AV 14th December 2013

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Indian worker's death sparks violence in Singapore

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VOL 42. ISSUE 32

Asians more likely to be stopped and questioned at UK border A research by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has reportedly revealed that Asian people are 11 times more likely to be stopped and questioned than white people, to determine if they are involved in terrorism, at British airports and ports.

The figures demonstrated that among the 53,992 people were stopped British ports and airports in 201213, out of which Asians were 11.3 times more likely to be stopped than those who were white.

Black people were 6.3 times more likely to be stopped, Continued on page 2

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Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

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Goodbye Madiba

South Africa’s antiapartheid hero Nelson Mandela died aged 95 at his Johannesburg home on Thursday last after a prolonged lung infection, plunging his nation and the world into mourning for a man hailed by global leaders as a moral giant.

Although Mandela had been frail and ailing for nearly a year, President Jacob Zuma's announcement of the death of the former president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate shook South Africa.

Tributes began flooding in almost immediately for a man who was an iconic global symbol of struggle against injustice and of racial reconciliation.

Ordinary South Africans were in shock. “It feels like it's my father

who has died. He was such a good man, who had good values the nation could look up to. He was a role model unlike our leaders of today,” said Annah Khokhozela, 37, a nanny, speaking in Johannesburg. A sombre Zuma made a national broadcast to announce the death of South Africa's first black president.

“Fellow South Africans, our beloved Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the founding president of our democratic nation, has departed,” Zuma said in the nationally televised address.

“Our people have lost a father. Although we knew this day was going to come, nothing Continued on page 16

14th December to 20th December 2013

It's Modi magic all the way BJP scores 4-0, Congress crushed, AAP stuns Delhi

Congress has been routed 0-4, losing the two states it ruled - by a huge landslide in Rajasthan, and failing to reach even double digits in Delhi. A Modi-led BJP, which retained MP with over 2/3rd majority, and Chhattisgarh with a lastminute surge, goes into

Lok Sabha elections with its guns blazing. All this was possible because of the widespread campaigning by Narendra Modi, BJP's prime ministerial candidate.But it’s Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party that has electrified Continued on page 26

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Keith Vazwith MP

Keith Vaz MP

Amanda Rajkumar

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

My late Father who taught me that giving up is not an option, to 'go for gold' and expect the unexpected!

Amanda Rajkumar is currently the Global Head of Fixed Income HR, based in London and has been in the role for 4 years.

She sits on the Fixed Income Executive Committee and leads the Global HR strategy and delivery for Fixed Income. Prior to moving to BNP Paribas, Amanda was at The Rose Partnership, a global executive search firm where as a Director, she managed the Fixed Income and Structured Finance practices for two and a half years.

The majority of Amanda's career was spent at JP Morgan where over nearly 8 years, she held a number of Human Resources positions including Senior HR Business Partner for Global Fixed Income, Corporate Finance and Asset & Wealth Management groups. She also managed the EMEA Front Office recruitment function. Prior to joining JP Morgan in late 1999, she was a Head-hunter in the Technology Sector.

After leaving University, Amanda worked for the Royal Free Hospital as a Research Psychologist.

Amanda holds a BSc (Hons) Psychology from Goldsmiths College, London University.

1) Please tell me about your current position?

I work for one of the largest European Banks, BNP Paribas, as Global Head of Human Resources for Fixed Income.

My role entails being a ‘trusted advisor’ to the business. I lead a team of Human Resources Business partners and together with technical specialists we deliver consistent HR Policy and advice. A key part of my role is to understand the strategy of the business and trans-

late into HR goals. Attracting, motivating, rewarding and retaining employees are the principle areas I focus my energies and resources on. The majority of my career has been within Human Resources for Investment Banks.

2) What are your proudest achievements?

Throughout my career in Banking, maintaining my belief in human nature, good will and the kindness of strangers.

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

The ability to influence HR strategy and policy in addition to dealing with individuals, at all levels, with different situations, on a daily basis.

3) What inspires you?

People who exhibit passion, tolerance and a love of life.

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

As a professional from a diverse background, I have never seen this as an obstacle to overcome, but on the contrary, as a senior women I have experienced more barriers now than at any time in my career.

Asians more likely to be stopped and questioned at UK border

Continued from page 1 and people of mixed ethnicity were 3.6 times more likely to be stopped.

Moreover, Pakistani nationals were 52 times more likely to be stopped than white people, 135 times more likely to be questioned and examined for more than an hour, and 154 times more likely to be detained.

According to the study, stereotyping rather than intelligence could be a major factor in the use of the powers in Britain under schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 allows British officials to question traveller in order to find out whether they appear to be terrorists.

Suspects have no right to remain silent or receive legal advice, and they may be detained for up to nine hours. The analysis has been published as the House of Lords discusses changes to the schedule 7

powers as part of government amendments to the crime and antisocial behaviour bill.

The EHRC experimental analysis further noted that there were high levels of examinations of passengers of certain ethnicities in comparison with white passengers.

The equality commission added that it will use the analysis to work with the Home Office and the police to ensure they are following their own guidelines, which ban discrimination on ethnic grounds in the exercise of these powers.

The home secretary, Theresa May, is proposing to reduce the maximum period of detention from

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7) And the worst?

Delivering tough and sometimes life changing messages on a daily basis it not always pleasant. It never gets easier. The only way I find to do this is to be honest, open and kind.

8) What are your long term goals?

To deliver something that sits at the heart of what makes BNP Paribas unique – our ability to put the Client first (internal or external) and ensure sustainability. As a firm, we are positioned for long term gain of market share and we have all the right foundations to grow

our footprint. HR sits at the top of our people first organisation.

HR should be the conscience of the firm.

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

Education system – it is crippling us as a nation and not fulfilling our youth’s potential is such a waste. We should focus on the consistency of education quality country wide to help ensure all children have the same access to opportunity through learning to enable them to reach their full potential.

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

This is difficult as there are so many. At the moment, it would be Nelson Mandela given the huge gap he has left in this world. But others would be Rosa Parkes for her sheer bravery and spirit, Marcus Garvey for his vision and leadership and Elizabeth 1st – I’d like to know how she kept herself motivated, even in her most darkest moments when she faced political pressure and death threats from all those around her, especially being viewed as of the “weaker sex".

Osborne's 'positive' Autumn Statement is “questionable”

nine hours to six, to introduce new rights for the person detained to consult a solicitor and a ban on intimate searches, among other changes.

Mark Hammond, the EHRC chief executive, reportedly said that the schedule 7 was a necessary and useful power in the provision of national security.

He said: “If used intelligently and proportionately the police can protect the public against terrorist threats. However, stopping people based on stereotypes could lead to time and resources being misdirected and have a negative impact on relations with black and ethnic minority groups.”

On Thursday, Chancellor George Osborne revealed his highly anticipated Autumn Statement, laying out his strategy for the next election in 2015. He claimed that Britain would be running a budget surplus in five years and said the country is “heading in the right direction”, yet he has since been blamed for using “questionable” statistics to persuade MPs that households are becoming better off.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the Chancellor had used "strange" figures for disposable income in his Autumn Statement this week. It also clarified that despite the recent economic recovery, households will be "substantially" worse off at the election in 2015 than when the Coalition took office in 2010.

Living standards in UK are at the heart of the political battle over the dwindling economy.

Labour blames the

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Coalition government for failing to address the fact that Inflation is rising faster than wages leaving many households worse off.

Osborne, in his Autumn Statement, attempted to change this perception as he unveiled improved forecasts for economic growth, suggesting that the recovery will mean households will be better off.

Indeed, Mr Osborne used official figures for disposable income, the sum families have left after paying essential bills.

However, the IFS pointed out that the statistic Mr Osborne cited does not just cover household incomes but also reflects the finances of charities and universities.

Paul Johnson of the IFS reportedly raised questions about Mr Osborne’s use of the disposable income figure. He said: “It tells us something about household incomes but it should certainly not be used in isolation to

measure how they are changing.”

Andy Love, a Labour member of the Treasury Select Committee, said: “There are questions over the accuracy of the Autumn Statement on this issue of living standards.

The Chancellor has to be very careful about his use of statistics, since figures like this can easily be misused for political purposes.”

Labour have claimed that the effect of high prices and low wages have made families £1,600 a year worse off under the Coalition. The Treasury disagrees with that calculation, saying it is based on the wrong measure of inflation, the RPI gauge, which gives a higher reading for prices than the official CPI measure.

The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts house price rises of 5.2 per cent next year and 7.2 per cent in 2015 yet said that weak household finances could threaten the recovery in the medium term.

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December2013

COMMENT

Nelson Mandela: Light unto the nations

Nelson Mandela, who died at his home in Johannesburg last week, aged 95, was a titanic figure who reshaped South Africa and became a beacon of hope and enlightenment to the world. He was an amazing man who did amazing things, none more remarkable than the peace through reconciliation he brought to his tortured country.

Imprisoned on the infamous Robbin Island for 27 long years, along with his close political associates, by the white apartheid regime for his leading role in the country’s anti-apartheid struggle, he emerged unbowed to close this terrible chapter with his apartheid interlocutor F.W de KIerk.

Together they negotiated an end to the white regime and the start of a new democratic, inclusive South Africa in which all its people were to be equal citizens under the rule of law. He well understood that magnanimity in politics is not seldom the truest wisdom and that little minds and a great project to secure the future go ill together.

Mandela possessed the generosity of spirit and the imagination to grasp the insecurities and inner demons that plagued the ruling Boer community – Dutch settlers who had arrived from Holland way back in the 17th century. His assurance that the Boers and English-speaking had a role to play in the new South Africa helped build the trust that would lay the foundations of an enduring multicultural polity. Civil strife was avoided and the long journey into the future commenced. South Africa has myriad challenges to confront and overcome, not least the immense economic divide between haves and have-nots. These will have to be tackled by the present and future leaders of the

country. Nelson Mandela opened up the possibilities to South Africa’s social and economic transformation, but it will be the responsibility of his successors to fulfill the dream of the rainbow nation going forward.

Mandela’s relations with India were particularly close. He was never shy of acknowledging his country’s debt to the struggle against racial discrimination launched by Gandhi at the turn of the 20th century. Quoting Rajiv Gandhi, Mandela told his audience in Delhi: “The freedom of India started in South Africa; and our freedom will never be complete until South Africa is free.” Then: “I have come to say to Rajiv, Pandit and Mahatma – indeed to the people of India – your freedom can now reach its zenith because the people of South Africa are free.”

Indian support for the South African struggle began with India’s independence in August 1947.

Many leaders of the African National Congress leaders in exile, including Oliver Tambo, travelled the world on Indian passports. BBC World Television spoke only of British and American leaders’ esteem for Nelson Madela. Let us set the record straight. Beneath this odour of sanctity was the ugly reality of the past betrayals: that it was a CIA tip-off that enabled the apartheid regime’s police to track him down and arrest him in 1962, and that Mandela and the African National Congress were on America’s terrorist list as late as 2008. In Britain, Margaret Thatcher called Mandela a “terrorist” in 1987, describing the prospect of the African National Congress in power as “living in cloud cuckoo-land.”

With a dysfunctional US Congress enjoying single digit approval rating from the American public, and an administration in seizure, immigration phobia stalks Washington’s corridors of power.

President Obama’s desperate attempt to resolve the logjam with Republican party legislators has led to a major concession from the White House.

The President is prepared to accept a piecemeal approach to overhauling America’s immigration system. What is startling is the apparent reversal of Democratic party leaders’ insistence that it must be an all or nothing approach to immigration.

They would not agree to increased numbers of visas for skilled people unless the Republicans agreed to legalize more than 10 million immigrants in the US (mostly of Hispanic descent) who have no documentation to justify their presence in the country. The Republicans have refused to provide the amnesty, hence it is no deal, keeping the unskilled populations where they are, while wouldbe skilled migrants are kept at bay, thereby putting a spoke in US competitiveness. The present impasse may be bad for the US but it is good news for India. Why so? Because the US permitted highly skilled people from India, China and Israel, for example, to enter the country and become permanent residents, thus using their brain power and entrepreneurial gifts to contribute uniquely to America’s wealth creation capacity and help retain its global supremacy in science and technology.

Consider this: from 1998 to 2005, immigrants founded 52 per cent of the Silicon Valley startups and 25 per cent nationwide. They contributed 72 per cent of the World Intellectual Property Organization patents filed by Qualcomm, , 64 per cent of General Electric and 60 per cent of Cisco Systems. Indians co-author 13. 7 per cent of

America’s global patents. Indians alone have established 33.2 per cent of Silicon Valley immigrant startups – more than have immigrants from any other ten countries combined, including China, the UK, Canada, Germany, Israel and Russia. These findings, the results of intensive research by Professor Vivek Wadhwa and his team from Duke, Harvard and UCL Berkley Universities, from where it receives its funding, has shown how much the US owes to these gifted communities. America admits hundreds of thousands of students and workers on HI-B visas, without providing enough permanent resident visas that would allow these skilled people to make America their home. So what happens? Professor Wadhwa explains in his book, “Why America Is Losing the Global Race to Capture Entrepreneurial Talent,” that because of the improving opportunities back home in India, China and Brazil etc the tide has turned, with skilled returning in record numbers to their countries of origin. The scale of startup companies set up by immigrants in the Silicon Valley declined by 44 per cent between 2006 and 2012.

Without the right of permanent residence there was little point in setting up new companies. The infusion of trained Silicon Valley returnees means that Indian and Chinese tech centres are thriving, as they absorb American best practices, including its entrepreneurial culture. US leaders are well aware of the damage this is causing their country.

President Obama, in his speeches, frequently cites Professor Wadhwa’s studies; the US Senate and House of Representatives have asked the professor to testify to them on the subject. Inter-party wrangling and plain xenophobia, however, have put reason and commonsense on the backburner, much to India’s and China’s advantage. There is a lesson to be learned by the UK.

Having dug in its heels at the Bali Round of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the entitlement of its poorest citizens to government subsidized food security, India’s stubborn stand ultimately prevailed, with the developed countries agreeing to a compromise based on the Indian draft. The irresistible force of argument and material evidence won the day against the ideology of the market, right or wrong. Clinching evidence suggests that market forces alone do not necessarily have the last word on every social and economic issue, otherwise famine, malnutrition and deep poverty would have long disappeared from the face of the earth. The state does have a constructive role to play in the economic life of a nation. In Europe, Germany is the leading exemplar of this truth; in Asia, it is Japan. Unbridled free enterprise is the law of the jungle enshrined in an unyielding mindset.

Returning to Bali, the Indian draft, which

includes both entitlement to food security and trade facilitation, proposes an interim mechanism to safeguard minimum support prices to farmers against WTO caps, till a permanent solution is achieved.

Remember the meat and butter mountains in the EU, resulting from over-production and the huge subsidies doled out to farming interests across the continent to guarantee high incomes, sales or no sales. At Bali, the US delegation, having consulted President Obama, conceded Indian concerns and accepted the need for a flexible approach.

WTO participants will now have to ratify what appears to be a done deal. The global economy will gain a hefty $1 trillion, with 21 million new jobs created worldwide, of which 18 million will be in developing countries. With Bali outcomes, the WTO remains alive. In the process India gains global leadership by getting a crucial poorrich country imbalance corrected at a multilateral forum. Humankind will emerge the true winners.

Reverse brain drain, US loss is India’s gain

India prevails at Bali trade talks

3 Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul - Samuel Ullman (1840-1924)

Lord Noon MBE Chancellor of the University of East London (UEL)

Not in my name

I have watched the scenes from Nairobi with absolute horror. Not just because I feel disgust at what is being done in the name of my religion. But also because it reminds me of the sights I saw in similar circumstances during the Mumbai attacks.

I was trapped in my room in the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai for hours while others were killed nearby and fires raged around me. I eventually escaped, but the mental scars - made by the terrible sights and sounds experienced on that day - remain. I know only too well the way in which a fascistic movement can claim to be Islamic and can be indiscriminately used to kill and maim.

For those who believe it is unlikely that a similar attack might happen here, please remember what happened in Woolwich on the afternoon of 22 May 2013 when the British soldier Drummer (Private) Lee Rigby was killed in the name of Islam.

While we in Britain may struggle to get to the root causes of attacks in Kenya and Mumbai, we can make changes to stop the rise of fanaticism in Britain.

We have to admit that there are some people amongst us who are nothing more than recruiters for extremism and we have to act before they manipulate and entice our young and vulnerable people.

Religious fanaticism is fast becoming the main threat to global peace, security and stability as well as a cause of national and regional disturbance through terrorism.

Islamism is an ideology that demands man’s

complete adherence to the sacred law of Islam and rejects as much as possible outside influence. It is infused with a deep antagonism towards non-Muslims and has a particular hostility towards the West. It amounts to an effort to turn Islam, a religion and civilization, into an ideology.

We need to stop some individuals from being given the opportunity, through the media and through the internet, to influence others.

Using hate crime laws, we have curtailed the activities of Far Right groups in the UK. In the Eighties, we went as far as to stop TV stations from broadcasting the words of Loyalist and Republican groups from Northern Ireland.

My question is why are we not banning these 'Muslim' fanatics from appearing on television or radio, and starving them of the publicity they crave?

Some people will say that this is an infringement of their human right to free speech. I would argue that free speech carries a heavy responsibility to adhere to the law of the land – their behaviour is nothing more than incitement to hatred and carnage – this is not free speech.

There may be others who think that banning extreme Islamist organisations is just wrong. But many of these same people would also argue that it is right that we should not give a platform to members of far right organisations such as the English Defence League and the British National Party who seek to stir up hatred in multiracial communities.

Continued on page 6

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“Suspicious” house fire kills 3 people in Bolton

A suspicious fire that started on Albert Road West, Heaton, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, has resulted in the deaths of three people. Police are investigating whether the fire, which killed a retired company director Hassan Rafie, his wife Mahnaz and her mother, was murder suicide.

Emergency services were called to the house at about 2am yesterday and found two bodies, in the back kitchen, after neighbours reported they heard an explosion before smoke filled the property. An elderly woman was rescued from an upstairs bedroom but she died later in hospital.

A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said a formal identification was yet to take place, though the family are believed to be originally from Iran.

Divisional Commander Ch Supt Dave Hull said: “Three people have tragically lost their lives and our thoughts are with their loved ones at this time. We have launched a joint investigation with the fire service and experts from both agencies will be working together to find out what happened and why.”

“I do not want to second guess or prejudice the outcome of these investigations, but in the interests of absolute transparency want to make it clear that we are treating these deaths as suspicious and are not looking for anyone in

Girl robbed in an alleyway in Belgrave Three thugs assaulted and robbed a teenage girl as she walked along an alleyway. The youths targeted the 16year-old as she walked toward the Peepul Centre in Belgrave, Leicester.

The three attackers cornered her, assaulted her and snatched her phone. The victim sustained bruising to the face but did not require hospital treatment. The attack happened at 8.15pm on Friday, November 8. Police released details and appealed for witnesses.

Detective Constable Pete Bown said: “We have been carrying out inquiries into the incident since it was reported to us. Now we are calling upon the public to help us if they witnessed the incident or saw any youths fitting the description of the suspects in the area.”

Contact Det Con Bown on 101 or Crimestoppers, which is anonymous, on 0800 555 111.

Indian Lt-Gen Kuldeep Singh Brar attackers jailed A Sikh gang convicted of slashing a retired Indian general's throat in revenge for a controversial 1984 military offensive has been jailed.

Lieutenant-General Kuldeep Singh Brar, 78, was attacked as he walked with his wife in central London in 2012.

connection with the fire at this time.”

It is thought Mrs Rafie’s mother, from London, was staying with the couple after being diagnosed with cancer.

The couple have two sons Ommid, a newly qualified doctor, and Arash who is currently a medical student.

Ommid said yesterday: ‘I can’t believe what happened, I’m totally speechless and devastated. You don’t expect something like this to happen.

They were loving people who provided everything for us. I would lIke to be left alone to try and come to terms with this

Five young women wanted in connection with Leicester street attack Police have released a photograph of a group of young women they want to trace in connection with a street attack which left two people with head injuries.

The two victims, both 21, were injured in Bowling Green Street, Leicester city centre at 11pm on Wednesday, October 23.

Pc Matt Linnell, of city centre police, said: “We’ve obtained a photograph of a group of women who we would like to speak to in connection with the incident. If this is you or you recognise any of these women please contact the police. The

A passenger in a stolen car who died when it smashed into a wall wanted to become a millionaire and look after his family, a friend said.

Shoaib Khan was pronounced dead at the scene after the crash at the junction of Clifton Road and Lime Grove in Balsall Heath at 2.30am Sunday. The 24-year-old, from Sparkhill, was travelling in an Audi A6 which had been stolen in Hodge Hill hours earlier.

But Mr Khan’s cousin Shamran Khan, 25, insisted the dead man was devoted to his family.

Lt Gen Brar

A 13-month-old boy died from internal bleeding after swallowing a battery, an inquest heard.

Wsam Noorwali was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary when his parents found him vomiting blood at their home in Hamilton, Leicester.

Just under nine hours later – at 7.05am on August 19, 2012 – he was pronounced dead.

An inquest at Leicester Town Hall heard a post-mortem examination revealed a disc battery the size of a 2p piece in the toddler's stomach.

Dad Anwar, of Brompton Road, described the moment he found his sick son. "At about 10pm, the family was downstairs in the living room," he said.

"I went upstairs to go to the toilet and Wsam must have crawled up after me.

When I left the bathroom, I heard him crying and saw him at the door to my bedroom. I saw him vomit blood."

Mr Noorwali bundled Wsam into his car, along with wife Fatima and other son and drove him to the infirmary.

James Stafford, owner of the nursery, which was not named at the inquest, said it was not possible Wsam could have been playing with rubbish because the door was always closed and the office always attended. He said none of the toys in the playroom had disc batteries.

The post-mortem examination was carried out by Dr Roger Malcomson, who said he found a three-volt disc battery "corroded at the edges" and the size of a 2p piece in the boy's stomach. The inquest continues.

Baby-faced Brum gang's reign of terror ends in ASBO

victims were on a night out in the city when they were subjected to this assault. It’s very important we trace anyone who can help identify those responsible and would

urge anyone with any information to contact us.”

Contact Pc Linnell on 101 or Crimestoppers, which is anonymous, on 0800 555 111.

Tributes to passenger who died when stolen car hit wall

Sandhu, Singh, Kaur and Sangha were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court

Mandeep Singh Sandhu, 34, of Birmingham, Dilbag Singh, 37, and Harjit Kaur, 39, both from London, were convicted of wounding with intent. Barjinder Singh Sangha, 33, of

news.’

Ellis Gibbons, 65, a neighbour, reportedly said: “I walked past the house this morning and there were a few windows broken but I don’t know if that was from fire damage or the firemen breaking them to gain access. The outside of the house was blackened and there’s a police cordon around it.”

“They were a loving family. They kept themselves to themselves quite a lot, but they were such a lovely family and that’s what is so hard to cope with.”

Toddler died after swallowing battery

Shoaib Khan (right) with friend Awais Ali

“If anyone has hate or dislike in their heart for him then they should forgive him. He was a loving person. He loved his mum and dad, younger brother and two sisters.

He used to help out whoever he could. There is a

big part of us missing now.” And pal Awais Ali, 20, said: “His ambition was to make a million pounds and look after his family. He was a funny character – the funniest person that you would meet.”

Wolverhampton, had admitted the charge.

The retired general and his wife, Meena, were heading for a night out in the West End when the attack happened on 30 September 2012, Southwark Crown

Court heard.

Mandeep Singh Sandhu and Dilbag Singh were sentenced to 14 years, Harjit Kaur was jailed for 11 years while Barjinder Singh Sangha received a sentence of 10 years and six months.

A gang of baby-faced thugs – including one aged just 13 – have been banned from two Birmingham neighbourhoods for throwing rocks at terrified passersby.

The schoolboy yobs struck fear into the hearts of lawabiding residents in Clockwise from top left: Washwood Heath Hamza Shafiq, Hassan and Bordesley Green Hussain, Kabir Khan and laughed at the and Sajeer Khan law despite being not deter these four arrested dozens of young men from cartimes. They also rying out their camhurled racial insults paign of serious antiat community memsocial behaviour bers, vandalised causing alarm and buses and verbally distress to the comabused other passenmunity.

We are gers. None of the pleased the court thugs was older than issued orders against 15 and the youngest these four individu– 13-year-old Sajeer als, which will proKhan – looked vide great relief to younger still on a the local neighbourWest Midlands Police hood.” mug shot.

Birmingham City Now Khan, his Council’s safety boss brother Kabir, 15, said, Coun James and Hamza Shafiq, McKay. “I congratu14, have all been hit late the bravery of with three-year antithe local community social behaviour who felt empowered orders banning them to make a change and from parts of reclaim their neighWashwood Heath bourhood,” he said. and Bordesley Green.

“Criminal acts Hassan Hussain, and anti-social also 15, was banned behaviour should not from the same areas have to be tolerated unless he was accomby decent people trypanied by his father. ing to live their lives Insp Keith in peace. We will conWiseman, of West tinue to work to Midlands Police, remove anti-social said: “Early intervenbehaviour from our tion and numerous city.” previous arrests did

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“Our London”

Kapil’s Navin Shah

GLA Member for Brent and Harrow

Survey of the cost of living in London My last column highlighted the crippling rise in gas and electricity bills leaving many families and elderly individuals to choose between heating and eating. I’m conducting a cost of living in London survey to assess how Londoners are coping with the hiked up bills not only related to utilities but also aboveinflation tube and bus fares, cost of child care etc.

Whilst ordinary families are struggling to make the ends meet there is waste and rackless policies in City Hall pursued by the Mayor of London.

It is outrageous that the Mayor spent £300,000 of tax-payers’ money on ‘golden goodbyes’ for senior members of his team following his re-election in May 2012. I am deeply concerned about the Mayor paying this money out, especially as many of the former senior staff members went on to lucrative positions working for Rupert Murdoch and other private companies, such as Serco.

Mayor Johnson constantly claims that he wants to get the best value for Londoners’ money; however, these payoffs provide no benefit to Londoners at all. At a time when people are really feeling the pinch due to the cost of living crisis, you would have thought he would be more careful with how he spends taxpayers’ money.

We need to be helping struggling families – not paying off Mayor’s political appointees. Under this Mayor we’ve had five years of inflation-busting fare rises on the transport network, with another increase due to be announced soon for 2014.

Even more recently he pushed through plans to increase rents for ‘affordable housing’ up to 80 per cent of the market rate, which will increasingly push working Londoners out of their homes.

I have launched a survey to find out how Londoners are coping with the financial pressures associated with

housing, food, energy and transport bills. May I please urge the readers to complete the survey online at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5DM8 PHC or write to me at City Hall, London, SE1 2AA and I’ll send a hard copy? Alternatively email me on navin.shah@london.gov.uk for a copy of the form. As the Mayor works towards publishing his budget for 2014/2015 in the coming months, I will be working with my Assembly Member colleagues to formulate our alternative budget, aimed at protecting Londoners from Mayor’s cuts and for the Mayor to consider.

But, in order to do this, we need to know what issues are affecting Londoners and where you Londoners need our help to cut costs and make ends meet.

It will only takes a few minutes to complete the form, and the more people who fill them in, the better idea we will have of how people are coping and what we can do to help.

At the recent 4 December debate at the House of Lords in London on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), also known as Female Circumcision, or genital cutting, Lord Loomba emphasised the need for FGM to be eradicated as this practice is barbaric and harmful.

Lord Loomba’s statement to the House focused on expanding the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to cover “harmful traditional practices”, a term now used by the UN, of which FGM is a part.

Lord Loomba also emphasised the role and activities of the British government in pushing to entrench and accelerate

work on FGM internationally. He said, “I am encouraged that it is the ambition of the UK government, led by me colleague the Right Honourable Lynne Featherstone in the Department for I n t e r n a t i o n a l Development, to eradicate FGM within a generation”.

