AV 14th September 2019

FIRST & FOREMOST ASIAN WEEKLY IN EUROPE Solicitors, Advocates Immigration Specialists Commissioners of Oaths Family & Divorce

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14 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2019 - VOL 48 ISSUE 20

HOPES FLOAT ON Everything is not lost on India's Chandrayaan- 2 mission. Maybe the soft-landing on the Moon has gone off-script, but the ambitious Chandrayaan 2 mission has been far from a flop.

An Isro official associated with the moon mission claimed that “Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram lander is there (on the lunar surface) as a single piece and not broken into pieces. It's in a tilted position.”

Continued on page 26

inside:

Dr Rami Ranger CBE

Zameer Choudrey CBE

Indian and Pakistani-origin businessmen honoured with Peerage SEE PAGE 4

London’s Deputy Mayor for Business Rajesh Agrawal receives Editor’s Award for Public Service from CB Patel and Lord Rami Ranger CBE

19th Asian Achievers Awards celebrate inclusivity across Britain’s communities SEE PAGE 16-17

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14 - 20 September 2019

onetoone WITH KEITH VAZ, MP

Graeme Farrington Graeme Farrington is the Managing Director for United Kingdom and Ireland at Innocent drinks.

He is originally from Cheshire and studied Business at De Montfort University in Leicester. His career started in Marketing within the consumer electronics industry, working for both Sony and Dixons Stores Group and since then, he has moved on to span multiple Sales and Marketing roles in a variety of consumer goods brands including Whitbread, Britvic, Coca-Cola. He has lived in St Albans, Hertfordshire for the last 20 years and is married with 3 children.

1

Which place, or city or country do you most feel at home in?

St Albans in Hertfordshire - I moved here over 20 years ago and am still here today.

It's been interesting to see the city grow and change a lot in that time, but it's always felt like home throughout.

2

What are your proudest achievements?

(nearly) always look at everything as a learning experience and approach challenges with a growth mindset, which I try to replicate as often as I can.

4

What has been biggest obstacle in your career?

I have quite a varied background across different roles and industries and earlier in my career that sometimes proved to be a challenge when people were looking for specialism rather than more general knowledge however, that early obstacle has actually proved to be an asset as my career has developed.

5

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

I've been lucky to have been able to work at some great companies in my career with lots of talented people - I think you take something from everyone you work closely with and that shapes who you are today.

6

As with most people, I've had my share of ups and downs throughout my career. I'm most proud of the fact that I've always tried to remain humble, grounded and been true to myself and my values - whether facing the good or bad times.

What is the best aspect about your current role?

I get to steer a team of talented people, aligned behind a common purpose - which is to make it easy for people to do themselves some good. And to get do so within a business that does things the right way - It's a great place to be.

3

7

What inspires you?

My 3 Children are a great inspiration - they

And the worst?

We're an ambitious, entrepreneurial com-

pany. That means that we have a lot of good ideas and we're constantly looking for the next opportunity. It's my job to make the tough choices and decide what we go after and what we don't - and it’s not always easy.

8

What are your long term goals?

I want to prove that business can be a force for good. It's one of the reasons that I work for innocent (a B-Corp). Over the long term that means proving that we can build a growing business, but one that is truly sustainable and able to give 10% of profits to charity. It's a big ambition, and it's exciting.

9

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

We need to create an environment where it's easy for people to live happy and healthy lives. At the moment not enough people understand what constitutes a healthy diet and lifestyle so I'd make health and wellbeing top of the agenda, and a compulsory part of people's education.

10

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

Herbert Chapman - I'm a massive Arsenal fan and he was an extraordinary visionary back in the 1920s and 30s, turning Arsenal into the club it is today - whilst also introducing many of the features we take for granted in today's modern football.

Widow tells of terrifying moment crazed Norwegian bodyguard choked husband to death in Thai hotel

A High Court judge is preparing to analyse evidence in a life-support dispute centred on a seriously-ill five-year-old girl.

A British mother has told of the terrifying moment a crazed Norwegian bodybuilder broke into her hotel room completely naked and throttled her husband as he tried to protect her.

Bandhna Bajaj said she grabbed her two-year-old son and ran for her life as unhinged martial arts expert Roger Bullman smashed his way through a wooden partition separating their balconies and strangled British IT expert, Amitpal Singh Bajaj.

Bullman, 54, has admitted to the killing on August 21 at the five-star Centara Grand Hotel in the Thai resort of Phuket. He has gone on the run after being given bail and police in Thailand have launched a huge manhunt.

Mrs Bajaj slammed the decision by the Thai authorities to release Bullman him only 12 hours after he throttled her husband with his bare hands.

Mrs Bajaj slammed the decision by the Thai authorities to release Bullman him only 12 hours after he throttled her husband with his bare hands.

Reliving the moment father-of-one Mr Bajaj was attacked, his widow said: 'Bullman suddenly appeared in our room. He was red in the face, fully naked, and charged quickly towards us while making animalistic sounds.

She rejected police claims that Bullman had been 'singing opera' and this had led her husband to complain to the hotel. She

Mr Justice MacDonald has heard that Tafida Raqeeb has ‘very serious’ brain damage. Doctors treating Tafida, who turned five on June 10, at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel say the damage is permanent and there is no chance of recovery.

Bosses at Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, think stopping ‘life-sustaining treatment’ is in the youngster’s best interests.

Tafida’s mother, solicitor Shelina Begum, and father Mohammed Raqeeb, a construction consultant, want to move her to Gaslini children’s hospital in Genoa, Italy, and have organised funding for treatment.

The couple, from Newham, east London, say Gaslini is the Italian equiv-

Picture: PA

Judge to decide if seriously ill girl, 5, should be allowed to die

Tafida Raqeeb has ‘very serious’ brain damage but her parents want to take her to Italy for treatment

Win 2 ckets to see Navin Kundra Live in Concert!

To enter answer the following question: 1) Which male and female lead actors are featured in the song "Aaj Mausam Bada Beimaan Hai" from the movie 'Loafer'?

Email your answer to contact@navin-online.com

Please include your: Full name............................................................................

Mobile number.....................................................................

City you would like to attend the Concert..............................

Parents Shelina and Mohammed

alent of Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, specialists there are willing to treat their daughter, and want the judge to rule that she can move to Genoa.

Mr Justice MacDonald is due to begin overseeing a trial at the High Court in London on Monday.

Mrs Bajaj and her IT expert husband from London

insisted the first time they saw him was when he was charging towards their bed.

Her phone log showed she placed a call at 3.58am and made a second call a few minutes later to tell the reception that Bullman had broken down the wooden partition separating the rooms.

Her third call was made as Bullman entered the room.

Security officials arrived to find Mr Bajaj lying prostrate outside their room with Bullman continuing to hold him in a choke hold.

Police arrested a crying Bullman minutes later and he was charged with manslaughter before being allowed his freedom on bail.

Police in Thailand say they are conducting a huge manhunt for Bullman who has vanished after failing to appear at Phuket Provincial Court as part of his bail conditions.

Bullman's lawyer Sulman Hussain, who is based in Oslo, said he had been unable to reach his client and had no clue to his

whereabouts. He said Bullman had told him he intended to appear at his trial and tell a court how he came to kill Mr Bajaj.

Robert Bullman

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COMMENTS

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14 - 20 September 2019

Pakistani mobs on anti- Indian rampage Pakistani mobs and their Khalistan peers have made a seasonal sport of targeting the Indian High Commission with stones and missiles with an indulgent authority looking on regardless.

This cannot go on. Pakistani gorgons and groomers must not reduce diplomatic life to a dark parody. The Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi issued an unusually strong statement: ‘This is the second time in less than a month that such an incident has taken place affecting the security and the normal functioning of our Mission and have strongly urged...the UK to take action against those involved...’

Indo-British relations are surely too important to be held hostage by an irresponsible, criminal jihadi underclass long addicted to a manic hatred of all things Indian. India and Britain share core democratic values and the rule of law. Their cultural pursuits are broad and deep, as are their shared business interests. Derailing this relationship for fluid vote

banks is seldom the truest wisdom. The Indian diaspora in Britain are overwhelmingly law abiding and industrious, having prospered in the level playing field of Britain. They constitute a secure bridge between India and Britain, symbolising the best and most enduring aspects of a centuries-old relationship. To barter this for questionable short-term goals is folly.

The world is awash with jihadi terror organisations, thanks to a large extent to The Great Powers who hoped to profit from their activities. The present mess in Afghanistan, for example, is an offshoot of past American idiocy to arm jihadi groups in cooperation of the Pakistan militaryintelligence nexus. Britain also played a part, as did China and much of the Arab world. Mark Curtis, in his book, Secret Affairs, has exposed Anglo-American collusion with radical Islam.

Imran Khan’s Kashmir fantasy Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, bit between his teeth, has sworn to fight India over Kashmir, whose people and land are closest to his heart. He promised to pursue his cause on their behalf in every international forum, every world capital. In a desperately forlorn bid to frighten his audiences with the spectre of an IndiaPakistan nuclear conflict is counter-productive. There is more than a whiff of blackmail in such bizarre utterances.

Former US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis in his recently published memoirs was scathing about Pakistan – home to jihadi terror groups - and its feckless rulers brandishing vast quantities of nuclear weaponry, even as their country is almost bankrupt, with little economic development in sight. General Mattis would have gained traction with critical scrutiny of decades-old US military aid to Islamabad and its calamitous consequences.

Blasphemy laws, forcible conversions of Hindu, Christian and Sikh women, rampant Islamism and an expanding insurgency in Balochistan, constitute Pakistan’s exponential crises. The solace of repetitive incantations, incandescent denunciations of India and much else in this theatre of the absurd will no more help Imran Khan than it did the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who called for a 1,000-year war with India over Kashmir and ended his days on the gallows of his country’s military..

Prime Minister Khan would do better to introspect, to meditate on Pakistan’s tortured past. The endless cycles of jihadi terrorism have brought neither peace, nor stability to rulers and ruled alike. Discords of every shape and form have taken root, with paranoid conspiracies of lurking Hindu and Jew waiting to strike. The present closeness of India and Israel represent, surely, the dynamics of self-fulfilling prophecy.

India, Russia ties surge to next level Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Vladivostok, where he was Chief Guest at Russia’s Eastern Economic Forum, was a thundering success. There was also the concurrent twentieth annual Indo-Russian Summit with President Vladimir Putin, now a striking feature of their bilateral relations. This time-tested relationship is best placed on its historical canvas. Its seeds were sown way back in 1950 when India’s envoy to the Soviet Union was the eminent philosopher and scholar, Professor Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who held the Spaulding chair at Oxford University. His presence aroused the curiosity of the Soviet titan Josef Stalin. Unlike poles attract, so said the great Isaac Newton. It certainly did in this case. Radhakrishnan addressed Stalin as ‘Marshal’, and was addressed in turn as ‘Professor’. The Cold War was in full swing, but the shrewd Stalin was quick to grasp that India’s democratic system in no way made the country a fellow traveller of the West. He told his Indian visitor that neither he nor Nehru were now perceived as hostile to Russia and hence he had passed an order that whatever help India needed of Russia should and would be met.

So it was through the 1950s and 60s, when Soviet economic and military aid laid the foundations of Indian heavy industry and defence, climaxed in 1971 when the US administration led by Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger teamed up with Maoist China in defence of their client, Pakistan’s military dictator Yahya Khan over the East Pakistan crisis that led to an Indo-Pakistan war, Pakistan’s defeat6 and the emergence of a sovereign Bangladesh. The Indo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship of 9 August 1971 with its famous article guaranteeing Soviet military intervention should India face Chinese or American attack, proved crucial. Communist giants Russia and China had fallen out in 1959 and subsequently became bitter enemies – like poles repel, according to Newton’s Law. Beijing even laid claims to Russian territory.The US and China became de facto allies in the 1970s and 80s against Russia, and to a lesser extent, against India as well. No major issue divided New Delhi and Moscow. The Soviet veto on Kashmir aborted Anglo-American plans to pressure India to give way.

Following Mr Modi’s Summit with President Putin, India announced a $1 billion credit line to the Russian Federation for the development of its immensely mineralrich Far Eastern territory including Arctic exploration. Mr Modi explained: ‘My government has actively engaged East Asia as part of its Look East Policy... We will remain active partners in our cooperation,’ Mr Modi said. The stress on

trade and investment – particularly in energy - is driven by mutual awareness that their economies must be closer aligned with the strategic areas of defence and security.

As India and Japan are close partners, it was surely a signal to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe [also an invitee to Vladivostok] to invest in Russia’s Far East, where Japanese industry has much to gain. All this in some measure offsets the Chinese economic presence there. Targeted by the United States, Russia and China have closed ranks without being allies. Their national interests often diverge. India, Vietnam and Indonesia are wary of China and close to Russia. Moscow and Bejing accept these ground realities, asking only that neither power do anything overtly hostile to the interests of the other.

During the Modi visit India and Russia signed 50 agreements, most related to energy exploration and procurement, including a specific MoU on LNG supplies to India, and a maritime route from Vladivostok to Chennai.

India has contracted defence deals worth $14.5 billion. ‘Last year and today saw the emergence of of a tremendous portfolio of contracts [in excess] of all previous years at $14.5 billion. This is an impressive figure. It is a real breakthrough,’ said Dmitry Shugaev, Russia’s Director General of the Federal Service of Military Technical Cooperation. It underscored the India-Russia ‘privileged strategic partnership’ which lies at the heart of their bilateral relationship. Many Russian weapon systems will be manufactured in India including technology transfer; this will also apply to Russian spares. President Putin invited Prime Minister Modi to next year’s celebration of Russia’s victory over Nazi Germany in the ‘Great Patriotic War.’ Adolf Hitler saw Russia as symbolic of Asia and thus pledged to annihilate it. The West today shares a broadly similar outlook. Almost all the post-war US wars of intervention have occurred in East and Southeast Asia, the Greater Middle East and North Africa. India’s ‘Look East’ policy is seeks to establish a just geopolitical balance.

Narendra Modi’s rise to national and international eminence, from the relative obscurity of Gujarat Chief Minister, is truly extraordinary. His understanding of geopolitics and India’s place in its architecture is impressive, displaying his ability to learn on the job.

The Times of India’s Indrani Bagchi suggested that India might be better off opting for France over Russia!

Congress voices in Parliament took issue with Prime Minister Modi line of credit to Russia. With a nebulous understanding of the national interest, Congress, trapped in the by-lane, faces possible extinction.

Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him.

- Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)

Exodus of Kenyan Asians and their re-settlement in the UK This week every subscriber has been mailed a copy of our Kenya special magazine as part of our humble tribute to pioneers who have achieved milestones in their own rights. The articles penned in this magazine were primarily about individual families and their contributions to the UK's socio-economic fabric. The main aim of recording the success stories of these individuals was to inform and inspire our future generations about the hard-work, grit and determination of our ancestors who migrated from Indian soil to Kenya and subsequently to the UK. We should have been able to adequately include contributions of Oshwals, Kutchis and other entrepreneurial communities. However, owing to logistical and time pressures, we were unable to record stories of several other individuals driving the diaspora forward.

We have attempted to chronicle chapters of history that are not often discussed in mainstream media. But we were unable to document the contributions of Kenyan Asians in sports, politics and other sectors. Upon further observation, we further recalled that we have not written articles on prominent Indian personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Radhakrishna and Indira Gandhi’s visit to Kenya. Additionally, many perhaps would be unaware of the number of scholarships that the Indian government had provided to Kenyan Africans enabling education and progress in the region. All these pieces could have added to the rich content of the magazine.

We regret the stories that we failed to publish in this edition but we hope to re-visit the subject again in the future. In this process we also seek your support in coming forward and sharing your own observations about the magazine and let us know your thoughts about the content, ideas that we missed out and subjects we can discuss going forward. We look forward to your reviews and thoughts.

This is a first attempt in print media to study the exodus of Kenyan Asians amd further analyse their re-settlement in the UK. It is a privilege to publish such a modest record of pioneers and achievers and I am grateful to all the individuals for stepping forward, contributing information and participating in this initiative.

CB Patel Publisher/Editor Asian Voice/Gujarat Samachar

Editor: CB Patel Asian Voice is published by Asian Business Publications Ltd Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, (Off Coronet Street) London N1 6HW. Tel: 020 7749 4080 • Fax: 020 7749 4081 Email: aveditorial@abplgroup.com Website: www.abplgroup.com INDIA OFFICE Bureau Chief: Nilesh Parmar (BPO) AB Publication (India) Pvt. Ltd. 207 Shalibhadra Complex, Opp. Jain Derasar, Nr. Nehru Nagar Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad-380 015.

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Indian and Pakistani-origin businessmen honoured with Peerage Rupanjana Dutta Dr Rami Ranger CBE, who started his business in London with two pounds in 1987, and went on to establish a multi-million pound empire viz. Sun Mark Ltd , the only company to have been awarded five consecutive Queens Awards for Enterprise, has been nominated to House of Lords, as a part of her resignation honour by former Prime Minister Theresa May. Besides Dr Ranger, a British Pakistani businessman Zameer Choudrey CBE, Chief Executive of Bestway Group, has also been appointed to the House of Lords. The appointment is in recognition of his considerable contributions to Britain’s domestic and foreign trade as a leading businessman and entrepreneur, his wide array of philanthropic work both in the UK and abroad, and his role as Chairman of the Conservative Friends of Pakistan.

72 year old Rami Ranger, who has been a donor to the Conservative party for years, has been reportedly donated more than a million pound over last 10 years. He was conferred with a MBE and CBE previously. He is the Co-Chairman of the Conservartive Friends of India and the Chairman of the British Sikh Association (BSA). The BSA was set up to stop the extremist Sikh organisations from representing the Sikh point of view in Britain. He has vig-

Dr Rami Ranger CBE

Zameer Choudrey CBE

orously argued with these extremist organisations that the Sikhs were created to defend the unity, integrity and the basic human rights of every Indian and not to break her up.

He has forward as a community stalwart to help and was one of the key donors for the Mahatma Gandhi statue installed at the Parliament Square, in 2015, by the then Prime Minister David Cameron with India's former finance minister Arun Jaitley and actor Amitabh Bachchan.

Son of Sardar Nanak Singh, who opposed India's partition, and believed in an India-Pakistan united front, was was killed during the turmoil. Dr Ranger was born in Gujranwala (now in Pakistan) in July 1947, and began life with his widowed mother and seven siblings in a refugee camp in Patiala, in Indian state of Punjab.

Since the family's migration, Dr Ranger was given admission to the Modern School in Patiala. After the completion of his school education, he went to Mohindra College and then obtained a BA degree from

the Government College, Chandigarh. He arrived in the UK in 1971 to study law, but could not continue with his education because of lack of funds.

He started his first business from a shed, in 1987 with just £2 capital, shipping cargo by sea, air and land.

The business soon took off and he launched his export company, Sun Mark Ltd, in 1995, sourcing FMCG British products and exporting them to 120 countries. Dr Ranger narrated his story in a book titled ‘From Nothing to Everything’. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of West London in 2016.

Speaking to Asian Voice exclusively he said, “I am thrilled, delighted and overjoyed with this great honour given to me by this great country. My family and friends are very happy. I am looking forward to doing more public service now that I have been empowered and build bridges between the various communities.

“I also feel very humbled and proud of the fact that anyone can achieve anything in this country.”

He joins several Indianorigin Peers in the House of Lords, including Lord Swraj Paul, Bhikhu Parekh, Dolar Popat, Karan Bilimoria, Meghnad Desai, Navnit Dholakia and Jitesh Gadhia.

Every outgoing British Prime Minsiter draws up such a honour list to recognise former aides and those who have supported them.

Such lists always attract criticism as well as praise, but mostly approved by the Cabinet Office. May’s list includes 57 individuals.

Dr Ranger's daughter, who is a young Councillor for the Conservative Party on a social media post said, "Congratulations to my Dad, Rami Ranger who has been conferred a peerage today and made Lord Rami Ranger. Always proud of him, always a little infuriated by him, my champion and critic; his wisdom and life lessons have been invaluable. Over 40 years in politics and business, in these interesting times, his experience and wisdom will be equally invaluable in this next chapter of his life and what comes next."

Zameer Choudrey CBE As Chief Executive of Bestway Group, Zameer Mohammed Choudrey CBE has already driven tremendous growth in businesses across the UK and Pakistan.

This led to Mr Choudrey being appointed to Deputy Chairman of the Pakistan Britain Trade & Investment Forum and serving as a member of the Confederation of British

Industry’s Economic Affairs Committee in previous years.

He has also regularly been asked to facilitate private government visits to both Pakistan and the UK for senior government officials from both countries, including the Mayors of London and the West Midlands, and private investors, to discuss how both the UK and Pakistan can look to increase trade and investment. These strong ties with Pakistan will mean Mr Choudrey will be looking to utilise his vast experience to build more bilateral trade, create more jobs here in the UK and improve foreign relations between our two countries.

Mr Choudrey comes from humble beginnings having grown up in a remote village in Pakistan, before moving to the UK at the age of 12. His remarkable success over his career led to him being appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2016 New Year’s Honours List for services to industry and philanthropy.

He also sits as a trustee for several national charities, including CrimeStoppers, Grocery Aid and Bestway Foundation, which has donated over £30 million to worthy education and healthcare causes.

In January 2018, he was appointed as UK Chair of the British Asian Trust’s Advisory Council, by HRH The Prince of Wales.

In a comment to Asian Voice, Mr Choudrey said, “It is an immense honour. I am

truly humbled to have been appointed to the House of Lords. My contributions to domestic and foreign trade in the UK and Pakistan have been through my commitment to driving business growth and I hope to utilise this to build more bilateral trade, create more jobs here in the UK and improve foreign relations between the two countries. I have always viewed the UK to be the land of opportunity and I look forward to contributing to the continued advancement of our great country as well as continuing my Philanthropic work to support the people in the communities in which we serve.”

It is believed both have been honoured with the peerage due to their undying support for Mrs Theresa May, when she faced turmoil from her party and cabinet members over Brexit negotiations.

Raoul Ruparel

Raoul Ruparel, former Special Adviser to the Prime Minister on Europe and Secretary of State for Exiting European Union has been conferred with an OBE for political and public services.

Indian High Commissioner leads community on a 'Swachh London' mission HE Mrs Ruchi Ghanashyam, High Commissioner of UK to India in a Gandhian gesture, became the first high commissioner to take up a mop and cleaned outside India House, after the surrounding was dirtied by thousands of protesting Pakistanis who hurled eggs and other projectiles during a protest on Tuesday 3 September for scrapping Article 370, that gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

The High Commissioner in a true leadership gesture led a group of people from the Indian community on Saturday 7 September, to clean the area, and was joined the very dynamic Deputy high commissioner Charanjeet Singh, as a song from the famous Indian film 'Swades' played in the background.

On Tuesday 3 September, violent protestors raised slogans against India and broke some window panes of the India House, leading to another diplomatic row between India and the UK. Mrs Ghanshyam reportedly said, “We want to show that we are not scared or intimidated.

India has responded and this clean up drive too is part of India’s official response.”

High Commissioner of India to UK HE Mrs Ruchi Ghanashyam in salwar kameez, leading the cleaning mission outside India House

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14 - 20 September 2019

Sardar Patel Memorial Society UK welcomes Biking Queens

Archbishop of Canterbury apologizes for massacre at Jallianwala Bagh memorial

Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby

(L-R): Yatin Patel (Sojitra Samaj), Kala Patel (EC SPMS UK), Jitu Patel ( Trustee SPMS UK), Sharad Parikh (Trustee SPMS UK), GP Desai ( NCGO UK), Jairaj Bhadranwalla ( EC SPMS UK), Virendra Sharma MP – Ealing & SouthallPravin G Patel (EC SPMS UK), Ravi Sharma, Rajesh Patel (SPMS UK EC), Rutali Patel (Biking Queen), Sarika Mehta (Founder & Chair Biking Queens), Krishna Pujara (Secretary -General SPMS UK), Mona Wadhwana (Enfield Saheli), Rohit Wadhwana (First Secretary - Economic Wing HCI London), Mehedoot Salimi (Imperial Rice & Sponsor), Hitendra Sheth (Supporter) and CB Patel (Chairman – SPMS UK) with others

Sardar Patel Memorial Society (SPMS) UK held a reception with the Indian Diaspora to honour the Biking Queens at the Indian Gymkhana in London on 28th August 2019. Ravi Sharma from Lyca Radio was the master of ceremony, who kept capturing and maintaining the attention of the audience with his brilliant presentation.

The pleasant evening started with canapes & refreshments followed by Indian National Anthem & Flower Tributes to Sardar Patel.

C B Patel Chairman of Sardar Patel Memorial Society welcomed all present and went through the work of Sardar Patel Memorial Society. Southall MP Virendra Sharma congratulated the Biking Queens for the amazing expedition and Rohit Wadhwana, First Secretary (Economic), High Commission of India, went briefly through the journey

of Biking Queens to discuss the adventure and difficulties that arise at times.

Bikers – Dr Sarika Mehta & Rutali Patel of the Biking Queens from Gujarat have claimed that they have become the first women to ride from India to London on bikes covering 21,000 km and 21 nations of the three continents propagating Twin social cause – ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ and ‘Ride for Women’s Pride’ The Biking Expedition started from Uttar Pradesh in June 2019 to reach London by August 26th.

However, the expedition was fraught with various difficulties with one of the bikers also having to leave midway as her passport and other important documents were was stolen in Russia. In addition, the motorbikes got stolen in Amsterdam hotel parking in the second week of August. However, not the ones to die, bought new motor bikes to complete the expedition successfully.

Talking to the audience, Dr Sarika Mehta said, “We

faced various difficulties, but amidst the trials & tribulations, our journey was really overwhelming. We rode on difficult terrains and extreme weather conditions, but at the end, we have successfully completed what we set out to achieve”.

Rutali Patel said, “It was a special experience for me to ride internationally for the first time, which has taught me a life lesson too to help in some or the other way.”

