major Suryaparsad Upadhya Joint Secretary Shiva Cultural and Community Centre, Rushmoor Founder member of Nepalese Hindus Forum.

Over the coming weeks we will be providing thought provoking articles taken from The Hindu Experience Book. We had

o v e r 2000 children attend the Hindu Experience and this week’s article is from the Baal (kids) Zone of a great story for all. For more information on the Hindu experience visit: www.thehinduexperience.org or email info@ thehinduexperience.org Baal Stories - Apple Tree A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it everyday. He climbed to the tree top, ate the apples, took a nap under the shadow...

He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him.

Time went by... the little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree everyday.

One day, the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad. “Come and play with me,” the tree asked the boy.

“I am no longer a kid, I don’t play around trees anymore.”

The boy replied, “I want toys. I need money to buy them.”

“Sorry, but I don’t have money... but you can pick all my apples and sell them. So, you will have money.” The boy was so excited. He grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy never came back after he picked the apples. The tree was sad.

One day, the boy returned and the tree was so excited. “Come and play with me” the tree said. “I don’t have time to play. I have to work for family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?” “Sorry, but I don’t have a house. But you can chop off my branches to build your house.” So the boy cut all the branches of the tree and left happily.

The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy never came back since then. The tree was again lonely and sad.

One hot summer day, the boy returned and the tree was delighted. “Come and play with me!” the tree said. “I am sad and getting old. I want to go

Shahnaz Hussain heads for Selfridges

By Maninder Kaur ‘Herbal Queen’ Shahnaz Hussain has added yet another credential to her name, with the launching of her Ayurvedic products at Lloyds pharmacy in Oxford Street’s Selfridges. Sales were opened on Saturday 7th August, followed by a conversation and reception at The Nehru Centre on Monday 9th August.

Shahnaz Hussain is internationally acclaimed as being the pioneer in Organic skin care, with a product range of over 350 formulations, and a global distribution in more than 100 countries. With a string of awards including “World’s Greatest

‘Herbal Queen,’ Shahnaz Hussain launches beauty products at London’s prestigious Selfridges

Entrepreneur,” Shahnaz was recently invited to represent India at President Obama’s Summit on Entrepreneurship. She received a standing ovation for her talk on

unleashing woman power.

The reception at the Nehru centre was buzzing, with esteemed guests, fans and press eagerly awaiting the conversation with Mrs. Hussain.

Speaking to Lisa Ray, International Media Consultant, she accredited her standing today to her late father.

“My Father was responsible for making me what I am today. He said, never be in a situation where you’re dependant on anybody else for your own survival.”

Shahnaz will be giving free consultations for skin and hair care problems until 12th August between 2pm to 4pm at Oxford Street’s Selfridges.

Mao’s grandson becomes youngest officer of Chinese army Beijing: Mao Zedong's grandson has become the youngest officer to hold high rank in the Chinese army after his recent promotion from senior colonel to major general.

But the People's Liberation Army said that 40-year old Mao Xinyu, the grandson of China's highest Communist leader, was a case of natural elevation and not out of turn.

There are signs the young Mao is being shown off in public as a modern

military officer, and being allowed to publicly discuss his ideas on somewhat sensitive issues on the Internet. This is surprising because Chinese military officials have been ordered not to maintain or write in Internet blogs or web sites for reasons of confidentiality. There may be a political purpose behind the young Mao's blog entries, observers said. His latest entry was about Mao Anying, who was Mao Zedong's first son and had

a troubled relationship with his father. Some sources have said Mao made no public announcement about his son's death in an American attack in North Korea, and even refused to have his body shipped to China.

The PLA is also ensuring that the young Mao is publicly visible. The official website in Yuanba district of Sichuan Province reported that he made an inspection trip in Guangyuan in the province.

sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?”

“Use my trunk to build your boat.

You can sail far away and be happy.” So the boy cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and never showed up for a long time.

Finally, the boy returned after he left for so many years. “Sorry, my boy. But I don’t have anything for you anymore. No more apples for you...” the tree said. “I don’t have teeth to bite” the boy replied. “No more trunk for you to climb on” “I am too old for that now” the boy said.

“I really can’t give you anything ... the only thing left is my dying roots” the tree said with tears. “I don’t need much now, just a place to rest.

I am tired after all these years.” The boy replied. “Good! Old tree roots is the best place to lean on and rest. Come, Come sit down with me and rest.”

The boy sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears.......

This is a story of everyone. The tree is our parent. No matter what, parents will always be there and give everything they could to make you happy.

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Sindh HC declares Musharraf ‘proclaimed offender’ Karachi: Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf was on Tuesday declared a proclaimed offender by Pakistan's Sindh High Court for non-appearance, in what could be a setback to his plans to stage a political comeback.

A division bench of the Sindh High Court here headed by Chief Justice Sarmad Jalal Usmani issued the order against Musharraf for not appearing before it in connection with a petition filed by Maulvi Iqbal Haider of the Awami Himayat Tehreek seeking action against him for "disfiguring" the constitution and committing "high treason". The development came a day before Musharraf, who is living in self-imposed exile, turns 67.

Haider, also an advocate, sought action against Musharraf and his aides, including advocate Sharifuddin Pirzada and former Attorney General Malik Abdul Qayyum, for "disfiguring the Constitution and committing high treason". He has appealed the court to file conspiracy petition against Musharraf.

The court issued various notices to the former president, but he failed to

Pervez Musharraf

appear.

"I requested the court in my second petition to assist me in publishing advertisement in British newspapers but this petition was not upheld," Haider said.

"I then requested the bench to declare Musharraf a proclaimed offender since I could not afford the cost of getting advertisements published in British newspapers," he said.

Several cases are pending against Musharraf in courts across Pakistan, and the UN inquiry commission's report also held his regime responsible for the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in December 2007.

However, the former military ruler has been trying to launch a political party to stage a comeback in Pakistani politics.

Musharraf, who is currently based in London.

26

World

In foCus British medic shot dead in Afghanistan Kabul: Dr. Karen Woo, a 36 year old British doctor, was among the eight foreign aid workers shot dead in a remote part of Afghanistan recently for helping the people there. Taliban claimed the responsibility, accusing them of being spies and Christian missionaries.

The eight were robbed and then lined up for execution.