He added: “at the UN, on the Status of Women meeting in March 2013, our government pledged up to £35 million to help reduce FGM by 30% in at least 10 countries within the next five years”. He noted this mirrors the UN’s own intention when it passed a resolution in December 2012 calling for “intensifying global

efforts for the elimination of FGM”.

Lord Loomba later added that, “we must build on momentum by ensuring that the post2015 MDG framework contains a strong emphasis on eliminating violence against women, including FGM”.

Force (TERFOR). It is supposed to monitor trends in radicalisation and tackle ‘poisonous narratives" and focus on radical preachers who target potential recruits in jails, schools, colleges and mosques.

But it should also heed calls from youth workers to look more carefully at links between violent extremism and gang activity – something that has continually been raised by Community leaders.

Countering this narra-

tive should be facilitated by local policing aimed at lessening tension between young Muslims and police, and an improved understanding of the stages of radicalisation.

Another countermeasure is Muslim civic engagement, through which local religious leaders can combat domestic radicalism by reaching out to disaffected, young individuals in their communities.

We must also note the importance of the tone

Female Genital Mutilation is barbaric and harmful – says Lord Loomba

Lord Loomba

Not in my name

Continued from page 3

A report by the Centre for Social Cohesion in 2010 compiled profiles of 124 individuals convicted of Islamic terrorism, the report found that 69% of offences were perpetrated by individuals holding British Nationality.

In the aftermath of the horrendous murder of Lee Rigby, the Government announced that it will launch a new Tackling Extremism and Radicalisation Task

KHICHADI

Jai Ho NaMo

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

For several years I have been promoting Gujarat and writing about Shri Narendrabhai Modi.

In fact in October’s Kapil’s Khichadi I commented on the unstoppable juggernaut of NaMo mania that was spreading across India. There remained sceptics both in India as well as in the western world, with many people gullible enough to accept the rhetoric and narrative of western politicians and the paid media that was so fiercely against Narendrabhai. There were some who appeared to be in the Modi camp publically but in fact their true allegiance rested with their western partners.

Gradually all of these people will be exposed either by their own stupidity or when Narendrabhai exposes them.

Then there will be no doubt and trust me folks, you will be surprised when you hear the names of these duplicitous people.

So December 4th marked a unique day when parts of India went to vote.

December 8th will go down in history as the day the Bharat Janata spoke with one voice – NaMo NaMo NaMo. Lest there is any doubt in anyone’s mind, Shri Narendrabhai and the BJP broke through all the barriers laid before them to gain spectacular victories around the country. Even the fortress of Congress power, Delhi, fell to the BJP. You can all begin to see why the decision by the British Prime Minister to engage with Shri Narendrabhai is so correct and also so very astute for Britain. It is a pity that Ed Miliband is still unable to come clean on where he stands. Ed appears to be moving too far to the left and some have even commented that one of his top priorities is in securing the wholesale Sunni vote.

The Indian community should rightly ask some tough questions of the Labour Party.

Even PM MM Singh had to acknowledge that he was now taking Shri Narendrabhai seriously. It seems that the BJP which was embroiled in an internal struggle to name a PM candidate will now look back and wonder why they took so long over it.

Narendrabhai has breathed a new life into the democratic process in India.

The recent elections are showing remarkable voter turnout. Even the youth have finally woken up and are now proactively using the latest technology of social media to galvanise the masses. There is excitement in the air each time Narendrabhai comes to town. Getting audiences of 500000 people turning up is now no longer a surprise, it’s become the norm. One is reminded of the days of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel when they marched amongst the masses to bring to life ‘people power’.

Bharatiya Janata Party is now realising its true mission of getting ‘Bharat’ and its people ‘Janata’ to come and ‘Party’ used in addressing sensitive issues. In order to win the co-operation of members of the Muslim community in fighting radicalism, a nuanced approach of local engagement is necessary. This allows Muslim leaders to target the perception that they are a marginalised and isolated community in the UK. The threat of British-

together for the very future of the nation.

Great challenges lie ahead for the BJP. The Indian media is controlled by powerful vested interest groups; some of them have connections with entities in the west as well as in the middleeast. Watch out for a massive campaign of misinformation. Agents of adharma will continue to use Godhra to malign Narendrabhai and Gujarat in their endeavour to maintain power. It is now for the Indian community to open their eyes and see who in the west is doing the dirty deed. However as I write this column, news is just coming in: Mohammad Hashim Ansari, one of the oldest litigants in Ayodhya title suits said, "Modi needs Muslims' full support to become prime minister of the country," further adding, "Muslims in Gujarat are happy and wealthy". So even one of the oldest litigants in the demolition of the Babri mosque wants Narendrabhai as the Prime Minister.

Countries like Russia, Japan, Germany, UK and Australia have made the right call. They know that being on the side of India is preferential to being associated too closely with Pakistan or the Middle-East. The world paradigm is changing and it will be interesting to observe which nations make the right call. India told the west about terrorism emanating out of Pakistan a long time back – but they failed to take heed.

26/11 woke them up, but there are still some who think siding and appeasing the extremist might work. The truth is simple, if you befriend a viper – it will bite you one day.

The politics of Delhi also brought to the forefront the newly formed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). They certainly did very well and commendations go to them in making such a break through.

However, further analysis may well show that AAP might actually be ‘Congress Lite’ in guise. In addition, it is also clear to me that the ‘Gandhi’ phenomenon appears to have lost its historical lustre. I would go even further and say that maybe the antiGandhi tsunami is now at such a high that the very future of Congress is in danger. Has India finally reached a stage when getting rid of the ‘Gandhi’ phenomenon might actually be the only course of action left to Congress to save its very future?

India under the leadership of Narendrabhai does not need to beg or fall to its knees for western approval.

India needs to understand that its time has come to embrace its destiny. It must rise up and become a world leader not just economically, but also in showing a moral compass that guides wise decisions. The lion of Gujarat has roared. Let us all ensure that we do what it takes to lend our support – the very future of India may well depend on it.

born terrorism will continue. In a world of limited resources, intelligence and law enforcement agencies should develop a more sophisticated understanding of the threat and how to counter it. Any comprehensive law enforcement model should consider prevention-oriented, intelligence-led policing techniques and the

Government should ensure that ‘Prevent’* is given sufficient priority when resources are under pressure.

Are we winning this war? Far from it. Unless prominent Muslims stand up and say enough is enough, the war is not won.

I will say very loudly to these fanatics – not in my name.

Rochdale MP's generalised comments on sex grooming raises eyebrows

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December2013

Labour MP Simon Danczuk's candid comments on sexual grooming and his referral to it as a 'racial issue', has raised eyebrows in the Asian community because of the sheer generalization implied.

The MP for Rochdale condemned police for claiming a case, involving nine men sexually grooming as many as 47 white girls as young as 13, was not a racial issue and emphasized that similar abuses still continue.

Mr Danczuk, on BBC's Radio 4's World at One programme, said: "There is no doubt about it, ethnicity is a factor in this type of abuse, this on-street grooming…and I think by saying so I think it makes it easier for us to combat it."

Simon Danczuk made the comments as Greater Manchester's Police and Crime Commissioner,

Simon Danczuk

Tony Lloyd, announced an inquiry in the wake of the grooming case in the Lancashire town. The Lancashire case between Asian defendants and white victims caused protests from far-right groups yet police insisted the grooming was not "racially motivated".

He continued: “I think it is still going on, not just in places like Rochdale but

right across the country.

We still need a breakthrough, I think, in terms of the Asian community. I think there has to be some acknowledgement. I think there has been some denial in terms of this being a problem and I've seen that over the last couple of years there's been a tendency not to want to speak about it in terms of ethnicity. I think that's been unhelpful. There is still more to be done I think."

His comments have been congratulated by many as it has duly signposted the issue as 'racial', yet it is surprising that the address has simply remained a generalization of the 'Asian' community rather than identifying a community in particular.

A hint of ignorance or perhaps apprehension at singling out one community does not hide the widely reported evidence in

British media, that the perpetrators of sex-grooming cases have been majorly identified as British Pakistani.

This is not to say that only British Pakistanis are sex-groomers but by classifying and generalizing a community as 'Asian', it automatically instigates not only Pakistanis, but Indians, Sri Lankans and B a n g l a d e s h i s .

Furthermore, by highlighting it as a 'racial' issue, Mr Danczuk implies that sexgrooming is never committed by white men, whether they be European or British, which is not true.

The political correctness, diplomatic approach and lip service of MPs toward this delicate issue has, therefore, not addressed it as it should be. Though it is a step forward, it is not enough to eliminate the problem at its roots by simply generalizing a community.

Christie’s to hold first auction in India

Works by six of the nine modern Indian artists whose works are defined as ‘National Art Treasures’ will be included in the 83 lots in Christie’s first auction in India. Works by this group are deemed of such national importance to Indian culture that they are non-exportable and when sold, must remain in India. The six artists represented are R a b i n d r a n a t h , Abanindranath and Gaganendranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Jamini Roy and Amrita Sher-Gil. The sale which is sponsored by Credit Suisse, will be held at The Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai on Thursday, 19 December, 2013. Ahead of the sale the works are on exhibition at The Taj

Lycamobile offers customers the chance to win a brand new car

Lycamobile, the largest global provider of low-cost international mobile calls, is delighted to announce this year’s festive campaign for the chance to win a brand new Suzuki Alto.

Lycamobile is committed to giving its customers the best rates on international calls and offering customers the opportunity to win a prize of a lifetime.

Customers will be able to enter the prize draw by topping up £20 worth of credit in one transaction and texting ‘festive’ to 5555.

The competition will run througho u t December and the winner will be announced in the New Year.

S u b a s k a r a n Allirajah, Lycamobile Group Chairman, comments: “2013 has been a tremendous year for Lycamobile and we are always looking at ways to

7

Subaskaran Allirajah

bring great offers allowing our customers to stay connected with friends and family across the globe. Therefore, with enter by 31st December 2013 for your chance to win

Christmas fast approaching, we wanted to get into the festive spirit and offer customers the chance to win a brand new car. We hope many customers will enter and good luck to all.”

Hindu priest faces new trial over assault and sex offence charges

Mahal Palace, Mumbai from 17 December.

The decision to hold auctions at this time is a reflection of the strong momentum in the domestic art marketplace, the increased international appeal of Indian art and the growing participation of Indian collectors across international sale cate-

gories. Christie’s auctions in Mumbai will serve as an introduction to the high standards and connoisseurship associated with Christie’s, the global market leader in Indian art and the world’s leading art business.

Steven Murphy, Chief Executive Officer, said:

“This sale marks a major milestone in our company’s history, a history that spans nearly two and a half centuries. Whilst Christie’s has had a representative presence in India for almost 20 years, we are excited and proud to finally host our first auction here.”

the same offence - were abolished. After his conviction, the CPS said the earlier crime was strikingly similar to and had all the hallmarks of the later offences.

Steve Chappell, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS East Midlands, described the offences committed in February as terrifying and relentless.mHe said: “The way he went about attacking these women was so similar to the allegations he had previously faced, we asked the Court of Appeal to consider whether he should be retried for his original offences, on the basis that his subsequent offending provided new and compelling evidence and it was in the interests of justice for the case to be retried by a jury. The

Court of Appeal allowed our application and he has now faced justice for all the offences he committed.

“The new evidence which formed the basis for our application to quash the acquittal was unrelated to the original offence, but showed a very similar pattern of behaviour. It was a terrifying experience for all Harbinder Khatkar’s victims and they have shown great courage in coming to court to give evidence about what happened to them.”

Khatkar was jailed on Monday 9th December, after being found guilty of 18 offences including rape, sexual assault, assault by beating, and trespass with intent to commit a sexual offence.

Rapist jailed after being tried twice for same crime

Violent rapist Harbinder Khatkar was cleared of sex attacks committed in December 2011, but two years later, carried further “strikingly similar” assaults for which he has now been jailed.

Khatkar, from Derby, has been jailed for at least 14 years after a significant legal ruling allowed his original acquittal for the offence to be overruled by the Court of Appeal. He is being convicted of offences committed in both December 2011 and February 2013.

The 37-year-old attacked six women on February 2 this year - less than six weeks after a jury cleared him of an earlier rape in which he forced his way into the victim’s home.

Immediately after

UK

Harbinder Khatkar

Khatkar’s arrest for his recent offences, the CPS successfully asked for permission from judges to re-try him by arguing that his subsequent crimes were so similar they called for new and compelling evidence of guilt.

This is only the 13th time the CPS has applied to repress an acquittal since “double jeopardy” laws - preventing defendants being tried twice for

A Hindu priest facing assault and sex offence charges will appear in court again on December 13 before his trial begins in the new year.

Rajesh Parmar, the founder of Hindu temple the Siddhashram Shakti Centre, in Palmerston Road, Wealdstone, appeared at Harrow Crown Court for a short preliminary hearing on 5th December.

The 42-year-old is facing one count of assault causing bodily harm, another of conspiring to commit sexual offences and one of perverting the cause of jus-

Rajesh Parmar

tice.

The community leader has links with a number of Harrow politicians and charitable organisations in the area. Asian Voice contacted Rajesh Parmar and he denies the charges.

Married couple found dead in Southall Police are investigating what appears to be a suspected murder-suicide after a married couple were found dead on Friday, November 29, in their home in Priory Way, Western Road, Southall.

Officers were called to the home at around 3.10pm after concerns were raised for the welfare of the couple.

On Saturday, the Metropolitan Police confirmed that Poonam, 35, was killed by "compression of the neck", while her 36-year-old husband, Sanjeev Kumar, also known as Satbir Singh,

was found hanged nearby.

Officers say they are treating the death of the woman as murder, but Mr Kumar's death is not being treated as suspicious and police said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths.

Poonam's family told officers that she does not have a family name. The couple were married and lived in the house where they were found.

According to media report, Kumar may have strangled his wife before taking his own life.

UK

Lord Singh calls for building bridges of understanding and love

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A multi-faith event was hosted at India House on 29th November to celebrate the five important religious festivals of Eid, Diwali, Guru Nanak Jayanti, Durga Puja and Christmas.

Lord Singh the Director of the Network of Sikh Organisations (NSO) was invited to give a talk on the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak at the High Commission of India earlier this week. In his speech and notably his first visit to the Indian High Commission since 1984, Lord Singh reminded the Indian Government about the carnage of 1984, calling for a Truth and Re c o n c i l i a t i o n Commission.

He began, “Guru Nanak, who lived in the 15th Century was deeply concerned that people at the time were ignoring the many ethical teachings our different religions hold in common, and instead focussing on supposed differences and divisions. It was against this background that the Guru in his very first sermon said ‘Na koi Hindu na koi Mussalman’; that is in God’s eyes there is neither Hindu nor Muslim, and by

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December2013

Dr Virander Paul, Deputy High Commissioner of India giving a speech. In the audience present: Virendra Sharma MP, Paul Uppal MP, Rami Ranger, Mr S S Sidhu, Minister Coordination, Indian High Commission, Dr Nandakumar, Bhavans and others

today’s extension, neither Christian, Sikh nor Jew. That the one God of us all is not interested in our different religious labels but in what we do to bring peace, justice and harmony to our fellow beings.”

Lord Singh continued, “As we celebrate this year’s anniversary of Guru Nanak’s birth, it is important to remember that a central thrust of his teachings was to promote love and understanding between different religions. It therefore pains me to see how since parti-

tion, Hindus and Sikhs have grown apart from the days when our communities were so close that many Hindu parents would bring one of their children up as a Sikh.

Sadly the two communities grew further apart following the attack on the Golden Temple and the widespread killing of Sikhs throughout India in 1984.

He then ended with a plea for next year's anniversary, that it would be “seen as an opportunity to establish some sort

of Truth and Re c o n c i l i a t i o n Commission that brings to justice those responsible for criminal behaviour on either side, while at the same time, highlighting the much larger, largely unrecognised role of those who stood up bravely against the killings, sheltering and shielding Sikh neighbours.

I firmly believe that a long overdue initiative on these lines will heal wounds, bring closure and make incredible India even more incredible.”

New Indian High Commissioner takes charge of office in Britain Mr Ranjan Mathai has been appointed as the new Indian High Commissioner of India in Britain and has assumed the position in London recently. Former Foreign Secretary, born on May 24, 1952, joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1974, after Post Graduating in Political Science from the University of Pune.

He served in Indian Missions in Vienna,

Colombo, Washington, Tehran and Brussels. As Joint Secretary (BSM) in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi (January 1995 to February 1998), he headed the Division dealing with India's relations with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Maldives.

He was the Ambassador of India to Israel from February 1998 to June 2001

and to Qatar from August 2001 to July 2005. He next held the post of Deputy

A bereaved widower, who has claimed that he burnt all his wife's money because he was so distraught at her death, is being sued by her lover and children.

Navpreet Walia, 40, burned his estranged wife Jocelyn Walia's £68,000 estate, in a 'fit of grief' after she died of cancer, the Court of Appeal heard. Mrs Walia was 38 when she died of cancer without leaving a will.

That meant Mr Walia, from Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire, automatically inherited everything she owned despite her leaving him several years earlier for a new partner.

According to him, when she died, he was so upset that he took out

tens of thousands of pounds and burnt it all.

The possessions included her half share of a £130,000 life insurance policy and the equity in the home the couple once shared.

The court heard Mr and Mrs Walia wed in July 2003 and have a daughter together, before Mrs Walia left him to move in with her new partner Mr Lim and had her son Philip, now four.

Her new partner, Felipe Lim, said that he and Mrs Walia's two children were entitled to a share of the estate and sued Mr Walia last year at Manchester High Court, which ruled all three were entitled to 'reasonable provision'.

Mr Ranjan Mathai

High Commissioner of India to the UK in London from August 2005 to January 2007. He has served as the Ambassador of India to France with concurrent accreditation to the Principality of Monaco from January 2007 till he assumed the office of Foreign Secretary from August 2011 to July 2013.

He is married to Mrs. Gita and has two daughters.

Widower sued by dead wife's lover after burning wife's £68,000

Navpreet Walia

Mr Walia appeared to fight that ruling yesterday at London's Court of Appeal, where details of the case were aired for the first time.

Simon Charles, for Mr Lim and the children, reportedly said: 'It has been admitted frankly that the money has been burnt. This is conduct that one should bear in mind when considering whether to grant Mr Walia the indulgence which he seeks.'

Lord Justice Davis gave Mr Walia permission to appeal - on condition that he signs a sworn statement within ten days 'giving details of exactly how, where and when the money was literally burnt.'

Brent Councillor leaves Labour to join Liberal Democrats

Democrat councillor.”

The Liberal Democrat Though Labour have party of Brent Council cut services, they continwas strengthened on ued to spend thousands Tuesday 3rd December, on parties while axing when West Harp councilcommunity festivals and lor Dhiraj Kataria left spending £12,000 on a Labour to join them. virtual receptionist.

His decision came after being in disagreement with Labour’s refusal to let volunteers from the local communities manage the libraries rather than have them closed, as well as the parking chaos caused after the parking scratchcard system was stopped, particularly for older residents.

Mr Kataria Cllr Paul Lorber with Dhiraj reportedly said: “I have become increasingly Brent Council remains disillusioned by the way the only Labour borough the Brent Labour Group where the Liberal has operated – and parDemocrats have successticularly by the top-down fully defended a seat at a way in which that it has by-election. been led. I feel decisions Cllr Paul Lorber, weltaken by the Labour comed Dhiraj to the Group and Labour Liberal Democrats and Executive members, such said: “Dhiraj had a ringas closing half our side view of Labour’s libraries and cutting mistakes in Brent. I am street cleaning, have been delighted to welcome him into the Liberal against the interests of Democrats. He has a my constituents.” record of service on the He continued: “I have council, particularly on been impressed by the the Planning Committee Liberal Democrat where he has stood up for Group’s commitment to transparency and open local residents and as debate on Brent Council Vice-Chair of the imporand intend to serve the tant Budget and Finance remainder of my council Overview and Scrutiny term as a Liberal Committee.”

We need more immigrants, says Dominos CEO

The CEO of Domino's Pizza, Lance Batchelor, has called for more migrants to be let into the UK, so that they can take up the thousands of Dominos vacancies that Britons do not wish to take.

The pizza delivery chain has 1,000 vacancies, including as drivers and cooks, which are unfilled, said the CEO. "We're struggling to get enough employees. Since the immigration laws were tightened up two or three years ago, we are finding it harder and harder to hire staff, especially in London and the South East," he said.

"People who would have worked here a few years ago now don't want these jobs. We could fill 1,000 jobs across the UK tomorrow if we could get candidates to apply for them."

Domino's employs 25,000 people in the UK and every year opens 45 new branches - creating 2,500 new jobs.

Mr Batchelor, who is

set to leave Domino's in April, added: "Every branch in London is currently operating at less than full capacity because of the problem securing labour. In London it's particularly difficult to get drivers and people to work in production."

The company could be saved by the relaxing of rules on migrants from Bulgaria and Romania crossing the border from January 1, Mr Batchelor argued, saying the Government should introduce a properly vetted system to help bring staff from outside the UK to work at companies like Domino's, rather than potential workers having to have a PHD to do so.

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December2013

Leading Lights

Rani Singh, Special Assignments Editor

The Trail Blazing Pharmacist and Everywoman Award Nominee Shaheen Bhatia of P and S Chemist was a finalist at last week’s stunning fourth December 2013 NatWest Everywoman Awards lunch, held in the Ballroom at the D o r c h e s t e r Hotel. Incidentally, isn’t it a sure sign that the Asian Voice’s Leading Lights column is successfully sweeping up many significant Asian high achievers since the delicious three - course lunch and giant gingerbread hotel shaped like the Dorchester was masterminded and created by a previous Leading Light... the hotel’s own Sous-chef, Uday Shankar!

But back to this week’s tremendous subject. On opening her first pharmacy with her husband, Shaheen Bhatia spotted a market for health services for the Asian community, offering early testing for diabetes and heart disease.

She has pioneered treatment for drug users and

Lycamobile sponsors Ice Rink at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland Shaheen Bhatia

is a champion of free health checks.

Responsible for trialling a supervised drug service in her area, she has rolled out a morning after pill pilot to counter the rising teenage pregnancy problem, which at the time was the highest in Europe. A deep understanding of Asian culture has helped her business success and simultaneously made her a valuable member of the community, where she has mentored many young people.

In the Dorchester’s Ballroom, Shaheen, dressed in a glamorous red dress, animatedly talked to me.

Shaheen’s father was from Jalander in India, and her mother was from Lahore.

Shaheen was born in Kenya, raised as a Muslim, “But” she said, “prefers to believe in the religion of humanity. My first husband was Sikh, and our parents did give us an extremely hard time when we married out of our religions, they had difficulty in understanding that love is about the person, and not the label of religion.”

Shaheen recalled that she met her first husband at the University of Brighton, where they both studied pharmacy. They then set up a business together. “We

started up a pharmacy from an old grocery shop in 1987 and put our passion and energy into turning it into a thriving pharmacy, but very sadly he passed away in 1995, leaving me with a son and daughter, aged five and four.”

This trauma meant that Shaheen suddenly had grief as well as loss to cope with. She continued, matter-of factly, “I lost not only my husband, my childrens’ father, but my business partner too, and I was left with debts of £1.5m.

I decided to channel my grief into the business. Being a woman - and an Asian woman- made life very hard on my own. Men didn't take me seriously in business, and some of the Asian community actually said I should be at home looking after my kids.”

Shaheen started a pilot to help local drug clients. The Asian community wasn't affected by drug abuse historically but Shaheen notes that this has changed in recent years as some people fall victim to drugs.

She was also involved in helping to supply the “morning after” pill for girls aged 13 and over.

This had a negative reaction from the Asian community, but Shaheen

explained to us that she is religion and colour blind“the reality is I see girls, regardless of where they come from, including those wearing hijabs, and they respond to someone who understands their cultural background.”

Shaheen is on a crusade to champion women and is a role model, with her drive and passion.

She wants Asian women to have the freedom to be educated, to be and do whatever they wish. “I deplore the fact that some women in parts of our community are still being suppressed. I know more liberal circles are changing but sadly for some women they haven’t changed in the last 25 years! My now husband is a former British Army officer, and I wish women within the very conservative echelons of Asian society who are still subjected to undue control knew that our soldiers went to war so that ALL British women can have a voice.”

Shaheen wants Asian society to be less prejudiced, with more understanding across all religions, “realising we belong to one human race and encouraging women to better themselves.”

Read about Shaheen’s nomination at the Everywoman Awards site www.everywoman.com

Book your space in the next

UK domestic property magazine

PWR Events are proud to announce Lycamobile as the official sponsor of this years Hyde Park Winter Wonderland ice rink. The Lycamobile Ice Rink surrounds the historic Victorian bandstand, creating a beautiful centrepiece for Hyde Park Winter Wonderland.

Stretching to 1600m2, it is the largest outdoor rink in the UK. In the evenings, the ice rink is transformed into a magical scene, as 108,000 pealights suspended above the rink will illuminate the ice.

Founded in 2006, Lycamobile has fast become the global brand for connecting customers with their loved ones abroad at the cheapest possible rate. Providing

low-cost high-quality international calls to over 30 million customers, Lycamobile has achieved greater coverage of the European population than any other network. Most significantly, 2013 has seen the telecoms giant activate its biggest market launch to date by introducing the service across the USA as the country’s first full MVNO. Lycamobile Group Chairman, Subaskaran Allirajah said “Hyde Park Winter Wonderland has become an iconic event which attracts people from across the world. As a global business which puts its customers at the centre of everything it does we are proud to be sponsoring this year’s ice rink. We hope the visitors

enjoy the ice rink and create some great memories this Christmas.”

Jon Rogers, Director of PWR Events, the organisers of Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, said: “We are delighted to be working with Lycamobile to create the Lycamobile Ice Rink at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland and we’re looking forward to welcoming thousands of skaters to soak up the festive atmosphere.”

This sponsorship deal was introduced and brokered by sponsorship agency brandmeetsbrand.

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland is open from 22nd November 2013 – 5th January 2014. For more information, please visit www.hydeparkwinterwonderland.com

9

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YOUR VOICE

Passing away of Nelson Mandela is sad, but also reminder that when divine wants to help humanity, it creates strong persons. Nelson Mandela undertook gargantuan effort to fight monster of apartheid. He did not buckle under 27 years’ incarceration, physical and psychological torture meant to break him. He forced the demonic regime to release him on his own terms. Yet he displayed surprising generosity and forgave his tormentors. Later, Nelson Mandela preached equality and elimination of racism and poverty.

Though humanity is crying at his departure, his soul will be laughing due to impact it had on global fight against inhuman torture. Such souls will depart physically, but will not be forgotten for centuries.

Very few people are fortune to coexist with super-humans like Nelson Mandela. He spanned most of twentieth century and early twenty-first century. He fell into rank of veterans like Gandhiji, Sardar Patel, Martin Luther King, Princess Diana etc. These divinity backed mega persons left their impact on the world without firing a single bullet or without shedding a single drop of blood. These persons will stand out like spires from fog riddled valley of mundane humanity. This recurrence of super-humans is according to Bahgvan Krishna’s promise to reincarnate on earth to repair damage to society and to punish sinners.

By sheer coincidence, Mandela passed away when biopic on his life was being premiered in London; similar to coincidence during assassination of J. F. Kennedy, when a film, about death of president, was being filmed in Congo.

A tribute to Nelson Mandela

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December2013

Nelson Mandela, who was born on 18 July 1918, is no more. He passed away on 5 December 2013 at a ripe old age of 95. He was a South African anti apartheid revolutionary, politician and philanthropist who served as the President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the first black South African to hold the office, and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid through tackling institutionalised racism, poverty and inequality, and fostering racial reconciliation. Having visited South Africa on a recent holiday, we know what a beautiful country he has left behind.

Like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King before him, Nelson Mandela strove for his country’s freedom, not by violent means, but by taking a leaf out of Gandhiji’s book and following the path of non-violence and love towards all human beings, friends or foe. It must be remembered that Gandhiji’s spiritual mentor was Srimad Rajchandraji, a Jain muni.

