AV 15th November 2014

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First & Foremost Asian Weekly in Europe

FBI puts ‘Lady Taliban’ diplomat under surveillance

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See Page 23

Modi in Myanmar for ASEAN, East Asia summits

Pragnesh Modhwadia - Managing Partner

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Campaigners urge for £600,000 to install Mahatma Gandhi statue

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Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

VOL 43. ISSUE 27

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WE SHALL NOT FORGET

Modi inducts 21 new faces in ministry expansion

Rupanjana Dutta

On Tuesday as Britain observed the Armstice day, special tributes were paid to those who sacrificed their lives in World War One (WWI).

Ceremonies took place all across Britain. Services were held in military bases, churches and schools, and a two-minute silence was observed at 11am GMT. In London a 13 year old army cadet reportedly planted the final symbolic ceramic poppy in the art installation of the Tower of London. This was followed from a nationwide Remembrance Sunday celebrations on 9 November.

Britain's Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims also paid homage to the fallen heroes over the last few

Indian Prime See also ministers, inducting new faces, Minister Narendra pages16-17 21 including four with Modi on Sunday expanded his union council of Continued on page 26

9 Indian-Americans win US election weeks. The poignant last words of thousands of brave World War I soldiers who died for their country were also revealed.

The ceramic poppies

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Nine candidates won the electoral race out of more than two dozen Indian-Americans entered the electoral fray for the mid-term Kamala Harris, Niraj Atani and Nikki Haley elections in the United first time in eight years.

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

Harshadray Nandlal Sanghrajka He was born in India in 1941 but brought up and educated in Kenya. In 1958, at the age of 17, Harshad started working for an international oil company and in his 11 years of service moved up to Executive post in Management. In 1968, Harshad joined IBM Corporation in Nairobi. He worked in many countries on assignment: United Kingdom, Trinidad, USA and Germany in diverse fields of ITC as well as in professional and managerial positions.

Harshad took voluntary early retirement from IBM in 1994 at the age of 53.

Harshad was an active member in the community in Kenya since the late 60’s and served as Hon. Secretary of Sthanakvasi Jain Sangh for over 8 years. He was a member of the Asian Advisory Board to the British High Commissioner in

Nairobi.

Having accepted the post of a Trustee of the Institute of Jainology in 2001, he was Hon. Secretary to the Board of Directors for 10 years and is currently the Deputy Chair.

Having taken early retirement, Harshad decided to study religions at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, for post-graduate study leading to Masters in Indian Religions.

Harshad served as a Director of the Religious Education Council of England and Wales.

He worked as a consultant to the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA) to review the Non-statutory Guidelines for Religious Education. He represents the Institute at the Inter Faith Network of UK and other organisations.

1) What is your current position?

In professional life, I am retired. In social life, I am a

Director and Deputy Chair of the Institute of Jainology.

2) What are your proudest

I thought it was lack of education in my younger days.

However, in later life I realised that even without higher education I could achieve more than those who were qualified.

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

People I have worked with.

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

Satisfaction. To be able to give back to the community.

7) And the worst?

Not able to inspire people to divert their finances from temple building to education.

8) What are your long term goals?

Just carry on.

achievements?

I took early retirement at age 53 to dedicate time to the community. I went to SOAS and got my masters in Indian Religions, followed by a Doctorate in Jainism from the Netherlands.

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3) What inspires you?

People dedicated to the good causes of helping community, eliminating poverty, compassion towards all life.

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

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

Create wealth through efficiency and reduction of waste in all aspects of life.

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

Lord Mahaveer because he can lead me to liberation.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

COMMENT

Remembering Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi

November 14, 1889 was the day and year India’s first prime minister was born; his daughter Indira, India’s third prime minister was born on 19 November 1917. Father and daughter guided India through the turbulent early decades of its Independence when it faced existential challenges. Many observers in Britain and America were sceptical of the country’s ability to survive.

The prevailing wisdom in the West was that India was unsuited to democracy and lacked the steel to surmount the vicissitudes of multiple ethnicities, faiths and the babble of tongues. These people weren’t convinced that Nehru was the right man to be at the helm, but Mahatma Gandhi, a superb judge of character, thought otherwise. Early on in Nehru’s career, Gandhi said: “Those who know [our] relations know that he being in the [presidential] chair [of the Indian National Congress] is as good as my being in it….In bravery he is not to be surpassed. Who can excel him in the love of the country…..He is pure as crystal, he is truthful beyond suspicion.” This expression of faith from the Father of the Nation was justified in the fullness of time. Rabindranath Tagore described Nehru as “Rituraj” [Lord of the Seasons]. The burden of expectation he carried was exceeded only by the burdens of office.

The surgery of India’s Partition took its toll in human lives and weakened the fabric of society.

Chaos and uncertainty had drained national confidence. This was compounded by the Pakistansponsored Pathan invasion of the Kashmir valley within two months of Independence. This and other crises were surmounted by Nehru and his lifelong comrade Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who, alas, died in December 1950, having performed the yeoman service of forging the Indian Union from a patchwork of princely states. In his next 15 years in office, Nehru helped fashion the democratic platform of the Indian state based on the rule of law and buttressed by a secular Constitution whose architect was the Dalit leader B.R. Ambedkar. India’s first general election was

held in 1952 on the basis of universal adult franchise. It was a daunting exercise for a poor country with a largely illiterate population, but this leap of faith has been amply justified by history.

Under Nehru’s direction the Indian economy was released from its colonial fetters and the foundations were laid for industrialization. That economic management has inevitably had to undergo reforms to bring into kilter with the needs of a changing domestic and global economic environment. It is significant that such reforms were only possible because there was something substantial in place that could be reformed. Industrial development could only be sustained in the long-term by science and technology and Nehru’s visionary investment in science under the guidance of a distinguished scientist, Dr Homi Bhabha, has paid off wonderfully well. Nehru’s foreign policy of nonalignment in the Cold War was designed to preserve India’s strategic autonomy. It has been justified by international events. Along the way, mistakes were made, which was inevitable given the uncharted nature of the journey. But India today is stronger than it has been in two millennia, and it will surely grow stronger with the passage of time.

Indira Gandhi built on the platform bequeathed by her father. She kept true to his policy of investing and encouraging India’s scientific endeavours. Her finest hour was undoubtedly the courage and resolution she displayed in facing up to the military challenge of the Pakistan dictatorship, backed by the Nixon-Kissinger duo in Washington acting in concert with their newly found allies in Beijing, Chairman Mao Dzedong and Premier Zhou Enlai. They aimed to contain India within the Subcontinent. To counter this, Indira Gandhi played the Russian card, and India triumphed. None of her failings, including the emergency, can obscure Mrs Gandhi’s historic achievement. A grateful nation has much cause to remember a remarkable man and his remarkable daughter.

The much hyped mid-term US Congressional elections are over. The results as predicted by numerous opinion polls ended with a swing to the Republican party which now controls both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Barack Obama is likely to be a lame-duck President for his remaining two years in office. His poll ratings, already low at 40 per cent, are poised to plumb the depths. Congress gets an all-time low rating of 15 per cent The cost of these was the largest ever at $4 billion. President Obama’s domestic legislation is likely to be stalled; on foreign affairs he will face less opposition since America’s overseas record under his administration has borne a strong likeness to that of the previous Bush administration. George W. Bush reduced Iraq to a desolation, President Obama, with ISIL aid, has made it a nightmare. The adjoining state of Syria is a parallel nightmare, with contending jihadi groups jostling for power. The entire region is plagued by anarchy, by death and destruction.

President Obama, meanwhile, has compounded this dismal record with massive surveillance measures of ordinary American citizens, citizens and leaders of other countries like the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. When Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s telephoned was tapped

by America’s top spying agency, she promptly cancelled her state visit to Washington. The United

States is now a national security state. Its political class has two solutions to every foreign crisis: send in the Marines or bomb. The looming spectre of a Third World War has every chance of becoming a reality. The dysfunctional American political system is in desperate of an overhaul. The two-party state on the ground is a one-party state with two factions, one Republican, the other Democrat, in other words, of Tweedledum and Tweedledee. The low voter turnout is clear evidence of the American public’s loss of faith in the political system. An infusion of independent candidates and those belonging to a multitude of parties seeking to break the mould with enlightened domestic and foreign policies should be given their head rather than ignored, as they presently are, by the mainstream media. Time is running out for America. Everyday gun crime continues to rise, the widening blackwhite racial divide grows ever wider, a crumbling infrastructure needs urgent attention and money, even as defence spending keeps moving upward. A sick society needs a healing and compassionate touch, not the barrel of a gun, the warhead of a missile or a hovering Drone. The blowback from past American follies is taking a heavy toll in lives and property. How long can failed American policies be repackaged and sold to a gullible public? Now is the time for change.

Anoyara Khatun was a full 13 year-old when she led an army of children across a canal in a Sunderbans district of West Bengal and nailed a child trafficker whose victim was destined to be sold for a bogus marriage. She has till now foiled 85 trafficking attempts and helped rescue and reunite 200 children torn from their families.

Anoyara is not one to waste time and effort on bureaucratic inertia. She believes in direct action.

Time was when she and her compatriots waylaid the state education minister, Kanti Biswas, who was on tour, and forced him out of his car to accede to their demand for more schools in the area.

Today, they have 84 schools. Militant feminism of such tender years can surmount obstacles that appear immovable to some of their seniors. Now a bright 18 Anoyara Khatun’s work has created

waves at home and abroad. Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousefzai has opened a fund in her name to promote education among deprived girls. Anoyara has received a grant to help her extend her activities. It all began when 13 year-old Anoyara was trafficked to Delhi and escaped after a year of this hell. Her experience drove her to do the work she has been doing ever since. She is one of four siblings born into a poor family. When her father died, her mother took work as a cook in a local school.

Anoyara Khatun is reluctant to dwell on her unhappy past. It is the present and future she likes talking about. A lively, pretty young woman of 18, her enthusiasm is infectious and inspiring. A local newspaper carried a feature on her and her work.

Restoring missing children to their families is her passion. More power to her elbow.

Message of the US Congressional elections

Salute to a brave girl

3

Do the things you know, and you shall learn the truth you need to know - Louisa May Alcott

Lord Dolar Popat of Harrow, Conservative peer

Wear your poppy with pride

pleased to see that British We gather to remember the Indians were wearing their fallen every November, but poppies with pride and this time was special. This playing an active role in year marked the centenary services across the counof the outbreak of the First try. The Remembrance World War, as well as the Service I attended in last of the British troops Harrow was very well rephaving just withdrawn resented. from Afghanistan.

This has not always It was referred to as been the case and two the ‘Great War’. The War years ago I led a campaign that would end all wars. to encourage Hindu But sadly we know that Temples to distribute and was not the case. promote poppies, whilst World War One also arranging engulfed not just Europe, Remembrance Day servicbut the entire world. Apart es. Today I know that the from Western Europe and Russia, the theatre of war also included the former Ottoman Empire and those patches of Africa where G e r m a n colonies were located.

India’s contribution to the war effort was particularly sign i f i c a n t .

Although the battlefields of the Great War didn’t extend into India, millions of Indians were posted across the European battle Lord Popat of Harrow at Harrow’s lines. Some 1.27 Civic Centre Memorial during this million men, year’s Remembrance Sunday Parade and Service i n c l u d i n g 827,000 combatBAPS Shri Swaminarayan ants, were involved. Of Mandir in Neasden, the these, 47,756 were killed Shri Sanathan Mandir in and 65,000 wounded.

Alperton, the Anoopam Indian soldiers won Mission Mandir in nearly 13,000 gallantry Denham as well as many awards, including 12 others all actively prompt Victoria Cross. It was Remembrance Day. India and the Empire as a We must never forget whole that provided the tremendous sacrifices Britain its strategic depth, made by the servicemen something the Kaiser and and women who gave their his allies lacked. lives for the freedom we Consequently, India Gate, enjoy today. It is our duty one of the iconic symbols to ensure that the new genof Delhi, was built as a War eration are aware of the Memorial to the soldiers of importance and significant the Indian Army who died of Remembrance Day. in the Great War. Let us all wear our The centenary was poppies with pride this marked in a grand and year to remember the sachonourable way across rifices of our service men Europe earlier this sumand women both past and mer. However, given the present. The words of the tremendous contribution famous Kohima Epitaph of the Indian Army in have never been so releFrance, Iraq, Palestine and vant; East Africa in the 1914-18 “When you go home – war, it was surprising that tell them of us and say for the centenary went largely your tomorrow we gave unobserved in India itself. our today.”

However, I was

MIDLANDS VOICE

Family remembers RAF son on Remembrance Day

4

Father Kishor Chauhan, explained how remembrance day was a time of recent grief for him and his family: “We’re just going to use the day to remember our son” he said. His 29 year-old boy Flight Lieutenant Rakesh Chauhan was an intelligence officer in the RAF who died in April of this year when the Lynx helicopter in which he was being transported came down in Afghanistan.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

“He used to watch Remembrance Sunday commemorations on the TV” father Kishor stated.

“We used to watch it with him but we didn’t know what it meant to him. It’s very different this year, the day has a whole new meaning for us.” Kishor said that he had talked with the families of British soldiers who died in the First World War: “It’s amazing how much we had in common, yet our

relatives were from completely different generations.”

Kishor has accepted awards on behalf of his son Lieutenant Rakesh Chauhan who was honoured for his bravery by ABPL's Asian Achievers Awards, and given the GG2 Pride of Britain Award in November: “I am so proud that his memory lives on, he has achieved so much” the emotional father said.

Channel 4 documentary disappoints Leicester city

Channel 4's much anticipated cultural documentary 'Make Leicester British' took 8 denizens of different backgrounds and asked them to spend a week in a group setting, but the show has sparked controversy as it asserted 'the city was divided' from its findings.

Suleman Nagdi, spokesman for the Leicestershire Federation of Muslim Organisations said: “Leicester is not a divided city (…) not everything is perfect of course, but it is regarded across Europe as a successful multicultural city.”

The show featured four British citizens, Sukiy, Kit, John and Jen,

Lieutenant Chauhan

'Make Leicester British'

two of whom were of Asian origin a Somali Sagal and three Eastern Europeans Kamil, Ola and Eduardas.

Interestingly, there was a notable anti-immi-

gration sentiment amongst Sukiy and Kit, where the latter's family came over from India. The two said they did not see the hard-working ethic which had helped their

families settle and grow in the current immigration populace. This opinion was echoed by the Leicester public, though many believe it gave an inaccurate account to the viewers. For example one interview was conducted during an Asian religious parade but looked as if it was in the middle of an everyday bustling street.

Other white British interviewees were shown sporting such statements as it is like playing a game 'of spot the white face' in Leicester city.

Channel 4 have stated that the documentary is a crucial source of information for the upcoming general election.

Muslim mother fired from faith school for opposing veil policy

Former vice principal and mother of one Ghazala Khan, 37, was fired after objecting to the Mohiuddin International College's rule that girls must wear veils in classes, a tribunal heard.

At a Manchester employment tribunal, Mrs Khan said a fellow teacher stopped speaking to her because she did not want to wear a niqab and that this was the same tutor who ordered all his female students to wear a veil in his lessons: "There were quite a few times I didn't agree with the way he would make children wear veils across their faces just so he could teach them. I said, 'nowhere in Islam does it say they must wear a veil to come

Ghazala Khan

to classes.' He said, 'you have no knowledge of anything and have no right to talk with somebody not related to you.”

This stringent attitude was traced back to the Principal of the Lancashire-based all girls

College, Amjad Bashir.

Khan said she felt religiously discriminated against on more than one occasion at a school whose masthead is 'inspiring the girls of today to become our leaders of the future.'

Appointed to the post of Vice Principal in 2011 Khan claimed that she was branded an outsider and told to wait outside assemblies because “there were a few things she wouldn't understand”.

She has said she felt patronised as a woman and that despite being a qualified and experienced teacher she was never respected as a “scholar.”

Events reached the boiling point after the private school, previously

Jailed Jihadi dies in suicide bombing Derby-based Jihadi Kabir Ahmed died in a suicide bombing carried out in Iraq, claiming that 'I am prepared to sacrifice my children 100 times for Allah.' Ahmed was serving out a fifteen-year jail sentence for a homophobic hate crime where he shouted 'I hope you all die of aids' during a gay parade.

The radical created a video podcast in which he denounced all western life shortly before the mission.

Kabir Ahmed

heralded as the 'Muslim Eton', came under scrutiny following a rigorous institutional inspection.

Khan alleges that Bashir called a meeting in which he blamed her for everything and called her a “stupid outsider” before dismissing her from his staff.

This particular allegation was corroborated by a former student Fozia Yasin, 19, who had been expelled from the college: "Mrs Khan was called an outsider by Mr Bashir. I only heard it once. There was a group of girls, it wasn't just me. Mrs Khan was there.”

Bashir was reported to be in an agitated state and denied many of Mrs Khan's claims.

The school is run by the Birmingham-based Mohuiddin Trust and was established under the Sheikh Hazrat Pir Alaudin Siddiqui Sahib who is an Islamic scholar based in Pakistan. Mrs Khan has also stated that she did not agree with the locally circulated teaching that 'the Sheik, the founder of the college, is going to take them to heaven and everyone who does not believe in him is going to hell."

Keith Vaz dubbed Labour MP of the year

Zahra Latif, Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP & John O’Brien

Keith Vaz, MP for Leicester East, was awarded Labour MP of the year 2014.

He was given the honour by the Patchwork Foundation for all his work with minority and underrepresented communities in the area: '“For all groups to be better represented in Parliament, and the wider political process, is a positive and necessary aim in our multicultural society” Vaz commented. “I am very proud to be viewed as positively contributing

to this process.”

Being chosen out of the 257 Labour representatives in parliament, the MP was commended by party leader Ed Miliband: “offer my warmest congratulate to Keith Vaz on his awards this evening.

Keith broke the glass ceiling when he entered into Parliament as one of the four first BAME MPs in 1987. Every time I visit him in Leicester East I see just how hard he works, and just how big a difference he makes to his city.”

26 year-old Bharat Soma has testified that black magic made him attack his former fiancee and her lover at East Park Road, Spinney Hills. Darshana Narotam, 17, cut off an arranged marriage to Soma to be with love interest Prashant Govinde, 22 before the stabbing.

“As a Hindu, we believe sometimes someone does magic to us' Soma said in court, when questioned about the assault. He said he became ill when Darshana broke away from him: “I wasn’t able to eat properly, I was being sick and I was having nightmares about ghosts.” The prosecution claims Soma deliberately

committed a revenge attack where a fifteen year-old boy was also hurt trying to protect the couple.

Soma claims he bought the paring knife used to commit the stabbing for his cooking and forgot it was still in his pocket. He also stated that “someone has done some magic on me” in his official police statement.

Black magic in the courtroom

Bharat Soma

Protest for murdered Christian couple held in Centenary Square A protest was held in Centenary Square after a Christian couple were murdered by fanatics in a village near Lahore.

People of Bradford, including Labour councillor for Bradford Moor Ghazanfer Khaliq, gathered to call attention to the vulnerable position of religious minority groups in the predominantly Muslim country: “the Pakistani government needs to make sure that the minorities are protected” the councillor said in an interview with Telegraph & Argus.

“They should have equal rights – the same rights people have in this coun-

try (…) we wanted to show symbolically that we stand with that family."

The demonstration was organised by the Bradford branch of the South Asian People's Forum after details of the horrific deaths of Shehzad Masin, 26, and his five months pregnant wife Shaman, 24. The couple were beaten to death and burnt in a kiln, reportedly for “blasphemy against the Prophet.”

Councillor Khaliq added: “It is important for us, living in an open and civilised society, to show how disgusted we are with the recent events.”

5

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Breaking Bad case makes crime history

When God asked me my name Spriha Srivastava

He starts his day with a cup of tea and then takes it from there. He spends time reading, writing, travelling with his family and catching up with old friends. He is India’s favourite sportsperson and the best cricketer in the world – Sachin Tendulkar.

Last week, Sachin Tendulkar addressed members of the media at Lord's Cricket Ground to discuss his latest book Playing It My Way. Being an ardent Sachin fan I left no stone unturned to get myself an invite for this press conference and prepared my camera and my questions for Sachin.

It’s amazing how we all admire Sachin Tendulkar so much.

While sitting at the press conference, waiting for the little master to arrive, I kept thinking how this man brought the entire nation together at so many times. He has made us laugh, made us cry and instilled the pride with which we said “we belong to the India where Sachin lives.”

Emotions were always high when Sachin played. Fans around the world followed superstitions such as wearing the same shirt, eating the same food as they did for his last game just so that nothing changes this time too.

Our hearts bounced when he hit the ball wanting no fielder to come in between the shot and the boundary. We jumped when he made a century, we cried when he got out and we sat there holding the Indian flag for hours.

How could I have missed the press conference?

The press conference was hosted by Hodder & Stoughton at a suite in the Lord’s stadium.

Attended by senior sports journalists, publishers and photographers, the press conference gave every journalist an opportunity to ask Sachin a question and get a copy of his book.

The Q&A was hosted by former English Captain Nasser Hussain, who, as Sachin says in his book, was the best English Captain he played with. Also present at the event was Sachin’s wife Anjali Tendulkar.

Nasser Hussain with Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin said his book has everything that he always wanted to say but didn't get a chance to his childhood, early matches, his courtship days with his wife Anjali, his later career, the World Cup win for India and his plans to retire.

"I've covered most of my life I would say. The toughest bit for me to cover was my personal

life with Anjali, which nobody knew about. That was really difficult," Tendulkar said.

Sachin went on to mention how he celebrated India’s victory in 2011 World Cup, “I had a flower in my ear as I danced with my wife with a bottle of champagne in hand," he said.

Post-retirement, Sachin has spent most of his time writing this book, with his family and concentrating on charitable activities. Asked how he spends his retired life, he said - "I get up and have a cup of tea unlike my cricketing days and then think what to do next."

Having said that, Sachin has tons on his plate at the moment. To start with, the book has kept him busy ever since his retirement. He also recently submitted a

major proposal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi which will be unveiled soon. He ruled out any plans to join politics but confirmed that he personally met Prime Minister Modi and shared his vision with him. He said he is aware that being a recipient of the Bharat Ratna – the highest civilian award of India has put some responsibilities on him and he will ensure he fulfills them.

On his plans to coach the Indian Cricket team in the future, Sachin said he is in touch with most of the players and talks and discusses strategy with them regularly. After having spent twenty four years away from family playing Cricket, he now wants to stay close to them. “I feel players are approachable to me and I am approachable to them,” he said.

The book has already broken all records in India, according to the publisher but Tendulkar says his intention of writing the book was not to create any controversies but to tell his journey to everyone.

“During my playing days….I honestly didn't have the time or energy for anything else. But now my career is over I thought it was only fair I brought this out and let people know what I have been through," Tendulkar said.

The press conference came to a close with Sachin posing for photographers with a copy of his book in his hand. As he made his way outside I managed to grab him for two minutes to shake hands. He asked me my name. “Nice name, all the best” he said and made his way to a book signing event at Canary Wharf.

Let us know what you think.

Email Spriha at aveditorial@abplgroup.com

The sensational trial of Kuntal Patel, 37, pictured, who fantasised about killing her mother with a tv-show inspired poison was brought to an equally arresting close when the jury convicted the accused under the Biological Warfare Act. This is the first time this legislation has been exercised, sentencing Patel to three years in jail.

Though Patel was cleared of the attempted murder of her mother Meena Patel, she was found guilty of acquiring a biological toxin similar to ricin. The drug is used by a drug-lord in the cult drama 'Breaking-Bad' to lace someone's glass and

kill them.

String-watching episodes of the show, a dejected Patel said she used dark fantasy as a coping mechanism against her “controlling” and “selfish” mother and also claimed in court that the poison was in reality

meant to be for suicide after her mother interfered with her potential engagement plans to an American citizen.

Presiding judge, Justice Rabinder Singh said today at the Southward Crown Court that Kuntal had undergone “a prolonged period of severe stress” and had acted desperately because she saw "no way out."

Kuntal was brought to court after FBI forces traced her illegal toxin purchases on the 'dark web'. In messages to an American dealer she had said she needed a 'tasteless' and 'deadly toxin' to get someone 'out of the way'.

33 year-old Kishore Kansal has called out top city broker Tullett Prebon for cultivating a racist and generally prejudiced atmosphere in the workplace. Kansal stated that the department head Neil Campbell and much of his staff, almost 100% of whom are white middleaged males, dealt in racist banter and practical jokes as well as different currencies.

Campbell is a “racist fool” Kansal told the tribunal. Claiming £1.5 million for racial harassment, the former Prebon banker said he was unfairly dismissed when he brought his concerns about the derogatory culture to the head.

Campbell was alleged to have called him a “brown boy”, forcing him to take sick-leave before promptly sacking him afterwards.

Kansal elaborated on the mean-spiritedness that was endemic at the firm.

He said he was “surprised by how the others in the

office took this (Campbell's) behaviour – often laughing and even contributing to the jokes’.

The content of his comments can be inferred from some of the caustic emails dredged up on his computer. One read 'I spent a couple of hours defrosting the fridge last night, or foreplay as she likes to call it.' Kansal also said staff stuck a picture of a terrorist on the desk of Hindu employee Maulik Patel saying that it resembled him while boss Campbell performed stereotypical impressions of Pakistani employee Mr Vahidy: ‘Neil Campbell stood up with a large grin on his face and said “You speak like this”, and then proceeded to do an impression of a Pakistani accent, saying ‘bud-li, bud-li, bud-li.’

The situation is also disturbing because the staff felt the need to conform to such behaviour to fit in, or indeed avoid redundancy. Kansal told

how he had joined in at one point, sending images of Kim Jong to a colleague after talking to a SouthAsian client. Vahidy too was said to often refer to himself as “the terrorist.”

Kansal has said that out of 800 staff on his floor there were no black people, only a few Asians and even less women.

Campbell has also been accused of making fun of the gay community, black people, women and the French and Dutch.

Tullett Prebon has denied all allegations but the trial continues.

On 27th October, 2014 the Rang De UK Chapter President Rohit Parakh and key member of the UK Chapter and Lambeth Labour Councillor Neil Sabharwal, met Lord Dholakia, the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords and a senior Indian Diaspora leader in UK. Lord Dholakia has agreed to become the Patron of Rang De’s UK Chapter and had a very fruitful discussion with Neil and Rohit as to ways on increasing Rang De’s visibility in UK with a focus on media engagement and connecting to the wider Indian Diaspora amongst other topics.

Rang De is a nonprofit organization com-

mitted to fighting poverty by providing access to affordable micro loans to underserved communities in India working on a model of microcredit, peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding. It has so far facilitated £2.52 Million of loan to microentrepreneurs in India with loan sizes generally ranging between £50£150 with a maximum

Top City Brokers branded racist

Kishore Kansal

Lord Dholakia becomes a Patron of the Rang De UK Chapter

Lord Dholakia with Rohit Parakh

loan interest rate of 10%.

Each individual can contribute my making a loan of Rs 100 onwards (~£1). The loan repayment rate so far on the loans has been 99.75%.

Rang De UK Chapter is performing a major outreach program in the next few months to spread awareness on its goals. To know more see www.rangde.org.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

UK

EXCLUSIVE

7

Campaigners urge for £600,000 to install Mahatma Gandhi statue First images of full size Mahatma Gandhi Statue for Parliament Square released

The prestigious statue of Mahatma Gandhi, to be placed at Parliament Square, in London, is fast nearing completion. However, to pay for this new bronze statue, campaigners need to raise £600,000 in the coming three months. They want the statue to be unveiled by India's Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi early next year, to mark 100th anniversary of Gandhi’s return to India from South Africa. The foreign office has confirmed that an invitation for a visit has been sent.

The statue will stand a few yards to the right of Mandela's statue as you look at it, with Lincoln and the Supreme Court building in the background. It will be a 9 feet bronze statue modelled on a photograph of the Mahatma Gandhi standing outside 10 Downing Street during his last visit to London in September 1931. The sculptor is Philip Jackson, who is known for his remarkable sculpture of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, among others. The architect is Anthony Dyson. The total expenditure of the project is estimated to be £750,000.

All the statues in Parliament square are paid by public subscription. While the government of the day arranges sculptor, architect and gets the planning permission, the money for the statue has to be collected from donations by the public.

Following the success of its

Gandhi statue as it will appear in Parliament Square

planning application, the charity behind the sculpture, Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust, was set up

by Lord Meghnad Desai.