Two Afghans were also killed with them. Karen’s family said she was about to marry Mark Smith, a former soldier in London in about two weeks. They had met in Kabul and were engaged after being in romance for 10 months. Karen Woo had joined an expedition by the International Assistance Mission, a Christian charity providing medical assistance in Afghanistan. The bodies of the victims were discovered on Friday in the Kuran Wa Munjan district of Badakhshan province.

Afghan teen’s nose, ears cut for fleeing abusive husband Kabul: She cannot read or write and had never heard of Time magazine until a visitor brought her a copy of this week’s issue, the one with the cover picture of her face, the face with no nose. The young woman, Bibi Aisha, last week left Kabul for a long planned trip to the United States for reconstructive surgery. Earlier in the day, as she prepared to leave the women’s shelter at a secret location here that has been her refuge for the past 10 months, the 18-year-old was unaware of the controversy surrounding the publication of that image. “I don’t know if it will help other women or not,” she said, her hand going instinctively to cover the hole in her face, as it does whenever strangers look directly at her. “I just want to get my nose back.”

Follow Mahatma Gandhi, Obama tells young African leaders Washington: The US President Barack Obama has asked young leaders of Africa to follow Mahatma Gandhi to bring the changes they want in the continent. "One of the things that I think everybody here has to really internalise is the notion that, you know, I think it was (Mahatma) Gandhi who once said, you have to be the change that you seek," Obama said in response to a question after addressing a meeting of Young African Leaders Forum, which he had convened bringing in young leaders from nearly 50 African countries to White House. Obama said Africa's future belongs to its young people. "We are going to keep helping empower African youth, supporting education, increasing educational exchanges like the one that brought my father from Kenya, in the days when Kenyans were throwing off colonial rule and reaching for a new future," Obama said.

Indian-American convicted on spying charges London: Indian American engineer Noshir Gowadia has been convicted on the charge of spying for China.

He was convicted on 14 of 17 counts, including conspiracy, violating the arms export control act, tax evasion and money laundering. He was acquitted on charges of knowingly communicating national defence information.The decision came after six days of deliberations at a federal court in Honolulu. "Mr. Gowadia provided some of our country's most sensitive weapons-related designs to the Chinese government for money. Today, he is being held accountable for his actions," said Assistant Attorney General David Kris.

He added: "This prosecution should serve as a warning to others who would compromise our nation's military secrets for profit." Noshir Gowadia, a former B2 stealth bomber engineer, has been accused of pocketing at least 110,000 US dollars from China, which he allegedly used to pay the mortgage on a multimilliondollar ocean view home he built on Maui's north shore.

Gowadia, 66, who has been in federal custody since October 2005, faces life in prison when he is sentenced in November.

Malaysia scraps Visa-on-Arrival facility for Indians Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia has permanently scrapped the Visa-on-Arrival (VOA) facility offered to visitors from India and other seven countries, saying it was "open to abuse" after 40,000 Indian tourists went missing from the country. The decision to permanently scrap the VOA facility to citizens from eight countries was taken at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Foreign Workers and Illegal Immigrants on Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said. The VOA facility was withdrawn for Indian nationals a couple of years ago after Malaysia complained that many visitors had stayed on illegally after the expiry of their tourist visas. Yassin said despite calls from several quarters for continuing the facility, the Committee felt it needed to be revoked as it "brought certain problems to the country."

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

702 killed, 1,042 missing in China mudslides Beijing: At least 702 people were killed and 1,042 went missing in rain-triggered mudslides in northwest China's Gansu province, authorities said on Tuesday. Some 1,243 people have been rescued and 42 of them were found seriously injured, said Tian Baozhong, head of the provincial civil affairs department.

The mudslide hit Zhouqu County in Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Gannan early on Sunday, Xinhua reported.

Some 4,443 tents have reached the affected area but most of them have not yet been set up due to lack of open space, Tian said.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) had dispatched 5,300 soldiers, 150 vehicles, four helicopters and 20 speed

Rescuers carry a survivor who was found in debris after a deadly flood-triggered landslide hit Zhouqu, in northwest China's Gansu province on August 8

boats to Zhouqu, said Du Kangzhan, a publicity official at the PLA's Lanzhou Area Command.

Soldiers and volunteers searched debris for survivors in Gansu's Zhouqu county, two days after floods carried mud and rubble down a mountain into the Bailong valley.

Rescuers pulled a 52year-old man from a collapsed apartment building in the county town on Tuesday morning, after he was trapped for more than 50 hours, state media said.

Health Ministry spokesman Deng Haihua said 21 medical teams with 363 members had travelled to Zhouqu to

Indian-American doctor convicted in car bomb attack Washington: An Indian American doctor in Arkansas has been found guilty of masterminding a car bomb attack on the head of the state's medical board in February 2009.

A federal jury on Monday convicted Randeep Mann, 52, on seven counts, including using a weapon of mass destruction against a person and property, and using an explosive resulting in personal injury.

He will face up to life in prison when he is sentenced later, CNN said citing Cherith Beck, spokesperson for the US Attorney's Office for the

Eastern District of Arkansas. Court records show Mann's trial began on July 6.

Trent Pierce, a family practitioner, suffered serious injuries in the attack and lost an eye, but survived. He was leaving his home in West Memphis, Arkansas, headed to his clinic when a bomb went off as he approached his Lexus hybrid SUV. The blast, heard a mile away, threw Pierce 6 feet into a flower bed.

Prosecutors acknowledged having no forensic evidence connecting Mann to the bomb scene or proving he planted the explosive - made from a

hand grenade duct-taped to a spare tire - in Pierce's driveway in West Memphis.

Still, prosecutors argued, there were links, including an e-mail Mann sent to his brother in India with the subject line "Pierce" and a photograph of the doctor, with the text, "I hope this picture is good." The bomb itself was made from a spare tyre from a 2002 Nissan Altima, and prosecutors said a friend and business partner of Randeep Mann's had an Altima from which the spare was missing when federal agents executed a search warrant.

Americans oppose mosque near 9/11 site New York: The way has been cleared for converting a property near 'ground zero' in New York into an Islamic community centre and mosque. However, everyone is not happy with the decision. National and New York politicians and the Anti-Defamation League have come out in recent weeks against plans for the mosque, saying it disrespects the memory of those killed in the 2001 attacks. In a statement on a new website devoted to the project now called Park51, the project's planners said: "We are eager to begin working with our partners, supporters,

neighbours and communities, to build a community centre for everyone."

"It had been a whirlwind in the past four months, one in which we have worked tirelessly to realise an American dream which so many other share," said Sharif ElGamal, the chief executive officer of Soho Properties.

