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VOL 41. ISSUE 44

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16th March to 22nd March 2013

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Nirbhaya gang-rape accused commits suicide In a mysterious twist in the gruesome Delhi gangrape case, prime accused Ram Singh allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail on Monday morning but his family and lawyers claimed it was a murder and that too after being sexually assaulted.

In a development that raised questions over monitoring of undertrials, jail officials said, Ram Singh (35), who has a slight deformity in his right hand after an accident, hanged himself from a rod in the ceiling of his cell in Jail No

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EXCLUSIVE

National Apprenticeship Week

What about the BAMEs, Mr Cameron?

Ram Singh

3 using his clothes.

However, officials, including Tihar Director General Vimla Mehra, declined to give details of how the death could have taken place, adding to its mystery.

Continued on page 26

PM David Cameron speaking to the young apprentices at Mercedes-Benz in Milton Keynes Photo courtesy: 10 Downing Street

Salman Khurshid hosts lunch for Pak PM Ashraf

Raja Pervez Ashraf (left) with Salman Khurshid

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Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf prayed at the Ajmer Sharif shrine for peace in his country during his

short visit to Ajmer and Jaipur, where India’s external affairs Minister Salman Khurshid hosted lunch for him but no bilateral issue, including terrorism, was discussed.

Ashraf, accompanied by a 40-member delegation, including 20 family members, was received at the Sanganer airport in Jaipur by Rajasthan government officials and straight away drove to the lunch venue, Rambagh Palace.

Continued on page 26

Rupanjana Dutta PM David Cameron marked the start of National Apprenticeship Week, and met young apprentices at training academies in Milton Keynes on Monday and Buckinghamshire later in the week. He challenged the employers, educators, and the government on how we can reach this aspiration and expand apprenticeship opportunities for young people, so that those who aspire to get ahead and want to take one up can. This is similar to what happens in Germany where the vast majority of school leavers go to university

or into an apprenticeship to build a stronger economy.

The Coalition Government is investing almost £1.5bn on this programme in 2013.

The National Apprenticeship Week is definitely a step in the right direction, but Mr Cameron we must dare to ask you, how well do you know the 'realities' of your own country? To extend equal apprenticeship opportunities to the BAMEs, you need a different approach- an extra effort, some more research and a comprehensive study of the existing gap. We do not know if you are aware,

but the BAMEs do have a glass ceiling to break and while you preach about an equal and meritocratic society, let’s look at the exact figures of the BAMEs in unemployment or universities.

As per the report of organisation like TUC on Youth unemployment and ethnicity, an analysis shows that among ethnic minority groups, White young people have the lowest unemployment rates (20%), Asians (29%), while Black groups have a rate that is more than twice as high (45%). The unemployment rate for Indian, Pakistani/ Bangladeshi

groups is around 10 percentage points higher than for White groups, and Black / African / Caribbean groups are more than twice as likely to be unemployed than their White counterparts. The unemployment rate for these groups is more than double the national youth rate.

Some 265,730 people living in Britain had applied to start degree courses this autumn by December 17, and figures show that it is down by 6.3 per cent on the same point from the previous year.

Continued on page 7

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UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 16th March 2013

Keith Vazwith MP

Keith Vaz MP

Jenni Thomas OBE

faith in my ability.

Jean Macdonald was an inspirational role model and taught me that the NHS is at its best when all staff, from nursery nurses to senior consultants, work together in a caring and inclusive way.

Founder and President of the Child Bereavement Charity Jenni worked in the NHS from the early 1960s until her recent retirement from Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust where she was Maternity and Paediatric Bereavement Facilitator. Jenni Thomas OBE is the Founder and President of the Child Bereavement Charity which she founded in 1994. In 2000, she was joint winner of the inaugural Nye Bevan Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her services to the NHS. In January 2002, Jenni received the O.B.E. in recognition of her work with the Child Bereavement Charity.

Following her retirement from the NHS in 2008 Jenni has worked on a consultancy basis for the South London Health Care NHS Trust, Angus Lawson Memorial Trust and Rosie's Fund supporting bereaved families and educating and supporting professionals.

Please tell us about your current position?

I am patron of two charities: the Angus Lawson Memorial Trust (ALMT) and Rosie's Rainbow Fund (RRF). I work for both as a bereavement counsellor, providing support to grieving families with a child who is dying or has died and where children are facing life without a parent, prime carer or brother or sister.

What are your proudest achievements?

My proudest achievements include working for the NHS, where I started as a nursery nurse in the 1960s. I went on to develop bereavement services and communication

skills training, both of which were adopted across the UK by the NHS. In 2000 I was awarded the Nye Bevan lifetime achievement award by Tony Blair for this work.

The other achievement of which I am most proud was the creation of the Child Bereavement Charity. With the support of a wonderful group of trustees, I founded CBC in 1994 and worked as director, chief executive and finally, president until 2009.

What has been the biggest obstacle in your career?

The biggest obstacle in my NHS career was persuading doctors and senior managers to take account of patients'

views and that their psychological and emotional needs are as important as their clinical needs.

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

The biggest influences on me have been my mother, Joan and Jean Macdonald, manager of the Special Care Baby Unit at High Wycombe Hospital, where my NHS career started. Despite having been widowed when I was two years old, my mother gave me tremendous support and encouraged me to have

What is the best thing about your current role?

People often ask me whether working in the field of bereavement has brought sadness to my own life. It is not an easy job, but it has brought me great fulfilment.

I have drawn inspiration from the way that people show such courage in coping with the most grievous and heart breaking loss. And I have been fortunate to work with people who have offered me great support in all aspects of my work.

And the worst?

Although I am now officially semi- retired, my diary is as full as ever and I have exciting things planned for the year ahead!

What are your long term goals?

I will continue my role training and supporting maternity

Senior doctor gropes trainee surgeons Dr Humayun Iqbal, 40, has been accused of molesting two junior colleagues at a hospital located in Newcastle.

The senior doctor made sexual advances, by groping a trainee surgeon before telling her, “well that's what juniours are for isn't it?”, a medical tribunal was heard.

He had been carrying out a private anatomy lesson when he allegedly forced himself upon the woman and tried to steal a kiss before putting his hand down her blouse.

His juniour colleague protested and told him off.

Even then, Mr Iqbal responded replied: “I have to practice for my wife”, later adding: “At the end of your rotation you will be begging for it.”

The woman, known as Dr B, was one of the major female colleagues molested

by Iqbal while he was working as a registrar, a Medical Council hearing has been told.

Its was heard the Iqbal manipulated his victims and behaved inappropriately towards them under the name of teaching.

The alleged incident involving Dr B occurred in December 2009 after Iqbal

Dr Humayun Iqbal

invited her for 'further teaching' in an empty coffee room. He began to say inappropriate things like, “I have to practice for my wife.”

According to Peter Atherton, Iqbal allegedly asked the woman an anatomy question and when she answered correctly he hugged her before tightening his embrace while forcibly kissing her.

He also invited her to attend a course in Canada.

She made it very clear that his advances were not welcome.

Later, after she moved hospitals, Iqbal allegedly sent the junior surgeon an offensive text which prompted her to make a for-

mal complaint against him.

The text said: “A good boss is like a bra- always supportive and never lets you down, a bad boss is like Pampers- always stuck to your a***.”

The second victim to Iqbal's molestation was known as Miss A, a nurse practitioner who had started training at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Iqbal was said to have lured her to a lecture theatre in November 2009. He used the pretext of “demonstrating relevant anatomy” before fondling her breast.

The victim told the hearing that he was actually drawing pictures of lungs and different incisions, when “he touched me on the back”. Then “he moved his hand from the back to the front, my right breast.”

In shock, she moved away and sat back.

It was claimed that following the incident the woman lost weight, suffered sleepless nights and struggled to do her work.

“I felt very uncomfortable because he touched me.

I had just been working there and I didn't want to cause any trouble. I just want to get on with him,”

added Miss A. She reported the incident after she attended an interview with the consultant the following February and confessed at the hospital that she had been “unhappy” because of Iqbal.

A nursing colleague of Miss A told the hearing in Manchester: “She had a terrible experience after a day in theatre with Dr Iqbal. She said he had behaved inappropriately with her and she was frightened. It had quite an impact on her.”

Miss A demonstrated what had happened to her colleague and the colleague stated: “...she was touching me in that area so I felt embarrassed, it wasn't a lingering, it was a hand sweep”.

In a subsequent hospital trust disciplinary proceeding relating to both the women, Iqbal claimed Dr B had made “racist” comments towards him. He claimed the only reason as to why he had to taken her to the coffee room was to tackle her over a complaint made about her work. These allegation were strongly denied by Dr B. Dr Humayun Iqbal, from Ponteland, Newcastle, denies misconduct.

and paediatric staff at the South London Hospitals NHS Trust. I am promoting my new book for children, 'What Does Dead Mean?' and have plans for another book on a related subject.

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

If I was Prime Minister I would make sure that caring management of NHS staff is given a much higher priority.

This is a better way of improving the NHS than relying on targets alone .Its especially hard to provide equitable and appropriate care to patients when staff are not valued and morale is so low .The ethos in the NHS needs to change using as a model the hospice service .

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

I would choose Lord Louis Mountbatten who was appointed by Clement Atlee to be the last Viceroy of India.

He was killed by the IRA while out at sea fishing off the coast of Ireland with his beloved family. His daughter Countess Patricia Mountbatten survived the bomb although their twin son Nicholas died as a result of this terrorism. I am inspired by the forgiveness of the Mountbatten family.

Age UK Harrow backs Harrow Council’s Big Energy Switch The Chief Executive of a well known charity is asking residents to sign up to Harrow Council’s Big Energy Switch.

Harrow Council has joined a London-wide scheme which will use collective buying power to force energy prices down and could see residents saving up to £200 on their energy bills. So far almost 300 Harrow residents, and 6,000 people across London, have signed up to the scheme, but the more people who register for Harrow’s Big Energy Switch, the better the deal we will be able to negotiate for our residents, so sign up today!

Avani Modasia, Chief Executive of Age UK Harrow, thinks the scheme is a great idea. She said: “I think that all of our residents should sign up to Harrow Council’s Big Energy Switch.

I’ve even signed up myself to a similar scheme where I live. The more people that sign up, the stronger buying power the council will have, which will benefit everyone who registers because their bills could be much cheaper.”

Leader of Harrow Council, Councillor Thaya Idaikkadar, said: “We have a fantastic relationship with our local Age UK branch and I am thrilled that they have thrown their weight behind Harrow Council’s Big Energy Switch.

This scheme has really struck a chord with our residents, and I am delighted that so many have signed up. However, we will be able to get a better deal for them if more people sign up, which is why I would urge everybody to visit the website and register today. There is nothing to lose and the scheme will really help us tackle fuel poverty and help our residents save much needed money.”

Signing up is easy! Register your interest by visiting www.biglondonenergyswitch.org.uk

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 16th march 2013

Comment

Women’s Day: Time for reflection International Women’s Day (March 8) came not a moment too soon. In India, it was an occasion for sombre remembrance of a young life lost – Nirbhaya’s – to a horrific gang rape in Delhi. It was also a time for national reflection on the state of the country, its direction and the place of women in the scheme of things. Wives, lovers, mothers, sisters, kinsfolk and strangers, all have the inalienable right to walk the streets of every Indian city, town, village and countryside path, heads held high, backs straight, with no glint of fear in their eyes, no trace of submission in their deportment because of their gender.

That is what should be, but isn’t. In India’s capital city 96 per cent of women, according to a newspaper poll, are afraid to walk the streets after sunset unescorted. It is a shaming statistic. A society which discriminates against its women, overtly or covertly, is one that is fundamentally flawed and disabled. And so it will remain until it releases its women from every vestige of fear and bondage.

Social and political legislation does help, of course, in opening the doors of opportunity in education, cultural forums and in the workplace, but beyond these parameters is the individual male citizen’s responsibility to absorb and apply the appropriate values in his day- to-day conduct, the collective conscience being the sum of its diverse parts.

Nilanjana Roy put out a stark message in an edit-page article in The Hindu: “Until we embrace the idea of consent in all relationships, including marriage, there can be no gender equality. Its absence makes discussions on sexual abuse meaningless.”

This is what gives Women’s Day its global relevance. The ill treatment of women is not confined to India, as one Chinese newspaper appears to suggest, it straddles continents and societies: developed countries are no more immune to gender abuse than developing countries, whatever the external images of prosperity contrasting with those of physical deprivation. Domestic violence originates with the inner demons of uncontrolled masculinity and not from income differentials.

There are wage differentials everywhere as there

are in job opportunities. Winning the right to vote was an important step forward for women’s emancipation, but it was but a step, a means to an end, but not the end itself. The struggle for women’s liberation from the shackles of patriarchy goes on.

But all is not lost. In Myanmar, Aung San Ssu Kyi has opened a new page in her country’s tortured history; in Pakistan, teenager Malala Yusafzei took a Taliban bullet to her head for her determination to uphold the basic right of Pakistani girls to education; Sheema Kermani, a Pakistani exponent of the Indian dance, whether Kathak or Bharatnatyam, Odissdi or Manipuri, related the difficulties she faces in her country. Asked by her Indian interviewer, ”Today, what does dance mean to you?” she gave this indomitable reply: “ It is life, defiance and resistance – it is the ultimate truth.”

Ayan Hirsi Ali, Somali-born, Dutch-educated and former Dutch MP has spoken out for years against Islamist terror, and the casuistry and passive complicity of their numerous co-religionists, concealed under a liberal media mask. She has exposed the rot within Islamic societies despite ongoing threats to her life. Hirsi Ali lives New York under US security protection.

Srijana Mitra Das carried an optimistic headline to her edit-page piece in The Times of India: “India’s New Feminist Spring,” the theme being that out of tragedy – the Nirbhaya case – springs hope. The incident did, after all, arouse Indian civil society and mobilize the masses; there was outrage and shame and in this lies the best hope for change.

Srijana Mitra Das sees popular Indian cinema as the catalytic agent of progress, when she said: ”With its fingers on India’s pulse, Bollywood foretells change. From Mother India to Basanti in Sholay and multiple images today, Indian women have been breaking the old mould capturing them within cruel patronage.” The lady has a point.

Despite the mileage gained the road ahead for gender equality is long and the obstacles formidable.

There is much to be done before India and the world can look women in the eye without or shame or guilt. Or traces of both.

India must strengthen ties with France and Britain The recent visits to India by French President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister David Cameron have opened new vistas of cooperation between New Delhi and Paris and New Delhi and London. The relative decline in America’s international influence leaves European powers room to cast their own furrows. This Gaullist tradition of strategic autonomy transcends French party lines.

When India went nuclear in Pokhran II, President Jacques Chirac understood the compulsions that drove Prime Minister Vaypayee to take that fateful step. Unlike Tony Blair, President Chirac refused to participate in the US-designed sanctions regime against India. Indo-French ties waxed in its aftermath, while Indo-British ties waned under the Labour dispensations of Messrs Blair and Brown.