The Biking Queens were awarded Sardar Patel – Spirit of Unity Recognition

by CB with Virendra Sharma MP & Rohit Wadhwana for covering three continents – Asia, Europe & Africa on Motorbikes, spreading awareness on Women’s Pride across the continents.

CB added, the feat is especially commendable as the riders had to face immense hurdles all throughout their journey.

The Biking Queens were honoured from Sardar Patel Memorial Society Secretary General - Krishna Pujara

with shawls & flowers along with representatives Gita Foundation, Inspiring Indian Women, Sojitra Samaj, Mangalam, Hindu Mandir, Rotary Club, Lions Club London, Women to Women Diamond Group, Assam UK, Bihari Connect, Enfield Saheli, UK All Ladies League, Indo British Cultural Exchange, Haryana in UK , Anoopam Mission, Lohana Mahaparishad and the wider communities.

In his vote of thanks, Pravin G Patel mentioned that there would have been 'No United India' without Sardar Patel, and thanked all the community organisations, Management of Indian Gymkhana & specially thanked Mehdoot Salimi, Hitendra Sheth and all the committee members – especially Lord Rami Ranger, Jitu Bhai Patel, GP Desai, Rajesh Patel, Sharad Parikh, Krishna Pujara, Kala Patel, Jayrajbhai & Sulochana Sethi for their support.

The evening ended with a lovely dinner, networking & photo opportunities.

World Suicide Prevention Day, why talk about mental health Tuesday, September 10 marked World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD), a day when organisations across the world raised awareness about suicide prevention. With over 6,507 suicides registered in the UK last year alone, there needs to be further discussion around suicide and depression. This is especially vital in the Asian community where shame and stigma around mental health prevent open conversation.

“On #WorldSuicide PreventionDay we talk about policy, and share articles on how to help the suicidal. But today I am thinking of all those people who are feeling the dark and

despair of it all, and want to say hold on, life is worth it, you are worth it and you are loved.

“There is no shame in reaching out for help though I know how impossible that sometimes feels.

Shame prevented my late husband from asking for help, it led to him taking his own life, and it means he was taken from us,” tweeted Poorna Bell.

In the meantime, Channel 5 is set to air a new feature-length documentary tonight about the biggest killer of men under the age of 45 – suicide.

Suicidal: In Our Own Words follows six men under the care of the

Central and North-West London Mental Health Trust. The documentary will be immediately followed by How You Can Help Stop Suicide, a halfhour programme offering practical advice about suicide prevention.

While the Sussexes and Cambridges have both been encouraging people to open up about their mental health in aid of World

Suicide Prevention Day. Kensington Palace has released a video marking the initiative and sharing details on Prince William’s national text crisis service Shout. In an Instagram post, Harry and Meghan said, “This World Suicide Prevention Day, we would like to spread the available support far and wide to ensure that no-one goes through a crisis alone.”

On Tuesday, 10th September, Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby visited Jallianwala Bagh memorial and said that he was both 'ashamed and sorry' for the henious crime which was committed in Amritsar in 1919.

In his tribute, Welby lied down on the floor of the memorial after reading out a prayer to God to seek forgiveness. While paying homage at the Jallianwala Bagh memorial Welby said, "I cannot speak for the British Government. I am not the official of the government but can speak in the name of Christ. It is a place for sin and redemption. You have remembered what they have done and their memory will live.

"I am ashamed and sorry for the impact of the crime committed here. As a religious leader, I mourn the tragedy," "Here I come only seeking in sorrow and repentance before the people who have suffered in the hands of British bullets. Again I cannot speak for the government but I speak with repentance," Welby said.

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on 13 April, 1919, when troops of the British Indian Army under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer fired machine guns into a crowd of unarmed protesters and pilgrims who had gathered in Jallianwala Bagh in Punjab's Amritsar on the occasion of Baisakhi.

Vindaloo visas for curry houses In a bid to save the UK's curry industry, Home Secretary Priti Patel is planning to lift immigration restriction on skilled chefs.

It comes amidst fears that the UK's favourite takeaway is at risk of extinction as specialist cooks cannot get the clearance to move to the country.

“Before we introduce the new points-based immigration system post-Brexit, we are changing the rules to make it easier for restaurants to get the highly skilled chefs they need.

“The UK has one of the best food scenes in the world and these changes will make it even better,” said Priti Patel ealier.

In the meantime, speaking at the sidelines of Asian Harry and Meghan also shared a number of other charities they would recommend for anyone who might be battling with their mental health.

The warning signs for suicidal according to charity Mind include, talking about suicide, Selfloathing, self-hatred Feelings of worthlessness, guilt, shame, and selfhatred, feeling like a burden among other such thoughts.

Achievers Awards, Deputy Mayor of London for business Rajesh Agrawal has called for the Tory government to re-instate the policy of post-study work visa. He said, “International students are a big asset to this country. Just in London alone there are about 140,000 international students contributing £3bn to the UK economy. It does not make sense that they finish their education and go back to their country.

“So, I appeal to the government to re-instate the post-study work visa which was abolished in 2012. I think education has been the greatest exports of this country and we should facilitate that.”

What should one do, NHS advice The NHS has adviced individuals to not think about the future and just focus on getting through today, staying away from drugs and alcohol, being around other people and cultivating other hobbies also calling other charities like Samaritans (116 123) and Campaign Against Living Miserably (0800 58 58 58) among others.

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Families affected by British Airways strike hope for resolution before Christmas Rupanjana Dutta The strike of British Airways pilots, as we went to press on Tuesday have affected over 200,000 passengers.

The strike that started from Monday 9 September, will take place till September 27 with a possibility to extend till Christmas.

Passengers are fearing that their holiday plans will be affected and if they are forced to rebook their flights with other airlines, they may have to pay more, as the prices would fluctuate, and eventually go up.

Surath Uthayakumar along with wife Nandini and their 17 months old son Ram flew to Seattle for summer holiday in August. They were meant to return back on Sunday 8th September, so that Surath could return to work on Monday 9th, but their tickets had to be rescheduled. Though they were informed early, it eventually caused him problems. He told Asian Voice, “BA informed us early our flights were being cancelled about 2 weeks ago. With a one year old in tow it did cause a few anxious moments.

hope the pilots dont strike till then. It will mean I will lose more than £1000 just on tickets. Rescheduling and buying new tickets will cost me more money. And if we cancel now, we will lose hotel and all other booking fees.

This is really worrying.”

However Salman Haqqi, personal finance expert at money.co.uk said, "If Surath with Nandini you experience a sig“But we were able to renificant delay when you're book for Tuesday the 10th at the airport on Wednesday on the BA website without or Thursday, BA is required too much hassle. Just hope to make your wait a comthere are not anymore canfortable one, including procellations." viding food and drink, However Renee Ghosh phone calls, and even told the newspaper, “I was accommodation, if necesmeant to fly to Delhi by BA sary...If you are delayed by for work. But I had to more than five hours, you reschedule it because I washave the right to cancel your n't sure I would make it back journey and have the cost of on time due to this strike. It your flight reimbursed...” has cost me so much money But he added, that, claiming and time.” for cancelled flight on travel Gopal Rangaswamy said, insurance is not possible but “I am flying with my parwill depend on travel insurents-in-law, wife and young ance provider's policy on family to Prague on cancellation due to strike Christmas. We bought BA action and the level of cover tickets from City Airport. I you have in place.

Johnson must apologise for 'burqa' comments A Sikh Labour MP has been applauded in the House of Commons after he demanded that Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologised for his comments that he had made about 'burqa' and the appearance of Muslim women.

Tanmanjeet Dhesi Labour MP for Slough had condemned Johnson for his controversial comments in his Telegraph column. The confrontation on the floor of Parliament came after an anti-racism charity Tell MAMA released its annual report. This report highlighted that there had been a stark 375% increase in islamophobic incidents and hate crimes reported against Muslims after Johnson's controversial remarks.

In 2018, before becoming the Prime Minister in his column in Telgraph Johnson had written that women who wear a full face veil resemble “letterboxes” and “bank robbers”, but was later cleared by a Tory probe.

Confronting Mr Johnson at his first Prime Minister’s Questions, Dhesi said, “If I decide to wear a turban, or you decide to wear a cross, or he decides to wear a kippah or skull cap, or she decides to wear a hijab or a

burqa, does that mean that it is open season for right honourable members of this House to make derogatory or divisive remarks about our appearance?

“For those of us who have had to endure and face up to being called names such as ‘towel head’ or ‘Taliban’ or ‘coming from

Boris Johnson

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

Bongo Bongo Land’ we can appreciate full well the hurt and pain felt by already vulnerable Muslim women when they are described as bank robbers and letter boxes".

But Mr Johnson responded, “If he took the trouble to read the article in question he would see that it was a strong liberal defence of everybody’s right to wear whatever they want in this country and I speak as somebody who is not

only proud to have Muslim ancestors but to be related to Sikhs such as himself.

“I’m also proud to say that under this Government we have the most diverse Cabinet in history of this country and we truly reflect modern Britain, and what we have yet to hear from anywhere in the Labour Party is any hint of apology for the virus of anti-semitism that is now rampant in their ranks”.

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As I See It

State In Guise of a Merchant CB Patel

Dear Readers,

In his brand new book, The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company, historian of the British Empire and India, William Dalrymple accounts extensive notes on how the trading mammoth went on to conquer the whole of India and rule over the country for over 100 years. He wrote, “Isolated from their baffled neighbours, the English were forced to scour the globe for new markets and commercial openings further afield.

This they did with piratical enthusiasm.”

With utmost humility, I would like to state that the description is a gross understatement.

Founded in 1600, by John Watts, the East India Company (EIC), was given so much power by the British royals, that they rose to hold over half of the world's trade. It was also actively involved in politics too. “Trade” was just a front used by the British Empire to be able to gain power over Hindustan, which comprised of 560 princely states at the time. By the time it reached the height of its rule in India, in 1803, the EIC had Indian revenues of £13,464,561. The Company came to rule large areas of India, exercised military power and fought over 850 wars within India. It fought with the Sikhs, the Nawabs, the Marathas, and every kingdom in India that showed restrain, had only one alternative; face war. Even the internal wars the EIC managed to lose, they still won by concocting negotiations. The Indian Rebellion of 1857, or Sepoys Mutiny as it was called, was an uprising against the British Raj which had acquired almost whole of India by that time.

Much has been written about the EIC in history. Certain flattering things have been said, while some not so flattering opinions on the beast have been voiced.

In either case, one can't help themselves from being in awe of the craftiness that resulted in the Company. Dalrymple speaks of the ways the EIC tore across India, when the truth of the matter is that the country was actually ruled upon by British monarchs straight from their throne in London. Holding the Company accountable for killing, mutilating, cheating, and slaving people of India is a disgusting act of passing the buck and it is about time this stops. Britain wants to wash its hands off everything it has done in the past, which is why, it will never accept its actions.

In March 1947, the Parliament con-

We all know that there is something magical about the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren. Grandchildren represent the future to grandparents. They also stand for a legacy that grandparents would like to leave behind, a reminder of their roots and a bonding irreplaceable. Keeping that in mind our Publisher/Editor CB Patel invited the author of this article, 20 year old Maansi Shah, to write about her trip to Italy, with her 17 year old sibling and grandparents. **********

Roman Holiday

Maansi Shah Dhyaan and Maansi with their grandfather and grandmother in Rome, Italy

vened in the House of Commons and the Indian Independence Act was put into effect. When the UK began gradually pulling out of India, all states were given the choice of either joining India, Pakistan or claiming themselves a separate, sovereign state. The act was viewed as a practical move and many welcomed it but in reality, this was yet another attempt at breaking the already dented country. It was expected that India won't be ONE political power. Independence would be a hollow dream and sovereignty merely a mirage. All princely states will fight amongst themselves for power.

However, to the Crown's dismay, all but 2 states merged within one year, without a single firing of a bullet, thanks to Sardar Patel The British Crown practiced a tough and very effective form of mercenary globalisation, one that changed the course of Hindustan for ever. The Golden Bird, as it was once called, India was a prosperous land of spices and other resources. By the time the colonisers were done with the place, it was no more than a scattered piece of land bent and left to be broken. The Britishers however, were better for it. The British East India Company ruled as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown for many years. After years of rule under the disguise of trade, it is evident that they got the better part of the deal. There has been no remorse on their end.

Lord Mayor of City of London to visit India with a focus on FinTech The Lord Mayor of the City of London Peter Estlin will travel to Nepal and India between 14 to the 20 September. In Nepal he will spend two days in Kathmandu for humanitarian causes, while in India he will travel to Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

The focus of the visit to India is FinTech. The Lord Mayor will be accompanied with a delegation of firms including Revolut, Greensill, Agvesto, Transferwise, iProov, Onfido, Asset Vault and Aon. Meetings will be held with Indian government ministers and industry leaders, with a possibility to meet Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Lord Mayor who has vis-

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Peter Estlin

ited India before on a number of occassions will meet Mr Yaduvendra Mathur, Special Secretary, Knowledge Innovation Hub

(KIH), National Institution for Transforming India (NITI), Paytm and Invest India in Delhi; Young Presidents' Organization (YPO), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) and T-Hub in Hyderabad; and Maharashtra Fintech Hub, Development Credit Bank, GIC and Standard Chartered in Mumbai.

The Lord Mayor also met with 12 Indian banks on Thursday, 5 September, for a breakfast meeting to discuss and support them in business expansion in London.

Maansi is the dear granddaughter of Jyotsna Shah, Consulting Editor of Gujarat Samachar and her former banker husband D R Shah.

This July, I found myself seated at the back of a little gelateria in the centre of Rome, savouring what must be the best gelato I have ever tried, after having spent the day in the Vatican City. I looked around the table, at my paternal grandparents and my younger brother, Dhyaan, and knew this was a moment that would, in time, become a cherished memory forever — and not just for the incomparable wonders we had seen in the Holy See, or the three otherworldly flavours we had just sampled (lavender and white peach; rosemary, honey and lemon; and garden sage and raspberry at Gelateria del Teatro, if you were wondering).

I was bitten by the travel bug at a young age.

Grownups would laugh when I would tell them, earnest and wide-eyed, about my plans to travel to every single country in the world. I think it began when my family relocated six thousand miles east from London to Hong Kong, when I was just six years old. At the age of 20, I have lived in three countries, and travelled to thirty, and I do not intend to stop anytime soon. From my parents to all four of my grandparents, every adult in my life has raised me to believe that this world is my oyster. Now that I am living away from home at university in Edinburgh, and as a young adult who is trying to find, or rather make my place in the world, I recognise the value of having been blessed with the grandparents I have. Although we lived abroad, I have always been incredibly close to my Baa and Dada, which is only natural when I think about the deep bond my dad shares with his dad. Every year, as soon as school would break up for the summer, we would take the first flight home to London to spend six gloriously long weeks with them.

So earlier this year, I mentioned to my parents

that I would love to visit Italy in the summer. “I might have to go solo.

Neither yours nor my friends’ dates work with mine,” I remember moaning. It was my mum who suggested, “Maan, why don’t you ask Baa and Dada to join you? They’ve never been to Italy, and it would be such an amazing experience.” I was taken by her idea, and took charge. Baa and Dada were immediately as excited as we were at the prospect of a grandparentgrandchild vacation: a chance to build more special memories together.

Within the next few months I planned and booked a week in Italy for Baa, Dada, Dhyaan, and me. For their comfort, I made a conscious effort to find an Airbnb with a lift (no easy feat in Rome!), arrange tickets for all the sights beforehand to avoid queues, research the best restaurants in advance as we are all vegetarians, and create an itinerary with enough time for rest and recuperation, because Rome demands lots of walking.

Eventually, the morning of our flight arrived, and within seconds of entering through the Aurelian Walls, it became apparent that this trip would be magical. On our first evening, as we crossed the Pont Sant’Angelo, strolling past the Castel Sant’Angelo along the River Tiber towards the Trastevere district for dinner, with St. Peter’s Basilica lit up in the distance, we were overwhelmed by the beauty and mystique surrounding this ancient city. Over the next few days, we explored the maze of cobbled alleys in Centro Storico, never failing to be absolutely enchanted by whatever was waiting for us when we spilled out into the baroque piazzas. Once it was the magnificent Pantheon, which we visited just before noon to marvel at the way the sun streams in through the oculus. Another time we walked out of a lane to find the iconic Trevi Fountain in all its grandeur.

One evening, Baa and Dada waited at the foot of the impressive Spanish Steps while Dhyaan and I filled our water bottles from the

Fontana della Barcaccia. It was surreal.

While everyone has heard so much about the Colosseum — and it certainly did not disappoint — the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill were striking too, and undoubtedly one of the highlights of our trip.

Baa and Dada sportingly braved the intense heat to walk around the expanse, patiently listening to Dhyaan and me rhapsodise over the historical treasures. We grew up with Baa’s bedtime tales, and it was endearing to see the tables turn as Dhyaan, a Classics student, regaled Baa and Dada with stories of ancient Rome. Halfway through our sojourn, we nipped to Florence for the day, where we saw Michelangelo’s David in all his glory, the stunning Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, and the haunting Rape of the Sabine Women sculpture in Piazza della Signoria. Our day ended with coffee near the charming Ponte Vecchio.

Throughout the week, the four of us spent unprecedented quality time together. We learned things about each other that we didn’t know before.

Baa and Dada entertained us with stories of their youth and my dad’s childhood, giving us a more insightful perspective about what makes them the way they are, and shaping our understanding of how and why they view life the way they do. This trip was our longest interaction with Baa and Dada as grown teenagers, without any other family around. It was an opportunity for them to see us as nearadults. I couldn’t help feeling a surge of pride when Dada affectionately commented that his laadkiis such a capable, organised young woman. As the oldest of their five grandchildren — of whom the youngest three are all under eight years old — Dhyaan and I absolutely adored having their undivided attention again. We returned to London with an abundance of inside jokes, a lifetime of happy memories, and plans for our next trip as a quartet.

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Mrs Kapoor invites you to her daughter's big fat Indian wedding An Indian wedding is always a extravaganza and Mrs. Kapoor's Daughter's Wedding is an insight into the cultural nuances of the wedding celebrations in Indian households. Directed and produced by Archana Kumara, this is a laugh out loud, comedy-dance production that has to be celebrated by a family audience.

It follows Mrs. Kapoor, as portrayed by YouTube sensation Parle Patel in her journey of getting one of her five daughters married off.

Inspired from the melodrama of Bollywood movies Archana injects emotion, poise and wit wrapping it up in a staged drama.

“This year we wanted to do something different and wanted to punctuate what Asian culture and weddings are all about. I also wanted to give a platform for the young aspiring British Asian artists who are trying to break into mainstream theatre and this play seemed a good start,” said Archana, Founder of AK Bollywood Dance.

Archana Kumar

Archana’s creativity stems from role models such as Bollywood actress and dancer Madhuri Dixit, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and popular film director Gurinder Chadha. Hoping to emulate Chadha in her work, Kumar speaks about the uniqueness of her theatre production aiming to inculcate Indian family values in the younger generation especially as communities are at the threshold of integration and UK is a

multi-cultural society. But beyond sending the message of family values, it also takes the audience on an emotional roller-coaster journey highlighting the strains, and tensions binding the families. Archana established the AK Bollywood Dance in 2011 from humble beginnings, with a view to promoting Indian culture and training the next generation of dancers.

“I have known from experience that it is

extremely difficult for professionals, training and aspiring Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) artists to break into the mainstream arts industry.

This is a great platform for them to be noticed for their talent and we hope to promote the talent in our Asian community,” she said.

Starring Parle Patel, West End singer Shahid Abbas Khan, and singer Drupti Vaja through this play Archana also attempts to integrate the various sections of the Asian diaspora in the UK. The production is a collaboration between AK Productions and AK Bollywood Dance that will tour a team of 35 dancers, actors, singers, dhol (drum) players and production staff.

Following its unprecedented popularity the production returns for three, further UK tour dates in London, Bradford and Leicester.

Speaking about future plans around the production, Archana hints at the marriage of the remaining four of Mrs. Kapoor daughter's.

Surge in mental health aid at businesses A national training body, has reported that about 140,000 people were trained to provide aid to people expressing mental distress in 2018-19, the highest ever in a year.

Mental Health First Aid England, has reported that individuals from various industries- hairdressers to employees in global corporations have undertaken this training.

FTSE 100 company has showed that they alone have

trained more than 10,000 staffers, while mid-tier and even tiny businesses are appointing first responders who can be approached confidentially by those with depression, anxiety, stress and other conditions.

In terms of numbers, big firms lead the way. More than half the FTSE 100 companies have mental health first aiders (some call them “buddies”, “champions”, “advocates” or even “be well allies”). Lloyds Banking Group has a programme to

train 2,500 by next year, while National Grid and Severn Trent both have more than 1,000.

In the meantime, a YouGov survey of over 1,000 students from 8-15 years old in England, Wales and Scotland has 40 per cent are worried that school work will be too hard and they won’t be able to do it when they go back to school after the summer. This was a concern for half of 15 year olds as they approach their final year of GCSEs.

“One-in-eight children aged 5 to19 in England has at least one mental health disorder and many reach crisis point before receiving treatment. Our UK-wide specialist mental health services see first-hand how anxieties have the potential to cause long lasting trauma. with the right support from a trusted adult, children can recover from difficult experiences and work towards a positive future,” said Javed Khan, Chief Executive of Barnardo's.

Mayor London tells organisers of world’s largest arms fair to ‘leave London and never come back’ The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has issued a strong rebuke to organisers of the world’s largest arms fair and has demanded that they leave London and never return to the city. Sadiq Khan vowed to block the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition from taking place in the capital again and said he “strongly opposes” its existence this year.

More than 100 people have been arrested so far as hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Excel centre, in east London, where the biennial DSEI mass weaponry sale is hosted.

“I too strongly oppose this event taking place in London.

“London is a global city,

which is home to individuals who have fled conflict and suffered as a consequence of arms and weapons like those exhibited at DSEI. “In order to represent Londoners’ interests, I will take any opportunity available to prevent this event from taking place at the Royal Docks in future years.”

Khan also urged DSEI to cover Metropolitan Police costs if they plan to return, as the bill for controlling protests in 2017 totalled almost £1 million.

Supported by the Ministry of Defence, traders will showcase

Metliss appointed Chairman of Axiom Stone A leading City lawyer has been appointed as the Chairman of one of the capital’s fastest-growing business law firms. Jonathan Metliss has been appointed Chairman of Axiom Stone, the growing multi-service practice, with offices in Mayfair, Edgware and Birmingham.

Jonathan specialises in corporate finance with special focus on takeovers, acquisitions, financings, flotations and joint ventures, and expertise in the real estate, retail and leisure and technology sectors. He has been the founding partner of City law firm S.J. Berwin in 1982, and over the years he has been involved in some of the UK’s largest corporate transactions, including- British Land’s £1.17bn acquisition of The Broadgate Estate and acquisition of Adidas by Robert Louis-Dreyfus and Maurice Saatchi among others.

“I am delighted to have joined Axiom Stone as Chairman. This is a very lively, energetic and ambitious law firm with much potential. I am extremely enthusiastic about my role and the company’s future,” said Jonathan.

He is also a Governor of The Technion in Haifa, Israel’s Institute of

Technology, and Chairman of Action Against Discrimination, a charity he established to combat racism in sport – in particular, football. He does much charitable work and for many years was a trustee of The Langdon Foundation assisting children with special needs. He has been actively involved in Jewish community and Israelirelated affairs for many years. He is currently a member of the defence committee of The Board of Deputies of British Jews.

Additionally he has held a number of non-executive directorships, including that of ENIC, which acquired Tottenham Hotspur, and General Medical Clinics.

India initiates talks with UK on concessional sugar exports post-Brexit India has initiated talks with the U.K. and the European Union to determine out the quantum of sugar exports at concessional rates in a postBrexit UK, reports suggest.

Currently, the EU permits India to export 10,000 tonnes of sugar at concessional duty rates under the CXL quota. However, after the exit of the U.K. from the EU, this quantity needs to be re-negotiated, they said.

By availing the CXL concession on export to the EU,

to fuel bombing campaigns in Yemen, creating one of the world's worst refugee crises.

Ministers are expected to deliver speeches and attend dinners to explore new arms contracts at the four-day fair, and British armed forces personnel will boast rockets, tanks, grenades and more to visiting delegations. their weaponry to international buyers, including Saudi Arabia who will be attending the event following an official invite from the UK Government. This is despite the Court of Appeal ruling in June that Britain’s arms sales to the Saudi regime were unlawful for their part in helping

Jonathan Metliss

Heckled outside Parliament In the meantime, Sadiq Khan was heckled by pro-Brexit supporters outside Parliament, who were furious with his record on crime as well as his support to block Brexit. He came face to

Indian traders export sugar at relatively low customs duty. Similarly, officials of India, the EU and the U.K. are also discussing modalities for carrying forward the anti-dumping duties which have been imposed on companies in the EU. The EU, permits free trade among the member countries. In the meantime, India-U.K. bilateral trade has increased to $16.87 billion in 2018-19 from $14.5 billion in the previous fiscal.

face with the outraged Brexiteers moments before Prime Minister Boris Johnson also attacked him during PMQs. Mr Johnson told the House of Commons that it was “time to get rid of Sadiq Khan”.

Addressing his first-ever Prime Minister's Questions, Johnson said, “I left him £600 million by the way, and Sadiq Khan squandered it on press officers. The faster we get rid of Sadiq Khan and get more police officers out on the street the better."

Responding to the Prime Minister, Khan tweeted, “Petty and inaccurate point-scoring does absolutely nothing to help our overstretched police tackle violent crime across the UK.”

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Rami Ranger Peerage I was delighted to learn that Rami Ranger was on Tuesday conferred a peerage to become Lord Rami Ranger. The concept of the American Dream is well known. That the highest aspirations can be achieved by working hard. However, few speak of the British Dream which today has been manifested through the achivements of Lord Ranger. The Lord came to Great Britain as a refugee boy and started a business in 1987 with no more than a couple of pounds. The past 30 years has seen him win numerous Queen's Awards whilst growing the Sun Mark Limited empire.