"The outpouring support has exceeded our expectations.

We are Americans; Muslim Americans. We are businessmen, businesswomen, lawyers, doctors, restaurant workers, cab drivers, and professionals of every walk of life represented by

the demographic and tapestry of Manhattan," he said.

New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and other city leaders support the Islamic centre.

Opponents, including former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, have argued against a mosque being so close to the scene of the nation's worst terrorist attack.

"Peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand, Ground Zero mosque is UNNECESSARY provocation; it stabs hearts. Pls reject it in interest of healing," tweeted Palin last month on her Twitter account.

help injured people and ensure the safety of food and drinking water.

Local hospitals were treating 218 injured, while 41 seriously injured people were transferred to hospitals in the provincial capital of Lanzhou, earlier reports said.

The nine-member Standing Committee of the ruling Communist Party's Politburo on Tuesday urged officials and rescue workers to make "greater efforts to protect people's lives and property" in Zhouqu, the agency said.

It said the Standing Committee, which is led

by President Hu Jintao, issued a statement calling on officials to use "more forceful measures and take advantage of every second to save those trapped by the mudslides".

UK citizens to pay more for US visit Washington: Travellers looking to visit the United States of America in the near future have been urged to apply for authorisation to enter the country as soon as possible, in order to save money.

The Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) is the web-based approvals system that replaced the old green I94W form – a Visa waiver document tourists used to fill in during their journey to the US. The purpose of the green form, and now the ESTA, is to officially authorise holidaymakers’ temporary residency in America.

Made compulsory for all Britons travelling to the USA in January 2009, ESTA has been free to obtain until now.

However, from 8 September 2010 anyone using the American government’s ESTA website have to pay $14 (around £9) for travel authorisation. Without ESTA, holidaymakers will be debarred from entering the country. ESTA lasts for two years or until your passport expires (whichever is sooner) – so if you’re heading to America on holiday, it makes sense to organise your travel authorisation as soon as possible.

Canadian performs yoga non-stop for 32 hours 28-year-old Yasmin Fudakowska-Gow claims Guinness record; raises money to combat Aids in Africa Montreal: A Canadian yoga teacher recently claimed to have created a Guinness record by performing yoga non-stop for 32 hours. The current Guinness record of marathon yoga is 29 hours and four minutes. But yoga instructor Yasmin Fudakowska-Gow, 28, claimed that she has com-

pleted her 32-hour yoga marathon at her Om West yoga studio in Pointe Claire village on the Island of Montreal.

Pending Guinness world record certification, she said, she holds the record for the longest yoga marathon.

Guinness records need at least six

people to be present at the venue of the event all the time to authenticate them.

During her yoga marathon, the Canadian raised money for the Stephen Lewis Foundation which is working to combat Aids in Africa. Before undertaking the yoga marathon, she completed

108 surya namaskars (sun salutations) for 108 consecutive days.

"August 3 was my final day of this project. It has been an unbelievable adventure so far and a profoundly transformational experience. I have learnt from so many great yoga teachers," she said.

Pakistan - East Africa

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

Zardari claims victory in ‘showdown’ with Cameron London: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has claimed to have won the much awaited 'showdown' against British Prime Minister David Cameron, saying he has convinced the British leader to back the idea of a Marshal Plan to rebuild Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In an interview, just hours after meeting Cameron at Chequers here, Zardari described the talks as "positive and constructive".

"We had some straight talk and we became friends," Zardari said.

He stressed that investment was the key to winning hearts and minds of both Afghan and Pakistani civilians.

"Some form of Marshall plan needs to be made for Pakistan. That's what I mean how we will get the hearts and minds of the poor people of

David Cameron (R) greets Asif Ali Zardari at Chequers near Princes Risborough on August 5

Afghanistan, by giving them a commercial boost, taking them away from the Talibs who are giving them better pay than we are giving," Zardari said.

When asked whether he asked for explanations from Cameron for his recent outburst targeting Pakistan, Zardari said Islamabad and London would continue to work together to address all

Hindus finally find a cremation ground in Pak Islamabad: The Pakistani government has finally approved a plan to set up a cremation ground, sprawling over 36 kanals of land, for the Hindus near the Babu Sabu Chowk, close to the Ravi river. The land has been divided into two - for Sikhs and Hindus.

“There are walls on all four sides. It has toilets, a water tank and a water pumping motor,” Munawar Chand, general secretary of the NGO Pakistan Balmik Sabha, said. “My mother was cremated there last year. We are thankful to the Pakistan government to have accepted our demands at last.” Dr Ram Chand said the availability of a cremation ground for

Hindus was essential.

“Though they are a minority community here, cremation rituals are part of their religious beliefs. Our leader Mohammad Ali Jinnah had assured every person who chose to live in Pakistan that they shall be free to practice their religion,” he said.

Since Independence, Hindu welfare communities like the Pakistan Balmik Sabha and the Hindu Balmik Sudhar Sabha had begun efforts to raise funds for a cremation ground for the community in Lahore. They succeeded in 1976 when the Evacuee Property Trust allotted an area on Bund Road. But the property turned out to be disputed.

Nairobi: Foreign land barons are hiring elite law firms for advice on how to protect their property as Kenyans pass the proposed Constitution that bars them from owning land.

Commercial lawyers said the number of clients seeking land ownership advice under a new constitution has risen steadily in the past three months.

The proposed law bars non-Kenyan citizens from

having freehold entitlement to land and instead caps it at 99 years.

This provision has sparked fear among foreigners with freehold titles to large tracts and who will be required to surrender their titles in exchange for leasehold ownership.

Kenya has a large number of foreign individuals and companies who own large tracts of land with freehold titles that the

issues confronting the two nations, but refused to comment on Cameron's diatribe despite being pressed on the subject.

"We always had a good relationship with Britain and I would say it's a triumph for democracy. The fact is we increased our understanding between myself and the prime minister of Britain. I think the world accepts, if you see

the joint communique, it talks about all the positive things Pakistan has been doing ... that Pakistan is part of the solution," Zardari said.

Responding to a question over the huge criticism that he has received for taking a foreign trip at a time when the country was struggling to cope with devastating floods, which has killed over 1,600 people, Zardari said he has raised funds for the flood victims in Abu Dhabi, France and Britain.