The trustees of the charity currently includes Lord Desai himself and his journalist and author wife Lady Kishwar Desai.

They are also in the process to rope in some very prominent Indian leaders as additional trustees, to attract the attention of Britain's affluent Asian community.

The charity has recently released images of the full sized clay sculpture that will be used to cast the statue. Lord Desai, founder of the Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust, said: "Gandhi is admired by people across the globe who are contributing small and large amounts to be part of this historic monument.

I

appeal to all who admire Gandhi to join me in this iconic enterprise by giving what they can for the Gandhi statue.

Our website is www.gandhistatue.org."

Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Chair of the Gandhi Statue Special Advisory Panel said: “I’m delighted planning permission has been given for this wonderful monument to the father of the world’s largest democracy. Britain has a proud history of great figures being honoured with statues paid for by public subscription.”

After viewing the clay sculpture, along with other members of the advisory council, including Lord Meghnad Desai and Lord Navnit Dholakia, the Indian High Commissioner, HE Ranjan Mathai said: “We are really looking forward to having the sculpture of Mahatma Gandhiji in Parliament Square.”

Speaking of the statue, award winning sculptor Jackson said he chose the Mahatma Gandhi outside 10 Downing Street image of Mahatma Gandhi Jackson says he went standing outside Downing through a number of photoStreet in 1931, as he thought graphs and then made 'an amalthat would be most appropriate gam of them to create a timeless for Parliament Square. It image.' depicts the Mahatma contemAnyone wishing to donate plative, determined yet compastowards the sculpture can visit sionate, without a stick, draped the website in a heavy shawl against the www.gandhistatue.org British climate, but bare legged.

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

As I See It

The Legacy of Sardar Patel Recently we celebrated the 139th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The celebrations happened not just in India but all over the world. For the first time the Indian Central and State Government organised projects, seminars and programmes and other events to highlight the life and work of Sardar Patel.

The greatest gift this great man gave to all the residents of a free India was its ‘Unification’. Two thousand five hundred years ago Chakravarti Samrat Chandra Gupta Maurya created ‘Bharat Varsh’ under the guidance of the great Chanakya. Sardar Patel went about the same task but in a non violent way. He tirelessly went from one princely state to the other, using his persuasive powers to convince the rulers. All the Rajas, Maharajas and Nawabs (except 3 out of 550) willingly came forward and handed over their powers, wealth and property to Sardar Patel.

Sri Dinkar Joshi, a Mumbai based former banker and renowned writer who has previously written books on Gandhiji and Jinnah, has now written a book on Sardar Patel after three and a half years of intensive research. The well documented and well written book, 'Mahanav Sardar' has been published simultaneously in Gujarati, Hindi and English by Pravin Prakashan of Rajkot. The focus of this book is primarily on the period between 31 October’1945 to 15 December’1950 (ie till his last days).

In this short period of five years and one and a half month Sardar Patel left for us a monumental edifice. He not only brought togetherover 550 states but also made a crucial and important contribution to the formation of the Indian Constitution. Through meticulous planning he transformed the then British India Civil Service into the well organised Indian Civil Service we know today. The preliminary ground work for the Centre-State relationship was also done by Sardar Patel. The description of this is vast and beyond the scope of this short narration.

Sardar Patel carried on the Herculean task of unifying and creating India even in spite of his failing health.

Sadly most of this has not been acknowledged or received its due appreciations until now. Thankfully, now the present Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Government are attempting to follow the path of Sardar Patel and move towards the betterment of the Indian Nation.

Remembrance - One Community

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Sardar Patel did not carry any ill feelings even against his arch enemies or harsh critics. Those who created obstacles in his path soon realised their shortfalls and limitations. They were dealt with not with animosity but with forgiveness and were soon engaged in the most important task of nation building.

In 'Mahamanav Sardar' there are many incidents which illustrate the enormous pressure and stress that Sardar had to face due to his colleagues in the Cabinet and the public life. Only a few could understand his great vision, most were busy creating hurdles for him. Ultimately these people were exposed as misguided individuals.

Some of them were big enough to admit their faults and expressed their remorse and regret. Amongst them were Maulana Azad, Jai Prakash Narain, Ram Manohar Lohia and Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru.

Those who are in any way engaged or remotely connected to this great legend should learn from the life and work of this Son of the Soil. He focused all his attention on building the nation and had no time for self glorification or propaganda. In his life and work this great humble man humbled one and all, but without gossiping, spitefulness, shallow and hypocratic behaviour and with total selfless devotion and steely determination. He was honest and honourable all the time. Sardar Vallabhai Patel made proper use of time, energy and resources in the service of the country without any wastage in dirty politics.

Can we learn anything from him?

Four men arrested on suspicion of terrorism

British police have arrested four men on suspect of preparing terrorist acts on Britain. The men range in age from 19 to 27. More searches are continuing.

Police reportedly said that the arrests and searches of several properties in west London and the Thames Valley are part of an ongoing investigation into "Islamist related terrorism."

Officials have classi-

fied that the threat level in Britain as "severe," meaning a terrorist attack is viewed as highly likely. Police have been warned to be vigilant against attacks on officers. There have been numerous arrests in recent weeks as police have taken action against some Britons who have returned from fighting in Syria and are feared to be planning attacks in Britain.

Rafiq Ahmad, manager of the Press Trust of India’s office in London, passed away on Thursday 6th November, after a brief illness. Ahmad, 61, was posted to London in the 1980s from New Delhi to

take administrative charge of PTI operations in the UK. He also served as Treasurer of the Indian Journalists’ Association (IJA). He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

IJA member passes away

- CB

Choudary wants to become an Islamic State citizen Anjem Choudary, the radical cleric in Britain has claimed that he would renounce his British citizenship and live under the rule of ISIS, if the government would grant him safe passage. In an interview with the Times he reportedly said that if he had his passport he would have already travelled to areas in Syria or Iraq presently controlled by the militant Islamic organization ISIS, also known as the Islamic State. In response Keith Vaz, chairman of the Common home affairs select committee, reportedly said: "If he wants to go, he should be allowed to go. I think that would be a much better scenario than having him stay.”

It was my first time of being on a plane when the two minute silence for Remembrance occurs. On a plane, you cannot stand of course. Instead the Captain makes the announcement. You should, as I did, turn off the in flight entertainment, put down the paper, stop snoozing, and all the other things we do on a plane, and instead, remember the fallen.

But as I recalled the fallen, I also thought of community of humanity that comes together at this time. Community cohesion.

The two key complaints Hindus make about each other - first that we do not help each other, secondly we actively put obstacles in the path of each other. Of course these are generalisations and like all communities we could do more.

Hindu’s often point to the Jewish community as a role model for co-operation. And indeed when I worked in Congress I studies the Israeli lobby group, AIPAC, as the admirable role model on how a community working together can effectively influence Government policy.

A while ago a friend of a friend came to see me. He had been out of work for 7 years. He was Jewish. He was beaten by rejections. His attitude smelt of defeat. Every time I gave him advice on finding a job, he would interrupt about how it wouldn’t work.

I told him, he is sucking the energy out of the room. Why would anybody employ him? But I also remembered the

words from the week before I had read in New Delhi, at Birla House, the place where Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated – ‘the job of a leader is to inspire fearlessness’.

And so it was for one hour I sat with this stranger and gave him idea upon idea on getting a job. But the best idea I had – I told him that I would write to some wealthy Jewish friends of mine, and say to them, ‘My Indian community holds your Jewish community up as a role model for co-operation. I met someone from your Jewish community.

He’s a good man. I’m going to help him. But I want you to prove me right, and meet him and help him too. And then, when you do, I am going to write about it, and give my own community a specific example of the role models you are and indeed an example that if we Indians and Hindus do not help each other, then those that do will ensure we are left behind.

So prove yourselves to be the role models we believe you to be, and motivate the best in my Indian community to be like the best in yours.’

How does this story end? My Jewish friends did indeed write back. They couldn’t offer jobs – which is fair enough.

But they made the effort. Just as with the act of remembrance, we make the effort.

We can’t stop bad things from happening, or helping everyone, but at least we make the effort, the reply, the call back… we give some thought. That’s how communities are built.

New study reveals proximity to fast food outlets linked to Type-2 diabetes

With November 14th marked as the World Diabetes Day, a new study led by the University of Leicester has discovered that your proximity to the fast-food outlets may be linked to your risk of Type-2 diabetes and obesity.

The research found that there was a higher number of fast-food outlets within 500 meters of inner-city neighborhoods described as non-white as well as in socially deprived areas.

The researchers warn that their findings, based on a study of over 10,000 people, have important implications for diabetes prevention and for those granting planning permission for fast-food outlets.

“Our study suggests that for every additional two outlets per neighbourhood, we would expect one additional diabetes case, assuming a casual relationship between the fast-food outlet and diabetes,” the study authors write in the study published in Public Health Nutrition.

The research was carried out by a team from the University of Leicester’s Diabetes Research Centre, Department of Health Sciences and Department

of Geography in collaboration with the Leicester Diabetes Centre based at Leicester General Hospital. The Leicester Diabetes Centre is an alliance between the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (Leicester’s Hospitals), the University of Leicester, the local community and Primary Care.

Professor Melanie Davies and Professor Kamlesh Khunti, CoDirectors of the Department have been conducting one of the largest screening studies with south Asian patients.

The data from this study has also helped with recommendations for the NHS Health Checks Programme.

Professor Kamlesh Khunti, Professor of Primary Care Diabetes & Vascular Medicine at the University of Leicester, said: “In a multi-ethnic region of the UK, individuals had on average two fast-food outlets within 500m of their home.

“This number differed substantially by key demographics, including ethnicity; people of nonwhite ethnicity had more than twice the number of fast-food outlets in their neighbourhood compared with White Europeans.

We found that the number of fast-food outlets in a person’s neighbourhood was associated with an increased risk of screendetected type 2 diabetes and obesity.

“We found a much higher number of fast food outlets in more deprived areas where a higher number of black and minority ethnic populations resided. This in turn was associated with higher prevalence of obesity and diabetes. The results are quite alarming and have major implications for public health interventions to limit the number of fast food outlets in more deprived areas.”

The research was supported by the National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care East Midlands (NIHR CLAHRC EM), the Leicester Clinical Trials Unit and the NIHR Leicester–Loughborough Diet, Lifestyle and Physical Activity Biomedical Research Unit, which is a partnership between University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Loughborough University and the University of Leicester.

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

Leading Lights

Rani Singh, Special Assignments Editor

Sunil Munjal; The Hero of Hero Corp Mr. Munjal is the Joint Managing Director of Hero Motocorp Ltd, the world's largest motorcycle manufacturing company.

He is also Chairman of Hero Corporate Service, the Corporate and Business Expansion arm of the $ 4 billion Hero Group.

He was the past president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), India's premier business association, and heads the National Council for Economic Policy.

He spoke with The Asian Voice during a recent CII conference in London, and started out by talking about the ongoing transformation at Hero Motocorp. in Indiaarm of the $.

“Ours used to be a joint venture with Honda for 27 years. Three years ago, we bought them out of the company as part of our vision to become a global company” Mr Munjal told us.

He said his company was executing its global vision in various ways, including: setting new standards in cost and efficiency, future- proofing its technology, strengthening footprint and capacity, fostering innovation across the value chain, and bringing in good talent.

“We built one of the

Sunil Munjal

world’s largest green rooves on top of one of our factories. Our garden factory in the arid state of Rajasthan uses sustainable technologies to become resource-neutral,” he added.

Hero Motocorp is present in more than 20 countries, and hopes to penetrate more markets in the coming months. The company assembles its products in Africa and Bangladesh, and is setting up its own manufacturing facility in Latin America.

In addition to the

motorcycle and scooter business, the Hero Group has other interests in the manufacturing and the services sector. There is a steel business, and an aluminium foundry, which does automotive components. There is also insurance, training, real estate, financial services and clean energy.

Mr Munjal told us that many of these businesses, which are privately-held— are being scaled up, and some have the potential of going global.

“We also support edu-

Government start up loan initiative hailed a success A third of all entrepreneurs benefiting from a government scheme to help businesses with no access to finance are from ethnic minorities, figures show.

The Start Up Loans programme is designed to help solve the problem of supporting people who have a feasible business idea but no access to capital. In 2012, £151 million was made available to the scheme by the government to aid entrepreneurs with a target to start 30,000 new businesses by 2016. More than 20,000 loans have now been issued under the scheme, amounting to a value of more than £100 Million.

Start Up Loans are available to businesses yet to launch or those that have been trading for up to 12 months.

Figures from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills show in the past year a third of all businesses set up through the initiative have been by BAME entrepreneurs.

Since being set up the scheme has made available 20,000 loans to busi-

ness-savvy entrepreneurs.

Commenting, the Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “The stereotype of Asian businesses is changing rapidly; while that stereotype is still there – 30% are in the retail sector – it’s rapidly diversifying.

“The communities growth is essential to job creation and national economic recovery, as is the emergence of a new gener-

ation of Asian entrepreneurs.

“Helping more small businesses to get started and thrive is a key part of the government’s drive to create a more entrepreneurial society.”

“In 2010 Vince Cable also launched a Business Mentoring project which has attracted 15,000 mentors, 11% of which are from Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic groups.”

GnErgy to be officially launched On Monday 24th November 2014, local energy supplier GnERGY will officially be launched

by Amber Rudd MP the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Climate Change. The event will take place at GnERGY’s headquarters in Farnborough. GnERGY is a new breed of community energy suppliers in the UK. Providing Gas and Electric in an open and honest way. They offer their customers easy, hassle free switching with no contracts to sign or confusing small print to understand. All this plus, transparent billing and

extremely competitive prices make them an attractive choice compared to the big six energy suppliers. With a UK based customer service team who speak English, Nepali and Hindi, they are happy to answer calls or welcome visitors who wish to drop in and discuss their gas and electricity. Managed by ex Gurkhas, you can be assured that they run their company the same way they approach life, with efficiency, commitment, simplicity and honesty.

One can find out more about GnERGY by visiting www.gnergy.co.uk.

cation and healthcare in a big way,’’ Mr Munjal said.

The Hero Group manages not-for-profit medical institutions, colleges and schools in North India.

“We have our own manufacturing school under the aegis of the Indian School of Business, and a deemed University that has been set up in partnership with the Imperial College of London,’’ he added.

Hero also promotes sporting events. It has been involved in superbike racing in the US, and is now supporting various golfing events around the world. It sponsors India’s soccer and hockey leagues too.

On India and the UK, Mr Munjal stressed that India has grown from being the seventh or eighth biggest investor in the UK 15 years ago, to being the second largest.

Under his leadership, his group grew a Scottish business, HeroTSC, to become amongst the largest Call Centre companies in the United Kingdom. The workforce went from 1400 to 6,500.

“We have provided value and created jobs in a tough environment,’’ Mr Munjal said.

On the improved economic outlook in India, Mr Munjal said it was because of a combination

of strong political leadership, the rise in aspirations, and the gradual uptick in the business cycle.

“After a few years of slow growth, expectations are high... this is a challenge, and a huge opportunity—perhaps the best we have had in 30 years—to make our economy a genuine powerhouse.’’

We asked Sunil Munjal about his expectations from the new government,

“Release the energy that already exists in the country and people of India.” and he welcomed the sense of urgency.

“I like the focus on project management; growth comes from execution and development, not announcements,’’ he said.

Mr Munjal praised attempts to spring-clean archaic rules and regulations. “Many of them came from British times when a minority was trying to run a country that was primarily against it.

So the rules are based on mistrust. They automatically assume that the citizen will do the wrong thing. Their interest and that of the government

VACANCIES

9

was misaligned,’’ he pointed out.

The government needs to believe that people will do the right thing with the right environment.

Industry will do the right thing too because Indian industry wants to stand up and be counted globally.

The physical interface is where friction, delays and corruption take place.

If these are eliminated, there is enough energy to move the economy forward dramatically and also addresses our biggest challenge; the 250 million in poverty.

Minimise the interface between the government, industry and the citizen.

Whatever interface is necessary, get it automated,” he said.

“Part of the Indian genetic code comes from doing business- we’ve been doing business for 8,000 years. But over the past 250 years, we stepped back. We need to own that space again, allow individual enterprise to flourish; we need to release the energy which already exists in the country and people of India.

Just like companies are about customers, governments are about people.

Once we have a government that is people-centric, we will get leadership in all walks of life,” he said.

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UK

Malala’s unrealistic ambition

Congratulations to Malala, bright, brave, ambitious girl who at 17 becomes youngest Noble laureate and Kailash Satyarthi, seasoned Indian social worker battling to abolish child labour are worthy winners of this prestigious award, putting them on par with US President Obama who was awarded such honour in somewhat haste!

Malala who operated anonymous blog exposing Taliban’s anti girl education policy, was catapulted on international stage

by Taliban who shot her but failed to silence her. It proved to be blessing in disguise, enabling her to move to UK, a free, liberal, democratic country, in sharp contrast to medieval Pakistan an anti-democratic, violent, religiously narrow minded nation, where minorities and women are brutalized.

Naïve Malala’s odyssey with an early ambition to become doctor she should adhere to rather than entering politics, her new found passion, lion’s den.

Sceptic Pakistanis even consider her as West’s stooge. She would not last long enough to make difference, will meet the same gruesome end as much shrewder, clever seasoned, born politician Benazir Bhutto. It would be a tragedy if the world loses brave Malala, earnestly needed as roll-model in Muslim world.

Let us hope that both Indian and Pakistani PM with lamentable, fossilized political attitude would attend Noble award ceremony that may lead to long overdue peace juggernaut and prosperity for both nations suffering from neglect, corruption and mistrust.

Kumudini Valambia Via Email

International Yoga Day

Since independence in 1947 Mr Narendrabhai Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister with complete and true understanding, appreciation and respect for Indian culture, tradition, heritage and ideals. His call at the UN for International Yoga Day to be observed all over the world every year on June 21 is a brilliant idea. As reported in AV on Nov 8, the Indian Mission at the UN is taking steps to submit a resolution for its adoption by the UN Secretariat. Considering the number and stature of countries lining up to co-sponsor the resolution it is quite safe to assume that the resolution will be adopted by the secretariat. It will then naturally come into effect from 2015.

Yoga is Hinduism’s gift to the humanity. It is a universal philosophy based on developing a harmonizing system for the body, mind and spirit. Its effect is natural stilling of mind that promotes healthy body, positive thinking and spiritual enlightenment. Being universal in concept and scope it can be practised by anyone and everyone and hence it is now practised almost everywhere in the world. Mr. Modi’s call for its recognition is the right way forward for the humanity.

Dr Jatindra Saha Via Email

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

Kapil’s column with a punch

Remembrance Day

Kapil could not have chosen better, more controversial subject than to highlight Labour Party’s attitude in general and Ed Milibend’s in particular towards Indian/Hindu communities with in-depth research. (Is Labour going Sharia?) No wonder Labour’s membership is plummeting fast, as well as placebo Ed’s popularity amongst Labour voters with just 34% approval rate, as widely publicized in national papers, even lower than Nick Clegg’s!

Back-bench rebellion is fermenting for some time. Only lack of creditable alternative and Ed’s perseverance is keeping Ed in his post, although there is no shortage of credible alternatives, with Yvette Cooper, Douglas Alexander, Andy Burnham are all experienced politicians but media’s favourite is Alan Johnson, ex-postman who has ruled himself out. If Ed goes, Conservatives will lose their most winnable asset?

My choice is young, intelligent Chuka Umunna, Shadow Business Secretary who comes out well on TV but whether Britain is ready to have its first black PM is a million dollar question. But if America can have Obama, why not Umunna for Britain?

Vote bank politics imported from India is cementing fast. Has Labour learnt nothing from Ken’s fiasco to win Mayoral election on such tactics, handing it over on a plate to Boris?

The entire world on Sunday 9 November remembered the Unknown Soldier who died during World War I which ended on 11th day, 11th month and 11th hour in 1918.

It was a war between the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente.

We remember and respect these soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the world because of whom the world become a better place. The ceremony last night at The Royal Albert Hall was very moving.

But has it become a better place?

While we are remembering this day, America and Europe are solemnly paying respect to this Unknown Soldier but on the same day bombing Iraqi and Syrian citizens who are members of ISIS by dropping bombs on them from the skies.

Many others armed conflicts are going on in many parts of the world.

Like my father, I do find that there is some deep conflict in my conscience about what is right and what is wrong.

My father had passed away holding a cup of tea in his hand on Monday, 9 November 1970 in Rajkot, Gujarat, India. My mother never drank tea until she passed away on 2 February 2010.

As a businessman he never lied. His word was his bond. Businesses now seldom operate that way.

Bhupendra M Gandhi Via Email

Nagindas Khajuria Via Email

Swarcch Bharat Abhiyan

Cheerful celebrations

I refer to my letter on Mr Modi’s “Swarcch Bharat Abhiyan”, which was published under the above title in Asian Voice, Vol 43, Issue 24, dated 18th October to 24th October 2014.

My letter also mentioned the plight of karamcharis, and noted that no one, including the Indian politicians or your paper have taken this as a serious matter, which you show fit to edit and omit.

I mentioned that, in some areas, even though this is illegal due to health concerns, they are still engaged or employed for manually carrying human excreta, and on the construction and maintenance of dry latrines. Apart from being employed by individual households, many are also employed by the government for cleaning the community dry latrines, Railway stations, government hospitals, etc. Their job frowned upon as it is degrading, filthy and full of health hazards. For their labour they are paid pittance, and in some cases, a bottle of booze.

Readers may be interested in a published article from the UK National Paper, the Daily Mail, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2190251/Andthought-bad-job-Indian-sewer-diverpaid-just-3-50-day-plus-bottle-boozeunclog-Delhis-drains.html Since 1993 this hazardous occupation was made illegal, it takes a UK national paper in 2012 to bring this to the fore from the very heart of the Government of India.

Mohindra Master Via Email

After cheerful celebrations of Navratri/Diwali/Tulsi Vivah, it is time to cogitate about communities’ annual celebrations. Devotees celebrate anniversary of victory of Ram and divine energies (Matajees) thousands of years ago. But they banished evil forces of darkness temporarily. From then till now, negative and positive forces have evolved, struggled against each other and survived, due to shifting of values as more knowledge is revealed. Victories relate to clash of cultures, supremacy and power struggle among human beings (manav, danav and devatas) of those days.

These festivals acknowledge energies are inherent in devotees which is a matter to be happy. It is reminder that armed with these energies all have to struggle continuously against negative forces.

Whatever success is achieved is also a matter to be cheerful. All devotees must participate, by lighting a small lamp, individually to be effective collectively.

Negative forces can also be fought by ones physical health via healthy foods, and good mental health via cheerfulness, meditation and prayers. This can lead to individual’s inner cleansing, generate environment for positive forces to strike roots in an individual and collectively in society.

Vigorous festivities during Navratri and Diwali revivifies ones physical and spiritual resources till next year.

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Ramesh Jhalla Via Email

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Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance

The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Festival Hall last Saturday had more than usual significance; it marked the historic Centenary of the start of the First World War. The momentousness was also true for the wreath laying ceremony at the Cenotaph the following morning. Except for a passing remark at the Cenotaph about the Indian soldiers in the war , absence of any mention of the contributions of the Indian soldiers ( India before partition includes Pakistan and Bangladesh) was as unbelievable as it was unacceptable. In fact, it was hurtful that there was not even an acknowledgement of Indian contribution to the British war efforts. The Royal Albert Hall presentation was all about the English, the Irish, the Scottish and the Welsh soldiers and rightfully so, but did not over 60 thousand Indians too make the supreme sacrifice for the country not theirs? Was no Indian, with direct or indirect family connection with the war, was worth interviewing? Was there no Indian war widow to take part in the parade? Why was the memorial to the fallen heroes of the First World War on the Brighton Downs or the graves of the Muslim soldiers at Brrokwood Cemetery not shown? As never before, it was an ideal opportunity, in this centenary commemorations services, to acknowledge the significant Indian contribution to the wars. If the Indians fought shoulder to shoulder with the British in the war, then they also have a right to share the tributes for their courage and sacrifices. But once again, Indian war efforts are still no more than just a footnote to war history.

And these memorial services continue to be the painful reminders of the forgotten Indian army. The wars may be over but the battle to draw the attention of the British to do justice to the Indian soldiers continues.

Kusoom Vadgama London

Involving common sense

In Asian Voice dated 13th September, Mr Dharam Sahdev from Ilford under title 'Involving common sense' mentioned that Dayanandji created a different religion- Arya Samaj.

Well that is not true. The meaning of Arya Samaj is a society of civilised, cultured and noble people. Dayanandji reminded Hindus of Bharat of that the era about Vedic religion- Vedic way of life, the knowledge which ancient Rishis of Bharat had discovered after years of deep meditation, strict self discipline and inward spiritual thinking. So Arya Samaj is not a religion.

Savita Dolatray Shukla Berks

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

11

12

MEDIA WATCH

The fortuitous discovery of the Burdwan jihadi network across West Bengal and beyond, into Bangladesh, may well turn out to be the tip of something more menacing. What has jolted and shamed the Indian authorities is the revelation that Bangladesh intelligence had been warning the West Bengal government and the Union government in Delhi of the activities of the Jamaat-ul- Mujahideen in India.

The inept Trinamool administration in West Bengal chose to ignore these alerts, preferring instead to concentrate time and money on its vote bank politics - which appears to back firing with large numbers of Muslim peasants in parts of the rural hinterland joining the BJP because of the intimidation and violence of Trinamool Congress goons.( Telegraph November 4). Returning to the warnings emanating from Dhaka, the Centre in Delhi was too laid back in its responses.

The cooperation between Delhi and Dhaka is now exemplary, but valuable time has been lost.

We are thus witnessing a more menacing level of threat. The front pages of the local Telegraph newspaper and Times of India (November 5) reveal that two Indian Navy warships left their berths at the Kolkata port for the open seas as a precautionary move against a terrorist attack, The Research & Analysis Wing, India’s external intelligence agency, having warned of its possible occurrence.

The agency pinpointed Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence directorate as the mastermind of the operation, with the likely timeline of such an attack given

the Indian government has condemned. Trouble is that Pakistan is now an auction house of terror groups. Some among them are now in conflict with their former handlers.

The Americans would call this “blowback,” a term that fits the Pakistan predicament perfectly.

Pentagon charge

Blowback is what the US is facing in Syrian and Iraq from the Islamic State, whose weaponry of American origin, and whose murderous Jihadi levies were once America’s regional clients. Washington has been a slow learner on such matters.

The Pentagon has issued a report charging Pakistan with using jihadi terror groups as “proxies” against India. (Times of India November 6)

Japan’s highest honour for Singh

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may have pilloried by the Indian media, unfairly most of the time, but most foreign leaders respected his intellect, dignified demeanour and his quiet pursuit of India’s interests. Japan’s

Manmohan Singh in group photo with Japanese awardees of the Paulownia Flowers

as November 4-7. The Indian warships had arrived for the national Navy Day celebrations. “Warships are safest on the open seas, [where they are] capable of defending themselves. The Corvette INS Khukri and offshore patrol vessel INS Sumatra had docked at the port” for public visitors as part of Navy Day, said an official in a briefing to the media.

“We received information that a strike has been planned on Kolkata to try and destroy or cripple the warships.” Haldia port, too, has been put under alert.

Wagah bombing

The massive suicide bomb blast, close to the Pakistan side of the Wagah border crossing with India, has led to the loss of 60 Pakistani lives, with over 100 injured. Two Taliban outfits have claimed responsibility for the dastardly deed, which

Emperor Akihito has awarded his country’s highest honour, Paulownia Flowers, the first Indian to be so honoured.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it was a “matter of pride and joy” for him and the nation. He rose above partisan politics in uttering these splendid words. He has set a standard for decency in public which should be emulated by one and all.

Institutions

India had invested wisely in world class institutions from Independence to tap the country’s extraordinary talent. This investment must continue with the expansion of such institutions, whose numbers exceed those of most emerging markets combined, said Professor Narayan Das. (Business Line November 5)

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

Juggernaut ready to roll

steady growth in trade and investment, he made a special pitch for the Indian IT sector to deepen its interest in his country.