The Lord has been a ferocious champion of promoting British products both at home and abroad. During a trip to Gambia, I was surprised to see just how many supermarkets were selling Sun Mark Limited's products which included a wide range of soft drinks. The Lord has not only championed British business but has also been a huge champion for stronger community cohesion and has often spoken of his vision of seeing a more diverse British Parliament. Having followed the Lord's speeches over the years, he has taught me two life lessons. The first is that there is no shortcuts to success and consistent hardwork is necessary to achieve your dreams. The second is the importance of serving and representing the communities you live in. After all, if you do not do this, you cannot expect others to do this for you. The Lord's story is one from rags to riches. It shows the British Dream is very much alive and should be an inspirational example to all.

Cllr Pranav Bhanot By email

Boris and his gang's manoeuvres PM Boris Johnson is facing difficulties with the opposition parties, with own cabinet members who have resigned and 22 senior members of his party whom he had sacked with stroke of pen. He with his far right gang is trying to manoeuvre out of the recent defeats he has faced in the parliament.

But there is no way out for him so far to do so.

He has specifically target the opposition Labour leader Jermyn Corbin by using foul and intemperate language against him, saying he is a chlorinated chicken during a Parliament debate, instead of the traditional “right honourable gentleman.” Even more inexplicably, he then hurled another schoolboy taunt at Corbyn, calling him a “great big girl’s blouse.” Boris Johnson has also use the ’F’ word. This is not a behaviour of a Prime Minister but of a bully which diminishes the dignity of his office and of the parliament.

The referendum in 1916 was won on the premise of lies and misinformation not on facts. They talked about taking control, sovereignty and being rules by Brussels which was a red herring to divert attention from the real issues. The referendum was not won by Tory Party supporters but by the votes of Labour supporters of North East England and Wales who were protesting against neglect, unemployment, austerity and lack development in their area. Moreover the false propaganda of Brexiteers and UKIP Party showed thousands of immigrants heading to invade United Kingdom which swung the vote narrowly in their favour.

Boris Johnson says he would take the UK out of the EU on 31 October “deal or no deal”, “do or die” no ‘if or buts but that does not looks will happen. He is accusing the opposition for have cut down his legs from getting a deal from the EU, but in actual fact by his unorthodox antics he has cut down his own legs and he has nothing to stand on now but as he said to die in a ditch.

Mujtaba Rahman, an analyst with Eurasia Group .said “Boris is tearing up the rule book,” Boris and his hard right wing gang is hell bent in plotting some sinister plan to either leave EU with no deal Brexit in 31 October or have a general election on 15 October to circumvent the no deal Brexit hurdle. Former PM Theresa May left Brexit in a worse position but Boris has made it even worse.

No one knows what is going to happen next, we will not know till the fat lady sings. The opposition parties need to be extra alert and vigilant because one never knows Boris and his adviser Dominic Cummings will do to turn the tables on their adversaries.

Baldev Sharma Rayners Lane, Harrow

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Any letter longer than the limit may not be published.

Note that all your letters are subject to being edited by our team for valid reasons.

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Nominations open for autism awards The National Autistic Society wants to find exceptional people, schools and services making a huge difference to autistic children and adults, and their families.

If your readers know anyone like this, please nominate them for our eighth annual Autism Professionals Awards. It could be an inspirational teacher, a brilliant nurse or doctor, a forward thinking employer or someone who volunteers their time to support others.

We want to celebrate their achievements and share their stories, so we can promote innovative autism practice and inspire other people and organisations to help create a society that works for autistic people.

Find out more about autism and nominate by visiting: autismprofessionalsawards.org.uk Carol Povey, Director The National Autistic Society’s Centre for Autism

Electric Scooters Menace As London roads become more and more congested, people use their ingenuity to invent different, faster, two wheel transport to travel from A to B, especially for short distances.

At one time, bicycles or other pedal power was the sole alternative, unless one was willing to invest a considerable sum on state of the art motorbikes that was also a status symbol!

But now we have choice, a cheap scooter, the favourite for the young as well as pizza delivery boys, cheap to run and not too expensive to buy.

The newest mode of transport to come on the market is electric scooters, in short known as E-scooters. They are somewhat similar to children’s scooters but these adult scooters are powered by powerful electric motors, capable of doing 30mph.

These quick get-away powered transporters are popular for short journeys in number of cities in Europe and America where they are legally allowed to drive on public roads, with proper insurance, in line with motor vehicles.

But as usual, we are light year behind in adopting new inventions, practices and IT (Information Technology) that could improve our lives by leaps and bounds!

But fortunately DOT (Department of Transport) is reviewing the legislation, studying the usage of E-scooters in other cities, usage benefits as well as disadvantages before making their usage legal in UK. They are right to be cautious, as speed of 30 mph could kill pedestrians, when driven on footpaths, narrow country lanes, in parks and other public places, especially if these places are widely used by families, children, disable persona, as well as training ground for sports mad enthusiasts who may be training for glory, to stand on a podium at Olympic games!

Kumudini Valambia By email

Paryushan Paryushan is celebrated from 27th Aug to Sep 3 2019 by Swetambara Jain sect while by Digambara sect from Sep 3 to Sep 12, 2019.

The word “ Paryushan “ meaning based on belief “ Pari” and “ Ushan” . Former means “ all” while the latter refers “ to burn”. Shedding or burning all of the bad karmas like - greed , hatred,pride etc.

As a follower of Hindu Vaishnav sect we realized not only true meaning of Paryushan but also how to put in to practice in our day to day lives exactly 32 years ago at this time.

From Canada our family came to England to attend wedding of our nephew Hemant Patel and before the wedding we as family took 5 European country bus tour of Taj tours.

We were enjoying our tour by seeing historical places, churches, cathedrals, palaces, shows, hotels accommodations and food at many Indian restaurants available at most of the countries and also meeting fellow Indian origin tourist from America, England, East Africa, South Africa and India and our tour manager Mr. Raj was very informative.

But as it happens in most of the tours due to traffic jam, unforeseen circumstances , weather etc there were some delays in hotel check in, going to restaurants and sightseeing places etc so in our last lag of tour some tourist approached us and asking our signatures to sign written complains against tour manager Mr. Raj. At this time festival of Paryushan was going on and during our conversations Mr. Manubhai Mehta and Mrs Vidyaben Mehta of London and Mr. R. D. Shah and Mrs Arunaben Shah of Nairobi both of Jain sect told us , even if Mr. Raj is at fault we will forgive him on our holy festival of Paryushan so we also dropped the idea of signing and also convince others thinking that why we should spoil otherwise very enjoyable and memorable tour to cherish.

The greetings of Michchami Dukkadam - forgiveness is a true message not only limited to Paryushan of Jain sect but also to the people of all world’s religions to put in to practice in our daily life.

Suresh and Bhavna Patel Markham. Canada.

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Welcoming young readers to write in our Diwali issue Dear Readers, Diwali this year is on Sunday 27th October.

The New Year is knocking at the door waiting to bring in colours and light to our lives with fervour of joy and ever lasting happiness. Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar will once again be publishing the ‘Diwali Special’ Magazine for our fabulous and supportive readers like yourself. This year we are once again inviting our young readers to send in their articles for the English section.

1. If you are between 5-25 years of age, write an article in English on either of the following topics in no more than 350 words, along with a suitable photo: l how do you celebrate your Diwali every year OR l Your most memorable Diwali with friends and family OR l how do you celebrate Diwali in your school'.

2. If you are 2-25 years of age, you can also draw/paint a picture of what Diwali means to you or your memorable Diwali, with a suitable photo caption, your full name, age; scan and send the picture to the the below address, by the mentioned deadline.

3. If you are within 9-25 years of age, you can also write a short story within 350 words or a poem within 150 words for our Diwali special.

4. If you are a part of an organisation, which has a youth wing or support youth activities, please tell us how your young members or youth wing celebrates Diwali in 300 words with 2 pictures (in no less than 300dpi).

Send your articles/stories/poem with your photo and/or painting/picture to aveditorial@abplgroup.com.

Last date of entry: 30th September 2019.

- Asian Voice

Variety is the spice of life!

As many regular readers have pointed out that number of contributors to “Readers Voice” have declined in recent time, mainly as most were elderly people, some have put their pen to rest while others have departed, I personally feel that the quality and variety of letters have indeed improved by leaps and bounds despite the loss of veteran contributors.

While, at one time, it was mainly politics that dominated these pages, now we see letters as different as chalk and cheese, incorporating environment, climate change, Brexit, health, wild life, social changes, sports and many more.

This success is mainly due to dedicated writers like Dineshbhai Sheth, Kumudini, Baldev Sharma, Jubel D’Cruz and occasional contributors like Ramesh Nehru, Chuni Chavda and few more whose letters are indeed interesting and carry the punch and may influence readers in droves! I feel they should put their pen to paper more often for the benefit of devoted readers.

As I am contributing to AV/GS for some 25 years with more than 3000 letters, articles, poems, short stories, interviews, as well as covering visits of prominent Indian politicians like L. K. Advani, PM Modi, Arun Jaitley, Shruti Irani and many more and in close contact with the popular, easily approachable Editor Shri C. B. Patel, whom I credit for my success on journalistic front, with four published novels and writing regular column in a prestigious magazine, I feel Readers Voice column is thriving as never before, although we need young and dynamic new contributors, as some of us may be approaching the end of our immensely interesting hobby, being on the wrong side of 80 but still going strong!

It would be a pinnacle of my achievement if I could hang a “Certificate” on my lounge wall, signed by members of Editorial Board!

Bhupendra M. Gandhi By email

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AsianVoiceNews

EDUCATION

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

11

14 - 20 September 2019

State school numbers rise at Cambridge The proportion of state school pupils starting at the University of Cambridge this autumn will be the highest for decades - rising to 68%. The university also says one in four are from "disadvantaged backgrounds".

Cambridge has faced accusations of being socially exclusive and this year ran a scheme ensuring more places for poorer youngsters. Applicants have not been put off by "false perceptions", says director of admissions, Sam Lucy.

The official admission figures for 2019-20 will not be published until next year, but the university says the proportion of state school students among its UK intake will be the highest in records going back to the 1980s.

Last year, about 65% of students starting at Cambridge were from state schools - but this year's figure has risen to 68%.

Four years ago, there

were 62% of students from state schools. This shift has seen Cambridge's intake, in terms of state-educated pupils, becoming more similar to other Russell Group universities. About 7% of pupils in England are in private schools - but that figure rises to more than 15% by sixth form.

Leading universities have been under pressure to ensure fair access to students from disadvantaged backgrounds. For this year's intake, the university offered 100 places only available to deprived students.

This provided a second chance for disadvantaged students who might have got better exam results than expected, and who could reapply after they had their Alevel grades. This has contributed to more students from poorer backgrounds going to Cambridge this year, with the university saying about one in four new students will be classified as

disadvantaged.

The university defines disadvantage using measurements such as the "Index of Multiple Deprivation" and whether students live in areas where not many people go to university.

Cambridge says it wants this to rise to one in three new students coming from "under-represented and disadvantaged" backgrounds.

The university does not have official figures yet for numbers of ethnic minority students beginning in the autumn, but says it expects a "significant increase".

Dr Lacy, head of admissions, said: "It is deeply encouraging to see that our actions to provide educational opportunity for all those who have the potential to study here are paying off."

She said the university wanted to "make our student population truly representative of the UK population".

School funding boost to reverse cuts Schools in England will receive £2.6bn extra next year under Chancellor Sajid Javid's spending plans. This will be the first step towards reversing budget cuts and returning school funding to pre-austerity levels.

The announcement follows last week's unveiling of a three-year plan to boost school funding by £7.1bn by 2022-23.

School leaders have raised concerns about relying on a funding plan that will take three years at a time of such political and economic volatility.

The chancellor told the House of Commons putting more money into schools was investing in "lifelines of opportunity".

This announcement, relating to spending for 2020-21, confirms the first slice of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's pledge to significantly increase school spending.

When it was outlined last week, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said the full three-year funding package would be sufficient to reverse the budget reductions of the past decade.

Mr Javid said improving school funding was vital to "national renewal" and schools that had been underfunded would receive the biggest increases. His plans will mean: - a new minimum level of per pupil spending of £5,000 in secondary and £4,000 in

primary schools - an extra £700m for pupils with special educational needs - teachers will have a starting salary of £30,000, from 2022-23, to tackle recruitment difficulties - £400m extra to support further and vocational education - £66m extra for early-years provision - schools in Wales and Northern Ireland are also expected to receive increased funding The promise of more money for schools follows a long-running campaign over cash shortages - with head teachers writing to millions of parents about budget problems.

Food banks increasing in schools for pupils' families More schools in England are setting up food banks to help feed their pupils' families, according to the biggest school governors' organisation.

The National G o v e r n a n c e Association's annual survey found 8% of governors were in schools which had food banks up from 7% last year.

The highest proportion were in the North East where 13% of governors were in schools with a food bank.

Heads' leader Geoff Barton said schools faced "rising levels of poverty".

"It is a shameful situation in a country which is among the wealthiest in the world," said Mr Barton,

leader of the ASCL head teachers' union.

The National Governance Association (NGA) surveyed 6,000 governors about the challenges facing their schools. School governors, who are often volunteers such as parents or representatives of the local community, warned that funding shortages and

teacher recruitment were among the biggest problems.

But the survey also showed the rising challenge of having to offer welfare services to families - such as running food banks, offering meals outside of term time and washing pupils' clothes and uniforms.

Food banks, which provide emergency supplies of food, were most common in schools in the north-east of England, the West Midlands and London - and were more likely in nursery and primary schools than in secondary.

Among nursery school governors, 2% reported their schools were providing emergency loans to parents.

Islamic Academy trustees disqualified over pupil radicalisation attempts Five trustees who ran an east London academy where a teacher tried to radicalise pupils have been disqualified from any similar roles.

The Charity Commission investigated Essex Islamic Academy in Barking after Umar Ahmed Haque was convicted of terrorism offences last year.

It found the trustees had failed to safeguard pupils who were shown videos created by the Islamic State group.

The Essex Islamic Academy has been approached for comment.

Haque was initially recruited as an administrative assistant by the academy but he later began teaching classes unsupervised to about 80-100 children.

The Old Bailey previous-

Umar Ahmed Haque showed graphic propaganda videos to pupils at the academy

ly heard he showed "violent and graphic" footage to children as young as 11 as part of attempts to train an "army of children" for terrorist attacks.

The Charity Commission found the trustees did not check what Haque was teaching and had not applied for an enhanced DBS check which was required for his teaching

role.

"Ultimately the inquiry established that no due diligence was carried out prior to Haque taking up employment," the commission said.

Investigators also found the trustees initially withheld the fact that Abuthaher Mamun, who assisted Haque in his classes and was later also convicted of terror offences, had worked at the charity.

Michelle Russell, director of investigations, said children at the academy "were let down" by the trustees, who have all been banned from holding trusteeships for 10 years.

A new board of trustees have been appointed, after the commission installed an interim manager at the academy in June 2018.

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12 MEDIA WATCH

AsianVoiceNews

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14 - 20 September 2019

SCRUTATOR’S Heartbreak! So near, yet so far. That was the initial feeling that swept the country, when Vikram, Chandrayaan-2’s Lander – a mere two miles from the lunar surface - ceased to communicate with scientists at the ISRO station in Bangaluru. Until those fateful moments, everything had proceeded smoothly, like clockwork, as it were. Cheers had broken out: then the pangs of disappointment.

The Rover that was scheduled to roll out and collect samples of soil from the Moon’s South Pole may or may not have performed the tasks expected of it: now we shall probably never know.

Orbiter, still circling the Moon, had according to the latest reports, detected the presence of Lander on the Moon’s surface.

Orbiter is sending valuable data back to earth.

PM Modi, ISRO Chairman K. Sivan in warm embrace

PM’s message Prime Minister Modi, who was present at the ISRO centre was as disappointed as the scientists, engineers and the rest of India, but he refused to surrender to doom and gloom, saying that what was achieved by the Chandrayaan 2 mission was remarkable; that a setback was the path to success; that the Indian people were proud of their scientists and engineers; that there was no reason to feel disheartened; that science by its very nature involved experiment, obstacles and fulfilment: ‘that the best was yet to come.’ The Prime Minister gave ISRO Chairman K. Sivan a warm emblematic hug.

People across the country hailed the scientists and their achievement. They were buoyantly optimistic about India’s future in space exploration.

PM in Vladivostok Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Vladivostok as Chief Guest at Russia’s Eastern Economic Forum was a resounding success. It was an ample fulfilment of

vision statement on progress in all sectors between the partners (See page 3).

Tamil Nadu search for global investors Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Eppadi Palaniswami, headed a large delegation to New York in quest of global investors in his State back home. Sixteen Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed, a symbol of good intent, with every chance it they would fructify, as Tamil Nadu, with its strong industrial base, has a proven record as investor-friendly.

Track record ‘The best testimony for the State’s vibrant investment climate is the resounding success of the Global Investment Meet,’ said the Chief Minister, adding that Tamil Nadu had attracted almost $48 billion in investments in through 304 MoUs. Assurances ‘In the Defence industry corridor coming up in Tamil Nadu, my

In the huge builds-up of short positions by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) is any indication, the domestic stock markets are likely to see a sharp reversal. FPIs, among the largest equity futures, options traders are holding more than one lakh (100,000) contracts on the National Stock Exchange.

Judging by past trends, India may witness a strong rally in the coming weeks and months.

(Business Line, September 4).

sector. In a joint statement following the 20th annual India, Russia Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin defined a range of issues, bilateral, regional and global they had discussed and agreed upon, mostly from the same page. Mr Modi reaffirmed India’s commitment to a multipolar global order, for long also the Russian position. The West is supportive of a US-led NATO bloc across continents (Business Line, September 5).

Online tutoring boosts employment numbers

IAF inducts Apache helicopters

Online tutoring has boosted demand for teaching jobs, according to data released by Indeed, an employment-related search engine indicate a 41 per cent increase in job adverts since 2016, the growth being highest in 2018-19., reflecting growth in digital media. The average annual salary of an online tutor in India is Rs 480,000, rising to Rs 925,000.

(Business Line, September 5).

The Indian Air Force (IAF) inducted 8 Apache attack helicopters into service. The USmade Apache is the world’s most advanced multi-role heavy helicopter. In addition to its capability to shoot fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missiles air-to-air missiles, rockets and other weaponry, it has Electronic Warfare capabilities in network centric aerial warfare, said Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa (Hindu, September 4).

Economic revival in sight: experts

Shah’s assurance to Kashmiri people Home Minister Amit Shah has assured the people of the Kashmir Valley that only government land would be used for the establishment of industries, hospitals and educational institutions. No privately-owned land would be taken away. Village headmen should carry this message to their rural constituents, said the minister (Hindu, September 4).

expectations, an experience to savour. Mr Modi said he was deeply touched by the warmth of President Vladimir Putin’s welcome. His visit has cemented Indo-Russian relations and taken it to the next level with a five-year

government is taking various initiatives to promote aerospace and defence manufacturing industries,’ said Chief Minister Palaniswami (Hindu, September 14).

A Delhi court sent former Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram to custody in Tihar jail in INX Media case, even as another court granted anticipatory bail to him and his son Karti in the Aircel-

Jihadi terrorists held in Kashmir Two Pakistani terrorists, Khalil Ahmad Kayan, aged 35, and Mohammad Nazeem, aged 22, affiliated to the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, were arrested in the Baramullah district of Kashmir, near the Line of Control, by the Army. During interrogation they revealed that Pakistan was planning to infiltrate armed groups from 14 bases in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Further questioning of the two men will follow by relevant security agencies (Statesman, September 5).

Chinese envoy for Sino-Indian talks

PM Modi, Russian President Putin at Vladivostok

Chidambaram remand in Tihar jail

China’s new Ambassador to India, Sun Weidong told reporters at a reception in the Embassy in New Delhi that, while differences between neighbours were inevitable they should be resolved in the context of the broader picture or regional and global peace and stability. ‘China,’ he said, ‘attached great importance to its relations with India.’ If the two countries, as emergent powers, spoke with a single voice at global forums, it would be of great mutual benefit. Hopefully that halcyon day will come to pass in the fullness of time. Sooner rather than later (Statesman, September 5).

India, Russia in Energy deal India and Russia signed up to a roadmap for increased cooperation in the hydrocarbon

Pilani, and the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (Times of India September 6).

Arif Khan new Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, once a staunch Congressman in the Rajiv Gandhi government in the mid1980s, has been appointed Governor of Kerala. His breach with Rajiv Gandhi followed his government’s decision to make a retrospective change in the Constitution, enabling it to

Mohammed Arif Khan

overturn the Supreme Court judgement upholding the demand for a higher alimony by a 70 yearold Muslim woman Shah Bano from her lawyer husband who divorced her under triple talaque.

It was case of appeasing the Muslim clergy and it cost Congress dear in the general election that followed. The party went into steep decline. Arif Mohammed Khan’s resignation from the Rajiv Gandhi government over the Shah Bano case has been vindicated. His moral integrity shines brightly (Business Line September 2).

Gadkari’s support for auto industry

P.Chidambaram

Maxis money laundering case.

Special judge Ajay Kumar said in reference to the INX Media case, ‘Having considered all the facts and circumstances of the case, the nature of the offence and the stage of the investigation, which is still in progress, the accused is remanded in judicial custody till September 19.’ Earlier, the Supreme Court denied him anticipatory bail (Hindu, Statesman September 6).

IIT Kharagpur, four others, hailed The Human Resource Development Ministry has declared the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur, and four other institutions of higher education as Institutions of Eminence. Among the four were IIT-Madras, Benaras Hindu University, and the Universities of Delhi and Hyderabad. In 2018, IIT-Delhi, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, IIT-Bombay, the Birla Institute of Technology,

Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has promised every support to the automotive industry in its current crisis of declining sales. HJe said he would approach the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to reduce the GST. It had been reduced to 5 per cent from 12 per cent for electric vehicles, so why not for other categories as well? He planned to bring the matter up in discussions with the Finance Minister (Statesman September 6).

Israel backs India ‘The situation in Kashmir is an internal matter for India to solve, and Israel is waiting for a peaceful solution to the current scenario,’ said Ambassador Ron Malka in N ew Delhi at the weekend. In an interaction with the local media, he described India as a ‘precious friend.’ Israel-India had moved beyond defence and security to food security, water management and tackling natural disasters.

‘India is the biggest democracy in the world. It respects human rights and individual freedoms, and we know that it will deal with the[Kashmir] issue with democratically and peacefully,’ said the Ambassador (Hindu September 7) .

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14 - 20 September 2019

LIVING BRIDGE Victoria and AbdulBinding love Rohit Vadhwana Stephen Frears (Philomena, The Queen) directs this well-meaning tale of the unlikely inter-generational friendship between Queen Victoria (Judi Dench, regal as ever and clearly having a blast) and an Indian servant named Abdul Karim (Ali Fazal).This movie has been long recommended to me and I recently watched it on Netflix.

Directed in 2017, the movie is an exceptional piece of cinema bridging both Indian and British talents. It is an adaptation of a book written under the same name and authored by Shrabani Basu.

Aesthetically directed by Stephen Frears, the film has lead roles by Judi Dench and Ali Fazal. Judi Dench injects the right amount of poise and grace in portraying royalty and brings out all dramatic elements that Queen Victoria might have felt for Abdul, his Indian servant. Ali Fazal however, falls short in his role of Abdul.

The film is a tell-tale story of young Indian clerk and old British Queen, one looking for a new life in Britain and another excited to find a new company in a new Indian Muslim boy whom she describes as ‘terribly handsome’ in the movie. Not easy to say what kind of relationship exists between them in the film, but Abdul becomes munshi- a teacher – of Urdu to Her Highness, which the royal family members didn’t like. The increasing importance of the ‘low born’ Indian clerk was perhaps not acceptable to them.

So,the movie explores humour and sarcasm.

Gradually, Queen Victoria’s interest increases in India and she gets Abdul to build the Durbar Room at her Isle of Wight home of Osborne House. Elements of Mughal empire in India is brought to the movie through Abdul’s wisdom.

Owing to jealously, family members persistently try to send Abdul back to India, which doesn't happen during the lifetime of Queen, as she resists every move and keeps Abdul with her. She even gets Abdul’s family in England. But finally, when she dies, Abdul is sent back to India, where he spends rest of his life in Agra.

The movie was well-received by the audience and critics and ended up making a huge profit and earning many reputed awards. It won awards for best costume design at 15th Irish Film & Television Awards in 2018. Director Stephen Frears won Truly Moving Picture Award at the 26th Heartland Film Festival and Music Director Thomas Newman won Hollywood Film Composer Award at the 21st Hollywood Film Awards. Actress Judi Dench was nominated for a number of awards at various functions including for the 75th Golden Globe Award. There are a number of joint film projects taken up by India and the UK, and many of them are well received in both the countries. It creates a sustaining living bridge between the two countries.

(Expressed opinion is personal) Do you have a story or suggestion for this column? Email at: livingbridgeasianvoice@gmail.com

The Politics of Food, Islam and the West As Pakistan tries to make Kashmir a religious issue and fails miserably to succeed, it fails on various fronts. The reason is, and I hope they are reading this in their High Commission in London, and report back to Islamabad – their approach is hopelessly outdated. Their attempt to weaponise Islam, is a trick that is practiced by the Taliban era.

When I visited Kashmir most recently, I took a snap shot of where I was, near the LoC and where Osama Bin Laden was captured in Abottabad. There is a reason the HQ of ISI and Bin Laden were a walking distance to the LoC. In exchange for ISI protection, Bin Laden’s job was to inject terrorism into Kashmir. But this war is over. Pakistan lost the war with India.

Consider, for instance, there is one man who has saved more Muslim lives than any other man in history. One individual who without fear or favour has been singularly responsible for why there are more followers of the faith today than any other man since the Prophet. One man who can rightly be called defender of the faith. No, it is not Saladin nor Nasser, nor the physician in the Middle Ages Ibn Al-Baitar, nor is it the discoverer of pulmonary circulation – Ibn AlNafis or the botanist Al-idris. The name of the man, a Christian, is Norman Borlaug and he died in 2009. Borlaug moved governments to use his invention of high-yield varieties of grains. Before him it was said that India would never be able to feed itself. He is credited with having saved one billion souls.