The arrival of David Cameron has reversed the downward trend. Not shackled to Pakistani vote banks in the Pakistani-populated ghettos of West Yorkshire, the West Midlands and the industrial towns of Lancashire, the Conservatives have shown willingness to expand the parameters of the India-UK relationship to a partnership of equals.Britain possesses significant historical and cultural assets that can be worked into policy: a case surely of the past serving the present. This is the appropriate time for fresh explorations. India is not the country it was thirty or forty years ago.

There are admittedly swathes of poverty and deprivation still, but there are as well vast new and expanding areas of affluence, of growing numbers of people with disposable incomes coming on to a

dynamic market. India is on the move and the UK with its thrust on economic diplomacy has a multitude of opportunities to enlarge its footprint in Indian industry, science, technology and defence.

Two-way trade and investment are set to grow exponentially. India’s Defence Research & Defence Organization (DRDO) has signed an agreement with the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory on joint research projects.

France has head start in ties with India, principally because it was less tied than was Britain to the American line in almost all corners of the globe.

Hence French ties with India in critical areas of defence such as aircraft, submarines, and cooperation on nuclear power plants, where its technology excels that of the US, have cemented its relationship with India. Furthermore, French supplies of defence equipment do not come with the intrusive end user requirements of the US. France has also ceased supplying advanced weapon platforms to Pakistan, in deference to Indian sensitivities, while the US continues to do so regardless. And while Indo-US ties have registered substantial improvement, they fall short of an alliance.

France and Britain are stakeholders in the current negotiations for an India-EU free trade agreement. France and Britain as permanent members of the UN Security Council, support India’s claim to membership of that body. Closer Indo-French and Indo-UK ties are matters of moment, their time has surely come.

Hindus suffer Jamaat violence in Bangladesh Bangladesh is on cusp of its spring as it struggles to rid itself of the Islamist demons that once chained it to Pakistani. Progressive forces seek to redefine the national identity. But the movement has come at a price. The Islamist Jamaat fights to regain lost ground. Its recidivist goons are targeting the country’s defenceless Hindu minority.

Their homes, temples and persons are objects of Jamaat rage. Jamaat leaders have been convicted of widespread rape, mass murder and forcible con-

versions in collaboration with Pakistani forces during the War of Liberation in 1971. The situation in far-flung rural Bangladesh is especially fraught as government writ there is weak.

Amnesty International has drawn attention to the vulnerability of the Hindu population and called upon the authorities in Dhaka to take urgent steps for their protection. The courts have done likewise. At stake in the ongoing struggle is the soul of Bangladesh.

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You make a choice or set a goal and let people know about it. Then just getting started leads to the discovery of internal resources that help us to go further than we ever thought we could - Christopher Reeve (2002)

Politicians and Media The Lib Dem bi-election victory reminds us of some media do’s and don’ts. Very important as campaigning unofficially begins for the next election (yes it gets earlier and earlier!).

Clothing. Wear a tie (men). I don’t care if its 9am on a Sunday morning. You’re meant to be leading us.

We want to be assured you sleep with a suit and tie…just in case. Mr and Mrs Politician, you’re meant to be leaders. Open collar – it ain’t cool. Some of you even went to Eton, not Brixton Comp. We’re British, we like our politicians to dress like MacMillan – if only because we as a people don’t like the thought of being laughed at by the Italians and the French when this stuff gets broadcast.

Speeches. Look, either get the glass teleprompters like the Americans have, or memorise the key points.

Please stop looking down at your notes. It looks like you don’t know or believe what you’re talking about.

Whilst both are probably true – at least make an effort to delude us, if not yourselves. I know you have a prepared script you give to the press and have to stick to it – well Abraham Lincoln managed to emancipate the slaves without writing down “slavery is bad”. Given that your words of wisdom will be eminently forgettable ditch the protocol and try speaking from the heart for once. It’s the organ that beats near the…never mind.

But don’t do what Sarah Palin did this week where she wrote down her key speaking points on the palm of her hand. If you need to do that, eg ‘Save economy, free the animals, talk up self’ is usually a clue you should not be leading a country. Consider applying same palm in repeated motion to side of face.

Posters. Being on TV does not make you telegenic.

Read that again. Consequently do remember that it’s the other guy you wanna stick on posters and remind the public just how much they loathe looking at politicians. Your spouse and mother may find big pictures of you attractive. But that’s really it, aside from the strategy sycophants. If Britain really is as broken as you claim, then do expect posters of your face to be defaced. That’s why you put the other guy on them and let creative Britain get to work on that blank canvas. Indeed, just put a portrait of the other guy with a big blank space and let people create their own slogans. Trust me, they’ll do a far better job at destroying the opposition than your political junky monkies will.

Simple = truth. It’s sad but true. Psychologists have proven it. If it sounds simple, and preferably rhymes, people tend to believe it’s true. Now this works in your favour on TV because you won’t have to remember all those complicated thoughts. But it helps us the viewer because we tend to switch off midsentence any…

Dancing on TV. Don’t. Remember Prescott after the 1997 election victory dancing to ‘Things can only get better’. We had a clue they couldn’t as soon as he started dancing. I share a gym with the man – trust me don’t dance, you’re British. You can’t. Darwin’s famous because he discovered the British evolved from a rare species of dinosaur called the ‘Shouldntdanceasuraus’. There’s a UN resolution against it I think, sponsored by the Caribbean nations – I know you ignore UN resolutions but this is an important one, not like the other ones.

Bitching on TV. You don’t like the other side. We get it. It’s all their fault everything is rotten and bad.

We get it. We too have spent time in a playground complaining to teacher. Just focus on telling us what you will do and why we should believe you, without attacking the other guy. Try it. Bet you can’t. Don’t forget, on TV you’re up against 400 other mindless channels for our attention. www.politicalanimal.com

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Midlands Voice

www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 16th March 2013

HMRC smash multi-million pound fraud Criminal investigators from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) smashed the multi-million pound fraud, which centered on the mobile phone industry, after a five-year investigation.

Four members of a gang, jailed for their part on £17 million “missing trader” VAT fraud have been ordered to pay back £4.38 million worth of criminal profits or they will face a further 18 years in prison.

It was claimed that there were plans of stealing a further £5 million, and investigators found paperwork during house searches showed that the gang also planned tp steal £300 million VAT. The Assistant Director of Criminal Investigation for HMRC, Dave Cowie said: “This gang stole vast amounts of money to fund a life of luxury they neither earned nor deserved.”

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Karnail Singh Samra

Gurjit Singh

He also said that they were determined that the fraudsters will not leave jail so that they can enjoy a life of luxury, and “restrained a number of high value assets”.

They have identified several properties in the UK, Florida and Spain worth over a million each and proceeds from the sale of high performance cars, including a £250,000 Rolls Royce Phantom and a £165,000 Ferrari.

Bosworth Battlefield reported a sharp rise in numbers, causing the attraction's

PC quits in shame Khuran Saaeed walks free from court after he was caught buying cannabis while on duty, and a six-year addiction was revealed by courts.

A police officer, previously commended for bravery, as he arrested terrorist Kamel Bourgass has now walked free from court after his addiction to cannabis was revealed.

Khuran Saeed tackled Kamel Bourgass after he stabbed Dc Stephen Oake in the midst of an anti-terror raid at a flat located in Crumpsall in 2003. The father of two was praised for his courage, while being injured in the incident, and received a chief officer's commendation for his actions.

However, a court heard his 17-year career as a police constable came to an abrupt end, in shame, after a court operation detected him entering and leaving the homes of drug dealers.

Manchester magistrates' heard that when he arrested outside one of two properties he regularly visited, he said: “I have some cannabis in my front pocket. I do not believe this. I take a bit of weed.” The court has told he resigned from Greater Manchester Police after his arrest.

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In Brief Syed Faraz Hussain

“We have worked closely with the Proceeds of the Crime Prosecution Service to identify and recover the profits from crime. If these criminals do not pay up, they will serve extra time in jail, and still owe the money when they are released”, added Dave Cowie.

It involved the import of mobile phone accessories, along with electronic media, including memory and SIM cards, from the EU. The goods

Harbinder Singh Samra

were sold a number of times, after importation, along a supply chain before being exported back to the EU. The exporter would go on to claim a VAT credit from HMRC for the VAT paid on the purchase of goods.

The HMRC carried out their investigations in China, India, Italy, Taiwan, Denmark, Germany and Belgium. HMRC investigators worked with overseas officials to follow the trail of money.

Richard III will bring tourism boost to Leicester?

It has been said that “Richard III could provide a king's ransom for Leicester with an estimated £140 million tourism boost”.

Martin Traynor, the Chief Executive of Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce has estimated a calculation on the basis of an increased flow of tourists into Leicester since the discovery of the King's remains, with both national and international press coverage of the city.

Since the discovery, over 28,000 people have visited the Richard III exhibition at the Guildhall since it opened last month, with many of them arriving from outside the county.

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Under the Data Protection Act, Saeed pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing cannabis and six offences.

The charges concerned him accessing data on the force computer to look up his drug contacts and protect himself.

He was jailed for 36 weeks, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to complete 200 hours worth of community service.

According to what the court was told, Saeed began to smoke cannabis to relieve pain after he was seriously hurt in a high-speed police car crash.

Ben Southam, prosecuting, stated that Saeed was recorded going into two houses in Newton Heath and Chorlton then leaving soon afterwards. A listening device was installed in one of the houses and Saeed was heard to say: “Can you do me a £20 bag,” as the court was told.

Elizabeth Rigby, defending, said Saeed would secretly smoke cannabis at the bottom of his garden at night and his family were not aware of his drug habit.

She added: “It is nothing less that a tragedy that his career has ended how it has.

He has never evaded responsibility for his actions.”

annual figures to be doubled for February.

It could mean more spending on Leicester shops, pubs, cafes and hotels, adding up to a further 300 jobs being created over time, as Mr Traynor pointed out.

“That will mean £140 million more spent on hotels, restaurants, retail and so on, and I think that's probably a conservative guess”, he added.

Leicester Shire Promotions agreed with the estimate, as it was doing was doing a lot of work to connect the city and county exhibitions, including coach tours.

Chief executive Martin Peters stated that

Leicestershire's influence was spreading everywhere and particular interest was coming from the Far East and America.

Records of numbers of travel and tourism writers and journalists were coming to sample the Richard III fever.

The temporary Guildhall exhibition will be replaced next year a permanent visitor centre being built on the grounds of the former Leicester Grammar School.

The discovery of the Plantagenet monarch has attracted tourism in the county as well as the city, as we find people heading for the historical site of Richard's death.

Accusing Sri Lankan authorities of failing to bring murderers to justice tional aid chariThe brother of ty in Gaza, a murdered aid where he fitted worker will travel prosthetics to to Sri Lanka to people who had accuse local police lost limbs. He of failing to bring had been on the killers to jusholiday at the tice. resort, 100 Red Cross miles south of worker Khuram the capital, Shaikh, 32, from when the horror Rochdale, was attack hapsavagely attacked pened. at a beach resort Khuram Shaikh One of the on Christmas Day eight men arrested was a 2011. local politician belonging to The police have made a Sri Lanka's ruling political number of arrests days after party. The group were then the killing, but the suspects released and no action was have been freed and there taken since are no plans for a trial.

Mr Danczuk, who will jet The prime suspect of the to the Indian Ocean island case is in fact a local politithis week with the victim's cian and supporters of the brother, says he believes family have accused authori'politician interference' is ties of trying to put the case behind the lack of progress. aside due to “political presCourt officials in sure”.

Colombo have been told that The victim's brother the legal process is continuNasir, an NHS manager, will ing and criminal charges travel to the capital Colombo against the men are pending. with Rochdale MP Simon However the Foreign Danczuk.

Office have pushed for The victim, Khuram, a immediate action on the Salford University graduate, matter. had worked for the interna-

Who knew a Mother's Day card could be dangerous?

M o t h e r , Bhavna Ramji was taken to a hospital after being blinded, by her Mother's day card.

The 40-year-old was rushed off to the hospital after her two-year-old son accidentally sliced the inside of her eyelid open with the card.

Mrs Ramji explains that she was in agony and looked like she had been punched in the face, “I know it sounds funny, but I could have been blinded”.

Her husband tried helping her by purchasing lotion from the chemist, however the pain was bad thats she had to be taken to accident and emergency.

The mother suffered a cut, as her Dhruv, her two- year-old son waved his card about, after arriving to her room and surprising her with it.

Mrs Ramji was given eyedrops and antibiotics by a nurse, who saw her within an hour of being admitted.

“The optician said I need to wear a patch to close the eye,” she said. “He said the eye was blinking and keeping the wound open. I think it may have got infected, too.”

When Mrs Ramji rang work to mention that she was sick and unable to attend, it raised a few eyebrows. But she managed to convince them and eventually could not stop laughing.

Last year, Mrs Ramji spent Mother's Dat in bed after she got a two-day bout of food poisoning.

She said: “I am hoping next year is a little less eventful and I might get to enjoy being pampered.”

Sexual assault on West Bromwich bus

The 19-year-old was on the number 41 bus when the attack occurred.

She took that bus with a relative near to Westminster School in West Bromwich, and the attack took place at around 3pm on January 7.

The girls tried to get off the bus when four young began talking to them and making inappropriate comments.

They did attempt to get away, but one of them grabbed the victim and assaulted her.

PC Kate Baglin, from West Bromwich police station, said: “The victim was simply going about her business when the assault took place, on front of a family member and in a very public place.”

She was left terrified as a result of what happened to her and investigators are determined to find the person responsible for putting her through this attack.

They have a detailed description of the attacker, through a CCTV image of what they believe is “him and his mates”.

“I'd also appeal directly to the offender's friends to do the right thing; come forward and tell us who he is”, added PC Kate Baglin.

All men seemed to be of similar age.

One was mixed race, around 6ft tall, of slim build with short shaved black hair. He was clean shaven and wore a black cardigan.

Another was white, also around 6ft tall and slim build. He wore a red cardigan and dark blue jeans and spoke about having a tattoo of his surname on his arm.

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 16th March 2013

5

NABA calls for UK Asian businesses to unite Dhiren Katwa A new umbrella body for businesses run and owned by British Asians has been officially launched.

The new body, National Asian Business Association, or NABA, is an amalgamation of regional Asian arms of trade chambers. It aims to be a national voice for Asian businesses in the UK, one which hopes to echo, in particular across the corridors of power at Whitehall.

There are an estimated 50,000 British Asian businesses in the UK which together generate more than £60 billion nationwide. Around a third of British Asian firms are in the retail business, with the rest established in diverse sectors such as telecoms, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and advanced engineering.

Speaking at the launch of NABA in London last Monday, Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, said: “I encourage Asian businesses to use their links with other nations to boost trade and investment into Britain.

Domestically, I urge them to draw on the expertise of our outstanding research base and on Government support for business, whether practical or financial.”

In his 10-minute speech he added that the voice of the British Asian business community had for a very long time been “fragmented”. On promoting exports in the Indian sub-

Shropshire and North East.