IT capability

Niels Christiansen, President and CEO, Danfoss Global. (Business Line November 6)

Rogozin comes calling

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, “India is extremely capable with special responsibility for in IT and we are already relations with India, was in India extending our cooperation on a day-long visit during which to the sector. However, if he co-chaired a meeting, with we could add to the dimenExternal Affairs Minister sion of content manageSushma Swaraj, of the 20th sesment and content developsion of the India-Russia Interment there could be maniGovernmental Commission on Professor Das Narayandas in Bangalore fold growth as we could Trade, Economics and Scientific, target the entire Arab Technological and Cultural market, which is growing rapidDas Narayandas, James Hill Corporation. Rogozin happens to ly…..I would like young and Professor of Business be the Chairman of Russia’s milidynamic Indian businessmen to Administration at the Harvard tary-industrial complex, hence Business School, speaking to a reporter on the sidelines of a function in his honour at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, said that Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the United States had been more than a routine goodwill visit, that the country’s business community, as prospective investors, were now seriously interested in India going forward. He described India as a global brand “which is the first step for an emerging market to establish itself on a Russian Minister Rogozin with Sushma Swaraj global platform….the country would do well to find specific issues pertaining to defence look carefully at the opportunisectors….faster than others like assumed special significance. ties,” he said. (Business Line IT did, followed by hospitality Deals here will be under wraps November 3) and medical tourism. To me, until President Putin arrives for India is a juggernaut ready to the annual India-Russia summit roll.” in New Delhi in December.

Danfoss facility

Export hub Spanish wind turbine company, Gamesa, is bullish on India’s wind energy sector. The company expects to sell turbines adding up to 850 MW in India this year, the country being its largest overseas market. Speaking to Indian journalists at the company headquarters in Pamplona, Spain, Executive Chairman Ignacio Martin, said: “India as a country is very encouraging for us…. We can say that Gamesa is today the market leader in India.” India’s energy would double over the 15 years, of which 10 per cent would be renewals, he said (Hindu October 20)

commissioned

Danfoss, the Denmark-based mechanical and electronic components company has opened a facility near Chennai for manufacturing and research. Set up with an investment of Rs 500 crore, it has a 1MW solar pow-

Destination Oman

“Indian businessmen should look at IT opportunities in Oman,” said Ali bin Masoud Sunaidy, Minister for Commerce and Industry, Oman. He was recently in India heading a delegation of CEOs in talks with ministers and private sector companies to increase trade and investment.

While the Oman minister was reasonably satisfied with the

CEO Niels Christiansen

ered plant, which will generate sufficient electricity to meet 10 per cent of its energy requirements on a 50 acre campus. The company has plans to transform the Chennai facility into a manufacturing-cum export hub for the Asia Pacific region. Danfoss will also source products from local suppliers, thereby creating ancillary industries that provide new jobs.

Right place, right time

“We kick-started our ‘Make in India’ initiative two years ago, after having assessed the tremendous potential for growth in India’s manufacturing sector. We are pleased to The Union Home Minister, Mr. Rajnath Singh commence our manufacand the Minister of Commerce and Industry, turing at the right place Sultanate of Oman, Dr. Ali Masoud Sunaidy at the right time,” said

Free Trade talks

What appeared in the public domain in the aftermath of the Rogozin visit was the agreement to commence talks on a free trade agreement between the two sides that already includes Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia. The India Russia talks covered space and energy cooperation and other deliverables for President’s consideration. India pressed for greater access to the Russian market, particularly in pharmaceuticals, automotives, textiles and valued added farm products, said India’s Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. “We would like to invite investments from Russia. Come to India, make it here and sell it to us,” she said.

Minister Rogozin called on National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

(Hindu November5,6)

Kerala’s free cancer treatment

Advanced cancer care is not normally an affordable item for the poor in most parts of the world.

Kerala is an exception to the general rule, with the launch of its ‘Sukrutham’ initiative, which seeks to make the treatment free for the poorest of the poor. The free treatment already available in five government medical college hospitals and three other hospitals, is to be extended to all 14 district hospitals. Praising the initiative the Union Minister of Health Harsh Vardhan said the Kerala example would be replicated across India through the 13th five year plan. (Business Line November 1).

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014 Continued from page 1 As Ben Macintyre writes in The Times: 'millions of ordinary, unnamed people coming to pay tribute to hundreds and thousands of ordinary, anonymous dead' through 888,246 poppies- one for every British and Commonwealth soldier killed in the Great War.

To commemorate the Sikh contribution to the Great War on Monday 10 November, Conservative MP Paul Uppal welcomed the Sikh Discover Inspire The G T 1588 initiative in the Parliament, that was attended by the Secretary of State for Culture Media & Sport Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP

WE SHALL NOT FORGET

ceramic poppies. Each of them represent a life lost top war. As we mark the centenary of the WWI, we also remember the quarter million soldiers who gave their lives...

“The concept of Dharam Yudh (in

those who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our country and our British values...

“In the early months of the First World War, without the brave efforts of the volunteer Indian army many miles from home,

Hindu, Sikh and Muslim communities celebrate the centenary of WWI Volunteers from Sikh, Muslim and Hindu communities came together to commemorate the fallen of World War One and to raise money for the Royal British Legion.

Awareness of the contribution of pre-partition Indians to the British war effort was previously not well known by the majority of the British public but over the past 2 years this has increased by 24%, with 68% of the public now aware.

Poppy stalls collecting for the Royal British Legion were set up by multi-faith groups across London and in Derby, Redbridge, Leeds and Nottingham with volunteers drawn from churches, synagogues, mosques, gurdwaras and temples.

Communities Ministers also attended events in London.

Speaking after attending a We Remember Too event outside Westminster Cathedral on 5 November, Secretary of State for Communities and Local

Government’s programme of events to commemorate the Centenary of the First World War, during which 175 men from 11 countries were awarded the Victoria Cross.

Following the unveiling of the plaque, the High Commissioner and his Chief Guest, Pakistan’s Defence Secretary Lt. General (Rtd) Alam Khattak, laid a wreath in remembrance of all those who had lost their lives in the First World War and those who have fallen in conflicts since.

The plaque honours the bravery of Sepoy Khudadad Khan - the first South Asian and Muslim recipient of the Victoria Cross - Jemadar Mir Dast and Naik Shahamad Khan, who were all awarded Britain’s highest award for gallantry during the First World War. A descendant of Khudadad Khan was among those present at the

UK

13

of those from their own country who fought during the First World War. Final words of fallen heroes unearthed The poignant last words of thousands of brave WWI soldiers who died for their country were revealed as a remembrance to their ultimate sacrifice. The Probate Office’s huge archive of 278,000 soldiers’ wills was released in the run-up to the centenary of the start of the Great War, which began on July 28, 1914, as part of the Government’s wider drive to modernise and open up its services.

The digitised documents are part of the huge archive of 41 million wills preserved

by Iron Mountain on behalf of HM Courts & Tribunals Service.

The private messages of those soldiers who died fighting for the country are part of the England and Wales online archive of

Gurkhas at the Remembrance day celebration

Sikhism) explains: that war- if necessary- after a; peaceful means have been exhausted- and if conducted with discipline and honour, where ceasefire are honoured and places of worship not harmedcan be just.

“Discipline, integrity and courage are part of Sikh religion. These are also essential for a good soldier. That is why Sikhs make good soldier.”

The government revealed that all Victoria Cross recipients that were born overseas will be commemorated with a paving stone in the National M e m o r i a l Arboretum in Staffordshire.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office will also place commemorative plaques in countries around the world for men from overseas who received the Victoria Cross, for Asian community with Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon trying to raise service in the First World War. On 9 money for the Royal Legion March on Commonwealth Day a unique rendition of the Government Eric Pickles major event is being last post. said: planned at the National On 6th November, Dr World War One arboretum to commemoOnkar Sahota Assembly touched the lives of milrate those from the Member for Ealing and lions of people across genCommonwealth nations Hillingdon organised a erations and across contiwho received Victoria reception for the UK nents – from every corner Crosses Punjab Heritage of the world people united A tribute will be paid Association (UKPHA) in to fight for Britain. The to the contributions of the commemorating the Sikh legacy of their sacrifice Indian troupe (including contribution to the Great can be felt in the freedoms India, Pakistan and War in this centenary of that we all now enjoy Bangladesh) in the second the outbreak of hostilities. today. 100 years on, it’s battle of Neuve Chapelle UKPHA have commenced only right that Briton’s at an event on 10th March on a three-year project to from every background 2015 in the Imperial War mark the Sikh and Indian come together to rememMuseum North, Salford. contribution which will ber their service.

Rt Hon Sadiq Khan, see them collect and share Shadow Secretary of State stories of those who went Events to mark for Justice told Asian to war, as well as those Commonwealth Voice, “In recent days, we who were left behind. contributions have seen special services Speaking at the event held, and wreaths laid at in City Hall, Dr Sahota There were a number of war memorials throughout said, “If you gaze over the Commonwealth soldiers the country and at Thames towards Tower who participated in the London’s Cenotaph.

Bridge you will catch a WWI- amongst them were Millions of people have glimpse of the 888,246 at least 1.5mn Indians. taken the time to honour As well as marking the Sikh role, it remembered all those who contributed from British India - a total of close to 1.5 million personnel, all of who were volunteers. Sikhs made up just 2% of the population of India but made up 20% of those who chose to serve.

There was a special musical performance of a Punjabi wartime folk song, and a moment of remembrance after a

the Germans might have broken through and taken control of the Channel Ports. “History could have been very different and we owe those men and women a great debt.

Memorials across northern France and Belgium are littered with names like Muhammad, Aslam, Abdul and even Khan, who died fighting for our country.

“As we honour their sacrifice, and the memory of the fallen, we think of those who still give so much for our liberty and protection today. This and each Remembrance Day, we pay tribute to our bravest, and we reaffirm that they will never be forgotten.”

WWI Commemorative plaque unveiled in Islamabad On 10th November, the British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Mr Philip

MP Paul Uppal with the Secretary of State for Culture Media & Sport Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP

ceremony. Other guests included serving and former members of armed forces from across the Commonwealth and other countries as well as representatives from the international community.

Community members from Dulmial Village, Punjab, also attended the event. Over 450 soldiers from this village fought in the First World War, the largest number from any village in South Asia.

The plaque will eventu-

Unveiling of a plaque in honour of three soldiers from modern day Pakistan, who were awarded Victoria Crosses during WWI

Barton CMG OBE, unveiled a plaque in honour of three soldiers from modern day Pakistan, who were awarded Victoria Crosses during the First World War. The ceremony formed part of the UK

ally be placed in a prominent public area in Islamabad, so that the stories of these heroes will become better known and enable younger generations to learn about our shared history and the extraordinary courage and heroism

278,000 soldiers’ wills. The wills, which were carried around by soldiers at all times in a pocket book tucked into their uniform, represent their last ever personally written record.

These documents, detailing soldiers’ last wishes were put online last year by HM Courts & Tribunals Service to enable people to search for what may have been the final messages sent home by their relatives. More than one million searches have already been made.

In one handwritten message available in the database, a soldier writes: “…I am only sorry that I did not see you all before I went but…mother dear do not lose heart I may come back again...”

Justice Minister Shailesh Vara said: “On this day it is important we remember those who laid down their lives for our country.

“We should never forget the sacrifices these men and women made and this valuable archive of wills helps preserve the memories of our fallen soldiers for generations to come.

“Every soldier had to complete a will before they headed to the front line so their estate could be dealt with if they lost their life.

Often they used their will to write letters to their loved ones. Many of these historic documents show the terrible damage suffered during the war."

14

UK

Armed Forces Hindu network launched at Diwali celebration

A celebration of Diwali, the festival of lights, provided the ideal opportunity to launch the Armed Forces Hindu Network.

The festival is the highlight of the Hindu religious calendar, and marks the New Year. Serving personnel, Lord Astor and other invited guests gathered in MOD’s Whitehall headquarters for the Armed Forces Diwali Celebration on Wednesday.

According to Hindu tradition, Lord Rama, the rightful heir to the throne of Ayodhya, returned from his 14-year exile on a moonless night. To welcome him back, the people lit rows of candles and set off fireworks in celebration and to light his way, lending the festival its name.

The story of Lord Rama’s triumph emphasises the messages of courage, commitment, discipline, respect, integrity and loyalty – themes reflected by UK Armed Forces core values.

This made Diwali an especially appropriate time to launch the Hindu network, established to represent and support the entire Armed Forces Hindu community, including 900 regular Service personnel, reservists, veterans and families, and some 4,000 Gurkhas.

Lord Astor said: "Diwali carries core messages that resonate closely with today’s Armed Forces. I am certain that with these values as a starting point, the Armed Forces Hindu Network, launched at this event,

Behind the Beautiful Forevers Exclusive: Mumbai’s undercity comes to London

Sunetra Senior

Lord Astor

will grow to further strengthen the natural bonds between the Armed Forces and British Hindu community.

"The launch of the network is especially poignant in 2014, as we mark the centenary of the First World War, in which 800,000 Hindus fought for Britain. This year also marks the 70th anniversary of key battles of the Second World War, in which Hindus again fought by Britain’s side.

The network will inform members of developments in the wider Armed Forces and provide an inclusive platform for discussions for serving Hindus."

Surgeon Lieutenant Commander Manish Tayal, Chairman of the network, said: “Diwali, the key festival of the Hindu religious calendar, carries core messages that resonate with today’s Armed Forces. The Armed

Forces Hindu Network, launched at this event, will strengthen natural bonds between Armed Forces and British Hindu community.”

Book Review:

Letters to the Editor

In his highly informative new expose, 'Letters to the Editor' (published by AuthorHouse UK), author Nagindas Khajuria covers almost all topics that are constantly in the news every day as current affairs. From ISIS, Syria, terrorism, education reform, NHS funding crisis to welfare benefits, he elaborates on events that will steer the reader into reflecting more deeply about the issues that surround the world today.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

He explains how humanity is constantly preoccupied by history and how past events shape the enormity of everyone’s life. This book goes back 17 years and analyses the event of that day; providing insight from experiences, hindsight and logical judgment.

Eye-opening, insightful and easy-tograsp, 'Letters to the Editor' reveals what, when, why, how, where and which way policies should be formulated so

Last week, Asian Voice had the pleasure of previewing the National Theatre’s production of Behind the Beautiful Forevers. Based on the National Book Awardwinning novel by Katherine Boo, the play presents globalisation from the perspective of the Mumbai slum dweller, particularly, as director Rufus Norris expressed, with the thinking that “these people have every strand of complexity that” we possess as westerners.

Indeed, the assortment of dynamic characters that

drives the story forwards originates from Boo’s three years of intimate research in the povertystricken area of Annawadi, behind Mumbai airport. In this way, Behind the Beautiful Forevers does not so much tell of economic inequality as actually show it.

As we see in the ambition underlying the bolshiness of Zehrunisa Husain (played by Meera Syal), or the intellectual curiosity of wannabe student Manju Waghekar (Anjana Vasan), personal conflict and yearning are what emphasise the ideological gap. The blindspot of capitalism as a globally beneficial system hits home through the emotional landscape of the slum as well as the physical one. This is what makes the narrative so perfect for the proximate medium of theatre and what struck me in the rehearsal room. Though we are overwhelmed by a shiny stage strewn with rubbish and various containers- bottles, cardboard crates, buckets- the that inequality is reduced gradually and not increased in a world that is being torn by everybody fighting for a larger piece of a finite cake.

Nagindas Khajuria is a businessman with experience over five decades across four continents in the oil industry, financial services, and diplomatic missions. He lives in

if there isn’t a care in the world.

Because, of course, this is their home, their place to dream and that is the bitter-sweet point. We are both discomfited and heartwarmed because we can see the whole metaphysical picture; that, again as director Norris summarised, “these people

do without somebody on the other end balancing it out.”

It would almost be as if we were gazing at the slum from one of the fivestar hotels lining the airport were it not for the holistic beaut. The idea that in an alternate reality, these vibrant inhabitants could have just as easily been us, creates a shared feeling of humanity so that in the moment we are the Annawadi people. The bit where Manju and her protégé make fun of the English word ‘gallants’ for sounding too posh, was a salute to this porous cultural space. As Pal Aron who plays The Master in the production told us ‘these people have pride too.’

Elaborating from a childhood memory in India he said “I remember seeing two ‘beggars’ who were sharing a plate of rice in the candlelight, and they were laughing and joking.

They had integrity.”

explained the cast. “It arises from the situations themselves: it’s funny and sad because that is the human condition.”

Seeing Chook Sibtain’s frightful yet somehow spirited appearance as the sub-inspector Yanka Sheram certainly convinced me. In fact, added comedy/drama writer and actress Meera Syal, “perhaps these people are so witty because of their oppression. They have to think on their feet to survive and so they are quick- witted.

As the author Katherine Boo said, ‘this may be gallows humour, but it is still humour.”

The commitment to three-dimensional characters carries a truly democratic message. We are able to value those on the other side of capitalism because we feel connected to them through time and space. The debris of the set also reflects the political reconciling going on in the audience; the containers represent transition, while the litter is the emotional residue from linking the spheres of consumerism and production in the consciousness. As the writer of the play David Hare has said, in an age of fast information and cold numbers, theatre can sometimes deliver where ‘journalism fails.’ In the case of the National Theatre's Behind the Beautiful Forevers two seemingly different worlds collide to jolt,

are just like us, just in a different situation.” One our first-world lives are inevitably complicit in: “we can’t live the way we

The comedy of the play also reflects our mutual spiritual existence: “We did not need to plan the humour,”

excite and motivate us into action. Previews start from 10th of November. Get your experience now!

ing service at the United States Agency for I n t e r n a t i o n a l Development in Khartoum, Sudan. During the next twelve years, he worked in the finance and tax departments of oil and gas multinational and national companies in London, Libreville and Tripoli. He later set up his professional accountancy

practice and has guided and nurtured small- and medium-size family businesses in business development and tax compliance.

characters move around in a homely manner.

People wash clothes and chat casually in groups as

London with his wife and has two children and four grandchildren. He was born in Sudan of Indian parents. He was educated in an Italian-run Catholic missionary school in Khartoum, Sudan.

Khajuria is qualified as a chartered certified accountant in the UK. He was awarded a meritorious citation for outstand-

Hardcover- ISBN 9781496991300 or Softcover- ISBN 9781496991263 Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

Interview with Shahnaz Husain

15

Shahnaz Husain: “Modi’s charisma alone could fuel the planet”

Shahnaz Husain is Chairperson & Managing Director of the Shahnaz Husain Group of Companies.

Q1. IN THE BOOK YOU SAY “HIS CHARISMA ALONE COULD FUEL THE PLANET” YOU HAVE GIVEN HIM THE ULTIMATE COMPLIMENT! A. I have. And I mean every word of it. And stand by it.

Q2. AS A MUSLIM IN INDIA – DO YOU FEEL SAFE? AND UNDER MODI? A. In your eyes I am a Muslim first and Indian afterwards. In my mind I am an Indian first and Muslim much afterwards.

With Modi at the helm we are safe. India is a country based on the rule of lawand governed by a constitution and we abide by it.

He says he does not differentiate between people of different castes and faiths and is concerned about the wellbeing of 1.25 billion Indians.

Q3.

YOU SOUND LIKE A BRAND AMBASSADOR FOR MODI. IN YOUR RECENT INTERVIEW WITH ZEE TV, YOUR ADMIRATION FOR HIM WAS OBVIOUS. A. I am an admirer of Brand Modi. His enigma is a great case study for future generations to follow. How a man from the masses can become a role model- transform India and reinvent the political scenario of the country.

His style of changing the destiny of the nation & vision of a high tech digital India with industrial growth & skill development targeting the common man is exemplary. If I sound like a Brand Ambassador why not! I am proud- I am!

Q4. WHAT MADE YOU WRITE A FOREWORD FOR ‘BEING MODI’, THE COFFEE TABLE BOOK ON THE PRIME MINISTER. A. My admiration and respect for Mr. Modi was the driving force behind writing the Foreword. I admire his belief of “think big and lead from the front.” He has provided a direction to the country and all his efforts are directed at the progress of India. I believe India under Modi will lead the world as a Power to reckon with.

Q5. HOW DIFFICULT WAS IT FOR YOU TO WRITE ON PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI? A. My involvement with the cosmetic industry did not make it difficult at all to write about him, because as a citizen, I am concerned about the future of our country. Mr. Modi’s blue print for the progress of India and the betterment of the masses makes him a man on a mission, who wants to change the life of 1.25 billion Indians, esp. the common man. I believe that all the people of the country have to work hard and

Sign the pledge to beat leprosy – a curable disease

Asian Voice readers are urged to join a campaign to combat the effects of a neglected disease which affects some of the world’s poorest people and causes disability.

Lepra, a 90-year-old charity whose patron is Her Majesty the Queen, works in Bangladesh and India. They want everyone to sign a pledge to “Beat Leprosy” (http://www.lepra.org.uk /beat-leprosy).

Nearly 216,000 people worldwide were newly diagnosed last year. Sixty per cent of those people live in India or Bangladesh and nearly ten per cent of them are children. There are millions more people who do not yet know that they have this disease because they are afraid to come forward.

“We will not allow leprosy and those affected by it to be forgotten. Some of the poorest people are driven further into poverty by the effects of leprosy. We need to ensure that detection and diagnosis happen as early as possible, to prevent dis-

ability so that people affected by the disease can live a full life.

Expanding our community surveys to find new cases and increasing our outreach clinics and health education programmes could make a huge difference.” Sarah Nancollas, Chief Executive The charity is spearheading three steps which can make a difference now: early detection, removing the stigma surrounding the disease and dealing with the disabilities. Last year, Lepra helped 1.2 million people directly and reached another 1.2 million through health awareness and outreach activities.

Through health education in remote villages and schools, prejudice against people affected by leprosy will be reduced and they will seek help in time to avoid disability.

Afaroz was cured of leprosy but was alarmed when he noticed a pale patch of skin on his fiveyear-old son’s arm. He took Aadil to Lepra’s centre for a test. After a chil-

Shahnaz Husain seen receiving the Golden Peacock Award for Ayurvedic Innovation & Outstanding Leadership from the Home Minister Theresa May at the Global Convention held at Hotel Millenium, Mayfair London, 29th October, 2014

give maximum co-operation to the Government to achieve the Prime Minister’s vision for India.

His concern for the girl child , women safety and empowerment & gender equality are closest to his heart. We must all struggle to make his dreams a reality.

Q6. WHAT STEPS DO YOU THINK HIS GOVERNMENT SHOULD TAKE IN ORDER TO PROMOTE AYURVEDA? A. As far as the economy is concerned, heritage industries, like Ayurveda, also play an important role in the economy of developing nations, not only in terms of economic growth, but also to achieve social stability, generate employment, create wealth and also preserve an ancient civilization. With govt

help, India can lead the billion dollar cosmetic market as an investment hub & industrial tool.

Medicinal plants can also be grown & processed for export to supply ayurvedic factories internationally with India as a world leader generating employment. Press conferences can be held in every Indian mission abroad, regularly highlighting the dangers of deadly chemicals & healing power of plants. Ayurvedic industries can be developed for the international market.

Medicinal plants can also be grown and processed for export. In fact, India can be a leader in the field.

Prime Minister Modi’s love for ayurveda and for promoting all things Indian is well known and he is also an ardent natur-

High court recounts Rahman's votes

The recount of thousands of votes by a High Court in Britain that were cast for Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman in May's election has uncovered 'significant irregularities', that may be sufficient to over turn the result, a UK daily has reported.

The official scrutiny in strict secrecy before a judge last week was a part of the legal challenge to the election results, which was alleged to be rigged.

This is the latest and potentially most serious blow to Mr Rahman, many of whose functions were last week taken over by government commissioners, after an official report

found he had presided over serious abuses of public money and property.

The Telegraph reported that Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, described Tower Hamlets as a “rotten borough” infected by a “culture of cronyism”, and said Mr Rahman was like a “medieval monarch” who had “misused” his “unchecked” personal power to favour ethnic and political allies.

However Mr Rahman's

dren’s dose of multi-drug therapy, Aadil was cured and now has only a few scars on his body. His three-year-old brother Sohail is now monitored and will receive the free treatment if patches or other symptoms appear.

These children are amongst the lucky ones.

Many more are not found until the disease has caused permanent, visible damage and disability and they feel the sting of stigma and isolation from their community.

opathy follower. The western world has seen the dangerous side effects of synthetics. It is looking towards India with enlightened eyes. The West has no options, it is fighting with its back to the wall. It is going back to nature – and to Ayurveda & India.

Q7. YOU WERE INVITED TO ATTEND THE EVENT AT NEW YORK’S MADISON SQUARE TO FELICITATE MR. MODI. WHAT DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE EVENT? A. Modi’s visit to the US galvanized the Indian diaspora in the United States and created excitement, a sense of anticipation and hope for a better India and better U.S. India relations. It was historic event in the Indian American community. It served to highlight the strong bonds between the U.S. and India.

Q8. AS AN ENTREPRENEUR, WHAT DO YOU FEEL ABOUT MR. MODI’S POLICIES? A. As an entrepreneur, I’m happy with the policy of encouraging entrepreneurs and innovations.

This will certainly help the economy and progress. In his speech on Independence Day, Prime Minister Modi highlighted the importance of development of skills, in order to increase employment and productivity. Mr. Modi’s “Make in India” concept really shows the way forward. It is so important to increase productivity for

economic progress.

Serving India is the sole purpose of his existence.

Q9. I HEARD YOU PRESENTED A COPY OF “BEING MODI” BOOK TO THE UK PRIME MINISTER DAVID CAMERON? A. Yes I have.

Q10. ACCORDING TO WASHINGTON POST “SHAHNAZ HUSAIN IS A NAME TO RECKON WITH. TO HER EXCLUSIVELY GOES THE CREDIT OF BRINGING THE THERAPEUTIC VALUES OF HERBS OUT OF THE MIST OF ANTIQUITY AND COMBINING THEM WITH SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND PRACTICE. SHAHNAZ HUSAIN HAS DONE SO MUCH FOR INDIA’S IMAGE IN THE WEST THAT SHE HAS EARNED THE SOBRIQUET OF THE COUNRTY’S – BEAUTY AMBASSADOR” AND AN ARTICLE IN DAILY MAIL “AYURVEDIC HYSTERIA GRIPS THE WEST”. YOU ARE THE FIRST TO PUT AYURVEDA ON THE WORLD MAP. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY? A. All I can say is that for others promoting Ayurveda maybe a career.

For me it has been the sole purpose of my existence. I have dedicated my life to selling India’s ancient civilization in a jar. Fighting for India’s rights & recognition, I have held press conferences all over the world.

supporters have criticised this an 'Islamophobic witch hunt' and have claimed that “there is no

basis for this in fact. It comes from rumours from right wing commentators.”

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16

MODI’S NEW MINISTERS

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

The 21 New Ministers

Manohar Parrikar Defence

Suresh Prabhu Railways

Jagat Prakash Nadda: Health

Birender Singh Bandaru Dattatreya Rajiv Pratap Rudy Rural Development Labour Skill development

Why Sadananda Gowda was shunted out

Over a month ago, Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda selected an Indian Railway Personnel Service officer to head the crucial ‘Confidential’ branch of the Railway Board.

Despite a written order, the rail bureaucracy did not move, and the post remains vacant.

The months in office of the first Railway Minister of the Narendra Modi government is replete with instances of the ever-smiling, “nice man” Gowda not being able to assert himself.

Several Railway officials said this could never have been said about Gowda’s predecessors Lalu Prasad or Mamata Banerjee.

The Railways are big in Modi’s scheme of things. The PM has given the Railways a list of 30odd tasks needed to be performed for an overall turnaround. The PMO monitors progress monthly. A majority of these have made no tangible progress.

At the meeting on connectivity-related infrastructure targets convened by the PM last week, the Railways got a tongue-lashing as things did not seem to have moved as desired, sources said.

Gowda did, in fact, try.

He called meetings of the entire Railway Board to review PM-monitored projects regularly. One of these meetings took place on a national holiday last week. He also invoked the Swachh Bharat campaign wherever he could.

But things did not move. Devoid of any big idea to lead the ministry that has the biggest people connect, Gowda was increasingly being seen as someone out of his depth,

unable to get work done.

Suresh Prabhu, a man with a big reformist reputation and enjoying Modi’s trust, is expected to be a tactful leader who will be able to galvanise the Railways bureaucracy, be more in sync with the deliverables and outsidethe-box ideas the PMO is interested in, and overall be a more impressive “brand ambassador” for the Railways.