Put aside your religious leaders, your gurus, popes, rabbis, imams, kings and presi-

dents. This man saved one billion lives.

He will not be given a sainthood by followers of his faith, as they will say there has not been any miracle since his death, as required by Christian ordinance for a sainthood. Yet a million miracles walk this earth each day because of him. Could it be that not only do the great religions fight amongst each other, but these seekers of godliness cannot see it around them and in the actions of their followers. “Give us today our daily bread” is the prayer of his creed – he made it a reality for followers of the Book and nonfollowers alike. Borlaug was one of only five people to have won the Nobel Peace, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Medal. He stands alongside Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Elie Wiesel and Nelson Mandela.

“Food is about people,” he said. “And people are political”. We are reminded of this because this past week global food prices are reaching crisis levels. We are reminded of this because food inflation is one of the causes for political unrest in the Islamic Republic of Egypt. We are reminded of this because the British Prime Minister is reported this week requesting the Muslim community in Britain not to tolerate extremism.

He should tell them the story of Borlaug.

The extremists will not like it, but a white Christian from America has done more for Muslims than the young British Pakistani man identified by the Security Services readying himself, as I write, preparing to bring terror to the streets of Britain and the Kashmir Valley.

14 COMMUNITY

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14 - 20 September 2019

Resilience: The plight of the Kashmiri Hindu Pandits Priyanka Mehta

A humanitarian approach “I started working on this documentary after I attended an event hosted by the Kashmiri Pandits Cultural Society UK. Before going to that event, my knowledge of Kashmir was limited to what I read in mainstream media and knew very little about the subject.

“I didn't understand the history, conflict and complexities of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh. But after meeting some Kashmiri Pandits, I realised that their stories and experiences are equally important in understanding the bigger picture today,” says Arjun, London-based filmmaker and director of the documentary.

Aside from echoing voices of the Kashmiri Pandits,

Arjun also interviewed Paul Scully MP for Sutton and Cheam. Over the years British MPs such as Paul Scully and Bob Blackman have actively supported and campaigned for the rights of the Kashmiri Pandits. From parliamentary debates to working on community-led projects, these MPs have assisted the Kashmiri Pandits in finding a haven in the UK. But, in their quest to learn about the root causes that trouble Kashmir ever since the independence of India in 1947, Arjun travelled to Delhi and interviewed Sushil Pandit. A long-standing advocate of the Kashmiri Pandit community, Sushil is the founder of 'Roots in Kashmir'. A historian and a social activist, Pandit has been instrumental in raising awareness about the mass exodus of the community in 1990 at international forums and diaspora groups.

“Upon speaking to these people and in the process of filming this documentary, I was shocked when I realised that their stories were completely ignored in the past by some reporters, politicians and even some activists. And through this documentary, I aim to educate and inform not just the South Asian diaspora settled in the UK but a wider international audience,” said Arjun.

Diplomacy and politics He is further assisted by Ramon Menon, producer of the documentary in reviewing existing literature and gathering factual data.

Ramon analysed the influence of Hindu nationalism on Indian foreign policy in his dissertation during his under-graduation in politics at King's College. This

(L-R) Virendra Sharma MP for Ealing Southall, Bob Blackman MP for Harrow East and Lord Dolar Popat

research-intensive paper helped him gauge the logjam between diplomatic bilateral relations and insurgency on the ground in J&K. Now, slated to pursue his post-graduation in conflict studies at London School of Economics with special focus on Kashmir, he discussed the UK's role in Kashmir politics.

“Kashmir is an internal bi-lateral issue for India and

Picture Courtesy: C K Naidu

About 30 years ago over 350,000 Kashmiri Hindus fled from the Valley following Islamist insurgent attacks on them. Gradually they found refuge in parts of India, USA, EU and the UK. In recent times, mainstream international media has extensively reported about Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, many pockets of international media and think-tanks in their historic analysis of Kashmir have failed to address the conditions and concerns of the Kashmiri Hindu Pandits.

Away from the political noise underpinning Kashmir today, Ramon and Arjun cast a light on the humanitarian stories rarely discussed in western media.

Their documentary 'Story of Kashmiri Pandits', features anecdotes from the Kashmiri Pandits now settled in the UK.

from members of the Azad Kashmir, Khalistan, and Pakistani diaspora have surged outside the Indian High Commission in London. Today, their objective is for a worldwide screening of the documentary. They aim to educate and inform the second and third-generation youth of the South Asian heritage who have limited or no understanding of the perse-

Picture Courtesy: C K Naidu

Two British Indians are trying to shed light into the plight of Kashmiri Hindu Pandits following their mass exodus from the state of Jammu and Kashmir in 1990.

documentary, a special book was also launched.

Resilience is a collection of stories from those Kashmiri pandits who have lived in exile in the UK for 30 years now. It is a first person account from those who suffered the trauma of extermination in the Valley and have never been back to their homeland ever since.

Members of the Kashmiri and Hindu diaspora gathered at the event and echoed their concerns about the violent protests outside the High Commission of India in London.

“Peaceful Indians including men, women and children had gathered outside the High Commission of India in London on 15th August to celebrate their Independence Day. They were in the police designated area, which was separate from the area assigned to the protestors. I witnessed

the community for lack of protection and adequate action. Responding to these concerns, Lord Dolar Popat said, “Our problem unlike the Muslim community has been that we are divided.

We are the ones who have voted for Sadiq Khan and what has he done for us? It is time we voted Conservative,” he said.

However, speaking at the sidelines of Asian Achievers Awards, Rajesh Agarwal, Deputy Mayor of London for business said, “For decades the Labour party has supported India right since independence.

Labour party’s core values are centred around internationalism which brings people together and I think that Labour party continues to be the natural party for Indians.

Book launch of Resilience

Pakistan to solve between themselves and I agree with the UK's official line of argument.

“I don't think that the Kashmir crises is the same as Arab-Israel crises because the latter has a mediator in the form of US whereas these South Asian countries are too large to need a mediator. The Kashmiri Hindu society is very small and they need our support to voice their concerns in light of present events,” says Ramon.

Following the abrogation of Article 370, protests

cution of the Kashmiri Hindu pandits. The documentary was first screened on 9th September, Monday at the House of Commons.

30 years in exile and London mayoral elections The event at the House of Commons was attended by Bob Blackman, Conservative MP for Harrow East, Virendra Sharma, Labour MP for Ealing Southall and Lord Dolar Popat. The event was organised by volunteers of the Kashmiri Pandit Cultural Society, and besides the screening of the

Pro-India protest in Birmingham

the violent behaviour where some hurled eggs and potatoes resulting into injury to many people.

“As a member of the Assembly Member of London a City Hall, do you denounce the hate crime and violence towards the small numbers of women, children and elderly on 15th August 2019?” asked Trupti Patel, President of Hindu Forum Britain.

Her question was addressed to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who has been criticised with allegations from members of

In light of the recent events in Kashmir and following the adverse reactions from some British Parliamentarians and some Pakistani groups in the UK, the IndoEuropean Kashmir Forum and Hindu Council UK are holding a pro-India demonstration in support of abolishing of Article 370. The protest will be held on Saturday 14 September, 2019 at Victoria Square, outside the Birmingham Council House from 11.30 am to 1.00 pm.

Era of great gambles: Fireside chat with Ashok Malik Former Press Secretary to the President of India speaks on Brexit, Indian economy, China-PakistanEconomic Corridor (CPEC) and conundrum created around Kashmir On 4th September, Wednesday, the High Commission of India in London along with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) UK organised a 'Fireside Chat' with Mr. Ashok Malik. The former Press Secretary to the President of India was interviewed by Manoj Ladwa, Founder & CEO of India Inc whilst delivering a talk about ‘Resurgent India: What it means for Indian Business & Diaspora in the UK’.

Mr. Malik is a distinguished fellow of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), an independent forum analysing the

problems that plague India's socio-economic fabric. His visit to the UK comes at a poignant moment in British politics and in the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370 in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Tensions have sparred between the diaspora communities settled here in the UK with recent attacks on the High Commission of India in London. On two occasions have these peaceful protests turned into violent mob lynchings and damage of public property. Many in the Indian diaspora, have echoed their concerns around safety from members

have a problem with Delhi's actions then they can organise demonstrations without causing harm to individuals but they don't have the right to damage diplomatic and private property.

“They don't have Ashok Malik with Manoj Ladwa at High the right to use slogans Commission of India, London and resort to actions of the Khalistani, Pakistani that incite hatred against and Azad Kashmiri factions other communities many of who heckled them during whom are fellow British citithe Indian Independence day zens of Indian descent. As a celebrations. modern civilised city, the Right to peaceful protest authorities in the UK have a but not to damage diplomatduty and an obligation to ic property enforce law and is of conern “In any democracy peoto the Indian Government,” ple have the right to peaceful said Malik. protest. So if the Pakistanis

Speaking about the concerns around Pakistan occupied parts of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir, Malik also broached the subject of China Pakistan Economic Corridor. He highlighted the security, military and sociopolitical troubles in the region he said, “Today, where the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor being constructed is of extreme concern to the Indian government. This is constructed with infrastructure that in parts of economic and military consequence.

For London CPEC is ideal but for us in India, it is being constructed in a territory that legally belongs to us and

can lead to potentially a hostile non-friendly presence of these countries in Indian territory.”

Speaking about the current Brexit limbo that British politics is stuck in, Malik said that this is the era of great gambles and said if Boris Johnson played the right cards then the UK may emerge as a victor unscathed out of the EU. But addressing the UK-India bilateral relations, he emphasised on India's growing economy especially in the manufacturing sectors of electronics, defence and IT which has made India an emerging economy despite the global slowdown.

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Karun Soni Dotty Art Karun Soni

Sunetra Senior arun is part of that generational zeitgeist defined by an emerging celebratory timelessness: not necessarily in terms of classic style, but more fundamentally through a new, elevated way of life. As the young artist himself commented: “Art is the most accurate marker of culture, even over the narrated history”.

K

A rising oil painter, Karun’s bright, often pixelated prints frequently depict a central graphic with an infinite vintage feel. This radiantly reflects a time where the advent of technology has allowed people to share strong personal influences with one another like never before. Older people across the world can access younger culture, while youth are similarly able to rediscover the inspirations of recent decades. In short, it is a pulsing era of modern nostalgia.

For Karun, who consummately uses Instagram to both promote and motivate his professional art – “a diehard fan of the #art tag” - this is specifically realised through his unique negotiation of cultural identity: “I’ve never felt quite at home in either India or the UK, but have always felt the sentimental pull towards my country of origin.”

Indeed, elephants are a recurring national symbol in Karun’s artwork: “this trademark was not intentional rather an organic expression of my South Asian background. In fact, I try not to consciously create an artistic identity as this can lead you to become someone you’re not.” Rather Karun lets the surrounding world equably speak to him, letting the product be. “This is what allows you to be a contemporary presence, and not just ‘another BritishAsian artist.” ***

munity change. British-Asians are coming to lead social innovation in so many different ways.”

Karun states that his main painterly technique is ‘Pointillism’, though he “continues to expand, painting simply but definitively on canvasses too.”

Here, interestingly, Karun has been fascinated by his grandmother’s archetypal record collection, which has emotively shaped his work: “the inspiration rippled out over a period of roughly two or three years, and I still do study into it. The artwork on her vinyls is so hauntingly beautiful. Though I am looking at an early period of analogue, the visuals are so colourful and creative, and layered too. The music is from the Sixties, the time of classic Bollywood, so the record covers were designed by hand. There was no digital assistance. The effect is a stunning simplicity. This persists in my craft. I have actually created a piece paying homage to this. It’s a replica of one of the album’s images: a lady deep in thought (pictured). Listening to the music has impacted the style of the piece too. The final image is restless - broken up and later reconfigured. ” This appears as if musical notes which have been accentuated before “dissolving again into the background. I found myself tearing up the image and putting it back together again, using chaotic, heavy brush strokes. At one point the picture was too abstract, while it became too precise at another.

Confetti Dreams

The key, ultimately, was not rushing through the uncertainty.” Indeed, Karun, tellingly, identifies ambiguity as an equally prevalent theme in his work: This is epitomised by one of Karun’s “without wanting to psycho-analyse outstanding professional highlights: myself too much, I do find that my subformulating the artwork for the conscious tends to drive the brush.

"Sholay Love" which was a I have drawn infinite paths – campaign for the streets, walkways or rivers London-based chari“Art is the that trail off into nowhere. ty, Naz, raising most accurate This is the part of me that awareness around testing for HIV marker of culture, embraces uncertainty, and wants to enjoy the ride.” within the gay even over Materialised in the signaBritish-Asian, or ture jarring vibrance of his ‘Gaysian’, communarrated work then, what has stayed nity. “This has been history" with Karun has not been so my biggest socio-politimuch a cultural affinity with a tracal achievement to date.” ditional past as a fascination with the Due to the unfortunate, endur“alien mystery,” as he put it, of an indiing stigma on the alternative lifestyle, vidual who he recognises as a multiespecially within the Diaspora commudimensional being: “No matter how nity, the doubly marginalised social much I investigate, there will always be group are statistically less likely to get a piece I’ll never know – it’s strange, but tested. Karun “created a Bollywoodnot altogether bad.” style poster to celebrate the intimacy This motivation is also evident in between gay Asian men.” One of the inscrutable aesthetic of his idiosynKarun’s pieces in the series shows two cratic work which boasts a multiAsian men kissing (pictured), boldly coloured allure. It profoundly extends, breaking the taboo. “The campaign too, to the artist’s measured view of the actually led to more people getting existential landscape. Karun acknowltested too: I felt a lot of pride being a edges the legacy of imperialism as part British-Asian driving this positive com-

UK

TLIGHT

15

14 - 20 September 2019

JAVID REFUSES TO RULE OUT CONSERVATIVE DEAL WITH NIGEL FARAGE The chancellor, Sajid Javid, has failed to rule out a Conservative alliance with Nigel Farage’s Brexit party at a general election.

Speaking to the BBC earlier, he emphasised that the Conservatives did not need an electoral alliance. However, he also did not categorically deny that they might need to work with Nigel Farage, whose Brexit Party took close to half of the UK’s seats at the European elections in May. “We don’t need an electoral alliance with anyone. We can stand on our own two feet,” he said. However, when pushed thrice during his interview on BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show, he failed to rule out a specific deal being struck. Farage has said he is prepared not to stand candidates in Tory areas where he could end up splitting leave voters and told the Tories they will not win an election without his support.

The Conservatives currently have no majority in the Commons and there are concerns they may struggle to win a snap election despite polling showing a lareg lead over Labour.

“We’re not in an election yet. When we get there I’m clear we don’t need an alliance with anyone. I think our message will resonate across the country,” said Javid.

Sholay Love

of a bigger world story: “I’ve returned to India pretty much every year since I was seventeen, experiencing its many vivid sights and sounds. Educationally, I’m at once aware of the incredibly adverse impact of the British Raj. It’s bizarre to think that after years of the motherland being exploited for economic gain and racial superiority, Indians have then ended up back in the UK, establishing their strength from here. It’s bittersweet.”

Especially engaged in his personal outlook then, Karun powerfully demonstrates the condition of a generation who are not only at the cusp of a daunting transitional period, but are defiantly responding to it too. If prior waves of vocal youth, from the Fifties to the Nineties, and even the Noughties, have been characterised by depression or anxiety, this is surely a display of a budding Generation Hope.

“I’m really not one for subtlety,” Karun aptly concluded. “My work revolves around the colour wheel and must leave a striking impression. Also, trying to extremely control what I’m doing is limiting – there must always be an element of fun along with a pristine work ethic. They must work together, or you lose yourself.”

You have a degree in Graphic Design from Leeds University. Yet, you’ve chosen a highly classical mode of painting: oil.

Oil painting is certainly sophisticated. It’s not as easy as water colours etc. Actually, my mum, who’s a huge fan, accidentally bought me my first set of paints. She just knew I enjoyed painting, and didn’t notice the particulars. As a child, I was sat there trying to mix oil and water! But the difficulty is equally rewarding – the paints are malleable. You really start to explore and experiment – you can’t layer random colours on top of each other. If you can master them, the reward is great.

What keeps you inspired?

Honestly, movement and financial motivation. I love to travel, and am driven by selling my art – it is possible to be profitable and creative!

Finally, who have been big influences on you?

Hundreds of artists. However, if I had to narrow it down: Jean-Michel Basquiat: his work combines African influence with an urban edge. I could relate to his subjective struggle which he worked through with bright expression too, such as graffiti art. He teamed up with pop artist, Andy Warhol.

W: https://www.karunsoni.com/ I: @dotty.art

BROTHERS DRIVING THE WHISKY EXCHANGE

Sukhinder and Rajbir Singh

Sukhinder and Rajbir Singh were always fascinated by the single malt whiskies that occupied the top shelf of their parents’ off-licence. They are now the owners of the hugely successful Whisky Exchange, which has recently helped to organise the Old & Rare Whisky show in Glasgow.

As the brothers grew up they amassed a collection of more than 5,500 miniature single-malt bottles and sold it in the mid-1990s to a bar in Oslo, hatching a bigger plan: to launch their own high-end drinks business.

The Whisky Exchange has grown into a leading online spirits retailer. Speciality Drinks, its parent company, posted pre-tax profits of £12.2m on sales of £67.5m in the 12 months to the end of June last year. They employ 240 people at their base in Park royal, northwest London and in two central London shops. They also advise auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's on sales of rare whiskies.

GOVERNMENT SPENDING SUSTAINABLE WITH NO-DEAL: RISHI SUNAK The recently appointed chief secretary to the treasury, was unable to deflect accusations from the EU that the UK government has brought absolutely no proposals to the negotiating table. Rishi Sunak was asked by AndrewNeil if Boris Johnson had submitted alternative arrangements to the backstop, and initially responded, "Are negotiations taking place? Absolutely," adding that David Frost was "having those negotiations" right now. Earlier, Chancellor Sajid Javid had outlined £13.8bn of investment in areas including health, education and the police in what he said was the fastest increase in spending for 15 years. The plans cover one year rather than three because of the ongoing uncertainty over the impact of Brexit.

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14-20 September 2019

UK economy picks up more than expected in July The ONS (Office for National Statistics) data showed that Britain's economy picked up more than expected in July, easing the recession fears ever since the financial crisis began over Brexit. Economic output in July alone was 0.3% higher than in June, the data showed, marking the biggest rise since January and topping all forecasts that had pointed to a 0.1% increase.

The pound inched higher against the dollar on the figures, which showed the expansion was driven by the services sector - although the ONS said the underlying picture showed its growth weakening through 2019.

“While the figures are far

from stellar, after a contraction in the second quarter the chances that we see a negative GDP print in the third have now dropped

significantly, meaning that a technical recession will likely be avoided,” said David Cheetham, chief market analyst at online broker XTB.

The world’s fifth-biggest economy shrank in the second quarter, a hangover from a stockpiling boom in advance of the original

March Brexit deadline. While most economists think modest growth will return in the current quarter, a slew of downbeat surveys has shown business activity wilting during the Brexit crisis, especially in August. They point to a risk that the economy will contract again, which would officially herald a recession.

The ONS said gross domestic product in the three months to July was flat compared with the previous three-month period. A poll of economists had pointed to a 0.1% contraction.

Last month, the Bank of England forecast that economic output would grow 0.3% in the third quarter, although

its forecast for zero growth in the second quarter proved to be too optimistic.

Besides the political crisis at home, the outlook for the economy has dimmed further because of trade tensions between the United States and China. The data showed the services sector, which accounts for almost 80% of British economic output, expanded 0.3% in July after four months of stagnation, the biggest upturn since November 2018.

Manufacturing output increased unexpectedly last month, rising 0.3% in monthly terms, while the construction industry also fared better than expected, posting a 0.5% rise in output.

UK workers get biggest pay Metals tycoon Sanjeev Gupta rises in 11 years to launch high-yield bond

Britain’s workers received their biggest pay rises in more than 11 years this summer as the unemployment rate fell to its lowest since the mid1970s, even as the country’s political crisis over Brexit deepened. But there were a couple of signs in official data that the approach of the latest deadline for leaving the European Union was making some employers nervous.

Hiring was weaker than expected by most economists and vacancies fell to their lowest level since late 2017. “At a testing time, the labor market is

surpassing expectations, though there are early signs the jobs boom could be cooling down,” said Tej Parikh, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, an employers group.

The Office for National Statistics said total earnings growth, including bonuses, rose by an annual 4.0% in the three months to July, up from 3.8% in the three months to June for its strongest increase since mid-2008. Pay growth is watched closely by the Bank of England to gauge future inflation pressures, and the latest increase was stronger than all forecasts. “Once

adjusted for inflation, they have now gone above 2% for the first time in nearly four years,” ONS statistician David Freeman said. The unemployment rate fell to 3.8%, back to its joint lowest since the three months to January 1975.

Job creation down But job creation was lower than anticipated at 31,000, weaker than the median forecast of 53,000.

Vacancies fell too, touching their lowest level since the three months to November 2017 at 812,000, with small companies especially cautious about seeking new staff. Britain’s economy, which has been flirting with recession ahead of Brexit, has been heavily reliant on spending by consumers that has been boosted by the country’s jobs boom and rising pay.

Many economists have attributed the strength of the labour market, at least in part, to employers hiring workers that they can later lay off rather than making longerterm commitments to investment.

BMW to close Oxford factory for two days BMW will close its Mini factory in Oxford for two days on 31 October to guard against potential disruption as the carmaker prepares for Brexit. The German company’s chief financial officer, Nicolas Peter, said the Cowley plant would shut on 31 October – Brexit deadline day – and 1 November to safeguard the company’s logistics. Peter said BMW had no plans to shift manufacturing to other sites yet but that Cowley was likely to produce fewer cars under a no-deal Brexit. “No deal would mean that, most likely, World Trade Organisation tariffs would be imposed from 1 November onwards,” Peter said. “This would mean that we would most likely have to raise the prices of the products produced in the UK and shipped to other markets.

Metals tycoon Sanjeev Gupta has held talks with JPMorgan to launch the first high-yield bond backed by part of his sprawling industrial empire, after plans for a stock market flotation of his Australian steel division foundered.

The former commodities trader turned self-styled industrialist had been aiming for an initial public offering of part of the mining and steel outfit previously known as Arrium, bought out of administration in 2017 through the GFG Alliance, an umbrella grouping of his family’s business interests.

GFG had sought to list the recycling, distribution and construction products assets, which were recently rebranded as InfraBuild, while keeping hold of the mining and blast furnace operations.

But with the float plans now shelved, the group is considering offering a highyield bond at InfraBuild and has approached JPMorgan to manage the process, according to people familiar with the matter. It would look to raise at least $500m through the debt sale, said a source.

“We are always open to capital market transactions as part of our broader strategy,” GFG said. A bond issuance would test investor appetite for GFG Alliance, a loose collection of Gupta

Sanjeev Gupta

family interests spanning metals, manufacturing, power and banking. Gupta’s empire has grown rapidly through deals but attracted scrutiny over its finances. It comes as Gupta’s Liberty House group is locked in a dispute with mining company Rio Tinto over the final payment for the $500m purchase of Europe’s largest aluminium smelter.

Concern exists among lenders who provided a $350m loan to finance the Dunkirk smelter last year, as the borrower has breached several terms of the loan.

While Dunkirk has not missed any scheduled payments, some of these breaches relate to issues such as delayed filing of audited accounts for the smelter business, according to people familiar with the matter.

According to Australian press reports, Gupta has approached the country’s federal government about

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financial assistance for the Whyalla steelworks, a blast furnace plant that produces the metal from raw materials and is separate to InfraBuild. A bond deal would also be the first time a major credit rating agency has assessed the strength of one of GFG’s underlying businesses. While Moody’s rated £295m of bonds issued to back the 2016 acquisition of a smelter and hydroelectric power assets in Scotland, it received the same credit rating as the UK government because of a guarantee from the devolved Scottish administration.The Scottish bond deal was the brainchild of Australian financier Lex Greensill, a close confidant of former UK prime minister David Cameron, whose eponymous finance firm Greensill Capital bagged an $800m investment from SoftBank’s Vision Fund in May.

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CARVING A DEAL

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The exit and rental values have already been analysed, although the market has moved since the original deal. Intelligence from the ground tells me the market is picking up very strongly especially in central locations. Viewing numbers and offers are up. We have unfortunately experienced this first hand, when we got gazumped on a two bedroom probate flat in W2, and then the person who gazumped us also got gazumped.

These are not signs of a stagnant market. From what I can see there is very limited stock on the market, only those who have to sell are selling.

From this pool buyers home in on the diamond deals, so good stock is still commanding high prices.

The building I have been offered has a story behind it. The property was being developed into an HMO on the uppers, and the commercial below was presumably being tidied up.

The builders went bust and now the property is only half complete and unsecure. It seems the owners want to sell to simply get shot of the asset. Presumably they bought the property

AGONY AGENT IS HERE TO HELP! Q: What is a Revenge Eviction?

A: "Revenge Eviction", as it's known in the media, is when a landlord ends a tenancy via a Section 21 Notice after a tenant has complained to the landlord about a matter relating to the property.

This part of the Deregulation Act, that came into force in October 2015, is not widely known or understood by all.

A Section 21 Notice (S21 Notice) was imaginatively named after Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988, which allows a landlord to regain possession of their property, but only at the end of an Assured Shorthold Tenancy or Fixed Term Tenancy agreement. Landlords are able to issue a Section 21 Notice without giving any reason for ending the tenancy agreement, and this is where

many decades ago. It appears they do not have the inclination to complete the build.

The benefit to purchasing a commercial asset is firstly the stamp duty, there is no ridiculous 3% premium to an already high rate.

Simply because it has a commercial element to it.