Shoe thrown at Zardari Meanwhile, a shoe was thrown at Zardari while he was addressing a rally of Pakistan People’s Party faithfuls in Birmingham on Sunday night. This was more a symbolic insult as the shoe fell well short of Zardari in the large convention centre.

According to Zardari’s party, no shoe was thrown.

Massive Pak floods affect 13.8 million people Sukkur (Pakistan): The United Nations said on Monday that massive floods in Pakistan had affected 13.8 million people and eclipsed the scale of the devastating 2004 tsunami, as anger mounted among survivors.

The Pakistani government and UN officials have appealed for more urgent relief efforts to cope with the worst floods in more than 80 years, with President Asif Ali Zardari due to return home after a heavily criticized European tour.

The entire northwestern Swat valley, where Pakistan fought a major campaign to flush out Taliban insurgents last year, was cut off at the

weekend as were parts of the country's breadbasket in Punjab and Sindh.

"This disaster is worse than the tsunami, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake and the Haiti earthquake," Maurizio Giuliano, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

He said the 13.8 million affected outstripped the more than three million hit by the 2005 earthquake, five million in the tsunami and the three million affected by the Haiti earthquake.

The United Nations estimates 1,700 people have died in Pakistan's floods.

Foreigners form dummy firms to keep Kenyan land colonial government granted them at the beginning of the 20th Century.

The fine print of the new law on land ownership is set to come from future legislation but the Lands ministry has signalled its intention to bring the leasehold titles rule into force with the new Constitution.

Thousands of foreign owners of ranches, beach plots and plantations are

rushing to commercial lawyers for protection.

“The issue is that we are not certain what exactly the new legislation will set out,” said a senior partner at a law firm that has been handling queries from concerned foreign landholders.

One plan is to incorporate private limited companies with at least two Kenyan shareholders each.

27

In foCus 18 Tanzanian children drown in Lake Victoria Dar es Salam: Eighteen Tanzanian children drowned when their over crowded boat capsized in strong winds on Lake Victoria, a regional official said last week. Thirty seven people were on board the small boat when it sank in Africa's largest lake. Boats capsize often on Lake Victoria, which is roughly the size of Ireland, due to rough waters and poorly maintained ships. "All 36 passengers on the boat were primary school children. Eighteen of them died," Mwanza regional commissioner Abbas Kandoro said. He said 19 were rescued, including a crewman. "We suspect the cause of the accident was overcrowding of the boat and bad weather." Kandoro said rescue workers had so far recovered 13 bodies from the lake which is bordered by Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.

Hindu victim of Pak air crash labelled ‘kafir’ New Delhi: The labelling of the coffin of a Hindu killed in last week’s plane crash in Islamabad as 'kafir’ (non-believer) by the authorities raised a storm in Pakistan over the treatment meted out to minorities in the country. Premchand, a social worker from Sanghar in Sindh, was one of the six members of the Youth Parliament, who died in the plane crash. The controversy erupted after friends of Premchand claimed that his coffin came marked 'kafir or ‘infidel’ mostly used as a serious slur in Pakistan - written out in bold strokes as it lay at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences awaiting collection by his devastated family. Although, the incident is being termed as “clerical error”, reactions in Pakistan range from remorse and disgust at denying the youngster respect in death. “It was shocking. He could have been marked as Hindu or non-Muslim, but using the word 'kafir’ is the worst example of intolerance.’’

Muneeb Afzal, a Member of the Youth Parliament (MYP) was quoted as saying. Expressing their anger and remorse in online discussion forums, Premchand’s friends said the death of all passengers, irrespective of their caste, colour and religion, should have been treated as a matter of national tragedy.

Taliban flog 17-year-old girl for 'misbehaviour' London: A 17-year-old screaming, burqa-clad girl was whipped by Taliban fighters in Pakistan's restive Swat Valley for coming "out of her house with another guy who was not her husband", a two-minute video shot through a mobile phone showed. The video showed the girl face down on the ground. Two men held her arms and feet while a third, a black-turbaned fighter with a flowing beard, whipped her repeatedly.

In the video the girl begged repeatedly, "Either kill me or stop it now." After 34 lashes, the punishment stopped and the wailing girl was led into a stone building. "She came out of her house with another guy who was not her husband, so we must punish her. There are boundaries you cannot cross," the report quoted Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan as saying.

Karachi riots toll hits 81 Islamabad: Tension deepens in Pakistan's port city of Karachi as incidents of target killings continue unabated, raising the death toll to 81 last week. In the ongoing spate of violence, armed men gunned down 13 more people on Thursday last while injuring 45 others in different areas of Karachi. Twenty-three people were killed in similar manner earlier when unknown gunmen carried out attacks in different areas of the city. The violence was sparked with the killing of Muttahida Qaumi Movement MPA Raza Haider in a mosque. His death triggered violence across the major towns of Karachi that left 81 people dead and more than 300 others wounded. Over 100 vehicles were torched. As many as 96 vehicles were set ablaze in different areas of Karachi. All the education institutions also remained closed. Firing still continues in different neighborhoods of Karachi as the day progressed in the troubled city.

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UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

This week Jyotsnaben Shah will talk to Sunanda Patel, a disabled lady whose weakness became strength about her work and achievements. She also will also be joined by renowned singer Maya Deepak, and will talk about Mayaben's new CD Moksha, a journey of salvation.

Sneh Joshi - 020 8518 5500 ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20 Creativity, romance and

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Only on CB Live - MATV Sky 793 - Thursday 7:00pm to 8:00pm

Charity Lotus Worldwide launched in the UK Pixie Khangra, MC for the evening, Chairman Paul Riat and Virendra Sharma MP with others

Chairman Paul Riat launched his latest Charity Lotus Worldwide in the UK. The function took place at the Thistle Hotel, Bath Road, West Drayton, on Sat 26th June 2010, attended by 200 guests from various communities. The Chief guests were Hon Dominic Grieve Attorney General MP, Baroness Sandip Verma, Hon Verindra Sharma MP, and various other personalities. The evening was full of entertainment, DJ and live music by renowned singer Rahi Bains, and Brazilian dancers.

It was decided that the first UK function would be

in aid of ROKO Cancer Campaign.

In their speeches the three honoured guests complimented Mr Paul Riat for his vision in setting up Lotus Worldwide, and assisting charities all around the Globe.

Lotus Worldwides first project was in Jalandhar, India in 2006. This was a very successful project and very unique as the organisation arranged 30 marriages of girls from low income families and various communities. Apart from providing all the necessary household items, the organisation also arranged the employment for the couples.