The Mahatma, though not a Jain himself, was deeply influenced by Jain doctrines, particularly that of ahimsa or nonviloence. After he was freed in 1990 Mandela had said "As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison” What made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human. We saw in him what we seek in ourselves.

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford

Ramesh Jhalla Via Email

Indian election

The recent state election in India has shown that the corrupt UPA under Sonia’s leadership is becoming spent force in politics due to corruption, nepotism and the rule by one family. In spite of abuses heaped on the BJP by the Congress party especially on Raman Singh, the BJP won with a good majority in Chhattisgarh and Raman Singh was blamed for killing of Congress leaders by Maoist. Rahul Gandhi spent three months in Chhattisgarh and his magic did not work. He is politically ‘naive,’ and has become redundant.

The BJP has built up a good organisation under Modi leadership in spite of opposition from old guards in the party.

The BJP has good regional leaders in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan and they lost few seats in Delhi because of internal fight and the selection of the leader.

Aam Admi party is a new phenomenon and most of the votes are protest votes since to a large extent people are fed up with both the parties. The UK

independent party got more than 15 per cent of the votes and most of them against the present Conservative- Lib Dem coalition government.

The Congress party is ruled by mother and son. When the party lost the state elections, the Prime minster failed to address the press and Manmohan Singh has been side-lined from attending Nelson Mandala’s funeral. Sonia Gandhi and the Congress party has no policy apart from appeasing minorities.

The young Indian voters do not want communal politics and want development and jobs. The time has come to put an end to one family Roman empire.

Arun Vaidyanathan Via Email

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ASIAN VOICE

We witnessed two opposing ideologies in the twentieth century: nationalism and internationalism.

The founding fathers of the European Union believed in internationalism and over 65 years have developed a strong supra-national semi-political semi-economic unit. UK on the other hand has remained more nationalistic and isolationist. India split up from one nation to three nations.

South Africans moved from being dependent to independent and now to interdependent. What I found most hypocritical is that while Western countries boasted about their belief in liberty, equality and freedom over the entire century, they accepted the laws of Apartheid in one of their colonies up to and as recent as 1994. Yes 1994.

“The South African Nationalist Party won the South African General Election in 1948. Voting excluded 80% of the population, and this continued until 1994.

They won on a blatant racist card—they promised to keep ‘the Natives’, black persons, in their place. And they meant it” (Archbishop Desmond Tutu in Tribute from D. T. in “Mandela”: a book by Peter Hain, senior Labour politician).

These Western nations are pouring in verbal praise of the highest degree. But the same people are also violating international law in other countries. Just study around the mess in which Libya, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Afghanistan, the three Congo countries, and many other countries are.

Deeds are stronger than words. Only if Mandela’s death changes the Western nations’ foreign policy of frequent military interventions more for their own national interests will his legacy have a lasting influence.

Just visit any public toilet at airport,

Role of the Indian diaspora

I fully endorse the views of Alpesh Patel’s in Asian Voice of 7th December.

The Indian diaspora has and can play a very useful role in expanding trade and investment between India and our nation. Of course many of us now regard the UK as our nation and that is the right thing.

Alpesh Patel’s role as adviser in this area is exemplary.

We must not forget that the Indian diaspora extends to Africa and other parts of the World. Africa will be the new India. 10 out of top fastest growing economies of the World are African and World’s youngest population live in Africa.

More work needs to be done to cultivate the diaspora links for trade and investment. Let us hope that Priti Patel succeeds in this important role. It’s a good start for the PM to recognise the need.

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museum, five star hotel, etc, in any Western advanced country, you will see a black person cleaning it.

Nagindas Khajuria Via Email

Triumph for BJP and Modi While BJP has attained landslide victories in MP, Rajasthan, Chhatisgadh and ousted Congress in Delhi, this is also a personal triumph for Modi whose character has been ceaselessly attacked by the Congress and the media controlled by the West. This success should also laid to rest the belief, the propaganda that Modi does not command respect, support outside Gujarat.

In fact Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raja credited Modi for the stunning victory, pointing out that of 20 constituencies he addressed, BJP won 16 while every constituency Rahul Gandhi addressed, lost. Let us hope that Congress will not stop projecting Rahul as their PM candidate, as he is no match to Modi and is a winning card in BJP armoury.

Bhupendra M Gandhi Via Email

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(Off Coronet Street)

It is hard to believe that apartheid, which today seems so unimaginable and barbaric was still in existence less than 20 years ago. Thousands of South African Indians were also subject to apartheid and were commonly referred to as “coolies”; who when apartheid was at its worst could not vote, work in mines, walk along particular sidewalks, take certain buses or live where they wanted to.

I remember speaking to my grandmother who originated from Durban (one of the largest Indian cities outside India in the early twentieth century) about her experiences of apartheid and I remember being so surprised to hear just how ingrained this kind of discrimination was in society at the time. Many Indians at the time who were born into apartheid considered the discrimination to be “a part of life” and “normal” genuinely feeling inferior to others. No one should ever be made to feel like that.

The world owes a great debt to Nelson Mandela for ridding the world of this evil. Mandela’s greatest legacy was that he did not just represent black South Africans, but all people of South Africa. He left jail with no bitterness and forgave his persecutors, in an attempt to champion a free, democratic and equal South Africa for all.

As a society we must carry forward Mandela’s legacy to ensure that we eradicate racial discrimination wherever it is still prevalent and that apartheid never happens again.

Ameet Jogia Via Email

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King’s India Institute to host Newton International Fellow EDUCATION VOICE

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December2013

Valerie Vaz MP welcomes Rev Jesse Jackson to Walsall college

Valerie Vaz, MP with Rev Jesse Jackson

On Thursday 5 December 2013, Valerie Vaz MP, Walsall South, welcomed the Rev’d Jesse Jackson to an event at Walsall College.

Discussing the event, Valerie Vaz MP told Asian Voice, “I was delighted to welcome the Rev’d Jesse Jackson to Walsall College on Thursday 5 December 2013. The Rev’d Jesse Jackson is an iconic figure within the Civil Rights Movement in the USA. He spoke about his lifetime of work for justice and equality, including his time working closely with Dr Martin Luther King, and about his views on equality in Britain and America today.”

“When I introduced the Rev’d Jackson to the audience I highlighted the movement

he founded, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, which aims to bring people together to serve humanity.

The movement works to expand education, employment and business opportunities for people who are disadvantaged and for ethnic minorities. The Rev’d Jackson touched on this theme when he pointed out the dearth of ethnic minority students at Oxford and Cambridge.”

“Nevertheless he emphasised to the audience that progress has been made in the pursuit of equality, saying that ethnic minorities no longer face the same difficulties experienced 50 years ago in accessing public amenities or taking part in the democratic process.”

Dr Sandipto Dasgupta, a prominent Indian legal scholar from Harvard University, has been awarded a Newton International Fellowship to study at King’s India Institute next year.

Dr Dasgupta, who trained at the National Law School of India in Bangalore and previously worked at the Indian Supreme Court, will be starting a research project into the nature and scope of judicial activism in India. He will be examining the increasingly prominent role that the courts play in Indian political and social life and contributing to the wider public debate about what this means for the democratic and political system of the country.

The Newton International Fellowships provide an opportunity for some of the most talented early career post-doctoral researchers working overseas to carry out worldclass research in UK institutions across all disciplines of humanities, engineering, and natural and social sciences. Fellows will receive support in the region of £100,000 each for a two year placement in the UK. The sixth round of Newton International Fellowships has been awarded jointly by two of the UK’s national research academies – the British Academy and the Royal Society. The Fellowships are part of a £29 million pound government initiative to ensure that the UK engages with the world’s

The University of Cambridge has long held a strong relationship with India. The fact that many of India’s leading politicians, businessmen and scientists are Cambridge alumni is evidence of this.

In particular, St John’s College, one of the largest of the Colleges in Cambridge, has had very close links with India in the past.

11

most promising academics.

The collaborations and links formed by Newton Fellows during the course of their Fellowship will continue to be supported by the availability of follow-on funding of up to £6,000 per year, for up to ten years to help develop lasting international networks.

Dr Sandipto Dasgupta is currently a Lecturer in Social Studies at Harvard University and has a PhD in Political Theory from Columbia University. His research interests include modern and comparative political theory, legal and constitutional theory, post-colonial theory, law and economic development, and property rights.

Dr Dasgupta will be arriving at King’s College London in March 2014 and will be hosted at King’s India Institute – a centre created in 2012 for research and teaching on contemporary India and engagement with Indian research and cultural organisations.

Dr Dasgupta’s two year research project is entitled: Can Judges Transform Society? The Nature and Scope of Judicial Activism in India.

He will be analysing the constitutional practices emanating from the Indian courts and aiming to situate them in the context of larger socio-political developments.

He says: ‘My primary focus will be on the Indian higher judiciary, which has often acted in ways that are unprecedented in global constitutional history, in the process redefining the traditional understanding of the role of the judiciary in a constitutional system of government.’

While the project is on India specifically, the findings will be relevant to a wider audience, says Dasgupta. ‘The Indian courts have emerged as arguably the most powerful constitutional court in the world today. The Indian Constitution is in many ways paradigmatic for twentieth century constitutional democracies, especially those in the developing world – with the phenomenon of an increasingly prominent role being played by the courts being witnessed in many parts of the world. I hope my work will be able to contribute to that larger global conversation as well.’

Commenting on the opportunity to come to King’s India Institute in London, he said: ‘King’s India Institute has suc-

ceeded in bringing together a group of diverse and exciting scholars, and in fostering an excellent space for cutting-edge debates on India. I look forward to engaging with the community there, and I believe that this will enrich my own intellectual pursuits and knowledge of India.’

Sunil Khilnani, Avantha Professor and Director of King’s India Institute, welcomed the announcement, saying: ‘We are delighted to welcome Dr Sandipto Dasgupta to King’s India Institute. He brings his superb training and expertise to study a critical issue in India's politics – the growing role of the courts in the country's public life.

‘As a Newton International Fellow, he has been recognized by the Royal Society and the British Academy as an outstanding scholar, and we greatly look forward to his engagement with the vibrant intellectual life of the India Institute’.

The British Council has recently invited applications for the Dr Manmohan Singh Scholarships 2014, for doctoral studies at St John’s College, University of Cambridge, UK. The ‘Dr Manmohan Singh Scholarship’ is an international award for study at St John’s College at the University of Cambridge. The PhD stan-

dard scholarships are for prospective Indian students awarded by the College. The award was designed to benefit academically bright Indian students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and is administered by the British Council. The Scholarship is named in honour of Manmohan Singh, a former student of the College

and Prime Minister of India, who is acclaimed as the mastermind behind the economic reforms that have helped place India on the world stage.

The scholarships are fully funded, and cover: academic fees, international airfare, monthly stipend to cover living expenses and UK visa. Applications can be submitted till 15th January 2014.

Dr Sandipto Dasgupta

Sunil Khilnani

Cambridge University announces prestigious Dr. Manmohan Singh scholarship

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December2013

The pollsters got their calculating resoundingly right. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) triumphed in Rajasthan, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh and won Chhattisgarh by a small margin.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit, who had won three back-toback elections in Delhi, lost her seat to Aam Admi party leader

LeT jihadis killed Three Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorists from Pakistan were killed in an encounter with a Special Operations Group of the Indian security forces in Kashmir. An arms cache was captured at their hideout in the Kupara district of the State. Jihadi infiltration poses a continuing challenge for India (Hindu December 4)

India-Lanka naval ties

BJP Election triumph scenes in Delhi, Rajasthan Delhi BJP

Cong BJP AAP BSP Others Ind

8 31 28 0 2 1

FOUR-STATE ELECTION 2013: RESULTS

Congress

AAP

Others TOTAL SEATS

70

Madhya Pradesh BJP

Cong BJP BSP Ind

Congress

58 165 4 3

Others TOTAL SEATS

230

Rajasthan

BJP

Cong BJP BSP others

Congress

21 162 3 6

Ind

Others TOTAL 7 SEATS

199

Chhattisgarh

BJP

Congress

BSP

Cong 39 BJP 49

Ind TOTAL SEATS

90

BSP 1 Ind 1

Kejriwal and resigned. Likewise, in Rajasthan, BJP demolished Congress, while in Madhya Pradesh its margin of victory reflected well on the development work of Chief Minister Chouhan’s government. Substantial though these State election victories are, the result of the forthcoming general election in May 2014 is by no means done and dusted. Nevertheless, the omens look bright for the BJP.

Pakistan warning to India

Pakistan’s media reported that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in an address to the legislature in Pakistani-occupied Kashmir, had said, “Kashmir is a flashpoint and can trigger a fourth war between the neighbours at anytime,” which evoked a sharp rebuttal from his usually mildmannered Indian counterpart, Dr Manmohan Singh: “There is no scope of Pakistan winning such a war in my lifetime.” Mr Sharif claimed he was misquoted. (Times of India December 5)

‘Mother document’

Pakistan’s Army Doctrine promised a “disproportionate response” to any country violating its territory, a veiled reference to India, which the Pakistani military and political establishment and the country’s political class have long proclaimed was India, and India alone. A classified Pakistan document in the Hindu newspaper’s possession, sets out the country War Doctrine, which promised a “disproportionate response” to an aggressor. It mentioned the “incremental increase in asymmetry of conventional forces and the nuclear overhang.” The pace of India’s military modernization is the source of this anxiety, hence threat that Pakistan would go nuclear, if necessary.

Meanwhile, says the document, Pakistani-sponsored jihadi terrorism in Kashmir will continue.

(Hindu December 5). Next Green comes a work of essays by Pakistan’s top military brass: a pathological exercise on alleged American and Indian conspiracies to destabilize and destroy the country. The skewed English syntax and Indian names and designations gels well with the

book’s absurdist content (Hindu December 6).

Prithvi-II tested

The Indian Army’s Strategic Forces Command (SFC) successfully test-fired the surfaceto-surface Prithvi-II, a tactical battlefield missile with a 350kilometre range capable carrying a nuclear warhead. Its naval version, Dhanush, is already in service with the Indian Navy.

The Army has inducted Agni1,II,III and IV in the medium range category, each capable of delivering a 1 tonne nuclear warhead. The Defence Research and Development Organization, which developed these missiles is gearing up to test its interceptor missile and also its 5000kilometre-plus Agni V missile, which will be canister-based (Hindu December 4). Agni V’s next trial, due in March-April 2014, will be canister-based.

India joined an elite club of nations when it first tested Agni V on 19 April 2012, with a second test on 15 September this year (Hindu December 5)

Leave Siachen

Meanwhile, Sartaz Aziz, Adviser to the Pakistan Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs, said that the Indian presence on the Siachen Glacier posed a serious environmental threat to his country. During a radio interview, he claimed that Pakistan’s water shortage was caused by the Indian presence in the area.

He urged India to settle the issue as a matter of priority (Hindu December 5). Five years on, Pakistan is still in a state of denial on the 26/11 jihadi assault on Mumbai. Draw your own conclusions.

India and Sri Lanka have agreed to deepen naval ties with a range of collaborative measures. These were discussed by India’s National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon and Sri Lankan Defence Minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa in New Delhi. Their meeting, and the separate meetings between Indian and Sri Lankan naval commanders about the security interests of their respective countries in the Indian Ocean, cement a strong military relationship that transcends diplomatic tensions over Sri Lankan human rights violations in the country’s Tamilpopulated northeast. Sri Lanka has ordered two patrol modern offshore patrol vessels from the public sector Goa Shipyard.

Also, the training of Sri Lankan naval personnel at Indian naval institutions are set to go forward (Hindu December 3)

Mars orbiter in deep space

India’s Mars spacecraft is now in interplanetary space on its epic voyage to the Red Planet, having broken free of the Earth Sphere of Influence on the morning of Wednesday, December 4. The Mars orbiter crossed this zone three days after leaving its Earth-bound orbit for its present sun-centric orbit. A spokesman for the Indian Research and Development Organization (ISRO) said: “The spacecraft is now well and truly on its way to Mars. This is the first time that an Indian spacecraft has crossed this distance of 9.25 lakh (925,000) kilometers…..The Earth is no longer pulling it.”

The space will now coast around the sun for the next 300 days.

But before this, ISRO will correct its trajectory several times, then fire the propulsion system to inject it into the Mars orbit on 24 September 2014. When this position is reached, ISRO will turn on the five scientific instruments onboard for its experiments to plumb the secrets Red Planet (Hindu December 5)

Optimism on energy needs

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was optimistic on India meeting its energy needs, pointing out that the discovery of shale oil and gas in the US had brought about a “sea-change” in the situation. India’s energy may increase three or four-fold in the next 20 years, and it was in negotiations with the US on the possible imports of large quantities of shale gas. With sanctions against Iran likely to ease, another option of importing gas from may open up in the next

Former SA President Nelson Mandela is greeted by Indian counterpart Shankar Dayal Sharma (L) and Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda

The Indian government, which in 1990 honoured Mandela with its highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna.

See Comment page 3

few years. The Prime Minister was inaugurating the 8th Asia Gas Partnership Summit in New Delhi. He dedicated GAIL India Ltd’s 1000km-long DahholBangalore gas pipeline to the nation. The pipeline connects South India to the national gas grid.

Meanwhile, foreign secretary Sujatha Singh will be visiting the US shortly to negotiate imports of shale gas and technology transfer to India (Hindu December 4)

viewed India, he replied that, as of now, India would serve as a low-cost, high technology hub until infrastructure activity picked up in the country. GE’s new hub in Pune, he explained, (its research and development

Destroying Syria’s chemical weapons

India has offered its proven expertise to help destroy Syria’s chemical weapons. In addition, it has offered $1 million as a contribution towards this effort by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). India demonstrated its expertise in the field two years ago during an exercise in Tunisia, with Ahmet Uzman, OPCW Director General, commending the performance by a 40-member Indian team. The number of Indians in OPCW operations world- wide has been large and Indian laboratories, especially the one at Gwalior, are highly respected, said Bhaswati Mukherjee, former Permanent Representative to OPCW and Chair of its Executive Council. (Hindu December 4)

GE keen on India

With India in economic slowdown and media rumour mills working overtime speculating whether foreign investors see the country as a desirable destination, General Electric’s (GE) Hong Kong-based Vice President John Rice views, when he came calling, have an added significance. Asked how GE

John Rice

centre, the largest outside the US, is in Bangalore), would manufacture aviation components and wind turbines among other products, to become a model for GE globally.

Optimism

Asked about the business environment in India, Mr Rice said: “It is better than what the headlines suggest. When I talk to our team, customers and officials in India, I see a case for optimism that doesn’t always come across in what’s reported by the traditional media. .…we’d like [our]India [footprint] to be larger. But we don’t have an insignificant position….We are quite happy with some businesses and want to make others bigger. …The other side of the story is what happens in Bangalore where our engineers are working on solutions for India as well as the rest of the world” (Mint November 25).

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December2013

The Indian Slave

I type with tears after returning from India and China.

There are more slaves in India today than there were under British rule. You probably don’t know it. This is a campaigning newspaper and I said in my column on my birthday that one of the causes I will champion is to end the slavery in India. With over 11 million Indian slaves, that is more than the entire population of Yorkshire. It is one in six of the British population.

“Rule Britannia, Britons shall never be slaves” goes the unofficial national anthem, yet that is not true in Modern Britain either. This past week more slaves in Britain were freed. Slavery, Britain has in common with India.

Last week in Delhi I visited the antislavery organisation, International Justice Mission. They told me of Jaswinder Singh.

For the last five years he is working as a “Siri” bonded labourer. Bonded labour or slavery is simple. You promise an advance to own the labour of your slave indefinitely. The sums can be as little as gbp100.

Imagine the profits you can make, on the bended back of your fellow Indian. The labourer is unaware he will never be freed.

To the traffickers, the slave owners, the jailers, the tyrants – we are coming for you. Watch your back. For your greed, your immorality you will find us restless in our desire for justice. Stop now, before your souls perish and free yourself and your slave. For the Indian and British slave, your time has come too – you shall be freed. We are restless in our quest for your independence, so the song shall be ‘Rule India, Indians shall never be slaves.’

Dear Home Secretary,

So, I would like to thank and congratulate you for establishing the Modern Slavery Bill and creating an Anti-Slavery Commissioner. These initiatives are the first steps that will help to reduce the issues associated with slavery in our country.

I have a strong personal interest in this area as I have through my role as

senior Dealmaker for the Global Entrepreneurs Programme (GEP), UKTI witnessed first hand examples of trafficking and slavery across Asia and in India especially. I have been working with the anti-slavery NGO International Justice Mission in India. The insights I have gained through my work suggest that a more globally coordinated approach is needed to eradicate trafficking and slavery worldwide. These issues are not unique to the UK and in some countries they are at a much larger scale and deeper penetrated within society. The opportunities for us to learn and work closely with other countries are clear.

I note that in your feature on Anti Slavery published in the Sunday Times recently, you mentioned that “Ministers need to address trafficking within Britain as well as across borders”. I fully endorse your views fully and suggest that we should be working across borders; particularly with the countries that are experiences similar issues. This is an opportunity for you as Home Secretary to a G8 nation to lead on created an even greater worldwide initiative: to lead all Home Secretaries of all G10 nations to eradicate organized slavery before the decade is out.

I say ‘before the decade is out’ because this year is the 50th Anniversary of the death of President Kennedy, and that is the phrase he use to set what appeared an unimaginable goal to his nation, when he charged them to put a man on the moon.

Politicians with vision, setting ambitious goals can change the world.

Home Secretaries are rarely women, rarely have the opportunity to work internationally, yet in a global world this is vital. May I suggest that the new Commissioner take insights globally and India as a starting point?

I accompanied your friend and colleague Baroness Verma to India on her recent trip. I know Baroness Verma is also very passionate about addressing these issues and I will be sharing my insights and proposals with her.

Vijay Goel appointed as the Chairman of ABA at LCCI

Mr Vijay Goel, Partner, Singhania & Co, London, one of the largest Indian law firms and Founder of Indo European Business Forum has been appointed as the Chairman of the Asian Business Association at London Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Vijay has been awarded the ‘National Law Day Award’ from the Hon'ble President of Republic of India and also recipient of many other awards.

He is on board of many business and charitable organisations and is widely connected with businesses across the world.

The Asian Business

Mr Vijay Goel

Association (ABA) was established in recognition of the huge contribution Asian businesses make to London's economy. The Asian Business Association is widely regarded as the most

important forum for Asian businesses in London and is the voice of Asian businesses in London. The Asian Business Association's success is a true reflection of the success of Asian business in the UK. It provides a voice for the London Asian business community and represent their views to the media, local and central government. They also provide business networking events that enable companies to make new business connections and to enhance their business skills and competitiveness. They also facilitate international trade and investment.

HFB appoints interim President to lead the organisation The core committee of Hindu Forum of Britain have unanimously decided to appoint Harilal M. Halai, pictured as President, to lead the organisation in the interim, after the sudden demise of Arjanbhai Vekaria. Haribhai ji is associated with HFB since its inception. He has served the organisation in various capac-

ities in the past and currently heading Diwali at the House of Commons organising committee and is also one of the trustees of HFB. He will serve as President until the next AGM when an election will be held for the post of President. The next AGM is scheduled to be held in the Summer 2014.

UK

Drawing the Line fails to address my Indian sensibilities

Rupanjana Dutta

I am not a theatre critic.

It is perhaps unwise to start a review with a disclaimer, however as a non expert I looked at this play from an Indian perspective, in the light of my forefathers' history.

to the brutality of partition or 'the line that was drawn'.

Coming from a family that lost everything in the India-Pakistan partition, who were forced to leave east Bengal (current Bangladesh) and move to India, I cannot overlook

13

Silas Carson (Nehru) did justice to their characters. The set and the dramatic ending was of course applaudable, but I feel the playwright's “license to imagination” has certainly overstepped the mark in places.

I am not a Gandhian

Nikesh Patel (Rao Ayer), Tom Beard (Radcliffe) and Brendan Patricks (Beaumont)

The plot is set in a pre-partition pandemonium- in an utter cataclysmic state of affairs with soaring riots everywhere. Baron Cyrial John Radcliffe, is sent to what is known as the undivided India to give it her current shape. A man of principle, with no idea of what India has ever looked like, he sets his foot in the country, at trying to make the implausible, possible.

What happened on the eve of Indian independence or that of Pakistan is not unknown to anyone with roots in the subcontinent, but what we have remained ignorant about is that of the mind of a man who was given just 5 weeks to etch out the future of thousands of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs- a man who became responsible for those thousands who lost their homes, lives, friends and families

the atrocities involved and the question remains - was Nehru right to have supported the separation or was Gandhi right to have opposed it?

The playwright

by any means. But the 'father of the nation India' (Gandhi) was portrayed in the play as a bit too effeminate, with uncanny persistence on serving 'goats milk yoghurt' to

Shalini Peiris (Taravati) and Tanveer Ghani (Gandhi)

Howard Brenton has tackled some very delicate issues in typical British humour. He has been brave enough to be critical of the colonialism and crown.

However, what may have worked better is a longer soliloquy on Radcliffe - which would have added a bit of elegance to the plot.

The actors especially Tom B e a r d (Radcliffe), Nikesh Patel (Rao V D Ayer), Lucy Black ( L a d y Mountbatten), Andrew Havill ( L o r d Mountbatten), Brenden Patricks Silas Carson (Nehru) and Lucy Black ( C h r i s t o p h e r Beaumont) and (Edwina Mountbatten)

guests and disallowing Beaumont to enter his home premises because he is British. This somehow all seemed a bit too far-fetched.

Gandhi may have been the 'half naked fakir' in the eyes of the British, but there were certain visual referrals to his asexual nature in the play, that were totally unwarranted or uncalled for in this context.

Drawing the Line by Hampstead Theatres definitely deserves praise for its boldness to break away from the usual cliches, but it essentially remains an English story for the English audience, failing to address the wider Indian sensibilities about their implacable past.

Photo courtesy: Catherine Ashmore

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Christmas Day is a time of relaxation and a time to enjoy the company of friends and family. The thought of cooking an extravagant dinner therefore, may be on the bottom of your list. You can avoid the stress of cooking this year as a number of these restaurants will be open on Christmas Day. From finedining to small cosy pubs, there will be a restaurant for everyone.

Cinnamon Kitchen Executive Chef Vivek Singh has created a fantastic line up for Christmas day at £60 per person. Visit: www.cinnamonkitchen.com Skylounge by DoubleTree by Hilton Tower Of London Skylounge is hosting a delicious lunch served high above the City on the 12th floor of the DoubleTree by Hilton - Tower of London. With sweeping views of Tower Bridge and the Shard, the three-course menu is priced at £70 per person. Visit: www.toweroflondon.doubletree.com The Cinnamon Club Served in the Grade II-listed Old Westminster Library, The Cinnamon Club is serving up a similarly alternative Christmas lunch at £85 per person. Visit: www.cinnamonclub.com

The Spaniard’s Inn The Spaniard’s Inn – one of London’s oldest pubs – will be reveling in great Christmas cheer.

Set beside a roaring open fire, diners will enjoy hearty dishes for £70 per person. Visit: www.thespaniardshampstead.co.uk Cinnamon Soho Executive chef Vivek Singh is also opening the doors to the more casual restaurant for Christmas at a great £40 per person. Visit: www.cinnamonsoho.com For a comprehensive list of restaurants open on Christmas Day, visit: www.rochecom.com

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December2013

UK

Indians and Mandela: A Unique bond

Indians were taken by the Britishraj as indentured labor to many countries. Fiji, South Africa and Guyana had the largest number of such ‘slave labors ’. Indians aspire for equality and freedom even in those nasty days. Not only MK Gandhi predominantly struggled for Indian rights in South Africa, but the Africans also got the message after the establishment of the Natal Indian Congress and the South African National Congress, the African National Congress (ANC) was also formed.