There are a couple of ways to do this deal. One is the straight forward way, by exchanging and completing shortly after. You will need to purchase the property either in cash or with a bridge; in its current state it will be very difficult for it to be funded by a High Street lender.

deal, and possibly none at the point of completion.

Renting out the residential is not an issue in this or any market. Given the location I expect it will be occupied within a matter of days. It’s the commercial element which will require careful attention, as this market is going through changes. One particular company is making it very difficult for retail traders to trade.

The other, more clever, way of doing this deal is to exchange for a nominal amount and then agree with the vendor to complete the works between exchange and completion. This means you complete the deal on a finished BTL building, which will be producing income. This takes all the variables out of the development of this project and is viewed very differently by lenders, and will attract lower rates and be a more stable proposition for them. Structuring in this way means there is less money tied up in the

some of the controversy has stemmed from. This law centres around the fact that landlords are unable to issue a Section 21 Notice if their tenant has previously complained (in writing) about the condition of the rental property and the landlord has failed to deal with the complaint properly and within a reasonable time period.

Tenants must be able to raise issues with their landlord or agent without the fear of losing their home and the few landlords who have undertaken such practice deserve to be punished, however, as with most cases the minority spoil it for the majority.

Some agents and landlords say that tenants could exploit this law by making claims in order to delay the eviction

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14 - 20 September 2019

Currently, we are looking at an off-market deal in Fulham. The analysis should be relatively easy as we have spent a lot of time on a property just around the corner from this freehold, shop and uppers building.

Suresh Vagjiani

REAL ESTATE VOICE

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Therefore, one needs to adapt to the flow. The concentration needs to focus on tenants which are technology proof, such as hairdressers, coffee shops etc.

process, resulting in lengthy delays in regaining possession or high court costs.

whether it wants to issue the landlord with a relevant notice.

A snapshot of what you need to know:

l

If the council does not issue a relevant notice, this does not affect the landlord’s right to issue a Section 21 Notice.

l

When a tenant complains, in writing, to their landlord about the condition of their property, the landlord has 14 days to respond.

l

If the council does decide to issue a relevant notice, as well as having to carry out the repairs/improvements to the property, the landlord will not be able to serve a Section 21 Notice for 6 months from that date.

l If the landlord responds and then carries out the work, there’s no impact to serve a S21 Notice in the future. l If the repairs are not carried out or the landlord fails to respond to the tenant’s written complaint within 14 days, the tenant then has the right to complain to their council. l

The council then should decide

The details set out above are a snapshot, and are in no way exhaustive. If you’re worried about this, please get in touch with us for more information. As long as you have kept your property maintained well at all times, then giving notice should not be an issue.

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No need for pessimism over 5% growth, says FM India's finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that there was no need for unnecessary pessimism as far as 5% GDP growth is concerned. After interacting with tax officials and industry leaders, Sitharaman said in Kolkata that 5% GDP growth rate has raised the alarm across various circles. But the FM made it clear that, during the UPA regime too in 2012-13, GDP growth was around that level only. “This is not the lowest in a decade,” she added.

However, Sitharaman pointed out that, at the same time, the Centre is not underestimating the needs of various sectors. “We are looking at challenges that different sectors are facing and we are trying to solve them. We are openly engaging with these sectors,” she added.

On the GST cut in the

Nirmala Sitharaman

stressed automobile sector, the FM made it clear that the GST Council has to take a call in this regard. She also reiterated that there will be no reduction in social sector spending, which was promised in the Budget. “As far as tax collection is concerned, targets are given to various departments and boards after due considerations,” she

added.

Commenting on transfer of the RBI’s emergency funds to the central exchequer, she added that the government is yet to take a call on the utilisation of this fund. “How it will be utilised, we are yet to decide,” she said. Sitharaman also assured industrialists that the Centre is rolling out different

steps to check tax terrorism and discretion-based tax assessment.

Replying to a question on the Cafe Coffee Day owner’s suicide and tax terrorism, she categorically said the whole process should be transparent and system-driven. “We are adopting more system-driven methods so that the assessment process becomes faceless,” she said.

Towards this end, the FM said that during this festive season, the Centre will take twin steps to convert tax assessment.

These are randomising the scrutiny using big data analysis from Bijoya Dashami (Dussehra) and, from October, rolling out a DIN-based issue of notice. “In the new system, the whole scrutiny will be system-driven.

Like, some assessees in Kolkata may be scrutinised by an officer in Madurai,” she added.

Auto cos slash production to drive through slowdown The crisis in the auto sector is deepening and leading companies are going for production cut to drive through the slowdown. Maruti Suzuki had an unprecedented full-day unscheduled shutdown at its Manesar plant in August, and is now following it up with two full no-production days on September 7 and 9, a move that company insiders call as “scary, and never seen before in the recent past.” Over-flowing inventory at factory premises, dealerships and external stockyards is making it difficult to find an empty location to park the fresh stock.

Rival Hyundai, which has been trying to balance the local slowdown by shoring up exports, also had to make “big adjustments” at its Chennai factory in August. The company has cut production of sedans and some small car models. The situation is equally challenging for others such as Tata Motors, Toyota, Mahindra & Mahindra

and Honda Cars, all of whom have cut down production in line with the reality. “The situation is alarming, and we hope that the government comes out with some credible measures - such as GST rate cut - to help us tide over this difficult period,” Rajan Wadhera, CEO of Mahindra’s automotive business and president of industry body Siam, said. Passenger vehicle business (car and SUV) is impacted not only by the economic slowdown,

but also by other structural changes such as rising acceptance of shared mobility (Ola and Uber) and consumer nervousness over migration from BS4 to BS6.

Two-wheelers and commercial vehicles are also feeling the pinch. The volumeheavy two-wheeler segment, which gets 40-50% of its sales from rural markets and smaller cities, has seen factory output come down by10% in April-July 2019-20 period. Biggest maker

Hero Moto, which had four noproduction days in August, said “it partly reflected prevailing market demand scenario, apart from holidays.”

Jobs at factories, especially of temporary workforce, are being slashed. Maruti chairman R C Bhargava said recently some 3,000 temporary workers have lost employment as the company reduced output. “This is part of business. When demand soars, more contract workers are hired and reduced in case of low demand.” Nissan India also said recently that 1,700 workers may be laid off in India as part of global efforts to maintain profitability.

Industry officials say the slowdown in commercial vehicles also signals to liquidity squeeze and tough situation.

“Commercial vehicles sales are barometer of the economy, and sales here have been dropped by 14% in April-July this fiscal.

Production is down 17%,” a top industry CEO said.

Power sector to undergo big reforms The power sector in India will undergo big reforms that will change the face of domestic electricity market, make it more responsive and reduce cost for distribution utilities as well as consumers through intense competition. The power ministry has set up an expert group headed by special secretary in the ministry to chart a course for “deepening of power markets in India”.

Simultaneously, the ministry has also appointed consultants EY (Ernst & Young) to suggest ways to bring alive the power market by identifying the voids in the current system.

The reforms, potentially the biggest since the enactment of the Electricity Act of 2003, has been initiated as part of power minister R K Singh’s efforts to lay a roadmap for a thriving domestic power market by 2030 to ensure the Narendra Modi government’s objective of providing 24X7 affordable and quality power.

“We are going to bring about a wholesale

change the way we approach the power market. The idea is to make the sector more responsive and viable so that investments can come. Make it accountable to consumers on quality of service. Giving rights to consumers. Deepening of market is to create competition and encourage efficiency and flexibility,” Singh said, confirming the ministry’s move.

The broad contours of the current exercise revolve around encouraging discoms to buy bulk of the power through trading platforms, just like in developed markets such as Europe. This will bring about several changes down the value chain.

Generators will optimise their capacity and source - coal, hydel, renewables and compete to offer lower tariffs. This will reduce the cost of power purchase for discoms, which will have to manage the demand-supply slate more efficiently and be nimble enough to be able to tie up cheaper power when on offer. Trading is also

expected to address the issue of delayed payments to generators by discoms, improving viability in the sector.

Most of the building blocks for this phase of reforms are already there: India is near-surplus in generation capacity and has a decade of operating power exchanges.

Utilities and generators were given flexibility to use their coal linkages at more efficient plants. Recently, Singh allowed flexibility to generators to supply from any plant of their choice instead of the plant designated in a PPA (power purchase agreement). To ensure timely payment to generators, he used PPA provisions to introduce a pre-paid system for discoms.

On the consumer side, pre-paid meters are being rolled out. There is plan for introducing time-of-the-day tariff and open access for large consumers by separating carriage and content. Large-scale trading will bring all these together to turn India into a viable, thriving power market.

in brief ED QUESTIONS GOYAL & ROY ON FUND DIVERSION The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has questioned Jet Airways’ former chairman Naresh Goyal and Sahara group chief Subrata Roy for several hours. Government agencies, including income-tax department and serious fraud investigation office, are probing Jet Airways’ financial transactions of the last 12 years, including tax evasion. They are also probing the 2007 business deal where Jet Airways bought Air Sahara for £145 million.

The ED is probing the money trail related with the deal, which was termed the ‘biggest deal’ in Indian aviation history. The ED is probing Goyal for forex violations under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), but is also exploring the possibility of registering a money-laundering case as officials have learnt that Jet Airlines had diverted most of the £800 million loan secured from banks abroad by inflating payments and through fictitious transactions.

BINNY BANSAL TO SET UP $400M VC FUND Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal is readying up plans to launch a venture capital (VC) fund with a target corpus of $300-400 million, which will focus on startups who need growth capital, said sources familiar with the development. Bansal, who left his role as group CEO of Flipkart in November last year, is likely to roll out the new fund by the end of the year and it will be based out of Singapore.

He will be a general partner (GP) running the fund and will also come in as one of the anchor investors. The fund will primarily be focused on startups in India, but will also look at backing entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia.

Bansal has already started putting together a team to handle finance and legal functions at the fund. Bansal, who moved base from Bengaluru to Singapore earlier this year, did not respond to queries.

CHINA’S EXPORTS SHRINK AS TARIFF WAR HURTS US SALES China’s exports unexpectedly contracted in August, with sales to the US tumbling amid the escalating trade war between the two countries. Exports decreased 1% in dollar terms from a year earlier, while imports declined 5.6%, leaving a trade surplus of $34.8 billion, the customs administration said.

Economists had forecast that exports would grow 2.2%, while imports would shrink by 6.4%. Shipments to the US fell 16% from a year earlier. US President Donald Trump’s administration raised tariffs on Chinese goods at the start of the month, and is set to ratchet up levies further in October and again in December if there is no breakthrough. China and the US will hold face-to-face trade negotiations in Washington in the coming weeks, after a rapid deterioration in relations last month left global investors reeling amid increasing evidence the conflict is harming both countries.

PNB BOARD APPROVES AMALGAMATION PROPOSAL The Board of Punjab National Bank (PNB) has given in-principle approval for amalgamation of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India with PNB. The Board meeting followed the Finance Ministry asking the three banks to consider the proposal of amalgamation, PNB said in a regulatory filing.

The Alternative Mechanism headed by the finance minister after consultation with Reserve Bank of India has given the go-ahead for the amalgamation. The government earlier unveiled plan merge 10 public sector banks into four as part of plans to create fewer and stronger global-sized lenders as it looks to boost economic growth from an over six-year low. Besides, the PNB board cleared a capital infusion of up to £1.8 billion by the government for preferential allotment of equity shares of the bank at a price determined in terms of SEBI regulations.

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14-20 September 2019

in brief TWO STUDENTS FROM INDIA DROWN IN US Two students from India studying in the University of Texas drowned at a popular tourist destination in Oklahoma. Police say the students died at Turner Falls, near Davis.

One of them was struggling in a pool near the falls and the other jumped in to help.

Neither resurfaced. According to the police neither of them were wearing life jackets. The students were identified as 23-year-old Ajay Kumar Koyalamudi and 22-year-old Teja Koushik Voleti. Two other people from India drowned at Turner Falls during the July Fourth holiday weekend.

INDIAN IN UAE WINS RS. 39,00,000 OVER WIFE’S WRONGFUL DEATH An Indian expat in the UAE has been compensated for his wife’s death due to medical negligence, a report said. The Sharjah civil court has ordered Dr Sunny Medical Centre and its doctor Darshan Prabhat Rajaram P Narayanara, who treated the victim, Blessy Tom, to pay 200,000 dirhams (about Rs 39,04,709) in compensation and another 200,000 dirhams in legal costs to her husband Joseph Abraham, and their kids. Originally from Kerala, Blessy, 32, a nurse, was treated for a breast infection in 2015. The doctor had given her an antibiotic injection without a mandatory test dose. Blessy fell unconscious due to a reaction to the drug. She was taken to a hospital, but died within hours. After her death, Dr Narayanara left the UAE to evade prosecution.

MASS WEDDING: 99 COUPLES TIE THE KNOT IN MALAYSIA Ninety-nine couples tied the knot in a mass wedding ceremony at a Chinese temple in Malaysia last week, the ninth day of the ninth month that is considered an auspicious date by ethnic Chinese. The ceremony at the Thean Hou temple in Kuala Lumpur is an annual event for couples seeking a Buddhist wedding. The number nine in Chinese sounds like the word for "long lasting". Most of the couples donned black suits and white bridal dresses, but a few opted to wear red, a colour that symbolizes luck, joy and happiness in Chinese culture. Red is also a traditional color worn by Chinese brides. The couples were blessed by a priest in a red robe before taking their vows.

EIGHT CHILDREN KNIFED TO DEATH IN CHINESE SCHOOL Eight children were knifed to death at an elementary school in central China on the first day of the new academic year, police said. The attack occurred in Chaoyangpo village of Enshi city in Hubei province. How the children were attacked was not disclosed.

The motive for the attack was unclear. The suspect, a 40-year-old local resident, was arrested immediately after the incident. The man was an ex-convict who had spent over eight years in jail for attempting to gouge out his girlfriend’s eye, the report said. He was released from jail in May.

PAK STUDENT DIES AFTER TEACHER THRASHES HIM A group of students set a school on fire after their classmate died following thrashing by a teacher. The student was thrashed for not memorising his lesson. Hafiz Hunain Bilal, a Grade 10 student of the American Lycetuff School in Gulshan-i-Ravi area in central Lahore, was tortured to death by his teacher.

According to police, teacher Muhammad Kamran punched the boy repeatedly, grabbed his hair and hit his head against a wall for "not memorising" his lesson. The boy collapsed in the classroom and died on his way to hospital, they said. A group of students threw petrol on the school building, triggering a fire that soon engulfed the whole structure.

Pak most dangerous country, says former US defence secy WASHINGTON: Former US Secretary of Defence, Jim Mattis, termed Pakistan as the “most dangerous” country for its nuclear capabilities and radicalisation and said the tragedy for Pakistani people is that they do not have leaders who care about their future. The 68-year-old veteran, who resigned as US defence secretary last year, says in his new book “Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead” that Pakistan’s political culture has an active selfdestructive streak.

“Pakistan was a country born with no affection for itself, and there was an active selfdestructive streak in its political culture,” he said. “Of all the countries I’ve dealt with, I consider Pakistan to be the most dangerous, because of the radicalisation of its society and the availability of nuclear weapons,” Mattis said. The fastest-growing nuclear arsenal in the world cannot fall into the

Jim Mattis

hands of the terrorists breeding in their midst, he said, warning that its result would be “disastrous”.

Mattis, also slammed Pakistan’s obsession with India, saying it “views all geopolitics through the prism of its hostility toward India” and that has also shaped their policy on Afghanistan as the “the Pakistan military wanted a friendly government in Kabul that was resistant to Indian influence”.

“The tragedy for the

Pakistanis is that they don’t have leaders who care about their future. As an illustration of the lack of trust, when we believed we had identified Osama bin Laden’s hiding place deep inside Pakistan, President (Barack) Obama sent in a team to kill him without informing the Pakistanis,” he said. He went on to castigate Pakistani leaders, in an indirect comment on the current Imran Khan government, saying “they don’t have leaders who care about their future”.

Mattis writes in his book about the changes he made on the lines of communication to Afghanistan when he was Commander of the US Central Command. “I was uneasy that more than 70 per cent of NATO’s logistics lifeline depended upon one route, via Pakistan. I took one look at the map and decided we had to change the pieces on the chessboard,” he notes.

“Quid pro quo. Pakistan could episodically choose not to be our enemy, but it chose not to be a trusted friend or ally of the United States or NATO,” he commented on the faltering relationship between US and Pakistan. “Ultimately, it was in our common interest that we maintain a cautious, mindful relationship, with modest expectations of collaboration.

We could manage our problems with Pakistan, but our divisions were too deep, and trust too shallow, to resolve them. And that is the state of our relationship to this day,” he writes.

Mattis has long years of experience dealing with Pakistan and South Asia, first as a top US Marine Corps commandeer in Afghanistan, head of US central command and then as secretary of defense.

He had led the US forces into Afghanistan in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

Hindu woman becomes police officer in Pakistan estimates, 75,00,000 Hindus live in Pakistan, but according to the community leaders their population would be around 90,00,000.

Pushpa Kolhi

SINDH (PAKISTAN): A Hindu woman from the Sindh province of Pakistan became the first women to be inducted in Sindh Police after she cleared the provincial competitive exam. Pushpa Kolhi has been posted as the Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) in the province becoming the first girl in the Hindu community to join the forces. The announcement was first shared by human rights activist Kapil Dev on his Twitter handle. Pushpa Kolhi has become the first woman from the Hindu community who has qualified provincial competitive examination and become Assistant Sub Inspector in Sindh Police. More power to her!" Dev tweeted.

In January this year, Suman Kumari became the first Hindu woman to be appointed as a civil judge in the Muslimmajority country. Suman, who hails from Qambar-Shahdadkot in Sindh province, serves in her native district. Suman stood 54th in the merit list for the appointment of civil judge/judicial magistrate.

I have entered the field of law because I know that in the backward areas of Sindh poor people need a lot of advice and assistance in legal matters, she had said. The first judge from the Hindu community was Justice Rana Bhagwandas, who served as the acting chief justice of Pakistan for brief periods between 2005 and 2007.

Last year, Hindu woman Mahesh Kumar Malani became the first non-Muslim to be elected on a general seat in the National Assembly while a Thari woman, Krishna Kumari, was also elected in Pakistan's Senate elections. Hindus form the largest minority community in Pakistan. According to official

Majority of Pakistan’s Hindu population is settled in Sindh province where they share culture, traditions and language with their Muslim brethern.

22 WORLD

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Abducted Sikh girl can return to her parents in Pakistan ISLAMABAD: A teenage Sikh girl, who was allegedly abducted and converted to Islam before being married to a Muslim man in Pakistan's Punjab province has finally found justice. After pressure from India to ensure the safe return of the woman to her family, Pakistan politicians finally intervened and struck a compromise between the family of the victim and her in-laws.

The girl's in-laws have agreed to let her return to her family.

The Governor of the Punjab province Mohammad Sarwar tweeted a video message with both families and said, "Great news for Pakistani & Sikh communities across the world.

Issue of Nankana girl was amicably resolved to the satisfaction of the concerned families. The girl is safe & in touch with her family. We shall continue to ensure the rights of minorities in Pakistan."

The video shows the family of Sikh girl and the Muslim boy confirming the settlement of the argument. The father-in-law of the girl said that his family had withdrawn their claim to the girl and she was free to return to her parents if she wanted. The two

Punjab province governor Mohammad Sarwar (centre) with the family of the converted girl and her in-laws. (inset-Jagjit Kaur)

sides hug it out in the video.

An FIR was filed with the Nankana Police Station in Pakistan last week against six people for abducting and forcibly converting 19-year-old Jagjit Kaur to Islam. Her father, a Sikh priest had alleged that she was converted to Islam at gunpoint and forced to marry a Muslim boy. Under pressure, the Punjab province government constituted a high-level committee to negotiate with Sikhs angry over the abduction and forced conversion of the

girl.

The committee told the family of the girl and the community members that she had embraced Islam of her free will after marrying Hassan. Earlier, a video of Kaur's family had gone viral on social media in which one of her family members alleged that a group of men had attacked their house and kidnapped the girl. The person in the video also claimed that the kidnappers again approached them and

threatened them with consequences if they pursued the case and did not convert to Islam.

He also warned of selfimmolation along with his whole family in front of the Governor House in Lahore if the girl is not reunited with the family. The issue created much outrage in the Sikh community globally. India strongly raised with Pakistan the issue of a Sikh girl being abducted and forced to convert to Islam in that country.

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar in New Delhi said the ministry has received a number of representations from various quarters of civil society in India, including Sikh religious bodies, at the "reports of the incident of abduction and forced conversion of a minor Sikh girl in Pakistan". Even Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh intervened in the issue and asked the government to bring the girl back to her parents.

Trump cancels peace talks with Taliban after Afghanistan blast WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has cancelled the Afghan Peace talks with the Taliban saying he doubted their bonafides to negotiate a meaningful settlement. Trump also disclosed that major Taliban leaders were actually headed to the United States for a secret meeting with him at Camp David. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was also coming separately. But a terrorist attack last week changed everything, he said.

“They were coming to the United States. Unfortunately, in order to build false leverage, they admitted to an attack in Kabul that killed one of our great great soldiers, and 11 other

people. I immediately cancelled the meeting and called off peace negotiations. What kind of people would kill so many in order to seemingly strengthen their bargaining position? They didn’t, they only made it worse!”

Trump tweeted “If they cannot agree to a ceasefire during these very important peace talks, and would even kill 12 innocent people, then they probably don’t have the power to negotiate a meaningful agreement anyway.

How many more decades are they willing to fight?” he added.

It was not clear why Trump thought the Taliban, which is nurtured and patronized by Pakistan, would stop its terrorist attacks since it has never ceased

such depredations during the length of its negotiations with the US. Typically, ISI sponsored terrorists believe in physically eliminating all opposition, as their proxies have done in Kashmir since the 1980s, to gain leverage and absolute control.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, “We had a commitment from the Taliban that said they would break from al-Qaida publicly and permanently.

We had a commitment from them that said they would reduce violence. We had a commitment that they would meet in Oslo to begin reconciliation conversation, and then the Taliban overreached.”

Pompeo explained, adding,“They killed an American in an effort to gain leverage at the negotiating table, and President Trump said enough.”

India says regional stability to remain All Central Asian countries, except Pakistan, have breathed a sigh of relief after Trump's announcement of the cancellation of peace talks .

India, which had been virtually out in the cold in the talks, sees more regional stability in the loss of the deal. India’s decision to scrap Article 370 in J&K was triggered by prospects of regional instability once the Pakistan-Taliban-US deal came into being.

Lanka PM hints at contesting presidency COLOMBO: At a meeting of party seniors, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is known to have expressed his desire to contest the presidential elections. He had said this in the wake of a UNP faction loyal to Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa conducting another public rally at Kurunegala to urge the party hierarchy to nominate him as the party’s presidential candidate.

In addition to the Prime Minister, Ministers Kabir Hashim, Lakshman Kiriella, Akila Viraj Kariyawasam who is also the General Secretary of the

party, Malik Samarawickrama, John Amaratunga, Gamini Jayawickrama Perera, Ravi Karunanayake, Sarath Fonseka, Daya Gamage, Navin Dissanayake, Ranjith Madduma Bandara, Ajith P. Perera and Mangala Samaraweera had attended the meeting.

“I will contest the presidential election. I am the party leader. I have every right to do so. I will submit my nomination for approval by the Working Committee. If there is anyone opposing, they can do it there,” the Prime Minister said.

Premadasa loyalists, Ministers

Hashim and Samarawickrama had said it would divide the party. Wickremesinghe replied that if he decided to contest as the party leader then everybody should back him. Minister Sajith Premadasa did not attend the meeting and the seniors backing him were not receptive to the Prime Minister’s idea.

Therefore, it was decided that Wickremesinghe and Premadasa should meet to sort out the matter.

Meanwhile, Hashim said there was a huge crowd present at Kurunegala rally. Minister Gamage said a large crowd was

in brief PAK POLICE RAID MILITANT HIDEOUT NEAR QUETTA; 6 KILLED Security forces in Pakistan raided a militant hideout on the outskirts of the southwestern city of Quetta, triggering a gunbattle that killed all six suspects, including a woman. A statement from the counter-terrorism department says five police officers were wounded in the raid. The raid came as Pakistan stepped up security across the country ahead of the annual commemoration of Ashoura, the holiest day on the Shiite Muslim calendar that mourns the 7th century death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

25 KILLED IN CALIFORNIA BOAT FIRE At least 25 people were killed and nine others went missing after a boat fire near an island off the Southern California coast. Divers were scouring for bodies on the wreckage of a scuba diving boat off California, after the fast moving fire trapped dozens of people below deck. Five of the sixperson crew who were above deck on the bridge managed to escape. US coast guard declined to confirm the figures as authorities launched a probe into one of the area’s worst maritime disasters.

14-YEAR-OLD KILLS 5 FAMILY MEMBERS IN US A 14-year-old American boy shot and killed five family members at their home in Alabama, before throwing away the pistol and calling police, officials said. The shooting occurred in the town of Elkmont, said a spokesman for the Limestone County Sheriff ’s Office. The sheriff ’s office said five people were shot, with three dying at the scene and two later in hospital. “The 14-year old caller was interviewed and confessed to shooting all five members of his family in the residence.”

“He is currently assisting investigators in locating the weapon, a handgun that he said he tossed nearby.”

US WOMAN HELD AT MANILA AIRPORT WITH BABY IN BAG An American woman who attempted to smuggle out a 6-day-old baby out of the Philippines hidden inside a sling bag has been arrested at Manila’s airport and charged with human trafficking, officials said. They said Jennifer Talbot was able to pass through the airport immigration counter without declaring the baby boy but was intercepted at the boarding gate by airline personnel. Talbot was unable to produce any passport, boarding pass or government permits for the baby. She had planned to board a Delta Air Lines flight to the US with the baby, airport officials said. After discovering the baby, airline staff called immigration personnel, who arrested Talbot at the airport.