Competition

Coming Events Independence day special n Happy Independence Day: The High Commission of India celebrating Indian Independence Day on Aug 15th, 2010 from 10:30am-3pm, at Gymkhana Club, Thornsbury Avenue, Isleworth TW7 4NQ. The flag hoisting by the High Commissioner of India, Shri Nalin Surie, at 11am followed by President’s message to the Nation. n Brent Indian Association presents India’s Independencve day celebration at the BIA, 116 Ealing Road, Wembley, On Sunday 15th August 2010 at 10:30am.

Contact: Jagdish Patel 020 8903 3019 n Anoopam Mission celebrates India’s Independence day, Sunday 15th August, 11am-7pm.

Contact: 01895832709 n Vishwa Hindu Parisad (UK) celebrates India’s Independence Day, Sunday 15th August.

2pm onwards, Swami Vivekananda Centre, 10 Thornton Row, Thornton Heath CR7 6JN. Contact: 020 8665 5502 n Gujrat Hindu Society presents India’s Independence Day, Saturday 21st Aug, 7pm at the Main Hall.

Others: n Federation of Hindu Priests (UK) and Vaidik Religion Astrological Society presents Janmashtami on Wednesday, 1st September 2010. Please contact: Yogeshbhai Shukla at 01162201749 n 3 Step Rhythmic Breathing (Talk & Refining Exercise Session) With Sri Rajanbhai Vakil On Sunday 15th August 2010, 10am-12pm at Sangat Centre, Sancroft Road, Harrow, HA3 7NS Karamsad Samaj UK presents Chha gam Mehfil Night, Saturday 14th August, 7pm onwards, Harrow Leisure Centre, Contact: Mahendrabhai- 020 8777 488

To celebrate the DVD release of ‘It’s a wonderful afterlife’ on August 16th 2010, Asian Voice is giving 5 lucky winners a chance to win their own copy. To win ‘It’s a Wonderful Afterlife’ on DVD, email Rupanjana at rupanjana.dutta@abplgroup.com the correct answer to the following question along with your name and postal address by Sunday August 15th.

Which of the following films has Jimi Mistry not starred in?

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leisure all receive a tonic.

The 'I want' factor seems pretty strong; do avoid making hasty purchases and expensive investments.

Assertive and 'ego' powers are pretty powerful now, in fact others may feel you are coming on too strongly. A period when you show the world just who you are.

The pace of everyday life TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 will gather momentum and there may be times when you find it hard to keep your act together. Make a very conscious attempt to stick to main priorities. Organise your time so that it is not taken up entirely by the demands of other people. Life appears to be focusing your mind on practical matters.

Developments during this GEMINI May 22 - June 22 week are likely to make you feel rather restless, perhaps because you have allowed yourself to fall into a routine that is now becoming jaded. If so, then the hint of change will be extremely welcome, even if it might entail an element of disruption.

It is essential that you CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22 adopt a very open attitude now for this is a time of lucky opportunity and a chance to greatly enrich your working life and at home.

New windows on the world are about to open and this is bound to have a maturing effect on you from now into the future.

This is almost certain to be LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23 an eventful time for affairs of the heart. The transit of Venus through your desire sign augurs well for those hoping to meet the right partner. A party that you attend allows you to connect with interesting new people, one of whom may be interested in you as a romantic partner.

Sun's transit of your 12th VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23 Solar House indicates that experience will put you in a deeply reflective mood. This is a favourable time for getting away from usual routines and seeking a retreat for a few days. All the better if you are interested in such things as meditation, yoga and therapies that help you to get in closer touch with your inner self.

The fiery planet Mars, LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23 continues to occupy your sign for some time to come. Its influence will help you to maintain a high energy level and achieve positive results in anything that requires drive and initiative.

However, you will need to focus on what is most important in your life, otherwise mistakes will be made.

There is an element of SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22 disruption or stress which may be hard to avoid, but it appears that there is a strong sense of purpose in the background. A certain amount of sheer hard graft will be necessary for a short while, but the final result will be extremely pleasing.

An exchange of opinions ought to prove very enlivening at this time.

Activities and interests SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21 that involve co-operation and teamwork are very much in the spotlight. You will be able to further your special aims and objectives by communicating and working closely with others.

You are likely to experience some tension in close relationships - it may be a time to take stock of things.

This is not a time to CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20 take undue risks with money yet it is certainly favourable for those who are working towards improving their earning potential. It is not only career and employment that come under this fortunate trend because your creative energies will be very much to the fore too. Tread carefully where legal matters are concerned.

The cosmic energies are AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19 decidedly invigorating at the moment. If you are taking a holiday, so much the better ! Not only do you have Venus putting a favourable emphasis on travel but, with Mars you can be sure of deriving the utmost pleasure from adventures and excursions. There will be great confidence in whatever you do.

It is a particularly PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20 favourable time for dealing with financial interests with a long-term basis, such as investments, insurance and pension schemes, legacies and all jointly held resources. You will be able to sort out any difficulties by taking immediate action. There may be a certain amount of unfinished business to be dealt with.

time

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

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Indian tourist site Car signal Castle member Gay Nineties and the like Cookie Selection Broadcasting BEyond stringy Poetic works Dismantel mortise joints Start of Moliere statement

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Bring to court Retail customers German article “Spy vs. Spy” Magazine Shake choice Midsection Part 2 of statement Worldwide workders’ grp.

Senses Fine work Part 3 of statement Benden

SCRAMBLE - 61 Rearrange the letters in the four word jumbles, one letter to each square/circle, to make four ordinary words NOTES

How to play

Now arrange the letters in the circles to form the answer to the riddle or to fill in the missing word as indicated

ARMER DDEENT INVWGO

Like clear nights Ocean off NC Hop to it!

Land figures Skirt border End of statement Fragrant resin Crimson Tide, to fans K-P connection Altercation Cake decorator Kuwaiti leader Cast Feudal peon Take a sample

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atty.

22 Some tides 26 “The Delta of Venus” writer 28 Electrical unit 29 Truth stretcher 30 Traditional stories 31 A chip, maybe 32 Mental keenness 33 Heaps 34 Bit 35 Cold cuts, e.g.

36 You betchal 38 Aviator 41 Regal inits.

42 Slurring over 43 Staunch 44 Short theatrical offering 46 Pound sounds 48 With dispatch 49 Promising one 50 The easiest of putts 51 City near Limerick 52 Woman’s combo garment 53 Towel ID 54 Hebrew month 55 Restaurant Handout 57 Japanese sashes 59 Time div.