What began as separate groups eventually became ANC – the route took place through the Communist Party and other affiliations. Nelson Mandela (Madiba) and Indians in South Africa had a unique bond of co-operation and mutual respect.

Nelson Mandela’s famous inauguration speech on 19th May 1994 at Cape Town began, “today we are entering a new era for our country and its people.

Today we celebrate not the victory of a party but a victory for all the people of South Africa.”

Mandela’s collaboration with other races including men and women of Indian origin in opposing apartheid laws and the practices was evident from his arrival in Johannesburg from Qunu, Eastern Cape Province.

Eminent men and women of Indian origin including Ahmed Kathrada, Ismail and Amina Cachalia, Monty Naicker, Yusuf Dadoo, and Ismail and Fathima Meer had close ties with Nelson Mandela and the Struggle for Freedom in South Africa. Ahmed Kathrada Ismail Meer and Mac Maharaj were imprisoned with Nelson Mandela.

When Mandela was released from his long incarceration, his first civilian home was of an Indian political activist, Dullah Omar. It was Omar’s house where Madiba was able to compose himself. When Nelson Mandela became the President of South Africa, he included six Indians in his cabinet. Ismail Mahomed was appointed Chief of Justice in 1994 and Frene Ginwals as Speaker of Parliament.

Some other prominent people of Indian origin connected with Mandela are Laloo (Isu) Chiba who was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment. Billy Nair, charged with sabotage in 1963.

Indres Naidoo was also imprisoned for a decade. MD Naidoo, brother-in-law of Mac Maharaj who became the organizer of the South African Indian Congress, was arrested and imprisoned on Robben Island for five years.

During Madela’s prison time, Ismail Ayob, a barrister and Winnie Mandela’s lawyer during the 1970s became a conduit for message between Mandela and the African National Congress in Zambia. Political activists Amaij Cajee, Azzia Pahad, Essop Pahad and member of SACP Dipak Patel were among other Indians associated with Madiba. There are few other names like Ivan Pillay, Vella Pillay, Anesh Shanker, Mo Shaik, Sachbir Shaik, Yunus Shaik, Debi Singh, Zak Yakoob, Mohamed Valli Moosa, Pravin Gordhan etc who became close connects of Nelson Mandela.

Later on Sonny Venkatrathnam also joined Mandela and other prisoners at Robben Island prison. Venkatrathnm’s story and the book which he and his wife have taken to many places even to Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare, where Venkatrathnam sat in the Bard’s “hard chair” and read from his “Bible” and shared his story after an invitation from Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Recently the British Museum asked Sonny if it could borrow the book from July 19 to November 25, 2012 for

As I See It

No one is born hating another person because of his skin, or his background or his religion. People learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.

- Nelson Mandela

its Shakespeare exhibition as part of its contribution to the London Cultural Olympiad of 2012. Venkatrathnam said: “Somehow Shakespeare always seemed to have something to say to us… He is a universal philosopher: there’s message for anyone and anybody.”

These prisoners, Nelson Mandela and others were under isolation wing of the prison. Such prisoners were not given literature or books to read. For Mandela, the collected works of William Shakespeare was very precious. The jail authorities seized the book.

Sonny Venkatrathnam’s wife Theresa smuggled a copy of the collected works of William Shakespeare through a lawyer, Navi Pillay who is now the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. This book had front and back pasted with some greeting cards depicting the Hindu deities and this book was presented through the warden as a ‘Hindu Bible”, though in reality it was very different. According to Venkatrathnam by calling it his ‘Bible’ the warders not touch it. And so the Robben Island “Bible” was born.

The book was read by many of the inmates and when he was due to be released Venkatrathnam sent it to his comrades and friends in prison and asked them to sign the passages which they found most meaningful. Inmates would read sections of Shakespeare, date and sign the snippets that had meaning for them. Nelson Mandela, Mac Maharaj, Raymond Mhlaba, Billy Nair, Govan Mbeki, Mobbs Gqurana, JB Vasani, Frank Anthony and Andrew Masondo are among those who signed the book. There are 32 signatories in total.

India-South Africa Connection

Nelson Mandela has publicly proclaimed one of his great inspirations was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. A brilliant lawyer, excellent orator and one with tremendous study of history, Nelson Mandela was well acquainted with Mahatma Gandhi, it not in person but through his writings and a leading example.

M.K. Gandhi also entered into Politics and the public arena in South Africa. It was an incident when attorney M.K Gandhi was thrown out of a train at Pietermaritzburg Railway Station for traveling first class (which was then meant for whites alone on June 7, 1893) began his long struggle for justice and equality.

When Nelson Mandela moved to

Johannesburg, he came in close contacts with Indians. By that time M.K. Gandhi had left South Africa and had reached India permanently on 9th January 1915 with international fame and his unique weapon of non-violence and peaceful protest for achieving independence from colonial powers well recognized and respected.

Gandhiji’s 25 years in South Africa had been a unique phase in the struggle for emancipation of subjugated or oppressed nation’s history. At a glittering event in New Delhi when Mandela was given Bharat Ratna award in 1990.

He said at that time, “You Indians gave us attorney M.K Gandhi and we gave you back a Mahatma”.

Surely that is true, but Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Barack Obama all have acknowledge enormous debt of gratitude to Mahatma Gandhi and his philosophies. What happened at Pietermaritzburg Railway Station, 80 km from Durban on June 7, 1993 ultimately ensured that a black man became the occupier of the white house in Washington.

There are various ways to describe Nelson Mandela. To me, he is an ideal example of a human being with utmost sense of Humanity, Humility, Humor and Honor. It is very difficult to forgive.

Sometimes you can forget, but to forgive decades old operation, injustice and brutality requires superhuman strength.

Nelson Mandela had it in bountiful.

A president of South Africa, once described the situation in that country, “too ghastly to contemplate”, the racial division enshrined in the constitution and the rigid enforcement by force of law made life intolerable for the blacks, Indians as well as of mixed races and even somewhites. Nelson Mandela had not only suffered but he remained for a

15

long time in the forefront to create a rainbow nation where justice and equality became his hallmark.

Perhaps he had suffered a lot more than MK Gandhi. Blacks of Africa and South Africa in particular had suffered for a very long time as the victims of misguided racial supremacy. My own acquaintance with Nelson Mandela began in 1962 in Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika. I was working as a minor civil servant and studying for my law qualifications as an external student of the University of London and the Lincoln’s Inn Fields campus.

Mr. Mandela had visited Dar e Salaam and almost at the same time one Punjabi gentleman with his White South African (Jewish) wife had taken refuge in Dar e Salaam. One Mr. Jashbhai Patel, who had actively supported Tanganyika African National Union, introduced me to the problems of the people of South Africa.

Subsequently when I settled in the UK, I was involved with Anti-Apartheid Movement which was led by Bishop Trevor Huddleston whose wife was a Tanganyika-born African woman from Tabora region. Fenner Brokeway (subsequently a Lord) also was very active for the cause of the South African liberation and especially freedom for Nelson Mandela, who was undergoing rigorous imprisonment, breaking stones, on the Robben Island prison. After 1991 I had privileged to briefly meet Mr. Mandela twice. Once before he became the President and second time after he had become the President of the Republic of South Africa.

I read in the British media that Mandela, a former militant who was keen to gain independence for his country through violence, had changed in his 27 years of imprisonment, so much so that he had become an ardent devotee of a peaceful struggle and an inclusive South Africa. Perhaps this is true to a certain extent, but more important is to recognize that the people at the centre of power in South Africa who imprisoned him for such a long period also went through a process of better understanding of what Nelson Mandela is and what is his ideology.

This was possible only because the British tradition of justice, fair play and the essence of civility were to a certain extent prevailing within the administration of the apartheid government. An oppressor does not always remain so brutal and inhuman on a victim who reciprocates with more honorable and humane response.

Nelson Mandela is no longer with us, but his message will now resonate more and more throughout the world, and it’s bound to create a more tolerant and positive environment everywhere. This is not just a hope but it is my sincere belief.

- CB

16

LIFE & TIMES OF MANDELA

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December 2013

Continued from page 1

can diminish our sense of a profound and enduring loss.

His tireless struggle for freedom earned him the respect of the world. His humility, passion and humanity, earned him their love,” he added.

Mandela would receive a full state funeral, Zuma said, ordering flags to be flown at half mast.

The UN Security Council was in session when the ambassadors received the news of Mandela's death. They stopped their meeting and stood for a minute's silence.

“Nelson Mandela was a giant for justice and a downto-earth human inspiration,” UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon told reporters. “Nelson Mandela showed what is possible for our world and within each one of us if we believe, dream and work together for justice and humanity.”

US President Barack Obama, the first black American president, described Mandela as an inspiration: “Like so many around the globe, I cannot fully imagine my own life without the example that Nelson Mandela set, and so long as I live I will do what I can to learn from him,” he said in a televised address at the White House shortly after the announcement of

Goodbye Madiba

Mandela's death.

“A free South Africa at peace with itself - that's an example to the world, and that's Madiba's legacy to the nation he loved.”

Mandela rose from rural obscurity to challenge the might of white minority apartheid government - a struggle that gave the 20th century one of its most respected and loved figures.

He was among the first to advocate armed resistance to apartheid in 1960, but was quick to preach reconciliation and forgiveness

when the country's white minority began easing its grip on power 30 years later.

He was elected president in landmark all-race elections in 1994 and retired in 1999.

Famous political prisoner South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) party said the country and the world had lost “a

released him from jail arguably the world's most famous political prisoner.

The hallmark of Mandela’s mission was the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which probed apartheid crimes on both sides of the struggle and tried to heal the country's wounds. It also provided a model for other countries

match of the soccer World Cup, where he received a thunderous ovation from the 90,000 at the stadium in Soweto.

Charged with capital offences in the infamous 1963 Rivonia Trial, his statement from the dock was his political testimony. “During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the

colossus”.

“His life gives us the courage to push forward for development and progress towards ending hunger and poverty,” it said in a statement.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, an honour he shared with F.W. de Klerk, the white Afrikaner leader who

torn by civil strife.

In retirement, he shifted his energies to battling South Africa's AIDS crisis, a struggle that became personal when he lost his only surviving son to the disease in 2005.

Mandela's last major appearance on the global stage came in 2010 when he attended the championship

African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination.”

World leaders gather for Mandela memorial World leaders from US President to Cuba's Raul Castro, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, PM David Cameron and three former PMs of UK joined

Nelson Mandela was a Giant amongst men and his passing leaves a huge void in the political landscape of the world.

He leaves a lasting legacy of the goodness that men can have towards their fellow beings. His ability to forgive is not only a powerful message to world leaders but also for every other person on the planet. He was a rare soul and his footprints will remain for many years to come.

- Justice Minister Shailesh Vara MP “Nelson Mandela was the last of the truly great 20th century figures, a global icon who transcended race barriers, who had a unique ability to forgive, unify and embrace his former opponents and became an inspiration for a generation. He worked tirelessly for the good of his country, and his legacy is the peaceful South Africa we see today. He inspired love as much as respect, and became regarded by hundreds of millions of people as a political giant who helped bring humanity closer together. I send my condolences to the family members of the late President Mandela and to the people of South Africa.”

- Priti Patel, MP for Witham

The woman who said 'no' to Mandela

Before Mandela got married to Graça Machel on his 80th birthday, he proposed to a fellow struggle stalwart and an old friend, Amina Cachalia. But she turned him down.

Cachalia, who died suddenly on January 31 2013 aged 82, deals rather extensively with her close, decade-long relationship with Mandela in her recently published autobiography, “When Hope and History Rhyme”, but surprisingly did not include Madiba's marriage proposal.

Her son, Ghaleb Cachalia, who helped with the writing of the book, said how his mother called

him and his sister, Coco Cachalia, and said "that Madiba had asked her to marry him". It was after their father Yusuf's death in May 1995.

By that time Mandela was already long separated from his wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, whom he divorced in March 1996.

Ghaleb said her reasons were that "I'm my own person and that I had just recently lost my husband whom I had enormous regard for".

Also, she said that she wanted to be her "own person", and concentrate "on my husband's legacy, on my

children, my grandchildren and myself".

A significant part of her autobiography, which was published earlier this month, deals with the spec-

ulation that he was going to marry Cachalia.

In earlier written drafts of the book, the references initially to Mandela were very cryptic, according to

Ghaleb. "I'd say, Ma, if you want to write this book you can't drop a little cryptic thing here … people are going to ask questions, you've got to either say or cut it out, it's a choice you make. I would advise you not to cut it out because you're telling everything in this book so you must talk about it'.

"She said, 'No, it is very difficult and I don't know if I want to do it.”

So the final version of the book, which she finished in September last year, had a lot more about her relationship with Madiba, except his marriage proposal.

thousands of South Africans to honour Mandela on Tuesday in a memorial to celebrate his gift for bringing enemies together across political and racial divides.

Obama and Castro, whose countries maintain an ideological enmity lasting more than 50 years, and Mukherjee were among the designated orators at the Soccer City stadium where 23 years earlier Mandela freshly freed from apartheid jail - was hailed by cheering supporters as the hope for a new South Africa.

Coinciding with UN-designated Human Rights Day, the memorial service for Mandela in the 95,000-seat Soccer City stadium is the centrepiece of a week of mourning for the globally admired statesman.

Despite the rain, the atmosphere inside the stadium was celebratory, with people dancing, blowing "vuvuzela" plastic horns and singing songs from the antiapartheid struggle. "I was here in 1990 when Mandela was freed and I am here again to say goodbye," said Beauty Pule, 51, one of the hugh crowd in the stadium to pay her respects to Mandela.

"I am sure Mandela was proud of the South Africa he helped create. It's not perfect but no-one is perfect, and we have made great strides."

The memorial event paid tribute to a life of imprisonment and political struggle that ended in triumph and consecrated Mandela as a global symbol of integrity and forgiveness.

The fact that the visiting leaders - more than 90 include some from nations still locked in antagonism, such as Cuba and the United States, adds resonance to the homage being held at the gigantic bowl-shaped stadium, the venue of the 2010 World Cup final.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair were there. Blair has called Mugabe a dictator who should have been removed from power.

Mugabe has called Blair an imperialist and once told him to "go to hell".

Such antagonisms was put on mute on Tuesday as the life of someone who put his faith in reconciliation into practice to unite a multi-racial nation was remembered.

"What he did in life, that's what he's doing in death. He's bringing people together from all walks of life, from the different sides of opinion, political belief, religion," Zelda la Grange, Mandela's former personal assistant, said. Mandela’s funeral will take place on December 15 at his ancestral home in Quinn, Eastern Cape provinces.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December 2013

Hindu deities, Shakespeare gave company to Mandela in jail When Nelson Mandela spent almost three decades in solitary confinement he was not alone - he had the pictures of a few Indian deities and the writings of William Shakespeare for inspiration. A tattered book covered by Diwali cards with pictures of Hindu deities on it might have seemed like a strange choice for the South African political activist languishing in his cell. But the beatifically smiling goddess on the cover knew something the prison wardens did not.

Inside was the "Complete Works of Shakespeare," and the historic text became a source of strength for Mandela and his fellow inmates during their darkest days. It became known as the "Robben Island Bible," and today is one of the most remarkable artifacts from Mandela's 27 years in jail.

"What resonance does a white guy from England 400

years ago have to a group of South African political prisoners in the latter half of the 20th century?" said Matthew Hahn, who wrote a play based on the "Robben Island Bible," and interviewed many of the inmates who read it.

"There's this universality to Shakespeare - including many lessons on good and bad leadership - and I think Mandela found resonance in his words. He once said that “To be taken seriously as a politician, one must always quote from

Shakespeare,” and a lot of his speeches when he was president did just that."

The book was smuggled

into the jail by an Indianorigin political prisoner Sonny Venkatrathnam, pictured, who disguised it in colourful Diwali cards, convincing the warden it was his Bible.

Between 1975 and 1978, the volume was passed between 33 of Venkatrathnam's fellow prisoners - including Mandela.

Many of the inmates signed and dated their names beside particularly poignant passages -- words of hardship, political unrest, or injustice.

“If you have no discipline, you are not freedom fighters and we do not want you in our organisation,” he said in his distinctive reedy tones. “I am your leader. If you don’t want me, tell me to go and rest. As long as I am your leader I will tell you where you are wrong.” He stared, they muttered, shuffled their feet – and backed down.

For long years Mandela had been a shadowy symbol of hope, known only from his fiery record in the 1950s and 1960s, his inspirational speech from the dock when on trial for his life, and a grainy picture of him in the exercise yard on Robben Island prison in Cape Town’s Table Bay. As the day of his release in

February 1990 had drawn near, some confidants worried he might disappoint. He had, after all, a record as something of a firebrand.

How wrong they all were. Far from embittering or ossifying him, captivity had steeled him for the challenges ahead, he made clear. His sometime adversary FW de Klerk ruefully recalls, and deeply loyal to ANC traditions, he had the vision and courage time and again to break with his party’s orthodoxies – in particular over negotiating with his jailers, and jettisoning socialism. His history as a freedom fighter and political prisoner was merely the warm-up act to his greatest role of all: the apostle of reconciliation who would seduce the Afrikaners into relinquishing power and lead South Africa back into the world. In the years between his release and democracy he was an itinerant prophet of reconciliation, delivering homily to bind his divided nation together. He could be a ponderous speaker. Yet the force of his leadership far outweighed his oratory.

The meaning of the Madiba magic

The “old man” was angry.

His lips were pursed, his head held high, his Olympian gaze stony.

When Nelson Mandela finally started speaking, his words were even more clipped than usual. This was not an irrational fury.

Rather, it was the admonitory wrath of a headmaster. It was infused with the empathy of one who appreciated all too well the rage of his audience, yet knew that if South Africa was somehow to emerge intact from the ravages of apartheid it had to be tamed.

It was August 1993.

Three and a half years had passed since that diamond-bright afternoon when Mandela was released after 27 years in prison under apartheid.

The first all-race elections set for the following April seemed impossibly distant against the backdrop of threats of secession from the white Afrikaner right and daily bloodshed in the townships.

Before Mandela in a ramshackle stadium in one of Johannesburg’s desolate townships, thousands of “comrades” rattled makeshift weapons and bayed for revenge. Scores had died in the previous few days in street battles against a rival party. Yet the silver-haired septuagenarian gave no ground.

LIFE & TIMES OF MANDELA

Mac Maharaj on life at Robben Island with Mandela

Mac Maharaj was a member of the ANC’s armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe and was sent to Robben Island in 1964 after being convicted of sabotage. There, he was imprisoned together with Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Ahmed Kathrada. On his release in 1976, he smuggled out the first draft of Mandela’s autobiography, “Long Walk to Freedom.” He helped to negotiate the transition to majority rule and served as transport minister during Mandela’s presidency. Today, Maharaj, 76, is President Jacob Zuma’s spokesman.

He tells about his time with Mandela in prison.

When I arrived on Robben Island, there were about 30 of us in one section separate from the main prison. Life was hard and the conditions were tough but what made an enormous difference was that Mandela was there. He had been in prison since '62 so he had already become South Africa’s principal public enemy.

Certain international visitors were allowed and they came to see Mandela.

General Steyn himself, Commanding Officer of the Prison Service, came to see Mandela. The Minister of Justice arrived - he acted like he didn’t know anyone, but he ended up talking to Mandela.

The warders were caught in this space where on one hand they were meant to fear and hate these 'monsters’, but on the other hand they saw everyone change their behaviour when they were talking to Mandela. They saw this black prisoner standing his ground, never shouting or screaming but always keeping his composure while the person taking to him lost his.

One day, we walked in rows of four, in a column with warders in front, behind and to each side, demanding that we ran.

Mandela whispered to us: 'Chaps, slow down’.

I remember just seething with the impossibility of what he was asking because the atmosphere was menacing and even if you wanted to slow down, it made you walk faster.

Everything was slowing down and the warders were screaming and that’s when you realised that they could do nothing - they were helpless. We hadn’t sworn at them, we hadn’t talked back to them, all that had happened was that we were just walking slowly and suddenly we’d conquered the fear that was getting our muscles to move involuntarily.

It was the slowest walk to the quarry but my overwhelming recollection is of the dignity that went with that walk. It won a round for us without bending to the rules they set. We had made the rules. That gives you a tremendous sense of moral superiority.

People say that prison changed Mandela, turned him from a firebrand into a reconciler but to me, he changed most in bringing an immeasurable degree of control over his emotions. He became so aware that he was in the hands of the enemy, being watched 24 hours a day, that he built a wall around himself you could not penetrate.

Such was that fortress that it took more than 18 months for me to get into a relationship with him that I would describe as intimate, but he still had boundaries you could not cross.

When his son died in a car crash in 1969, we were in the yard and he was called to the office. When he returned, we could see in his walk as he came towards us that there was something wrong but he went straight to his cell. None of us dared to go there but we were all concerned that something had happened.

Not long after my arrival we made a representation to the prison authorities about our conditions of treatment.

It was still under discussion

when one morning, the prisoners who delivered our breakfast whispered to us that in the main section, the prisoners had gone on hunger strike. We didn’t know why.

The authorities came down hard on us - shifted us from the corridor where we were to the opposite corridor, away from our books.

The commanding officer, Major Kellerman, came marching down that corridor loudly asking: 'Where’s Mandela?’

When the commanding officer got to Mandela’s cell, he asked: “why are you on hunger strike when we are having discussions about your treatment?’

Mandela repeated: 'Colonel, can we sit down calmly and discuss?’

The Colonel said: 'No! No calmly! Tell me now!’

The temptation would be to give reasons but whatever the reason, you’d get into bigger trouble so Mandela just recited the same line like a gramophone record with the needle stuck until the Colonel gave up and stormed off.

If I were to have gone back to Robben Island as part of a defeated force I suppose the majority of my recollections would centre around our suffering there.

Our cause triumphed so when you go there, you are filled with only the happy memories.

Sometimes you miss it, and there’s something to miss because we were forced to live so closely with each other - you had no material trappings to surround yourself with, none of the people you would normally count as family and loved ones to be cushioned by. You had to rely on a sense of comradeship that was the only thing that held you together.

India condoles Mandela's death

The Indian government condoled the death of Nelson Mandela and decided to observe five-day national mourning as a mark of respect for the South African leader, informed sources said.

The cabinet held an emergency meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Parliament House and condoled the passing away of Mandela.

The Congress Working Committee, the highest decision-making body of the ruling Congress, is also meeting in the evening at

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party chief Sonia Gandhi's official residence to condole the passing away of Nobel laureate Mandela, the sources said.

Earlier, parliamentarians paid tributes to the great leader, after which both houses were adjourned.

A group of people gathered at Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad to pay their last respects to former South African president Nelson Mandela. They prayed for Mandela’s soul, sang bhajans and even spun the charkha

Mandela: A global beacon of hope

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UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December2013

The world feels a little darker this week. Nelson Mandela has been a shining beacon of hope for Africa and the world in the past fifty years and a leading light in the battles against oppression, Aids and inadequate education. His passing deprives the world of one it’s most respected and praised leaders.

Lord Dolar Popat ‘Madiba’ was known as many things. He was a father; a visionary; an inspiration and a nation builder; all terms that are more suitable than when he was branded a terrorist.

The modern South Africa may be a beautiful and progressive place – largely because of Mandela’s efforts – but the apartheid regime that dominated the country for so long was deeply troubling to many of us.

Nelson Mandela’s life story is well known.

Having initially started training as a lawyer, he joined the ANC in their campaign against the apartheid regime. He became the leader of Umkhonto We Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC and was forced further underground as the Government clamped down. He was arrested at a police roadblock in August 1962, prosecuted for sabotage and served 27 years in prison; including 18 years on the notorious Robben Island.

A Nation Builder

Yet that was only the beginning of Madela’s tale. His incarceration allowed his stature to grow; he became a symbol of what South Africa was being held back from. His moral and political stature grew with every hour he spent in prison. His vision that no human should be treated differently because of a pre-determined characteristic struck a chord with people across the globe; his fight for full black political rights soon became an unstoppable force.

Mandela was released from prison in 1990 and became South Africa’s first black democratically elected president in 1994.

He had said at his trial that he was willing to die for the ideal of a democratic and free society; yet rather than be a martyr he became a father to a nation that symbolised a new dawn of hope, equality and prosperity in

Africa.

Yet what makes Mandela remarkable is the vision that he espoused.

The Mandela that emerged from prison was not one who was determined to provide for his closest supporters to the sacrifice of others. Nor was he a man who came out determined to seek revenge on those who had enabled or supported his detention.

Instead he spoke of a rainbow nation, a home to people of all colours and creeds. He embarked upon reconciliation and preached of tolerance and forgiveness.

Those of us like myself who love Africa have too often seen uprisings and regime changes purportedly in the name of the people, but which inevitably lead to cronyism, negligible improvement and restrictions on freedom and democracy. Mandela and South Africa were different. He was a man of the people and served in their name. His standing was further increased when, despite his soaring popularity, he only served one term as President.

How Africa could be different if other leaders were so willing to place their own and their supporters interests below the greater good of the nation.

Echoes of Gandhi

Mandela’s story has many parallels with that of Mahatma Gandhi.

Gandhi’s own political and social philosophies were honed and nurtured during a twenty-one year period in South Africa, where he served as a lawyer. Distressed by the racial prejudice and injustice he witnessed against the Indians, it was there that he became an advocate of non-violent civil disobedience in the name of equality and political gains.

Gandhi continued his work upon his return to India and eventually led India to independence.

Like Mandela, Gandhi was christened as the father of the nation (Bapu), and spoke of a united nation irrespective of religion, caste or creed.

Gandhi also served time in prison due to the authorities he was working against, and like Mandela, Gandhi worked hard to help the ease poverty.

Statesmen that transcend their nations Gandhi and Mandela are the greatest leaders our world has seen in the

last century. Their visions – to rise above hatred and decades long conflicts and instead to speak of a hopeful and prosperous future that we can share together – along with their natural abilities to lead, mean that these two gentleman will remain two of history’s most esteemed politicians.

We are fortunate to have had two leaders so brilliant that they were able to redefine and reshape their countries.

Statesmen are a rare thing; so too is the ability to forgive your persecutors. Nelson Mandela was one of the world’s greatest statesmen; an embodi-

were not cast aside or exiled; instead they were part of the new nation; men that were equal and working side-by-side.

It is striking that Mandela’s former wife Winnie Mandela was so critical of the politician that emerged from twentyseven years of politically-

misunderstood who Mandela was; he was not there for his friends or for one group either ethnic or otherwise, he was a leader for all the people of South Africa. He was not there to divide and rule, but to unite and prosper (a philosophy he even employed with his own family, who he insisted must go and earn their own way rather than live off the monies he had gathered; a situation that has left two of his children in legal action against a trust he established).

Modern South Africa

Mahatma Gandhi

ment of hope, leadership and selflessness. He continued his great work after leaving office; establishing foundations to tackle aids and to improve education.

Gandhi also continued his work after the birth of India. He was despondent to see a separation of India along religious lines with the creation of Pakistan. A movement for a separate Muslim state had gathered strength during Gandhi’s imprisonment eventually reaching fruition in the Mountbatten Plan of 1947. Where Mandela’s challenge was to overcome racial divisions, Gandhi’s was to oppose a division of human beings along religious lines, a cause that ultimately cost him his life.

We will sadly never know how different India and the Indian sub-continent would have been if Gandhi had lived. Perhaps South Africa offers us an insight into the future it could have had. Mandela was wise enough to realise that much of the expertise he required to run his country lay with the white population that had ruled for so long. The Apartheid rule may have been abhorrent, but the white people

motivated imprisonment.

She said that he hadn’t done enough to provide for the black population.

She entirely missed or

I attended prayer vigils against apartheid and for Mandela in the 1980s and 90s. Since his release I have had the pleasure of visiting South Africa a couple of times; a country that has bustling metropolises and a bright future.