Prabhu was quick off the blocks on Sunday: tweeting, within minutes of the portfolios being announced, “Railways could be the engine of growth if driven properly.

Now in the drivers seat”, and “All those who work for the Railways must work towards realising Honourable PM’s dream”.

By contrast, Gowda’s official handle continued to describe him as “Minister for Railways”, his last tweet having been on November 8, wishing L K Advani a happy birthday.

Gowda failed to find a way to untangle the knot of big infra projects like the locomotive factories in Madhepura and Marhaura, to bring out a roadmap for FDI in Railways, and to show progress in apparently simpler tasks like making Wifi available on trains and stations - something the PMO has been wanting since June.

Officials said the for-

mer Karnataka chief minister was also overwhelmed by the complex ways of the Rail Bhavan bureaucracy. For the past four months, the ministry’s proposal to fill posts of seven general managers across India has been getting rejected by the PM-led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, which has been finding faults with the file. The ACC has recently given scathing remarks on the way the Railways has been handling high-level appointments.

Gowda’s contribution to the Railway Board bureaucracy - a post of Director (New Initiatives and Projects) - has no power to get work done.

Arvind Gupta, appointed

by Modi as an Adviser to the Minister for Railways, has become less and less visible at Rail Bhavan over the past few months.

Sources said this was one indication that Gowda was going out of sync with his leadership as far as running the ministry was concerned.

Gowda’s lacklustre performance in steering an amendment to the Railway Act in the Lok Sabha, which led to even allies joining the opposition to criticize the government, and forced the government to refer the Bill to the Standing Committee, did not go unnoticed in the party leadership, sources said.

Durbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

“Both Sonia and

Manmohan were invited to the ceremony,” power minister Piyush Goyal said while Rashtrapati Bhavan sources confirmed that leaders of opposition had been invited as per protocol.

Rajya Sabha deputy chairman and Congress leader P J Kurien and SP's Ram Gopal Yadav were the only opposition leaders present.

Sonia, Manmohan stay away

Opposition leaders, including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and ex-PM Manmohan Singh, gave the oath-taking ceremony a miss, making it an exclusively NDA affair. The absence of national leaders from Congress and Left parties was made up by regional satraps who witnessed the swearing-in of 21 ministers in the packed

Professionals join Modi ministry

Rajyavardhan S Rathore: I&B

The cabinet expansion on Sunday saw many professionals joining the Modi ministry. They include an engineer, a doctor, CA and a Harvard Business School alumnus. The PM has preferred to have a fair number of professionals in his ministry as he gets into the task of repairing the economy and the governance structure.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi Ram Kripal Yadav Haribhai Chaudhary Minority Affairs Drinking Water Home

Sanwar Laljat Water Resouces

Vijay Sampla Social Justice

Hansraj G Ahir Chemicals

Ram Shankar Katheria: HRD

Y S Chowdary Science & Tech

ministers of state with independent charge, Gautam Buddha Nagar MP Mahesh Sharma is a renowned doctor and runs hospitals in Noida and Greater Noida.

Health minister Harshvardhan is a wellknown ENT specialist, already providing policy inputs for the health sector.

Jayant Sinha, son of for-

mer finance minister Yashwant Sinha, is an experienced professional from the world of financial services and business strategy. He has a sterling education record having studied at IIT Delhi, Harvard Business School and the University of Pennsylvania. "I am an engineer and I have a broad experience in many sectors

including telecom and IT apart from finance. Wherever the party and government depute me, I will do my best to serve the interest of the nation," Sinha said. He is expected to serve as a link with global investors and provide strong support to Modi and finance minister Arun Jaitley prepare a blueprint for economic revival.

He counts RBI governor Raghuram Rajan as a close friend.

Modi's team already has well known lawyers such as Arun Jaitley, Ravishankar Prasad as well investment banker Piyush Goyal guiding policy in key segments of governance. MoS, railways, Manoj Sinha is an engineer from IIT BHU in Varanasi.

Birender Singh decided to promote Birender, who was in Congress for almost 42 years before joining BJP this year, after his wife won the Uchana assembly seat, which was earlier held by former chief minister and Haryana's most influential Jat leader Om Prakash Chautala.

As O P Chautala could not contest this time following his conviction in the teachers' recruitment scam, his grand-

son and youngest MP Dushyant fought the elections but lost to Birender's wife Prem Lata.

Even though Birender is not a member of Parliament at present, he is likely to be elected to the Rajya Sabha as two Haryana seats are vacant.

Birender would also help BJP gain ground in Rohtak, bastion of former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and in the coming Delhi assembly elections. While Birender has his maternal house in Rohtak, Delhi has a substantial number of Jats who could be a deciding factor in the polls.

Besides, Birender's vast political experience could also come in handy for BJP. He served as AICC national general secretary and was also party in-charge of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

The induction of singerturned politician Babul Supriyo in the Modi cabinet has opened the door for BJP's bid to grab the principal opposition seat in next year's civic elections and its bid for greater glory in the 2016 assembly polls in West Bengal.

BJP national secretary and Bengal-in-charge Sidharth Nath Singh reflected the party mood. "I'm delighted that an energetic youth like Babul has been inducted in the ministry," he said. "It'll help us in the fight in 2016." State party president Rahul Sinha was more blunt. "This is a huge morale booster for party workers," he said. Babul sent the same message. "The people of Bengal had put their faith in Modi," he told a television channel. "Year 2016 will be a game-changer for Bengal.

We'll collectively work towards achieving it. Much like the (erstwhile) Left Front government, the Trinamool Congress too has been whining about the Centre depriving the state. But the fact is it's the ruling party that has deprived the state to serve its political interests."

Babul said he was com-

mitted towards working for the people and being a part of the Centre's development agenda, and "will try to debunk the Trinamool's claims". The Asansol MP said his promotion to the council of ministers was an acknowledgement by Modi about BJP's rise in Bengal.

Babul cited a statement by former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar to explain the changes he had undergone since he won the Asansol parliamentary seat by 70,000 votes, defeating Trinamool heavyweight Dola Sen and sitting MP Bansagopal Chowdhury (CPM), six months ago. "Sachin had said earlier he used to step into the field with a belief that he can strike a hundred every time," he said. "But experience made him weigh the pros and cons before setting a target. Likewise, six months back I was optimistic and hopeful about everything. I still am. But the difference is I understand the issues and their complexity better."

To a question whether minister Babul will be a different person than MP Babul, he said: "Only time will tell whether or not I change.

Whether my resolve (to work

for people) gets strengthened with time. I can only tell you I'm very excited at this moment. I'm very excited about the new responsibilities coming my way. I will learn and try to work."

About the expectations riding on his shoulders, Babul said: "The state has deprived its own people. But this will change in 2016. The support for the BJP in Bengal is increasing with every passing day." Talking about his home seat, Babul said: "Asansol has seven MLAs, including a cabinet minister.

I've repeatedly said if we - all MLAs and MPs - put our weight behind the stalled development works, it is possible. It didn't happen. I didn't get their support.... I will find a way out. I've to sidestep this maze of problems and achieve. In Asansol, all you get to see now is the silhouette of closed factories as dusk falls. And to think state labour minister Moloy Ghatak is an Asansol MLA himself."

The Asansol MP has been given Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation. He said that he would fulfil the responsibilities with utmost sincerity.

About two-and-a-half decades ago, a bereaved and young dalit Vijay Sampla, then 27, was trying to find his feet against the oppressive landlords of Jalandhar's Sofi Pind. His brother and he were left to fend for themselves after their father's death and Sampla went off to Saudi Arabia in 1979 to work for a plumbing company.

On his swearing-in as BJP's first minister from Punjab in NDA-II, he says, "I often recall one incident that shaped my life. While I was in Saudi Arabian city of Damam, I was asked to clean human excreta and repair a bathroom. I was young and flatly refused to do the cleaning part while telling the building owner that I was a plumber. On my insistence, the man put on plastic gloves

and cleaned the muck himself. It taught me the difference between oppression against dalits and the will to work," Sampla recalled.

From plugging leaks to putting together valve assemblies in toilet sinks, he scrimped and saved barely Rs 2,500 a month till 1987. "It is the same gutsy courage that took our PM Modi ji from a modest background to this level," he says.

In the last three years of his stay in Damam, he fought his way from being a modest plumber to become partner with his employer firm Al Amar. However, the urge to fight for the dalit rights soon brought him back to Jalandhar in 1991 and he frequently started attending the RSS meetings.

Fortunately for him, the

status of his village, which was until 1997 in general category, changed to reserved category. He decided to take a plunge into village politics, fought the panchayat elections and was elected as the first dalit sarpanch of Sofi.

There was no looking back for him as he went on to fight against Ranganath Mishra Commission report and became chairman of Punjab Khadi Board and BJP's state vice-president also. On Saturday, as he and his supporters camped at Punjab Bhawan for a meeting with senior BJP leaders, his 20-year-old daughter Sneh, student of a fashion technology institute in Chandigarh, took a bus to reach the national capital to witness her father's swearing-in ceremony.

Goa gets two ministers at Centre

With the induction of former chief minister of Goa Manohar Parrikar in the Union Cabinet on Sunday, Goa's representation at the Centre has gained weight. It's for the first time that a small state like Goa has got two ministers in the central government. Also, this is the first time that a Goan has gone on to become a cabinet minister.

North Goa MP Shripad Naik is the union minister of state for tourism, while Parrikar who was sworn-in on Sunday got the coveted defence portfolio in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet. Parrikar will be in the top four in the cabinet by virtue of being the defence minister, the other important ministers are finance Arun Jaitley, home minister Rajnath Singh and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.

Eduardo Faleiro after getting elected for the third time in 1984, went to become union minister of state for external affairs in May 1986 and was the first Goan MP to get a berth in the central government albeit as a junior minister.

Mohan Kundariya Agriculture

Among the four cabinet ministers, Manohar Parikar is an engineer from the prestigious IIT, Mumbai. He is expected to bring his experience and be a crucial player in the revamped Modi team.

Suresh Prabhu is a chartered accountant and considered a policy guru. Modi is expected to rely on his advice on crucial issues. Among

Jat leader Birender rewarded

After picking a non-Jat RSS man Manohar Lal Khattar as Haryana's chief minister, BJP wants to do a balancing act by inducting a Jat leader, Birender Singh, into the Union cabinet. With this move, the saffron party is trying to project Birender, who is the grandson of towering Jat leader Sir Chhotu Ram, as BJP's Jat face in the country.

Although Haryana already has two ministers of state - Rao Inderjit Singh and Krishan Pal Gujjar - in the Centre, turncoat Birender's elevation has sent out a message that the BJP has recognized him as one of the top leaders in the state - even above former BJP spokesperson and another Jat leader Capt Abhimanyu Singh, who was recently made a minister in Khattar government.

Sources said that BJP had

MODI’S NEW MINISTERS

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

Manohar Parrikar

Faleiro also became a junior minister in the Congress government in June 1991. He was MoS for external affairs till January 1993. Thereafter he was appointed MoS for chemicals and fertilizers, ocean development, electronics and parliamentary affairs.

He remained in office till April 1996.

Second Goan MP to get a portfolio in central government was Ramakant Khalap under the United Front government led by H D Deve Gowda in 1996. He was minister of state for law and justice for a brief period of ten months.

After the dry spell of five years, BJP MP Shripad Naik became a MoS in Atal Behari

Shripad Naik

Vajpayee government in 2002-2004. Under Vajpayee's government, Naik was minister for agriculture, shipping, civil aviation, road transport and highways and finance (revenue).

Churchill Alemao represented Goa twice in the Parliament, in 1996 and 2004. He resigned in 2007 as Congress MP to contest assembly election by forming a separate front, Save Goa Front.

In November 2007 byelection, Francisco Sardinha was elected MP from South Goa on Congress ticket and re-elected again in 2009 but central ministerial posts remained elusive to the MPs until May 2014.

Babul Supriyo - Bengali face in cabinet

Vijay Sampla - plumber to minister

Jayant Sinha Finance

Babul Supriyo Baral: UD, Housing

Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti Food Processing

17

Mahesh Sharma Giriraj Singh Micro, Culture, Tourism, Small & Medium Aviation Enterprises

Two MPs from Gujarat inducted

Two MPs from Gujarat Mohan Kundariya from Rajkot and Hari Chaudhari from Banaskantha -made the cut.The duo was sworn in as ministers of state. BJP MP from Rajkot, Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundariya is a prominent industrialist and also known for his social work.

Kundariya, 63, was a former minister of state for rural development and is a Kadva Patel leader who represented the Tankara constituency in Rajkot. He is also a former RSS pracharak. He was elected to the 16th Lok Sabha in May 2014, and became a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on chemicals and fertilizers on September 1, 2014.

Known as an industrialistcum-politician-cum-social worker, Kundariya has an agro-based business.

He lives in Gujarat's Morbi district and has studied up to Class 8. His wife is a homemaker.

Earlier this year, Kundariya was caught in a controversy over a video showing

him walking over gurukul students at a yoga function in Rajkot.

Kundariya was seen walking on the chests of around 10 children between ages 15 and 25 years -with the support of two people to showcase the yoga skills of the youngsters. He had said at the time that it was the students who had requested him to walk on their backs.

The former MLA from Tankara is considered to be a close associate of Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, BJP president Amit Shah and other ministers in the state. Riding the `Modi wave', Kundariya wrested the Rajkot Lok Sabha seat from sitting Congress MP Kunwarji Bavalia in the polls earlier this year. Four-time MP Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhari, who stormed the traditional Congress bastion of Banaskantha 16 years ago and maintained a strong hold over it since then, also bagged a ministerial berth at the Centre on Sunday. An active member of RSS, the fourtime MP joined BJP during

late 1980s and held several key positions in the party unit in Gujarat, including the post of Vice President in 2005. The 60-year-old Chaudhari, who will be a minister of state in the Narendra Modi government, did his post-graduation in commerce and started working as a diamond trader at an early age. Later, he shifted to Banaskantha to start his own business. Chaudhari first came into limelight after winning the 1998 Lok Sabha polls for the very first time on a BJP ticket.

He was again elected in 1999 from Banaskantha. In 2013, he won the by-elections from this seat after the death of sitting Congress MP Mukesh Gadhvi. He defeated Congress veteran Joita Patel in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year, cornering almost 58 per cent of the total votes. In Parliament, he was a member of several panels, including the Standing Committees on Finance, Chemicals and Fertilizer, Agriculture and Commerce.

Uddhav Thackeray rejection of a central berth, speculation is rife whether the party will remain in the central government. Union Minister Anant Geete, its lone representative, was summoned to Mumbai on Saturday after he failed to get an appointment to meet Modi. The latest developments have raised questions about the fate of the fledgling Devendra Fadnavis ministry which will seek a vote of confidence on Wednesday.

Chief Minister Fadnavis was sworn-in Oct 31 as the head of a minority government and directed by Maharashtra Governor C V Rao to pass a floor test within two weeks. The BJP has an effective strength of 121 legislators, plus one member from pre-poll ally Rashtriya Samaj Paksha

and the support of a few independents and smaller parties in the 288-seat state legislature.

The Nationalist Congress Party, with 41 MLAs, has decided to abstain from the house during the trust vote. In case the Sena, with 63 legislators, decides to sit in the opposition and vote against the government, it could be a close call for the BJP as the Congress has 42 MLAs and some independents and smaller parties could also follow suit.

In fact, Sena leaders have been demanding that the BJP clarify its stand vis-a-vis the NCP and also the Sena's status if it joined the government.

On its part, the BJP has made it abundantly clear that it would not tolerate the Sena tantrums since it does not require the party's support either in the state or at the Centre.

The BJP snapped its 25-year-old ties with the Sena on September 25, just three weeks before the Oct 15 elections which threw up a sharply fractured verdict.

Shiv Sena recalls its nominee from cabinet expansion

In a dramatic development, the Shiv Sena on Sunday abstained from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet expansion, asking its nominee Anil Y Desai to return to Mumbai. Desai's name was mooted for a berth in the union ministry and he rushed to New Delhi for the swearing-in ceremony.

But barely minutes before the ceremony was slated to start at Rashtrapati Bhavan, senior Sena MP Anandrao Adsul said in Mumbai that the party has decided against proceeding with Desai's inclusion in Modi's cabinet. The Sena's prime grouse stems from BJP's decision to induct former minister Suresh Prabhu as a cabinet minister and relegate Desai, the party's official nominee, to the minister of state rank.

Peeved by what party officials alleged "complete non-cooperation" by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bigwigs in addressing its concerns, Desai returned to Mumbai from the New Delhi airport itself. With the Sena's

16

MODI’S NEW MINISTERS

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

The 21 New Ministers

Manohar Parrikar Defence

Suresh Prabhu Railways

Jagat Prakash Nadda: Health

Birender Singh Bandaru Dattatreya Rajiv Pratap Rudy Rural Development Labour Skill development

Why Sadananda Gowda was shunted out

Over a month ago, Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda selected an Indian Railway Personnel Service officer to head the crucial ‘Confidential’ branch of the Railway Board.

Despite a written order, the rail bureaucracy did not move, and the post remains vacant.

The months in office of the first Railway Minister of the Narendra Modi government is replete with instances of the ever-smiling, “nice man” Gowda not being able to assert himself.

Several Railway officials said this could never have been said about Gowda’s predecessors Lalu Prasad or Mamata Banerjee.

The Railways are big in Modi’s scheme of things. The PM has given the Railways a list of 30odd tasks needed to be performed for an overall turnaround. The PMO monitors progress monthly. A majority of these have made no tangible progress.

At the meeting on connectivity-related infrastructure targets convened by the PM last week, the Railways got a tongue-lashing as things did not seem to have moved as desired, sources said.

Gowda did, in fact, try.

He called meetings of the entire Railway Board to review PM-monitored projects regularly. One of these meetings took place on a national holiday last week. He also invoked the Swachh Bharat campaign wherever he could.

But things did not move. Devoid of any big idea to lead the ministry that has the biggest people connect, Gowda was increasingly being seen as someone out of his depth,

unable to get work done.

Suresh Prabhu, a man with a big reformist reputation and enjoying Modi’s trust, is expected to be a tactful leader who will be able to galvanise the Railways bureaucracy, be more in sync with the deliverables and outsidethe-box ideas the PMO is interested in, and overall be a more impressive “brand ambassador” for the Railways.

Prabhu was quick off the blocks on Sunday: tweeting, within minutes of the portfolios being announced, “Railways could be the engine of growth if driven properly.

Now in the drivers seat”, and “All those who work for the Railways must work towards realising Honourable PM’s dream”.

By contrast, Gowda’s official handle continued to describe him as “Minister for Railways”, his last tweet having been on November 8, wishing L K Advani a happy birthday.

Gowda failed to find a way to untangle the knot of big infra projects like the locomotive factories in Madhepura and Marhaura, to bring out a roadmap for FDI in Railways, and to show progress in apparently simpler tasks like making Wifi available on trains and stations - something the PMO has been wanting since June.

Officials said the for-

mer Karnataka chief minister was also overwhelmed by the complex ways of the Rail Bhavan bureaucracy. For the past four months, the ministry’s proposal to fill posts of seven general managers across India has been getting rejected by the PM-led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, which has been finding faults with the file. The ACC has recently given scathing remarks on the way the Railways has been handling high-level appointments.

Gowda’s contribution to the Railway Board bureaucracy - a post of Director (New Initiatives and Projects) - has no power to get work done.

Arvind Gupta, appointed

by Modi as an Adviser to the Minister for Railways, has become less and less visible at Rail Bhavan over the past few months.

Sources said this was one indication that Gowda was going out of sync with his leadership as far as running the ministry was concerned.

Gowda’s lacklustre performance in steering an amendment to the Railway Act in the Lok Sabha, which led to even allies joining the opposition to criticize the government, and forced the government to refer the Bill to the Standing Committee, did not go unnoticed in the party leadership, sources said.

Durbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

“Both Sonia and

Manmohan were invited to the ceremony,” power minister Piyush Goyal said while Rashtrapati Bhavan sources confirmed that leaders of opposition had been invited as per protocol.

Rajya Sabha deputy chairman and Congress leader P J Kurien and SP's Ram Gopal Yadav were the only opposition leaders present.

Sonia, Manmohan stay away

Opposition leaders, including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and ex-PM Manmohan Singh, gave the oath-taking ceremony a miss, making it an exclusively NDA affair. The absence of national leaders from Congress and Left parties was made up by regional satraps who witnessed the swearing-in of 21 ministers in the packed

Professionals join Modi ministry

Rajyavardhan S Rathore: I&B

The cabinet expansion on Sunday saw many professionals joining the Modi ministry. They include an engineer, a doctor, CA and a Harvard Business School alumnus. The PM has preferred to have a fair number of professionals in his ministry as he gets into the task of repairing the economy and the governance structure.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi Ram Kripal Yadav Haribhai Chaudhary Minority Affairs Drinking Water Home

Sanwar Laljat Water Resouces

Vijay Sampla Social Justice

Hansraj G Ahir Chemicals

Ram Shankar Katheria: HRD

Y S Chowdary Science & Tech

ministers of state with independent charge, Gautam Buddha Nagar MP Mahesh Sharma is a renowned doctor and runs hospitals in Noida and Greater Noida.

Health minister Harshvardhan is a wellknown ENT specialist, already providing policy inputs for the health sector.

Jayant Sinha, son of for-

mer finance minister Yashwant Sinha, is an experienced professional from the world of financial services and business strategy. He has a sterling education record having studied at IIT Delhi, Harvard Business School and the University of Pennsylvania. "I am an engineer and I have a broad experience in many sectors

including telecom and IT apart from finance. Wherever the party and government depute me, I will do my best to serve the interest of the nation," Sinha said. He is expected to serve as a link with global investors and provide strong support to Modi and finance minister Arun Jaitley prepare a blueprint for economic revival.

He counts RBI governor Raghuram Rajan as a close friend.

Modi's team already has well known lawyers such as Arun Jaitley, Ravishankar Prasad as well investment banker Piyush Goyal guiding policy in key segments of governance. MoS, railways, Manoj Sinha is an engineer from IIT BHU in Varanasi.

Birender Singh decided to promote Birender, who was in Congress for almost 42 years before joining BJP this year, after his wife won the Uchana assembly seat, which was earlier held by former chief minister and Haryana's most influential Jat leader Om Prakash Chautala.

As O P Chautala could not contest this time following his conviction in the teachers' recruitment scam, his grand-

son and youngest MP Dushyant fought the elections but lost to Birender's wife Prem Lata.

Even though Birender is not a member of Parliament at present, he is likely to be elected to the Rajya Sabha as two Haryana seats are vacant.

Birender would also help BJP gain ground in Rohtak, bastion of former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and in the coming Delhi assembly elections. While Birender has his maternal house in Rohtak, Delhi has a substantial number of Jats who could be a deciding factor in the polls.

Besides, Birender's vast political experience could also come in handy for BJP. He served as AICC national general secretary and was also party in-charge of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

The induction of singerturned politician Babul Supriyo in the Modi cabinet has opened the door for BJP's bid to grab the principal opposition seat in next year's civic elections and its bid for greater glory in the 2016 assembly polls in West Bengal.

BJP national secretary and Bengal-in-charge Sidharth Nath Singh reflected the party mood. "I'm delighted that an energetic youth like Babul has been inducted in the ministry," he said. "It'll help us in the fight in 2016." State party president Rahul Sinha was more blunt. "This is a huge morale booster for party workers," he said. Babul sent the same message. "The people of Bengal had put their faith in Modi," he told a television channel. "Year 2016 will be a game-changer for Bengal.

We'll collectively work towards achieving it. Much like the (erstwhile) Left Front government, the Trinamool Congress too has been whining about the Centre depriving the state. But the fact is it's the ruling party that has deprived the state to serve its political interests."

Babul said he was com-

mitted towards working for the people and being a part of the Centre's development agenda, and "will try to debunk the Trinamool's claims". The Asansol MP said his promotion to the council of ministers was an acknowledgement by Modi about BJP's rise in Bengal.

Babul cited a statement by former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar to explain the changes he had undergone since he won the Asansol parliamentary seat by 70,000 votes, defeating Trinamool heavyweight Dola Sen and sitting MP Bansagopal Chowdhury (CPM), six months ago. "Sachin had said earlier he used to step into the field with a belief that he can strike a hundred every time," he said. "But experience made him weigh the pros and cons before setting a target. Likewise, six months back I was optimistic and hopeful about everything. I still am. But the difference is I understand the issues and their complexity better."

To a question whether minister Babul will be a different person than MP Babul, he said: "Only time will tell whether or not I change.

Whether my resolve (to work

for people) gets strengthened with time. I can only tell you I'm very excited at this moment. I'm very excited about the new responsibilities coming my way. I will learn and try to work."

About the expectations riding on his shoulders, Babul said: "The state has deprived its own people. But this will change in 2016. The support for the BJP in Bengal is increasing with every passing day." Talking about his home seat, Babul said: "Asansol has seven MLAs, including a cabinet minister.

I've repeatedly said if we - all MLAs and MPs - put our weight behind the stalled development works, it is possible. It didn't happen. I didn't get their support.... I will find a way out. I've to sidestep this maze of problems and achieve. In Asansol, all you get to see now is the silhouette of closed factories as dusk falls. And to think state labour minister Moloy Ghatak is an Asansol MLA himself."

The Asansol MP has been given Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation. He said that he would fulfil the responsibilities with utmost sincerity.

About two-and-a-half decades ago, a bereaved and young dalit Vijay Sampla, then 27, was trying to find his feet against the oppressive landlords of Jalandhar's Sofi Pind. His brother and he were left to fend for themselves after their father's death and Sampla went off to Saudi Arabia in 1979 to work for a plumbing company.

On his swearing-in as BJP's first minister from Punjab in NDA-II, he says, "I often recall one incident that shaped my life. While I was in Saudi Arabian city of Damam, I was asked to clean human excreta and repair a bathroom. I was young and flatly refused to do the cleaning part while telling the building owner that I was a plumber. On my insistence, the man put on plastic gloves

and cleaned the muck himself. It taught me the difference between oppression against dalits and the will to work," Sampla recalled.

From plugging leaks to putting together valve assemblies in toilet sinks, he scrimped and saved barely Rs 2,500 a month till 1987. "It is the same gutsy courage that took our PM Modi ji from a modest background to this level," he says.

In the last three years of his stay in Damam, he fought his way from being a modest plumber to become partner with his employer firm Al Amar. However, the urge to fight for the dalit rights soon brought him back to Jalandhar in 1991 and he frequently started attending the RSS meetings.

Fortunately for him, the

status of his village, which was until 1997 in general category, changed to reserved category. He decided to take a plunge into village politics, fought the panchayat elections and was elected as the first dalit sarpanch of Sofi.

There was no looking back for him as he went on to fight against Ranganath Mishra Commission report and became chairman of Punjab Khadi Board and BJP's state vice-president also. On Saturday, as he and his supporters camped at Punjab Bhawan for a meeting with senior BJP leaders, his 20-year-old daughter Sneh, student of a fashion technology institute in Chandigarh, took a bus to reach the national capital to witness her father's swearing-in ceremony.

Goa gets two ministers at Centre

With the induction of former chief minister of Goa Manohar Parrikar in the Union Cabinet on Sunday, Goa's representation at the Centre has gained weight. It's for the first time that a small state like Goa has got two ministers in the central government. Also, this is the first time that a Goan has gone on to become a cabinet minister.

North Goa MP Shripad Naik is the union minister of state for tourism, while Parrikar who was sworn-in on Sunday got the coveted defence portfolio in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet. Parrikar will be in the top four in the cabinet by virtue of being the defence minister, the other important ministers are finance Arun Jaitley, home minister Rajnath Singh and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.

Eduardo Faleiro after getting elected for the third time in 1984, went to become union minister of state for external affairs in May 1986 and was the first Goan MP to get a berth in the central government albeit as a junior minister.

Mohan Kundariya Agriculture

Among the four cabinet ministers, Manohar Parikar is an engineer from the prestigious IIT, Mumbai. He is expected to bring his experience and be a crucial player in the revamped Modi team.

Suresh Prabhu is a chartered accountant and considered a policy guru. Modi is expected to rely on his advice on crucial issues. Among

Jat leader Birender rewarded

After picking a non-Jat RSS man Manohar Lal Khattar as Haryana's chief minister, BJP wants to do a balancing act by inducting a Jat leader, Birender Singh, into the Union cabinet. With this move, the saffron party is trying to project Birender, who is the grandson of towering Jat leader Sir Chhotu Ram, as BJP's Jat face in the country.