Held at the Microsoft Customer Briefing Centre in Victoria, the event brought together over 230 guests, including Lords Dolar Popat and Karan Bilimoria, Baroness Sandip Verma, Professor Nathuram Puri, Perween Wersi, repVince Cable Baroness Usha Prashar Uday Dholakia resentatives from the Indian and Pakistani continent, “we’ve frankly negBaroness Prashar’s initial embassies, Cllr Kuldip Singh reaction, she said, was, “why lected this over the years, he Sahota, leader, Telford & another organisation specificalsaid. He added: “We do recogWrekin Council, Kamel Hothi, nise that if business is to funcly for Asian businesses”. But Director of Asian Markets, tion properly we’ve got to have after “some consideration and Lloyds TSB Bank, hotelier a minimum of red tape. My rigorous thinking” she arrived Surinder Arora and Jon department is doing a lot to at the conclusion that there is a Ashworth MP Leicester South. clear some of the clutter and need for such an organisation While some see NABA as a obstacles, including the around for the following reasons: It will “new dawn”, others are not so 22,000 government regulations help promote women entrepreoptimistic. One influential we’ve inherited which we’re tryneurs; advance the prospects of Midland businessman, who ing to get rid of where they are Asian businesses by providing asked to remain anonymous, not justified or appropriate.” advice and support; help prosaid: “LABA (Leicestershire NABA’s inauguration comes mote greater economic particiAsian Business Association) pation of these businesses; after months of consultation has its problems which haven’t influence both policy and pracwith British Asian businesses yet been sorted out and they’re tice by engaging with governacross the UK by Uday launching NABA. This is laughment and other related agenDholakia and Baroness Usha able.” Another Asian female cies; draw attention to specific Prashar, NABA’s Chairman and entrepreneur said she was not issues facing Asian businesses; President, respectively. They convinced that NABA would and help to promote bilateral have been listening to common provide any additional value to trade and inward investment issues, concerns, barriers faced what was already being providworldwide. by these businesses which ed by organisations like UKTI NABA’s membership so far NABA will aim to address. and regional Chambers. “I’ve includes Asian Business Equally, NABA also aims to flag seen many such organisations Associations of the Black up businesses which are contincome and go in my time. But Country, Yorkshire, London, uing to flourish, particularly let’s at least give them a chance.

Bedfordshire, Leicestershire, through modernisation, in a bid I may be proved wrong, only to share best practice.

Birmingham, Telford and time will tell,” she commented.

Ninder Johal, Chairman of the Black Country Asian Business Association, which is part of NABA, said: “I am delighted that a national voice for the Asian business community is being established.” He added: “We hope those in the corridors of power at Whitehall will provide even greater support for this flourishing community and that in partnership we can add further value to the economy of our great nation, the UK.” Nasir Awan, President of the Institute of Asian Businesses (IAB), which is part of Birmingham Chamber and now NABA, said: “This is a good opportunity for the present Asian business community in the UK. But more importantly we want to create even greater opportunities for aspiring younger Asian businesspeople who ultimately are the future of this country.”

Other speakers included Steve Pateman, Santander’s Executive Director and Head of UK Banking and Michel Van der Bel, Managing Director, Microsoft UK. Nobody from the Confederation of British Industry, CBI, was present, an organisation whose directorgeneral John Cridland, it seems, is still shying away from engaging fully with Asian businesses.

NABA has also opened a European Centre for Asian Research which is led by Christine De-Myers Robinson.

To find out more about NABA visit www.nabauk.org

NISU honours Shabana & Javed Spriha Srivastava The National Indian Students Union UK (NISU) has awarded Honorary Fellowships to two legends of Indian Cinema marking 100 years of Indian Cinema. Film actress and social activist Mrs Shabana Azmi and poet and scriptwriter Mr Javed Akhtar have been honoured by Indian students in the UK to celebrate and acknowledge their contributions in shaping the present and future of India.

The presentation of the Fellowship to Mrs Shabana Azmi was last night hosted by SOAS, University of London.

Miss Sanam Arora, President of NISU, bestowed the Honorary Fellowships to the icons of Indian cinema.

Notable actress Mrs Shabana Azmi, who is also known for her social activism and work on women’s rights, is a senior member of the film fraternity and has starred in both mainstream and independent films. Known for her outstanding acting abilities, she has five National Awards under her belt and was recently conferred with the Padma Bhushan.

Mr Javed Akhtar is one

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of the most celebrated lyricists as well as a screenwriter. He has been much admired for his writing and pivotal contributions to Indian cinema. Apart from being awarded 14 Filmfare Awards and five National Awards, he is the recipient of the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan. A member of Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), he is actively involved in social affairs of the land.

With NISU marking 2013 as the year that Calls for Change and having promised to work towards a better society free from social evils, the organisation is proud to honour both Mr Akhtar and Mrs Azmi for their immense contribution to both Indian cinema and the society at large for nearly four decades.

Speaking at the event, Mrs Shabana Azmi said, “We are really pleased as this is the first time such a fellowship has been instituted. Recognition from students means a lot as they are a tough group to satisfy, And that it is in honour of our work over the years is really heartwarming. The fact that they are awarding us their very first fellowship makes me very, very pleased and very, very thankful.”

Sanam Arora, President of NISU said “We are delighted to confer NISU Honorary Fellowships on these two legends of Indian Cinema in the year that marks its centenary. Their contributions to both Cinema and Society are unparalleled and we are humbled to associate NISU with them.”

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6

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 16th March 2013

The mental nature of brands Spriha Srivastava

Tamasha presents new show in UK The Arrival, a new show from Tamasha and Circus Space will be performed in the UK at the Nuffield Theatre from March 20 to April 13.

The show will be performed at the following theaters: Nuffield Theatre, Southampton; Belgrade Theatre, Coventry; York Theatre Royal; Northern Stage, Newcastle; Jacksons Lane, London.

Inspired by the celebrated novel by Oscarwinning Shaun Tan, The Arrival has been created

by Tamasha’s Artistic Director Kristine Landon-Smith and award-winning writer Sita Brahmachari.

Developed by Tamasha with Circus Space, the show features exquisite animation by Yeast Culture, choreography by Place Prize-nominee Freddie Opoku-addaie and original composition

by Felix Cross.

Alive with circus, theatre, animation and music, Tamasha’s stunning new production follows the journey of Dele, a migrant beginning life in a strange new country.

Dele plays a last game of football with his friends, says goodbye to his son and sets off on a voyage to a smog-filled metropolis across a vast ocean. Carrying only a small suitcase, he finds himself in a bewildering city of foreign customs, peculiar people and indecipherable languages.

Along the way, he encounters strangers carrying their own stories

Sita Brahmachari

and experiences in a world of incomprehensible upheaval, struggle and hope.

The Arrival marks an important moment in the history of Tamasha, as it is the last production to be developed by Kristine Landon-Smith in her role as co-Artistic Director, prior to taking up the position of Lecturer in Acting at NIDA in Sydney.

The Arrival features live performances by acclaimed community choir Woven Gold, which has been commissioned to produce some short musical pieces for the show. Tamasha in collaboration with iceandfire and Write to Life (a writing group for survivors of Torture set up by Freedom from Torture) have created a short curtain-raiser entitled Souvenirs, which will be performed at a number of venues. A series of creative participatory workshops for local communities also accompanies the tour.

The production is cocreated by Kristine Landon-Smith and Sita

Brahmachari. Kristine Landon-Smith is cofounder and co-Artistic Director with Sudha Bhuchar, and directed all the company’s productions from 1989 to 2011, including Olivier Awardnominated East is East and Barclay’s Theatre Award-winning musical Fourteen Songs, Two Weddings and A Funeral.

Sita Brahmachari is a playwright and novelist.

Her work for theatre includes community and education plays commissioned by companies including the RSC, Royal Court, LIFT, Arts Council England. Her novels include Artichoke Hearts (winner of the Waterstone Children’s Book Award 2011; The Carnegie Medal nominee) and Jasmine Skies (shortlisted for the Centurion Medal and longlisted for the Carnegie Medal).

Shaun Tan grew up in the suburbs of Perth, Western Australia; the son of a MalaysianChinese father and an Anglo-Irish mother. His books include The Bird King, The Red Tree, Eric, The Lost Thing, Tales from Outer Suburbia and illustrating horror writer Gary Crew’s Memorial and The Viewer, and John Marsden’s The Rabbits. His film, The Lost Thing won the 2012 Academy Award for Best Animated Short. He has also worked as a theatre designer and as a concept artist for films including WALL-E and Horton Hears a Who.

London hosts TOP Festival The 15th London Asian Film Festival kicked off on March 7th this year. The focus of this year’s event is the journey of women in film, with an enticing mix of great independent films, some old classics and recent thought provoking films that you may have missed.

The festival began at the BFI and were honoured to have Avinash Kumar and Geeta Singh – directors of the film Listen…Amaya – who attended the opening night gala on 7th March.

Saturday 9th March was jammed packed with events at the BFI, SOAS and the Harrow Arts Centre.

The Young Tongues event was a joint event with the BFI Future Film. Director Bill

Omi Vaidya

Bowles presented his documentary on Omi Vaidya’s rise to stardom in the film 3 Idiots. Big in Bollywood is a lighthearted look at Omi’s involvement in Bollywood’s highest grossing film, ever.

The annual Short Film competition took place on 9th March at the BFI’s Blue Room. As

always, this feature in the festival showcased brilliant emerging filmmakers and future stars of cinema.

Sunday 17th March is the big day when the festival will be celebrating the Best of Bollywood at the Mayfair Hotel with one of the highest grossing film of 2012, Barfi!.

The acclaimed director Anurag Basu will be present for an introduction screening followed by a Q&A session which is bound to be an exciting event. Barfi! is a thought provoking film that challenges the societal norms. This will be a unique opportunity to further explore these contemporary issues through interaction with the director and writer himself!

Let us know what you think.

Email Spriha at aveditorial@abplgroup.com

Mo Luthra Branding Consultant www.moluthra.com While businesses and organisations exist in a physical sense, as do brands, the real leverage a brand has is that it exists primarily in the mental world.

The strength a business gains over any of its competitors is how quickly it is recalled and how deep an impression it has on the consciousness.

The mind is the store house of information that

we acquire over years of existence. Our mind has been exposed to countless experiences, tastes, flavours and colours.

These create memories and feelings, and shape our habits and attitudes.

Businesses that gear themselves to create lasting memories or experiences that leave an imprint are leveraging themselves through consumer preference. These preferences are not based on anything logical but are highly emotive.

For example, in the retail sector, brand packaging plays such an important role. How a product looks on the shelf, whether that is in-store or on your shelf at home, plays a huge role in the mental perception you have of that product. Work I recently completed turned the fortunes of a skincare brand just by simply re-adjusting the packaged look for their goods.

Other physical things like the style of an office, or the colour and messaging on a van, or the way a uniform looks, play important cues to shaping this mental representation of the brand.

This is why time is painstaking devoted to developing interesting interactions in the physical world. We in the industry try not to treat a box as just a box, or even a door handle as a door handle.

We try to look at things beyond the functional role they play and try to see it as how can we create an emotional connection and a memory with the consumer.

So when it all comes together, both in presentation and in perception, a business becomes imbued with meaning. Once a business has gained meaning it can start to sell itself based on its ‘brand’, as that now carries a mental value.

British Parliamentarians shocked to hear stories of Indian POWs Dozens of stories of Indian prisoners of war (POWs) suffering in Pakistani jails have 'shocked' a powerful group of British parliamentarians, who have asked UKbased human rights activist Jesbir Uppal, who is aimed to submit evidence that can be used to put pressure on Pakistan, The Times of India has reported.

Uppal made a series of powerful presentations in front of two separate committees—the all Parliamentary group on Pakistan and a similar group on religion over three hours on last Tuesday putting forward cases of Indian POWs like Kargil martyr Captain Saurabh Kalia, Sarabjit Singh, Chamel Singh, Shivratri was celebrated on Sunday at the VHP Hindu Temple, Ilford and Durga Temple. Almost 1000 people came to the temple between 8am-10pm at different times to pray to Lord Shiva, remembering his story.

Courtesy: Dharam Sahdev, Ilford

who died in a Pakistani prison but his body is yet to be returned to India, and Sepoy Jaspal Singh.

The group of politicians cutting across party lines also expressed shock on hearing the case of a15year-old Indian boy who disappeared eight years ago and was recently discovered to be in a Pakistani prison.

Speaking to TOI, Uppal told Kounteya Sinha, "they expressed deep shock on the human rights abuse being faced

by Indian prisoners in Pakistani jails. They have asked me to send them the evidence which I will do.

They can put diplomatic pressure on Pakistan to release these prisoners who have spent a substantial number of years in

jails.”

Uppal was earlier contacted by Saurabh Kalia's father N K Kalia to take up his son's case before the United Nations human rights body.

Uppal told The Times of India that Pakistan had earlier promised to release 32 POW to India but in the end released only six.

NK Kalia (64), a retired senior scientist from the CSIR, has taken the government to court.

He wants his son's case to be heard at the International Court of Justice at Hague. He recently said he has received over 155,000 emails and over 42,000 handwritten letters along with visits and calls consoling him on the loss of his son.

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 16th March 2013

Abu Qatada sent back to jail Radical preacher and cleric, Abu Qatada was sent back to jail by the court after being arrested for breach of bail conditions.

Officials from the UK Border Agency arrested the 52-year-old at his home in north London on Friday.

The arrest came two days ahead of a latest government bid to have Qatada deported to

Jordan, where he was convicted in absentia over terror plots in 1999 and 2000.

The decision was made during an urgent S p e c i a l Immigration Appeals Commission.

SIAC heard that he my have had prohibited communications equipment at his London home while he was present.

The UK government are caught up in a court battle to deport him.

He was due to appear at the Court of Appeal on the 11th of March, as part of the Home Secretary's attempt to overturn a judge's decision, which would allow Qatada to remain in Britain.

The UK Border Agency on 9th March, arrested Abu Qatada after the raids carried out by the Metropolitan police counter-terrorism unit.

What about the BAMEs, Mr Cameron?

Continued from page 1 What are the reasons of BAME youngsters being unable to go to universities? n The tuition fees have gone up by 5 folds. Though Asian parents are known for saving for the rainy days, higher education now costs upto £9000/annum. If you have two children, by the end of their undergraduation, you would have spent a total amount of £54,000. Unless your income is £200,000 a year- it is impossible for parents to afford it without taking loans. n Students' loan is available. But if you are not from a moderate income background or your parents live in a rented house with poor credit rating (possible in this climate), unlikely you will get a loan at all. n There are biases that still exist in different institutions. Figures for applications to the universities in 2010 and 2011 obtained by the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act and reported on 26 February 2013 revealed that 25.7% of white applicants received an offer to attend Oxford university, compared with 17.2% of students from ethnic minorities. The article by Kurien Parel and James Ball further said, “Both Oxford and Cambridge, the country's most prestigious universities, have faced questions over the varying success rates of applicants from different ethnic groups...They show that white students were more than twice as likely to receive an offer to study medicine as those from ethnic minorities. The disparity persisted for the most able students: 43% of white students who went on to receive three or more

A* grades at A-level got offers, compared with 22.1% of minority students. For economics and management, the university's most competitive course, 19.1% of white applicants received offers, compared with 9.3% for ethnic minorities. Among the most able, these success rates rose to 44.4% and 29.5% respectively.There was, however, no statistically significant difference in success rates between white and non-white students when applying to study law at the university.