The world was invited to South Arica for the Rugby World Cup in 1995; an amazing moment for a nation that was able to show it’s new and confident face to world. As the film Inviticus portrayed,

this was Mandela at his finest; using the humanity of a sporting occasion to help bring a nation together.

On one trip I visited Robben Island and the cell that had contained Madela’s body but had expanded his mind. It was a humbling moment to think that a man could retain his compassion when surrounded only by unforgiving concrete.

Mandela was a more forgiving soul, even willing to forgive the British for any role they had played in his oppression. He shared a very special relationship with Her Majesty the Queen and is one of a small handful of world leaders who have addressed both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall.

Forever remembered

No man in perfect; no leader without fault.

Mandela himself acknowledged many mistakes he made along the way. But he was, as President Obama said on a visit to Robben Island an ‘extraordinary example of moral courage, kindness and humility.’

Mandela leaves behind his wife, three daughters, seventeen grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren. He also leaves a legacy few will ever surpass; a country reshaped in his image and with billions of admirers around the world. Mandela forced us to think beyond ourselves, to stand up for our principles with eloquence and to forgive. What more could an iconic man like him do?

Lord Bilmoria's tribute to Nelson Mandela Lord Bilmoria paid tribute to Nelson Mandela on Monday 9th December – one of a small number of peers called to address the House of Lords. It is very rare for a foreign Head of State to be honoured in such a way, a mark of the tremendous respect that Mandela carried within both Houses of Parliament.

The speech was very well received amongst all members of the Chamber.

As well as being the only Indian peer to speak, Lord Bilimoria was also the only member who mentioned the close links that Mandela drew between himself and Mahatma Gandhi.

Lord Bilmoria began his tribute with nothing but praise for Mandela.

He said: “If an Indian was travelling through the Free State on his way from Johannesburg to Durban

and his car broke down en route, they would have had to report to the police and would have had to spend the night in gaol! How things have changed thanks to this great man.”

He then began a comparison between Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Ghandi.

He said: “Mandela was a great admirer of Ghandi and often spoke about him.

Mandela said 'India is Gandhi's country of birth; South Africa his country of adoption. He was both an Indian and a South African citizen.' And he also said – 'Both Gandhi and I suffered colonial oppression, and both of us mobilized our respective peoples against governments that violated our freedoms' before adding that Gandhi was no ordinary leader – well, we know that if Gandhi was

able to say it about Nelson Mandela, he would have said the very same words.'

Continuing, he said: “Nelson Mandela was without doubt, alongside Gandhi, one of the two greatest individuals of the past century. What is more, like Gandhi, he didn’t just change his country or inspire his generation.

He inspired the world and what is more, he did not do this just for his generation or for the generations beyond, he did it for the rest of the world for eternity.”

Finally, he ended with his favourite saying of Gandhi, stating it applied more to Mandela than anyone he could have imagined. “Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits form your character, and your character determines your destiny.”

FINANCIAL VOICE

The Law of Attraction

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December2013

Suresh Vagjiani

Sow & Reap A Property Investment Company

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Coming up to Christmas is a time when the property market traditionally slows down. This is what is supposed to happen anyway.

Instead we are having lots of deals which are being pushed into our office even though we’re trying to close the doors for the holiday period; and it’s difficult to say no to a good deal, especially if you have Gujarati blood flowing through your veins.

One of the properties, which we have been almost forced to do, is a Pub not too far from the last deal we have done in Olympia.

It’s bizarrely similar to the last deal we closed only a short distance away from this one.

The property consists of a pub on the ground and lower floors with two floors above which have been used as a residential by the pub owners.

A s wi t h P u b d e a l s i t i s s o m e t i m e s s e n s i t i v e , m e an i n g s o m e t i m e s t h e l e ss e e a n d t h e l o c al p u b l i c d o n o t k n o w t h e p ro p e r t y i s b e i n g s o l d . W i t h t h i s d e a l w e h ad t o d i s c r e t e l y l o o k a r o u n d t h e pr e m i s e s o n l y o n t h e g r o u n d f l o o r , w i t h o u t a l e rt i n g t h e l e s se e o r c u s t o m e r s . O n l y t h e g r o u n d f l o o r c o u l d b e s e e n . T h e u ps t ai r s w i l l g e n e r a l l y h a v e t h e s a m e f l o o r pl at e s , t h o u g h t h e b a s e m e n t s o m e t i m e s c an b e s m al l e r b o t h i n f l o o r si z e a n d h e i g h t .

The square footage looked very dubious to me; it was being sold on the basis it had a 1,350 sq ft area but in my mind this looked too small, though I could have been wrong as it was over crowded.

It will be best in this scenario to get it double-checked just before we’re about to exchange. The property is in a quiet road and has residential on either side of the pub, therefore there’s a chance we’re able to do the whole property into a residential, meaning flats on every floor including the ground and lower ground.

The last deal we had closed is going through the planning motions. Generally it is best with planning to convert a piece of the building at a time rather than the whole lot in one go, so as not to scare the planning department at the council, as generally they don’t like to see too much change in one go.

We will be applying for a mansard on top of the two flats we have already in existence, and then once approved we go back and apply for another floor on top.

This means we hope to have another 4 flats above the existing pub. At a resale price of £750k per flat this will be a good return.

compared to 900. There are many options to this deal. Not simply that we have to purchase, develop and resell; it could be we simply get all the planning in place and then resell the property with the benefit of this. This is the way to make the most money with the least amount of work. For simple paperwork you can look to charge an extra £500k on this property. For the last deal we have had an offer subject to planning for £2m.

It all depends on your game plan and of course your cash flow.

If cash is tight and you do not have regular lumps of money coming in its best you work out ways to release the money from the project early on so you can engage in other deals.

This does not mean you have to resell the property, once planning is in place you can release money by way of a refinance. This may mean all your funds get released from the deal. This is an important angle to look at, as this is what will allow you to progress your level of investments or keep your funds buried in one deal.

T h e s e c o n d d e a l i f i t g o e s t h r o u g h w i l l b e n e f i t f r o m t h e e x pe r i e n c e we w i l l h av e g a i n e d f r o m t h e f i rs t , i t wi l l r i d e t h r o u g h t h e pa t h c l e a r e d b y t h e f i r s t d e a l . W e d o n o t e x p e c t t o h i t an y p o st s o n t h e s e c o n d d e a l .

I t i s a l s o d i f f i c u l t t o pr e d e f i n e e v e r y t h i n g w i t h p r o p e r t y , a s yo u m a y h a v e y o u r p l a n s b u t t h e d e al m ay g o i n a n o t h e r d i r e c t i o n . S o i t i s b e st t o h av e m u l t i p l e p l a n s a n d wo r k o n a l l o f t h e m si m u l t an e o u s l y .

This is an off market deal, it is due to come on the market shortly, because of our relationship we were able to get a bite at the apple early. We had agreed this on Friday, saw the pub on the Saturday (only as a customer), and are currently waiting for contracts to come in with a swift exchange this week.

The price is slightly higher than the similar property we purchased recently, but then the sq ft is claimed to be higher at 1,350

Another deal which we had recently purchased and successfully sold was one in Ealing Broadway which we exchanged for £4.2m and resold for £4.8m. We have been offered another deal just down the road from this one. The deal consists of a retail row of shops with a floor above. The plan here would be to get planning for 1520 flats above the existing property. The precedent has been set by next door who are building four floors.

Whatever deal you do it is likely you will attract more of the same type. One reason is the market, the agents will know you have performed on the deal and know you are a sure bet. So if anything comes up which fits the criteria they will instantly think of you, rather than going for an unknown variable. They like security, people who perform when they say they will and don’t ask unnecessary questions in between.

The other reason is naturally you will be on the lookout for similar properties; you develop a radar for these types of deals once you have done one successfully. Recently we also went to see some blocks in Goldhurst Terrace, having been working on a project there for nearly a year these got blipped on our radar. Three in fact!

Strangely they have all come on the market at the same time.

These looked good on the surface, however on closer inspection two were on the other side of the road, and these were different type of buildings altogether, no bay windows and tiny gardens. The other one came with a short lease and the cost of extension killed any margin in the deal. So we moved on.

The Real Deal

Kensington, London, W14 Purchase Price: £1.5m l A large pub with a great opportunity to develop into residential l Freehold l Can add three flats to the property worth £700k each and keep the pub as it is l The pub can also be converted into residential later on subject to planning permission l Recently we bought a pub a stone throw away from this pub and we already have an offer on, subject to planning.

Call us now to reserve!

0207 993 0103

We provide a turnkey solution. Contact us now:

Specialists in

Central London Property Sourcing

info@sowandreap.co.uk

www.sowandreap.co.uk

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

Follow us online:

Sowandreapuk

SowandReapProperties

Tips of the Week

l "Big will not beat small anymore. It will be the fast beating the slow." Don't be slow in your decisions regarding investments, else you will lose out on great opportunities. In our experience more money is lost in property by investors not making a decision than making the wrong decision.

l Most expenses, such as repairs, agency fees, etc., can be off-set against tax due for Buy To let properties therefore reducing your liability.

Check the HMRC website, there is an amazing amount of helpful information on there.

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FINANCIAL VOICE

Maria Fernandes

India has its way at WTO on food subsidy

maria@abplgroup.com

The Lessons to be Learnt by the Great Master

“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”

Nelson Mandela.

It is befitting to begin this week’s article by paying tribute to the great Nelson Mandela who ended modern day slavery in South Africa. In fact this week the Rev Jesse Jackson was in town and, as he pointed out, democracy even in the US is no more than 40 years old as the right to vote for all only came with an active civil rights movement fairly recently.

We believe that we have moved on, that racism is largely in the past and that we are making progress. It is often said about the immigration debate that it is not about racism but about the fact that services are severely affected by the influx of immigrants. Whilst having my teeth cleaned the other day the hygienist expressed fears about the influx of Romanians and the conversation took a bizarre twist as she literally felt that her neighbourhood would be overrun by these “creatures”.

It demonstrated how the press can whip up afrenzy and create a false sense of fear. The immigration debate, from all political parties has followed this pattern of demonising the newcomers and the law is being used to stoke these fears.

South Africa was able

to wield power by using the law to exclude and divide people. As far as Indians in South Africa were concerned it started with the law.

The Immigration Act of 1906 closed the Cape to Asian men over 16 from abroad and severely restricted their entry from other parts of South Africa.The Prohibition of Marriage Act 1949 forbade marriages between whites and nonwhites. Also in 1949 the South African Citizenship Act was passed in which the Interior Minister reserved the right to grant or withhold citizenship without recourse to the courts. So what does all of this have to do with the UK? The law begins a process of changing behaviour. When seatbelts were first introduced, people were not happy about strapping up but over time it is now unusual to find a driver in a car without a seatbelt. The change in this case was for good. In immigration, rights of appeal are being eroded, both in the lower courts and further up. Laws are being created to force landlords and doctors to check the status of a person and by so doing leading them into a position in which they will exclude anyone they perceive to be “immigrants.” South Africa was able to wield power through the law and because its people were able to look the other way whilst injustices were being perpetrated with impunity.

India-EU trade pact on hold till Lok Sabha poll

Brussels: The long-negotiated ambitious Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and its largest trading partner European Union (EU) will remain in the doldrums till a new government takes over in New Delhi next year.

Top EU officials now virtually acknowledge that further progress on “the few remaining contentious issues” in the proposed FTA, which has missed several deadlines in the past, is highly unlikely with India heading for general elections next year.

EU, which itself will undergo a leadership change in May and is busy negotiating similar pacts with the US and Japan, is willing to wait and watch.

“We are waiting to see the fate of the long-pending Insurance Bill (the UPA

government has being trying for long to raise the FDI cap from 26% to 49% but faced stonewalling by BJP) in the (ongoing) winter session of the Indian Parliament. Insurance is a key deliverable for us,” said an EU official.

Both India and the 28nation bloc agree that the FTA, or the Broadbased Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) as it is formally called, will give a major fillip to the two-way trade (currently around 78 billion euros) as well as bolster the bilateral strategic partnership.

But, despite being in the works since 2007 to remove bilateral trade barriers, the BTIA is finding it tough to surmount the few remaining hurdles in its last lap with both sides unwilling to budge from their respective positions.

In a major victory for India, the WTO on Friday last agreed to allow countries to provide subsidy on staple food crops without any threat of punitive action, a concession that salvaged the current round of world trade talks from the brink of collapse.

After tough negotiations over the past four days in the face of India's unrelenting stand on the food security issue, the 159member World Trade Organization (WTO) reached a historic agreement at Bali that will boost global trade by USD 1 trillion. The deal allows nations such as India to fix a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for farm produce and to sell staple grains to the poor at subsidised rates.

It also permits countries to store foodgrains to meet contingency requirements.

"A great day for India, I am more than happy...India

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December2013

has clinched WTO deal for the farmers and poor of the world," commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma said after the final round of negotiations.

The draft agreement, which will protect the right to food and allow India to go ahead with its USD 20 billion food security scheme, is also expected to be adopted by the plenary.

"It's a victory for Indian farmers and farmers of the developing world. It is also recognition of the right of

developing nations for public stock-holding of food grains to ensure food security for their citizens," Sharma said.

The agreement will come as booster for the WTO, which until Thursday last had failed to make headway with regard to the Doha round of trade talks, pending since 2001.

Sources said the resolute fight put up by Sharma helped in clinching the deal in favour of the poor and subsistence farmers of the developing world.

According to the proposal, all schemes providing support in relation to procurement for public stock-holding programmes for staple food crops will be protected from WTO litigation. "All traditional staple food crops, without any numerical limit, will be covered under the decision.

This decision provides legal certainty and also commits

WTO members to work towards updating the rules under Agreement on Agriculture (AoA)," sources said.

Global trade deal okayed Meanwhile, the members overcame last minute jitters and managed to get Cuba and three of its allies on board for the century’s first trade agreement which has the potential to add $1 trillion to the global economy.

Cuba, along with Bolivia, Nicaragua and Venezuela had blocked the WTO’s move to adopt a deal that will allow developing countries to continue offering subsidies for their food procurement programme.

In addition, a new agreement on trade facilitation to ease controls over flow of goods and services through ports and airports will be in place soon.

Global ratings agency Moody's retained its stable outlook on India's sovereign rating but cautioned that downward pressure could develop if policies that impair growth and fiscal outlook are implemented.

It also listed three other parameters which could exert downward pressure on the rating.

These include any material decline in foreign exchange reserves coverage of external debt or imports, state-owned banks asset quality deterioration or if high inflation persists damaging the fiscal, growth and balance of payments outlook.

The agency also said that the upward pressure on the rating would develop if fiscal metrics and competitiveness indicators improve to levels comparable to Baa3 peers.

"The rating outlook is stable, reflecting our view that the currency, maturity and real interest rates structure of government debt supports the sovereign credit profile during

the period of slower growth, high inflation, currency volatility and political uncertainty, and that the level of foreign exchange reserves is an adequate buffer against balance of payments pressures," it said.

Challenges for India Inc to continue in 2014 Reflecting macroeconomic challenges over the next 12 months, Moody’s expects challenges for Indian non-financial corporates to continue in 2014.

“India’s GDP growth to remain weak at 5.5 per cent in the fiscal year ending March 2015, as elections in mid-2014 will delay reforms needed to revive the economy,” Moody’s Investors Service said in a report.

Companies will also face higher borrowing costs and tight funding conditions with monetary policy likely to remain tight, it said. Moody’s could move to a stable outlook if its GDP growth expectations exceed 6 per cent, the rupee stabilises such that one-year volatil-

ity falls below 5 per cent and a development and reform-focused government is formed with a strong majority, it said.

“Heightened expectation of a scale back of quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve in 2014 to keep the Indian Rupee volatile, making the operating environment more challenging for importers and exporters,” the agency said in its report.

Indian exploration and production companies are likely to continue their acquisition spree to secure the country’s energy needs, it said adding there was substantial headroom under their current ratings for further buys.

A near doubling of gas prices from April 2014 will lift upstream revenues, with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation seeing the largest boost. However, the fuel subsidy burden on the upstream companies may remain high, despite an expected decline in total fuel subsidies, it said.

Moody’s outlook for the sector is stable.

Three global payment processing giants Global Payments, WorldPay and Total System Services (TSYS) are bidding for Axis Bank’s network of more than 200,000 credit and debit card swipe machines valued at Rs 12 billion, or $200million, banking sources familiar with the matter said.

Two largest US processors - Global Payments Inc and TSYS - as well as UK headquartered WorldPay have valued the Axis Bank network slightly below the asking price. WorldPay, formerly a unit of Royal Bank of Scotland, is now majority owned by private equity giants Advent International and Bain Capital.

Axis Bank declined to comment on the news. This could be one of the largest M&A deals in India’s booming electronic payment industry. ICICI Bank sold its network of swipe machines to First Data Corporation for $90 million in 2009.

UBS, Switzerland’s biggest bank, and Britain’s Barclays escaped $4.3 billion in European Union antitrust penalties by being first to inform the watchdog of collusion to rig benchmark interest rates.

UBS, based in Zurich, dodged a 2.5-billion-euro ($3.4-billion) fine, while London-based Barclays avoided a 690-millioneuro penalty, the European Commission said in a statement. It fined six companies a record 1.7 billion euros ($2.3 billion) for rigging euro and yen interest rate derivatives.

Regulators around the world have been probing whether more than a

dozen firms, including JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, colluded to manipulate benchmark interest rates to mask their true cost of borrowing.

UBS paid about $1.5 billion to the US, UK and Swiss regulators last year for trying to rig the London interbank offered rate, while Barclays agreed to pay 290 million pounds ($474.6 million) to resolve the US and UK probes into the matter. Barclays’s chairman Marcus Agius and CEO Robert Diamond left in the wake of the penalty.

The leniency programme is the “main and most effective tool to detect illegal cartels”, the

Brussels-based European Commission said in a separate statement. UBS revealed the existence of cartels in yen interest rate derivatives, such as yen Libor and the Euroyen Tokyo interbank offered rate, or Tibor. The Swiss bank received full immunity for its participation in five of seven infringements the EU uncovered in the period from 2007 to 2010, the commission said.

The company declined to comment on the settlement.

Citigroup, based in New York, avoided an extra 55-million-euro ($75-million) penalty for cooperating on one of the yen infringements in

which it participated, the commission said. The bank was fined 70 million euros ($90 million) for two other instances.

The cartel on euro interest rate derivatives, such as the euro interbank offered rate, or Euribor, operated between September 2005 and May 2008, the commission said. Barclays received immunity for revealing the existence of the cartel, in which it participated for 32 months, according to the statement.

Barclays said in a statement it voluntarily reported the Euribor conduct to the commission and fully cooperated with the investigation.

Anand Sharma

Moody’s retains stable outlook for India

WorldPay vying for Axis Bank’s swipe business

EU fines 6 companies for rate rigging

FINANCIAL VOICE

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December2013

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Foreign Exchange

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

Sterling on the raise against Dollar In the week beginning 2nd December, the pound continued its recent impressive run by trading to its highest level against the US dollar since August 2011 and to its highest level since January this year against the euro.

Data from Hometrack initially supported the move, with the results showing that British house prices increased in all regions of the UK in November for the first time in 6 years. Data from the rest of the week also supported the pound strength with the manufacturing sector expanding at its fastest pace since February 2011 and the construction sector expanding to the highest level in six years amid a revival in the UK housing market.

Data firm Markit reported that the UK Services PMI came in at 60.0, down from October's 16-year high of 62.5. This sector is still expanding and it beats all the major Eurozone countries even though the activity compared to early autumn has eased.

In the Autumn Forecast Statement we saw the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, raise the UK’s

economic growth forecast for 2013 to 1.4% from the 0.6% predicted in March’s Budget.

Also the Bank of England held the interest rate at 0.5% as well as leaving its monthly asset purchasing program at £375bn.

Data from the Eurozone was also positive in the week beginning 2nd December. The manufacturing sector expanded at its fastest pace in more than two years and the Eurozone service sector continued to expand with Germany’s and Spain’s respective sectors leading the way.

The biggest driver of the euro’s recent strength came when the European Central Bank (ECB) refrained from introducing further monetary stimulus in their November monetary policy statement, shortly after announcing that interest rates would stay on hold at 0.25%.

In recent weeks, we have seen the euro weaken following murmurs of negative interest rates being introduced by the ECB. However, despite commenting that they expect inflation to remain low for a prolonged period and thus also the interest rate remaining at 0.25%; euro buyers came back into the market as the ECB gave no indication that negative interest rate will be introduced.

The euro finished at a four week high against the US dollar and a one week high against the pound.

Data from the US impressed also impressed, but unfortunately failed to give the struggling US dollar any relief.

Similarly to the data from the UK, the US’s respective manufacturing, construction and services sectors all expanded beyond expectations All three sectors contributed an impressive economic growth figure from the US. Data showed that the US economy grew at its fastest pace since 2010 to 3.6% from 2.6% in the third quarter eradicating previous thoughts that the 17 day Government shutdown in October would

have a detrimental impact on these figures.

Adding to these, data from the job market continued to impress inciting bets to double that the Federal Reserve may be in a position to reduce their US$85bn monthly bond buying program potentially as early as later this month or even in January.

Payroll processor, ADP, showed that US firms hired 215,000 new workers in November an increase from 185,000 in October. This was followed by figures which revealed that the number of people filing for jobless claims fell unexpectedly by 23,000. All this contributed to the all-important non-farm payroll figure on Friday 6th December, which showed that an additional 203,000 were added in November and also the rate of unemployment fell from 7.3% to 7%.

With regards to the US dollar, investors will be taking a keen interest in the December monetary policy statement to gauge when the Fed will be looking to taper their quantitative easing program.

Weekly Currencies

As of Tuesday 10th December 2013 @ 3.15pm GBP - INR = 100.14 USD - INR = 60.96 EUR - INR = 83.98 GBP - USD = 1.64 GBP - EUR = 1.19

EUR - USD = 1.38 GBP - AED = 6.03

GBP - CAD = 1.74

GBP - NZD = 1.98

GBP - AUD = 1.80

GBP - ZAR = 17.00

GBP - HUF = 358.69

www.rationalfx.com

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

22

FINANCIAL VOICE Financial Voice

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December2013

I write to you after returning from Hong Kong and India. Shopping in India was certainly the cheapest I’ve ever known it. So what of currencies?

Dollar remains pressured even though the Non-Farm Payrolls surprised to the upside, where's the rally?

Friday was good day for Dollar traders as the stronger than expected Non-Farm Payrolls report boosted their confidence over their pro-Dollar positions. The NFP report showed that the US economy added more than 200K jobs the previous month and the unemployment rate fell at 7%.

It's remarkable to note that the Fed had planned to start reducing its asset purchases program this year and end it completely when unemployment hit the 7% mark but here we are and the mark has already been hit. This will definitely bring forth the discussion on tapering in December and indeed we have a number of US policymakers delivering speeches this week so we want to keep an eye on what they have to say.

The Euro and the Pound had a joy ride after the report was released, initially losing ground against the Dollar but eventually they bounced back up to close the day higher. The high-beta currency pairs extended their gains on Monday as investors didn't seem to be moved by the better than expected NFP report on Friday. The Euro was lifted higher to reach 1.3750 and the Cable also formed a new peak at 1.6460.

Even though the fundamentals don't support these losses for the US Dollar it seems that market participants are not yet ready to add to their Dollar positions and prefer to diversify by investing on Euro and Pound's remarkable resilience. So why didn't we see a meltdown in these two currencies since the job data release surprised to the upside?

My view is that investors were careful and didn't want to jump the gun as soon as the figures came out.

The FOMC meeting isn't far away and if the strong recovery in US economics indeed leads the Fed to cut back stimulus then the Dollar will definitely rally then.

But there are reasons for this not to happen as well. One of them is the fact that this will be Bernanke's last decision and many analysts are discussing the view that he might not want to take it upon himself to decide that and instead leave it to his successor to take the burden. Another reason is the fact that the US economy will start facing the budget ceiling issue once again as the new year begins.

Especially the latter one might be reason enough to drive the Fed to stall their tapering decision for yet another month and that combined with the instability and uncertainty the budget talks will cause could drive the Dollar lower. So the lack of a Dollar rally on Friday signals that market participants prefer to better be safe than sorry and wait for Fed to take the initiative and drive the Dollar higher before acting on it.

Rajat Gupta's plea against business partner dismissed

A US court has dismissed a breach of contract lawsuit filed by former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta against his long time friend and business associate Parag Saxena, saying the claims made by him in the complaint are no longer relevant.

US district judge George Daniels said in a December 3 order that New Silk Route CEO Saxena's "motion to dismiss is granted and the action is dismissed as moot. Accordingly the case is closed."

During a hearing in Manhattan federal court, Daniels said, "I have a dim view of the merits of this claim."

The judge said since

Gupta had a representative on the company board that left the original complaint moot. Gupta's lawyer Rishi Bhandari said suit was filed in order to ensure that there was a designee on the board. "If they do anything to impair Gupta's rights, we can still sue to stop them," Bhandari added.

India-born Gupta, convicted last year on insider trading charges, had in March this year filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against Saxena.

Gupta and Saxena had cofounded the private equity firm New Silk Route (NSR) in 2006.

The billion dollar plus investment entreprise focused on South Asia and the Middle East.

DoT okays Vodafone's proposal to increase stake in Indian entity Scorpios Beverages Pvt Ltd is owned by CGP India Investments Ltd, an indirect Mauritian subsidiary of Vodafone International Holdings BV. According to Vodafone’s FIPB application, CGP will buy the 51% stake of the Analjit Singh in Scorpios Beverages to have 100% equity control. This will enable CGP, an indirect subsidiary of Vodafone International Holdings BV, to have indirect equity stake of 24.65% in Vodafone India through the four subsidiaries of Scorpios Beverages.

Vodafone has, in its explanation to DoT, stated due to the holding company structure through which Analjit Singh and Scorpios Beverages hold an indirect interest in Vodafone India, holding company discounts are required to be applied.

These discounts results in lowering the value of

Scorpios Beverages’ indirect interest in Vodafone India, DoT noted in its discussion citing Vodafone’s clarification.

The subsidiaries of Scorpios Beverages which are also being acquired by Vodafone have comparable on account debts, which are also reflected in the Analjit Singh transfer price, it noted.

About 24.65% of Vodafone India is held by Telecom Investments India Pvt Ltd (12.96%), Usha Martin Telematics (6.07%), Omega Telecom Holdings Pvt Ltd (5.11%) and Jaykay Finholding (India) Pvt Ltd (0.51%).

Vodafone, in its application to FIPB, had said that it would buy the 10.97% stake of Piramal Enterprises in Vodafone India through Prime Metals Ltd, a subsidiary of CGP (thus an indirect subsidiary of Vodafone International Holdings BV).

flexible and responsive immigration system. Yet despite rhetoric of international competitiveness, restrictions made by this government on international student migration are already being felt. By refusing visas to foreign students wanting to attend our world class higher education sector, to appease stories about “bogus colleges”, we give strength to their competitors in the Ivy League and undermine our £14 billion a year export industry.”

Lammy called for action to diversify the London economy in order to create jobs and boost growth.

Valerie Vaz visits Small Business Saturday Valerie Vaz MP, Walsall South, marked Small Business Saturday by visiting local traders in

Walsall South. She said: “I marked the first Small Business Saturday to take place in the UK by visiting Small Businesses in Darlaston and in Walsall Town Centre. In Walsall Town Centre I visited Imperial Valeting and Tyres on Walhouse Road.

The co-owners, Yasar Rashid and Majid Zeb, told me that they want lower Business Rates and

more effective enforcement action to be taken a g a i n s t businesses which don’t pay rates or taxes or comply with planning permission and so undercut legitimate businesses.”

“In Darlaston, I went to Nic’s Bargain Flowers and Hire Services on King Street, where I bought Christmas hats. The business was set up by Nicola Henry in August 2012. It provides decorations, chocolate fountains and other goods for parties, weddings and other events. I understand that 30% of start ups are set up by women.”

by grading 145 nations on 11 different factors - property rights, innovation, taxes, technology, corruption, freedom (personal, trade and monetary), red tape, investor protection and stock market performance.