Although Haryana already has two ministers of state - Rao Inderjit Singh and Krishan Pal Gujjar - in the Centre, turncoat Birender's elevation has sent out a message that the BJP has recognized him as one of the top leaders in the state - even above former BJP spokesperson and another Jat leader Capt Abhimanyu Singh, who was recently made a minister in Khattar government.

Sources said that BJP had

MODI’S NEW MINISTERS

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

Manohar Parrikar

Faleiro also became a junior minister in the Congress government in June 1991. He was MoS for external affairs till January 1993. Thereafter he was appointed MoS for chemicals and fertilizers, ocean development, electronics and parliamentary affairs.

He remained in office till April 1996.

Second Goan MP to get a portfolio in central government was Ramakant Khalap under the United Front government led by H D Deve Gowda in 1996. He was minister of state for law and justice for a brief period of ten months.

After the dry spell of five years, BJP MP Shripad Naik became a MoS in Atal Behari

Shripad Naik

Vajpayee government in 2002-2004. Under Vajpayee's government, Naik was minister for agriculture, shipping, civil aviation, road transport and highways and finance (revenue).

Churchill Alemao represented Goa twice in the Parliament, in 1996 and 2004. He resigned in 2007 as Congress MP to contest assembly election by forming a separate front, Save Goa Front.

In November 2007 byelection, Francisco Sardinha was elected MP from South Goa on Congress ticket and re-elected again in 2009 but central ministerial posts remained elusive to the MPs until May 2014.

Babul Supriyo - Bengali face in cabinet

Vijay Sampla - plumber to minister

Jayant Sinha Finance

Babul Supriyo Baral: UD, Housing

Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti Food Processing

17

Mahesh Sharma Giriraj Singh Micro, Culture, Tourism, Small & Medium Aviation Enterprises

Two MPs from Gujarat inducted

Two MPs from Gujarat Mohan Kundariya from Rajkot and Hari Chaudhari from Banaskantha -made the cut.The duo was sworn in as ministers of state. BJP MP from Rajkot, Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundariya is a prominent industrialist and also known for his social work.

Kundariya, 63, was a former minister of state for rural development and is a Kadva Patel leader who represented the Tankara constituency in Rajkot. He is also a former RSS pracharak. He was elected to the 16th Lok Sabha in May 2014, and became a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on chemicals and fertilizers on September 1, 2014.

Known as an industrialistcum-politician-cum-social worker, Kundariya has an agro-based business.

He lives in Gujarat's Morbi district and has studied up to Class 8. His wife is a homemaker.

Earlier this year, Kundariya was caught in a controversy over a video showing

him walking over gurukul students at a yoga function in Rajkot.

Kundariya was seen walking on the chests of around 10 children between ages 15 and 25 years -with the support of two people to showcase the yoga skills of the youngsters. He had said at the time that it was the students who had requested him to walk on their backs.

The former MLA from Tankara is considered to be a close associate of Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, BJP president Amit Shah and other ministers in the state. Riding the `Modi wave', Kundariya wrested the Rajkot Lok Sabha seat from sitting Congress MP Kunwarji Bavalia in the polls earlier this year. Four-time MP Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhari, who stormed the traditional Congress bastion of Banaskantha 16 years ago and maintained a strong hold over it since then, also bagged a ministerial berth at the Centre on Sunday. An active member of RSS, the fourtime MP joined BJP during

late 1980s and held several key positions in the party unit in Gujarat, including the post of Vice President in 2005. The 60-year-old Chaudhari, who will be a minister of state in the Narendra Modi government, did his post-graduation in commerce and started working as a diamond trader at an early age. Later, he shifted to Banaskantha to start his own business. Chaudhari first came into limelight after winning the 1998 Lok Sabha polls for the very first time on a BJP ticket.

He was again elected in 1999 from Banaskantha. In 2013, he won the by-elections from this seat after the death of sitting Congress MP Mukesh Gadhvi. He defeated Congress veteran Joita Patel in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year, cornering almost 58 per cent of the total votes. In Parliament, he was a member of several panels, including the Standing Committees on Finance, Chemicals and Fertilizer, Agriculture and Commerce.

Uddhav Thackeray rejection of a central berth, speculation is rife whether the party will remain in the central government. Union Minister Anant Geete, its lone representative, was summoned to Mumbai on Saturday after he failed to get an appointment to meet Modi. The latest developments have raised questions about the fate of the fledgling Devendra Fadnavis ministry which will seek a vote of confidence on Wednesday.

Chief Minister Fadnavis was sworn-in Oct 31 as the head of a minority government and directed by Maharashtra Governor C V Rao to pass a floor test within two weeks. The BJP has an effective strength of 121 legislators, plus one member from pre-poll ally Rashtriya Samaj Paksha

and the support of a few independents and smaller parties in the 288-seat state legislature.

The Nationalist Congress Party, with 41 MLAs, has decided to abstain from the house during the trust vote. In case the Sena, with 63 legislators, decides to sit in the opposition and vote against the government, it could be a close call for the BJP as the Congress has 42 MLAs and some independents and smaller parties could also follow suit.

In fact, Sena leaders have been demanding that the BJP clarify its stand vis-a-vis the NCP and also the Sena's status if it joined the government.

On its part, the BJP has made it abundantly clear that it would not tolerate the Sena tantrums since it does not require the party's support either in the state or at the Centre.

The BJP snapped its 25-year-old ties with the Sena on September 25, just three weeks before the Oct 15 elections which threw up a sharply fractured verdict.

Shiv Sena recalls its nominee from cabinet expansion

In a dramatic development, the Shiv Sena on Sunday abstained from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet expansion, asking its nominee Anil Y Desai to return to Mumbai. Desai's name was mooted for a berth in the union ministry and he rushed to New Delhi for the swearing-in ceremony.

But barely minutes before the ceremony was slated to start at Rashtrapati Bhavan, senior Sena MP Anandrao Adsul said in Mumbai that the party has decided against proceeding with Desai's inclusion in Modi's cabinet. The Sena's prime grouse stems from BJP's decision to induct former minister Suresh Prabhu as a cabinet minister and relegate Desai, the party's official nominee, to the minister of state rank.

Peeved by what party officials alleged "complete non-cooperation" by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bigwigs in addressing its concerns, Desai returned to Mumbai from the New Delhi airport itself. With the Sena's

18

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

Dear Financial Voice Reader,

Speaking to 400 business people at the invitation of my hosts, Doha Bank in Qatar, I pointed out to the CEO my lack of faith in the financial industry.

Not only the legendary investor Warren Buffett but also Nobel Prize winners, and indeed UK fund research, argue against the ‘past-performance approach’ to picking funds.

Research by independent performance analysts, the WM Company, shows the chances of picking a fund on top past performance and seeing it repeat that performance was no better than chance.

Indeed all the top 10 performing funds in any year drop from 1st place to nearly last place among all funds within 2 to 4 years according to a 26 year study by researchers DALBAR. The reverse, unfortunately, is not as certain. Losers carry on losing; winner do not necessarily continue to win.

Even Nobel Laureates agree on the hopelessness of picking top performing fund managers. Prizewinner Merton Miller observed in a documentary in 2000 about funds, “If there's 10,000 people looking at the stocks and trying to pick winners, one in 10,000 is going to score, by chance alone, a great coup, and that's all that's going on. It's a game, it's a chance operation, and peoples think they are doing something purposeful... but they're really not.”

Yet despite this, we private investors are lemminglike. Seventy-five percent of fund inflows follow last years "winners", according to fund researcher www.morningstar.com.

But poorly performing funds do not experience outflows of funds at the same rate. A Charles Rivers Report found investors ‘spend a disproportionate amount of time considering top funds where past performance is a weak predictor. At the same time, consumers tend to keep their losing funds when in fact they should not.’

I prefer exchange traded funds, which track indices more closely because of how they are constructed.

Would you prefer your pension fund to be in a tracker?

If the choice is that or in the hands of a twenty-something manager with questionable consistency of performance, I know what I would choose.

It would be logical to think there is a direct correlation between fund performance and portfolio manager experience. When investors are making their investment decisions, should manager tenure be considered?

No, there is no overall relationship between fund manager tenure and positive performance, says research.

So are there any persistent out-performers and how do we access them? There are, but it doesn’t have much to do with the manager.

The then Financial Services Authority (FSA), the UK regulator, published analysis several years ago finding where persistent out-performance occurs it is only in the sense that greater risk-taking funds persistently outperform lower risk ones over long time frames.

That is of little use to private investors because you can replicate it, says the FSA, at lower cost by avoiding active management fees and using geared strategy based on index tracker funds.

For instance, with £5,000 cash and borrowing £5,000 and getting, say a 10% return tracking the FTSE 100, on the total £10,000 gives you a 20% return on your initial £5,000 capital, before borrowing costs.

That’s without a manager, just greater performance over time with greater risk.

But the FSA could not find active funds consistently performing well once you allowed for the risk they were taking.

For fund managers who have done well this past year on the back of the FTSE 100 having its best year since 1999, I caution them not to mistake a bull market for skill.

Loss-making PSUs may be divested: Arun Jaitley

India's finance minister Arun Jaitley told investors the government was open to the idea of privatizing loss making state-run companies and promised to pursue economic reforms and ensure a corruption free and fair business environment.

Jaitley also said the government was hopeful that long pending Insurance Bill would be approved by Parliament in the Winter Session and the government is examining changes to the stringent land acquisition law.

“There are still a large number of companies which are almost on the verge of closure where people are going to lose employment,” Jaitley told the World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit. “Given a choice between them continuing in the present state and getting them privatized, the second would be a preferable option.

Currently, they are being sustained merely on a government support. That is not a long-term solution.

Taxpayers cannot pay for loss-making businesses.”

Burger King to enter India with 12 outlets

US fast food chain Burger King Worldwide will open about 12 outlets in India over the next 60-90 days, Rajeev Varman, chief executive of the hamburger chain's India unit said.

The chain announced last year a tieup with the Everstone Group to develop the Burger King brand presence in the country. In India, the hamburger chain has changed its menu to sell mutton, chicken and veggie sandwiches. "In the long run, India is going to be one of the largest markets globally. Burger King most certainly sees India as one of the biggest opportunities in the future," Varman said ahead of the chain's first store opening in New Delhi. Burger King is a late entrant in the country.

On July 22, Jaitley had told Parliament that the government plans to shut down four public sector companies and was trying to revive seven ailing companies through disinvestment and joint venture route. Since then, heavy industry minister Anant Geete has announced plans to shut down six state-run firms, including HMT watches, HMT Bearings, HMT Chinar Watch, Hindustan Photfilms, Hindustan Cables and Tungabhadra Steel. Making it clear that the government would not stop only at r a few “big bang” reforms, Jaitley said the effort would be to improve governance and end crony capitalism.

“There is a lot that has to

be done ... I am quite satisfied with the beginning we have made but it's a long journey,” he said, adding that “reform is the art of the possible.” Since coming to power in May the government has taken several steps, including deregulation of diesel prices, to boost growth and revive sentiment. But it has faced criticism for the slow pace of reforms and its cautious approach. “Some people expect that the second generation of reforms in India really needs one or two big bang ideas that probably is not the answer.” The minister said the government will take a fresh look at Land Acquisition law and some of its “illogical provisions.” “There are some illogical provisions (in Land Acquisition Act) like land cannot be used or acquired under this law for private hospitals and schools... There are some factors in it, which certainly require a re-look.”

Jaitley indicated that after coal and spectrum, other natural resources would be allocated in a fair and transparent manner through the auction route.

The Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd., India's two main stock exchanges, will suspend trading of shares of grounded Kingfisher Airlines Ltd from December 1 for failing to comply with rules on reporting financial results, the bourses said. Kingfisher, founded by liqour baron Vijay Mallya and once India's No.2 carrier, has not flown for more than two years for want of cash. The company last reported its financial results for the three months ended December 2013. The exchanges will also suspend trading of UB Engineering Ltd, part of Mallya's UB Group, from Dec. 1, they said citing the company's failure to report financial results for two consecutive quarters to end-June. Several other smaller companies are also facing trading suspension for the same reason.

Rajesh Agrawal, a London-based Indian-origin entrepreneur, has launched a unique "paywhat-you-want" money remittance service that abolishes compulsory fees. India-born Agrawal believes his Xendpay online platform will save customers in the developing world 60 pounds million over the next five years.

India is the largest recipient of remittances in the world, with $ 71 billion sent last year.

World Bank figures show global migrants last year sent home 250 billion pounds in remittances to developing countries with an eight per cent increase predicted for 2014.

"It is a social imperative that the cost of sending money abroad is sig-

nificantly reduced," said Agrawal. "The remittance industry takes far more than it needs to in profit and in doing so drains away a lot of money that would otherwise reach those in developing nations. By launching a no fees, best rate transfer service I hope to challenge and change this," he added.

Under the Xendpay model, customers can send anything from 1 to 100,000 pounds and will be asked to "tip" what they want for the service even if it's nothing - and will also be given the best exchange rates usually reserved for multinational corporations.

"I set up Xendpay not to be the biggest or to make money but to make money transfer better and cheaper. I believe people

will recognise the value in what we are doing both financially and socially and that as a result the discretionary 'tips' model will work," explains Agrawal.

The Xendpay model has been accepted as a Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Commitment to Action, with an objective to save people sending money through the platform. Established by Bill Clinton in 2005, the CGI convenes global leaders to create and implement innovative solutions to the world's most pressing challenges.

Xendpay is part of the Rational Group of companies, which offers lowcost money transfer services which has made transfers worth over USD 5 billion of transfers since inception in 2005.

Arun Jaitley

World's first 'pay-what-you-want' remittance service launched

B A Finance & Mortgage Co. ESTABLISHED SINCE 1970

from £100K to £30M

Kingfisher faces trading suspension

Commercial Mortgages, Bridging Finance, Development Finance UPTO 100%.

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For further information contact: Kam Patel / Tim Drakes Tel: 020 8682 0800, Fax: 020 8682 0222 Email: bafinance@btconnect.com - www.bafinance.co.uk Consumer Credit Licence No: 350996

Buy To Let Mortgages

From 1st time buyer landlords to large portfolios.

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REAL ESTATE VOICE

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

19

Over the finishing line

Suresh Vagjiani

Sow & Reap A Property Investment Company

Last week we managed to complete a deal we have been working on for months. It had its ups and downs but we finally managed to get the deal over the line.

The property was 17 Portland Place, W1. It is in a very prestigious location, only doors away from both the Chinese and Russian Embassies and near the famous Landmark Hotel.

The property comprises of 13,000 sq. ft. and comes with a Grade 2* listing, meaning the outside is listed and so are many parts of the internals. Translated this means we cannot touch the outside and many of the bits on the inside, including the grand winding staircase which greets you when you enter the building.

It has many beautiful features typical of a period London property, the ceiling heights, especially on the first floor, are huge with the ceiling hand painted with pictures and intricate coving. The square footage of the building doesn't justify the grandeur when you enter the building, it has to be seen to be appreciated.

The property was exchanged at £14.75m which represents £1,134 per sq. ft., it came with a tenant who was using the building as serviced offices. The lease allows the occupier to use the building for both office and residential.

O n c e w e e xc h a n g e d o n t h e b u i l d i n g w e m a n a g e d t o g e t t h e t e n a n t t o a g re e t o v a c a t e t h e b u i l d i n g f o r a n a g r e e d p re m i u m . T h i s m e a n s t h e p ro p e rt y h a s a n i n s t a n t u p l i f t , a re c e n t S a v i l l s v a l u a t i o n v a l u e s i t a t £ 1 8 m .

Finding the right valuer isn't always easy, many - believe it or not - do not want to value the building instead they want to cover themselves from future litigation. They take the most pessimistic view point possible. If the building is repossessed and the banks do not recover their money which is typically 65% to 70% of the building’s value, where will that leave the valuer? It is with this mindset many set out to conduct a valuation.

Indeed we have a valuation for £3.1m for a 6,700 sq. ft. freehold building we purchased for £5.2m in South Kensington next door to the French Embassy. This valuation was conducted by a supposedly highly reputable Agency in 2012. This implies we have over paid for the building, not only us but the party who purchased from us at £6m and not only them but someone else who is looking to buy the building for £8m. It is ridiculous to claim a freehold building in this location values at only £462 per sq. ft.

In the current market where there is a nervousness this is occurring more and more, especially for higher value properties where the potential liability increases. Valuers do not have a commercial mindset and therefore cannot always see the wider picture, if they did perhaps they would not be in a salaried role and instead be dealing in properties.

We had set a completion date at the point of exchange, as the completion came closer, all our ducks were not lined up, we therefore requested a longer completion. The selling party was known to us and we had done many deals with them in the past. In the interest of maintaining a long term relationship he agreed to the extension, but in exchange the price was to be increased by £250k and they wanted the princely sum of £5m in total to be transferred

across to the sellers’ group. We agreed this on the basis we would get a further two months. We were pushing for 3 months but under the circumstances we agreed and got busy with the building.

E v e n a t t h e i n c re a s e d p r i c e o f £ 1 5 m t h e p o u n d s p e r s q . ft . cam e to £1,153 whi ch st ill represents great v alue g i v e n s i m i l a r r e s i d e n t i a l p ro p e r t i e s o n t h e ro a d h a v e s o l d f o r £2 , 5 0 0 p e r s q . f t . u p w a rd s . O f c o u rs e t h e b u i l d i n g w o u l d s t i l l n e e d t o g e t p l a n n i n g t o c o n v e r t i n t o re s i d e n t i a l f ro m t h e c o u n c i l b u t n o t f ro m t h e f re e h o l d e r.

With completion now out of the way the question of what to do with the building needs to be addressed. The theme of office conversion to residential has become a fad at the moment. Everyone is at it. We have been at the brunt of this policy, as we were given notice from our offices in Westbourne Grove, from which we had no intention of moving; hence we shifted premises to Marble Arch Tower, and guess what we will be homeless again, they are turning the whole building into residential apartments!

C o m p a n i e s i n t h e i r a t t e m p t t o s e c u re d e c e n t o f f i c e s p a c e s a re g a zu m p i n g e a c h o t h e r a n d g o i n g i n a t a s k i n g p ri c e s o r h i g h e r a s t h i s s p a c e i s s h r i n k i n g f a s t .

The Real Deal

There may be much merit in keeping this space as office space as there is so little of it around, it is an avenue that is at least worth exploring. Of course there is always the potential to convert into a house and flats, and variations of this, e.g. to convert into serviced apartments for which there is a huge demand for. This gives the tenants the comfort of a hotel but at a lower price and yet they would be in an apartment which many prefer as an alternative.

We are in the process of gathering a team and exploring the options going forward on the project. Intuitively I’m feeling somehow or another we should arrange to keep this building long term; it’s in one of those locations where prices will not really drop, as there is so little stock available in this location. I can see the prices here nudging higher and higher up purely driven by the sheer lack of quality space of this size in this location. This does not mean we will look to keep the money trapped in the property, once we have decided and done what we need to do to increase the value, we can extract the initial funds by way of a remortgage - again of course at the mercy of the valuers.

Dropping a building like this may mean you will never have another chance to get another trophy building in this location.

Kilburn, London, NW6 Purchase Price: £2.2m l A block of five flats in a strong location l Long lease l Generating around £70k rental per annum, which we believe is below market level l Close to the station l Nearly 15% below market value l Only 3% stamp duty l Income from day one l Very good long term hold Call us now to reserve!

0207 993 0103

We provide a turnkey solution. Contact us now:

Specialists in

Central London Property Sourcing

info@sowandreap.co.uk

www.sowandreap.co.uk

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

Follow us online:

Sowandreapuk

SowandReapProperties

Tips of the Week l Do consider the projects which are happening in and around the borough you’re purchasing in, this will ensure strong capital growth into the future. The trick of making money in property development is learning to spot up and coming locations. l Always have in mind who you are aiming to sell to once you have refurbished the property. It isn't about your taste, it is about what the market wants.

20

BUSINESS

FICCI president to lead CEOs’ delegation to Germany

FICCI president Sidharth Birla is leading a 10-member CEOs’ delegation to Germany, one of India’s largest investment and trading partner, from November 11-14. The visit is being timed to coincide with the all-out efforts by the central government under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in sending assuring signals for attracting businesses and investments into the country.

To showcase the number and range of business and investment opportunities that are emerging in the country under the new leadership, the high-powered delegation comprises three FICCI past presidents, namely, KK Modi, Harshpati Singhani and R.V Kanoria. They would be interacting with German policy makers , BDI (Federation of

German Industries) industry leaders, think-tanks, intelligentsia and some of the most important trade and investment promotion agencies in Berlin and Frankfurt.

The visit would also give top Indian CEOs an opportunity to showcase and highlight the new policy measures recently announced by Indian Government, namely, the ‘Make in India’ initiative and steps taken for enhancing ease of doing business in India. This would be the first CEOs' delegation after the

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

announcement of India as a partner country for Hannover Messe 2015.

FICCI CEOs will also meet Wolfgang Schäuble, Federal Minister of Finance, Germany, Matthias Machnig, State Secretary, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, Stephan Steinlein, State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office, Peter Ramsauer, Chairman of the German Parliamentary Committee on Economics and Energy, Helen Winter, Director General for International Economic Policies, Federal Chancellery and Philipp Mißfelder, Member of German Parliament in Berlin.

The delegation will also participate at the 3rd Indo-German Investment Summit, jointly organised

by Indian Embassy in

Germany with other German associations on November 12.

The CEOs will travel to Frankfurt on November 13. In Frankfurt, FICCI, jointly with Indian Consulate General, Frankfurt will organise a business session on ‘Make in India’ and a panel discussion on ‘Doing business with India: A CEOs perspective’.

The visit is expected to open newer vistas for Indian businesses to proactively raise their presence in the country. With its highly developed market providing world-class services and infrastructure, the visit would provide an ideal opportunity to FICCI delegation to further assess the market and opportunities for Indian goods and services to reach rest of the region and beyond.

Defence and Space vicepresident Domingo Urena Raso said in a statement.

The aircraft is in the sixeight tonne class, with a cruise speed of 800 km per hour and a range of 2,5002,800 km. The IAF had floated the tender after the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) on July 19 cleared the proposal for manufacturing the 56 transport aircraft in the private sector, excluding state-run defence behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), which built the Avro aircraft. "Our selection by Airbus Defence as its Indian partner for the

IAF's Avro replacement programme demonstrates the confidence that has been built in our ability to undertake this complex project," TASL chairman S. Ramadorai said. The IAF proposal was held up during the previous UPA government after its heavy industries minister, Praful Patel, wrote to the defence ministry against keeping HAL from the project. The defence ministry referred Patel's objection to the law ministry, which favoured the proposal for capacitybuilding in the domestic aerospace sector.

After DAC cleared the proposal, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said in New Delhi that the significant project would lead to capacity-building in the private sector. Asked if the IAF bid has an offset clause, Daly said Airbus Defence would support TASL in creating a modern and efficient aircraft final assembly line and in initiating the production of a market-leader military transport.

Britain and Germany, however, saw consumer confidence improve.

The Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index rose 1 point in the third quarter to 98, according to the survey, conducted between Aug

13 and Sept 5. The index has been steadily rising since the first quarter of 2012 and the latest reading headed closer to the 100 mark that signals optimism among consumers.

US consumers were the seventh most upbeat globally, with their score rising 4 points to 108 as optimism about job prospects continued to surge. Americans were also slightly more upbeat about the outlook for their personal finances than they were in the second quarter, unlike Europeans, who were more pessimistic, reflecting persistently low wage growth.

Airbus-Tatas bid for IAF transport aircraft order

European consortium Airbus Defence and Space has made a joint bid with Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) for a 56 medium transport aircraft order of the Indian Air Force (IAF) valued at Rs 200 billion ($3 billion).

"We have submitted a joint bid on October 22 for supplying Airbus C295 medium transports to the IAF, which plans to replace its fleet of Avro aircraft," an Airbus Defence official said. The euro 14 billion ($17.8-billion) Airbus Defence has tied up with Tata Sons' subsidiary (TASL) as its Indian production partner for the order. The bid is for 56 twin-turboprop tactical military aircraft, including 16 in fly-away condition from the Airbus Defence final assembly line and the remaining 40 to be built and assembled by TASL in Hyderabad.

"Under the terms of the request for proposal (RFP), the first 16 aircraft, assembled at Seville in Spain, are to be delivered in 24-48

moths after signing the contract. The remaining 40 aircraft, to be assembled in India, are to be delivered in 60-120 months thereafter," Airbus official Kieran Daly said.

As part of the technology tie-up, TASL will undertake structural assembly, final aircraft assembly, systems integration and testing and management of the indigenous supply chain.

"We believe that C295 is the best aircraft to replace the IAF's Avro fleet. In Tata Advanced Systems, we have the cream of the Indian private aerospace sector as our partner for this project," Airbus

India remains most bullish consumer market

Consumer confidence in the United States jumped in the third quarter and improved globally, although people were more optimistic about job prospects than their personal finances, a survey showed. India remained the most bullish consumer market, while Italy became the most pessimistic, according to the survey by global information and insights company Nielsen.

The survey showed that concerns about the economy and job prospects had eased globally from the second quarter, but in North America

and Europe that had been replaced by rising worries about war and terrorism.

European countries generally were the most pessimistic, reflecting the conflict in Ukraine, faltering growth and the risk of deflation in the euro zone.

WTO talks set for revival as India nears deal with US, EU After being in deep freeze for over three months, a global trade deal is finally in sight with the US and the European Union showing signs of accepting India's demand for providing flexibility to developing countries in fixing minimum support price for farm products.

In return, India will sign the stalled international treaty on easier customs rules once an agreement on the contentious food security issue is reached at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"India, US and EU are close to some understanding and based on this understanding they will work for a final solution at the WTO," said a source. Senior commerce department officials are engaged in consultations in Geneva. There are indications that the developed countries will agree not to challenge any breach in food subsidy caps till the calculation formula is reworked.

Global trade talks have been deadlocked after India refused to agree to a trade facilitation agreement to usher in easier rules for goods to flow through ports and airports without its concerns on food security being addressed. Based on current rules, several developing countries are close to breaching the cap on 10% value of production and face the threat of punitive action at WTO. India has argued that the calcula-

tion is flawed as it is based on outdated prices and has demanded that formula be reworked.

At the Bali ministerial meeting last December, WTO members had agreed to address India's concerns over a four year period, during which no disputes would be raised at the multilateral body even if the subsidy cap was breached.

At the Indonesian island the ministers had also agreed to sign the agreement on customs rules by July 31.

The developed world had argued that the rules would provide a $1 trillion boost to a sluggish global economy and pave the way for reviving the 13-year-old Doha dialogue.

Despite being blamed for "blocking" a global trade deal, India has stuck to its stand. But in recent weeks, officials have indicated that India is willing to settle for a clause that extends the four year "peace clause" to perpetuity - something that is learnt to have been discussed during a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama.

The reports of a settlement at WTO come two days after Modi met ministers and top commerce department officials. Sources had then described it as a "review meeting" and had suggested that no firm offers were on the table.

Asian Voice contributor wins Czech press prize

Former FT journalist Roger Aitken and contributor to Asian Voice’s business sections and the annual Finance, Banking & Insurace (FBI) magazine,has won the Czech Tourism’s press prize for 2014 at a special ceremony during the World Travel Market (WTM) industry show this November at London’s ExCel centre.

Czech Tourism, who exhibited at the annual WTM event along with City of Pilsen representatives and other partners, said the award was in recognition of Aitken’s “significant contribution” to the promotion of the Czech Republic as a tourist destination, according to a certificate signed by Rostislav Vondruska, Czech Tourism’s General Director.

Asian Voice has over the past year run travel features on several destinations in the Czech Republic including Prague, the capital, and Ostrava, the third biggest

city. Aitken said he was “immensely touched” to receive the award on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution and the historical events that took place in Prague.

The trade prize was presented to Thomas Rast, Product Manager at London-based Voyages Jules Verne (www.vjv.com), which specialises in providing cultural tours around the world. For the Czech Republic the operator arranges week-long packages taking in Prague followed by several nights in Marienbad, Pilsen, the European Capital of Culture for 2015, and Ceske Krumlov. For more information on Czech Tourism see: www.czechtourism.com.