The issue of race at Oxbridge has regularly hit the headlines, particularly since 2010, when data obtained by Lammy showed, among other disparities, that just one British black Caribbean undergraduate was admitted to Oxford in 2009”- a figure later cited by David Cameron himself.

In this dire situationapprenticeship of course could be a better alternative available for youngsters, who cannot afford a University education or a job, but our Coalition government must take the followings into consideration: n Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a structured competency based set of skills. Asian parents must understand what is the magnitude of the importance of such opportunities. n Organised by the National Apprenticeship Service, the Week will set to be the biggest and best, with hundreds of events and activities planned across England, showcasing the talents, skills and commitment of apprentices to employers, teachers, parents, the general

public and the media.

What is still too little appreciated is that apprenticeships are an increasingly important way in to the professional sector.

Businesses must give equal opportunities to BAME youngsters- investing time and money on people who are yet to master the profession/skill. n The programme must involve a certain percentage from the BAME background and keeping in mind the usual trend in unemployment or university seats, Mr Cameron needs to address the Asian and black parents particularly, to ensure that their children get an honest opportunity to be trained. n SMEs especially that are run by Asians have unique skills. They must open up their doors to youngsters from their community and offer opportunities to be trained as an apprenticeso that they their expertise could be carried forward to the future by able men and women.

As said earlier, it is a step in the right directiontrue. It is perhaps needless to say that minorities like us deserve special attention, but facts and figures show we are in fact lagging behind – and whether its employment or a top university seat- youngsters from ethnic minority have miles to go, before they could be on an equal patch with their white counterparts as far as opportunities are concerned. With the noble intention that the PM has embarked on his mission, we wish him all the luck, but we would like to draw his attention to the stark realities that do exist in the 21st century Britain and need addressing- even within his Apprenticeship programme.

7

The Queen celebrates Commonwealth Day Queen Elizabeth attended a London reception to celebrate Commonwealth Day on Monday, her first public appearance after being hospitalised for a stomach illness.

The Queen made a brief speech at the ceremony held at Marlborough House located in Central London.

Following this, she signed a new charter affirming the Commonwealth values and commitment to equal rights.

Whilst 41 out of the 54

Queen with Commonwealth Secretary General Kamlesh Sharma

Commonwealth states will criminalise homosexuality, the Queen for the very first time offered support for gay rights in her 61year-old reign.

India is among a handful that do not perceive homosexuality to be a crime, and same-sex relationships are recognised in only five commonwealth countries: UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.

The Queen agreed to sign the document that says “equality and respect for the protection and promotion of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, for all without discrimination on any grounds.”

Missing Birmingham school girl found Zoya Anwar, 18, described as a “straight-A student”, was last seen saying goodbye to her friends at the gates of her school more than a week ago.

But the missing teenager was found in Birmingham city centre after she was recognised by security guards who called police following an appeal.

Miss Anwar, pictured,

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was not reported missing to police by her family but her teachers raised the alarm two weeks backafter she had been absent from school for several days.

West Midlands Police said they were investigating the possibility that she had been made to enter into a forced marriage, but stressed that this was only one of many

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D e t e c t i v e Superintendent Jo Chilton said Miss Anwar had never gone missing before and admitted that officers could not rule out a “more sinister” explanation for her disappearance.

The missing girl’s father owns two corner shops and her mother does translation work for a bank, according to locals.

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8

2013

Lady Mohini Kent Noon

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 16th March 2013

Indian cinema's veteran stars LILY Foundation is the pledge to help thousands of sponsored charity of Asian Achievers Awards 2013 underprivileged children in India with free school meals Betrayed By the Very Adults Who Should Have Protected Her

Spandana was 12 years old when her parents sold her into prostitution. The highest bid in the auction for her was Rs.10,000 (about £120). The terrified little girl from Andhra Pradesh was taken by her new owners to Mumbai and put to work in a brothel to be raped daily by adults. She was on duty 24x7.

Prostitutes do not have a day off but have to be available any time a customer comes.

Spandana: The Survivor

How could her own mother sell her into the sex trade? Did she not love her daughter?

Living in London, it’s impossible to imagine a world where £120 can buy a slave for life when we could spend more than that on a restaurant meal.

It’s the familiar and tragic story of illiterate and poverty-stricken communities turning to prostitution in order to survive and it’s up to us to throw them a lifeline.

Tribals often have very little contact with the outside world. Little girls such as Spandana are

Javed Akhtar and Waheeda Rehman with Abhishek Khaitan

The girls at the shelter: Dancing, Singing & looking forward to their brighter futures

indoctrinated from childhood to accept that they will become prostitutes.

With zero education and no opportunities, they have nothing else.

Spandana belongs to the Dommara tribe of Andhra where, like the Bhedia tribe of Rajasthan, prostitution has become a way of life.

We would not have heard of Spandana’s sad story had she not been rescued. As with other girls like her, after the rescue she had nowhere to go. It was inconceivable that she should return to her parents. That’s where the NGOs come in. LILY supports good NGOs that shelter and rehabilitate such girls, including Prajwala in Hyderabad where Spandana was taken.

Only after she emerged from the darkness of the brothels did Spandana slowly begin to grasp that there could be another way of life. She arrived at Prajwala’s Astha Nivas shelter in a

terrible state, anxious and fearful, unable to trust anyone at all. She shunned company and isolated herself.

If approached, she turned aggressive. Such girls can be homicidal and suicidal and have to be watched carefully. It’s a very difficult proposition to counsel and rehabilitate such a deeply traumatized child.

Gradually, Spandana calmed down and began to take an interest in studies, passing her 7th grade exams with good grades. She even sings and dances with the other girls and is now motivated to create a good future for herself.

The LILY campaign needs your help to ensure that girls such as Spandana who are rescued from brothels have somewhere to go where they can be cared for.

For more information go to www.lilyfoundation.org.uk OR contact us at info@ipartnerindia.org

020 7841 8919

Swaminarayan Prep School receives the NACE Challenge Award The Swaminarayan Prep School is the 270th school in England to achieve the prestigious NACE Cymru Challenge Award for More Able and Talented Pupils. This Award is given for high quality work by the whole school, teachers and governors, in challenging all pupils, including those with high abilities, to achieve their best.

The award presentation ceremony took place in the Haveli of BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir on Thursday, 28 February 2013. The hall was filled with parents, staff, special guests, and pupils as the Prep School celebrated its accreditation with the NACE Challenge Award for its provision for more able,

Umesh Raja, Head of Prep School, Mr Moss, Head of St. James Junior School, Mr Andrew Cubitt, teacher, Cllr.

Sheth and Mr Hill

gifted and talented learners. The audience was treated to an exhibition providing an insight into how the Prep School incorporates a variety of opportunities and challenging activities into its wide and varied curriculum. Following this, the stage programme enabled everyone to view a dynamic and entertaining range

of music, dance, singing and public speaking from the Prep School pupils.

The award was presented to Mr Raja, Head of Prep School by three distinguished guests from three different walks of life, Cllr. Krupa Sheth, Mr Paul Moss, Head of St. James Junior School and David Hill, GB Paralympian swimmer.

The UK and India’s leading social glitterati, dignitaries, charity ambassadors and veteran stars of Indian cinema, Waheeda Rehman, Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi, gathered on Saturday 2nd of March 2013 at Vinopolis in London to celebrate The Sparkle Ball - a glittering night of haute couture fashion to raise vital funds for The Akshaya Patra Foundation UK, the world’s largest NGO-run school meal programme, which feeds and educates some of India’s poorest, underprivileged childen.

Other attendees included LN Mittal and family, the Chairman of The Akshaya Patra Foundation UK Harin Thaker,and the advisory board members, Yogesh Mehta, Prashant Jhawar, Nirmal Banthia, to name some.

The beautifully restored Victorian Arches of the Great Room at Vinopolis hosted 400 of the leading lights from the High Net Worth (HNW) Indian community in London and India.

Renowned TV personality Konnie Huq oversaw proceedings as she hosted the night with her characteristic charm and humour.

Proceedings began with a champagne reception followed by a gastronomic journey showcasing the best of Indian fusion cuisine.

A highlight of the prestigious event was the exclusive unveiling of celebrated Indian designer Anamika Khanna’s new Luxury 2013 collection.

The Kolkata based fashionista, who has designed for Bollywood royalty Sonam Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, has the notable honour of being the first designer from India to launch an international label, and is one of the first Indian designers to show at Paris Fashion Week. The distinguished guests were mesmerised

by Anamika’s ravishing designs, which included traditional garments infused with modern touches to create a hybrid of striking pieces.

Beautiful models sashayed down the catwalk to flash-

Deepika Khaitan with Shabana Azmi

lights and hearty applause, as Anamika emerged at the end of the fashion show, to take her much deserved bow and meet members of the press eager to interview her.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation UK raised a staggering amount of funds via a special charity auction, which comprised of a range of bespoke items and memorable experiences such as front row seats and after-party tickets to this year’s party of the year, the Victoria Secrets Fashion Show, luxury breaks such as a two-night stay at the luxurious 51 Buckingham Gate in London, an Anamika Khanna couture outfit, and a dazzling pair of diamond and jade cufflinks donated by one of India’s most esteemed fine jewellery designers, Bina Goenka. The centre piece of the auction was the 'Adopt a School' appeal, where for £2,500 donors could sponsor school lunches in a single school for an entire year.

The successful event concluded with a special after-party in the Cellars of Vinopolis, where DJ Raj entertained guests until the early hours of the morning.

Speaking about The Sparkle Ball event in aid of The Akshaya Patra Foundation UK, the UK President Dipika Khaitan said: “We are thrilled at the success of this evening and were delighted by the VIP and celebrity turn out who pledged their support. It was a fantastic event in aid of such a very worthy cause and a good night was had by all. A highlight of the event was the magnificent fashion show by the talented Anamika Khanna, who amazed guests with her new Luxury 2013 collection of inspired and absolutely beautiful new creations. I’ve had very positive feedback about the fashion show, with guests loving the whole look, staging and theme of the show.

“The UK chapter of The Akshaya Patra Foundation has so far raised funds to provide

meals in approximately 250 schools which is 75,000 children. The funds raised by peoples’ enormous generosity has been so beneficial in helping us to continue our vital work to feed and educate some of India’s poorest and deprived children.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation often provides a lifeline for children to eat well, which in turn aids their educational development, which then can help them to achieve their full potential.

“My heartfelt gratitude to everyone who attended this event, and those who have and continue to support our vital work – it is very much appreciated.”

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a leading charity pioneering a school lunch programme that addresses two of the most immediate challenges facing India: hunger/malnutrition and access to education. It is the first Indian NGO to have been selected for a case study by the Harvard Business School of USA. The organisation began in Bangalore with the ambit of feeding 1500 children in five schools. For many children it is their only complete meal of the day.

This meal gives them an incentive to come to school, stay in school, and provides them with the necessary nutrients to develop cognitive abilities, enabling them to focus on learning. Ultimately, this aids in helping them to become self-sufficient and gainfully employed. The organisation has the impressive projection of feeding five million schoolchildren in India everyday by 2020. This essential work is partly funded by the Central Government of India, the respective state governments, corporates and benevolent individuals.

Today, The Akshaya Patra Foundation provides freshly prepared, nutritious meals daily to over 1.3 million underprivileged children in over 8000 schools in NINE states from 19 kitchens.

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 16th March 2013

Leading Lights

Rani Singh, Special Assignments Editor

Ann Vyas, Designing for her life Ann Vyas is the Design Director of Ann Designer Living Ann discovered a natural inclination towards interior design in the early stages of her college life and trained herself academically to pursue her passion. She holds an undergraduate honours degree in Interior Design, a postgraduate degree in Furniture design and a Masters in Interior Design from Birmingham City University (UK) where she also has been a guest lecturer, taking special classes for MA Interior Design Students.

Ann is regularly invited to interior design events and exhibitions like the Great British Home Show and Grand Designs London as a guest speaker.

Ann describes her style as a balance of aesthetics and functionality. She says that most people tend to play safe and think that good design is primarily about matching up colours, materials, lighting etc in a particular style like traditional or contemporary. Ann likes to find ways to be individual.

She says that few South Asians -especially women- have broken this field in the UK for historical and cultural reasons.

Interior design dates back to the 18th century.

“Throughout the 18th century and into the early 19th Century, interior decoration was the concern of the homemaker .Towards the end of the 19th century interior decorating emerged as a profession in the Western world.

Meanwhile from the late 18th century, South Asia saw the beginning of the European colonial occupation. During this period almost all conventional professional fields were defined and evolved under the colonial era.

Interior design, being a fairly new profession, was not considered a popular choice of study or profession. South Asians (especially women) who migrated to the UK Since 1947, have achieved tremendous progress in all spheres but have a long way to go before overcoming traditional mindsets.

The glass ceiling is breaking and interior designers are now becoming more visible in the South Asian community.”

Ann tells us that trendwise, 2013 is about fusion.

With period properties, contemporary elements like modern art or even contemporary materials in furnishings and accessories can be added.

Furniture made from reclaimed wood can be made more interesting by using modern lacquer fin-

9

Welcome to London, Deputy Indian High Commissioner A welcome dinner was organised on March 7 for the new deputy Indian High Commissioner, Virander Paul and wife Rachel, at Andy Verma's restaurant in Nottinghill Gate- Chakra.

Followed by a press conference Virendra Sharma, MP, Virander Paul, Will Middleton and CB Patel, with Anita Publisher/Editor, Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar Anand, the BBC c o r re s p o n d e n t , Middleton, Foreign and Press and Information, this dinner had presence Commonwealth Office, Indian High Commission, of many dignitaries, journalists and other Jasminder Kasturia, including Virendra guests.

Counsellor, International MP, Mrs Sharma, Photo courtesy: Raj Organisations & Press Padmaja, Counsellor, Bakrania and Information, Will

University of Westminster launches new Centre for Social Media Research

ishes. A modern newlybuilt home can incorporate traditional old pieces of furniture to create something new and interesting. She also recommends mixing multi cultural interiors. For example a minimalistic western interior style can be merged with inspirational design elements from the east. A light earthy western color palette can be

‘Interior design is not a luxury anymore, it’s a necessity and every individual can achieve great interiors within their own budget.’ used with a pinch of bright colours from the east . “I personally will use different fabrics (colors,texture etc) in interior spaces.”

She finds that tastes differ from client to client.

She says that European clients prefer fluidity in their spaces, connecting rooms without segregation. “On the other hand Muslim nationalities prefer segregation in social spaces for men and women. Usually in such houses I design different receptions and dining rooms for males and females in the same house.”

Ann says that being a fairly new brand established for only a couple of years in a competitive industry is a challenge.

“When people look for help to design their spaces, they usually want to hire someone with years of portfolio .Though I have been working in the industry for 8 years (mainly for other companies) I decided to start up my own studio in 2011, following which I had to put a lot of effort in establishing a brand presence for my company. The challenge was to deliver every project exceeding the expectations of the clients so that I can generate a loyal client base recommending me to their friends and family.