Ireland, which maintains an extremely probusiness environment that has attracted investments by some of the world's biggest companies over the past decade, topped the list, followed by New Zealand which slipped to the second position. Hong Kong was

third for the second straight year.

Scandinavian kingdoms of Denmark (4th) and Sweden (5th) featured highly educated workforce with GDPs per capita among the highest in the world.

"India is developing into an open-market economy", Forbes said, adding that "the outlook for India's medium-term growth is positive due to a young population and corresponding low dependency ratio, healthy savings and investment rates, and increasing

integration into the global economy".

The US business magazine noted, however, that "India has many long-term challenges that it has yet to fully address."

In terms of trade freedom, India was ranked 128 and on monetary freedom basis it was placed at 132nd rank; property rights (55); innovation (39); technology (94); red tape (139); investor protection (32); corruption (86); personal freedom (58); tax burden (122); market performance (75).

Government of India’s Department of Te l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s (DoT) has given a ‘no objection’ to the proposal of British telecom giant Vodafone Plc to raise its stake in the Indian entity, subject to approval from Department of Revenue, Department of External Affairs and the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on the valuation of the company.

Vodafone Plc has sought approval from the FIPB to raise its stake in Vodafone India to 100% from 64.38% at present for an inflow of Rs 101.41 billion as foreign direct investment.

According to a recent discussion of the DoT, the ministry has also noted that the investors and the company (licencee) will have to abide by licencing and security conditions as required, and the orders of the Delhi High Court. The security issues will be veri-

fied by the Ministry of Home Affairs, it added.

The DoT’s decision came based on the clarifications that Vodafone has submitted after the DoT had asked Vodafone to give break-up of the proposed investment of Rs 101.41 billion that it would invest to raise the stake.

According to the DoT discussion, Vodafone will pay Rs 89 billion to Piramal Enterprises for its 10.97% stake in Vodafone India, and Rs 12.41 billion will be paid to Analjit Singh to buy his 51% equity in Scorpios Beverages Pvt Ltd. The remaining 49% of

David Lammy, the Tottenham MP and former Minister for Higher Education and Skills, praised Asian business leaders in a keynote speech on the issue of London’s economy.

Speaking to the Asian Business Association and the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Lammy highlighted the fact that 13% of London’s businesses are Asian-owned and applaud the “drive, innovation and resilience” of the Asian business community.

Lammy also made a strong defence of the importance of immigration to the London economy. He highlighted how the city’s businesses rely on workers from abroad, and said: “Attracting top talent to London means maintaining an efficient,

India has been ranked 98th in the Forbes list of world's best countries for doing business that has cited poverty, corruption and discrimination against girls among the challenges facing the country.

According to the list compiled by the US publication, among the BRIC economies, Brazil was placed higher at the 80th position on the list, followed by Russia (91st), China (94th) and India (98th).

The best countries for business was determined

David Lammy praises Asian Business Association

Doing business: India ranks 98th in Forbes list

WORLD

In Focus

Awami League to go ahead with polls despite opposition boycott

Dhaka: Unfazed by a boycott by the opposition, the Awami League-led alliance has decided to go ahead with the January 5 polls in Bangladesh even as premier Sheikh Hasina asked the armed forces to be ready for any eventuality amid a BNP threat of "tougher" protests. "The election must be held and the constitutional process will have to be continued," a senior Awami League leader quoted Hasina as saying at a meeting of alliance members.

13 killed as violence erupts in Karachi

Karachi: Violence rocked Pakistan's biggest city as 13 people were killed in targeted shootings including five suspected Taliban activists, a Shia scholar and two Moroccan students at a religious seminary. Police said the spate of targeted killings increased when seven people were shot dead in just an hour. Earlier, two foreign students from Morocco studying at a religious seminary were shot dead outside the Makki mosque in the same area as they came out for a stroll while in another targeted killing in North Nazimabad three people were killed in an ambush.

Bangla court clears way for Jamaat leader's execution

Dhaka: Bangladesh's Supreme Court cleared the way for the execution of a senior leader of the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami, three months after it overturned a tribunal's ruling that sentenced him to life for genocide during the 1971 war. The apex court issued the full text of the verdict given in September to award the death penalty to Abdul Quader Mollah, an assistant secretary general of Jamaat, reversing the special tribunal's verdict.

Ravi Shankar gets Grammy nod

Los Angeles: Legendary music maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar has received a posthumous nomination at 56th Grammy Awards with his album ‘The Living Room Sessions Part 2’ in the World Music section. The sitar master, who died last December at the age of 92, won the World Music album award last year for the first part of the album ‘The Living Room Sessions Part 1’, besides being given the lifetime achievement honour, which was received by his daughters Anushka Shankar and Norah Jones. The album consists of three tracks Raga Mishra Kafi, Raga Sindhi Bhairavi and Raga Bhairavi.

'India's Rape Epidemic' among Time Magazine's top 10 stories

Washington: Time magazine has listed "India's Rape Epidemic", about the nationwide uproar over a number of rape incidents, especially following a shocking gang rape in Delhi, as the ninth top world news story of 2013. Mass protests at the time over the shocking gang rape of a woman in a bus in Delhi at the end of 2012, the influential US news magazine noted "demanded greater protection for women and swift justice."

Indian rapist gets six years in jail in Australia

Sydney: An Australian court has sentenced an Indian taxi driver to six years in jail, with a non-parole period of four years, for raping a minor girl last year. County Court Judge Wendy Wilmoth said Nitin Rana, 30, was found guilty by a jury on three counts of rape. The judge said Rana had preyed on the teenager when the girl was in such an intoxicated state that she could not sit up straight in the taxi or even fasten her seat belt.

Thai PM dissolves parliament, calls elections

Bangkok: Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said on Monday she would dissolve the lower house of parliament and call elections in an attempt to calm the country's deepening political crisis. Yingluck's announcement came as thousands of anti-government protesters began marching through Bangkok in a "final showdown" against her government.

Kashmir can trigger another IndiaPak war: Nawaz Sharif

Islamabad: Kashmir is a flashpoint that can trigger a fourth war between Pakistan and India anytime, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said, seeking an early settlement of the issue. He also said he had a dream of seeing Indian Kashmir free and hoped to see it happen during his lifetime. "Kashmir is a flashpoint and can trigger a fourth war between the two nuclear powers at anytime," he was quoted as saying by the Dawn daily in his brief address to the budget session of the 'Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Council' in Pak-occupied Kashmir.

23

Anti-Modi resolution loses traction in US House

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December2013

Washington: With the victory of Bharatiya Janata Party in assembly elections in four Indian states, a controversial resolution critical of the party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is losing traction in the US Congress.

Spearheading the effort to derail the resolution is US India Political Action Committee, an Indian American pressure group decrying it as "intended to influence India's upcoming elections by focusing on the 2002 Gujarat riots some 11 years after the incident".

The House resolution 417 introduced last month

by Republican members Joe Pitts and Frank Wolf while praising "India's rich religious diversity and commitment to tolerance and equality" commends the US government for denying a visa to Modi "on the grounds of egregious religious freedom violations".

It also "urges all political parties and religious

Islamabad: The Pakistani Taliban has said it would target journalists and media organisations for "fabricating" the statement of its spokesperson asking news outlets not to pay tribute to cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar on his retirement.

The shura council of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, headed by its new chief Mullah Fazlullah, decided to attack the journalists and media organisations which had carried statement of their spokesman Shahidullah Shahid regarding Tendulkar and

organisations to publicly oppose the exploitation of religious differences and denounce harassment and violence against religious minorities, especially in the run-up to India's general elections in 2014".

Over the weekend, Ed Royce, influential Republican Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, to which the resolution was referred, issued a statement at the behest of USINPAC saying it "weakens, rather than strengthens, the friendship between the US and India".

"The resolution runs counter to all the hard

work that the American people, particularly those in the Indian American community, have done to improve the relationship," he said.

As committee chairman, Royce said he was "focused on the critically important relationship between the US and India". "Our two nations share many common values and strategic interests.

India plays a central role in the Asia-Pacific region, and we must do our part to ensure that India is a centrepiece of America's rebalance to Asia," he stated.

A couple of days earlier, Steve Chabot, Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, withdrew his name as an original cosponsor of the resolution.

While Royce and Chabot did not mention Modi in their statements, Eni Faleomavaega, the top Democrat on the subcommittee on Asia and the

Pacific, criticised the resolution for "failing to note that India's Supreme Court has found no evidence against Modi".

The House resolution "purports to praise India's rich religious diversity and commitment to tolerance and equality while reaffirming the need to protect the rights and freedom of religious minorities," he noted.

"However, rather than praising India, the Resolution focuses on the 2002 Gujarat riots some 11 years after the incident while failing to note that India's Supreme Court has found no evidence against Modi."

"From now until the elections in India," USINPAC said it "will spare no effort in making sure the US Congress does not intentionally or unintentionally influence the outcome of India's upcoming elections".

"India is a sovereign nation and its citizens have a right to choose their leaders," it added.

Pakistani cricket team captain Misbah-ul-Haq. "In Tuesday's meeting, we decided to target journalists and media organisations which twisted the recent statement of Shahidullah Shahid and tried to tarnish Taliban's image nationally and internationally," an unnamed senior Taliban leader and member of the shura was quoted as saying. "The task has been given to a select group of people within the Taliban to collect information about the journalists and media organisations who fabricated statement

of the spokesman," he said.

An initial clipped video of the TTP spokesperson was circulated on social media networks which showed TTP spokesperson criticising the Pakistani media over its coverage of Tendulkar.

However, a longer video with his full remarks showed that he was not criticising the media but saying that those opposed to referring to dead militants as martyrs are like persons who do not want Tendulkar to be praised because he is an Indian.

Even after the emer-

gence of the full video, some local and many international media continued to report that Taliban had warned Pakistani media for the coverage of Tendulkar.

In another development, TTP's Fazlullah removed senior commander Asmatullah Shaheen Bhittani as the chief of the banned group's central shura in a bid to make his grip stronger over the Pakistani Taliban, the report said In his place, Fazlullah has appointed his deputy Sheikh Khalid Haqqani as the new chief of central shura.

tions it would be wise to put our problems directly to concerned international and national forums wherever possible.

I, along with the executive council of WCRP raised the issue regarding Middle East not allowing churches, temples and other non Islamic worshipping places. After three years of persuasion, permission was verbally given by Middle East authorities to construct palaces of worship. Thus a church and a gurudwara have already been built in Dubai. Planning for a Hindu Sanatan temple is

already on hand in Dubai and other Middle East countries.

This encouraged me to take issue injustices and harassments prevailing toward Hindu religion and its followers. It is necessary to take issues to right forums to put our views of Hindus.

During the Religions for Peace World Conference recently in Austria-Vienna, Hindus from different countries agreed to my point of view in tackling the same. The purpose of this mail is not to publicize myself but to bring awareness to Hindus for taking right decision rather than giving good speeches in forums.

If you disagree to this idea then pass this message to other Hindus for upholding our beloved religion. I hope to get your comments on the subject.

- Muljibhai Pindolia, Founder President-Hindu Council of Africa and Honouraly President and Trustee-World Conference on Religions for Peace International.

Narendra Modi

Pak Taliban to target media over false report on Sachin

Upholding Hindu religion and its culture

With my dedications in serving Hindu religion and its culture for more than 50 years, I wish to convey my experience in upholding of the religion and culture where lot is being talked by Sants, religions leaders, politicians etc but very little action is being taken when others are deliberately harming the Hindu religion.

We keep on holding conferences, seminars etc for publicity, but no action is taken to get intended results. This is my experience after attending many forums in various parts of the globe, particularly in India, Africa, Europe, Middle East, Asia, America and other countries.

During my participation in World Conference on Religions for Peace (WCRP) as co-president since 7 years and trustee since 4 years, I am hearing other religion’s good words contrary to their actions harming Hindu religion by destroying Hindu temples, condemn-

ing worshipping idols, deliberate conversion and harassment to youth, girls and women. I found Hindu voice very negligible in giving actual picture. Thus, Hindu leaders’ voices are being taken for granted by other religion as per my opinion.

I tried to put this concern in many forums. In January 2013 at New Delhi, I put same concerns with some organizations claiming to be World Hindu bodies but to date no action has been taken after 11 months. Thus I thought in coordination with our Hindu organiza-

24

INDIA

South

BJP to invite Yeddyurappa to rejoin party

With the Lok Sabha elections just five months away, the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to formally invite former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to rejoin the party. Sources said that party president Rajnath Singh has already informed state leaders Ananth Kumar and Eshwarappa about the decision. A formal announcement in this regard will be made by Karnataka BJP chief Prahlad Joshi later.

11 prisoners escape from mental hospital

In a scene straight out of a Telugu potboiler, 11 prison ward patients of the Institute of Mental Health at Erragadda managed to escape by making a hole in the ward's wall.

However, police managed to nab eight of the culprits. On the day they escaped, one of the patients with the support of other inmates in the prison ward started creating havoc in the ward by burning case sheet files. After the entire ward was engulfed in smoke, the inmates created a hole in the thick wall and escaped through it.

Shoot-at-sight order to kill man-eater tiger

The forest department in Karnataka issued shoot-at-sight orders to put an end to the man-eater menacing Bandipur and Nagarahole ranges. It mauled four persons in this region recently. Forests minister B Ramanath Rai said that forest and police personnel have launched a hunt for the tiger.

"Principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) and forest secretary are camping in Bandipur area to assess the situation. The department has ordered that the tiger be shot at sight," he said.

Punjab

Four suffer burns following acid attack

A woman suffered burns when an unidentified youth threw acid on her inside a salon in Ludhiana's Saraba Nagar locality, police said.

Three others were also injured in the attack and were rushed to a hospital. "We are trying to identify the accused. We will make arrests soon," an officer said. The attack took place when the woman was getting ready for her wedding. The assailant entered the salon on the pretext of delivering some papers and fled after throwing acid on the victim, police said.

World heritage status sought for Chandigarh

The UT administration is seeking Unesco world heritage status for Chandigarh and will now send a trans-national nomination, in collaboration with France, Belgium, Argentina and Switzerland. This is expected to brighten the chances of Chandigarh making it to the list of world heritage sites. It was in 2008 that UT had sent a trans-national nomination along with France with Le Corbusier as the common theme. After that, no nomination has been sent for the coveted status in all these years by the administration. After a formal decision to send an official nomination from Chandigarh to the Archeological Survey of India (ASI), the nodal agency for heritage status in India, this time, the tourism department has already written to it, seeking assistance in drafting its case.

Haryana govt chargesheets Khemka

Senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka has been chargesheeted by the Haryana government for cancelling the mutation of the Rs 580 million land deal between Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra and realty giant DLF. The cancellation of the land deal's mutation was done in October last.

Khemka was served the chargesheet at his official residence while he was away in New Delhi. "The chargesheet was delivered at my residence to my son as I was away. I will file a reply," Khemka said.

AIADMK posts record win in Yercaud by-poll

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December2013

AIADMK won the Yercaud assembly by-poll with a record margin of 78,116 votes, providing a morale boost for its cadre ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, on Sunday.

AIADMK's P Saroja got 1,42,771 of the 2.14 lakh votes polled, while DMK's V Maran got 64,655 votes. All the nine independents who contested the election lost their deposit.

As AIADMK men across the state celebrated with fireworks and sweets, an elated Tamil Nadu chief minister and party chief Jayalalithaa said the by-poll result was an endorsement of her government's welfare policy.

Thanking the voters of Yercaud and congratulating party workers, leaders and

ministers, Jayalalithaa said, "Our government has been implementing many welfare schemes in the past two-anda-half years. Voters have welcomed and recognised the work done by the government, which is following MGR's path."

Jaya reshuffles cabinet for 13th time

In yet another cabinet reshuffle, the Tamil Nadu government on Monday replaced sports and youth welfare minister K V Ramalingam with R B Udhaya Kumar, representing the Sattur assembly constituency. It has been just one month since Ramalingam was shifted to the youth welfare ministry from public works department.

An official statement from the Raj Bhavan said the changes in the portfolios followed recommendation of chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

The swearing-in ceremony of the new minister will be held at Raj Bhavan on Wednesday.

Environment and pollution control ministry, hitherto held by M C Sampath, has been allotted to Thoppu N D Venkatachalam.

Sampath is now designat-

Jayalalithaa

ed as minister of commercial taxes and registration, hitherto held by B V Ramana.

Revenue, district revenue establishment, deputy collectors, weights and measures, debt relief, including legislation on money lending, chits and registration of companies, hitherto held by Thoppu N D Venkatachalam, have been allocated to B V Ramana.

Jayalalithaa has reshuffled her cabinet 13 times after assuming office in May 2011.

Portal for gurdwara jobs launched

In a first of its kind initiative to provide a platform to Sikh youths to find jobs in foreign gurdwaras a web portal was launched to provide information on vacancies for granthis, ragis, pathis, langris, sewadars etc in gurdwaras across the globe.

It has been designed by a Mohali resident, Amrit Pal Singh. A post-graduate in business administration, it took him over nine years to develop the portal which contains information and contact details of over 1,000 gurdwaras.

Amrit said besides promotion of idea of Sikhism in the world, the website will serve as a boon for scores of Sikh youths, who are routinely being lured by travel agents of providing them jobs in foreign gurdwaras but eventually land up jobless in foreign countries.

Stating that the website would provide service free of cost, Amrit said numerous gurdwaras all over the world always require capable and efficient staff like ragis, pathis, granthis, langri, sewadar, katha vachak, computer operators, librarian, cashier, supervisor and man-

agers.

"However, there are a large number of trained and talented people who want to serve in oversea gurdwaras but are unaware of the vacancies.

So this portal will provide them the platform for gurdwara managements worldwide to choose competent staff from the list of resumes posted by the job seekers and to post their vacancies to invite applications worldwide," said Amrit, whose portal was launched at Fatehgarh Sahib. Asked as to what prompted him to develop the portal, Amrit said while working in Singapore, he had encountered several trained ragis, katha vachaks and ragi Sikh youths, who were cheated by Punjabbased travel agents by promising them jobs in Singapore gurdwaras.

DMK, the only other party to contest the by-poll, failed to mobilise the opposition vote bank or effectively exploit issues like power shortage in the state.

The Yercaud by-poll registered a few highs, including a record turnout of 89.24% for

any election in the state, and a huge victory margin for the AIADMK candidate. The bypoll was necessitated following the death of her husband and AIADMK MLA C Perumal.

Acknowledging the influence of her mentor and AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran, Jayalalithaa evoked his name while thanking voters and cadre. In a press release, she said, "MGR created this movement. It will continue to be a political force." She urged cadre to keep up the momentum and aim to win all Lok Sabha seats in the state. "Only if we win in Tamil Nadu for the Lok Sabha elections can we contribute for better governance at the Centre," she said.

Waste iron and divine soil collected from nearly 29,000 villages of Karnataka will be used in building the Sardar Patel’s Statue of Unity in Gujarat.

Gujarat energy minister Saurabhbhai patel, who was in Bangalore to promote the programme said the iron needed for the statue would be collected from farmers by BJP party workers from December 15 in the form of used farming tools from across the country.

"This is a symbolic gesture of participation from all villages in the country for building the statue. The entire process of collecting the scrap metal would be completed by January 26," Patel said.

Along with materials, he said they would also collect

a letter signed by the senior villagers describing anticipating for good governance.

Patel claimed the statue project was "apolitical" and it has nothing to do in promoting Narendra Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate.

Later, Patel met governor H R Bhardwaj to seek his support for the programme.

Run for Unity On December 15, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Rashtriya Ekta Trust which is headed

by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi will be organizing a 'Run for Unity' across the country. In Karnataka, the marathon will be held in 28 towns and cities including Bangalore, Mysore, Hubli-Dharwad, Mangalore, Belgaum.

A professor of Panipat district, Rohit Anand has recorded his name in "Asia Book of Records." According to Anand, who is working as an Assistant Professor in NC College of Engineering, Israna, he had made the consecutive renditions of the Indian National Anthem most number of times -655 times nonstop in 10 hours - on July 21 in front of the adjudicators of the India book of Records in Gurgaon. He had broken the earlier record of Srinivasa Vasu of Tirupati district Andhra Pradesh who had sung the Indian National Anthem 610 times non-stop on December 27, 2011, said

Anand. Rohit Anand had applied for the Asia book of Records (ABR) in September 2013 which was approved by ABR in October, 2013. ABR has handed over an appreciation record certificate with a memento to Rohit Anand in November 2013.

ABR (whose head office is in USA and regional office is in Faridabad) is a collection of amazing Asian Records mainly in those fields which are generally not included in any organized kind of sport.

After making this record in India book of Records and Asia book of Records, Rohit Anand is now aiming for the Limca Records.

Punjab chief minister Prakash Singh Badal marked his birthday by inaugurating the Rajpura thermal power. Badal senior credited his son and deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal for implementing "new ideas to showcase Punjab as the major investment destination." Earlier, speaking on the occasion, Sukhbir Badal appreciated the chief minister by saying that it was only due to "farsighted

thinking" of the chief minister that Punjab could manage to become a power surplus state.

Stating that beginning of power generation from Rajpura plant was a gift for Punjabis on the 86th birthday of the country's "great political stalwart", Sukhbir said from now onwards, besides catering to power needs of the state, Punjab would also sell power, like wheat and paddy, to other states.

Karnataka to contribute in a big way for Sardar's statue

Haryana professor's name in Asia Book of Records

Badal gifts thermal plant

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December2013

Election Analysis

Recent assembly elections in the five Indian states Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Mizoram were seen as a Semi-Final between two leading political parties i.e. Indian National Congress (INC) and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of general elections slated in mid 2014. Though results clearly indicate BJP wave in the country, but both the major parties need to learn lesson.

Of the five states, results of Mizoram assembly were bygone conclusion. As expected, ruling Congress comfortably emerged victorious in the state with 33 out of 40 seats in the state. Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla will form government for the fifth term. In the North-Eastern state, more than 80 per cent voters are Christians and there church plays important role in voting pattern.

Obviously, BJP has not yet opened its account in Mizoram.

However the other four states have been battlegrounds where the Congress and the BJP were in direct confrontation in successive elections. Delhi was with the Congress for 15 years at a stretch under Sheila Dixit. Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were with the BJP for the past 10 years. Rajasthan has traditional voting pattern of anti-incumbency.

Most interesting battle was at Delhi. Voters in the country National Capital clearly abandoned the Congress, but at the same time did not end up in the BJP’s hand. The newly formed Aam Admi Party (AAP) under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal emerged as third powerful force. Just 11 months old AAP’s emergence has created a new situation. Its campaign against corruption has evoked a good response in towns and cities across the country.

As the Delhi voting figures indicate, both Congress as well as BJP are not immune from its effect. In the 70-member Legislative Assembly, BJP emerged as largest party with 31 seats followed by AAP 28, while Congress reduced to just eight seats and others three.

Analysts says distribution of rice at subsidized price to poor families in Chhattisgarh has done the trick for the Chief Minister Raman Singh, under whose leadership BJP emerged victorious for the third consecutive term. Of the 90 constituencies, BJP captured 49, Congress 39 and others two. In fact Congress got benefit of a sympathy wave following this year’s Naxal attack killing Chhattisgarh’s top Congress leadership, helped the party win eight of the 12 seats in the worst Left-wing extremism-affected Bastar region in the Assembly polls.

Undoubtedly, it was BJP’s landslide victory in Rajasthan where out of 199 seats, BJP won 162 to reduce arch rival Congress to mere 21.

Despite Rahul Gandhi’s public rallies in the state Congress miserably failed to fetch votes. Even maverick tribal leader Kirori Lal Meena’s attempt through the National People’s Party (NPP) to attract large chunk of Meena community voter failed.

Factors including good governance, development and personality of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan were good enough for thumping victory of BJP in Madhya Pradesh. Of the 230seats, BJP won 165, Congress 58 and others seven. For the first time, BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi addressed huge numbers of rallies in four out of five election bound states.

Modi effect was evident to turn the tide in favour of BJP. Thin attendance in Rahul Gandhi’s rallies is of big worry for Congress establishment.

Even before vote counting BJP election machinery was in full swing. Their aim is to have outright majority in Lok Sabha. They are aware of the challenges as there are several states in Southern and North Eastern states where BJP has yet to open the score.

It is also encouraging for them looking to the reception Narendra Modi received in Banglore, Tamilnadu, Patna and Kolkata.

Besides, public rallies,

social media, TV and door to door canvassing are becoming increasingly important in modern election campaigning. At the same time, clear vision of development agenda, clean image, administrative experience, have also helped. Just few months back BJP party cadre were reluctant to endorse Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate. Now they have recongnised the potential of Narendra Modi.

Internal strife within BJP is almost very little and it is increasingly becoming apparent in the Congress and its allies.

The foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi and family domination are also becoming the issues for the self respecting Indians who fail to understand how one family can control a national party so effectively. In any democracy a strong opposition is very important. BJP as a national party and inclined to takeover power in May 2014, on the other hand the Congress is becoming more and weaker. Its presence is shrinking in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Oddisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. Unless honest soul searching and corrective measure s are taken immediately, the future for the Congress party is looking very bleak indeed.

Though, BJP has a better prospect, more emphasis needed on alternative policies for critical problems of India. The people are completely up to their neck with a lack of vision and good governance, omnipresent corruption, inflation and constantly rising prices.

Issues of terrorism within the country and dangers lurking across the borders are of equal importance.

Besides, time bound program would be important rather than mere promises. Launching of projects wouldn’t be sufficient but efficient implementations are the need of the time.

Modi has shown Gujarat with positive environment. The results of four states elections are in his favour. We are confident he will be able to rise to the occasion.

- CB

After a crushing defeat in Rajasthan, MP Chhattisgar and Delhi, Congress managed facesaver of sorts on Monday winning 30 of the 39 seats fo Mizoram assembly and leading in two more.

The opposition Mizo National Front, which once wanted to take Mizoram out of the Indian Union, is a distant second with five seats and leads in two.

It’s

Congress’s fourth electoral victory after Mizoram attained statehood in 1987.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, vice-president Rahul and PM Manmohan Singh were key campaigners for the November 25 election, considered the cleanest in the country with the church playing the role of poll watchdog.

MNF’s partner,

Mizoram People’s Conference, won just one seat. Congress’s victory was attributed to chief minister Lal Thanhawla’s populist measures like sops to farmers.

Repolling has been ordered at Tialdawngilung in Lawngtla East constituency on December 11 due to EVM glitches.

Results will be out on December 12.

Cold comfort for Cong in Mizoram

INDIA

25

I take my opponents very seriously, says Manmohan Singh

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday disagreed with those in the Congress who were dismissive of the challenge posed by Narendra Modi but asserted that the party would approach the 2014 Lok Sabha polls with selfconfidence, irrespective of the results of the just concluded elections in five states.

"As it is an organised party, we cannot underestimate the power of opposition to unsettle the ship of the state. Therefore, I am one of those who take very seriously our opponents.

There is no room for complacency," he said.

The Prime Minister was answering questions after delivering the keynote address at the 11th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here.

Earlier in his address, Singh also criticised those who try to accuse the entire political class of being corrupt and spread cynicism.

"Over the past two years, some well meaning and concerned citizens tried to spread cynicism by accusing the entire political class of being corrupt and anti-people. Many began to suggest that democracy had not served India well.

They attacked the institu-

tion of Parliament by refusing to respect Parliament's judgment," he said while asking the people to look at the "big picture".

Exit polls have predicted rout for Congress in the assembly polls to Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh when counting of votes takes place on Sunday. Counting of votes for Mizoram will also take place the same day.

Notwithstanding the poll projections, the Prime Minister said, "Congress party is going to the elections with the spirit of selfconfidence and that should not be mistaken whatever may be the outcome of the provincial elections."