CURRENCY VOICE

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

21

Foreign Exchange

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

Service Sector Slowing Down Economy

Economists have warned that Britain’s economy is slowing down after the service sector showed its weakest growth in 17 months. Services companies such as banks, hotels and hairdressers which make up the bulk of Britain's private sector saw growth slip to the lowest level since May 2013, causing the pound to fall to a one-year low against the dollar.

The Bank of England, once widely expected to start weaning Britain off near-zero interest rates this month, now looks set to signal no rise in interest rates until the middle of next year. The BoE kept rates at 0.5 percent, their level since the depths of the financial crisis in 2009.

The Bank of England will produce its quarterly inflation report on Wednesday which will have an impact on the pound strength. With wage growth still largely absent and inflation dropping to just 1.2 percent in September, noises from within the BoE suggest that the timing of a first interest rate rise could be heading further over the horizon.

U.S. job growth increased at

GBP/EUR

Monday November 03rd

a steady rate in October and the unemployment rate fell to a fresh six-year low, underscoring the economy's resilience in the face of slowing global demand.

Despite the strengthening jobs market, wage growth remained tepid, suggesting little need for the Federal Reserve to hurry to start lifting interest rates.

Productivity rose more than projected in the third quarter, helping to contain labour costs even as employment picks up.

The US Labour Department’s

Monday November 10th

measurement of employee output per hour also increased 2 percent year on year.

Employers added 214,000 new jobs to their payrolls last month, the Labour Department said on Friday. The unemployment rate fell to 5.8 percent from 5.9 percent giving a further sign of strength. The jobless rate has dropped by 0.8 percentage point since January, and employment gains have now topped 200,000 for nine straight months, the longest stretch

GBP/USD

Monday November 03rd

since 1994.

European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi got his colleagues to sign up to a target for pumping money into the ailing euro zone economy, a raft of GDP reports are likely to show just why more help may be needed. The ECB did not add to its arsenal of measures last week and is expected to wait and see the take-up of a second round of cheap loans being offered to banks in December before considering anything further.

But after signs of discord, Draghi did secure unanimous agreement that the ECB balance sheet would "move towards the dimensions it had at the beginning of 2012" when it was about 1 trillion euros higher than now.

Economists seized on the word "towards", which casts some doubt over whether it amounts to a hard target. And the ability of the ECB to swallow its objections to full quantitative easing remains in question.

Monday November 10th

Weekly Currencies As of Tuesday 11th November 2014 @ 2pm

GBP - INR = 97.65

USD - INR = 61.54 EUR - INR = 76.51 GBP - USD = 1.59 GBP - EUR = 1.28

EUR - USD = 1.24 GBP - AED = 5.83

GBP - CAD = 1.81

GBP - NZD = 2.04

GBP - AUD = 1.84

GBP - ZAR = 17.88

GBP - HUF = 392.47

www.rationalfx.com

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

EUR/USD

Monday November 03rd

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Monday November 10th

22

WORLD

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

Pak Taliban threaten to attack India

Islamabad: Spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Jamaat Ahrar, Ehsanullah Ehsan said he had warned Prime Minister Narendra Modi that attacks in India were in the pipeline.

Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) behind recent devastating suicide bombing on the Pakistani-Indian border said the attack was as much aimed at India as Pakistan, suggesting that Indian targets might be next.

At least 57 Pakistanis were killed during a popular flag-lowering ceremony when a bomber tried to get as close as possible to the border in a possible attempt to cause casualties on the Indian side as well. “If our suicide bombers can carry out attacks on this side of the border, they can easily do it on other side of the border in India.” Ehsanullah Ehsan, a prominent militant and spokesman for the group, Tehreek-eTaliban Pakistan Jamaat Ahrar (TTP-JA), said he

take the revenge of innocent people of Kashmir and Gugrat" (sic). An Indian intelligence official said the account appeared genuine.

India has long accused Pakistani militants of trying to attack its targets, particularly after the 2008 Mumbai attacks in which 166 people were killed when Pakistani gunmen went on a three-day rampage in India's financial capital. Ehsan said, however, that the border attack was specifically aimed at the Pakistani military. The elaborate border parade, which draws hundreds of people every day, is conducted by the mili-

tary of both sides, making it a target for Taliban militants fighting to topple the Pakistani government and establish an Islamic theocracy. "We have proudly stated that our target was the Pakistani security forces and their installations in which we succeeded," Ehsan said.

The central Pakistani Taliban group, known as the TTP, has effectively disintegrated this year and split into a range of smaller groups such as TTP-JA who appear to be exploiting their ties to al Qaeda to broaden their mission beyond Pakistan. Ehsan said that unlike the TTP's narrow focus on war in the tribal areas on the Afghan border, his outfit sought to attack countries around the region.

"The TTP focuses on Pakistan only, while we have a global agenda of jihad and therefore we have people from all over the world including the Arab and Western world for this mission."

pregnant and a mother to three children, were later beaten by a crowd of up to 1,500 villagers and then throw them on top of a lit furnace, witnesses said.

By the time the mob left, only charred bones and their discarded shoes remained. Jawad Qamar said according to initial reports events began to unfold more than a week earlier with the death of Shehzad’s father, a local religious healer. “When he died, Shehzad’s wife went to his room and cleaned up the mess. There was a trunk in his room, Shehzad’s wife took the things that could be useful and threw the trash in

front of her house,” said Qamar.

“The garbage collector collected the trash the next day and told a local cleric that he had collected pages of the Qur’an thrown in front of Shehzad’s house from the trash.”

Iqbal Masih, Shehzad’s older bother, said that he and his whole family were bonded workers paying off their debts to the brick kiln owner, a man named Mohamed Yousuf. “We take advance money from the owner and work for him, it has been going on for years.

On November 3, the owner had called Iqbal and detained him sensing

that he might run away to save his life,” he said tearfully.

Policeman kills blasphemy suspect with axe Lahore: In another tragic case, a policeman used an axe to kill a man arrested on blasphemy allegations. Tufail Haider, a 50-year-old from the minority Shiite sect of Islam, was arrested for allegedly making derogatory remarks about the companions of the Prophet Mohammed and brought to the Civil Lines police station in the eastern city of Gujrat.

"Tufail was kept in the lock-up but he continued uttering derogatory remarks and hurled abuse at policemen. He looked like a malang (wandering preacher) and seemed mentally imbalanced," duty officer Ali Raza said.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Faraz Naveed became very angry on hearing the derogatory remarks and killed the detainee with an axe in the lock-up.

tors. ''Some officials have failed to take a firm political stand and some grassroot officials in the region were found to have serious corruption issues,'' said CCDI chief Ye Dongsong.

Beijing's Minzu University professor Xiong Kunxin echoed authorities saying some officials in Tibet indeed sympathize with

the Dalai Lama. "They continue to support the Dalai Lama out of their religious beliefs. Such officials also supported his separatist activities.''

Xiong said people in Tibet should be encouraged to report about this kind of "dangerous trend" among officials. "Such officials should not be tolerated," he said. He noted the Tibetan leader's renewed push for high degree of autonomy in Tibet aims to drive away the majority Han people.

Tibetan-speaking officials are likely to be closely watched to determine their allegiance to the

Dalai Lama, who lives in India. They have played a key role in the government's efforts to maintain control in Tibet. The move comes amid China's rising concerns about increasing trend of officials and Communist Party members taking to religion, include Tibetan Buddhism and Christianity.

The government has sent 13 inspection teams to 10 provinces and regions including Tibet, Zhejiang, Sichuan and Jiangsu, to weed out corruption and "close loopholes in the Party and government work", the Xinhua reported.

had warned Indian Prime Minister that attacks in India were in the pipeline.

"I have already conveyed it to Modi ... that if our suicide bombers can carry out attacks on this side of the border, they can easily do it on other side of the border in India," he said from an undisclosed location.

"I told him that his hands are red with the blood of Kashmiri mujahideen (fighters) and innocent people of Gujarat for which he would have to pay the price." He earlier tweeted in English: "You (Modi) are the killer of hundreds of Muslims. We wl (will)

44 held for lynching Pak Christian couple

Islamabad: Police in Pakistan arrested dozens of people after a mob beat a Christian couple to death and burned their bodies for allegedly desecrating a copy of Holy Qur’an. Blasphemy is a serious offence in Pakistan. Local media reported the Christian couple were accused of burning a copy of the Qur’an and throwing it in a rubbish bin in the province of Punjab. Police said their bodies were set on fire in a brick kiln.

“We have arrested 44 people, it was a local issue incited by the mullah of a local mosque,” Jawad Qamar, a regional police chief, said. “No particular sectarian group or religious outfit was behind the attack.”

Meanwhile, relatives said that the couple was locked inside a brick-making factory before their murder to prevent them from fleeing. Shehzad Masih and Shama Bibi, who was four months

Beijing vows to punish Dalai Lama supporters

Beijing: Chinese authorities have pledged to punish officials who follow Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and "support activities of splitting the country'', the official media reported, citing the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI). This is the first time China has admitted that there are officials who support the Dalai Lama despite decades of a concentrated campaign describing him as a "traitor" and "a wolf in monk's clothing." The task of purging them has been given to anti-graft inspec-

In Brief

Gunmen kill Mombasa’s imam

Mombasa: Masked gunmen killed imam Sheikh Salim Bakari Mwarangi outside a mosque in Mombasa. The imam had taken barely two steps outside the mosque where he preached when masked gunmen on a motorbike opened fire. One of the bullets tore through the imam's hand as he tried in vain to defend himself. Two others hit his stomach, leaving the preacher to a slow and painful death.

Police said that Mwarangi, 57, was a pro-government peace activist, an ideological moderate who was most likely killed by extremists in the battle for Mombasa’s soul.

10 policemen killed in Afghan blasts

Kabul: Bombs struck three Afghan cities, including the capital Kabul, killing at least 10 police personnel, officials said, a day after a Taliban suicide bomber penetrated police headquarters in Kabul killing at least one person. In Kabul, a magnetic bomb planted in a flower bed near a university wounded three people, while seven police personnel were killed in eastern Logar province when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the provincial police headquarters, echoing Sunday's attack in the capital. In eastern Nangarhar province, three policemen were killed by a bomb planted in a rickshaw, officials said.

Haley heads to India on 10-day business trip

Washington: Nikki Haley, the 42-year-old Governor of South Carolina and a rising star in the Republican leadership firmament, will be embarking on a 10-day visit to India, the land of her parents. Haley is headed to India some 40 years after she last visited as child of two. She will visit New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and her parents home state of Punjab, trying to gin up investment and create jobs in a state that has been somewhat of a laggard in US because of its agro base, but whose automotive and aerospace industries are attractive.

Pak Hindus urge Sharif to prevent atrocities

Islamabad: The Pakistan Hindu Council has proposed the establishment of an active committee under Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to prevent atrocities against minorities. They condemned the brutal killing of a Christian couple in Punjab province and the kidnapping of Hindu citizens, particularly minor girls. The council demanded that the prime minister and provincial chief ministers implement effective and practical legislations to protect minorities, and added that inter-faith harmony and Hindu marriage laws were needed. "Minorities are vulnerable and to add to their misery, the land mafia is actively engaged in illegally occupying the religious places of minorities," a council official said.

"Kidnapping of innocent Hindu girls, forced conversions and marriages are issues regularly faced

by Hindus, mainly due to the absence of a Hindu marriage registration act," the official added.

Imran Khan lauds Modi for anti-black money initiatives

Islamabad: Pakistan's opposition leader Imran Khan is all praise for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his efforts to bring back black money stashed in foreign banks. "Whatever you say about him, he is a faithful man," said the cricketer-turned politician, who has been demanding for similar initiatives in Pakistan.

He has also been protesting since August against Nawaz Sharif government over alleged rigging in the 2013 polls. It is rare praise by a Pakistani politician for Prime Minister Modi who has been criticised here after the recent border clashes.

Iran dog lovers face 74 lashes

Tehran: Dog lovers in Iran could face up to 74 lashes under plans by hardline lawmakers that would ban keeping the pets at home or walking them in public. A draft bill, signed by 32 members of the country's conservative-dominated Parliament, would also authorise heavy fines for offenders, the reformist Shargh newspaper reported. Dogs are regarded as unclean under Islamic custom and they are not common in Iran, although some families do keep them behind closed doors and, especially in more affluent areas, walk them outside. Iran's morality police, who deploy in public places, have previously stopped dog walkers and either cautioned them or confiscated the animals. But if the new bill is passed

by Parliament then those guilty of dog-related offences could face lashes or fines ranging from 10 million rials to 100 million rials (US $370 to $3,700).

Patting dogs or coming into contact with their saliva is seen as "najis" - direct contact and behaviour that leaves the body unclean - in the Islamic republic.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

In Brief

ISIS spreading tentacles in Pakistan

Islamabad: Pakistani security agencies have warned the government about the increasing threat from the ISIS militant group, a media report said. A classified report by the provincial government of Balochistan conveyed to the federal government and law enforcement agencies warning of increased footprints of the Middle Eastern terrorist group, also known by its Arabic acronym of “Daish.” The Dawn reported on its website that the `secret information report' dated October 31 states that ISIS has claimed to have recruited a massive 10,000 to 12,000 followers from the Hangu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Kurram tribal district. “It has been reliably learnt that Daish has offered some elements of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamat (ASWJ) to join hands in Pakistan. Daish has also formed a 10-member Strategic Planning Wing,” the report from the Home and Tribal Affairs Department of Balochistan says. LeJ and ASWJ are anti-Shia groups of Sunni Muslims. The report states that the ISIS plans to attack military installations and government buildings in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in retaliation to the army-led Operation Zarb-i-Azb in North Waziristan and also plans to target members of the minority Shia community. The Balochistan government called for heightened vigilance and security measures in the province as well as the north western province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to prevent and prevent such attacks.

Bank, businessman sued

Kampala: Crown Converters and Kego Investments have sued Bank of Baroda for allegedly conniving with a senior company official to fraudulently transact business using forged documents. In the case before the Commercial Court in Kampala, the Bank of Baroda has been accused of alleged breach of duty to exercise, care and skills in carrying out banking business in their respective accounts. It is alleged that in the exercise of its duty, the bank transactions led to unauthorised lending transactions, wrongful debts, and interest and bank charges on the respective accounts of the complaining companies. The bank is jointly sued with the companies’ former managing director, Aniket Patel, who is accused of fraudulent practice by way of presenting forged documents on which the bank lent the two companies an unauthorised Shs450m.

However, in defence, the bank denied any wrong doing, insisting that Patel held the powers of attorney for the companies to operate the accounts alone.

Iraqi officials say ISIS chief wounded in air strike

Baghdad: Iraqi officials said that an air strike wounded the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Pentagon officials said they had no immediate information on such a strike or al-Baghdadi being wounded. Iraq's defense and interior ministries issued statements saying al-Baghdadi had been wounded, without elaborating. An interior ministry intelligence official said that al-Baghdadi was hit during a meeting with militants in the town of Qaim in Iraq's western Anbar province. The official, citing informants within the militant group, said the strikes wounded alBaghdadi. A senior Iraqi military official also said he learned in operational meetings that al-Baghdadi had been wounded. Al-Baghdadi, an ambitious Iraqi militant believed to be in his early 40s, has a $10 million US bounty on his head.

PIA took Indian passengers to Pak hotel without visa

Islamabad: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) allegedly took 34 Indian transit passengers to a hotel in Lahore to stay for a night though they did not have a Pakistani visa, prompting authorities to launch a probe.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said in a report that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) crew allegedly took the Indians out of the airport bypassing the check points manned by FIA. The Indian passengers flew from New Delhi on a PIA flight to Saudi Arabia with a stopover in Pakistani city of Lahore, an official said. FIA alleged that PIA quietly transported them to a local hotel where they spent a night.

South Korea's doomed ferry captain jailed for 36 years

Gwangju (South Korea): A South Korean court found the captain of a ferry that capsized in April killing more than 300 passengers guilty of negligence and sentenced him to 36 years in jail, but acquitted him of the homicide charge for which prosecutors had sought the death penalty. The ship's chief engineer was found guilty of homicide for not aiding two injured fellow crew members and sentenced him to 30 years in prison. The overloaded ferry Sewol had capsized while making a turn on a routine voyage to the holiday island of Jeju.

WORLD

FBI puts ‘Lady Taliban’ diplomat under surveillance

Washington: The FBI has been investigating a veteran US diplomat Robin Raphel nicknamed “Lady Taliban” for her outspoken pro-Pakistan views and who once met the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar.

The Washington home and office of Raphel's home and offices in Washington were searched as part of counter-intelligence investigation. The retired foreign service officer was serving as an adviser to the US State Department on Pakistan.

But no charges were brought against her.

Raphel, 67, is the former wife of Arnold Lewis Raphel, the US ambassador to Pakistan who was killed with the country’s military dictator, Zia ulHaq, in a plane crash in August 1988. Her contract as an adviser to the State Department’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan was terminated. Her security clearance for the State Department was also

23

dropped after the searches on October 21.

Raphel, who visited Pakistan last month to meet Sartaj Aziz, the country’s national security adviser, began her career as a CIA analyst. She had a 30-year career in the US foreign service, where she was assistant secretary of state for South Asia under the Clinton presidency and then US ambassador to Tunisia. After her retirement from government in 2005, she worked as a lobbyist for Cassidy & Associates, a Washington company whose clients included the military

administration of General Pervez Musharraf.

Officials said that the FBI investigation involved questions about access to classified materials. Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for the State Department, said it was aware of a “law enforcement matter”, adding that officials had been co-operating with the FBI. A spokesman for the Raphel family said that she was aware of the investigation but declined to comment further.

Critics of Raphel’s proPakistan views welcomed the news. Tarek Fatah, a Pakistani-born writer and

fellow at the Middle East Forum, tweeted that her “hatred of India & luv for Taliban could not hv come from any other source than ISI”, a reference to Pakistan’s powerful spy agency.

However, it was unclear whether the investigation into Raphel was linked to alleged espionage by Pakistan or another country. Hasan Askari Rizvi, a Lahorebased security expert, dismissed speculation about Raphel’s Pakistan links.

He said:“Being a known friend of Pakistan does not mean that she should have been spying.” In the 1990s Raphel was an advocate of engagement with the Taliban and backed plans for a US company to build an oil and gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan via Afghanistan.

According to Bahukutumbi Raman, a former Indian anti-terrorism chief, she met Mullah Omar to discuss the project.

Lord Dolar Popat ed the Royal Household at the Repatriation Ceremony at Heathrow Airport on Friday 31 October.

The State funeral was attended by a number of African leaders, including Kenyan President Uhuru

Kenyatta, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila, Namibia President Hifikepunye Pohamba, Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima and South Africa’s Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.Sata has been President since 2011, following an active political career in Zambia since the 1970s. The late President is famous for having worked as a British Rail porter and sweeper at Victoria Station, as well as a laundry man and factory worker whilst in London in

the 1970s when studying for his degree.

Following the funeral, Lord Popat said, “The British Government was deeply saddened by the death of President Sata and I am honoured to represent Her Majesty’s Government at the President’s funeral. He was a well-respected leader who championed social reform in Zambia. As a child of the Commonwealth, having been born in Uganda, I’m very passionate about building our relations with Zambia who Britain are proud to work with.”

and to improve trade between Pakistan and Australia. “People to people contact and confidence building measures (CBMs) are crucial for the people of the neighbouring countries and we consider our participation in the function as a CBM,” he added.

PACB senior vice-president Kashif Amjad said he would be attending the reception. “We don’t know if we will get an opportunity to interact with the Indian Prime Minister, but we will try to meet a senior Indian official and urge that business among the three countries sees an increase,” he said.

Rana, who has family roots in Lahore, said his grandfather migrated from Tehsil Garhshankar in Hoshiarpur.

Islamabad: Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that the country would be polio-free in six months. Addressing the anti-polio steering committee meeting, Sharif said negligence in eradicating polio would be considered a crime, Geo News reported. The prime minister directed provinces to take effective measures for the elimination of the deadly disease. Sharif formed the anti-polio committee of the federal cabinet comprising the defence, health and interior ministers. He stressed the elimination of polio was a national responsibility and the fight against the virus had to be won at all costs. A focus group was also formed during the meeting which will present a report to Sharif in every 15 days regarding the developments.

Robin Raphel

Lord Popat represents UK Govt at President Sata’s funeral

Lusaka: Lord Dolar Popat travelled to Lusaka earlier this week to represent Her Majesty’s Government at the funeral of the late President of Zambia, His Excellency Michael Chilufya Sata.

Her Royal Highness the Countess of Wessex (the wife of the Queen’s youngest son Edward) was also present at the funeral to represent the Queen and the Royal Family. President Sata passed away in London recently whilst receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness. As Her Majesty’s Lord in Waiting, Lord Popat also represent-

Pak bizmen are reception partners for Modi's Australia visit

Jalandhar: The Pakistan Australia Business Council (PACB), a body for businessmen of Pakistani origin Down Under, has become a reception partner for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s community reception in Sydney on November 17. PACB will be among the 200 reception partners of the event, which includes Hindu Council Australia, Hindu Swayamsewak Sangh, Vishwa Hindu Parishad Australia, Overseas Friends of BJP Australia, Yuva For Modi and Kashmiri Pandit Professionals apart from other Hindu organizations.

“Yes, we are going to attend Modi’s community reception.

Australian Pakistanis and Australian

Narendra Modi Indians have been living here as friends and there are no hostilities at all. We want better relations among India, Pakistan and Australia,” PACB president Iftikhar Rana said.

The stated mission of PABC is to encourage networking within Australia

Pak PM vows to eliminate polio

24

INDIA

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

Lankan Tamil CM hits out at Rajapaksa govt

Chennai: The chief minister of Sri Lanka's Northern Province, C V Wigneswaran, accused the Rajapaksa regime of arresting and intimidating those trying to collect evidence for the United Nations' investigation into the violations of humanitarian and human rights laws.

"The basis appears to be that the evidence is false - is that not a decision to be made at the stage of evaluation? If we had proof that evidence was false, is it not the best course of action to forward proof of such falsity to the office of the high commissioner of human rights?" he said while delivering the KG Kannabiran memorial lecture on safeguarding secu-

rity and sovereignty on Sunday.

Wigneswaran became the CM of the Northern Province last year after a long and distinguished legal career which culminated in his becoming the judge of the Sri Lankan Supreme

Court in 2001. "The state does not want to allow the evidence to leave the country; just as in the incarceration of 350,000 Tamils, the primary aim was to let no evidence leave the shores," he said.

Coming down heavily on the Lankan government for its attempts to canvass global opinion against UNHRC resolutions, Wigneswaran said that if Sri Lanka thought that such a procedure undermined its sovereignty and was illegal, it could request the UN General Assembly or the Security Council to refer the matter to the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion.

"It could even withdraw

Chennai: Sri Lanka will transfer all the five fishermen, who had been sentenced to death on the charge of drug trafficking, to India, a report said quoting BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. This will come as a huge relief to the fishermen and their families. Television reports said that the deadlock was broken after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on the issue, according to a tweet from Swamy.

"Namo and Rajapaksa spoke on the phone and agreed to process papers and transfer 5 fishermen convicted to Indian jail.

I am vindicated!" the tweet read. The case dates back to 2011 when the five fishermen set out to fish from Rameswaram and were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy on the charge of possessing narcotics. A

Sri Lankan court had recently sentenced the five fishermen to death in the case.

The Indian fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan navy in 2011. The fishermen have time till November 11 to appeal at the Lankan Supreme Court.

India's Ministry of External Affairs had said that the Indian government will challenge the order in the upper court. Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin was quoted as saying, "We will take up this matter. Judgment is passed by the lower court. We will challenge this case in the upper court."

Earlier, the executive director of Sri Lanka's Institute of Policy Studies, Saman Kelegama, had called for a bilateral settlement between New Delhi and Colombo on the issue of the death penalty given to five Indian fishermen in a drug smuggling case.

Nalgonda (Andhra): A sixyear-old boy studying in Class I of a private school died after he was allegedly beaten up and banged his head on the wall by his class teacher for not speaking in English. The incident took place at Tirumalagiri village of Anumula mandal in Nalgonda district. A heavy posse of policemen was posted in the village as scores of people laid siege to the private school demanding action against the management. Senior police officials rushed to the village even as the angry parents and villagers kept the body of the tribal boy, identified as Chandu, outside the school main gate, and refused to move out until the arrest of the school principal and the class teacher. According to reports, Chandu was severely beaten up by his teacher Sumathi. She allegedly banged Chandu's head

get international educational exposure. He added that this type of collaborations help to organize student exchange programmes that are beneficial to both the students as well as colleges.

SSC, established in 1903, is a private Canadian career training institution, headquartered in British Columbia, Canada. It offers over 100 college programmes in 13 campus locations across the British Columbia. Sprott Shaw offers a different option beyond what is currently expected of the private and public sectors within the educational system. It offers various full time, part time and post graduate courses to the students to help them acquire professional skills.

Chandigarh: Haryana government said it was working on a new policy to check corruption during immovable property registration at revenue offices in the state.

Under the new policy, a buyer or seller wanting to get property registered or transferred will just have to deposit requisite stamp duty in the tehsil (revenue office) while the owner will get registry at home.

Revealing this information, state chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that there were lots of complaints regarding registry of immovable property in tehsils. "Work has already started on the new arrangement under which people will get registry at their doorsteps. Concerned officers have assured me that it will be in place after a month."

"If any discrepancy is found in the new system of delivery of registry at people's doorsteps, it would be addressed. If any mistake is found in the registry delivered at the house of the property owner, it would be

C V Wigneswaran

Lanka to transfer death row fishermen to India

Chandigarh college joins hands with Canadian college

Chandigarh: Canadian Sprott Shaw College (SSC) from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada has joined hands with Chandigarh's Aryans Group of Colleges (AGC).

The two colleges will engage in updating curricula, student and faculty exchange programmes. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Peter Lee, executive director of SSC and Anshu Kataria, chairman of Aryans, at Vancouver, British Columbia. Rahul Bahel, SSC assistant advisor was also present on the occasion. Lee said that Canadian Universities and colleges keep on updating their course curriculum on a regular basis according to needs of the industry.

He further added that this MoU would help the students of Aryans to update themselves with rapid growth in the technology. Kataria added that since SSC was one of the renowned colleges of British Columbia, the collaboration will help Aryans students

from the UN, even though there are no formal provisions in the UN charter for withdrawal," he said, adding that the militarisation of northern Sri Lanka was not due to a real security threat, but to maintain a stranglehold over the populace.

Thanking India on whose insistence the elections were held in the Northern Province, Wigneswaran said New Delhi had legal and moral obligations to ensure the welfare of Sri Lankan citizens.

He said the Tamils were not the only ones affected by violence in Sri Lanka, and added that other minorities like Muslims and Christians are also targeted.

Boy dies as teacher 'bangs his head against wall'

South Brief

Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first Disneyland likely in Andhra

Hyderabad: If the Andhra Pradesh government has its way, the State could become home to Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first Disneyland.

The State government has sought information on land and other requirements from a private investor who evinced interest in setting up Disneyland on the lines of the one in Paris. With talks still in initial stages, details are yet to emerge but the government is said to be actively pursuing the proposal. A similar proposal was floated to the government of undivided Andhra Pradesh in the past without any development.

HC query over Jaya's portraits at govt offices

Madurai: The Madurai bench of the Madras high court sought the response of Tamil Nadu chief secretary to a public interest litigation that prayed for the court's direction to remove the portraits of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa from government offices and her name and photos from welfare schemes. The division bench of justices V Dhanapalan and V M Velumani directed the government side to receive chief secretary's response to the petition filed by S Karunanidhi, joint secretary of the Madurai Bar Association.

Over Rs 1,000 bn maiden budget for Telangana against the wall resulting in internal head injuries. The boy fell ill soon after returning home and his condition deteriorated. He was admitted to a hospital in Hyderabad where he died.

"The teacher deserves nothing less than life imprisonment. She hit the boy's head against the wall for not speaking in English. As the boy was talking in Telugu, the teacher became angry and severely beat him up," said Child Rights Protection Committee president Anuradha Rao. She demanded de-recognition of the school and compensation to the family of the victim.

Haryana to deliver property registry at home

Hyderabad: Telangana finance minister Etela Rajender presented the maiden budget of the new state in the assembly with an outlay of Rs 1,006.38 billion. Of this, Rs 519.89 billion is for non-plan expenditure and Rs 486.48 billion for plan expenditure. Sticking to the convention followed by the previous regimes, Rajender opted not to propose any additional taxes in his budget that is for ten months beginning June 2014. While the full budget was presented, the state was utilizing finances as per a vote-on-account budget passed earlier.