FORMER FIRST LADY OF HONDURAS SENTENCED TO 58 YEARS IN JAIL

Ranil Wickremesinghe

present because Premadasa had declared that he was the party’s candidate. “If we announce the party’s candidate, we can bring a crowd ten times larger,” he said.

However, Fonseka and Kariyawasam were critical of the rally saying it was against the party’s collective decision.

The former first lady of Honduras Rosa Elena Bonilla, wife of ex-president Porfirio Lobo, was sentenced to 58 years in jail on charges of fraud and undue appropriation of funds, a spokesman for the nation's highest court said. Bonilla, 52, has been in custody since February 2018. Her defense attorney said Bonilla was innocent and an appeal would be filed with the Central American nation's Supreme Court. Bonilla was accused of misusing the equivalent of $779,000 in funds between 2010 and 2014 that came from international donations, and which were meant to be used for social programs. Bonilla used the money to pay for medical bills, jewellery, tuition for her children and construction work.

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Iran to free seven Indian crew members from seized UK tanker

Protesters back in HK despite China bill withdrawal

TEHRAN: Seven Indian crew members aboard a British-flagged oil tanker seized by Iran in July are being released, Iranian Foreign M i n i s t r y spokesman Abbas Mousavi said. The Stena Impero was captured by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the Strait of Hormuz on July 19 amid increasing hostility between Tehran and Washington.

Twentythree crew members were on board.

"We don't have any problem with crew and captain of the ship. The ship has been stopped because of its violation of laws and it is natural to detain the crew with the ship," Mousavi said, according to the semiofficial Mehr News Agency.

"However, the consular status and individual permits of the crew were reviewed, and after further consideration and also on humanitarian grounds, some of the crew were

HONG KONG: Tear gas, pepper spray and fire returned to the streets of Hong Kong, as police officers clashed with masked pro-democracy protesters in the first notable display of unrest since Hong Kong’s top leader announced that she would withdraw a deeply unpopular extradition bill.

Hong Kong police prevented antigovernment protesters from blocking access to the airport, but fired tear gas for a second night running in the Chinese-ruled city’s densely populated district of Mong Kok in the 14th week of unrest.

The besieged Mong Kok police station was surrounded by police barriers after being the target of repeated protests.

Firefighters rushed in to put out a blazing street barricade set up by protesters in the area and lines of riot police advanced down the streets, driving the demonstrators away from the shopping and residential area.

On Saturday, police checked for tickets and passports to allow only airline passengers through to the airport to avoid the

allowed to leave the ship and return to daily life," he added. The ship was seized two weeks after the UK detained an Iranian tanker off the coast of Gibraltar.

UK authorities released that ship in late August.

Iran released a short video of the captured crew in July, showing them talking in a meeting room, operating the ship's systems and cooking in the vessel's kitchen.

In August, Erik Hanell, CEO of the Swedish shipping group Stena Bulk that owns the ship, met Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to push for the release of the ship and its crew. Several Western countries condemned

Iran's seizure of the ship.

The Indian government said it was in touch with its counterparts in Iran to try to secure the release of the ship's Indian crew members.

The UK vowed to take "robust" action if Iran did not release the tanker.

Tehran has tried to free itself from the crippling effects of US economic sanctions imposed by US President Donald Trump after the US withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal in May 2018. In recent months, Iran has taken steps to suspend some of its commitments to the nuclear deal, easing restrictions on uranium enrichment.

chaos of last weekend, when activists blocked access roads, threw debris on to train tracks and trashed the MTR subway station in Tung Chung. As night fell, there were some cat-and-mouse standoffs between protesters and police in Tung Chung.

More than three months of protests have at times paralysed parts of Hong Kong, amid running street battles between protesters and police who have responded with tear gas, pepper spray and water cannon. Protesters gathered again after nightfall on Saturday to be dispersed by tear gas followed by running clashes with police. It was quickly over.

“We didn’t have the numbers,” said one masked male protester who fled

from a station pursued by riot police. “We’ll be back.”

Protesters urge Trump to ‘liberate’ HK Thousands of protesters earlier sang the Star Spangled Banner and called on US President Donald Trump to “liberate” the city. They waved the Stars and Stripes and placards demanding democracy.

“Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong,” they shouted before handing over petitions at the US Consulate. “Resist Beijing, liberate Hong Kong.”

In a letter protesters presented to consulate officials, the group calls for the passing of the proposed “Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act 2019” by the US Congress.

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SOUTH INDIA

74-year-old woman in Andhra gives birth to twins GUNTUR: Perhaps for the first time in the world, a 74-year-old woman from a village in East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh became a mother and gave birth to twin girls. The woman and her husband waited for 57 years to opt for in vitro fertilisation (IVF). A team of four doctors performed a caesarean section on her, after which the twins were born.

Yaramati Sitarama Rajarao, a farmer from Nelaparthipudi village, had married Mangayamma in 1962.

Mangayamma was not able to conceive despite consulting several doctors. Mangayamma says not bearing a child had been a heavy burden that she carried all these years. “People looked at me with accusing eyes as if I had committed a sin,” she said.

Yaramati Sitarama Rajarao and his wife Mangayamma

“We are the happiest couple on earth today. We have our own children,” said an ecstatic Rajarao who is confident that they will be able to bring up the girls well. In fact, the couple had given up on becoming parents until they consulted IVF expert

Dr Sanakkayala Umasankar in Guntur about a year ago. Dr Umasankar constituted a medical board of cardiologists, gynaecologists and paediatricians before deciding on treatment.

The doctors convinced the

couple to take the IVF route since Mangayamma had crossed the menopausal stage. However, Umasankar refused to divulge the details.

Mangayamma conceived in the very first cycle of the IVF procedure. She was admitted to the hospital in January and stayed under the observation of the medical team. The 74-yearold’s sound physical health also made the job of the doctors easier. She was also subjected to several rounds of psychological counselling to ensure she remained mentally strong throughout the procedure.

“Both the mother and babies are doing fine. Ten doctors worked for nine months to keep a close watch on her health.

This is a medical miracle,” Dr Umasankar said after the operation.

PUNJAB

Firecracker factory blast in Punjab kills 23 BATALA (PUNJAB): A major blast at a firecracker factory in Batala town of Punjab killed over 23 people and injured more than a dozen others, some of them seriously. Located on the Samadh road, the illegal factory was being run in a densely populated residential area.

Batala Senior Medical Officer Sanjiv Bhalla said, "A total of 23 people have died in the blast." Apart from one of the factory’s owners, most of those killed were workers of the illegal unit, DIG (border range) SPS Parmar said. A couple of people passing in front of the factory were also killed in the blast. The locals said that the explosion was so loud that it could be heard a few km away. The explosion also damaged buildings nearby, shattering windowpanes and even bringing

down the roofs of a couple of them. Several cars parked nearby were also damaged and some vehicles fell into the nearby nullah due to the intensity of the blast.

A Batala resident Rajpal Khokkar was passing by when the explosion took place. "When I heard the loud blast, I fell down.

When I gained consciousness, I found myself in hospital," he said. Though the

exact cause of the explosion was yet to be ascertained, Parmar said a huge cache of firecrackers were stored in the factory, which could have caught fire. Nearly a dozen fire tenders, along with police and NDRF teams, rushed to the spot for rescue and relief operations.

Hundreds of students of nearby school had a miraculous escape as the blast took place about half-an-hour after the school ended.

Gurdaspur deputy commissioner Vipul Ujjwal said the condition of the seven injured persons was critical and they had been referred to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital in Amritsar.

People in the neighbourhood said they had submitted several complaints to the Batala administration against the firecracker factory in the residential area. The factory was working round-the-clock to complete orders for the ensuing festive season. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh directed the additional deputy commissioner (Batala) to conduct an inquiry into the tragic incident. He also announced an ex gratia grant of Rs 200,000 to the kin of each deceased, Rs 50,000 each for the seven severely injured and Rs 25,000 each for those with minor injuries.

WEST BENGAL

NRC won't be implemented in West Bengal: Mamata KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government will not allow the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state. "The implementation of the NRC is nothing but a political vendetta of the BJP-led central government," Banerjee told the Assembly during a discussion on the motion. "We will never let the BJP implement the NRC in West Bengal." This (NRC) is nothing but an attempt to divert the attention of the people from the ongoing economic crisis in the country, she added.

In an unprecedented show of unity, the West Bengal assembly passed a resolution opposing the NRC in Assam.

The resolution also categorically ruled out the possibility of any

such exercise in the his State. Mamata State. Over 19,00,000 said the NRC was people were left out of carried out on the the NRC list in Assam. basis of the Assam The resolution tabled Accord of 1985 and in the House was there was no such supported by agreement in the members of the case of Bengal.

Trinamool Congress “They are making a from the Treasury grand jail where beaches and legislators Mamata Banerjee they can keep the of the Left parties and detainees from the the Congress from the list.” Issues like this were Opposition benches. Only a propped up to divert people’s handful of BJP members attention from the economic opposed the resolution, which distress faced by the country, was passed after a three-hour she alleged. debate.

Pointing out that Gorkhas “We do not accept the NRC. had voted overwhelmingly for What has happened in Assam the BJP in Darejeeling hills, she can never happen in Bengal,” said that 10,00,000 Gorkha Mamata said during the debate. people have been excluded from She thanked Bihar Chief the NRC. During the debate, Minister Nitish Kumar for members, supporting the opposing a NRC-like exercise in resolution said that the exercise

was “inhuman and autocratic.”

They said the exercise was “antiBengali” and aimed at reaping political dividends for the BJP. “When refugees from Bangladesh came to Bengal, there were no protests here. We, the people of Bengal, have accepted refugees irrespective of their religion,” TMC MLA and Minister Sovandeb Chatterjee said.

Leader of the Left Legislature Party Sujan Chakraborty said the NRC was not against Muslims or those who had come from the other side of Bengal but against the poor people who had no access to documents. All India Forward Bloc MLA Ali Imran Ramz described the resolution as historic. He said it had proved that “Bengal is secular and will remain secular.”

in brief KCR INDUCTS 6 MINISTERS IN TELANGANA CABINET Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao expanded his 12member cabinet by inducting six ministers, including his son K T Rama Rao and nephew T Harish Rao. He also kept his promise by inducting two women leaders in the cabinet. His son and his nephew served as ministers in the first TRS government in the state between 2014 and 2018. With an eye on retaining the balance of caste and community equations, KCR has made a careful rejig with three old faces and three new ones. With the current expansion, the strength of the ministry has risen to 18.

MADRAS CJ QUITS PROTESTING TRANSFER V K Tahilramani, the Chief Justice of Madras High Court, has resigned from the post following her transfer to the Meghalaya high court.

Justice Tahilramani sent her resignation to the President and a copy of her resignation has been forwarded to CJI Ranjan Gogoi. She was miffed by the Supreme Court collegium’s decision to transfer her to Meghalaya high court.

Justice Tahilramani was appointed as a judge of Bombay HC on June 26, 2001, at the age of 43.

She became chief justice of Madras HC on August 12, 2018. Justices Tahilramani and Gita Mittal were the only women chief justices in the male dominated 25 HCs. Justice Tahilramani was to retire on October 2, 2020, which means she foregoes more than a year of service, and a possible elevation to the SC by tendering her resignation.

CAPT, AKALIS SPAR OVER JOINT GURPURB EVENTS Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh rejected the SGPC charges against his government over the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev, saying a group of ministers had already been constituted to coordinate with the religious body to finalise the commemorative programme. The Chief Minister said three cabinet ministers had been entrusted to discuss the modalities of the Prakash Purb celebrations with the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.

It was not the government which had shown no interest in holding a joint function as directed by Akal Takht, but rather the SGPC had been refusing to join the state in celebrating the historic occasion on a common platform, he alleged. The SGPC had criticized the state government for not attending the coordination panel meeting presided over by the SGPC chief last week.

THREE MOB LYNCHING CASES REGISTERED IN BENGAL A few days after the anti-mob lynching bill was passed in West Bengal assembly, three mob lynching cases were registered. The cases were registered in three districts of Asansol, North Dinajpur and Coochbehar. Police have registered complaints against unknown persons. In all the three cases the victims were beaten on the suspicion of child lifting. In Coochbehar and Asansol along with the victims, police and civic volunteers were also attacked and beaten up by the mob and police vehicles were also vandalised.

West Bengal Assembly on August 31 passed the bill against lynching, providing for life imprisonment to those injuring a person and capital punishment for causing death.

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Diary of a new Canadian Immigrant Mitul Paniker

Canada elections and role of Indian voters Dear Readers, The wind is shifting in Canada as national elections are on the horizon. Canadian elections are, how do I put it, not as "colourful" as Indian elections. They are not as eventful and reflects a certain quiet sophistication that I for one, am not used to. Dates for the federal elections are set for October 21 and with the day closing in, news channels are rife with 2019 federal leaders’ debates. The main party leaders who were extended invitations to speak at the debates are Liberal leader and incumbent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet, and Green Party leader Elizabeth May. Behind several communities, Canada contains the world's tenth largest Indian diaspora. The largest group of IndoCanadians are those of Punjabi origin, accounting for nearly 50 per cent of the diaspora. The Indian community comprise of 4 per cent of the entire population of the country. I point this out in context to the impact Indo-Canadians have on the future government of the Great North.

Political participation is the foundation of Democracy and voting is the most vital tool to measure said participation. Voter turnout rate in 2015 stood at 68.3 per cent in Canada. Not as impressive as it could have been, the poor level of awareness can be pinned at what you call, generational effect. The young do not participate as much in casting the ballot as the old.

Meanwhile, at the elite level, immigrants and minorities have expanded their presence among the ranks of candidates and MPs. I find it important to point out that the Canadian government only reenfranchised the Indo-Canadian community with the right to vote in 1947.

A poll taken earlier this year revealed that if the Liberals win this year, immigrants could have played an important factor in

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh

the victory. While among voters born in Canada, the Conservatives led the Liberals by merely two points, but among voters born outside the country, the Liberals hold a 16 point lead.

The poll also suggested that there is not a lot of difference between how the two demographics view immigration. The number of Indians landing in Canada as permanent residents stand at over 69,000 per year as of 2018. The number is staggering when you come to terms with the fact that in five years, most of them, if not all, will file for citizenship and the circle of immigration and Canada elections will go round again.

The Jagmeet Singh Effect Not just Indian voters, there is a federal election candidate who has been turning the wave in his favour. Leader of the New Democratic Party, Jagmeet Singh certainly has his own personal appeal. He has in all possibilities, the potential to upset the otherwise race that was only contested between the Liberals and Conservatives.

Constituencies or "ridings" as they are called here, with significant IndoCanadian populations moved over to the Liberal column in a big way in 2015. If voters in these areas sense that the wind is blowing in the Conservatives' direction, they could swing back again.

However, the first Indo-Canadian leader of a major national party, Singh brings a whole new level of uncertainty to the picture.

Saeed, Azhar, Dawood & Lakhvi named ‘individual terrorists’ Using the recently amended provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the government of India notified four mostwanted terrorists based in Pakistan - Lashkare-Taiba chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, Jaishe-Mohammad boss Masood Azhar, LeT operations chief and 26/11conspirator Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and 1993 Mumbai blasts accused Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar - as ‘individual terrorists’.

While LeT and JeM were already banned as terrorist outfits under UAPA, this is the first time that underworld don Dawood, who has been holed up in Pakistan for the past several years with alleged facilitation by Pakistani spy agency ISI, has been designated as a terrorist under an Indian law.

All the four blacklisted terror masterminds are already tagged as ‘global terrorists’ under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 and are also subjects of Interpol red corner notices. UAPA was amended last month to allow the government to ban individual terrorists if it believed they

are involved in terrorism.

Notifying the names of the Pakistanbased terror masterminds in the Fourth Schedule to UAPA brings the Indian terror blacklist in sync with the UN list of designated terrorists. This also conforms to FATF standards that require all member countries to ban those designated as global terrorists. Since the list is publicised, all financial and other institutions can add these to their respective blacklists. It serves as a tool to prevent access of the designated individual terrorist to funding and other amenities.

Home ministry sources said the ‘individual terrorist’ tag would help Indian agencies with investigation, prosecution and trial of cases registered against the notified terrorists. Listing the grounds for notifying Hafiz Saeed as a terrorist, the home ministry notification said he was involved in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Red Fort attack of 2000, Rampur attack on CRPF personnel in 2008 and the attack on a BSF convoy in Udhampur in 2015.

Periyar-Anna’s Dravidian Movement • Before split in DK,EV Ramasamy declared ‘those accept power cannot be honest’ • The 72 year old Periyar married a 26 year old lady Maniammai in September 1949 t may be a mere coincident that Periyar Erode Venkatappa (E.V.) Ramasamy (17 September 1879-24 December 1973), the father of the Dravidian Movement and C.N.Annadurai (15 September 1909-3 February 1969), his chief lieutenant who defied him and became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu uprooting the Indian National Congress for ever, were both September born. One would be surprised that Periyar who as a Congressman participated actively in the 1924 Vaikom Satyagraha Mahatma Gandhi gave a call for, but since he was not given due importance, he left the Congress. Periyar was also the President of the Justice Party which agitated with the agenda of anti-Brahminism. He was opposed the God-idea and denounced the shastras, puranas, and their Gods, and call upon the people to burn and destroy them. He launched the Self Respect Movement and later he established Dravidiar Kazhagam (DK) as a pressure group to agitate for social reforms and separate Dravida Nadu. The seeds of anti-Hindi movement were also sown by Periyar and later carried out even violently by Anna.

I

“EVR nevertheless did attempt unsuccessfully to hitch the Dravida Nadu idea to Jinnah’s Pakistan bandwagon, although his disciple Anna felt the efforts were not robust,” records Anna’s biographer R.Kannan. EVR went to Mumbai along with some of his supporters to meet Dr.B.R.Ambedkar and M.A. Jinnah on 5 January 1940. “Some five months after the Bombay trip, on 6 The Father of Dravidian Movement Periyar with his chief lieutenant June 1940, Periyar unveiled turned rival, Anna. Courtesy: Peacockride at a Dravida Nadu Rangraj R. Separation Conference at Kanchipuram Anna gave up the demand of Dravida (Anna’s birthplace) a Dravida Nadu map Nadu as a separate State and showing ‘the whole of South Next Column: continued to contest the India (sic), Andhra Desa and Deccan (with exception of Vithalbhai Patel propagated elections under the banner of Ayurveda and Unani DMK improving the tally. In Hyderabad, all the Eastern 1967 Tamil Nadu Asembly coast line India, including a elections, the ruling Congress was defeated portion of Bengal.” One may remember that

by DMK and Anna became the Chief the Pakistan Resolution was moved at the Minister. Though he had parted company Muslim League Conference at Lahore on 23 with his Guru Periyar, he went to meet him March 1940 which was presided over by and dedicated his victory to Ayya (Periyar).

Jinnah!

Though Anna was the CM for less three Periyar arranged a two-day special years as he died due to cancer, the Congress Dravidar Kazhagam conference on the issue or any other national party could not make of opposition to Hindi on 23-24 October it to Fort St. George till date. The Dravidian 1948 at his birthplace Erode and invited parties, DMK and AIADMK, the party Annadurai to preside over. He declared established by M.G.Ramchandran on 17 Anna as his successor saying “it is only October 1972, have been coming to power appropriate that I entrust my in rotation since then. responsibilities to another, like a father One of Anna’s greatest attributes was to would do to a son…Therefore, in your make the radical ideas of Periyar more eminent presence, today, I am handing over palatable to the general populace. “Periyar’s the keys to the safe to Anna.” Anna’s rustic atheism became ‘Onre Kulam, response was:“I will not open the safe Oruvane Devan’ (One God, One without seeking Ayya’s permission.” But Community) in a skilful appropriation of soon Periyar was to realize that it was a false the venerated medieval Tamil saint turn. On 2 January 1949, at Trichy Tirumular. When Periyar went about conference, he made it clear that ‘Fire can breaking the idols of Pillaiyar (Ganapati) shed its burning nature and turn cold; Anna famously observed that he would (bitter) neem oil can turn sweet honey; but neither break the idol nor the coconut (in those who accept power cannot be honest.’ worship),” writes A.R. Venkatachalapathy, a EVR suspected Anna’s aspirations. He did Tamil historian. Gradually, the Dravidian break up with DK to establish Dravida movement changed the shape. From antiMunnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on 17 Hindu stance, it reached the pro-Ram September 1949 with a view to contest the Mandir stance during late J. Jayalalitha’s elections. The split in DK took place on a era. Now, of course, the ruling funny ground: 72 year old Periyar married a AIADMK is 26 year old lady Maniammai! “It was almost adopted Dr. Hari Desai ironical that on September 17, which is

by BJP! (The writer is a SocioPeriyar’s birthday, Anna chose not to give a political Historian. birthday gift to Periyar, not even a wedding E-mail: haridesai@gmail.com) gift, but a parting gift!”, writes a historian

Pak refuses to let Prez Kovind's plane use its airspace Pakistan has denied Air India One use of its airspace to fly President Ram Nath Kovind to Europe.

AI’s Boeing 747 took the longer route when the President left on Monday (Sept 9) for Iceland, Switzerland and Slovenia. He will take the same longer route on his return from the tour on September 17. According to Pakistani media, the country’s foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told state broadcaster PTV that the decision to deny President Kovind’s flight use of Pakistani airspace “was approved by Prime Minister Imran Khan”. “The Indian President had sought permission to use Pakistan’s airspace to travel to Iceland but we decided not to permit him,” Qureshi said, adding the decision has been taken in view of India’s “behaviour”.

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Hopes float on Chandrayaan- 2 Continued from page 1

Though the Vikram lander may have hit the surface hard while landing, it was still very close to the scheduled touchdown site as per the images sent by the orbiter’s onboard camera, he said. “We are making all-out efforts to see whether communication can be re-established with the lander. An Isro team is on the job at Isro Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network,” the report quoted the official as saying.

However, another media report quoted the Isro chairman’s office as saying, “What a news agency has published isn’t confirmed. We haven’t confirmed it as well.” The clarification said the space agency would provide an update as and when it had confirmation on Vikram’s fate.

A day before, Isro chairman K Sivan had said that Vikram lander was spotted and the image was taken by the orbiter’s high resolution camera. “At this moment, we don’t have any information about that yet.

Also, we are still trying to re-establish a communication link.” He had said that even though the lander had made “hardlanding”, the mission had achieved 95% of its objectives. Isro is also mulling lowering the height of the orbiter circling in the 100km lunar orbit in order to zoom in on Moon better.

Just 2km from landing, Vikram goes silent After a 47-day journey, during which it travelled

millions of miles and carried the hopes of 1.35 billion people, Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram lander lost contact with Isro at a distance of barely 2.1km from the Moon's surface.

Isro chief Sivan said the initial path was normal but communication with Vikram was lost at 2.1km from the lunar surface and data was being analysed.

Till date, only three countries - Russia, the US and China have successfully softlanded on the Moon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who witnessed the attempted landing from the mission control complex, spoke to the Isro team and said they had done a commendable job. He asked them to be courageous and keep working hard and said, "We are proud of you and we are with you. Ups and downs keep happening in life. I am confident we will succeed in the next attempt."

Sivan had earlier described the final 15minute powered descent as “15 minutes of terror”. India was attempting to soft-land a probe on Moon for the first time, although it has already carried out an orbiter mission, Chandrayaan-1, around Moon in 2008.

Chandrayaan-1 carried a Moon Impact Probe (MIP), and the site at which it crash-landed was named Jawahar Point.

Chandrayaan-2, comprising an orbiter, Vikram and a rover Pragyan, was launched on July 22 from Sriharikota.

Vikram had a textbook

on the surface of the Moon.

Sivan said that the agency has managed to locate the lander using the orbiter and has attained a thermal image of it. Sivan said, "We have found the location of the Vikram lander on the lunar surface and the Orbiter has clicked a thermal image of Lander.

But there is no communication yet. We are trying to have contact. It will be communicated soon."

community, Isro had said earlier.

Since the time ISRO lost connection with the lander, they are on a 14-day mission to re-establish contact.

Scientists are analysing and collating data to understand what happened to the lander and the thermal image captured by the Orbiter will come in handy for their investigation.

Principal scientific advisor Dr Vijay Raghavan said, "Science

Pak explorer hails mission Amid all the hostilities, Pakistani explorer Namira Salim has praised Chandrayaan-2 mission, saying India’s attempt to make a landing on Moon was a “giant leap”.

Namira, who was born in Karachi and currently based in the UAE, said, “The lunar mission is indeed a giant leap for South Asia which not only makes the region but the entire global space industry proud.” Her statement came two days after Pakistan science and technology minister Fawad Chaudhry mocked the Indian mission. Namira, who holds an Ivy League masters degree in international affairs from Columbia University, had been trained and qualified for her suborbital spaceflight at the NASTAR Center in the US under the supervision of Virgin Galactic in 2007. She had undertaken peace expeditions to all three poles of the world as well as the first Asian to skydive (tandem) over Mount Everest in 2008.

PM Modi consoles ISRO chairman K Sivan as he breaks down

rough braking phase for 10 minutes, which saw the mission control room burts into applause. But minutes after the rough braking, and barely 2km from the Moon's landing spot, the trajectory on the screen showed an abrupt dip and the signal was lost.

When the mission was cleared by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on September 18, 2008, the project was to be a joint venture with Russia, whose

space agency Roscosmos was to provide the lander.

However, that deal fell through and Isro decided to go solo in 2012.

Orbiter spots Vikram In its journey to find out what went wrong with the Vikram lander, Isro has been able to find the location of the Vikram lander.

This they accomplished with the help of the Orbiter that used one of its payload to click a thermal image of the lander

The image of the lander rover 'Pragyan' housed inside it was captured by on-board camera of Chandrayaan 2 Orbiter, which is healthy, safe and functioning normally in the intended orbit around the Moon.

The Orbiter camera is the highest resolution camera (0.3m) in any lunar mission so far and shall provide high resolution images which will be immensely useful to the global scientific

gives life meaning. It reveals the past of our species, and allows us to shoot for the moon. That feeling of adventure, of the unknown, of setbacks, of moving forward: that's science. The goal of a moonshot is to inspire.