He was asked about different views among his cabinet colleagues, one of

whom has stated that the challenge posed by Modi should be taken seriously while another has dismissed the challenge posed

by BJP's prime ministerial candidate.

The Prime Minister rejected a poser that the Communal Violence Bill is a vote-catching gimmick and said the government's effort is to ensure that if riots can't be prevented, there should be adequate compensation for the victims.

"It is not a vote-catching gimmick.....What happened in Muzaffarnagar and some other parts of our country is a reminder that although as a country, we can take pride in our ability to protect all the people, yet there are times when aberrations take place," he said. "This bill, if it is passed by Parliament, will help to control those aberrations," he added.

Singh noted that in the last five or six years, the country has been been grappling with the problem of communal riots in some part or the other.

"And our effort has been to create an environment where officers would have the responsibility to look after the law and order situation as effectively as is humanly possible.

Hours after the arrival in Mumbai of two directors of UK-listed firm Hirco Plc that had earlier this year sued builder Niranjan Hiranandani and his daughter for allegedly defrauding it, the foreign visitors' publicists were hauled up by the Mumbai police's cyber crime cell for sending out emails inviting the media for an interaction with the two.

The team of publicists spent almost seven hours at the crime branch on Monday and has been asked to come back on Tuesday to answer more questions. The police say they acted on a complaint received from Hiranandani's lawyers alleging that "some people" were trying to malign the family's name by sending out malicious emails to the public.

The directors, Peter Barge and John Chapman say they are in Mumbai to meet lawyers and the media to clear the air about their company Hirco Plc's role in the trouble-ridden projects of the Hirco group in India.

Barge and Chapman started with their meetings in a coffee shop of a five-star hotel at Parel. They claimed that they were being followed and moved the meetings to their room on the 24th floor.

Hirco Plc was an

investment company that was formed in 2006 to invest in certain real estate projects to be sourced by Hiranandani, his wife, and entities controlled by them.

Hiranandani was the company's Chairman at the time of its inception and his daughter Priya Hiranandani Vandrevala, its CEO. Barge said Hirco Plc invested 350 million pounds in two Mauritiusbased entities by subscribing to preference shares issued by the companies.

These companies in turn invested the money in two township projects in Panvel and Chennai which, according to Barge, were controlled by Hiranandani-controlled companies. The loans which were taken for the projects were defaulted on, and both projects have been foreclosed by lenders. "Hirco Plc has received no interest or dividends from their investments, as was agreed upon earlier. We wanted to make it plain that we are just financial investors and are not in charge of sale of units in the project," said Mr. Barge.

"This case is being watched closely by global investors who are thinking of investing in the Indian real estate market,

" said Chapman.

In February this year Hirco Plc sued Niranjan Hiranandani and Priya Hiranandani in the Isle of Man alleging that they had committed fraud and other misconduct prior to their resignation as Chairman and CEO in 2010. The claim seeks damages of almost £220 million. The case is also under arbitration in Singapore.

"We have no clue where our money went.

Other than our investments, money was also raised from the banks.

Plus several millions were raised by selling real estate to home buyers," said Barge.

Ever since Hiranandani's resignation from Hirco Plc, the Hiranandani Group "is not connected with the Hirco projects in any way and these projects are neither controlled nor developed by the Hiranandani Group," said a statement from Hiranandani Constructions. "We have realised that Hirco is spreading lies through its false, defamatory and baseless statements. We have consequently complained regarding the same to the police," Bipin Gajra, Manager- PR, H i r a n a n d a n i Constructions Pvt Ltd, said.

Manmohan Singh

Publicists of UK-listed firm that sued Hiranandanis hauled up

26

INDIA

3 states bring Modi closer to Delhi

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December2013

How BJP taunted Diggy Raja to turn the tables on Cong

The BJP leadership had reason to cheer as the last results trickled in. A strong saffron showing in all four states that went to polls will be seen to have boosted the prospects of its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan are all perceived as strongholds of BJP and the party needed to win these states to bolster its claims of being the frontrunner for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Though the party has fallen just short in Delhi, the collapse of Congress brightens BJP’s chances ahead of the national election.

RSS’s organizational strengths too are seen to be significant in these Hindi heartland states. Winning here can help BJP win allies, overcoming reservations of regional parties about Modi’s Gujarat riots’ baggage.

Sunday’s impressive win the three states and a near-win Delhi, coming after 15 years, has worked as a big morale-booster for BJP before the Lok Sabha elections

BJP seemed to be teetering Chhattisgarh till late Sunday after noon but the final win will be grati fying.

A loss in Chhattisgarh would have dented BJP’s claim that states ruled by it beat incumbency on the basis of good governance.

The Maoist-hit state is also an ideological battleground as Con gress had vigorously challenged BJP’s claims on peace and security arguing tribals had not supported the government’s policies.

BJP, having named Modi as its PM candidate, has set its eyes on the central government in New Delhi. The chances for that would have weakened if BJP had slipped in any of its strongholds. For un less it is able to keep its home turf under control, there is no question of gaining new ground for the par ty that unlike Congress does not ex ist in all states.

Sunday’s victory also brings into play the Modi factor for BJP while each state, except Delhi had its own icons like Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Raman Singh and Vasundhara Raje.

Having “exiled” himself out of Madhya Pradesh politics in 2003, former CM Digvijay Singh’s supporters hoped he would pull off a credible show against a BJP government battling double antiincumbency. But Digvijay hadn’t planned for BJP turning the tables on him, and once again turning his CM tenure into one of its propaganda planks.

The BJP election committee, meeting for the first time on June 25, zeroed in on its tested and winning slogan: ‘Mr Bantadhar Vs Mr Karndhar’ (Mr TopsyTurvy referring to Digvijay and Mr Doer for Shivraj Singh Chouhan).

It clicked with voters.

“This had paid rich dividends in 2003 and 2008 and still packed enough punch to knock off the rival camp,” BJP incharge of MP Ananth Kumar said.

Party workers went door-to-door and compared ‘Raja saab’ (Diggy) with ‘paonpaon wale bhaiya’ (Chouhan, who campaigned barefoot). In

Continued from page 1 the nation. Born just a year ago out of an anticorruption movement which was derided by a Union minister as the “tyranny of the unelected and unelectable” - AAP has inspired an electoral revolution in the Capital.

Kejriwal in his own New Delhi constituency has got more votes than Congress CM Sheila Dikshit and the BJP candidate put together.

Clearly, a lot of voters are disgusted with established political parties.

Can this spread to other cities? Is India witnessing its own version of the Arab Spring? The cynics and the sceptics will dismiss such an idea. But remember, till a few months ago, no one was giving Kejriwal and his team even one seat, far less 28 Delhi arguably threw up the biggest winners and losers of this round of assembly polls, but at the end of it all it may not have a government in the foreseeable future. AAP made a spectacular debut winning 28 seats, BJP was the single-largest party with 32, and Congress was reduced to just eight.

But none of them seems to have a realistic chance of cobbling together a majority in the 70-member assembly.

While Lt Governor Najeeb Jung is expected to invite BJP to form a government, it is unlikely to accept, having fallen four short of a majority.

BJP’s chief ministerial

candidate Harsh Vardhan said, “I can’t be part of any government formation as I do not have the numbers. We can’t fulfill the promises we made to the voters. I feel helpless.”

With sources indicating that the BJP central leadership is serious about sitting it out, chances of a spell of central rule in Delhi look very high. Aam Aadmi Party has already ruled out allying with either Congress or BJP. The stalemate carries the possibility of the city state facing another election, possibly along with the LS polls.

In any case, BJP’s options are limited. One independent, Rambir Shokeen, a party rebel, has offered support. That would take the tally to 33.

In a "semi-final" verdict ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the BJP retained Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, snatched Rajasthan from the Congress. So humiliating was the Congress rout in three places in Chhattisgarh alone it put up a fight. Congress managed a face saver of sorts on Monday by winning 30 of 39 seats in Mizoram assembly. A sombre looking Congress president Sonia Gandhi said that the outcome "calls for deep introspection." "We have to understand to look at the many reasons for this defeat," she said, as leader after leader, looking despondent,

sought to argue that the results were no reflection of the national mood. The victorious Bharatiya Janata Party disagreed.

BJP MP Smriti Irani said the anti-Congress wave betrayed the popular mood against the party's top leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. "This vote is not only due to bad policies, corruption and inflation but also against Sonia and Rahul Gandhi," she said.

The BJP's best showing came in Rajasthan, where it bounced back to power after five years, sweeping a record 162 seats in the 200-member house and leaving the Congress limping with only 21 seats.

It was the worst result for Congress in Rajasthan, far less than the 41 it won in the postEmergency 1977 election.

In Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan led the BJP to a facile third victory. The party won 166 seats in the 230-member assembly, up from the 143 it won in 2008. In contrast, the Congress tally slumped from 71 to 57.

The BJP huffed and puffed before snatching victory from a fighting Congress in Chhattisgarh, with Chief Minister Raman Singh claiming victory after eight hours of nail-biting suspense.

The BJP ended up with 49 of the 90 seats one less than last time.

The Congress settled for 39 - one more than in 2008.

It's Modi magic all the way

BJP wins Surat West by-election

his tours Chouhan himself kept repeating how Digvijay had messed up Madhya Pradesh as CM and how he was still struggling to undo all the damage the ex-CM had done.

Chouhan sang the same theme during his Jan Ashirvad jamboorees – mammoth public meetings across 230 constituencies. All he had to do was ask people to recall Digvijay’s 10-year rule during which MP sank deeper into Bimaru status and compared it with his emphasis on good governance and

development.

During his twophase Jan Ashirwad Yatra, Chouhan covered around 8,000 km in two months.

His speeches had twin themes: A eulogy of his government’s welfare measures and denunciation of scandals that marked Diggy’s 10-year rule.

He reminded people of the “dark” days when Digvijay decentralized power through a corrupt panchayat raj system, when he sacked 28,000 daily wagers, never invested a paisa on roads or drinking water. Capping all this was Digvijay’s somewhat arrogant assertion that suited Lalu Prasad’s rhetoric more than Congress’s: that development did not win elections.

Digvijay did try to keep a low profi le and confined himself to media bytes and tweets. But public memory, at least in MP, hasn’t proved short.

Ruling BJP retained its Surat West Assembly constituency seat for which by-election was held on December 4.

BJP's Candidate Purnesh Modi defeated his congress rival Dl Patel by a huge margin of 66,274 votes.

As expected in a no contest situation Modi polled 86,029 votes against Patel's 19,755 votes.

2307 voters rejected all the candidates by pressing Nota button on EVM. This is the sixth time in succession that Surat West constituency has returned BJP candidate from Modh Vanik Community.

State CM and BJP's Prime ministerial candidate for 2014 Loksabha too belongs to the same community. With this win BJP has wrested all 12 city assembly seats and the Congress white wash is complete.

The bye election to Surat west was required after the un timely death of sitting MLA Kishore Wankawala.

The erstwhile royals of Rajasthan, led by Vasundhara Raje, are back in action in the state.

Elections this time have launched the political career of Diya Kumari, a protégé of Vasundhara Raje and step-granddaughter of the late Rajmata Gayatri Devi of Jaipur. She won her maiden election battle from Sawai Madhopur against Kirori Lal Meena, leader of National People’s Party, by a margin of 7,532 votes.

Narendra Modi, on his first day on the campaign

trail in the state, had addressed a rally for Diya Kumari in Sawai Madhopur where he reminded her ancestor Sawai Madho Singh had founded the town.

BJP’s Siddhi Kumari won a second term in Bikaner by a margin of 31,677 votes. Accused of neglecting her constituency, she managed to get a ticket again because of her proximity to Raje who disregarded the wishes of the screening committee, say sources.

BJP’s Kirti Kumari

from the Mandalgarh royal family has won Mandalgarh by a margin of 18,540 votes. Despite the odds, Vishvendra Singh of Congress, scion of former Jat royal family of Bharatpur, beat BJP stalwart Digamber Singh by 11,162 votes. Singh and his wife Divya had joined Congress in 2008 after quitting BJP. Among the prominent losers is Aimamuddin Ahmed Khan, erstwhile nawab of Loharu from Tijara and health minister in the Gehlot cabinet.

Digvijay Singh

Ex-royals hold their fort in battle for Rajasthan

Will give Delhi a government, but no horse trading: BJP

A day after election results threw up a hung assembly for Delhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday said it would try its "level best" to give a government to the people though it would not resort to horse trading.

"It is our responsibility to give a popular government to the people of Delhi. We will find a solution and try our level best to give an alternative to the people of Delhi by forming a government under the leadership of Harsh Vardhan," former BJP president Nitin Gadkari, who was also the party's in-charge for the Delhi elections, told a news channel here.

Asked whether the BJP was mulling over drawing

Harsh Vardhan

support from the debutant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), he said: "This question does not arise, neither there is any proposal from their side."

The party's chief ministerial candidate for Delhi, Harsh Vardhan added that the party would not resort to horse trading to form the government.

"As we don't have

majority, we are not thinking about forming the government. If the other parties are not ready to form an alliance with us, we won't disturb them or resort to horse trading," Harsh Vardhan told a news channel here.

The BJP got 32 seats, including one seat won by its ally Akali Dal, and the AAP won 28 of Delhi's 70 assembly seats. The BJP needed to win 36 seats to cross the halfway mark in Delhi to earn a majority and form the government.

The Congress, ruling the national capital for the past 15 years, was routed and reduced to just eight seats.

The Janata Dal-United and an Independent candidate got one seat each.

INDIA - WORLD

‘Run for Unity’ - An event to unite a nation full of diversity

Mayuri Dave It is now a well-known fact that Gujarat is set to build the world’s tallest statue. Promoted by government of Gujarat under the leadership of Narendra Modi, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, ‘Statue of Unity’ project has already become a subject of discussion.

As a curtain raiser to the Statue of Unity movement, Gujarat Chief Minister is now planning a unique event ‘Run for Unity’ across the country in more than 1,000 locations that too simultaneously on December

via video conferencing to the participants and spectators across the nation that includes 29 states and six Union Territories. The run – projected as mini Marathon – and has been ranging from 3 to 5 km as per the convenience of local organizers.

Sources close to the development said that Modi’s speech would be less political and focused on good governance and importance of unity in the d e v el o p m e n t of country.

The project

Statue of Unity – India’s Pride, world’s marvel

“Sardar Patel brought the nation together and this tribute, the Statue of Unity, will bring the country national pride” – this is the vision behind the creation of the World’s tallest statue in Gujarat. The unique initiative of the Gujarat government aims at building the182 meter tall statue.

Once constructed, the statue will be double the height of ‘The Statue of Liberty’ in New York, five times bigger than ‘Christ the Redeemer’ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and 29 meters taller than current tallest statue ‘Spring Temple Buddha’ in China.

It is being erected at the Sardar Sarovar Dam site on Sadhu Bet (island) on the Narmda River. The grand monument will be placed directly facing the Narmda Dam. The statue will be able to get a panoramic view of the picturesque surrounding from a height of almost 400 feet. A monument, that will not just be a mute memorial like the rest, but a fully functional, purpose-serving tribute that will boost tourism and facilitate development in the surrounding tribal areas.

15, to mark Sardar Patel’s 63rd death anniversary.

“This unprecedented event will witness more than 1500,000 people running simultaneously across multiple locations in India. This historic run will unite the country in paying fitting tribute to Sardar Patel, the Iron Man of India, who integrated 565 princely states with independent India,” said a senior official associated with the Run for Unity project.

Interestingly, on the same day, Modi will reach to over 1,000 locations simultaneously across India using video conferencing facility and give inspirational speech.

The main program of the event will be organized at Vadodara in Gujarat, where Modi himself remain present and flag off the run at 8 am. Before the start of the run, he would make an inspirational speech

is designed in such a way that anybody over the age of 12 can participate in the run. For senior citizens and families, the Unity March has also been organized at all locations. Also a special event has been organized for physically challenged people.

Sources said that before the flagging off ceremony, a short film on Sardar Patel and the World’s tallest ‘Statue of Unity’ will be shown to all the participants as well as spectators across the country.

Subsequently, Modi will address the participants to encourage them to participate in the run.

Though Modi is expected to speak in Hindi, arrangements have also been made to translate his speech in local languages in certain states, especially in selected locations in Southern and NorthEastern states.

27

Indian worker's death sparks violence in Singapore

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December 2013

Singapore prosecutors will charge 24 Indian workers for taking part in the citystate's first riot in more than 40 years, police said. The men face jail terms of up to 10 years plus caning for charges of rioting with dangerous weapons in the hour-long fracas on Sunday night following the death of an Indian worker in a bus accident. They were among 400 people involved in the rampage that saw 39 police and civil defence staff injured, and 25 vehicles damaged or torched.

Two Bangladeshis, an Indian national and a Singapore permanent resident initially arrested were released after investigations showed they were not involved in the riot, police said.

The 55-year-old Singaporean bus driver who killed construction worker Sakthivel Kumaravelu, 33, has been released on bail after being arrested for causing death by a negligent act, police said.

Meanwhile, national hand wringing over the incident, Singapore's first riot since racial disturbances in 1969, continued with

authorities calling for calm and warning against stoking racial hatred amid online attacks against foreign workers in the city-state.

The Southeast Asian nation of 5.4 million people is one of the wealthiest places in the world but depends heavily on guest workers, with labourers from South Asia dominating sectors like construction.

"The riot was an isolated incident arising from the unlawful actions of an unruly mob reacting to a fatal traffic accident," Prime

Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a statement on Monday.

"We must not allow this bad incident to tarnish our views of the foreign worker community here."

Lee also ordered the formation of a special committee to be convened by the interior ministry to review the factors that led to the riot, as well as existing measures to manage areas where foreign workers congregate.

S Iswaran, the citystate's second minister for

the interior, said there would be a ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol in the area where the riot broke out this weekend, amid signs that "alcohol consumption was a contributory factor".

Bloggers and civil activists urged authorities to investigate whether the violence on Sunday was an indication of wider discontent among poorly paid migrant workers, many of whom also put up with poor living conditions in dormitories.

Ordinary people doing extraordinary things for the benefit of Shishukunj

The wonderful thing about the members of Shishukunj is that they do not believe that any challenge is too great to overcome. Having spent more than 35 years in London influencing the lives of more than 5,000 children – Shishukunj has now decided to re-develop its headquarters to extend and enhance its offering to children as well as the wider community. Why you might ask? The simple answer is that they believe that they can do more and so they must do more.

Shishukunj is seeking to raise £850,000 to fund the renovation works.

Fundraising on that scale would intimidate the most visionary members of any charity – however with its typical enthusiasm and diversity the members of Shishukunj have set out to overcome this latest challenge.

In September of this year a group of 18 adults (10 women and 8 men) aged 45 to 65 set out to overcome Mount Everest’s Base Camp. A seven- day trek that would take the group from lush green landscapes to snowcapped mountains at an altitude of 5,364m is not to be taken lightly.

Furthermore the group consisted of one member with severe diabetes and a number of others with a range of physical ailments.

Members of the group at Base Camp

Only 4 of the group, are active members of Shishukunj, the rest are well-wishers who had heard of the charity and believe in its cause.

After seven days of gruelling conditions including weather that prevented their planes from taking off, average night time temperatures of -2 degrees (with no heating!) and being attacked by leeches - the team completed their challenge.

Such is the spirit of the group that as they were missing the Navratri celebrations at home, they decided to do garba along the way despite being short of breath. What makes their achievement that much more impressive is the fact that the day after they completed the trek they learnt that 9 unfortunate souls had been killed at Base Camp due to the adverse weath-

er. Having been inspired by the determination of this group to raise money for Shishukunj – a younger group of 20somethings decided to take on Peru’s Macchu Picchu in October. After four days of torrential rain, searing heat, smelly clothes and cold showers the group of seven made it to the city of the Inca kings.

This journey, although made by a younger team was still

arduous in that even the fittest members of the group suffered from altitude sickness and the constant buzzing of mosquitos resulted in some dreadful bites.

One might be moved to ask – how did they endure such experiences?

However if you ask each member of either group they will respond with the same statement – the work we are doing for children gives us the strength to go on. Such is the spirit that Shishukunj fosters amongst its supporters that obstacles and challenges are overcome with grit, determination and a smiling face.

What makes the achievements even more magnificent is that the two groups together raised a phenomenal £25,000 for charity. The message to take away for everyone is simple – it doesn’t matter what your mind thinks it can do – reach for the stars and you might just get there.

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December2013

Madhur Bhandarkar honoured in Russia

ational award-winning filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar was honoured by N Indian ambassador to Russia Ajai

Malhotra in Moscow for his contribution to Indian cinema. He was in Russia to attend "The Indian Film Week in Russia25th Nov 2013 to 3rd Dec 2013" organised by the Indian Embassy, Moscow in association with the Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Center, Moscow. Two of Bhandarkar's films “Heroine” and “Page 3” were also screened during the film week.

Amitabh, Rekha together in new Yash Raj film?

umour has it that Yash Raj Films has signed R Rekha and Amitabh

Bachchan for a new film.

The details of the film aren't known yet but this comes as great news to fans who have discussed this possibility threadbare. They were last seen together in a film – “Silsila” - 30 years ago. From what we hear it was Aditya Chopra himself who convinced the two to sign the film. So far no filmmakers have been able to persuade them to star together. The film industry has always speculated about Amitabh's purported affair with Rekha at the time of filming “Silsila.” The couple has always denied it. Whether rumours about the affair are true or not, the couple shares great chemistry on screen.

Kareena and Saif to move to 480 mn house!

o live like royalty even in a city like Mumbai, Saif and T his wife Kareena Kapoor have

decided to spend Rs 48 million to buy a four floor apartment and call it home.

According to reports, Saif and Kareena have bought four floors of a building in Bandra opposite their current apartment. Apparently each floor has a 3BHK apartment that covers an area of 3,000 sq feet each and every apartment is worth Rs 120 million making Saifeena's new home worth Rs 480 million.

Irrfan Khan to play an Arab in Brazilian film

B

ollywood actor Irrfan had the singular honour of working in two of the most successful multi-Oscar winning international projects – “Slumdog Millionaire” and “The Life Of Pi.” Irrfan's latest challenge is his biggest to date. For a Brazilian film that he has said yes to, the actor would be learning how to speak Arabic. When asked about the film, Irrfan said, "It's too early to reveal any details. But it's a Brazilian film. And I play an Arabic character. So yes, I'll have to learn Arabic from scratch.But I am hoping it wouldn't be so difficult to do since it belongs to the same linguistic family as Hindi and Urdu."

Taapsee likes Ajith more than Rajinikanth!

T

aapsee Pannu, who is basking in the success of “Arrambam,” has praised Ajith Kumar to heavens. The actress has shared her wonderful working experience in the Tamil movie with the Thala. The actress has also said that she likes the Thala more than Tamil superstar Rajinikanth. Speaking to a leading daily, Taapsee Pannu has said that she is bowled

over by the simplicity of Ajith Kumar. She has picked a few qualities of the Thala, which has impressed her a lot. The 26-year-old likes the way the Thala treats the people around him. "He is so humble. Be it the sweeper or the film's producer, the warmth with which he greets everyone on the sets and otherwise, is the same. He makes sure everyone around him is made comfortable," Taapse said.

Tamil actor Arvind Swamy set to return to Bollywood 'R

oja' fame Tamil actor Arvind Swamy is set to return to Bollywood with Mahesh Manjrekar's untitled bilingual project. "My next film will be a bilingual in Hindi and Tamil. It's a film that will be directed by Mahesh Manjrekar. (I) will let you know about the other artists as soon as the casting is finalised," posted Arvind, who played the male lead in the successful film 'Bombay', on his Twitter page. He was also seen in the 1998 Hindi movie 'Saat Rang Ke Sapne'. Arvind, who had bid adieu to his acting career seven years back, returned with Mani R a t n a m directed Tamil ro m a n t i c drama 'Kadal' earlier this year.

I am underrated as an actor: Shahid Kapoor A

ctor Shahid Kapoor laments that Bollywood applies the yardstick of film's success at box office results to consider one as a good actor.

Shahid, who is striving for a big hit, has so far managed to deliver only three - 'Ishq Vishk' (2003), 'Vivah' (2006), 'Jab We Met' (2007) - in his career of 20 films spanning ten years. "I agree when others say I am underrated as an actor...

When you give super-hit films then only you are considered as a good actor.

At least that is how it is there in our industry. I think you need to be successful to be appreciated," Shahid said.

Salman is a bigger star than me: Aamir Khan B

ollywood perfectionist Aamir Khan said that superstar Salman Khan is a bigger star than him.

The actor acknowledged that his 'Andaz Apna Apna' co-star is more popular than him. Aamir Khan said: "Salman Khan is my friend and also a bigger star than me. I prepare so much but he does not need to do that. He will shake his belt, move his goggles and that's enough for the success of his films. I feel happy about it." Aamir, who is all set for the release of his action film 'Dhoom 3' (December 20), revealed that he spent two years learning tap-dancing, body building and gymnastics for the film!

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December 2013

Hansika Motwani confesses to dating Simbu!

S

outh actors Hansika Motwani and Simbu aka STR admitted that they are in a relationship, finally clearing the air on their much talked about relationship. The couple is seen in two Tamil movies together – “Vaalu” and “Vettai Mannan” and developed fondness for each other on the sets.

Hansika had made the ‘we’re just friends’ statement just a couple of days ago.

Wonder what caused the change of stance!

STR, m e a n while, has been involved in a few Kollywood romances.

Hope this one’s forever!

It does seem so, with STR’s father Vijaya T Rajender saying that he has no qualms accepting Hansika as his daughterin-law.

Hansika was a child star on Hindi television in soaps such as “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi” and “Des Mein Nikla Hoga Chand.” She was also seen in Hrithik Roshan film “Koi Mil Gaya” as a kid and later debut as female lead in Bollywood in Himesh Reshammiya’s movie “Aap Ka Surroor.” After a few more movies, she headed to the South. She has acted in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films.

Anushka turns producer

nushka Sharma, who turned producer with Navdeep Singh's upcoming film A 'NH 10', is going out of her way to stick to

the film's budget. The actress, who also plays the lead in the film, has given herself a big pay cut; she will only charge onethird of her market price to star in the film. The 25-year-old will also forego the producer's fee.

A source close to the development said, "Anushka likes the script, so she decided to take these big cuts. In turn, she will share profits subject to their realisation." Apart from 'NH 10', Anushka has two other films, Rajkumar Hirani's 'P.K'. and Anurag Kashyap's 'Bombay Velvet'. When contacted, Anushka's spokesperson confirmed the story.

Bipasha Basu to launch her accessories line

ollywood actress Bipasha Basu is the latest celebrity to venture in the entrepreneur arena! After having successfully launched her fitness CDs, she has now stepped into B fashion space by launching her own accessory line through an online store named 'trun-

klabel.com'.

Talking about the same, Bipasha Basu said that after venturing into fitness, she wanted to touch upon the fashion aspect by starting with accessories. She will be launching belts, jewellery and bags which can be purchased through a dedicated website online.

The reason that she stated for starting an online 'store' is because one can log on according to one's convenience. She added that stores are an age-old concept but online is the way forward, through which one can reach out to many people.

Meanwhile, the buzz is also around the release of her third fitness DVD named 'Unleashed', which will be released this month.

Dad hasn't accepted that I can have girlfriends: Ranbir

ollywood heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor may B have girls drooling all over him, but his

father Rishi Kapoor still hasn't come to terms with him having a girlfriend.

The 31-year-old Kapoor scion, who is reportedly dating Katrina Kaif talked about his camaraderie with his dad while chatting on Karan Johar's celebrity talk show Koffee With Karan.

When Karan asked him what is he (Rishi) like with your girlfriends, Ranbir said: "I don't think he has come to terms with the fact that his son can have a girlfriend. I don't think he is ready to accept, in way oh aaja let's have a meal together."

On being asked if he feels awkward introducing his girlfriend to his dad, the young star first said: "I don't know."