North Brief

Babbar Khalsa chief brought to Chandigarh

Chandigarh: The Chandigarh police brought Ratandeep Singh - the de facto chief of Lahorebased terrorist outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) to Chandigarh on a production warrant. The top BKI terrorist is a prime accused in the sensational bomb blast that occurred in the parking area of Sector 34A market complex on June 30, 1999.

Ratandeep had recently been arrested by the Punjab police from the eastern Uttar Pradesh town of Gorakhpur. "We have brought the accused for eight days on a production warrant, and will start interrogating him in our case of the blast in Sector 34," said a senior officer.

China's Jiangsu province to collaborate with Punjab rectified," he said.

Concerned officers will be held responsible for any fault in implementation of the programmes being launched by the state government, he said.

"We went to people with the promise of development and elimination of corruption from its roots. Now, all works will be carried out in keeping with the wishes of the people. It is my first visit to Rohtak. I know people have high expectations from the government and we shall work to meet them.

Action will be taken on every complaint posted on the Chief Minister Window to be started at the district level," Khattar said.

Chandigarh: Jiangsu province of China has principally agreed to collaborate with Punjab for a 'Twin Province' project for promoting fresh water fisheries in the state as a part of state government's crop diversification programme.

Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal met with Governor of Jiangsu province Li Xueyong and pointed out that currently the production of fish in Punjab was six tons per hectare whereas the state government aspires to the double this production in the coming three years.

Chandigarh youths light up remote Ladakhi village

Chandigarh: A group of youth from Chandigarh region lit up a remote Ladakhi village of Sumda Chenmo, which had not seen a light bulb ever. But now the village's productivity has gone up, neighbouring villages too are keen on these solar panels and it has drastically cut the consumption of kerosene oil," says Jaideep Bansal known for his cycling expeditions, marathons and work on Education and Electricity in Leh.

INDIA - UK

25

At last an apology from PG Patel and SPMS but …

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

Kamal Rao

What I wrote in Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar on 11th October was with a heavy heart. For ten weeks I observed that CB’s pleas were falling on deaf ears. I persuaded CB that SPMS, which claims to spread the message of that great Son of India, should maintain certain mimimum standards of decency and decorum.

The values of Sardar were so meticulously maintained by him that increasingly more and more Indians admire his permanent legacy to India. If SPMS can behave in such an unconstitutional and cavalier manner to someone like CB then what would happen to an ordinary member of the community or organisation.

I would like the readers to know that the assertion by Mr PG Patel, chairman of SPMS, in his first communication dated 21st July was factually incorrect. What he claims to be unanimous vote was misleading to say the least. One of the trustees (Jitubhai) had said no to such a step of removing a life member in such a manner without any show cause notice.

Another trustee (JF Patel) had said that no such letters should be written to CB but if need be we should sit down together to discuss and deliberate the situation and thereby remove any misunderstanding.

What is also very sad is that no written response from any of the Executive Committee members was received up until the 5th November.

The EC members of SPMS should be well aware of the responsibilities. some claim to be accountants, others claim to be a former local authority councillor, whilst others claim to be very well educated and involved with some public service organisations. None of them have supplied any information which was requested by CB way back on 30th July viz a viz the minutes of the meeting and a copy of the constitution as well as some other relevant details which should have been easily available to all the committee members and especially its Chairman PG Patel.

I have come to know now that at that meeting on 24th June no committee member present (several where not present also) asked for the constitution itself which was not produced at the meeting. Now I also know that the committee members had not been privy to the communication written

by PG Patel. Why? What is also very mind-boggling is that the esteemed committee members of such an organisation were behaving in such a cavalier fashion.

Dear readers after my article in Asian Voice/Gujarat Samachar on 11th October several readers wrote letters and we were able to publish some of those that came in including those from Lalubhai Parekh, Chunilal Chavda, Ballubhai Patel, Bharatbhai Sachania, Jagdish Ganatra and

PG Patel some others. I am also aware that Mr CJ Rabheru wrote a detailed letter to chairman PJ Patel explaining how a great injustice was being done through an unconstitutional and ill motivated action to terminate membership of a founding member.

Similarly Kantibhai Nagda, Dhirubhai Vadera, Pravinbhai Amin and some others wrote to the chairman PG Patel to rectify the injustice he and his committee have done and to salvage the good name of SPMS. Eventually under such an onslaught of public opinion an emergency meeting of SPMS was held on Sunday 26th October (some four months after the die was cast) to form a mandated committee of six members namely Mahendrabhai C Jadega (Chairman of the sub-committee), Krishnaben Pujara, Jitubhai Patel, JF Patel, GP Desai and Anjanaben Patel with the sole remit to look into the whole situation to resolve this matter and offer the apology.

This Committee wrote to CB Patel on the following 5th November: ‘Having gone through all the c o r re s p o n d e n c e we, the Mandated Committee, consider that the Membership Te r m i n a t i o n Notice sent to you is not valid as per the Constitution of SPMS hence the email of Chairman’s on 21st July 2014 was unconstitutional.

We, the Mandated Committee, hereby offer our sincere apology on behalf of the Sardar Patel Memorial Society (UK) for the unconstitutional and drastic action taken to terminate your Membership by our SPMS ECs which was wrong.

Notice of Membership Termination is withdrawn hereby with profound regret. We also deeply regret EC’s inability to supply you the information required by you as per your email dated 30th July 2014. We hope this would now conclude this matter and no further action would be initiated by you.

This was signed by all the six afore-mentioned members of the Mandated Committee and was handed over to CB Patel on 8th November in the presence of the six members as well as CJ Rabheru and Kantibhai Nagda. CB and these eight friends discussed how the Society should work to honour the obligations entered into the aims and objects of the Constitution. CB said this apology was not the defeat of anybody but

a win win for all and a victory for common sense.

This should have happened much much earlier but let’s now work together to do our utmost to serve the legacy of Sardar Patel.

In the meantime on 5th November itself the chairman PG Patel forwarded a separate apology: Dear CB, Further to your recent communication regarding termination of your membership, I have now been advised by SPMS subcommittee that the decision taken by EC Council regarding your termination was not followed constitutionally. I apologise on behalf of SPMS as I was led by the Executive Council. I am sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused. I would like to apologise personally and with your guidance move forward into the next phase of SPMS development. Let me assure you that you are still a founder member of SPMS and look forward to working with you in the near future.

I fail to understand why the chairman PG Patel sent a separate apology which now apportions the main blame to the Executive Council. This sounds confusing and not very honourable but nevertheless it is a fact of life and one has to live with it.

Even now the Society has failed to give CB the proper minutes of that fateful meeting of 30th June.

Why? What is there for them to hide? Every committee member should remember their obligations and act according to their conscience. If I had not published the story on 11th October the commu-

nity would not know what is being done under the auspicious of SPMS and perhaps some ordinary members would have been victimised forever.

Several complaints have been made regarding alcohol/wine being served on 31st October celebration of the 139th birthday of Sardar Patel. Chairman PG Patel was sent a letter a week earlier by Dr Subramanian Swamy that he would not come to London to participate in the SPMS event on 31st October. The EC was not frankly and properly informed by Mr PG Patel.

Even at 11am on Friday 31st October, a London Asian radio broadcast repeated that Dr Swamy will attend the SPMS event that evening. But why?

Let me end with a small plea to the leaders of all organisations including SPMS. You should have the time, energy, intelligence and sense of your role and responsibility to perform your public duty properly. The leadership should not behave in a shallow, stupid or spiteful manner as has been observed in the letter from CJ Rabheru to chairman PG Patel dated 4th November about how he was treated at the event of 31st October. Very sadly no committee member has responded to the cry in the wilderness from CJ Rabheru who I believe has been treated with vindictiveness for raising his voice in the interest of common sense and justice.

I wish that no such incident happens in the community in the future again.

Bhopal gas victims families still await for justice

Thirty years after more than 5,000 people, some say 20,000, died after the deadly gas leaked from the Union Carbide's plant in Bhopal, the family members of the victims still await for justice.

The horrifying events of the night of December 2-3 1984 haunt the residents of Bhopal even this day.

Pressure groups say half a million people suffered varying degrees of health problems.

After three decades the site has yet to be properly cleaned or secured, and four legal battles are still being fought in Indian and US courts with no sign of an imminent resolution.

Bhopal residents, as well as those seeking additional compensation for gas deaths and injuries, say toxic waste from the plant in their midst contaminated the water they drank for more than 20 years.

The quiet death in a

Florida nursing home in September of 92year-old Warren Anderson, Union Carbide’s chief executive at the time, has done nothing to relieve the bitterness among victims and their descendants. In the next round of the judicial wrangles over the disaster, Dow

On Friday 21 November, Navin Shah AM has organised an event focussing on raising awareness about the humanitarian disaster in Bhopal along with media partner Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar, supported by the Bhopal Medical Appeal and Boris Johnson – the Mayor of London- who has kindly allowed the organisers free use of the GLA venue. The event is

also supported by Amnesty International and some major businesses and community groups.

The event will focus on raising awareness of the current humanitarian disaster situation in Bhopal which sees tens of thousands of families still using water contaminated with highly toxic chemicals. The chemicals have leached into their water from waste

left at the abandoned disaster site and cause a range of illnesses, cancers, and birth defects.

This will look at ways of helping the existing charities in Bhopal to continue the work they do for children and families suffering from the contamination.

Whilst these charities do remarkable work they are starved of funds, limiting their ability to provide support for the

Chemical has been summoned to appear in a court in Bhopal on November 12 to explain why it has not obliged Union Carbide to attend the criminal case begun in 1991.

Dow bought Union Carbide in 2001 – more than 16 years after the gas leak – and says attempts to link it to a plant it never owned or operated are “misguided and wrong”.

Indian children born

majority of the victims and hindering their efforts to provide a wider range of much-needed services.

There is no charge for this RSVP only event, but you are welcome to make any donation you might able to make to help enhance the ongoing work in Bhopal and help the victims- many of which are children from severely deprived families.

with congenital disease, second generation victims of the1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, participate in a candle light vigil to pay homage to the people killed in the tragedy in Bhopal on December 2, 2013.

One advocacy group, the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, is demanding $ 8.1bn in compensation for the victims, compared with the $1.2 bn now sought by the government of India and the $ 470m that was paid to India in 1989 in an outof-court settlement by Union Carbide and its then Indian subsidiary.

Meanwhile, the abandoned and scarcely guarded Union Carbide site in the middle of Bhopal remains a potential source of contamination for the city’s water table, although the company says it used and removed the remaining methyl isocyanate shortly after the disaster.

26

INDIA - LONDON

9 Indian-Americans win US election

Continued from page 1 state governorship to the House of Representatives and state legislatures to city council seats.

Here’s a list of those Indian-Americans who won.

Nikki Haley - Haley, the first woman governor of the state of South Carolina, won a second consecutive term in the elections. She defeated Democrat candidate Vincent Sheheen, an American attorney and politician. Haley, 42, is the second Indian-American governor in the United States, the other being Republican Bobby Jindal of Louisiana.

Kamala Harris – California’s IndianAmerican Attorney General Kamala Harris, the first woman as well as the first African American and South Asian to hold the job, was re-elected for a second consecutive term. She beat Republican challenger Ronald Gold.

She previously served two terms as San Francisco’s district attorney before being sworn in as the Attorney general of the state of California.

Janak Joshi – In

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

Colorado, Republican Joshi won from the House 16 District defeating his Democrat challenger Ryan Macoubrie. The 31year resident of Colorado is a retired physician and presently runs a small medical clinic and few dialysis centers. He studied medicine at the Gujarat University.

Prasad Srinivasan – Srinivasan, a retired physician was elected unopposed on a Republican ticket from Connecticut House 31 District.

Srinivasan is a graduate of Baroda Medical College. He was chief paediatric resident at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn, New York.

Sam Singh – The Democrat state representative was re-elected to Michigan House 69 District.

He previously served 10 years on the East Lansing City Council and one term as mayor before becoming part of the state legislature.

Aruna Miller – Miller, who repres e n t e d Maryland’s Legislative District 15 in the House of Delegates, retained her seat in the election. She is a Democrat. Born in the

south Indian city of Hyderabad, Miller has been in the Maryland House since 2010.

Kumar Barve – Bharve, 53, the Democrat Majority Leader of t h e Maryland House of Delegates, also retained his seat. Before becoming Majority Leader, Barve was elected as chairman of the Montgomery County Delegation during which he was the legislative leader of the largest county in the state of Maryland.

Pramila Jayapal – In the Washington state, Jayapal was elected to the S t a t e Senate seat from the 37th Legislative District. Born in India, Jayapal went to the US when she was 16 years old. A leading national advocate for immigrant, civil, and human rights, Jayapal has been living and working in the 37th Legislative District for almost 20 years.

Niraj Antani – His was a surprise winner.

The 23-year-old IndianAmerican law student was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives, becoming one of the

youngest state lawmakers in the US. He defeated 62-year-old Patrick Morris of the Democratic party.

Ami Bera – Democrat Ami Bera is locked in a tough electoral contest against h i s Republican opponent Doug Ose. A spokeswoman for the California Secretary of State’s office said that 100 per cent of ballots from various polling places around the state had been counted.

All absentee ballots turned in before Election Day have also been counted. Remaining to be tallied are absentee ballots dropped off at precinct polling places on Nov. 4, as well as provisional ballots. Each county has up to 28 days to tabulate votes.

Ro Khanna concedes defeat - Indian-American Ro Khanna conceded defeat after giving the seven-term Congressman and incumbent Mike Honda the toughest fight of his life for the Silicon Valley Congressional seat.

The 38-year-old patent attorney, Khanna, conceded to his opponent from Democratic party, Honda, acknowledging the 73-year-old lawmaker has an insurmountable lead in a race that gained national attention.

Bhavan. BJP general secretary J.P. Nadda, who is known to be close to Modi and party chief Amit Shah, and Birender Singh, who left the Congress ahead of the recent Haryana assembly elections to join the BJP, were administered oath as cabinet ministers by President Pranab Mukherjee.

Modi also brought into his ministry the party's known Muslim face in Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, adding to Najma Heptullah, who is minority affairs minister. Naqvi is an MoS. He also added to the representation of women by inducting Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, BJP MP from Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh, taking the number to eight.

Giriraj Singh, 61, who courted controversy with his comment while campaigning for the national elections that "those who oppose Narendra Modi should go to Pakistan" and was also booked for the hate speech, also got a place as minister of state.

The new ministry has most people in their 50s, with the oldest being Bandaru Dattatreya, MoS independent charge, at 68.

The youngest is wellknown singer Babul Supriyo, the only face in the ministry from West

Bengal. The Asansol MP, who was inducted as MoS, is 43, while Olympian shooter Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is 44.

The only National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally to get a berth in Sunday's expansion was Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Rajya Sabha MP, Y.S. Chowdary as an MoS. Among those who were widely tipped to get a berth and were inducted are Rajiv Pratap Rudy, MoS independent charge, Ram Kirpal Yadav, a former Lalu Prasad aide who quit the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Jayant Sinha, son of BJP veteran Yashwant Sinha, and Vijay Sampla, BJP Hoshiarpur MP. Sinha's entry into the government marks the coming in of the second generation of BJP politicians. The IIT-Delhi and Harvard-educated Hazaribagh MP is an investment fund manager and management consultant. His entry is likely to give a fillip to the BJP's chances in Jharkhand which goes to the polls in November-December.

Another new face is Hansraj Ahir, BJP MP from Maharashtra. Ahir is wellknown for having unearthed the coal mining scam. He took oath as an MoS.

The states to get wide representation are Maharashtra, where the BJP has formed government for the first time, with two ministers - Suresh Prabhu and Ahir, adding to the prominent names already in the cabinet, including Nitin Gadkari and Prakash Javadekar.

In Haryana, where it won in the recent assembly elections and formed the government, has a new minister in Birender Singh.

Keeping in mind the forthcoming elections in Bihar, the council has three new faces from the state Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Ram Kirpal Yadav and Giriraj Singh. Union ministers Ram Vilas Paswan and Ravi Shankar Prasad are from Bihar.

Uttar Pradesh got the largest representation, with four new faces - Mahesh Sharma, a doctor who owns Kailash Hospital and is an MP from Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida); Naqvi, who is a Rajya Sabha member; Ram Shankar Katheria, Agra MP; and Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti.

Gujarat, where Modi was the chief minister for three terms, got two new faces in Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary, and Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundarya.

Modi inducts 21 new faces in ministry expansion

Continued from page 1 cabinet rank, giving wide representation to several northern and central states and keeping the age limit well under 68.

The much-anticipated first ministry expansion was marred with ally Shiv Sena calling off participation in the government at the last minute - exacerbating their already strained ties.

Former Shiv Sena leader Suresh Prabhu was sworn-in as a cabinet minister. Prabhu, who is the prime minister's interlocutor for the G20, has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and is expected to become a Rajya Sabha member.

The Sena at the last minute recalled Anil Desai, who it had nominated for induction in the union ministry. According to reports, Desai arrived in Delhi for the oath-taking ceremony but was ordered to return.

With the new induction, Modi's 45-member ministry now totals 66. He inducted four cabinet ministers, three ministers of state with independent charge, and 14 ministers of state (MoS).

Former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar was the first to take oath at the Durbar Hall of Rashtrapati

Obituary

In Loving Memory

Shambai Devraj Bhudia Devraj Govind Bhudia

Our mother’s soul left for God’s abode on Sunday 9th November 2014 at 10:45am at Northwick Park Hospital, after suffering from Bowel Cancer. She joins my father Devraj Govind Bhudia who passed away earlier this year on 26th April 2014 from mouth cancer.

Both were strong characters, who lived through adversity and struggle and brought up their family with strong values and ethics. They both spent much of their time involved in charitable work raising money with their friends by taking part in satsangs and prayers on weekends at people’s houses. The money was used directly to assist the underprivileged children and goshala’s in Kutch.

Both were devout Hindus and walked to Ealing Road mandir daily, where they were well known and liked and had many friends. They had a robust reputation for being pillars of the community, and will be missed by many, and most of all by their family.

May their souls rest in peace – love from the Bhudia family.

Funeral will take place on Saturday 15th November 2014 at Hendon Crematorium, Holders Hill Road, Mill Hill NW7 1NB. Prayers will be held at Kenton Swaminarayan Mandir, Westfield Lane, Kenton on Saturday 15th November at 4:30pm.

Modi in Myanmar for ASEAN, East Asia summits

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at Nay Pyi Taw in the Myanmarese capital on Tuesday to attend the ASEAN and the East Asia summits on the first leg of his three-nation tour that will also take him to Australia and Fiji.

Modi arrived by a special Air India plane, starting his 10-day tour during which he will also attend the G-20 meet in Brisbane, Australia. “ASEAN is at the core of our Act East Policy and at the centre of our dream of an Asian century, characterised by cooperation and integration,” the Prime Minister said before his departure.

Modi said he was looking forward to discussing with ASEAN leaders how to take “our relationship to a new level, which will supplement our deepening bilateral ties with each member.”

The Prime Minister will meet over 40 leaders from countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, South America and Pacific Region during the IndiaAsean and East Asia summits on November 12-13 in Myanmar's capital Nay Pyi Taw, the G20 summit in Brisbane and the visit to Fiji Islands.

Noting that no other region in the world embodies so much dynamism or faces so many challenges as the region spanning the Indian Ocean, continental Asia and Pacific Ocean, he

said the East Asia Summit has the potential to shape this region and the world's future.

"At the East Asia Summit, I look forward to discussing with Asean and seven global leaders how we can strengthen regional institutions, international norms and regional cooperation in pursuit of peace, stability and prosperity," the Prime Minister said in a statement.

On the sidelines of the international summits in Myanmar, Modi is slated to meet Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Singapore President Tony Tan, besides the host President Thein Sein.

The Asean members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam, while the EAS members 10 Asean nations and Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the US. At the G20 summit, the Prime Minister said, highlighting the importance of international cooperation against black money would be a key issue.

He will also discuss with other leaders ways to accelerate the creation of next generation infrastructure, which also includes digital infrastructure, and ensure access to clean and affordable energy.

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

HEALTH WATCH

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Some surprising ways to reduce cancer risk

ancer is a disease we all fear, yet according to new figures there's been a steep rise in rates of types that are caused by lifestyle factors -triggered by excess alcohol, smoking, obesity and exposure to sun.

Instances of the disease affecting the liver, mouth, womb, kidney and skin have risen. While the numbers are shocking, the good news is these are cancers we can do something positive to try to prevent.

Experts suggest that a good chunk of cancer cases can be prevented if people simply ate better, kept to a healthy weight and exercised more.

But knowing where to start can be hard. Below are some specific tips from the latest research. Some may seem small and simple but taken together as part of a healthy lifestyle, they could help lower your risk of a variety of cancers.

Have a beer..but make sure it's one: Beer may help protect against the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which is known to cause ulcers and possibly linked to stomach cancer, so when consumed in strict moderation it could have some health benefits. But, drinking more than one or two alcoholic drinks a day will increase your risk of mouth, throat, oesophageal and liver cancer. And women should take extra care, as even one drink a day has been found to increase breast cancer risk by 10%. Experts now recommend aiming for two booze-free days a week.

Move every two hours: Scientists last month warned we should all sit less to avoid cancer.

Indeed, the risk of developing cancers, especially womb, bowel and lung, rises by up to 10% for every extra two hours sitting, according to a new review of studies by the University of Regensburg in Germany. The effect appeared to be unrelated to how much exercise people took when they were not in a chair or sofa, suggesting that even people who are physically active may increase their cancer risk by staying immobile for too long at a time.

Keep fruit out of the fridge: Studies show that chilled fruit contains fewer cancer-fighting nutrients

To Our Readers

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

than fruit kept at room temperature. For example, tomatoes and peppers stored in a bowl rather than the fridge can contain double the betacarotene and up to 20 times more lycopene -both of which have been linked to lowering rates of cancers.

Don't microwave veggies: If you are in the habit of blitzing veggies in the microwave while trying to raise your intake, you might want to switch to steaming instead. While studies show microwaving vegetables won't lower their vitamin C content, one Spanish study found it could destroy 97% of broccoli's cancer-protective flavonoids.

Ditch your scented candle: Believe it or not, the air in your home can

often be more polluted than outdoors. But while tobacco smoke is by far the worst pollutant, experts say that the volatile organic compounds released by certain cleaning products, air fresheners and some scented candles could be carcinogenic. While the jury is still out on how much of a threat this poses

to human health, it's easy to limit exposure to these sources by opening windows and doors often to keep your home well ventilated.

Pass on the salt (and don't add extra): Salt is linked to 14% of stomach cancer cases in the UK. Our daily intake should be less than 6g (2.4g sodium) so don't add any to food, and check the sodium content of shop-bought foods.

Sleep in total darkness: Many studies have linked prolonged exposure to artificial light at night, as experienced by long-term shift workers, to a higher risk of several cancers, including breast and prostate.

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Sushma’s Health & Beauty Blog My Hair Is Dry And Breaks Easily!

Am I Going To Lose My Hair!

This week, the Coolherbals Team ran Nutrigro Hair Loss Road Shows in Harrow and Ilford. Packed audiences asked burning questions regarding their hair problems.

Who do you think were in the majority in the audience - men or women?

Answer: women.

Are women more concerned about their hair than men?

Sushma Bhanot Pharmacist, Ayurvedic and Is it peer pressure that women more Homeopathic Consultant, makes Lecturer and Author. Heads inclined to do something Research and Development about their hair? Men are at Coolherbals less willing to discuss their hair loss issues and some go to the extent of shaving all theirs off, perhaps to look more macho, or to hide their hair loss problems.

Benidita asked: I have afro type hair that is dry and breaks easily. What can I do?

The simplest answer to dry hair is use a Hair Oil if you want a sleek glossy look or a Serum if you want water based finish. Use a shampoo for dry hair as well. If the hair is breaking it is probably too weak. Try this: Wet the hair with warm water to open the pores and to increase blood circulation to the scalp. Apply shampoo to the tips and then rub into the scalp.

Don’t apply the shampoo directly to the scalp. Excess shampoo can strip vital minerals like calcium and iron from the hair. Also excess shampoo in one spot can promote build up in one particular patch.

Shampoo with warm water to remove dirt and grease.

Then rinse hair with cold water to shrink the pores back to normal size. Run your hands through the hair in a to and fro movement, particularly to the thinning hair to generate heat. This activates the sebaceous glands and energizes blood flow increasing the chances of healthier hair.

Pat dry hair by blotting with a towel rather than rubbing it. This will pull hair when it is already in a weakened state due to the wetness.

Brush your hair only after drying it. Wetting hair helps straighten and detangle hair much better however the stress on the hair shaft is increased. Use a brush that has stiff and long bristles to increase the blood circulation in the scalp.

Use a non harsh non SLS shampoo that does not weaken hair. Sodium Lauryl sulphate (SLS) has been associated with hair loss problems.

Give hair food to strengthen hair. Hair is 97% protein. Get this from your diet ensuring you get all the 22 amino acid building blocks hair needs or from a supplement. Try some hair protein, vitamin and mineral capsules such as vegetarian based protein Nutrigro capsules or fish based protein Noukrin for three months and see if they make a difference.

Along with this follow the Nutrigro Plan. It is a plan that Professor Gupta of Bolton University calls “a revolutionary way to keep your hair for longer and combat hair loss”. Email me for more details on this or visit www.coolherbals.com. Email us your problems at sushma@coolherbals.com or ring 020 8597 9039.

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

Kamal Haasan Anushka makes others feel envious A turns 60, wields broom for Swachh Bharat

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ndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cleanliness drive programme, the Swachh Bharat campaign, received more star power with veteran Tamil actor Kamal Haasan wielding the broom to mark his 60th birthday at a lake near Chennai on November 7. The actor had been nominated by Modi when he had launched the programme in October. Haasan wielded the broom at the Rajakilpakkam lake and was joined by scores of his fans. The self-confessed atheist star expressed joy over being 'recognised' by the Prime Minister and said, "We are religion-free and colourless as far as politics is concerned. We hope this movement is strengthened." He reiterated his earlier statement that today's effort was nothing new for him or his supporters as "we have been doing this for a long time." Such an effort was part of nation-building exercise, he said, welcoming more people to join him.

t a time when actresses almost fade out or get ready to do character roles after just 5 years in the industry, one actress is making others feel envious of her by grabbing big chances even after being nearly a decade in the showbiz. She is the one of the first choices, when it comes to historical films and is still one of the best choices for romantic entertainers or mass masala flicks.

She is none other than Anushka Shetty. She has mesmerized the audiences with her beauty and the variety of characters she plays. Her 'Arundathi' is the best example that a film need not have a big hero to get huge collections and redefined calculations in the industry. She has even surprised the audiences with her ultra glamorous roles in some big films. Her dedication and hard work has made her one of most sought after

heroines in Telugu and Tamil film industries.

Next few months are going to be special for her as some big films of her are going to be released. The first

is “Lingaa,” in which she is paired opposite Super Star Rajinikanth, followed by Ajith - Gautam Menon film and then the most anticipated films 'Rudramadevi' and 'Baahubali'. Recently there was a buzz that she is going to make her Bollywood debut with the film, 'Juvenile', directed by E Niwas. But it was not confirmed by Anushka.

Gunasekhar, the director of 'Rudhramadevi', praised Anushka for the hard work she has put in for the film and said that he couldn't have made the film without Anushka. It tells the dedication of this Sweety. Even Rajamouli praised Anushka for her efforts for the film, 'Baahuabali'.With 'Baahubali', Anushka is all set to garner national and international attention as the film is going to be released even in other countries.

Tamil film ‘Nadu Iravu’ shot in 12 hours

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he makers of a horror flick have claimed that they had completed the shooting of the film in 12 hours, saying it was a first-ofits kind initiative in 60 years of Tamil cinema. “It was tough to complete the shooting starting at 6 pm and finishing at 6 am the next day,” the film’s director, Puthugai Marisa, was quoted as saying. The horror script, involving the adventures of three couples staying at a haunted bungalow enroute to a wedding is titled ‘Nadu Iravu’ (Midnight). Earlier, a multi star cast Tamil film titled ‘Suyamvaram’ was shot in 24 hours by various technical teams in 1999.