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He who smiles rather than rages is always the _____. -Japanese proverb (8)

Solution of Scramble - 60

Words: Algae, ordr, unclog, coming Answer: Moral courage and character go hand in hand. A man of real character is consistently courageous, being imbued with a basic integrity and a firm sense of princeiple.

WHATZIT? - 100 Find the familiar phrase, saying or name in this arrangement of letters.

Sollution-99: Joyrider

Solution of Crossword-99

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MINDBENDER - 100 Last week, I travelled from Mumbai to somewhere near Pune. On the first day I travelled one half of the distance. On day two, I travelled one third of the remaining distance. On day three, I travelled three quarters of the remainging distance. Yesterday I travelled one half of the remaining distance. I now have 5 miles left to travel. How far is it from Mumbai to where I was bound in total ?

Solution of 99 : If there were just two ailments with the percentages 70 percent and 75 percent, then the minimum overlap would be 45 percent, or 70 Percent plus 75 percent minus 100. The minimum 45 percent of the population with the first two conditions similarly overlaps the 80 percent with the third ailment by a minimum of 25 percent. Finally the minimum of 25 percent sufering from the first three ailments overlaps the 85 percent with the fourth condition bye at leat 10 Percent. The same principle would apply to any other combination of any number of ailments

KAKURO - 100

20 12

Example

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LOOP THE LOOP - 61 Rules Connect adjacent dots with vertical or horizontal lines, creating a single loop.

(Fig A).

Crossovers or branches are not allowed 3 2 3 3 2 3 (As shown by dotted lines in Fig B).

2 2 2 2 Numbers in the puzzle indicate the 3 0 number of lines that should 2 1 2 surround it, while empty cells may 3 2 2 be surrounded by any number of 2 1 3 2 lines.

You can’t draw lines arround 3 2 2 2 3 zeroes.

Each puzzle has just one unique solution.

How to begin: Example (Fig A) - Begin with the zero next to 3. Since no lines can be drawn around zero, mark crosses around it, as shown. Now there is a cross in one space around 3. So we know the three lines of 3 can only be drawn in the remaining three spaces. Next these lines can only be extended in one direction each. Continue, using the same Solution of LTL No. 60 logic. x Hints: Keep elimi2 x x x x 3 nating possibilix x x ties by marking x x x x 1 3 crosses in x x x spaces between x 3 x1 x0 x 3 dots where a line x x x x x isn’t possible, 2 x 2 x2 3 3 2 i.e., if you have x x x already completx x 2 x 1 x x 2 2 x ed required lines x x x or where a line x 1 x 3 3 3 x extension may x x x create a branch x x x x or cause a deadx end (Fig B)

SPELLATHON -100 Today’s Ratings: 02-average | 03-good | 04-outstanding I M

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How many words of four or more letters can you make from the letters shown in today’s puzzle? In making a word, each letter may be used once only. Each word must contain the central letter. There should be at least one seven-letter word. Plurals, foreign words and proper names are not allowed. British English Dictionary is used as reference.

Solution of Spellathon - 99 : Mess, mice, miss, SEISMIC

Sudoku-100 1

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The numbers in the pink squares refer to the sums of the digits that you must fill into the empty spaces directly below or to the right of the pink square containing the number. For instance, in the given example, the 2 boxes below 12 must contain 2 digits that add upto 12, whereas for 20, the 3 boxes places horizontally next to it must add upto 20.

No zeroes are used here, only the digits one through nine.

Solution of KAKURO - 99

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Solution of sudoku-99 HOW TO PLAY Each row, column and square 3x3 box is a subgrid of 9 cells. Fill in the grid so that each sub-grid contains the digits 1 to 9.

Every puzzle has one solution.

Note:

A digit cannot appear more than once in any particular digit combination. For instance in the example, we cannot have the combination of 8+4+8 for 20.

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HEALTH WATCH

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

Asthma inhalers 'increase the risk of prostate cancer'

Treating women health problems through reiki Women are increasingly seeking alternative therapies to address their nagging health concerns.

Reiki is one such handy tool that can alleviate a few of their ailments.

The top nagging health concerns of women are often related to sexual health, pregnancy, breasts, menstrual problems, menopause, gynaecologic cancers, and osteoporosis. Added to these are lifestyle disorders such as heart problems, depression, insomnia, diabetes, digestive disorders and a host of other ailments that women share with men.

Of late, there is a definite drift towards the use of alternative therapies worldwide, especially among women. The sideeffects and high cost of modern medicine are some of the reasons that could be attributed to this noticeable shift.

Mounting evidence suggests a growing number of women opting to employ alternative medicine such as homoeopathy, herbal treatment, ayurvedic treatment, aromatherapy, yoga and similar options, to combat their day-to-day health concerns.

Menopause Hot flashes, night sweats and frequent need

brittle with lack of calcium intake and decreased

bone density. Also, osteoporosis amongst women is often due to menopausal changes.

The disorder is age-related and can acquire dangerous proportions if timely treatment is not given.

Giving Reiki on the positions same as for menopause is helpful.

Menstrual problems You can treat menstrual cycle imbalances by placing one hand on the right breast and the other on the

to urinate are some of the common experiences in menopause. The main affected glands are the ovaries and the adrenals.

Giving Reiki over back of solar plexus, back of sacral plexus and the root chakra helps in this condition.

Osteoporosis The bones become

left breast and give Reiki for 15 minutes. Now place one hand on ovaries and the other between the legs and treat with Reiki.

For treating menstrual bleeding problems, give Reiki on solar plexus, sacral plexus and ovaries one hand on ovaries and the other between the legs.

For pains, cramps and PMS, dispense Reiki on solar plexus, sacral plexus, bladder, kidneys, base of spine, ankles and soles, and toes of both the feet.

Drugs used by thousands of men in Britain to treat asthma may increase the risk of prostate cancer, according to research.

It shows men who regularly take inhaled steroids to keep their asthma under control are almost 40 per cent more likely than men without asthma to develop a tumour.

Those who regularly use another type of inhaler - a bronchodilator - to relieve wheezing are 36 per cent more at risk of the disease.

But the biggest danger appears to be among men with severe asthma who frequently need treatment with steroid tablets or injections.

Among this group, according to the study, the risk of cancer increases by up to 70 per cent.