Another challenge was my ethnic origin. Being from an Indian background I found that non Asian clients were a bit apprehensive to hire me as they as they assumed I cannot deliver their style of design.”

She thinks that TV is a good platform for creative individuals to showcase different design solutions to different space related issues. It is an easily accessible source of inspiration for millions of viewers who cannot afford professional design services but can learn so many tips and techniques from the shows and apply them in their own projects. Ann says that the UK is a DIY society, and that conventionally, interior design is only for the rich. “If I had a TV show, I would educate people that interior design is not a luxury anymore, it’s a necessity and every individual can achieve great Interiors in their own budget.”

The University of Westminster has launched a new Centre for Social Media Research (CSMR) and a new Masters degree in Social Media. The CSMR will conduct and coordinate research into social, cultural, and political-economic aspects of social media, and will also explore how social media might transform the practice of research itself.

The centre will be led by Professor David Gauntlett, and the MA programme by Professor

Christian Fuchs and Professor Graham Meikle, who both joined the School of Media, Arts and Design in February 2013 to teach and research in the area of social media.

They add to the existing strengths of Westminster’s media research community, which was top-rated in the last UK Research Assessment Exercise, joining other key social media researchers including Dr Anastasia Kavada and Dr Daniel Trottier.

Westminster’s MA in

Social Media will welcome its first students in September 2013.

The new Centre for Social Media Research will launch itself with a major international conference, Social Media, in London on 2-3 September 2013.

The conference will be the fourth in the University of We s t m i n s t e r ’ s Transforming Audiences series, held every two years since 2007, attracting key scholars and researchers from around the world.

Vacancy If you want a career in diamonds and gold a vacancy exists for a Sales Executive.

The right candidate will need the following n Must speak English fluently as well as one of the following languages: Gujarati, Hindi, Urdu. n Communication: You must be able to communicate effectively and persuasively with all types of clients. n Experience in retail will be useful but not essential.

Training will be provided n Salary based on experience.

If you meet the above criteria, you can email your CV to info@minarjewellers.com or post your cv to

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Your Voice

10

United voice of Hindus I read with disappointment and anger a letter from Ramesh Jhalla (AV 2 March). How could a leading super market like Tesco use an image of Lord Ganesha on a packet of cooked Chicken?

Is this the first incident? It has been sadly happening over the years. The ideal reaction should be boycotting Tesco, with Hindu Employees walking out in protestshowing them the strength of the Hindus.

But I feel that we haven’t got a strong united voice.

We have so many so called Hindu Bodies i.e.VHP National Council of Hindu Temples and World Hindu Forum or similar, have these organisations ever come with a united voice? Why not?

Because we are ashamed of calling ourselves Hindus, as we don’t know what we stand for.

Many 'Kathakars' are flooding the UK, Europe and US every summer. They bag thousands of pounds and return to India for a luxurious life.

It is high time we wake up from our old timid ways. Let us get united and act and protect our richest heritage for our generations to come.

All our Hindu Organisations should form a central bureau and register patent copy right for all Religious scriptures, symbols, and images of Gods and Goddesses.This Body should be responsible to monitor misuse of Registered "item" and take legal action against the culprit.

Ravindra J.Nathwani Exeter, Devon

Modi's speech Cancellation of Shri Modi’s keynote address by Wharton School of Business, US, at a video conference is disheartening. It is also astounding to see how the Wharton School buckled under threats

by Indian-American leftist bullies. This is an uneven war against Hinduism where Hindus do not retaliate, proving bullies right.

These bullies did not protest at killings of thousands of Sikhs after assassination of Indira Gandhi, forced exodus of Kashmiri pundits, Indian victims of 26-11 raid by terrorists, persecution of Hindus in neighbouring Muslim countries, nude paintings of Hindu holy icons

by M F Hussain etc.

Decision is wrong when America’s business schools, including Wharton School, earns billions of dollar fees from Indian students. These schools are looking at Hindu philosophy, Bhagvad Gita and karma to understand business and support capitalism.

Decision is direct insult to Gujarati tycoons like Ambanis, Adanis and Mittals who belong to Wharton School alumnus, and support Modi.

Howling at unethical action by Wharton school is futile when our own house is in disarray. Strong anti Modi lobby, actively supported by influential shameless Hindu leaders and aggressive Muslims, exists not only in India but Gujarat itself. Though many countries that had black listed Modi are beating

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 16th March 2013

2013 - My 40th anniversary to have become a UK citizen I became a naturalised citizen in 1973, thanks to my oil company employer who wrote to Home Office as my student visa granted in 1967 had finished.

On Mothers' day I was listening to LBC while having breakfast. The discussion was about who would win in the next general election. I telephoned LBC and was pleased to given two minutes before the 11 am news.

I said to Ian Dale that we needed a 15-year plan so that everything is stable.

The Coal and Steel Community preceding European Union had a 25-year plan.

The seat of government, the financial centre, architecture, theatres, museums, and all that is best is in London and South East representing 15 million people.

Over the past 50 years all political parties have given less attention, relatively speaking, to the other 45 million living in the middle or north.

May be the financial centre or the seat of parliament should be moved to middle or North.

My published forecast before the last General Election was within two seats of actual seats won and I had also forecast a pact between Conservatives and Liberals.

This time my forecast is approx 23% each including UKIP in 2015 and 8% independents. It is time for a National Government with a 15-year plan.

Nagindas Mansukhlal Khajuria Via Email path to door of Modi, traitors discard Supreme Court’s clean chit to Modi, feeding anti Modi frenzy abroad.

Instead of wringing hands at callous action by Wharton School, anti-Modi lobby in India that insists on ignoring exoneration of Modi by Supreme Court / SIT on post Godhra riots, must be tried and punished for contempt of the court.

God save us from self-righteous politicians

Indo-British relations better than ever

Now that the expected merger of North West London Hospital Trust (NWLHT) and Ealing Hospital Trust (EHT) is almost on the horizon, that would close or downgrade four A & E Departments, there is a near panic among the patients, mostly the elderly, disable and chronically sick who fear that this will put unbearable pressure on Northwick Park Hospital’s A & E Department, the only viable emergency A & E in the whole of North London serving more than a million people.

Even now, at peak time, more than fifty patients are patiently waiting for up to five hours to be seen by a doctor. The number may double, even treble with the closure of equally busy four other A & E Departments. This will certainly result in curtailing the life-span of many elderly people who may be physically unable to endure such a long wait.

NHS is now a death-trap for many and the main excuse is the lack of finance, the sky high borrowing, the nation’s debt. Yet we have money for overseas aid totalling some £12 billion.

Our politicians, when in office, receive first class treatment under NHS’s private wing and when retired can go private, having filled their coffers while in office and milking their fame, inside knowledge and influence to land prestigious employment that would earn them millions when out of office.

Perhaps our leading politicians in the Coalition know that they are one term wonders, here today, gone tomorrow. So why not to make the hay while the sun shines!

CB, in his thoughtful "As it is" column in Asian Voice dated 2nd-8th March, asks readers what they think of the current state of Indo-British relations. He is concerned about an article in The Times UK newspaper which claims: "Indians see Britain as a spent force. They enjoy our decline."

This is nonsense as most Indians here and in India will readily confirm. Both countries are linked and continually nourished by an umbilical cord stretching across 200 years of history.

There is warmth and goodwill flowing in both directions. More white-Britons are happily living and working in India than ever before, and the same goes for Indians over here.

As a UK correspondent of The International Indian bi-monthly magazine based in Dubai, I recently wrote an article about three white-British couples who were so bowled over by their holidays in India that all three started their own travel companies in the UK with the sole purpose of encouraging more of their fellowmen to "go and experience wonderful, magical India and its nice, friendly, hospitable people". British tourists are flocking to India in ever-increasing numbers, and the reverse is also true.

CB says: "As someone who was born in India, who has lived in Britain for nearly 50 years, travels to India at least four times a year and who is in constant touch with a large number of people in India, I find the writer's statement that 'Indians see Britain as a spent force' very surprising in the least...absolutely unacceptable".

Well said, CB. Rudy Otter Via Email

Bhupendra M Gandhi Via Email

Anyone with a Spare Bedroom?

I read your Asian House and Home winter edition. Very well done. I have just bought a 3 bedroom flat in the docklands.

Though the flats in docklands are mostly new and I am not expecting much of renovation work to be done, but this magazine helps me a great deal to visualise what I require to do with my new buy.

My husband who works in the City at a top position, has to host many dinners at home and I require to have a contemporary and well decorated flat. So the tips I picked up from Ann Vyas's article on page 21 will be of great help to me.

Thank you Asian Voice for such a great, well thought of and beautifully designed magazine. I must say its one of your best so far.

The Government’s welfare reforms that are in the pipeline, and coming into effect next month, are designed to cut the amount of benefit that people can get if they are deemed to have a spare bedroom in their council or housing association home. The cut will be a fixed percentage of the Housing Benefit eligible rent. The Government has said that this will be set at 14% for one extra bedroom and 25% for two or more extra bedrooms. It is time that this should happen especially since under present rules people over certain age who arrive in the UK can immediately start drawing benefits under the name of housing benefits and pension credits even if they have not done a stroke of work in this country, while those whose taxes pay for all this have to make do with a one or two bedroom flats while carrying a millstone of a mortgage around their neck!

The scroungers who are occupying large houses at the tax payers’ expense will feel the pinch and rightly so. Then there are those who had been allocated a large mansion house and complained that it was too difficult to clean it.

Urvi Bhattacharya London

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford

Ramesh Jhalla Via Email

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Professionals and cowboys

I read an article “Proud to be Indian?

Then enjoy working with Indians and not cowboys” in your latest House and home magazine. I agree with the author that if we are investing in a flat, we of course need to invest in it rightly. Whether its loft conversion, or legal paper work, I would advise all my friends to take professional guidance. Asians do believe that instead of paying reasonable fees for the architect, they should utilise that money into creating a better kitchen or bedroom or new bathroom. And this outlook needs to be corrected. As it is said, a stitch in time saves nine.

But I strongly feel that the title of the article is a little misleading. Cowboys can be in any profession, from any community. Of course we require nuances of our requirements to be understood better by our own people, but nonetheless there are many non Asian professionals who do understand our styles and do a perfect justice to our needs Besides this, I must say the magazine is a better read than the first one.Well done AV. Looking forward to the next edition.

Avinash Phagre Birmingham

EducAtion/council Voice

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 16th March 2013

National Hindu Students Forum (UK)

Harrow Asian Deaf Club Special Reception at House of Parliament

Dancing through vibrations

By Sweta Mehta NHSF (UK) Sewa Co-ordinator

Listening to good music and dancing your heart out...Chatting to your friends for hours on the phone....

BUT what if you couldn’t hear music; but really wanted to dance?

What if you could only talk to your friends when you were with them because you relied on lipreading to understand them?

Nehal Bhogatia, a 24year old support worker for charity Action Deafness and beauty therapist who cannot hear or speak, has demonstrated that anything is possible. She has not let her challenges affect her and continues to dance through feeling the vibrations of the music.

Through her passion for dance she has been able to participate in many competitions including Boogy Woogy UK and Just Dance. She was recently crowned Miss India UK after impressing judges with her interview answers- despite not being able to hear the questions. Throughout the competition Nehal

raised money for Ronal McDonald House, which provides care and support to parents who have seriously or terminally-ill children, “my being deaf is minute in comparison to the struggles these little children face”.

The inspirational individual attended the National Hindu Students’ (NHSF (UK)) Annual Sports Competition with her sister, Jayeesha, and presented the awards to NHSF (UK) university chapter societies.

Inspired by the Paralympic Games 2012

and brave individuals like Nehal, The NHSF (UK) Sewa Team carried out their very own paralympic games at the National Sports Competition; these ranged from guided running to sitting volleyball with the aim to motivate students to volunteer, coach and fundraise for Parasports.

Parasport has joined up with Deloitte to inspire, educate, inform and signpost disabled people and those interested in disability sport, to high quality opportunities.

David Weir, Jonnie Peacock and Sarah Storey have provided the Nation with unforgettable memories.

Let’s not forget their achievements, embrace our opportunities and let us...

“Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached” Swami Vivekananda.

No proper regulations in bailiff industry harrowing drivers No proper regulations in the bailiff industry is harrowing drivers, who have often called Asian Voice, complaining about their unfortunate experiences. A recent story on one woman whose car was clamped twice for the same parking ticket added to the many such instances that we have heard.

Devaki Bhatta (pictured) had twice been clamped over the same parking ticket.

Two years ago she was clamped by Newlyn, a debt collection agency, which said she had two unpaid parking tickets from Harrow Council and would have to pay £1,000 to get the car unclamped.

Dr Bhatta, one of the founding directors of a biotech company told The Times newspaper: “I never

Devaki Bhatta

received a parking ticket in the first place and the clamping meant I was stranded 100 miles from my home.

“It took a month to persuade Harrow Council to order Newlyn to remove the clamp. Newlyn’s bailiff didn’t leave a notice of seizure of goods on my car, as he is supposed to, and seized my £6,000 car for a debt of £100 with no attempt to seize goods of lower value.”

This year, Newlyn again clamped her car in an attempt to seek payment for one of the old parking

11

tickets. She said: “I was furious but got the clamp removed within a couple of hours.”

A spokeswoman for Harrow Council told the daily, “The motorist was clamped by bailiffs in 2011 but then unclamped when it emerged that penalty notices had been sent to her old address. The ticket was then re-issued to the correct address and this January bailiffs clamped the car again but because of an administrative error we decided to cancel the ticket and ordered bailiffs to unclamp the car. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.”

Newlyn told The Times: “On the first occasion Dr Bhatta had received an initial penalty charge notice and Newlyn gave notice of intention to seize goods to Dr Bhatta on three occasions.”

Harrow Asian Deaf Club’s committee and volunteers were in a real treat when they received a special invitation to attend reception at the House of Parliament by Gareth Thomas, MP on 8th March 2013.

With an early morning start, everyone arrived, smartly dressed and for many, it was a brand new experience in visiting House of Parliament in Central London. The special reception was held in Gareth Thomas MP and Asif Iqbal, President of HADC with he Harrow Asian Deaf Club group recognition of their hard work in volunteering for vital contribution they’ve Gareth Thomas, MP HADC’s recent events. made to Harrow.” for Harrow West, Shadow Gareth Thomas MP gave a Asif Iqbal MBE, Cabinet Office Minister brief speech, welcoming President of HADC: “The and Deputy Shadow the group to House of day was fantastic way to Minister for London, Parliament and gave a celebrate the achievements exclaimed: “I’m delighted speech of congratulation to be able to welcome of everyone involved. The to every individual Harrow Asian Deaf Club quality of their volunteerinvolved before presenting to Parliament for a special ing work was excellent and them with a certificate. tour of the Palace and a it was very heart-warming Gareth, who know some celebratory reception. The and rewarding to see the basic British Sign group getting recognition club has gone from Language (BSL) was able for their achievements that strength to strength in to congratulate and saying they deserved. This is a recent years because of the Thank You in BSL to deaf fantastic opportunity to hard work of the Club’s volunteers. Not only it showcase how HADC supPresident Asif Iqbal MBE stopped there, the HADC port our committee and and a great team of dedigroup was treated with a volunteers (both deaf and cated volunteers; I look guide tour of the House of hearing), empowering forward to presenting a Parliament with BSL interthem and giving them connumber of special certifipreter – a memorable trip fidences to give something cates during the Club’s for everyone involved! back to the community.” visit which recognise the

Supersonic car visits Year 9 students at a Manchester school Year 9 students from Burnage Media Arts College, Manchester, have become part of a story that is inspiring the next generation of pioneers in Britain. The story is called Bloodhound and is the fastest car ever built, reaching speeds of 1,000 mph.