'Kill Dil'

After Modi, Salman invites SRK for sister's wedding

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It is a Hindi romantic action film directed by Shaad Ali and produced by Aditya Chopra under the banner of Yash Raj Films. The film stars Ranveer Singh, Parineeti Chopra and Ali Zafar in the lead roles, alongside Govinda who is going to play a negative role in the film.

Two killers - Dev (Ranveer Singh) and Tutu (Ali Zafar) were nurtured by Bhaiyaji (Govinda) who trained them to be killers. Dev falls in love with Disha (Parineeti Chopra). But Bhaiyaji does not accept the relationship between Dev and Disha. Around this evolves a story of defiance.

alman Khan seems to have kept aside all old differences and invited friend-turned-foe Shah Rukh Khan for his sister Arpita Khan's wedding reception to Aayush Sharma later in November. The two Khans have not been speaking to each other since a major tiff a few years ago. But now if reports are to be believed, Salman has himself gone and invited King Khan for the mega event. The guest list also includes big names from the industry.

The actor who was in Delhi has also invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally.

Nayanthara's New Role

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eyam Ravi is acting alongside Nayanthara for the first time in 'Thaniyoruvan'. The film is directed by Jeyam Raja and is expected to hit the screens by January. This is the sixth time the brothers Raja and Ravi join hands; further, this is the first direct Tamil film for Raja, who has helmed only remakes in Tamil, thus far.

And now news on what Nayan is up to in the film, has come out. The film will have Nayanthara sporting a cop look! She plays an IPC officer and there are interesting scenes for the actress to flaunt her action skills. As part of her role, she will ride a horse, for which she has been taking training to climb the horse swiftly clad in cop attire. We hear that the team is in awe with Nayan's attitude as a cop and horse riding skills. So, we can definitely look forward to having another classy police in the tinsel town.

Acting nude is a big Sonakshi pledges responsibility: to donate her eyes Nandana Sen

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ctress Nandana Sen has gone bold on the screen to play renowned painter Raja Ravi Varma’s in muse “ R a n g Rasiya.” She admits doing nude scenes is a huge responsibility and she had talked it out with her parents before giving her nod. After remaining in the cans for more than five years, the period drama, based on Ranjit Desai’s novel titled ‘Raja Ravi Varma,’ unfolded riots of colours and passion on the screen with Randeep Hooda in the role of the father of modern Indian art, and Nandana as his creative inspiration. The film is set to revisit an era that was revolutionised by the painter who not only gave faces to gods and goddesses in his work, but also painted nudes.

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ollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha has joined the names like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan, R Madhavan, Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao and pledged to donate her eyes. She made the pledge to a Haryana-based foundation which works towards the eradication of corneal blindness.

Speaking about the same, Sonakshi said that she was extremely proud and humbled to be associated with the foundation’s cause. She also appealed to her fans and friends to pledge to donate their eyes too and give somebody the gift of sight.

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

I don't believe in Love Jihad: Kareena K

areena Kapoor, who is married to actor filmmaker Saif Ali Khan, says that she doesn't believe in Love Jihad. "Feeling of love" which, she says, can happen between two people regardless of caste, creed, or religion. "I believe only in the feeling of love," Kareena said.

"Saif has a very broad perspective and he also shared his perspective on 'Love Jihad' (via an open letter). He married a Hindu, which is me, and we had a civil marriage," said the actress. "I feel that love is something that you can't term.

There is passion, there is lust... there are so many things. It can happen between two human beings," said Kareena.

"Now if somebody is Hindu and he or she starts loving a Muslim person, you can't stop them. You cannot ask somebody, 'Are you a Muslim or a Hindu?' and then fall in love. Love

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Aamir Khan loves tall women!

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amir Khan is known in the industry for his perfection and there is nothing that can come in between. The requirement of the script has been his priority even if that means romancing actresses who are taller than him. Aamir even said at an event that he loved tall women. So here is the list of taller actresses Aamir has worked with in his films. Anushka Sharma in “PK,” Katrina Kaif in “Dhoom:3,” Sonali Bendre in “Sarfarosh” and Pooja Bedi in “Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar:”

is a feeling, it's an emotion. That's why I don't believe in Love Jihad. I believe in the feeling of love," added the 34-year-old.

Co-incidentally her next film with Salman Khan "Bajrangi Bhaijan" is also about a Brahmin girl and Muslim boy. The "Bajrangi Bhaijan" team started shooting in the bylanes of Chandni Chowk, Delhi. "I am looking forward to working with Salman. We are like family. Before my marriage, he worked with me and now he is working with me after my marriage, so I am excited," said the actress who was seen with Salman in "Bodyguard".

With over a decade's experience, Kareena is now ready to experiment with new talent and she has as many as 25 scripts from new directors, "which I have not even started reading. I am going to read each and every script." "I have always worked with big directors and I am still working with big directors like Rohit Shetty and Kabir Khan, but now I want to work with somebody who is fresh.

Five vigilantes take justice in their hands in 'Ungali'

n Dharma Productions' “Ungali,” five vigilantes take justice in their hands. The film which is being released on 28th November is set in a sprawling metropolis, where corruption, intimidation and violence are a way of life. The underworld led by a sinister mob demands obedience and respect. Enter five rebels, who decide that they have had enough of the corruption that has blighted their city, and so decide to unite and expose the corrupt through whatever means necessary. The only thing that stands in their path is a tenacious police officer named ‘Kale’, portrayed by veteran actor Sanjay Dutt.

The cast includes Emraan Hashmi, taking the helm as the rebel leader ‘Nikhil,’ award-winning actress Kangana Ranaut and Randeep Hooda.

The film also boasts of a terrific supporting cast comprising of Neil Bhoopalam, Neha Dupia and Arunoday Singh. Shraddha Kapoor makes a special appearance in an item number. It is directed by Rensil D’Silva..

Capturing the current mood in

Anushka wants transistor as a memento

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nushka Sharma, who will get busy with the promotions of “PK,” wanted the transistor which was the on seen posters of the film as a souvenir. the Confirming same, filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani revealed that Anushka has requested for it. The first look of the film which was released in August had Aamir Khan posing nude holding a transistor. While this one garnered eyeballs and led to many controversies, a few weeks later, Anushka had revealed on Twitter that she too would be posing with the transistor. So, the other poster of the film not only had Anushka in a new avatar but also she was seen fulfilling her promise.

India of curbing corruption, bribery and intimidation in the upper echelons of power and authority, “Ungli” is a beautifully acted and directed narrative that conveys in an effective and humorous manner how five ordinary citizens can make a difference in a city blighted by dark forces, as they literally give the proverbial ‘finger’ to the corrupt and dishonest.

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Amitabh to now focus on movies

fter wrapping up the eighth edition of game show ‘Kaun B a n e g a Crorepati’ (KBC), megastar Amitabh Bachchan now awaits the “verdict of masses” on his forthcoming films set for a 2015 release.

The 72-year-old is currently shooting for three projects – ‘Shamitabh’, ‘Piku’ and ‘Wazir’.

Director R Balakrishnan, fondly called Balki, is helming ‘Shamitabh’ that also features Dhanush and marks the Bollywood debut of southern superstar actor Kamal Haasan’s daughter Akshara.

Filmmaker Shoojit Sircar’s ‘Piku’ will see Amitabh along with Deepika Padukone and Irrfan, while ‘Wazir’ is Bejoy Nambiar’s directorial venture, which is

written and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The film also stars Farhan Akhtar and Aditi Rao Hyadri.

“KBC over shall mean greater concentration on the films on hand .. with ‘Shamitabh’ and ‘Piku’ and ‘Wazir’ the Vinod Chopra produced Bijoy Nambiar directed film on the floors now …,” he said in his blog post.

“All to be released by the year of 2015…and I await the verdict, as do many that are involved in it, when it shall reach the masses… the masses … the final answer, the final question, the final outcome…”

The grand finale episode of the eighth edition of KBC was aired on Nov 9 on Sony Entertainment Television.

AV & GS COMPETITION

Win Two tickets to the Alka Yagnik and Kumar Sanu Concert

Priyanka makes singing debut

P

r i y a n k a Chopra who made everyone singing proud internationally will finally sing for her own film.

After singing a small portion of a lullaby in Mary Kom, PeeCee is gearing up to full fledged croon for her upcoming film, “Dil Dhadakne Do.” With her contract getting over with internal music label, Priyanka is free and has lent her voice for the title track of the film. "In her upcoming film, she has sung a song that will be part of end credits. It is a fun composition and she really loved singing it.

This is the first time that she has done playback singing for a Bollywood film," said a source.

Asian Voice / Gujarat Samachar is offering 1 lucky winner, 2 tickets to the Alka Yagnik and Kumar Sanu concert on 22nd November when you answer the question below.

Where will the Alka Yagnik and Kumar Sanu concert take place on 22nd November, 2014 ?

a) O2 Arena b) Hammersmith Apollo c) Wembley Arena

Choose your answer and email it to rovin.george@abplgroup.com by 18th November, 2014 (12pm).

Please send us the details in the following format: Answer, Full name, Contact number, Postal Address.

Winner will be chosen by a lucky draw and will be contacted directly by our staff.

30

UK

Pat McFadden MP joins Diwali celebrations

Pat McFadden, MP for South East sent greetings to his constituents at the Diwali celebrations at the Bilston Community Centre on 8 November 2014. Mr McFadden said, “It is a great honour to join the Ek Onkar Group and the Ekta Sangat Group in their Diwali celebrations this year. Diwali means a great deal to thousands of my constituents and it has become an important part of Wolverhampton’s annual calendar.

I send my warmest Diwali greetings to all my constituents. I also want to congratulate the Ek Onkar Group and the Ekta Sangat Group on raising £850 for local charity the Divine Onkar Mission which will be used to build a well in India.”

Diwali on the Parade

A Diwali market, Asian arts talent show and Indian cultural workshops will be held in celebration of the Hindu festival of lights in Watford, Hertfordshire. This will be free and open to all members of the public from 124:30pm as part of 'Diwali on the Parade'. At 4:20pm, a light procession , formed of attendees, performers and community groups, armed with their own divas (lanterns), will accompany an impressive illuminated Lord Ganesh, mobile peacocks and dhol drums up the parade, which will be a sight to behold! Later, 'Diwali at the Palace' will see the Watford Palace Theatre showcase a special evening of spectacular classical Indian dance and drama, featuring a large cast of performers, stunning costumes, multimedia projections and English narration. This will be followed by a complimentary post-show Indian snack. Talented hosts Harman Singh and Nimi Mehta will be hosting the community performance stage all day from 12 noon to 4.30pm which will include:

Workshops taking place as part of Diwali on the Parade include: The Culture of India Tent Take part in a traditional Indian music or dance workshop Get dressed up in a beautiful sari and imagine yourself in a Bollywood film (continuously through the day) Get your face painted with Gopi Dots – traditional Indian designs that are used to decorate around the eyes, brow and cheeks. (continuously throughout the day) Indulge in some beautiful Mendi designs – (continuously throughout the day - charges applicable) Or just come along and ask about any of the activities displayed here and collect a free information booklet to take away.

Join the International Society for Krishna Consciousness for meditation workshops (on the hour from 1pm to 4pm.

Sessions last 15 – 20 minutes). Listen to a talk on 'Spirituality: An Eastern Perspective'.

(1.20pm, 2.20pm, 3.20pm and 4.20pm – talks last approximately 20 minutes). Visit mini Diwali

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Market will have a great selection of Indian foods, clothing, accessories, crafts, homeware and more.

For more: www.watfordpalacetheatre.co.uk

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

British Kutchi Special

Great Britain has about 40,000 people of Kutchi origin, mainly of Patel community. Their achievement in education, profession, entertainment, community service and other positive aspects of life will be included in the forthcoming special issues.

Publication date: 29 November 2014. For further detail, please contact Daxa Gami, Special Project Coordinator at 07875 229 111 or Kishor Parmar at 07875 229 088 or Kokila Patel at 07875 229 177 Kamal Rao at 07875 229 211

Coming Events

l Chorna Haathma Chaavi- Marriage is a Gamble, Sun 23 Nov, 4pm, £10 tickets, by Shivam Theatre, The Drum. Contact 01213332444 l Sampad South Asian arts and British Council India are announcing the launch of a new collection of short stories, poems and reportage which form the winning entries to their international writing competition, “Inspired by my museum”. A similar publication “Inspired by Tagore” was brought out by Sampad and British Council India in 2011-12. To mark the publication of the anthology, the High Commission of India is organising a discussion forum which will feature guest speakers and readings by select winners. It would be my pleasure to invite you to India House on November 19, 2014 at 5 pm for the event to commence at 5:30pm. The discussion is expected to last for about an hour followed by refreshments. Venue: Gandhi Hall, India House, High Commission of India, Aldwych, WC2B 4NA

The fiery planet Mars, continues to occupy your Solar 10th house for some time to come.

Its influence will help you to maintain a high energy level and achieve positive results in anything that requires drive and initiative. If you are involved in a fairly competitive field of activity, you will be the one who comes out on top.

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 The prevailing pattern of planets gives you a marvellous opportunity. Take time out to strengthen close ties of affection, sort out emotional differences and proffer the olive branch to anyone who may have caused you pain in recent months. Venus throws an easy light on affairs of the heart - prime time for engagements and weddings.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 Health is an important area that you will take seriously. It is likely that you may embark on a course of physical exercise and diet. It could be quite a difficult week psychologically with increased danger of misunderstandings arising and not being able to see the wood from the trees. Try to be diplomatic.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22

Jupiter is transiting your solar second house for some time to come. During this transit, you have the chance to make lots of money and improve your standard of living. You are likely to feel more confident and enthusiastic about life.

Your personal relationships are still going through a period of re-assessment.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

The prevailing astrological trend indicates increasing vigour and stamina. At an ordinary everyday level you can expect this to be a pleasant time, indulging in the good things of life. At a deeper level, there does appear to be a new energy stirring within you. This will urge you towards creating greater independence in your lifestyle.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23

Your communications are at their peak and any initiatives you take now will be well received by people in authority. An exchange of opinions ought to prove very enlivening at this time. Although the very practical affairs of life continue to be highlighted, you will still be very much in demand socially.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23 The focus is on finances this week, but that doesn’t mean you should worry yourself sick. Rather, it is about finding new and improved ways to boost your earnings potential. Don’t let nebulous tendencies interfere with your plans. It’s fine to consider several options but don’t get caught up in indecision.

Schedule networking opportunities later this week.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22 You will find added scope and greater incentive to push full steam ahead with your cherished aims. You must be careful not to tread on other people's toes. This is the right time to talk things over with your loved one - especially anything that has been worrying you or making you feel insecure.

Urvashi Jagadeesan (India) Mumbai: Kanti Bhatt, Hemraj Shah (Jumbo Advertiser) Horizon Advertising & Marketing: 2012, Shalibhadra Complex, Opp. Jain Derasar, Nr. Nehru Nagar Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad. Tel +91 79 2646 5960 Email: horizon.marketing@abplgroup.com Business Manager: Hardik Shah (M) +91 99250 42936 Email: hardik.shah@abplgroup.com Advertising Manager: Neeta Patel (Vadodara) M: +91 98255 11702 Email: neeta_abplgroup@yahoo.co.in Business Co-ordinator: Shrijit Rajan M: +91 98798 82312 Email: shrijit.rajan@abplgroup.com International Advertisement Representative: Jain Group (South India) Tel: +91 44 42041122/3/4 Fax: +91 44 25362973 Mumbai: +91 022 2471 4122 Email: jain@jaingroup.net Delhi Office: Tel: +91 9311581597

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SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21 You may find yourself hard at work behind the scenes, although that may not be apparent to others. You may find yourself caught up in a whirlwind of activity, with opportunities to advance on both the inner and outer level. There’s a sparkle to your social life and you will have fun communicating with others.

Business partnerships are tested, some of them could challenge your authority. The more you live up to your own set of principles the more you will gain. Now is the time to cultivate an easier relationship with life, get out and about, explore fresh possibilities. Once you set your mind on a goal you must go for it.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19 Although all kinds of opportunities are coming your way, there are many obstacles between you and the fulfilment of any of these. You’re likely to find yourself weighing practical considerations with long–term goals.

Some of you will try to get away from the routine chores.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20 Your horizons are most certainly expanding. Your philosophical thoughts will make your mind run wild. With Sun transiting your Solar 9th House, there will be many opportunities. Your financial affairs are looking up. Do not miss out on ways to better yourself in the coming weeks.

Injured Dhoni to miss Brisbane test, Kohli to captain

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

Virat Kohli will lead India in the first test against Australia in Brisbane next month in the absence of injured regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian cricket board said on Monday.

"M.S. Dhoni has been rested for the first test as a prophylactic measure to ensure optimum recovery," board secretary Sanjay Patel said in a statement, without elaborating on what the local media described as a right hand injury.

"He will join the team from the second test onwards, and will lead the team for the rest of the test series," added Patel, announcing a 19-member squad for the four-match series starting in Brisbane on Dec 4.

The Indian men's hockey team delivered a fantastic performance to defeat World Champions Australia 3-1 to win their third successive match and clinch the four-match Test series 3-1 at the Perth Hockey Stadium on Sunday. Upbeat about their last two triumphs against the World No.1 side, who have fielded an experimental team, India opened the first quarter with all strength and dynamism, as a result of which the initial goal came in the 13th minute from the stick of Akashdeep Singh, who perfectly converted a penalty corner. However, Australia made a comeback in the third quarter as Thomas Craig converted a penalty corner (36th minute) to level the scores 1-1. The game strengthened after the equaliser as both teams looked for creating chances. In the final quarter, it was Akashdeep again who scored a stunning field goal (50th). In no time S.K. Uthappa faultlessly scored another field goal (53rd) to put India 3-1 ahead.

India down Australia, clinch series 3-1

In Dhoni's absence, Wriddhiman Saha is expected to keep wicket in Brisbane, although Naman Ojha will also fancy his chances of being handed the role.

Karnataka opener K.L. Rahul was rewarded for his rich vein of form in domestic cricket by forcing his way into the squad

but Shikhar Dhawan is likely to partner Murali Vijay at the top of the batting order.

O f f - s p i n n e r Ravichandran Ashwin will lead India's slow bowling department, while legspinner Karn Sharma was also included.

Umesh Yadav, who played the last of his nine tests against England in late 2012, returns to join Ishant Sharma in the pace attack, which also includes Varun Aaron and Mohammed Shami.

Left-handed batsman Suresh Raina, an automatic limited over choice, was also recalled in the side after a two-year absence.

India, reigning 50-over world champions, have slipped to sixth in test

rankings and will take on a second-ranked Australia side still smarting from a 2-0 series defeat by Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates earlier this month.

Brisbane hosts the first test, followed by matches in Adelaide (Dec. 12-16), Melbourne (Dec. 26-30) and Sydney (Jan. 3-7).

Team: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, K.L. Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Wriddhiman Saha, Naman Ojha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Karn Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron.

Terming the controversial pull out by West Indies midway their India tour as “unacceptable,” the International Cricket Council warned players against taking contractual matters into their own hands and hinted that they could be penalised by disallowing them to play in domestic tournaments like the Indian Premier League if they repeat such acts in future.

The West Indies team left India four matches into a five-game ODI series after a pay dispute between the players and the West Indies Cricket Board, with a Twenty20 international and three Tests to play. As a result, the Board of Control for Cricket in India have demanded $42 million in compensation and damages. ICC said in a statement that the pull out by the West Indies team damaged cricket's integrity and reputation.

“It was undoubtedly a sad chapter in our sport.

It damaged cricket's integrity and reputation as well as affecting confi-

dence within cricket community, especially that of fans,” said ICC chairman N Srinivasan after the crisis was discussed during the world body's two-day board meeting. “ICC and all of its Member Boards noted with deep disappointment the recent decision of the West Indies players to abandon an international tour without fulfilling the contractually agreed playing obligations between WICB and BCCI,” said ICC, which has previously stated it cannot intervene in disputes over bilateral series unless it receives a complaint.

“Putting aside the legitimacy or otherwise of

any grievances of parties involved (and which are now the subject of a domestic Task Force probe), ICC and all Member Boards noted that players abandoning tours have the potential to cause irrevocable damage to the sport. `It can also damage in jurisdiction of relevant Member Board concerned, as well as enormous financial damage, which might adversely affect financial viability of sport itself.”

All Member Boards collectively expressed the view that they consider such player action to be extremely disruptive, damaging and unacceptable,” ICC said.

Raj Vijayarajah will train at the Football TradeNext FootballCV Association’s St George’s Academy. At the moment I Park Centre of Excellence. just train at school. I don’t And I get a week with the play for a team. I was top coaches at the shocked when my name

was announced as the winner. But I think the judges saw my hunger and passion during the Final. I want to say thank you to my dad who brought me here today. He has supported me all the way through SFAAFS.” Arsenal Football Club scout Tony Day, top freestyler Abbas Farid, BBC Asian Network presenter Noreen Khan and TradeNext Chief Executive Officer Mohsin Jameel formed the judging panel at Wembley Powerleague on Saturday November 8.

Abbas said: “Raj stood out in his age group during

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

ICC slams WI for pull out of India tour

SPORT WORLD

Virat, Mithali on ICC awards list

Indian batsman Virat Kohli was nominated for the ICC One-Day International (ODI) Cricketer of the year while India women's captain Mithali Raj was nominated for two awards -the ICC Women's ODI as well as T20I Cricketer of the Year. However, no other Indian was selected for any of the other major award categories of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Kohli will be competing for the award against South Africans Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn, who have also been shortlisted. De Villiers won the award in 2010 while Kohli won it in 2012. For the Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year award, two former winners have been shortlisted -England captain Charlotte Edwards, winner in 2008, and twotime winner Stafanie Taylor of the West Indies.

They are joined by No.1 ranked batter Mithali Raj and England wicketkeeper-batter Sarah Taylor.

There will be a new winner of the Women's T20I Cricketer of the Year after the previous two awards were won by England's Taylor. The players shortlisted this year are Edwards of England, Meg Lanning of Australia, India's Mithali and West Indies' Taylor.

Mithali is one of the seven cricketers who have been nominated for two awards. The others are de Villiers, Edwards, Mitchell Johnson, Angelo Mathews, Kumar

Sangakkara and Taylor.

Dhoni, Kohli, Shami in ICC ODI Team India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Kohli and pacer Mohammed Shami were included in the prestigious ICC One-Day International (ODI) Team of the Year 2014 while Rohit Sharma also got into the list as the 12th man.

However, Indian cricketers also had to face disappointment as none were named in the ICC Test Team of the Year 2014. Dhoni has been selected in the ODI Team for the eighth time, seventh year in a row, and the fifth year that he has been appointed captain.

Players previously selected in the team are AB de Villiers (2010, 2011 and 2013), Kohli (2012) and Ajantha Mendis (2009).

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews has been named captain of the Test side that also includes two more Sri Lankans in Kumar Sangakkara and Rangana Herath. This is the seventh time since 2006 that Sangakkara has been selected in the Test team.

He missed out in 2009 and 2013. Dale Steyn has also been selected for a record seventh successive year while teammate de Villiers has been selected for the fifth time (2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014). Stuart Broad (2009, 2011 and 2012) and Mitchell Johnson (2009) are the other players who have previously been included in the Test team..

Midfield ace Raj wins search for an Asian football star

Talented Asian footballer Raj Vijayarajah has won the nationwide Search For An Asian Football Star competition. Central midfielder Raj, 16, from Ilford, Essex, beat more than 500 young players to lift the SFAAFS Winner’s Cup and a series of great prizes that could change his career in football.

Raj said: “To win Search For An Asian Football Star really is a dream come true. The prizes are amazing. I will be going to a Trials Day in front of scouts from Premier League and Football League clubs. I

the Final. But it wasn’t an easy decision. “The standard of football was exceptionally high. It took us a while to agree that Raj deserved to be crowned the SFAAFS winner.”

Raj entered the SFAAFS at the London Docklands event last month [October], and immediately caught the eye of the FA-qualified coaches. In the Final he stood out in the Under-16 category against nine other top players from across the country.

Raj received his Under-16 Winner’s Cup and the SFAAFS Overall

31

Winner’s Cup from TradeNext CEO Mohsin Jameel.

Mohsin said: “This has been an exceptional success as a first-time sporting event for our company.

We are already enjoying a Preferred Partnership with Derby County Football Club. “We are enormously proud of our Search For An Asian Football Star competition – and very impressed by the standard of the players we have seen.”

For more info on Search For An Asian Football Star, please visit: www.tradenextsport.com

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SPORT

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 15th November 2014

Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan take India to series win

Indian team consigned Sri Lanka to their third defeat in the five-match series with Shikhar Dhawan's 91complementing the fine show of the bowlers and ensuring a six-wicket win on a day of milestones.

A full house at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad had plenty to cheer as Virat Kohli, who during his 53 became the fastest in the world to reach 6000-run club in ODIs, and team-mates asserted their superiority over the Lankans in all facets of the game despite the visiting side recovering well in the middle overs through Mahela Jayawardene's 17th ton in One-day Internationals.

The former Lankan skipper was a picture of calm during his 118, but apart from his knock and the 105-run stand for the third wicket with Tillakaratne Dilshan, the Lankans had little to show by way of spirit or enterprise. The poor record of teams chasing down a target here might have been at the back of Angelo

Shikhar Dhawan Mathews' mind when he decided to bat first, but they were soon fishing in troubled waters.

Umesh Yadav made the initial inroads, Ambati Rayudu got rid of Dilshan courtesy Ajinkya Rahane's brilliance at extra cover and left-arm spinner Axar Patel's second spell (3-111-3) wrecked the Lankan hopes in the second Powerplay, during which

and Virat Kohli they scored 16 runs and lost three wickets.

Jayawardene was unfazed by the chaos around him, but the fact that the Lankans couldn't make the most of the six overs bowled by Suresh Raina and Rayudu was indicative of their struggle on a day the Indians claimed all the wickets from the Northern end and 11 wides notwith-

standing, can look back with satisfaction at their bowling effort.

The 12,000-run mark in ODIs was another milestone that the 426-match veteran Jayawardene crossed - the third Lankan and fifth overall to achieve the feat - during his 67-run stand for the eighth wicket with Seekkuge Prasanna before Ashwin ended the resistance with Wriddhiman Saha alert to the opportunity behind the sticks.

Rahane and Rayudu failed to make good the starts, the latter finding himself a handshake away from Dhawan at the nonstriker's end attempting a single. Kohli, too, fell on the threshold of victory but by then India were sure they'd travel to Kolkata with the series in the bag and the skipper happy in the knowledge that he has maintained the trend of being the quickest to 6,000 like he was to 3,000, 4,000 and 5,000.

He reached the 6000-run mark in just his 136th innings (144 matches). Sir Viv Richards did it in 156

matches and 141 innings.

IRayudu century puts India 2-0 up: Ambati Rayudu hit a chanceless maiden ODI ton, as India ran down Sri Lanka's 275 for 8 with six wickets in hand and 33 balls to spare.

Rayudu and Shikhar Dhawan put on 122 runs for the second wicket to set up the chase, and having come to bat in the seventh over, Rayudu was at the crease to hit the winning runs and finish on 121 off 118 balls.

Sri Lanka's bowlers were short on menace, but it had been the batsmen who erred first in the game. Early wickets in their innings made for a measured recovery, and though Angelo Mathews' unbeaten 92 pushed the score towards credibility, he lacked support from the middle order, as the team finished at least 30 runs light on a flat Motera surface in Ahmedabad, and with dew set to form later in the evening.

Rayudu arrived just as the Sri Lanka seamers appeared to be hitting a rhythm, but like they had

done in the previous ODI, the India batsmen sought to lay low until the seam grew soft and the changes were rung in. Dhawan was handed had a life in the eighth over, when he was on 10. Lahiru Gamage seamed a length ball away and collected his outside edge, but the sound and the clear deviation escaped the umpire's notice, to Sri Lanka's disbelief.

Once the new-ball bowlers had finished their opening spells, the batsmen eased out of their vigil and gradually tightened their grip on the chase. The first acceleration came just as the asking rate clicked over six per over. Rayudu strode down the track to launch Suraj Randiv over long on in the 17th over, establishing what would become one of the major themes of his hundred: the effective use of his feet against the spinners.

By the 20th over, the pair had raised the run rate to above four an over, and the boundaries began to flow more easily.