Although the same research found even having asthma appears to increase the risk by around 25 per cent, it said the chances of a tumour are significantly higher in men taking medication.

Asthma sufferers using bronchodilators will usually have two types - one which provides instant relief from symptoms and

another to use once or twice day to prevent them developing in the first place.

Cancer experts last night stressed findings were preliminary, from a small study, and needed to be confirmed by much bigger studies before any change in asthma drug use could be considered.

Dr Jodie Moffat, of Cancer Research UK, said: 'The results are quite weak and they could be a statistical fluke.

The researchers themselves note that further studies are needed.'

And Dr Elaine Vickers, from Asthma UK, urged men with asthma not to stop taking medication on the basis of the results.

She said: 'This research suggests that there could be a weak association between asthma and prostate cancer risk.

However, even if this is true, the association is marginal, and there is no reason for men with asthma to be concerned.'

The study was undertaken by a team of scientists in Melbourne, Australia. They decided to look at the link between asthma and prostate can-

cer because both arise from inflammation in the body.

The researchers studied 1,179 men who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and analysed how many had a history of asthma.

The results, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, showed just having asthma meant a 25 per cent increase in a man's chances of a tumour.

But if he was on medication, the risks were even higher.

The researchers admitted it was 'difficult to disentangle' the effects of asthma drugs from the result of just having the condition itself.

But they said the concerns raised by their findings should be investigated in bigger follow-up studies.

Around 5.2 million people in Britain have asthma. According to Asthma UK, it kills one person every seven hours and leaves 70,000 a year needing hospital treatment.

Nearly 32,000 cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed every year in the UK and 10,000 men die from it.

Mothers-to-be warned off liquorice over fears it can give children diseases later in life Expectant mothers who eat liquorice could be increasing their unborn child’s risk of disease in adulthood.

Experts have found eight-year-olds who were exposed to liquorice in the womb had levels of the hormone cortisol up to a third higher than those whose mothers never ate it.

Cortisol helps the body deal with stress, but it is also linked to diabetes, high blood pressure and

obesity.

In the study by London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital and the University of Helsinki, mothers were asked how much liquorice they ate in pregnancy. Their children were tested aged eight for cortisol levels.

The study found that those whose mothers ate half a gram a week of liquorice – less than one Liquorice Allsorts sweet – or more in pregnancy had cortisol levels a third high-

er than those whose mothers did not eat it.

Experts believe the presence of the naturally occurring, very sweet ingredient glycyrrhizin in liquorice ultimately affects the mechanism which regulates hormone levels.

Clinical scientist Alexander Jones of Great Ormond Street, one of the study’s authors, said: ‘For those who eat a lot of liquorice, it may be a good idea to cut down when pregnant.’

Found: Faulty genes that can raise the risk of meningitis Faulty genes could put some of us at greater risk of meningitis, scientists believe.

Researchers have pinpointed a group of genes in some individuals that make them more likely to develop bacterial meningitis, which can be lifethreatening if not diagnosed in time.

And they hope their findings will pave the way for developing a vaccine against the disease.

The scientists, from Imperial College London, studied 475 British patients who had bacterial - or meningococcal meningitis, and compared them to healthy patients.

They found that in cer-

tain individuals, the bacteria can take over the immune system easily resulting in infection.

But others’ genes make their immune systems more resistant so they are less likely to develop the illness.

Paediatrician Professor Michael Levin, who led the research, said: ‘Although most of us have carried the meningitis bacteria at some point, only around one in 40,000 people develop meningococcal meningitis.

‘Our study set out to understand what causes this small group of people to become very ill whilst others remain immune.

Our findings provide the

strongest evidence so far that there are genetic factors that lead to people developing meningitis.’

'Meningococcal disease is a terrible illness as it strikes healthy children and adults suddenly, and can kill in a few hours' It is hoped the findings, published in the journal Nature Genetics, will help develop a vaccine for meningitis B, the most deadly type.

It is one of the biggest childhood killers infecting 2,500 people a year and killing 200.

There is currently no vaccine for meningitis B, although there are jabs for other strains caused by bacteria.

SPort world

Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010

Pak lose by 9 wkts, but some pride restored

By Premen Addy

The second Test at Edgbaston between England and Pakistan ended in an expected English victory, the 9wicket margin more comfortable than appeared likely on the second afternoon, when England offspinner Graeme Swann extracted significant turn and lift to snare six Pakistani batsman for a mere 65 runs in 37 tantalising overs. A few hours into the day all appeared lost for the visitors who were 101 for 6, with another 80 runs left to save an innings defeat.

But they finally drew on their reserves of pride, fortitude and technical skill to make the fightback.

First came a 50-run stand between Umar Akmal (28) and Zulqarnain Haidar (88) which lifted the Pakistan total to 153 before the former departed stumped Prior bowled Swann for 20. Then followed the most productive Pakistani partnership of the match, as Saeed Ajmal (50) joined Haidar in a stand of 113 runs. The pair played fluently, with strokes to every part of the ground. They gave notice of a promising future, even

SA to host first Women’s Cricket Challenge South Africa will host the first ever ICC Women’s Cricket Challenge from October 6 to 16 this year at Potchefstroom. Apart from the hosts, West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Netherlands and Ireland ranked between fifth and tenth in the world will be playing in a series of one-day and T20 games.

The only teams to have already qualified for the World Cup are England, New Zealand, India and Australia, who are ranked as the top four women’s ODI teams.

Andrew Strauss guided England’s run chase at Edgbaston on Monday

as they departed in quick succession. Pakistan were 291 at the close, 113 runs ahead. Another five runs were added as the innings ended on 296 all out.

England were left with a victory target of 118 on thec third morning, which they reached in a canter.

Captain Andrew Strauss was unbeaten on 53, as was Jonathan Trott., also with 53. Much was expected of Ajmal, whose flighted off-breaks and doosras had earned him a first inning haul of 5 for 82 in 26.1 overs. But luck deserted him the second time around, with Strauss dropped twice off his bowling. Never the less, he was initially unsure about the right pace to bowl on a

crumbling surface, as well as the correct length from which to get the maximum purchase. He seemed to have got it right in the end, but it was too late.

In hindsight, Pakistan lost the plot on the opening day when they were dismissed for a paltry 72, all at sea against the swing and seam of James Anderson 4 for 20, Stuart Broad (4 for 38) and Steve Finn (2 for 10).