B l o o d h o u n d SuperSonic Car (SSC) is the ultimate jet and rocketpowered racing car, which can move faster than a bullet. With a Eurofighter Typhoon jet engine and custom designed hybrid rocket, so fast is it the car will attempt the World Land Speed Record in South Africa later this year or early next.

Its North West stop off was all-boys comprehensive, Burnage Media Arts College in Manchester – one of the top performing schools in the UK. Despite the fact its pupils speak around 40 different languages, its Maths results feature in the top 10 per cent nationally – making it a fitting stop off for a proj-

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Development is now the name of the game. It has subsumed the incumbency factor and all other factors with state electorates. Narendra Modi has won three consecutive elections in Gujarat as BJP chief minister on the development platform; Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has earned plaudits for reviving his state’s fortunes through proactive development programmes. The Communist Party of India’s (Marxist) Manik Sarkar has done exceptionally well in Tripura, being re-elected as Chief Minister for the fourth time on his development record, with Congress Chief Minister Mukul Sangma following suit, also with a campaign developmental achievement in based on Meghalaya.

Noteworthy Sarkar win Mr Sarkar’s record is especially noteworthy as his party lost power in its larger bastions in Kerala and West Bengal. In West Bengal it didn’t merely lose, it was demolished, with every minister losing his/her assembly seat.

Mr Sarkar eschewed the mindless militancy of strikes and the self-destructive movements which led to the flight of capital, industrial stagnation and the loss of jobs in West Bengal and Kerala. Tripura today is a hive of entrepreneurial activity and high growth. His policy of imaginative magnanimously conciliation, applied, has helped bring the tribal insurgency in his state to a peaceful and amicable end.

Tripura is now tranquil, at peace with itself and its neighbours.

The people’s demand to stand and deliver has emerged triumphant.

Modi coronation, Rahul denial The BJP Nation Council conclave was the virtual coronation of Narendra Modi as the party’s candidate for prime minister of India, the real time event to follow later when the country’s general election draws nearer in May/June 2014. A year is a long time in politics, as the British Labour leader and prime minister Harold Wilson remarked many moons ago. Mr Modi, in a rousing speech to the party faithful, called for India’s “second liberation” from Congress party misrule, and described Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the Gandhi family’s “night porter,” a jibe that went down well with the gallery. However, India is the sum of its parts, and what makes Mr Modi successful in Gujarat may not work quite as well in the country as a whole.

He will require a makeover, wrote Arati Jerath in an analytical edit-page piece in The Times of India (March 6)

Vajpayee extolled.

To become prime minister Mr Modi, she argued, will have to enlarge his support base from beyond the ranks of the BJP faithful; he will have to win over uncommitted voters and perhaps even elements of the Congress party itself. Which is what Atal Behari succeeded in doing, when

he headed a BJP-led coalition government in New Delhi and kept it in office for six long years. Mr Vajpayee made the BJP electable and in the process became an authentic national statesman. He was able to do so because he could conciliate and draw disparate groups together, said our scribe.

Even before he became prime minister, writes Ms Jerath, Mr Vajpyee had won respect for his oratorical and parliamentary skills, eliciting the admiration of Jawaharlal Nehru, who predicted that he would become prime minister one day.

Rahul’s disclaimer Rahul Gandhi’s pitch, as Congress party Vice President, in contrast, was modest and lowkey. In a wide-ranging interview with the media in Parliament, he disavowed any intention to become prime minister or end his status as the nation’s most eligible bachelor. His priorities were to make his party more democratic, more accountable, and less centralized and elitist.

Mr Modi is likely have a tougher fight on his hands come 2014, for sure. Arati Jerath drew a parallel between Mr Modi and his mentor L.K.Advani, who made the early running with his headline-grabbing Rath Yatras, but failed in the final lap to carry off the ultimate prime ministerial prize. His tank had nothing left after the histrionics.

India, Ethiopian relations The India-Ethiopian relationship is of the utmost significance for both countries. Located on the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia has Islamist Eritrea next door, the latter a staging post for terrorists from the Arabian peninsula. The Indian military mission in Addis Ababa imparts training to units of the Ethiopian Army, while hospitals in Bangalore are directly linked by a telecommunication network to render advice and assistance to Ethiopian surgeons and doctors in local hospitals.

Over and above this, Indian agricultural companies have leased land, at the invitation of the government, to improve the country’s agricultural production and productivity. Ethiopia famines have been the country’s bane in the recent past.

What better way to poison the relationship than sow seeds

www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 16th March 2013

net and the domestic market if the industry was to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 15 per cent, if the industry hoped achieve its 2020 goal.

Worrying fiscal deficit

Indian Finance and Aviation Ministers approve joint operations of AirAsia and Tata Sons

of disinformation. Which is what one Ashish Kothari did as participant in the “India-Ethiopia Seminar on Land Investment” in Delhi. Kothari’s newspaper article entitled “How Ethiopians are being pushed off their land” related a dismal tale of Indian skullduggery. This drew a firm rebuttal in The Hindu (February 27) from Metasebia Tadesse, Minister Counsellor at the Ethiopian Embassy, which argued that, if the organizers of the Seminar had been serious about eliciting information on the subject, they would surely have contacted the Embassy or Indian investors with first-hand experience of the Ethiopian land policy. His government’s policy, remarked Mr Tadesse, was to help the country’s small landholders in every way possible to increase their crop yields. There has never been the slightest hint of land dispossession, he averred.

2.75 billion pounds sterling in product creation in support of its plans to introduce eight new or refined products during this year.

The increased investment would almost double the number of skilled engineering and manufacturing jobs at the UK plant, taking the total number in the workforce to 1,400. The new facility, which is to open this year, will have engines coming off the production line in 2015.

The product development includes the Jaguar F-Type and the world’s first nine-speed gearbox in its Land Rover line-up.

(Hindu March 6)

Ambitious Nasscom The National Association of and Services Software Companies (Nasscom) the representative arm of India’s business processing and outsourcing

Double-talk Mr Tadesse pointed out that India and one / two other Asian nations had been invited to invest in Ethiopian agriculture to boost production and productivity in the interests of food security. Similar schemes were operating in Latin America without a protester’s squeal, he said. Why ever not?, Mr Tadesse asked. The answer, he replied, lay in the nationality of the investors, all of whom were American or European. The productive Indian presence in Ethiopia had derailed their plans to be the dominating influence in Ethiopia, Mr Tadesse concluded.

Tata’s UK plant Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), a part of Tata Motors, plans to increase its investment in the UK with a new engine manufacturing centre in Wolverhampton worth 500 million pounds sterling. JLR issued a statement that, in addition, it would invest

Dr Raghuram Rajan, Chief Economic Advisor to India’s Finance Minister P.Chidambaram, expressed concern at the country’s rising current account deficit. He said: “At some point, we should think

Raghuram Rajan

about freezing the subsidy on diesel at the current levels until it reaches the level of world prices so that the Budget is not exposed to the risks of an increase in global oil prices.”

Dr Rajan suggested a shortterm solution to the problem, saying,: “In the short-term, we have to focus on financing the current account deficit through foreign inflows, because reducing it will take time.” One way to earn foreign exchange was to increase exports in relation to imports, Dr Rajan explained.

Moody’s optimism

N.R Narayana Murthy press conference

industry announced that it is targeting revenues of $300 billion by 2020, 177 per cent more than what it earned in 2012 N.R.Narayana Murthy Infosys Chairman Emeritus, who headed an expert committee, having deliberated on ways and means to achieve the target, said that revenues had traditionally come from five basic areas including IT services. It was now time for outreach into new areas such as mobile phones, the inter-

Tata Jaguarplant in UK

Meanwhile, Moody’s, the international rating agency, in its first reaction to the Indian budget gave a cautious thumbs up, but on further reflection Moody’s Analytics opined that the crisis in the country’s economy had bottomed out, predicting an economic revival that would lead to 7 per cent growth in 2014. The economic reforms of August-September 2012, it said, had increased investor confidence, but further structural reforms were necessary if India was to reach double digit growth.

The Sensex surged 161and 240 points on March 8,9 respectively on the back of its earlier rise by 421 points

AirAsia-Tata joint venture India’s Finance and Aviation Ministries have approved the joint operations in India of Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia and Tata Sons. This is the first such venture involving a foreign company in the aviation sector to be passed under the new Foreign Direct Investment rules.

The conglomerate will now have to apply for a license from the Director General, Civil Aviation. Once this is given AirAsia-Tata aircraft can take to the skies. (Hindu, Times of India March 7)

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 16th March 2013

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“A Women’s Guide to Having it All Now” Ritu Sethi's book launched by Women Empowered during International Women's Week

The eternal puzzle, “how to have it all”, is rarely away from our minds for long; juggling work, family and the frequently forgotten “ourselves” is ironically one many of us just don’t have time to put together!

In the hope of coming someway closer to finding the answer to this perennial dilemma and fittingly during International Women’s Week, Women Empowered launched “A Woman’s Guide to Having it All Now” By Ritu Sethi at Bright Courtyard Club in Baker Street on Wednesday 6th March 2013.

Ritu Sethi at her book launch

The launch was attended by nearly 200 people including Seema Malhotra

Member of Parliament for Feltham and Heston who is also a Champion of Women Empowered, heard the journey of Ritu Sethi, a woman, daughter, sister, wife, mother, successful career women, solicitor and partner in her own law firm and public speaker, who has found time to balance her working and family life and at the same time not neglected her personal ambitions and goals Ritu Sethi, who has won many awards and accolades for Law and Business, shared her personal real life experiences, from overcoming professional hardships by

Rt Hon Theresa May attends Women's Conference at Neasden Temple Rt. Hon Theresa May, the Home Secretary, was Chief Guest and Keynote Speaker at an International Women’s Day conference hosted at London’s famous Neasden Temple (officially known as BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir) on Saturday 9 March 2013.

The conference was hosted by BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) – a UN affiliated socio spiritual Hindu charity – in observance of International Women’s Day 2013. The conference, entitled Celebrating Women: Above and Beyond, aimed to celebrate the achievements of women and inspire them to fulfil their potential.

Mrs May arrived at the temple at 12 noon and was greeted in traditional Hindu manner with a flower garland and the tying of an auspicious thread around her wrist signifying goodwill and friendship. After touring the temple – or ‘mandir’, as it is called in the ancient Sanskrit language – and paying her respects in the inner sanctum, she entered the assembly hall to rapturous applause.

After being introduced to the audience, Mrs May commented on how privileged she felt at being in the company of hundreds of motivated women at the IWD celebration, held at the famous Neasden Temple in North London.

She paid tribute to the sense of solidarity and friendship that she witnessed there, and praised the work of the women who were helping others selflessly and setting a fine example encouraging others to go Above and Beyond.

Other guest speakers included Baroness Barbara Young, the first female Chief Executive of Diabetes UK, Dr Devi Nair, Clinical Lead for

remaining resolute and determined and not accepting failure to what she believed were the secrets to a healthy marriage.

Ritu has based her book on a “Wheel of Life” that helps one to put perspective, focus and balance to various key aspects of life. Ritu stressed that if more women became leaders in their chosen fields and thought leaders, then more women Reena Ranger (Chairwoman& Founder of WE), Seema Malhotra MP, would benefit from Ritu Sethi, Mona Remtulla( Co Founder of Women Empowered) and others getting the balance right and staying on Amazon.com, Kindle, doors and a new level of longer in the workforce.

Waterstones. It has been possibilities and ideas for She went on to say that it is for our generation to make the difference and change the power dynamics to reflect equality Through listening to Ritu’s story the women and men present found affinity and applicability to the concepts she extolled and through her words and vision maybe they too could learn to find what having it all really means to them and how to achieve it Guests Present at the book launch for themselves. Sadly there isn’t a simple cookie nominated for The Most us to build upon. cutter solution for us all Motivational Book of 2013 A Woman’s Guide to but learning from the expeby the Indo British Having It All Now by Ritu riences of others opens Business Forum.

Sethi, is available for £9.99

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Lipids and Cardiovascular Risk Prevention at Royal Free Hospital and Director for the Supra Regional Assay Services for Cardiac Biomarkers, Ms Sarah Teather, MP for Brent Central, Seema Sharma, a CEO of a dental practice management consultancy and Operations Director for a postgraduate medical training course and PC Purnima Raval who has been in the Metropolitan Police Service for 21 years and is one of the first Asian women recruited into the Service.

A vitality show was organised in the afternoon which included a variety of health and wellbeing activities as well as art and cultural demonstrations.

The relaxed atmosphere provided an opportunity for guests to mingle and understand the views and perspectives of one another.

The celebrations this year were also supporting Climate Week – Britain’s biggest climate change campaign, inspiring a new wave of action to create a sustainable future. Guests

and organisers donated old and/or unwanted clothes which will be recycled and donated to charity.

Dr Nair spoke of the ‘positive energy that the event generated’ and the ‘inspiration she gained from listening to the achievement of other successful women as well as listening to the challenges that are embraced by women on a daily basis.’

Rena Amin, one of the lead organisers of the event expressed, “This year we wanted women to really reach ‘above and beyond’ the boundaries and learn and become inspired through the experiences of others. We wanted to provide a place where an everyday, ordinary woman can believe that she can make a significant contribution to society.”

Nisha Patel, 18, a guest expressed, “It is remarkable how attainable success can be when you hear from those who have achieved success themselves – ordinary women who have achieved extraordinary things.”

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UK

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Be Dharmic, a celeBration of 5000 years of Dharma Hemal Randerwala Many dedicated people braved the harsh weather this weekend to attend the first of a kind event in celebration of 5.000 years of Dharma. The Be Dharmic event was Hemal Randerwala (left) with held at the Sattavis Mr CB Patel (right) Pattidas Centre, sors young girls from slums Wembley, London with the and rural communities in aim of celebrating the Mumbai, India. world as one family and The highlight of the discuss how Dharma can two day event was the make the world a better Dharma Sabha on Sunday place. This event was the afternoon. I thank and confirst of the kind and was gratulate the leaders from a organised by Asian Voice whole host of organisations and Gujarat Samachar in who came to unite and disassociation with Go cuss the responsibilities of Dharmic, with a mission to the Dharmic communities. educate our present and Key-note speaker and future generations about head of the Bharatiya their 'dharma' and pay Vidya Bhavan respect to their 'Indic' Dr.Nandakumara gave an faiths. inspiring speech which I It was auspicious for a feel truly carried the number of reasons – Friday essence of Sanatana was International Women’s Dharma. Explaining the Day and Sunday was both richness of the Hindu traMaha Shivratri and ditions he said, Mother’s Day.