So I count Chandrayaan 2 as a 100% success."

Considered as the most complex stage of the expedition to the Moon, the lander was on a powered decent for a soft landing when it lost contact.

No role for ‘outsiders’ in internal matters, India, Pakistan stuck on service fee for Kartarpur say PM Modi, Putin India and Russia affirmed their stand against the role of “outside influences” in the internal matters of any nation, a statement seen in the context of the changes in Jammu & Kashmir and the developing scenario in Afghanistan. “We both are against outside influence in the internal matters of any nation,” PM Narendra Modi said after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok.

A joint statement said the two sides “underlined the primacy of international law and emphasised their commitment to the purposes and principles stated in the UN Charter, including the inadmissibility of interference in the internal affairs of member states”.

As India engages in a major diplomatic outreach after the decision to do away with J&K’s special status and create two UTs

of J&K and Ladakh, Modi invoked his “personal bond” with Putin, recalling he had first met the leader in 2003 when he visited Russia as part of then PM Atal Bihar Vajpayee’s entourage. “He (Putin) did not treat me as an insignificant member,” Modi, who was Gujarat chief minister then, said.

The two countries signed 25 agreements and MoUs in areas such as defence, air and maritime connectivity, energy, natural gas, petroleum and trade.

Modi also participated in the Eastern Economic Forum. He also had bilateral meetings with prime ministers of Japan, Malaysia and Mongolia.

Maritime route between Chennai and Vladivostok Prime Minister Modi said a proposal had been made to have a full-fledged maritime route between Chennai and Vladivostok. A

Memorandum of Intent was signed in this regard. “Due to the increasing localisation of nuclear plants being formed with the cooperation of Russia in India, we are also developing a true partnership in this field,” he said.

“The India-Russia friendship is not restricted to their respective capital cities. We have put people at the core of this relationship,” he added.

Russia to train Indian astronauts Russia, he said, would

help train Indian astronauts for the manned space mission - the Gaganyaan project. The two sides signed 15 agreements/MoUs in areas such as defence, air, and maritime connectivity, energy, natural gas, petroleum and trade.

Modi said: “The friendship and support between both the countries is growing with full speed...Our special and privileged strategic partnership has not only benefited our countries but also it has been used for the development of the people.

India and Pakistan failed to finalise an agreement on the Kartarpur Sahib corridor during their third round of talks at Attari over the thorny issue of $20 service fee per pilgrim being demanded by the latter. The other sticky points were Pakistan’s unwillingness to have Indian consular presence on the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara premises and reluctance to allow protocol officials to travel with the pilgrims.

The two countries, however, agreed on visa-free travel

by Indian pilgrims to the gurdwara, without any restrictions based on their faith. They also agreed that as many as 5,000 pilgrims from India could visit the holy place daily. Punjab public works department secretary Hussan Lal, who was part of the Indian delegation, said that the Pakistani team had demanded service fee of $20 per pilgrim as they had made huge investments to create infrastructure for the Kartarpur corridor.

The Indian delegation reminded the Pakistani side that there was no visa requirement for the pilgrimage, so no other kind of fee should be charged. “We hope they will reconsider their demand and the issue will be resolved soon,” said Lal, adding that nowhere in the world was any fee charged to pay obeisance at any Sikh holy place.

The two nations agreed that 5,000 pilgrims will be allowed on the corridor daily and Pakistan will soon inform India on how many additional pilgrims will it allow on special occasions.

Islamabad refused to allow Indian consular presence at Kartarpur Sahib and did not agree to give permission to Indian protocol officials travelling every day with the pilgrims via the corridor for their facilitation.

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Strengthen muscles as well as heart to stay fit and healthy, say Adults are advised to do muscle-strengthening exercises twice a week, as well as aerobic exercise, to help them stay active for longer, under new guidance from the UK's top doctors.

For the first time, it includes advice on safe activity levels for pregnant women and new mums.

Dance, bowls or Tai Chi are advised for over-65s to reduce falls in old age.

Physical activity protects against obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and depression, the advice says.

The new guidelines on physical activity have been produced by the UK's chief medical officers and updated to reflect the latest scientific evidence. Their message is that any activity is better than none, and more is even better.

Prof Dame Sally Davies, England's chief medical officer, said most children and adults in the UK are not active enough.

"We need more active travel, we need people to get off the bus or the tube a stop early. We need people to climb stairs instead of get-

ting in a lift. We need to be more active."

The guidelines recommend that adults build strength and balance to help stave off the natural decline in muscle mass and bone density that starts around the age of 50.

Tim Hollingsworth,

from Sport England, said it was great to see the strength and balance exercises on a similar footing to cardiovascular exercise.

"The beauty of it is there are many ways to build strength and balance, whether it's at home, at the gym or through sport.

"Resistance training, circuit training, racquet sports and yoga are all great, for example, for improving muscle function, bone health and balance."

Dr Max Davie, from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said families must try to build exercise into daily routines by walking or cycling to school, for example.

"We know that by doing so, it can have major mental and physical health benefits for their growing child both

Children should be banned from starting school until they have had MMR vaccine Children should not be allowed to start primary school unless they have been given the MMR vaccine, senior GPs have said.

The jab, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella, should be mandatory for four and five-yearolds unless parents have registered a conscientious objection or the child's health prevents it, they said.

In a letter to ministers, the four GPs, who hold senior positions at clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in London, said a policy shift would tackle 'complacency' among parents.

Earlier this year, the Royal Society for Public Health said social media had become a 'breeding ground for misleading information' from so-called anti-vaxxers, who claim jabs like MMR can cause conditions includ-

ing autism.

The letter, reported by the Guardian, said: 'Schools need to check that all their pupils have been vaccinated.

In other countries, certificates of vaccination are required prior to school entry.

'Here in the UK we could mandate that all children need to be vaccinated by a health professional, allowing for exemptions for either conscientious objection or medical contraindication.'

'There is a precedent in the UK. Vaccination against smallpox was made compulsory for all children born after 1853 and today doctors need to show evidence of vaccination or immunity from various illnesses so we do not put patients at risk,' it added.

They urged Matt Hancock, the health secre-

tary, and Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, to back the recommendation.

Sir Sam Everington, chair of the London Clinical Commissioning Council, signed the letter along with Dr Mohini Parmar, Dr Andrew Parson and Dr Josephine Sauvage.

All four are also clinical (medical) chairs of CCGs, which allocate health service spending, in different regions of the capital.

In August it was revealed cases of mumps hit their highest level in a decade, with a rise in anti-vaccine myths blamed for the spike.

There were 2,028 cases of mumps confirmed between April and June, the highest quarterly figure since 2009.

Measles also increased to 301 cases over the same period, with nearly 266 of those in unvaccinated peo-

ple aged 15 or over.

After the figures were released, Simon Stevens, NHS chief executive, condemned anti-vaxxers and said jabs 'remain the best chance we have of protecting our children from potentially deadly illnesses'.

'These stark rises in mumps and measles cases show that complacency about vaccines is misplaced and dangerous,' he said.

The number of fiveyear-olds receiving both doses of MMR in England is 87.2%, according to an article in the British Medical Journal, well below the World Health Organisation recommendation of 95%.

Boris Johnson, the prime minister, has also criticised conspiracy theories about vaccination as 'mumbojumbo', urging parents to 'please get your kids vaccinated.'

Thousands to benefit from new hip replacement operation People who have had a hip replacement operation could be walking out of hospital within hours thanks to new minimally invasive surgery being introduced to the NHS. Currently, many of the 95,000 Britons undergoing hip replacements every year will spend up to five days in hospital, unable to walk. But thanks to the new technique, 80 per cent of patients will be sent home within 24 hours.

The high-tech approach avoids cutting through tough muscles and tendons, making the procedure far less painful and speeding up recovery times.

Paul Robertson, 51, a business consultant from Leicestershire, was the first patient to have the operation on the NHS at Leicester

General Hospital in April. A couple of hours after the procedure, the father-ofthree was walking up stairs with the help of crutches, and returned home the next morning. He says: ‘I expected to be in agony afterwards but instead the pain was minimal.’

The hip joint is made up of a ball attached to the end of the thigh bone – also known as the femur – and a socket, which is part of the pelvis. Hip replacements involve swapping the damaged ball and socket for new, artificial parts.

This is most commonly needed in patients aged between 60 and 80 who develop arthritis in the joint.

This happens when the cartilage – the smooth elastic tissue which cushions the joint – wears away. The

bones either side then rub the joint, creating friction that causes agonising pain and affects movement. In a traditional hip replacement, the surgeon makes a large cut of roughly 20cm through the thigh muscle and dislocates the hip to make room to insert the new joint. But the new method, called SuperPath, is far less invasive, requiring an incision of just 5cm.

Rather than cutting through the muscle, it is simply moved aside. No dislocation is needed either because the surgeon uses intricate movements and tools to reach the damaged socket.

‘The approach causes very little damage to the tissue around the hip,’ says Ashwin Kulkarni, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. ‘This means there’s less blood loss and pain, and recovery is much quicker. Patients are able to get back their full hip function very quickly.’

Another advantage is that it reduces the risk of patients dislocating their hip in the months after surgery, which can occur with normal hip replacements. ‘Because we don’t dislocate the hip, it makes the joint stronger afterwards,’ Mr Kulkarni says.

With the new joint assembled, the muscles are moved back in place and the cut stitched up.

SuperPath – possible in up to 80 per cent of patients needing a replacement hip – is also being trialled by the NHS at Hereford County Hospital.

in brief 'SUPERCOOL' METHOD TRIPLES ORGAN SURVIVAL Supercooling human livers to -4C triples the time they can be kept before transplant compared with putting them on ice, US researchers say. It slows the metabolic rate to prevent damage, Nature Biotechnology reports. It means organs can be kept viable for more than a day, which researchers say could revolutionise organ transplants. The next step will be assessing how long supercooled organs function in large animals such as pigs, before moving to human clinical trials.

The team at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School pioneered the technology in rats five years ago. The animal's tiny livers were chilled while nutrients and oxygen were pumped through the organ's blood vessels.

However, there were challenges going from a 10g (0.35oz) rat liver to a 1.5kg (3lb 5oz) human liver. As organs get bigger there is a greater danger of ice crystals forming, which can rupture cells and kill tissue. The solution was to prepare the liver for supercooling by using protective agents that prevented freezing. Experiments on discarded human livers showed they could be kept for 27 hours, rather than the typical nine hours when the organs are stored on ice.

The research team said the results were "quite phenomenal".

The livers functioned as expected - based on tests such as oxygen use, bile production and lactate metabolism, when they were brought back up to temperature. They also survived a "simulated transplant" when they were connected back up to an artificial blood supply. The researchers could not experiment on organs that would have been suitable for transplant. But they believe organs that started off healthier could be preserved much longer.

The longer an organ can survive outside the body, the greater the chances of getting it to a patient that needs it.

It also gives more time for tests to ensure the donor organ is a good match for the patient. The NHS has already started using a "warm liver" approach to keeping the organs going for longer. They are connected to a perfusion machine, which keeps the livers at body temperature and gives them the oxygen and nutrients they need. The super-cooling technique builds on this approach.

CHILDREN WHO BEHAVE BADLY ARE MORE LIKELY TO SUFFER INSOMNIA IN LATER LIFE

Children who are badly behaved are more likely to suffer from insomnia when they are adults, research suggests.

Scientists at Flinders University in Australia analysed data from 25,000 children, all of whom were tracked until they turned 42. Results showed the youngsters who had severe behavioural issues aged five were almost 40 per cent more likely to have insomnia later in life. The experts found there was a similar risk, either 28 or 67 per cent, if they displayed poor behaviour aged 16, depending on its severity.

Bad behaviour included lying, disobedience, bullying, stealing, destroying belongings, fighting and restlessness. It is believed behavioural issues in childhood could lead to similar problems in adults or poor mental health, if they are not addressed early on. And living with a mental health problem can affect how well you sleep, according to the charity Mind. The results of the study – carried out over 37 years – were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association's Network Open. Parents of all the participants were asked about behavioural problems when the youngsters were five, 10 and 16. All of the volunteers were then quizzed about their sleeping difficulties when they were in their early forties. About one in three people are thought to suffer from insomnia to some degree. The NHS says adults need between one and three hours sleep.

It can be caused by stress, mental health disorders and consuming alcohol or caffeine too late in the afternoon.

However, research has recently started to delve into whether the cure for tossing and turning relentlessly during the night could be genetic. Professor Robert Adams, co-author of the study, said the findings suggest tackling bad behaviour early on could slash the odds of children becoming insomniacs.

To Our Readers

We are publishing these items in good faith, kindly consult your Doctor before you try to implement any advice. We do not hold any responsibility for its efficacy...

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Sridevi’s wax statue unveiled in Singapore Film maker Boney Kapoor, along with his daughters Janhvi and Khushi Kapoor, unveiled the wax statue of his wife and legendary Bollywood star Sridevile at Madame Tussauds in Singapore. Sanjay Kapoor, who accompanied brother Boney Kapoor to Singapore, shared the first look of Sridevi's wax double on Instagram with an emotional message: "She lives in our hearts forever." To share the news with fans, Boney also shared a video on Twitter, which gave the fans a glimpse of the actress' wax idol.

The Kapoor family were clearly overwhelmed, looking at the statue with awe. The wax figure holds a special value for fans of Sridevi as it is modelled on Sridevi’s iconic number “Hawa Hawai” from 1987 film 'Mr India'. The golden dress, makeup, her curly tresses and of course the tiara, everything has been recreated to perfection. The family

posed alongside the statue post the inauguration where Boney was close to tears as he fondly remembered his late wife.

In addition to the wax double, Madame Tussauds Singapore also introduced a special memorial wall where fans can leave their tributes and messages dedicated to the late actress.

Madame Tussauds Singapore described Sridevi's statue as a "unique" and "exclusive addition" to the museum. Sridevi passed away on February 24, 2018 in Dubai.

Sridevi was born as Shree Amma Yanger Ayyapan in 1963. The actress was admired for her performances in films like 'Chandni', 'Lamhe', 'Mr India', 'Chaalbaaz', 'Nagina', 'English Vinglish', and so many more. She was honoured with Padma Shri and also did brilliant work in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films.

Internet users call Lata Mangeshkar 'ungracious' Melody queen Lata Mangeshkar has disappointed her fans with her recent comments on Ranu Mondal stating that the internet sensation should “be original”. Many users along with her fans took on to the internet saying that the legendary singer could have been "more gracious. Such a superstar and so ungracious," wrote a user on Twitter. "A poor lady sang on a railway platform for a living. #RanuMondal's voice was miraculously noticed by SM and she became a star. Inspiring Lata ji could have been more gracious, complimented and helped her. This lecture on 'imitation' was avoidable," another user said. A user "disagreed" with Mangeshkar and called her "a bit harsh", while another said that this could have been taken in "true spirits by a senior artist like Lataji".

Lata Mangeshkar in an intervew had said that "Agar mere naam aur kaam se kissiko bhala hota hai toh main apne-aap ko khushkismat samajhti hoon (If anyone benefits from my name and work, I feel fortunate).

But I also feel imitation is not a reliable and

durable companion for success. By singing my songs or Kishoreda's (Kumar), or (Mohd) Rafi Saab's, or Mukesh Bhaiyya or Asha's (Bhosle) numbers, aspiring singers can get short-term attention. But it won't last."

The video of Ranu singing 'Ek pyaar ka nagma hai' at the Ranaghat railway platform went viral and was compared as veteran singer and melody queen Lata Mangeskhar.

Many even called her the new Lata Mangeshkar. However, it seems the melody queen is not quite happy with Ranu and the comparison.

She also gave advice to aspiring singers by saying, "Be original. By all means sing the evergreen songs by me and my colleagues.

But after a point the singer must seek and find his or her own song."

Karan Johar introduces new face Lakshya in 'Dostana 2' Filmmaker Karan Johar brings a new face to 'Dostana 2.' KJo took to social media revealing the “suitable boy” for Dostana sequel, Lakshya, who is to mark his debut alongside Kartik Aaryan and Janhvi Kapoor.

“Both happy and excited to introduce the new kid on the Dharma block! LAKSHYA will be making his debut with us in #DOSTANA2 and from thereon, we hope to start a solid cinematic journey together!

Please welcome #Lakshya and shower him with all your love and blessings...”, Karan wrote sharing pictures of Lakshya on social media.

Karan Johar's response to inquisitive netizens, who assumed Lakshya to be a star kid, arrived soon after he was introduced as the new Dharma hero. Karan tweeted that Lakshya does not have any film industry connections. He wrote: “Yes I woke up to several inquiries asking about his film industry connections!!! He is NOT from the business and went through a legit audition process !! Am grateful to Shanoo Sharma for introducing LAKSHYA to @DharmaMovies.”

Karan has often been

Kalki confirms relationship with boyfriend Guy Hershberg Kalki Koechlin confirmed her relationship with boyfriend Guy Hershberg sharing an intimate photo of the two of them by the sea. In the photo captioned, "It's always a Sunday when I'm with my favourite caveman," Guy responded, "You just put such a big silly smile on my face my cutie."

Several of Kalki’s friends, including Tilottama Shome, Richa Chaddha, Bhumila Chawla, Shobhita Dhulipala, among others, showered the post with love and heart emojis. Kalki also seems to have bonded with his mother Mira Hershberg as well.

Mira shared a photo with Guy, and tagged Kalki in it as well.

Rumours about their relationship had been doing the rounds for months, as the 'Sacred Games 2' actress had earlier

shared photos of him too. Guy is an Israeli composer, teacher and pianist. After starting out as a jazz musician, Guy gradually turned to classical music and now studies piano performance at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.

Kalki was previously married to filmmaker Anurag Kashyap. They have worked on several films together, including 'Dev D.' They married in 2011 after two years of dating, and divorced in 2015. Kalki and Anurag continue to be good friends. Recently, they collaborated for Netflix's 'Sacred Games 2'. She even shared a picture with her ex-husband on Instagram and captioned it saying, "Two deviants on the sets of #SacredGamesS2."

accused of promoting nepotism in the past.

Lakshya, who has worked on TV in several daily soaps and was part of one of the costliest historical series, 'Porus' also took to Instagram to thank Karan. 'Dostana' was a Karan Johar production, which starred Priyanka Chopra, John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan.

The film was a hit but it came under fire for the manner in which a gay relationships had been portrayed onscreen.

Helmed by Collin D' Cunha, 'Dostana 2' is collectively produced by Karan Johar, Hiroo Johar and Apoorva Mehta. 'Dostana 2' will feature Kartik and Janhvi together for the first time onscreen as siblings, with Lakshya playing their common love interest.

After a disastrous multi-starrer film 'Kalank', Karan will soon return to direction with another multi-starrer film 'Takht', starring Vicky Kaushal, Ranveer Singh, Kareena Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Janhvi Kapoor, Bhumi Pednekar and Anil Kapoor.

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Sara shares a throwback picture with a punny caption Sara Ali Khan has never shied away from talking about her weight issues in the past. Having made the cut in Bollywood impressing everyone with a successful debut in 'Kedarnath' and also in her second film, 'Simmba,' Sara has made it into the hearts of viewers and has bagged some plum projects as well. The two-film-old has already wrapped up the shoot of 'Love Aaj Kal' sequel directed by Imtiaz Ali. Currently, she has been working with Varun Dhawan on the 'Coolie No 1' remake.

Recently, Sara posted a throwback picture of herself on Instagram where she is seen along with her mother Amrita Singh. The picture is from the time when Sara was struggling with PCOD and was way larger in size. Sharing the picture, she wrote, "Throwback to when I couldn’t be thrown." In the picture, Sara and Amrita are both twinning in Black. Soon after Sara posted the picture on Instagram,

her rumoured boyfriend Kartik Aaryan left a comment: ‘This girl looks like Sara Ali.’ Not just Kartik, Sara’s fans also flooded the picture with endless comments calling her cute and beautiful. While the actors have never commented on their relationship status, Kartik and Sara are regularly seen hanging out together and seeing each other off on airports.

Sara reportedly weighed around 90 kilos before making her Bollywood debut. In an interview, the actress opened up about dealing with her weight when she said, "I went to Columbia for four years and at the end of the second year, I decided that I really want to act, like I said I have always known, but that realisation coincided with the weigh scale saying that I’m 96 kilos. So, it was a bit difficult. Then it was the senior year of college in America itself that I lost the weight.”

Priyanka, Nick become 'People's' Best Dressed celebs Priyanka Chopra and her pop star husband Nick Jonas topped 'People' magazine’s list of Best Dressed celebs this year. It is for the first time in the celebrity magazine’s history that a couple has shared top style honours. “It’s the first time ever that we have had a man or a couple on the Top 10 list, let alone as the best dressed. But it really felt like these two deserved it,” People’s style and beauty director, Andrea Lavinthal said.

“The combination of the two of them is so exciting to watch. (Jonas) is not exactly someone who just wears a black tuxedo and stands next to her on the red carpet. You can tell that he enjoys fashion as much as she does,” Lavinthal added. Priyanka reacted to the post with an Instagram post.

She thanked the magazine for featuring her and

Nick on their list.

Priyanka, 37, a former Miss World who became a star in both Hollywood and Bollywood, and Jonas, 26, topped People’s annual best dressed list in an eclectic slate that included Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya, Celine Dion, Serena Williams and Billy Porter, Gemma Chan. Lavinthal praised Priyanka and Jonas for embracing different styles and designers but always looking good.

“They don’t do matchy-matchy but they still look like they go together,” she said. “Even walking down the street in New York City, they are not in jeans and a T-shirt or casual pants. She is in a head to toe look, and so is he.” Priyanka became the first Indian to headline a US television drama series as the star of 'Quantico.' She married the younger of the three Jonas Brothers musicians in New Delhi in December 2018, becoming one of the most sought-after celebrity couples in the world. On the work front, Priyanka has just signed a Netflix adaptation of Aravind Adiga's Man-Booker Prize winning novel 'The White Tiger'. It stars Rajkummar Rao in a central role and is directed by Iranian-American filmmaker Ramin Bahrani. She also has Shonali Bose's film, 'The Sky Is Pink' lined up for release this year.

Hrithik-Vaani create dance fever with 'WAR' song 'Ghungroo'

When Anupam Kher made Deepika Padukone cry In one of his interviews, veteran actor Anupam Kher opened up about his experience when Deepika Padukone was her student in his acting school. Anupam, who has been in the film business for a while, shared an experience when he was teaching the ropes to Deepika.

“I remember one about Deepika. She was a very successful model before she joined my school. She was good at everything, punctual, and would do things with finesse. I had told her ‘you are here for three months, you can’t take a break’. I felt that she wanted to do everything perfectly.

My point is, acting is not about perfection, it’s about the rough edges too. One day, to

break her composure of being a perfectionist, I gave her an exercise in improvisation. I told her ‘you work as a bai (maid) in a house, there is nothing called ‘perfection’ (about her)’. She was spick and span about mannerisms, but her character wouldn’t know how to use a fork and a knife. That went on for 45 minutes… till I felt she had discovered (new things). I think she started crying!”, Anupam recalled.

Anupam qualifies well as a connoisseur of the craft, and also believes in teaching it to other people too. Which is why he manages his professional commitments along with with his acting school, which he started with a desire to “give back to his craft”. He has since trained actors such as Deepika, Varun Dhawan and Kirti Kulhari.

However, not many know that initially, Anupam was all set to become a teacher by profession.

The veteran recalls, “I came to Mumbai to be a teacher in an acting school. But when I reached here, I discovered that the school was actually just a fake one, a fraud kind of thing. I was very disappointed, as there was no building, no teacher, no classroom. I made up my mind then ‘If I ever become somebody, I would first open an acting school.”

Touted as the biggest action project, Yash Raj Films' 'War's' first song is out.

Titled Ghungroo, the song is a peppy number featuring Hrithik and film's leading lady Vaani Kapoor. 'War 'is going to be a visual spectacle justifying the death-defying action scenes performed by the two good looking actors of Bollywood - Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff.

Ghungroo is the first Bollywood track to be shot on the luxurious beaches of Positano in the Amalfi Coast of Italy.

The beach, also a tourist hotspot, was shut down by the makers as they filmed the number with the lead pair.

A source reveals, "The VishalShekhar composition is a foottapping number. As soon as Siddharth heard the composition, he was clear that the song had to exploit Hrithik's dancing skills to the hilt while presenting a neverbefore-seen locale on the big screen.

After discussing a few location options, Siddharth and choreographers Bosco-Caesar and Tushar Kalia thought the pristine beaches of Positano will be a perfect backdrop for the party track. Over 150 dancers were flown in from Milan to match steps with Hrithik."

The groovy, romantic number is crooned by Arijit Singh and Shilpa Rao with lyrics penned by Kumaar.

The upbeat music is by Vishal and Shekhar.

Anand knows well the expectations that surround a dance song featuring Hrithik. Pleased with how the track has shaped up, the director said, "Everything about War is about the scale. With Ghungroo, we will present the most good-looking beach day party to the audience. No other film or artiste has ever shot a song on the Amalfi Coast because of the exclusiveness this destination brings. I'm glad we will be the first film to show the locale in all its glory." The team had reportedly shut down a bridge in Portugal to film an action sequence between Hrithik and Tiger.

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Sindhu wants Deepika to play her on-screen role

Badminton champion PV Sindhu had recently made India proud by becoming the first Badminton player to win a gold medal at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Championships. She's also the only Indian to be featured on Forbes list of highest paid female athletes along with names like Serena Williams.

As her biopic is in the pipeline, Sindhu said she wants Deepika

Padukone to essay her role. “Would definitely want Deepika Padukone to play the character. She had played the game and is a good actor too. But then the makers would take the final decision and I trust their decision.”

“Yes he [Sonu Sood] told me. But I could only speak to him for a few minutes. He is travelling…. So I’m yet to find out more about it. All I can say is that the film is in safe hands and I

am sure he will do whatever is best for the film. He has my support.”