The Pakistan new ball pair of Mohammed Amir (2 for 57) and Mohammed Asif (2 for 41) struck back well, but the woeful Pakistani catching put England in the box seat.

Trott made a stubborn 55, while Kevin Pietersen, dropped four times, had

more lives than the proverbial cat, as he edged, stroked and missed his way to a faltering 80.

Mohammed Yusuf, the retired Pakistan batting star, has been pressed into service at the urgent call of the selectors. whether he can make a decisive difference after his long layoff from the game is doubtful.

But he had the required class to shine in Test cricket in his heyday, and, who knows, he may have retained enough of it to give the English bowlers a run for their money.

England paceman Stuart Broad was fined half his match fee amounting to £3000, for throwing the ball back at Pakistan batsman Haider and hitting him on the shoulder, after an appeal for a catch off his bowling by the English wicketkeeper Matt Prior was turned down.

Ranjan Madugalle, the match referee, said Broad's behaviour was unacceptable. Broad had pleaded guilty to the charge of improper conduct. {Brief scores: England 251 and 118 for 1 (Strauss 53*, Trott 53*) beat Pakistan 72 and 296 (Haider 88, Ajmal 50, Swann 6-65) by nine wickets}.

Gagan Narang, Hariom Singh shoot their way to London Narang demotivated, may skip Delhi CWG

Ace Indian marksman Gagan Narang has said he feels demotivated and may give a miss to the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi this October, as he was ignored for the coveted Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award even this year, third year in a row according to him.

He voiced his feelings after not finding his name for the honours, just after becoming the first Indian player to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics.

Compatriot and India’s first gold medal winner in

Olympics, Abhinav Bindra could not perform well and failed to book his birth for the London event. Another Indian shooter, Hariom Singh also booked his berth to

London as he finished 6th in the 50 meter rifle prone event at Munich. Gagan’s likely pull-out will be a huge setback for organisers following high-profile withdrawals of Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser, Chris Hoy, Lleyton Hewitt and Samantha Stosur.

Bronze at Munich Gagan Narang became the first Indian to qualify for 2012 London Olympics after shooting bronze in the 10 metre air rifle event in the 50th World Championship in Munich.

It’s Tejaswini Sawant after Rathore and Bindra Kolhapur lady wins gold in World Shooting at Munich Tejaswini Sawant equalled the world record of 597 points in the 50 metre rifle prone at the World Shooting Championships in Munich last week and shot a gold medal, a first for any Indian women in shooting.

She follows Rajyavardhan Rathore and Abhinav Bindra, who did India proud bring medals at World championship and Olympics.

The 29 year old lady equalled the World record of 597/600 points set up by Marina Bobkova of Russia in 1998. Teju, as she is fondly called by

near and dear ones, has been in limelight since the previous Commonwealth Games, held in Melbourne in 2006. There she won two golds.

Teju lost her father just six months back. Her mother Sunita,

reacting to the achievements of her daughter, said they are very proud of her. Sunita was herself a sportsperson, having played cricket and volleyball during her days at college.

At the Melbourne CWG, Teju had won the gold medals in 10 metre air rifle singles and pairs events.

The shooter is participating in competitions since the year 2000 and has bagged a total of 75 medals with 25 of them being at international level.

31

Laxman helps India beat Lanka, level series Randiv troubles Indian batsmen more than Mendis

MS Dhoni and Kumar Sangakkara pose with the series trophy at P Sara Oval on Friday last week.

On Saturday, India finally sealed a much needed victory against Sri Lanka in the third test match at the P Sara Oval in Colombo and leveled the three test series 1 – 1. VVS Laxman finally delivered with an unbeaten century, leading the team to a 5 wicket win as India chased a target of 257 runs after a token lead of 11 runs in the first innings.

Virender Sehwag hammered a fast century in the first innings to help the team overhaul the Lankan first innings score of 425 runs, with two half centuries from Laxman and Suresh Raina. Abhimanyu Mithun and Amit Mishra also made significant contributions of 46 and 40.

Sri Lanka’s innings had Samarweera scoring a solid 137, while skipper Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene chipped in with half centuries as Sri Lanka elected to bat first.

In the second essay too, Samarweera top scored with 83, while Ajantha Mendis prolonged the agony of Indian bowling after they captured 7 for 87 and 8 for 125.

India started badly, losing 3 wickets for 53 at the end of fourth day, but Sachin Tendulkar and

Suresh Raina also played calmly to ensure that the team did not get into a panicky situation. It was Suraj Randiv who troubled the Indian batting in the second innings more than others, as he scalped all the 5 second innings wickets, adding to his first innings tally of 4 wickets.

On the final day, Laxman seemed to have more time than the rest to play his shots, and he picked gaps in the spreadout fields with comfort during a constant search for singles and twos.

Randiv’s extra bounce was neutralised with a quick adaptation to varying lengths and the use of soft hands.

Googlies from Mendies were read early, and Malinga's slightly wayward line was dominated with flicks, glances and pulls, along with a safe negotiation of his intermittent yorkers. {Brief scores: India 436 (Sehwag 109, Raina 62, Randiv 4-80) and 258 for 5 (Laxman 103*, Tendulkar 54, Randiv 582) beat SL 425 (Samaraweera 137*, Sangakkara 75, Ojha 4115) and 267 (Samaraweera 83, Mendis 78) by 5 wickets}.

A big question mark hanging on Indian hockey The hockey imbroglio in India is still a risk, an uncertainty looming large over the game. While government of India has derecognised Hockey India (HI) that was in charge of the game in the country recently, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) is adamant that unless it is HI, India will not be able to field teams in the Women’s World Cup to be held in Argentina later this month or at the Commonwealth Games.

The issue turned into a bizarre controversy after Delhi High Court recently ruled Hockey India’s recognition as illegal and asked the government to revive the IHF to take charge of the game.

Subsequently, at the instance of the Supreme Court, which allowed elections, Hockey India got a

new team of office bearers last week, but just as the elections got over, the ministry of sports, government of India derecognised Hockey India.

The government wrote to the world body last week to end its association with Hockey India and instead recognise the IHF, but FIH president Leandro Negre was not impressed.

"At the outset we reiterate that we have already recognised Hockey India as a recognised body for the management, control and promotion for hockey in India," Negre wrote to the ministry.

"In the circumstances and in the best interest of hockey in India, we would like to inform you that Hockey India is the only body that has been recognised by FIH."

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Asian Voice - Saturday 14th August 2010