He then quickly added: "Maybe I am awkward, so I am putting it on him. I never really tried to (get together) for a dinner with a girlfriend with my parents. Maybe I should try sometime soon." However, Ranbir admitted that his mother is comparatively at ease with his girlfriends.

Vidya Balan caught begging

ollywood's brave and bold actress Vidya Balan can pull off any character and role, given to her. Well, that's what we believe after having a sneak peak at the current B picture of Vidya Balan disguised as a beggar, that's doing the rounds. And this avatar is

for her upcoming film “Bobby Jasoos,” produced by Dia Mirza's Born Free Entertainment.

Vidya looks so convincing in the garb of a beggar that you would initially miss to recognize the talented actor. You would rather deem it to be yet another character from the film. Well, call it Vidya's confident portrayal or her flawless greasepaint, it certainly catches your attention.

As Vidya is playing a lady detective in the film, it seems the actress will be seen donning myriad avatars, as is seen in the case of detectives!

Well, it seems, after seducing and making the tinsel town men drool over her with her 'dirty' acts, Vidya is set to do some hardcore jasoosi here. So beware of this new jasoos actress!

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UK

Jain network hosts special Christmas lunch

Top row L to R: Dr Natubhai Shah; Mr Pritam Lal, Indian High Commision; Cllr Bobby Thomas, Mayor of Brent; Cllr Nana Asante, Mayor of Harrow.

Bottom row L to R: MP Mike Freer; Andrew Dismore, Member of London Assembly; MP Barry Gardiner; MP Matthew Offord.

Jain Network hosted a special Christmas lunch on 1st Dec at its Jain Centre in Colindale.

Musical entertainment added to the festivities.

Dr Natubhai Shah, Chairman/CEO of Jain Network welcomed all guests including Mayors of Barnet, Brent & Harrow, MPs, notable public figures, local community and interfaith members. Lord Popat conveyed his congratulations to Jain Network for

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December2013

South Asian charities win high profile UK Award London-based Stars Foundation have announced the winners of its prestigious 2013 Impact Awards.

Recipients were selected in recognition of their excellence in the provision of frontline services to disadvantaged children.

Three of the eight awards have been won by extraordinary charities in India and Nepal.

In Nepal, the charity Pokhara-based Child Welfare Scheme Nepal (CSWN) improves access to education and protecting children and young people in western Nepal from exploitation. Despite progress, Nepal remains one of the poorest countries in the world.

Over the years, the Stars Foundation has supported 58 outstanding

encouraging community cohesion through such an event.

Jain Network is developing a beautiful temple and an all-community centre on its present premises. For further details, contact the office on 020 8200 0828 or visit www.jainnetwork.com.

Brick donations for the new Jain Centre were made by some of the guests including MPs and Councillors.

Coming Events

l Thursday 12th December 2013 – Music and Dance: Kaleidoscope – Celebrating 100 years of Indian Cinema by Nrityakala The Rhythm from 6.30pm at The Nehru Centre, 8 South Audley Street, London W1K 1HF. Contact: 020 7491 3567. l Friday 13th December – Christmas party at Jaspar Centre, Former Harrow Magistrates Court, Rosslyn Crescent, Harrow, HA1 2SU from 1pm – 4pm. Contact: 020 8861 1207. l Sunday 15th December – Bhajan Bhojan at South Meadow Lane, Preston PR1 8JN from 9.30am – 5pm. Contact: 01772 253 901. l Tuesday 31st December – New Year's Eve Dinner and Dance with Live DJ at C & L Country Club from 8pm till late. Contact: 020 8845 5662. l Tuesday 31st December – New Year's Eve Dinner and Dance with live DJ-Raj at Cavendish Banqueting Suite, Edgware Road, Colindale, from 8pm till late. Contact: 020 8452 5590. l Hindu Forum of Britain has organised a condolence meeting to grieve for the demise of Shri Arjanbhai Vekaria on Sunday 15 Dec, 6-7:30pm at Shree Sanatan Hindu Mandir, Ealing Road Editor: CB Patel Associate Editor: Rupanjana Dutta Tel: 020 7749 4098 - Email: rupanjana.dutta@abplgroup.com Editorial Executive: Tanveer Mann Tel: 020 7749 4010 - Email: tanveer.mann@abplgroup.com Senior News Editor: Dhiren Katwa Freelance Correspondent: Rudy Otter Chief Operating Officer: Liji George Tel: 020 7749 4013 Email: george@abplgroup.com Chief Financial Officer: Surendra Patel Tel: 020 7749 4093 Mobile: 07875 229 220 Email: surendra.patel@abplgroup.com Chief Accountant: Akshay Desai Tel: 020 7749 4087 Email:accounts@abplgroup.com Business Manager: Alka Shah Tel: 020 7749 4002 - Mobile: 07944 151 893 Email: alka.shah@abplgroup.com Advertising Manager: Kishor Parmar Tel: 020 7749 4095 - Mobile: 07875 229 088 Email: kishor.parmar@abplgroup.com Business Development Managers: Rovin J George - Email: rovin.george@abplgroup.com Tel: 020 7749 4097 - Mobile: 07875 229 219 Nihir Shah - Email: nihir.shah@abplgroup.com Tel: 020 7749 4089 - Mobile: 07875 229 111 Urja Patel - Email: urja.patel@abplgroup.com Kalpesh Shah Tel: 07539 88 66 44 Email: kalpesh.shah@abplgroup.com Graphic Designers: Harish Dahya & Ajay Kumar Tel: 020 7749 4086 Email: graphics@abplgroup.com Customer Service: Ragini Nayak Tel: 020 7749 4080 - Email: support@abplgroup.com (BPO) AB Publication (India) Pvt. Ltd. 207 Shalibhadra Complex, Opp. Jain Derasar, Nr. Nehru Nagar Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad.

Tel / Fax: +91 79 2646 5960 Bureau Chief: Nilesh Parmar (M) +91 94266 36912 Email: nilesh.parmar@abplgroup.com

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20

If lately you have had all sorts of demands being placed on you from all sides, don't despair; take some time out to reflect. Try and work out where you want to make changes in your busy life. Once you know, don't hesitate to implement it systematically. A tremendous amount of planetary activity in your chart signals a time of mixed emotions as well as personal issues to be dealt with.

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 Long-term partnerships are reinvigorated by Sun's transit of your solar 8th house. Whether you’re single or attached you’ll have a busy time ahead of you. Business partnerships are tested by Saturn’s placement in your seventh house. Some of them could challenge your authority.

The more you live up to your own set of principles the more cash you’ll pull in.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 You will be pleased to see that your social life livens up during this week. It is as if a lucky twist of events and something unexpected that will provide you with a key to your heart's desire. There is a definite expansive trend where money is concerned, so do not be surprised if this turns out be a time of fortunate opportunities and lucky breaks.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22 Jupiter is in its retrograde phase in your sign, promoting a new cycle that will force you to slow down and reflect on your past achievements and future goals. It is now time to take stock, consolidate and plan ahead. The art of making haste slowly should therefore be cultivated for it will be only too easy to allow other people to rush you.

In India, the charity Mobile Creches for working Mothers’ Children reaches out to thousands of children living in squalid and unsafe conditions in and around construction sites in Delhi and Gram Vikas works to eradicate open defecation in villages across the Indian state of Orissa.

organisations working in 24 countries, reaching two million people.

Founding Patrons include former President Bill Clinton and Her Majesty Queen Rania AlAbdullah.

An awards ceremony will be hosted at Kensington Palace on 14 December 2013.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

The Sun illuminates your fifth house. After a period of “nesting”, you are coming out of your shell, ready to express yourself creatively.

You are feeling inspired and romantically you express your feelings quite openly now. You instinctively know how to place yourself in the best light in order to make a good impression on others.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23 Your inborn drive to be always pushing ahead receives added impetus during this week. Your energy levels will be high and you will find much scope for taking fresh initiatives and getting fast results - something that always makes you feel good. Your communications are well lit up but you have to ensure that you do not upset people around you with your brashness.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23 An inspiring boost to matters of communication but make sure your curiosity on a range of topics does not lead to a scattering of mental energy. With a surge of enery and enthusiasm, this is a favourable time to make fresh starts. Personal relationships may be more intense, though this may also demand some heavy sacrifices of personal freedom.

Consulting Editor: Bhupatbhai Parekh, Ahmedabad, Gujarat Tel: +91 79 2630 4142 Urvashi Jagadeesan (India) Mumbai: Kanti Bhatt, Hemraj Shah (Jumbo Advertiser) Horizon Advertising & Marketing: 205, Shalibhadra Complex, Opp. Jain Derasar,Nr. Nehru Nagar Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad. Tel / Fax: +91 79 2646 5960 Email: horizon.marketing@abplgroup.com Business Manager: Hardik Shah (M) +91 99250 42936 Email: hardik.shah@abplgroup.com Advertising Manager: Neeta Patel (Vadodara) M: +91 98255 11702 Email: neeta_abplgroup@yahoo.co.in Assistant Marketing Manager: Manish Shah (Vadodara) M: +91 96876 06824 Email: manish.shah@abplgroup.com Assistant Marketing Manager: Krunal Shah (Ahmedabad) M: +91 98243 67146 Email: krunal.shah@abplgroup.com Business Co-ordinator: Shrijit Rajan M: +91 98798 82312 Email: shrijit.rajan@abplgroup.com Prashant Chanchal (Rajkot) M: +91 98250 35635 International Advertisement Representative: Jain Group (South India) Tel: +91 44 42041122/3/4 Fax: +91 44 25362973 Mumbai: +91 222471 4122 Email: jain@jaingroup.net Delhi Office: Tel: +91 44 9311581597

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SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22 Your horizons have most certainly being expanding. Jupiter in the area of your chart ruling long-distance travel and philosophical thoughts will make your mind run wild. With Venus transiting your networking sector, there will be many romantic opportunities. Your financial affairs are looking up. Do not miss out on opportunities coming your way.

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21 Your communications are all-abuzz with planetary energies firing you up preventing you from sleeping properly. Give yourself plenty of physical outlets to drain off some of the excess mental stimulation. The Sun in your sign will make you feel like you can finally settle into a more grounded and steady routine instead of letting your schedule run you.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20 Your charisma, appearance and self-expression are to the forefront.

Spontaneity of expression is what this transit is about.

Increased energy and a renewed feeling of confidence is with you now, so take advantage. There's nothing wrong with achieving your personal goals, it's time to carve your own path in life.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19 For those seeking amorous experience, the prospect could not be much more favourable - the fates are truly smiling upon you!

Although the very practical affairs of life continue to be highlighted, this does not mean that there will be all work and no play. In fact, you will be very much in demand socially.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20 Career-wise you cannot go wrong provided you do not act in a way that threatens other people's egos. An ambition that you have been striving for over the past year is likely to come to fruition which could mean promotion and a boost in status and reputation soon. Play your cards right and you can pull strings in you favour.

SPORT WORLD

S Africa take unassailable lead over India

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December2013

Openers Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla smashed centuries as South Africa walloped India by 134 runs in a rain-reduced one-day international at a subdued Kingsmead in Durban on Sunday.

South Africa's win gave them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, being played in honour of former South African president Nelson Mandela who died on Thursday aged 95.

The game was reduced to 49 overs a side but de Kock (106 from 118 balls) and Amla (100 from 117 balls) lifted the atmosphere with a magnificent 194-run opening stand that helped the home side reach 280 for six having been inserted by India.

India never recovered from a poor start, slipping to 34 for four in the ninth over, as the South African fast bowlers found life in the pitch that visitors could not. India were bowled out for 146 in 35.1 overs.

The 20-year-old de Kock showed more of his prodigious talent, following up his century in the first match at the Wanderers with another entertaining ton, even if this one was less fluent on a slower pitch.

Amla became the fastest player to reach 4,000 one-

day international runs when he took his score to 59, passing the milestone in his 84th match (81 innings), improving the previous best of West Indian great Viv Richards who took 96 matches (88 innings).

Mohammed Shami was again the pick of the Indian bowlers, with three for 48 in eight overs.

Only Suresh Raina (36) offered any real resistance, the India batting line-up skittled for a below-par score for the second time.

Lonwabe Tsotsobe was the pick of the home bowlers with figures of four for 25 and Dale Steyn was also in top form with three for 17 in seven overs.

India overwhelmed in first ODI A swashbuckling century at better than a run-a-ball from Quinton de Kock helped South Africa to a massive 141-run victory over India in the first oneday international played at The Wanderers earlier.

De Kock's career-best 135 came off 121 balls and included 18 fours and three sixes as he helped catapult the Proteas to 358 for four in their 50 overs after being sent in to bat by India.

South Africa were playing in a pink kit in support of a cancer charity, but looked red hot in the field as they restricted the tourists to 217 all out in 41 overs on

a lively track perfectly suited to their all-pace attack.

Left-handed 20-year-old De Kock and Hashim Amla (65) put on 152 for the first wicket for South Africa before the innings exploded into life in the final 15 overs.

AB de Villiers plundered 77 from 47 balls, including four sixes, and JP Duminy was not out 59 from 29 balls.

The pair put on 105 in 46 balls for the fourth wicket as they dispatched the bowling to all parts.

India slipped to 65 for four in their reply as their innings stuttered along, not helped by the run outs of Rohit Sharma, who took 43 balls to score his 18, and Suresh Raina (14).

Dale Steyn (three for 25 in eight overs) was ferocious in his opening spell, but it was Ryan McLaren (three for 49) who put India on the back foot when he picked up Virat Kohli (31) and Yuvraj Singh (0) within three deliveries.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni provided some late innings entertainment with a fine 65 from 71 balls, but the wickets continued to tumble around him and when he was bowled by Steyn to leave India nine down, their faint hopes evaporated.

Obeying International Olympic Committee diktats, a defiant Indian Olympic Association finally agreed to modify its constitution and hold fresh elections on February 9, minus tainted officials like Lalit Bhanot and Abhey Singh Chautala. In its general body meeting in New Delhi on Sunday, the IOA agreed to follow IOC guidelines in order to return to the Olympic family. India were derecognized in December 2012 after the IOC ruled IOA elections as "null and void".

In December 2012, the IOC rejected IOA elections observing government interference in a vote that could result in a tainted official taking over as secretary-general. "They are not entitled to have elections and if for some reason they go ahead, this will not be

recognized," said the IOC's Pere Miro, in charge of relations with national Olympic committees in December last year. "This is because this is part of a full problem. The election process has been tarnished since the origin. Many different interferences, many governmental rules and their own bad interpretation of IOA statutes," Miro had said.

Citing the law of the land, the IOA had repeatedly failed to accept IOC guidelines of good governance. But with their backs to the wall and de-recognition looming, the IOA on Sunday finally agreed to amend its constitution and elect a fresh set of officebearers, minus chargedframed officials like president Abhey Singh Chautala and secretary-general Lalit Bhanot, who was jailed for corruption in the 2010

Commonwealth Games.

However, Bhanot and Chautala can contest elections later after clearing their names from the IOA's Ethics Commission.

Speaking to the media on Sunday, Chautala, whose position as IOA president was unacceptable to the IOC, said: "We have done this only for the sake of the country and our athletes. We still don't agree to the IOC's chargesheet clause, because that is not the law of our country. You can check with all IOA members, we did this only after pressure from the IOC. This is only why we have agreed to amend our constitution." A five-member Indian delegation will soon meet new IOC president Thomas Bach, Chautala said.

India faced the ultimate humiliation of being kicked

out of the Olympic movement unless the IOA kept tainted officials out of its ranks. In an interview, new IOC chief Bach had said that IOC "is prepared to withdraw recognition of the IOA if it fails to comply with rules of good governance" by Tuesday, a punishment that would leave the world's second most populous nation out of all Olympic competitions.

"It's about the principles," Bach said. "Good governance for the IOC is a key issue. We need to be strict and to make sure the rules of good governance are being applied." If India is thrown out, it would be the first time a country has been kicked out of the Olympic movement since South Africa were expelled for their racial segregation policies more than 40 years ago.

Indian Olympic Association to drop tainted officials

BCCI demands greater share from ICC revenue

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has demanded greater share of revenue made by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The BCCI said it was a “just” and “legitimate” demand and would try to convince the ICC’s board of members comprising the 10-Test playing nations.

BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel said: “Our share should be proper and just. BCCI will always raise the question, which so far has not been done. It is for the first time that we have thought of this after studying all the data and financial research of ICC. Patel said the BCCI is confident that the demand will accepted, “The members will support because it is a question of legitimate support.

Unfortunately, no one has raised this issue in the past. BCCI has, for the first time in the history of ICC and as a full member of the ICC, put forward such a legitimate issue through president Srinivasan.” Asked if BCCI will use its financial muscle to get it done, Patel said: “It is not muscle twisting but our legitimate issue. There are a lot of options that are being discussed. It is not an absolute percentage share or something.”

In the ICC’s profit-sharing model, 75 per cent of the profits are equally divided among full-member nations like India, Australia, Sri Lanka, England, Pakistan, New Zealand, West Indies, South Africa and Zimbabwe, while the remaining 25 per cent is distributed among the associate members.

Waqar, Gilchrist inducted into ICC's Hall of Fame

Pakistan's pace bowling great Waqar Younis and former Australian wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist were on Monday inducted into cricket's Hall of Fame, the International Cricket Council said.

Waqar joins Hanif Mohammad and former team-mates Imran Khan, Javed Miandad and Wasim Akram as the Pakistanis in the exclusive club. Gilchrist will be the 19th Australian male inductee, the ICC said.

Waqar will be honoured by the governing body during the Twenty20 international between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Dubai, while Gilchrist will be feted during the third Ashes Test in Perth on Friday. Waqar claimed 373 wickets in 87 Tests and 416 wickets in 262 one-day internationals before retiring after the 2003 World Cup. He now works as a television commentator.

"It's a huge honour for me," said the 42-yearold Waqar. "I'm truly grateful to the people who've considered me worthy of such an honour."

Gilchrist, also a prolific batsman, was a three-time World Cup winner in 1999, 2003 and 2007. He played 96 Tests during a 12-year career that ended in 2008, making 5,570 runs and claiming 416 dismissals behind the stumps.

In 287 one-day internationals, he scored 9,619 runs and dismissed 472 batsmen. "I am delighted to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, and to be doing it in front of my home crowd on the first day of the third Test will be a very special occasion for me and my family," Gilchrist, 42, said in the same statement.

Stricter norms to hire cricketers in IPL auction

The watchdogs are out and operation clean-up is well and truly on to save India’s biggest cricketing brand. The underhand dealing which involved unaccounted buying and selling of First Class and List ‘A’ cricketers in the Indian Premier League (IPL), will now stop. The Governing Council has brought in a new regulation that states all cricketers – international and domestic – will have to be bought through the annu-

al player auction only.

In the case of overseas cricketers, franchises recommend the names of players they wish to see in the auction list. Now, an identical process will be followed for the domestic cricketers too.

For instance, a First Class or List ‘A’ cricketer from Mumbai or Maharashtra will only be able to play in the IPL if Mumbai Indians or any other franchise would buy him in the auction. For

the player to be included in the auction list, a franchise has to recommend his name to the Governing Council. The recommendation can even come from the player’s state association. Under21 players will now feature in the auction list only if they have played First Class or List ‘A’ cricket.

Franchises have been allowed a revised, increased salary cap of Rs 600 million for 2014 to

buy players in the auction.

With that amount they can buy a minimum of 16 cricketers and a maximum of 27.

This regulation will ensure that franchises do not indulge in paying cricketers unaccounted money outside of the auction process – something that was seemingly rampant in previous seasons.

The salary cap of Rs 600 million per franchise will see an increase of 5% each year and players will have

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to be signed on a one-year contract to be renewed each year for three years.

Each franchise can now buy only nine overseas players as opposed to the earlier figure of 10, and only four – as per the original rule – will be allowed to play in a match.

The IPL Governing Council is scheduled to meet on December 12 to ratify the new rules and other decisions that were discussed in the two-day meeting in Singapore last

weekend.

Franchises, meanwhile, are already crying foul over the paucity of time as they get to work on player retentions and other details.

“We’re already running late. It’s unfair because certain franchises – dictating the new rules – already have an idea of what’s in store while the rest have to wait till the Governing Council announces the decisions,” a franchise owner said.

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SPORT

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th December2013

Australia crush England to take 2-0 lead

Australia wrapped up a comprehensive 218-run victory over England on Monday to take a 2-0 series lead, leaving them on the brink of reclaiming the Ashes.

The home team captured the four remaining wickets in just under an hour on the final morning in Adelaide and are now just one victory away from winning back the famous urn after three consecutive series defeats.

It was a second emphatic reverse for England after they lost in Brisbane by 381 runs and the tourists must regroup before the third Test, which starts in Perth on Friday.

England have only won once in 12 Tests on the traditionally pacy WACA pitch.

"I think that something that is most pleasing is we are finally getting some results," said Australian skipper Michael Clarke, who nevertheless cautioned that his side still had work to do in their quest to return to the top of the world rankings.

"I think we have to be realistic," said Clarke.

"That's our second Test win in the past 12 months - certainly not a record we're proud of. There's a lot of work for us to do to get back to being the number one team in the world and that's our goal."

Australia's victory in Brisbane was their first Test win since they beat Sri Lanka

CA apologises to Monty Panesar

Cricket Australia last week apologised for a tweet on its official Twitter account referencing England spinner Monty Panesar with a photo of four bearded men wearing turbans and dressed as Teletubbies.

Posted just ahead of the start of the second Ashes Test in Adelaide, the Cricket Australia tweet read: "Will the real Monty Panesar please stand up?!"

It sparked claims of racism, and CA moved quickly to remove the offending item and apologise. "We apologise for any offence caused with our previous tweet. That was certainly not the intention.

It has been removed," CA said in a subsequent tweet about the photo of the men, dressed as the popular children's television characters.

The original tweet prompted a backlash by Twitter users, with one saying "Looks like @CricketAus left an idiot in charge of their Twitter machine" and another blasting it as "casual racism".

wickets and we had the opportunity then and we didn't take it. I thought that was the main difference.

Australia took their chances very well," he said.

"The only guys who can change it are the guys in the d re s s i n g room. No one else can change it for us. We can't sit there mopAustralia's Ryan Harris celebrates taking the ing about it. wicket of England's Graeme Swann It's hurting us in January. They lost 3-0 to like hell but we're the only England in July-August. guys who can change it."

England captain Alastair Demon paceman Mitchell Cook admitted his side lost Johnson was named man-ofthe game on the first day the-match for the second when they were guilty of sevconsecutive Test after his eral dropped catches, allowseven for 40 in England's first ing Australia to pile up an innings. "I guess having that imposing 570 for nine intimidation factor is defideclared, with Clarke making nitely a bonus," said Johnson, 148. who has now taken 17 wick"On that first day we had ets in the series at 12.70, an opportunity to a put a bit silencing the England fans of pressure on Australia. We who mercilessly taunted him let a few chances go, and they for wayward bowling during really made us pay for that," the last Ashes series Down he said.

Under.

Cook said England's first "It wasn't probably quite innings total of 172 was not there in the last couple of good enough. "You don't get Ashes series for me, so to be too many chances on good able to come out, just back

my ability, and know what I wanted to bowl, I have just really enjoyed it, so I will continue to do that throughout the series."

Under overcast skies on Monday, wicketkeeper Matt Prior showed defiance for the tourists, reaching 69 off 102 balls, before he became the ninth batsman to go.

Stuart Broad fell to the fifth ball of the final day, caught in the deep by Nathan Lyon for 29 off Siddle after pulling the previous ball for six.

England's Barmy Army supporters attempted to get under Johnson's skin, but the paceman retorted by peppering Prior with a couple of short-pitched deliveries.

Prior saw off Johnson and was looking to reprise his fighting unbeaten century to force a draw against New Zealand in March. The wicketkeeper reached his 27th Test half-century off 88 balls.

Graeme Swann (six) was caught at second slip off Ryan Harris and Prior's resistance ended when he fell hooking Siddle to Harris on the boundary rope. Siddle was the pick of the Australian bowlers with figures of 4-57.

Monty Panesar was the final England wicket to fall, hitting to Chris Rogers at short extra cover to give Harris his third scalp of the innings.

Bangla unrest threatens Twenty20 World Cup

Bangladesh's cricket chief has said that next year's Twenty20 World Cup is threatened by the country's deadly political violence, warning there may only be weeks to save the tournament.

The 16-team competition, due to take place between March 16 and April 6, should be the biggest sporting event ever staged by Bangladesh.

But the country has been gripped by violent protests in recent weeks, with opposition supporters insisting that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stand aside ahead of elections due next year. More than 74 people have been killed since late October.

"If this situation prevails, then any big tournament or participation of any big country will be under threat," Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan said.

"This must end in January and preferably in December."

A team of International Cricket Council (ICC) inspectors declared last week that they were "happy" with security arrangements but said they would continue to

A fan displays his ticket for the 2014 World T20 tournament in Dhaka

monitor the situation.

However, the dangers posed to teams was underlined at the weekend when a small bomb exploded outside the West Indies' Under-19 team's hotel in the port city of Chittagong, prompting them to cut short their tour.

Bangladesh is also due to host a tour by Sri Lanka in January before staging the Asia Cup, a 50-over tournament starting in February which also features India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

"The quicker this political situation improves the better because the Sri Lanka tour is in January and then we have the Asia Cup. It needs to be resolved before that," said Hassan, who is a ruling party

lawmaker.

Nizamuddin Chowdhury, the BCB's chief executive, told reporters that the ICC had asked the board to relay them an update on the situation.

"We will send (it to) them accordingly," he said. An ICC spokesman said that it was "actively monitoring" the situation in Bangladesh, stressing that it gives the highest priority to the safety of all participants in ICC events.

The violence has affected almost every city in Bangladesh, including the three host cities for the T20 tournament - the capital Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet.

India win bid to host U-17 football World Cup

Top class football action, on a scale not seen in the country before, is coming the way of Indian fans. FIFA, the international football body, awarded India the rights to host the Under-17 World Cup in 2017.

India beat stiff competition from Ireland, 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa and Uzbekistan to get the final nod from FIFA’s executive committee at the resort town of Costa Do Sauipe in Brazil.

“This is historic. This is what we have been waiting for. I need to thank the FIFA executive committee for keeping its trust in us and granting India the right to host the 2017 U-17 World Cup,” AIFF president Paful Patel said after the announcement was made. FIFA president Sepp Blatter told a news conference that selecting India was “really a sports political, a geopolitical decision.”

The tournament, in which 24 teams will take part, will be held at six venues which are to be selected from eight prospective centres - New Delhi, Goa, Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata, Kochi and Guwahati.

The AIFF chief hoped that hosting a tournament of such stature would help galvanize Indian football. “Football is popular in certain pockets in India. With the U-17 World Cup taking place, I believe that the game’s popularity will swell overnight and the mission of making football a pan-India sport will be realized,” Patel said. “I am grateful to the Indian government for its support and giving us the necessary guarantees which made it possible for India to bid for the Cup,” Patel said.

Star India becomes new sponsors of Team India

A f t e r December 2013, Team India will have a new sponsor name on their shirts.

Star India have won the Indian cricket team’s title sponsorship rights by outbidding the current sponsors Sahara India. The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced the new sponsors after opening the bids in Chennai on Monday.

Star India will hold the Team India rights from 2014 to 2017. The current sponsors Sahara’s term will expire at the end of this year. Star is the broadcaster partners of the Indian cricket Board.

Sahara have been the prime sponsors of the Indian cricket team since 2002 and they outbid Airtel in 2010 to extend their sponsorship of the Indian team. Sahara secured the rights by paying Rs 33.4 million to Airtel’s Rs 28.9 million per international game. Sahara had been paying Rs 33.4 million per international match since July 1, 2010. However, BCCI had slashed the base price to Rs 15 million per match this time.

Among the five major companies vying for the bids were Star India, Multi Screen Media and the UB Group. Sahara was not interested in joining bid earlier made a last minute bid after sorting out their differences with BCCI president N Srinivasan.