Sindhu was asked about the biopic and seems, she's totally on board with the idea.

Sonu Sood made the announcement to produce Sindhu biopic about two years back. There were several rumors doing rounds that actress Deepika Padukone would be perfect to portray her role in the biopic. While Akshay Kumar might be considered for the role of Sindhu's coach, the legend Pullela Gopichand.

However, an official update is awaited.

For the uninitiated, Deepika Padukone is the elder daughter of the badminton legend, Prakash Padukone and has played the sport at national level. Meanwhile, Deepika is shooting for Kabir Khan’s sport based movie '83' with Ranveer Singh, Pankaj Tripathi, Harrdy Sandhu, Saqib Saleem among others. Deepika will also be seen portraying the role of an IRL acid attack survivor in Meghna Gulzar's directorial, 'Chhapaak', slated for release in January 2020.

Thalapathy’s 'Verithanam' hits world record in 24 hours Right from its announcement, Thalapathy Vijay's 63rd movie, 'Bigil,' has been making all the right kind of noises. AR Rahman and Vijay’s Verithanam song from Bigil, 'Verithanam' , was recently released and within just 24 hours, this track has been making and breaking records. The song crossed over 5 million views and not only that, it became the 4th most viewed video on Youtube.

The second single of the film has again amazed the fans who were waiting with bated breath to listen to Thalapathy’s mass vocals. Earlier, the track Singapenney from Bigil was released and the entire team dedicated the song to women. The motivational song turned out to be a major hit among netizens as it speaks highly of the struggles of and sacrifices by women.

Thalapathy Vijay will be seen playing the dual role of father and son in Atlee's 'Bigil'. The movie is bankrolled by Kalpathi S Aghoram, Kalpathi S Ganesh and Kalpathi S Suresh under their AGS Entertainment banner. The film has completed shooting and is currently nearing the end

* Schedule is subject to change

SATURDAY SEP 14, 2019 01:26 FILM: RAGINI MMS 05:00 FILM: BLUE ORANGES 07:16 FILM: MAST 10:12 FILM: RAJA HINDUSTANI 13:49 FILM: BANJO 16:41 FILM: ANKUR ARORA MURDER CASE 19:18 FILM: 36 CHINA TOWN 22:12 FILM: TUTAK TUTAK TUTIYA SUNDAY SEP 15, 2019 00:42 FILM: YEH ZINDAGI KA SAFAR 05:00 FILM: CHOR BAZAARI-EK ATRANGI PREM KAHANI 07:12 FILM: BAAT BANN GAYI 09:27 FILM: PARDES 13:22 FILM: HAMARA DIL AAPKE PAAS HAI 16:53 FILM: ZANJEER 19:42 FILM: KHOOBSURAT 22:19 FILM: BANJO MONDAY SEP 16, 2019 00:56 FILM: JURM 05:00 FILM: VIKALP 07:00 FILM: AAKHRI GHULAM 10:00 FILM: AAR YA PAAR 13:00 FILM: SHIKAAR 16:00 FILM: 36 CHINA TOWN 19:00 FILM: MELA 22:00 FILM: DHOKHA

* Schedule is subject to change

SATURDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER TIME TV PROGRAM NAMES 17:30 ZINDAGI KE CROSSROADS 18:30 THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW 20:00 SUPERSTAR SINGER 21:30 THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW SUNDAY 15TH SEPTEMBER TIME TV PROGRAM NAMES 17:30 ZINDAGI KE CROSSROADS 18:30 THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW 20:00 SUPERSTAR SINGER 21:30 THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW

of the post-production stage with the release being planned for this year's Deepavali.

This sports-based movie also features Nayanthara as the female lead while actors Yogi Babu, Kathir, Jackie Shroff, Vivekh and others play crucial supporting roles.

The Verithanam has been penned by Vivek and crooned by Vijay himself. AR Rahman has composed music for the film while G.K Vishnu and Ruben handled cinematography and editing departments respectively.

Ajith Kumar may star in Tamil remake of 'Article 15' Actor Ajith Kumar, who recently acted in 'Nerkonda Paarvai,' the Tamil remake of 'Pink', may star in the Tamil remake of Ayushmann Khurrana’s 'Article 15.' An official announcement is yet to come from Ajith and from the makers, reports suggest that the 'Viswasam' actor has already given his nod.

'Article 15' starring Ayushmann Khurrana and directed

by Anubhav Sinha, received both critical and commercial acclaim. The movie dealt with Article 15 of the Constitution of India, which prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, and traces a police investigation that after three teenage girls go missing from a small village.

The interesting factor is that producer Boney Kapoor, who has produced both 'Nerkonda Paarvai' as well as the upcoming ‘Thala 60’ has acquired the remake rights of 'Article 15,' paving the way for a possible third collaboration with the Tamil superstar. However, it is to be noted that earlier, Dhanush, had also expressed interest in remaking

TV Listing

'Article 15' in Tamil.

Boney and Ajith are currently gearing up to commence work on 'Thala 60,' their second collaborative venture. H Vinoth has been roped in to direct this high-octane action flick which is rumoured to feature Ajith in the role of a racer. There were speculations that Ajay Devgn might make his Tamil debut via 'Thala 60' as the antagonist. Official announcements are yet to come. It is rumoured that 'Thala 60' will feature SJ Suryah, who was last seen in 'Monster,' as the antagonist.

Ajith is currently basking in the phenomenal success of 'Nerkonda Paarvai,' which went on to gross over £20 million at the box-office. The film, which featured Ajith in the role of a lawyer, is his second blockbuster of the year after 'Viswasam.'

* Schedule is subject to change

MON 2ND - FRI 6TH SEP 2019 13:00:00 SWARAGINI 13:30:00 BHARADWAJ BAHUEIN 15:30:00 SIRF 30 MINUTES 16:00:00 THE GREAT INDIAN GLOBAL KITCHEN 2 16:30:00 RASOI SHOW 17:30:00 CHHUTA CHHEDA 18:00:00 ADHA PREM KI DEEWANI 18:30:00 DIL KA RISHTA

* Schedule is subject to change

MON 26TH - FRI 30TH AUG 2019 18:30:00 VIDYA 19:00:00 MERE HUMRAHI 19:30:00 CHOTI SARRDAARNI 20:00:00 SHAKTI ASTITVA KE EHSAAS KI 20:30:00 RAM SIYA KE LUV KUSH 21:00:00 GATHBANDHAN 21:30:00 BEPANAH PYAARR 22:00:00 BAHU BEGUM 22:30:00 VISH

TUESDAY SEP 17, 2019 01:00 FILM: YEH ZINDAGI KA SAFAR 05:00 FILM: MUNNA MAANGE MEMSAAB 07:00 FILM: PARDESI 10:00 FILM: CHINA GATE 13:00 FILM: FAREB 16:00 FILM: KHOOBSURAT 19:00 FILM: GHATAK 22:00 FILM: TADIPAAR WEDNESDAY SEP 18, 2019 01:00 FILM: INTEHA 05:00 FILM: TITOO MBA 07:00 FILM: JAANAM 10:00 FILM: BLUE ORANGES 13:00 FILM: JUNGLE 16:00 FILM: JAHAN TUM LE CHALO 19:00 FILM: BAADSHAH 22:00 FILM: WAH TAJ THURSDAY SEP 19, 2019 01:00 FILM: ZEHER-A LOVE STORY 05:00 FILM: 18.11...A CODE OF SECRECY 07:00 FILM: SAI TERI MAYA 10:00 FILM: DASTAK 13:00 FILM: INSANIYAT 16:00 FILM: SHOR IN THE CITY 19:00 FILM: MERI HAAN TERI NAA 22:00 FILM: GANGSTER FRIDAY SEP 20, 2019 01:00 FILM: MACHINE 05:00 FILM: DAM999 07:00 FILM: JUAARI 10:00 FILM: JASHNN 13:00 FILM: MR. INDIA 16:00 FILM: WAH TAJ 19:00 FILM: GHAYAL ONCE AGAIN 22:00 FILM: THE SHAUKEENS MON 16TH SEPTEMBER - FRI 20TH SEPTEMBER TIME TV PROGRAM NAMES 18:00 BEYHADH 18:30 VIGHNAHARTA GANESHA 19:00 MERE SAI 19:30 TARA FROM SATARA 20:00 ISHAARON ISHAARON MEIN 20:30 PATIALA BABES 21:00 KAUN BANEGA CROREPATI 22:30 TARA FROM SATARA 23:00 CRIME PATROL SONY MAX 2 PRIME TIME

19:00 19:00

MONDAY

TUESDAY

KASME VAADE

GHAR GHAR KI KAHAANI (1988)

19:00 WEDNESDAY JEET

19:00 THURSDAY KYO KII... MAIN JHUTH 19:00 FRIDAY

19:00:00 19:30:00 20:00:00 20:30:00 21:00:00

NAHIN BOLTA

SAAJAN

JAHAANARA BEPANNAH TERE NAAL ISHQ MOHE RANNG DO LAAL BALIKA VADHU LAMHE PYAAR KE 22:00:00 RED ALERT SAT 7TH SEP2019 18:00:00 RADHA PREM KI DEEWANI 18:30:00 RISING STAR (SEASON 3) 20:30:00 RED ALERT 21:30:00 JAGTE RAHO SUN 8TH SEP 2019 18:00:00 RADHA PREM KI DEEWANI 18:30:00 RISING STAR (SEASON 3) 20:30:00 RED ALERT 21:30:00 JAGTE RAHO

SAT 31ST AUG 2019 19:30:00 DESI BEAT RESET 20:00:00 KHATRA KHATRA KHATRA 21:00:00 DANCE DEEWANE - SEASON 2 22:30:00 KAWACH MAHASHIVRATRI

SUN 1ST SEP 2019 19:30: DESI BEAT 20:00: BFFS WITH VOGUE (SEASON 2) 21:00: DANCE DEEWANE - SEASON 2 22:30: KAWACH MAHASHIVRATRI

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EVENTS

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

31

14 - 20 September 2019

Mahant Swami in Johannesburg

The Roaring Whirl: a cross cultural music-narrative Launch Event: Wednesday 18 September, 2019 12:00 to 2.00pm Venue: The Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain, 26 Fitzroy Square, London W1T 6BT

BAPS chief Mahant Swami is in Johannesburg now. A large number of devotees attended in the evening pooja to seek the blessings of the Mahant Swami. He reached Johannesburg on 6th September. On 3rd Sept he was in Kampala. He talked about the importance of unity there. On 4th Sept Ugandan PM Ruhakana Rugunda visited Pramukh Swami. On 5th Pramukh Swami's 'Dashabadhi Divas' was observed. On 6th he was welcomed in Johannesburg by children by reciting vedic mantras. On the evening South African premier David Makhura visited Pramukh Swami. Makhura wanted to join as a volunteer during the construction of the BAPS temple in the country.

Coming Events

l Better Living Foundation The Best of Mukesh's Evergreen hits ,By Mukhtar Shah Golden Voice of Mukesh, Accompanied by Veda Compere: Shashi Rana, Sunday 22nd Sept 2019 Venue: At the Club Theater, Bushey Academy, London Road, Bushey WD23 3AA, All proceeds from the evening will go towards our medical, educational and agricultural projects in Sierra Leone. Tickets: £35 & £25 (Include snack & soft drinks served in break) Door open 4.15 pm & show starts 5.30 pm For bookings call 07764 233 844, 07958 711 846 etc l Gayatri Parivar, UK, 5 Kundi Gayatri Yagna Date: 15th Sept, Time: 10.30 am to 1 pm.

Venue: Mandhata Youth Community Centre 20A Rosmed Avenue, Wembley, Middlesex HA9 7EE Contact: 07525 327 193 l Nehru Centre, UK, white textile exhibition, 16-20 Sept 6.15 onwards, 17th Sept Bharatnatyam, 6.30 pm 19th Sept tKathak Vilas 6.30 pm, 8 S Audley Street, Mayfair, London W1K 1HF, Contact 020 7491 3567.

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Asian Business Publications Ltd (ABPL) is not in any way responsible for the goods and services rendered by its advertisers. The ABPL management accepts all advertisements in good faith and it is entirely up to readers to verify advertisers’ products and services, should they feel the need to do so. l

Bharatnatyam Recital at The Nehru Centre GNA-Thraya is an ensemble of three ardent Bharatanatyam artistes from India, being led by Guru Vidyashree Radhakrishna, artistic director of Gaana Nritya Academy, Karnataka. She has been teaching Bharatanatyam for the past 25 years and has contributed extensively to the art field staging numerous critically acclaimed dance productions and nurturing talented disciples. Guru Vidyashree is being accompanied by two of her senior disciples, Divya Bhat and Deeksha Sadanand. Like their Guru, they are also graded artistes of Doordarshan (broadcasting network funded by Indian Government) and are active members of the performing unit of GNA. Divya Bhat, has been pursuing the artform for the past sixteen years and has performed at various platforms in India as a soloist under her teacher’s guidance.

She was recently conferred with Nalanda Nritya Nipuna Award in Mumbai, India. GNA-Thraya would be presenting a repertoire in Bharatanatyam, encompassing technical dancing segments and engaging narratives through abhinaya.

Date and Time: Tuesday 17th September, 6.30pm Price: Free Venue: The Nehru Centre, 8 S Audley St, Mayfair, London W1K 1HF l Sundar Be Baaydiwalo – Gujarati Play at the Bhavan Sanjay Goradia Promotions (India) presents a comedy Gujarati Play 'Sundar Be Baaydiwalo’. Sanjay Goradia, a well known Gujarati play comedy actor has previously visited UK on several

A partnership between the Divine Art Recordings Group and Impulse Music Consultants sees the release in September of a recording which was made in 1992 by The Classical Recording Company but did not progress to commercial release at the time due to a career-changing accident which befell the featured artist, clarinettist Geraldine Allen.

Some 27 years later, this fascinating cross cultural work set in the North Indian Punjab of Rudyard Kipling’s ‘Kim’, sub-titled “a music-

narrative”, is at last being made available to wider audiences through the release on Divine Art’s contemporary music label, Métier.

Against a backdrop of woven musical textures, the clarinet strides and soars, sometimes conversing, other times commanding, with an astounding versatility and dexterity. The richness and versatility of all the performers in The Roaring Whirl is at last available to the musical world in a cross cultural work which will now have a very different audience from the one it first encountered in the ground-breaking original performances of the 1990s.

For more information please contact Divine Art Recordings Group on 020 8524 5516.

Stream Of Life - Poem by Rabindranath Tagore The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.

It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.

It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and of death, in ebb and in flow.

I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.

And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.

MGS & Osman Mir enthrall audiences Muscat Gujarati Samaj, the Gujarati Wing of Indian Social Club, recently organized a live concert featuring one of the most popular and most awarded folk & cultural singer, the legendary Osman Mir. The melodious evening enthralled the vibrant audience beyond imagination, making this as one of the most successful event in the history of MGS. The event was attended

by Chief Guest, Guest of Honor and a special guest Shri. Shailesh Jani along with felicitation of the artists at the hands of the Chief Guest, His Excellency Shri Munu Mahawar, Ambassador of India to the Sultanate of Oman and the Guest of Honor, Dr. Sathish Nambiar, Hon. Chairman on Indian Social Club Oman.

It was also attended by Shri Anil Khimji, Dilip Mehta, Bakul Mehta, Kishor Vader, Anil Vader, Manilal Limbani,Rajendra Ved and Arvind Toprani as well as Phillip Koshy from Modern Exchange and Mr. C M Sardar from Indian Social Club Oman.

The event was sponsored by Khimji Ramdas, Muscat Pharmacy, Al Ansari Trading, Modern Exchange, Unique Contracting, Mehul Enterprises, Naranjee Hirjee, Intisar Corporation, Juma Ali Trading, Lulu, Image Muscat International, North Ocean Enterprises, Haridas Nensey, AAK & Partners, Naginkumar Chhotalal Tanna, Gulf Jwellery House, ICI Fertility Clinic, Al Rawahi International, Arabian Trading and Taiseer Electricals.

What’s on

occasions with his productions of comedy plays. His visit this time is to entertain the UK audience with another family drama.

Date: Saturday 13th September Time: 7.45pm till 10.30pm Prices: £15 (Balcony) ; £20 (Ground Floor Rear) ; £25 (Ground Floor Front) Venue: The Bhavan, 4a Castletown Road, West Kensington, W14 9HE Vegetarian Dinner: 5.30pm till 7.30pm To book: BR Patel 07957 555 226 ; B Pandya 07931 708 026 l Traders: the East India Company & Asia Find out about Britain’s maritime trade with Asia in the Traders: the East India Company and Asia gallery at the National Maritime Museum. For over 250 years, the East India Company shaped trade between Britain and Asia, becoming enormously wealthy in the process and even taking on pirates with its own navy. The gallery features Japanese, Chinese and Burmese swords; beautifully crafted ship models and navigational instruments; Nelson’s Japan-pattern breakfast service; medals, journals and portraits of key figures in the company’s history. Visit and find out about how the East India Company brought exciting new spices to Britain, how the fabrics it imported shaped fashions, and how tea was transformed from a luxury to a national pastime.

Opening Times: 10am till 5pm Prices: Free Venue: Greenwich, London SE10 9NF l The Slide at the ArcelorMittal Orbit Whizz down the UK’s tallest public artwork with a 40-second

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ride on the tallest and longest tunnel slide in the world. Twist and turn your way down the sculpture at speeds of up to 15 miles per hour (24 kilometres per hour) as you glimpse London’s skyscape passing by through sections of light. Anish Kapoor, creator of the ArcelorMittal Orbit, has worked in collaboration with artist Carsten Höller to create the 76-metre-high (250 foot) and 178-metre-long (584 foot) tunnel slide that intertwines with his Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park sculpture. The Slide is made up of 12 twists and turns, including a tight corkscrew named the bettfeder, and ends in a thrilling 50 metre (164 foot) straight run to the ground.

Prices: Child ticket (8-15 years old) : From £10.50 per ticket Family ticket (two adults and two children): From £52.00 per ticket Concession ticket: From £13.50 per ticket Slide ticket: From £16.50 per ticket Venue: Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London E20 2AD Public transport: Stratford, Stratford International l Matilda The Musical at the Cambridge Theatre Be wowed by the Royal Shakespeare Company's multi-award winning production of Matilda The Musical at London's Cambridge Theatre.Adapted from Roald Dahl’s beloved book by Dennis Kelly with music from award-winning musician and comedian Tim Minchin, the London show thrills both children and adults alike with the story of the special little girl with an extraordinary imagination.

Prices: Adult ticket: £24.60 to £153.75 per ticket Venue: Earlham Street, London, WC2H 9HU

32

Sport

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14-20 September 2019

AsianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Australia beat England; retain Ashes Australia retained the Ashes after beating England by 185 runs in the final session of the fourth test at Old Trafford on Sunday. Josh Hazlewood claimed the winning wicket, trapping Craig Overton lbw, as Australia dismissed England's second innings for 197 to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

As the holder, Australia only needs to draw the series to keep cricket's famous urn.

"We've retained it, we haven't won it," Australia captain Tim Paine said. The fifth and final test starts on Thursday at The Oval.

Australia star batter Steve Smith was player of the match - and the major difference between the two teams - with scores of 211 and 82. Australia declared its first innings at 497-8 and its second at 186-6.

England, which scored 301 in its first innings, resumed Day 5 on 18-2, went to lunch on 87-4 and tea on 166-6. Jack Leach, who scored a 51-ball 12, was promoted to No. 10 and batted for an hour with England fans hoping for a repeat of his third test heroics, or even bad light.

Australia held on to the Ashes in England for the first time in 18 years. It thrashed England by 251 runs in the opening test at Edgbaston, the second test

Australian team celebrates victory

at Lord's was drawn before England won at Headingley by one wicket to level the series 1-1.

"Bitterly disappointed," England captain Joe Root said, "to come so close to taking it to The Oval is quite hard to take." Pacer Pat Cummins finished with 4-43 off 24 overs. He bowled Jason Roy (31) in the 18th over of the day, knocking over his off stump, and then claimed the key wicket of Ben Stokes, hero at Headingley with Leach. The England allrounder got an inside edge and was well caught behind the wicket by Paine. Stokes, who had scored just one, did not wait

for a decision from the umpire and walked as Australia appealed. That left England in deep trouble on 74-4.

Joe Denly brought up his half-century after lunch with a crisp off drive off Cummins. It was his sixth boundary and took him to 53 off 112 balls. He fell without adding further to his score when he was caught out by the bounce from a delivery from Nathan Lyon (2-51) and offered a catch to Marnus Labuschagne at short leg.

Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler came together and steadily took the score to 138-5 after 53 overs as Paine turned to part-time bowlers

Labuschagne and Travis Head in the hope of

breaking their concentration. But it was Starc (1-46) that made the next breakthrough when he won an lbw verdict against Bairstow for 25. That left England 138-6, with Australia needing just four more wickets to retain the Ashes.

Australia thought it had removed Overton with the first ball after tea as Labuschagne grasped a catch fielding close to the bat but the ball had hit the body.

Buttler misjudged the line off Hazlewood (2-31) and was bowled leaving the ball. His removal for 34 left England 172-7 and needing a rearguard from the tail. Jofra Archer did not last long, scoring only one before

being trapped lbw by Lyon with a ball that kept low.

Overton formed a stubborn ninth-wicket partnership with Leach, taking the score to 195-8 off 85 overs, with 20 remaining in the day. Australia was unhappy with what they perceived as time-wasting tactics from the England pair but Leach's resistance came to an end after Paine turned to Labuschagne's legspin. Leach offered a simple catch to Matthew Wade close in.

The game ended when Hazlewood trapped Overton lbw, ending his stubborn innings of 105 balls for 21.

The England man called for a review but the decision stood and Australia had kept the Ashes.

Smith’s double ton Steve Smith earlier scored a double century for the third time in his career to continue his extraordinary form this series. Smith hit 211 off 319 balls in an innings containing 24 fours and two sixes. He has got 589 runs in four innings this series, at an average of 147.25.

Smith missed England's series-levelling onewicket win in the third Test at Headingley with a concussion suffered when struck by a Jofra Archer bouncer during the drawn second Test at Lord's.

But, even so, he has now scored 589 runs in four innings this series -- his first since completing a 12-month ball-tampering ban, including three hundreds, at a colossal average of 147.25. This was the third time this Ashes he had reached three figures following scores of 144 and 142 in the first Test at Edgbaston, with his lowest total of the series the 92 he made at Lord's.

Sanju shows class as India ‘A’ win Rashid leads Afghanistan to famous test win over Bangladesh series against South Africa ‘A’ Spinner Rashid Khan picked up six wickets to lead Afghanistan to a famous 224-run victory over Bangladesh in the maiden test match between the two sides in Chattogram on Monday.

The wet weather forced the players indoors for almost the entire day, but when play resumed in the final session, Bangladesh were bowled out for 173, with under Rashid Khan spinner and former captain four overs left to survive for Mohammad Nabi who a draw. retired from tests but will Racing against time to continue to play white-ball complete a win with less cricket. than four overs left in the Playing only their third weather-hit match, test match after being Afghanis bundled out the inducted as a test-playing hosts for 173 in their second nation two years back, it was innings amid a drizzle and the second victory for the fading light. The 20-yearstrife-torn country. old Rashid, who became the “We are new in this youngest test captain ever format, total credit goes to during the one-off match, the coaching staff and the took six for 49 in the second players for this victory,” innings to finish with 11 Rashid said at the wickets in the match to go presentation ceremony. “We with his knock of 51 with the had the best preparation for bat in the first innings. this game. The only thing (I Rashid was adjudged the said) from my side was enjoy player of the match, which your bowling and enjoy your he dedicated to fellow

batting, that's what matters in test cricket.

Everyone applied themselves, it was a total team effort.”

Rahmat Shah's 102 the first century in the format by an Afghanistan batsman - and a 92 from Asghar Afghan allowed the touring side to post 342 in the first innings.

Rashid and Nabi, who took 3-56 in the first innings, then combined to skittle Bangladesh for 205 for a handy first innings lead. Afghanistan then made 260 in their second innings to set Bangladesh a steep target to chase on a spinning track. Once Afghanistan reduced Bangladesh to 136-6 in the second innings, the fate of the match was almost decided but for the intervention of bad weather.

Heavy showers allowed little play through the final day leaving Afghanistan with about 18.3 overs in the final session to take the remaining four wickets and force a result. Rashid took three out of those with just 3.2 overs remaining.

Sanju Samson struck a blistering 48-ball 91 as India ‘A’ romped to a 36run win over South Africa ‘A’ in the fifth and final unofficial ODI, helping the hosts claim the series 4-1.

In a rain-affected 20 oversa-side game, India A made 204 for 4 before restricting South Africa ‘A’ to 168 all out with Shardul Thakur taking 3 for 9 from three overs.

Samson exhibited his hitting abilities, smashing Sanju Samson

some huge sixes as he toyed with the rival Proteas attack during his 135-run second wicket partnership with India regular Shikhar Dhawan (51 off 36 balls), who posted his second straight half-century.

Dhawan and Samson, who came together after opener Prashant Chopra (2) fell to Beuran Hendricks in the first over, played shots on both sides of the wickets and were never afraid to go for the big hits.

Amol named Proteas’ interim batting coach Bracing for perhaps the toughest tour in recent times, South Africa’s young batsmen have just received a boost in the form of Mumbai stalwart Amol Muzumdar being named the interim Proteas batting coach during their threeTest tour to India. Amol, who scored 11,167 First Class runs, including 30 hundreds will be working with skipper Faf du Plessis and CSA acting director of Cricket Corrie van Zyl. A Mumbai stalwart,

Amol Muzumdar

Amol enjoyed an outstanding First Class career that lasted for two decades. Not once did his

average dip lower than 48.

On his First Class debut for Mumbai, he had slammed a career-best 260 against Haryana - a world record back then.

“The offer came in the last week or so, when CSA approached me.

I had a ‘working relationship’ with a lot of their players over the years.

I’ve been comfortable with them. I’ve met Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma a few times,” Muzumdar said.