The Go Dharmic team gave a workshop Saturday on the fundamental Hindu principles of courage, charity, wisdom, compassion, love and respect. During this workshop we introduced the audience to a charity campaign run jointly with Project Crayons.

Participants in the campaign have a chance to win a bat signed by the Indian Cricket Team, and its aim is to raise funds for their Empowerment Dream Programme which spon-

‘Today we talk about a Global Village, a concept which was envisaged by our sages thousands of years ago because they believed in the Oneness of all living beings. They always knew that the world is not what it seems. There is much more to it than meets the eye. Our sages upheld the principles of friendship, compassion, fraternity, freedom from ego and pride and firmly believed that these lead a person to real peace. Sage

Kokilaben Patel Managing editor compering the event

Dr Nanda Kumar Bhavans - Chief Guest

Vyasa in the Mahabharata clearly says that Punya is helping others and Paapa is creating distress in others.’

His inspiring message of Universal brotherhood through Sanatana Dharma set the tone for discussing how to preserve and promote these most ancient of teachings. Moving beyond

Pramod Thakkar - Mr Vinod Kapasi of Jalaram Prarthana Mahavir Foundation Mandal

understanding the traditions in line with modern thinking.

Both days included speeches, performances and dances to represent deities and saints from Hinduism. Various religious enactments were presented by the Kuntal Dance Academy, who were

Stall holders at the event

narrow designations or our individual theological beliefs, it is the universal message of compassion and love for all living beings that was emphasised, and this is the core of Dharma.

Shaunaka Rishi Das from the Oxford Centre for Hindu studies spoke about the rising interest in studying Hinduism by the new generations, highlighting the vital importance of

the lead choreographer for the event. Other organisations involved in the event were Honey Dance Academy, Miss Aishwarya Rajkumar Shah, the Mahavir Foundation, Ami Dance Academy, Meera Performing Arts and Yogi Devine Mission. They should be congratulated for their firm commitment and dedication to their arts.

Programmes were sponsored by Kool Cakes,

Miss Aishwarya Rajkumar Shah

Kenford Group, Shirdi Sai Baba Temple, Maharaj Ketul Joshi, Devadaya Charitable Trust, all giving wonderful support. Food was provided by Kaveet Catering. The event also included an exhibition of Swami Vivekananda on ancient Indian civilisation and celebrating his 150th since his birth.

I firmly believe in the message of the Bhagavad Gita verse 2.40, ‘No act for Dharma ever goes in vain.’ I was very happy that CB Patel, who usually takes a vow of silence on

V H Patel of BAPS UK

Mahendra Jadeja, Vinod Kapasi, Pratik Datani, Narendrabhai Thakrar, Vinubhai Nakharja, Pramod Thakkar, Sharsti Nityanandji Mehta, Dhruv Chatralia, Dipa Doshi and Nilesh Solanki and all of the other guests that have not been mentioned here.

Dharma Sabhas are gatherings have taken place over thousands of years in search of truth and knowledge. I hope that a few seeds have been planted to inspire others to learn more about these most ancient traditions.

It is with the benefit of all living beings that the Rig Veda says Aano bhadra krtavo

yantu vishwatah – ‘Let Mahashivratri, decided to talk so that he could help noble thoughts come to all bring people together. This from all sides.’ for me is true Hinduism in action.

All of the participants in the Dharma Sabha should be thanked, including Dr. Nandakumar, V H Patel, Swaminathan, Swaminathan of Hindu Forum along with M a d h a v a Saunka Rishidas of Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies Tu r u m e l l a ,

Kuntal Indulkar interacting with the audience

Performers from Kuntal Dance Academy

Honey Kalaria along with her team

Vinubhai Nakarja Anupam Mission

Ami Dance Academy performing Gharba

Ras=Raj Music Group singing bhajans

Performance by Meera Salat of Meera Art Academy

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 16th March 2013

15

if you have any particular topics you would like covered on my page, please let me know.

Music

tanveer Mann

TOP TEN ALBUMS TO LOOK OUT FOR THIS YEAR 1. Benny Dhaliwal & Aman Hayer – Khora 2 (Out this summer) 2. Jasjot Singh Ghuman ft. Jeeti – Akhiyan (Out 14th March) 3. DJ Rags feat Fatman Scoop - Balle Balle (Out Soon) 4. Babbu Maan - Talaash (Out Soon) 5. Sukh Josan – 100% Desi (Out 14th March) 6. Gurdas Mann – Roti (Out soon) 7. DJ Sanj – VIPs (Out soon) 8. Rubayyat Jahan ft Rishi Rich – Mere Pardesi Babu (Out 14th March) 9. Anil ‘Mr P’ Chauhan – He’s Here (Out Soon) 10. DJ Sukh ft Jaswinder Daghamia & Mis Pooja - Ik Jindri (Out Soon)

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COMIC CITY – HOSTED BY PATRICK MONAHAN on Friday 22 March, 2013-03-11

Did you know..?

TIP is the acronym for “To Insure Promptness.”

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BooK ReVIew Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita is a controversial novel about a middleaged literature professor’s infatuation with a young 12 year old girl, Dolores Haze.

Humbert Humbert's obsessive passion for his step-daughter is fraught with memories of a previous lover Annabel, who Dolores resembles. Whilst being entirely infatuated with Dolores, who he nicknames Lolita, the European Humbert despises her interests in contemporary American culture.

So begins a story of love, obsession, a childhood lost, eroticism, rape, and escape as we trace the journey of a man and a girl through their journeys and experiences in post-war America. A true form of post-modernist literature, the style of the novel is highly ambiguous with extremely con-

vincing use of language used by Nabokov to seduce the reader – suggestive of Humberts seduction of the adolescent Lolita.

This novel is on many top 10 best book’s lists and it definitely it is on mine. Controversial in 1955, Lolita still shocks readers all around by its exploitation of the novel’s heroine.

Fashionista If you haven’t already picked up on this latest trend, you are missing out! It is all about nail art this season as beautiful, intricately painted nails steal the show.

Whether its monochrome,

Essie Nails do a perfect range of bright colours whilst OPI are great for the pastels and block colours. If you’re looking for some inspiration, below are some of my favourite nail looks

Obsequious – Obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree

tRAvEL - Easter Breaks

TRAVEL - Easter Breaks This year, Easter falls a lot earlier than usual, which means there will be places where you could grab some last minute skiing but also places to soak in the

early spring sun. Short breaks are the perfect way to de-stress, relax and catch up with loved ones. Try out these great deals in your Easter weekend.

SPAIN – 4* Barcelo Cadiz – from £470 pp 3 nights – Hotel & Flight 29th March from London Heathrow TURKEY – 4* Marmaris Palace, Icmeler – fr. £355 pp 7 nights – All-inclusive, 1st April from Manchester

multicolour or pastel, spice up your nails with some funky patterns and you could even add some glitter for an evening look.

but you only take a quick Instagram to hottest styles ion now!

have to peek on see the in fash-

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VENICE – 3* Hotel Ca’ Formenta – from £523.97 pp 3 nights – Hotel & Flight 29th March from Southend-on-Sea

ITALY – 2* Hotel Miosotis – from £372pp 7 nights – Half Board 31st March from Manchester Visit: www.thomascook.com for more information.

WHY don’t you see penguins in Britain?

Because they’re afraid of Wales.

WHY was the Egyptian boy confused?

Because his daddy was a mummy.

16

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 16th March 2013

Aamir gets radio from Chor Bazaar

Aamir Khan, who is shooting for Rajkumar Hirani's "P.K." in Rajasthan, has used a radio bought from Chor Bazaar for one of the sequences in the film. The 47-year-old was spotted during the film shoot and also carrying a radio in his hand. It has now been revealed that the radio was bought from Chor Bazaar and has been used on Aamir's request." Aamir had seen the radio in olden times and was very keen to have it. He vaguely described it as one of the oldest radios," said a source. The production team had a hard time finding the radio. They not only researched, but also asked a lot of people around. Finally, they managed to get it in Chor Bazaar.

Asin is still single

Bachchan, Sridevi voted mostadmired Bollywood actors

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan and actress Sridevi have emerged as the most-admired Bollywood actors in a new mobile survey. According to the Vuclip Icons of the Year 2012 survey, which was conducted in three parts, Bachchan earned the maximum votes with a 43 per cent share when it came to the year's most admired Bollywood actor. 'Hawa Hawai' girl Sridevi, who made her Bollywood comeback after 15 years with 'English Vinglish', left behind present day beauties like Kareena Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha and Vidya Balan to win with a narrow margin of votes against Katrina Kaif.

Bond girl for Emraan Hashmi

Former Bond Girl Maryam d'Abo will star alongside Emraan Hashmi in Danis Tanovic's international film. Emraan Hashmi is all set to have a hot co-star. Oscar Award winning director Danis Tanovic, who is helming the actor's firstever Hollywood project, has roped in former Bond girl Maryam d'Abo. A source from the sets informs, “Maryam is playing an important role in the film and it was director Danis Tanovic's idea to cast her.”

Maryam joined the likes of former Bond heroines Ursula Andress and Grace Jones when she appeared in the James Bond film “The Living Daylights” in 1987. The film is currently being shot in Patiala.

Mani Ratnam to revive ‘Lajjo’?

The latest buzz in the industry is that Mani Ratnam is all set to revive his “Lajjo,” which he was set to make almost six years ago with Bollywood actor Aamir Khan. According to reports, the ace filmmaker was in Mumbai recently to hold talks regarding this Hindi project. It's also being said that he will team up with Bollywood script-writer Rensil D'Silva for the same. A source added, "When it was written, Lajjo was a musical love story which is set in pre-Independence India.

Mani had started work on the film a few years ago. He had, at that point, teamed up with Anurag Kashyap to shape up the script. But somehow the film was stalled and now it looks like things may have fallen into place.”

A not Na

This is point expecti Nayan-A post thei ing up i Baskaran.” said to approach Priyadar producti Nayan pair Unfo but says appr offers pair up, aft 'Boss'. Cu doing the project, ap Rani'. Bu project is

Jiiva to rema

The recent buzz doing the rounds has quite definitively irritated the gorgeous lady Asin; so much so that she refuses even as much as to comment on "untrue matters." It was reported that she was in a secret relationship with a US citizen, which was the reason why she flew to the country frequently. But Asin admonishes it all to be humbug. A source close to Asin says, "Marriage is not on the cards anytime soon for Asin. She did fly to the US, but was accompanied by her family, for a much needed break, to LA. There is no such secret boyfriend from the US, as the rumour quotes. And Asin is in no hurry to tie the knot."

Vulgarity and skimpy dresses don't always work: Ajay Devgn Do you wonder why Ajay Devgn has lately been doing too many light-hearted dramas? He doesn't want to associate himself with films that a family can't watch together and says it is a myth that vulgarity or skimpy clothes can make a movie work at the box office. The actor seems to be following his resolution sincerely as in recent times he has been part of successful family entertainers such as the "Golmaal" series, "Bol Bachchan" and "Son of Sardaar" as well as an action-drama like "Singham."

"I have decided not to do anything that you can't watch with family. I don't want to do any film, which has A-certificate," Ajay said in an interview. The actor is shooting for Prakash Jha's intense social drama "Satyagraha" in the City of Lakes.

Begum Bebo surprises her Nawab Saheb

Bebo has been shooting at Bhopal for Prakash Jha's “Satyagraha” and has been away from home for a while.

The actress surprised her hubby by coming to pick him up at the airport. Saif reached Bhopal and Kareena had the day off. No surprises that the couple spent most of the day inside Bebo's room. A source from the hotel where Bebo is staying states, ‘She had also decided on the menu for the meal they were to enjoy at the hotel. They had dinner together. The actress was glowing when she went to pick the Nawab up. On his return journey too, Kareena personally saw Saif off at the Bhopal airport. The source adds, “The begum knows Saif's tastes very well. After all, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach!”

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 16th March 2013

Arya t with ayan

I am not in rat race: Soha

s bound to disapthose who were ng an on-screen Arya romance, r successful teamn “Boss Engira Recently, Arya is o have been hed by shan, for a Thanu on, and that nthara will be his yet again. ortunately, it is all rumours. Arya s "People do roach us with wanting us to ter the success of urrently we are Vishnuvardhan part from 'Raja ut the Thanu a rumour."

oha Ali Khan is excited about S her upcoming film

o play lead in Tamil ake of 'Kai Po Che' Famous writer and author Chetan Bhagat has almost firmed up an inseparable link with the Indian film industry.

Earlier, his first novel 'Five Point Someone' was loosely adapted in the Hindi movie '3 Idiots', which was later remade into Tamil, under the direction of Shankar, starring three ace actors as the protagonists, titled 'Nanban'.

Next in line to make waves in both worlds is his novel 'Three Mistakes Of My Life', which has been adapted in the recent Hindi release, 'Kai Po Che'. According to sources, UTV Motion Pictures is in talks with two leading directors for the Tamil remake of 'Kai Po Che'.

Nervous Abhay Deol to launch girlfriend Preeti Desai

The pre-production work on his first-ever production venture is over and Abhay Deol is looking to begin shooting with his real-life girlfriend Preeti Desai for the first time. He says, “It is my director Devika Bhagat's debut project too. I am happy and thankful that I have got a good team to work with. Preeti really had to work hard as she is playing a dancer in it. There is one peppy number in it on the lines of Emotional Attyachar (Dev D). I am sure it will become the next youth anthem.”

“Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns” and claims that she is very happy with the way her personal and professional life is shaping up. The actress talks about the film, her career, relation with Kareena and her love life.

“The character I play in Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns belongs to a royal family and even I belong to one..

I am comfortable with the body language of the character. I just had to focus on performance.

My character is innocent and not self destructive. When I was offered the film, I didn't think that I won't be able to make p r e s e n c e impactful. I was secure as an actress.

I am satisfied the way my career has shaped up. I think and then take decisions.

It’s not that I just do off-beat cinema in Bollywood. I don't believe in competition and race. I am very happy. I love acting and nowadays it's become business with numbers which I don't like.

I am an artist and I like doing that. There is no number game for me and I enjoy life. I have got many things since my birth and I can never get more popular than my mom and dad. If I earn more money, I will be more worried. So, I just believe in enjoying what I have. Well, about Kareena, she is now part of our family. She is very nice and there is no change in the atmosphere after marriage. They were in committed relationship for last five years and there has been no change in them after marriage.”

17

S

anjay Leela Bhansali’s next big dream project is ‘Ram Leela’. It is rumored that the film is an adaptation of the evergreen play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by Shakespeare. The film will be an Indian version set in the turbulent times on the backdrop of Gujrat. As with all Sanjay Leela Bhansali films this will also be portraying a larger than life image. To capture the grandeur the film is extensively shot at the Udaipur palace and Gangaur ghat. It is heard that Ranveer had to shoot in ice cold water in Udaipur for more than 40 minutes.

Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone are the lead actors in the movie. It is heard that the couple is doing a wonderful job. However, the director wants more. Sanjay wishes the romantic couple in the film to be as natural as possible and hence have asked them to spend time together as much as possible. Sanjay plans the love scenes to be realistic in the movie and we hear that there are going to be extremely hot intimate love making scenes planned in the movie. Deepika and Ranveer have bonded well according to the sources at the set.

the success of “Kai Po Che,” based Bhagat's “The 3 Mistakes of AonfterMyChetan Life,” director Abhishek Kapoor is

all set to adapt another book. And this time it is the Charles Dickens classic ‘Great Expectations.’ His cousin Ekta Kapoor will produce the film.

Set in early Victorian England, the Bildungsroman that charts the journey of Pip, an orphan, was the most autobiographical novel of Dickens, apart from “David Copperfield.” The novel has long been a favourite among filmmakers. Apart from David Lean's adaptation, that came fifth in a 1999 BFI poll of the top 100 British film, Mike Newell's 2012 film made on the novel has garnered good response in the festival circuit.

A source said: "Gattu likes to write his own films. He believes he can do his best when he is able to create something from scratch.

With Chetan's book, he spent more than two years before the final draft was transformed into a movie." However, for this project with Ekta, he was willing to make an exception., a source said: "It was a big challenge to come on a common ground for Gattu and Ekta.

They had prolonged discussions before she was convinced that he could pull it off."

18

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 16th March 2013

Financial Voice Dear Financial Voice Reader,

I write to you from Amsterdam. Being a teetotal, non-smoker, it is easy for me to keep a clear head. I am sitting with a PhD psychologist and we are discussing the one thing which Billionaire George Soros says is the best predictor of likely future trading wealth.

It is ‘confirmation bias’ or rather the lack of it. My PhD friend disagrees with me. It is the tendency for us to believe only what we already believe. So the constituents of Chris Huhne refused to believe he was lying. Or those who followed the cyclist Lance Armstrong.

But how does that help in finance?

So I did this experiment on my PhD friend. You are told that a pack of cards has letters on one side and numbers on the other. Imagine that someone makes the following statement If there is a vowel on one side then there is an even number on the other. There are four cards drawn, on which A, B, 2, 3 respectively are facing up. Which cards would you need to turn over to decide if the statement is true or false?

A card problem with no relevance to trading? Try telling that to George Soros, the legendary trader.

According to him most traders would say A and 2, whereas the correct answer is A and 3.

Most get it wrong because they seek confirmation of a statement, instead of disconfirmation. (turning over 2 and finding a vowel would at best only confirm the statement, you need to turn over 3 to disconfirm and disprove it). The ability of traders to look for disconfirmation is rare and profitable argues Soros.

The ability to forecast future price ranges is central to any form of investment. Yet it is another area where traders’ IQ appears deficient. For instance imagine you are asked to make a range prediction such that you are 90% sure that the price of say, Vodafone, will be within that range in 12 months.

The chances are you will be wrong and the price will be outside your range – even though you were asked for 90% certainty. We know traders would get it wrong because research shows over 80% of traders wrongly forecast the price range of certain equities 12 months hence, even when asked for a range which was so wide they felt 90% sure the price would fall within it. And that’s the professionals!

And if you consider yourself a trading expert you should be particularly concerned about you ability to forecast the future. The Economist asked four exfinance minister, four captains of industry, four Oxfrod University economics students, and four dustmen to make predictions about OECD GDP rates, inflation and oil prices. The winners were the dustmen. The finance ministers came last.

It might tell you something about why the only thing we may want politicians doing is…time.

Wipro ranked among world's most ethical companies Indian IT bellwether Wipro has been recognised for the second year as one of the world's most ethical firms by business ethics think-tank Ethisphere Institute, the company said.

"The recognition is for our commitment to ethical leadership, compliance practices and corporate citizenship," the global software major said in a statement.

As a leading US-based international organisation dedicated to creation, advancement and sharing of best practices in business ethics, governance and anti-corruption and sustainability, the institute selects global firms that embrace ethical business practice and demonstrate industry leadership, forcing peers to follow them.

"Integrity and ethics have always been a core

part of how we think and act. Our endeavour is to keep raising the bar with our stakeholders, including employees, customers, suppliers and investors," Wipro chief sustainability officer Anurag Behar said in the statement.

According to Ethisphere executive director Alex Brigham, more companies had applied this year than in the past for the recognition, affirming that ethical activity was an important part of their business models.

"We are also seeing more global firms being proactive and taking initiatives to expand ethics programmes and cultures across industry verticals," Brigham noted.

Companies from 100 countries across 36 industry verticals applied for the recognition this year.

India’s finance ministry has cleared the investment proposal of Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia which seeks to enter India through a joint venture with Tata Group and another company.

"AirAsia's proposal has been cleared. It is as per the policy (which allows) up to 49 per cent FDI and Rs 800 million is initial investment," a senior government official said.

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), headed by DEA secretary Arvind Mayaram, approved the proposal at its meeting.

AirAsia has applied to FIPB to take 49 per cent in a venture with Tata Sons Ltd and Arun Bhatia's Telestra Tradeplace Pvt Ltd. The carrier will now

have to approach the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for further clearances. "AirAsia will now have to take necessary licence etc. from DGCA," the official added.

This would be the first entry of a foreign carrier in the domestic aviation sector after the liberalisation of FDI policy in September last year.

AirAsia is looking to start flying from this year-end with 3-4 planes and an initial investment of about

USD 50 million by the Malaysian budget carrier.

The proposed joint venture will operate from Chennai and will focus on providing domestic connectivity to tier-ii and tieriii cities.

As per current rules, a carrier must complete five years of domestic operations before becoming eligible for starting overseas flights.

Tata Sons, the holding company of the USD 100 billion salt-to-software conglomerate, will hold 30 per

Govt prods RBI to cut rates

The government put the rate cut ball in the Reserve Bank of India's court with finance minister P Chidambaram saying the government had done its bit on fiscal consolidation.

He said RBI would factor in the path shown in the budget while taking a call on interest rate in the policy review later this month.

"On the fiscal consolidation path, the government has walked the talk.

RBI, of course, will take into account the overall broad economic situation and what happens between now and March 19 and take a call (on interest rate)... we have delivered on the fiscal consolidation path," he said after the customary postbudget board meeting of the central bank.

RBI is widely expected to lower key policy rates amid moderating inflation and the government's renewed thrust to fiscal consolidation which saw the Centre cut spending.

In January, key rates had

cent in the joint venture but will not have any operating role in the airline.

This will mark the return of Tatas to aviation sector. State-owned Air India had grown out of Tata Airlines, which began flights in 1932. AirAsia, through its operations based in Thailand and Malaysia, flies to Chennai, Bangalore, Kochi, Tiruchirappalli and Kolkata in addition to 20 countries.

AirAsia, Tatas and Hindustan Aviation of Bhatias have signed a partnership agreement for the venture.

Air Asia has made the move to invest even as Etihad and Jet Airways continue to work towards finalising a deal for the Gulf carrier to invest in Jet.

Lakshmi Mittal settles feud with ‘rice king’

Chidambaram said the Centre has restricted fiscal deficit at 5.2% of GDP and reiterated his keenness to stay within the 4.8% projection for the next fiscal.

"As far as the government is concerned, the government promised that we will work towards fiscal consolidation. I had said red lines that have been drawn would not be breached under any circumstances," he said.

The government has

repeatedly prodded RBI to lower rates and spur growth, arguing that the move would lower interest rates on home and auto loans and get consumers back into the market. The central bank has, however, cited its inability to move forward citing the high fiscal deficit as well as the stubborn inflation.

RBI governor D Subbarao told bankers that the government does not have the fiscal capacity to continue with entitlements and welfare programmes at the current level.

Subbarao said price stability was essential to help investors and consumers make informed choices and contribute to growth and ruled out adjusting to "the new normal" of a higher inflation rate compared to the central bank's comfort level of 4-4.5%.

"Key to our collective national aspiration for sustained high economic growth is low and steady inflation," he said.

The High Court showdown between two of Britain’s leading Asian businessmen has been averted, after an out-of-court settlement at the eleventh hour. Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal and Moni Varma, the “rice king” with a £200m turnover ready-meals business, were due to start their courtroom battle over a multi-billion-pound oil deal. But, in a last-minute twist, the warring tycoons settled out of court an agreement that has left all parties “relieved”, according to Varma.

“The matter is settled.

We are all very happy that we don’t have to go that far [to court],” Varma, although the Veetee Food Group chairman declined to disclose details of the settlement. It brings to an end years of fighting between the former friends, who fell out in 2006 after Varma alleged that Mittal reneged on a promise to pay him commission for brokering two oil exploration licences in the Niger Delta.

BBAG’s chairman, is to argue at the First-Tier Tribunal in London scheduled for 16-17 April that the nationalisation of B&B with almost a million shareholders, was a “flawed decision” and “made in haste” for political reasons.

The Information Commissioner’s notice of decision made last November upheld the refusal of the Cabinet Office to provide information requested in what it described as “by a narrow margin in a finely bal-

anced decision”. This means the CO does not have to reveal documents sought by former shareholders under the FOI process over a period spanning almost five years.

“One sensed that the ultimate decision to the B&B nationalisation by the then Prime Minister [Gordon Brown] was made in blind panic,” states Mr Blundell. “For how else can one explain why he made this decision from the ante room of the White House’s Oval

Office during a telephone call with then Chancellor Alistair Darling. Now is that any way to nationalise a bank?”

The Cabinet Office argued that such information was “not in the public interest”. However, the ICO did accept BBAG’s original argument that it was in the public interest as B&B was a “first class example” of what went wrong in the banking crisis.

Robin Callender Smith, an Information Rights Judge and barrister, presides at the appeal.

been pared by 25 basis points, which have translated into a minor rate reduction by banks.

B&B Action Group appeals ‘FOI’ cabinet office ruling

By Roger Aitken

The Bradford & Bingley Shareholder Action Group (BBAG) will appeal a decision made by the I n f o r m a t i o n Commissioner’s Office (ICO) next month that the Cabinet Office did not have to disclose documentation made under Freedom of Information (FOI) requests by former Bradford & Bingley (B&B) shareholders in the bank they owned until its nationalisation in 2008.

David Blundell,

finAnciAl Voice

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 16th March 2013

19

Property Magic

Suresh Vagjiani Sow & Reap A Property Investment Company

Although not in our patch, we purchased a studio in Harrow for £103,000 which is extremely cheap. The location of the property is a stone’s throw away from St George's, a shopping centre in central Harrow. The property is the top floor in a conversion with many flats which were also appearing in the auction. The whole deal occurred within a 24 hour period as many deals do, sometimes it's just a question of making a quick decision which gets you the deal.

I spotted the property the day before the auction whilst casually browsing though the catalogue and contacted a client whom I previously told we will unlikely be able to help because of the limited size of her deposit.

Due to the time constraint involved neither myself or the client had a chance to see the property. However a quick look at the land registry showed it had been sold in June 2012 for £140,000 which was a good sign barely six months ago. This means it still is probably worth around this level at least, as prices have increased during this period.

Purchasing blind means you must expect the property to require full modernisation, if it doesn’t need it then this is a bonus; and if it does need it then you have allowed for this contingency. There is only so much you can do in a studio flat so even if we allow £10,000 it’s still a good deal if we manage to get it around the guide price of £90,000. We were prepared to go to £115,000 for this property; luckily for some reason it never reached anywhere near this level which was surprising, normally you would expect to see Gujaratis wanting to purchase this purely because they live around the corner from the property.

It was expected there would be problems with the funding because it was a studio, not many lenders lend on studios, and those that do may have an issue in completing the deal on time; this was further compounded by the fact that the current seller was reselling the property within 6 months of owning it.

ment of £50,000; certainly more than the bank is currently paying. This however is not where you make the bulk of your money, the money is made on the capital value; you have purchased a property 40% cheaper in a prime location of Harrow. So there is £40,000 already on this property if you wished to resell it.

Once the property has completed we will wait 6 months, and close to the end of the period we will look to refinance at a lower long term rate around the 5% level. The interesting thing at this point will not be the rate but that you can pull out all the money you put into the deal. The property will be valued in my opinion at £150,000. If you assume a 75% loan to value remortgage this will release £112,500, this means you will have all your deposit back plus money for all your expenses and a little extra.

Assuming a 5% interest rate the new payment will be £5,625 per annum with a rental of £9,000 coming in.

The positive cash flow after paying the mortgage and management charges will be roughly £2,500 p.a.

In auc tion pur chases you have 28 da ys to c ome up with the rest of the funds from the point of ex change, which is the fall of the hammer. Then notice is served and you have a fu rther 10 w orking days; after this you lose your deposit - and maybe more.

With this is mind we anticipated a normal mortgage lender will not be able to fund this flat, this is one to be funded by bridging finance. The client has £50,000 to invest and therefore the remaining £53,000 will be provided by the bridging company.

Surprisingly even with the relatively high interest charged by the bridging company this property will still yield a positive cash flow.

The bridging company charges us just less than 1% which is actually cheap as far as bridging companies go, but even if we work on 1% the monthly payments will be £530 per month. This property can generate £750 per month in rental income and so it will leave about £150 per month net of charges, not terrible for an invest-

In a nut she ll yo u will h ave a property free o f charge which is g enerat ing a positive cash flow. None of you r mo ney is in t he d eal an d you have extracte d t he initial f unds alon g with a lit tle extra.

During the pre credit crunch era you could have performed the same as the above but the time period would have been reduced to only 24 hours instead of a whole 6 months. This meant you could take a 'profit' and have a property generating cash for you free of charge with no money in the deal in a day.

Even after having done deals like this many times during the pre credit crunch I still find it remarkable; it is a magical feat. Only magicians can produce something tangible and real from thin air; this is what you’re doing by following this system. You have produced a stream of money until the day you die and beyond from thin air.

Many people have a real problem accepting this, it is too much to handle. For them there is the day job of working hard for a wage, they need to work in order to feel they can earn money.

But for those investors who have seen this and implemented it there is another dimension, they see there is no limit to what can be done through property investment.

We have purchased properties with no money in our pockets and received cash backs of sometimes up to £40,000 instantly, pre credit crunch, of course the game has now changed and the time period extended. But the principle is still the same.

In the above example it is not the figures which are important but the formula; it can be replicated with any number. A formula works regardless of the number you put in, whether it is 1 or 1,000,000.

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Tips of the Week l There are only two numbers in property which make you profit: One is the buy in price and the other is the sale price. We help to make your Buy in price low. l Look for properties which have a problem such as short lease unknown tenancies. It’s rare a property deal will be given to you on a plate, often you need to work the deal.

20

UK

Maria Fernandes

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 16th March 2013

maria@abplgroup.com

The power of myths As usual the news stories are dominated by immigration. Stories about the position of Labour which is not very different to the current Government.

Suddenly all the politicians are falling over themselves to be first in line to the confessional to apologise for mistakes.

Lord Leveson expressed concern about the way in which migrants were dealt with by the press yet the onslaught continues, fuelled no doubt by those anxious to kick the migrant to the ground in the hope of securing an advantage over the local populace and its vote. There are a number of statements made which on examination are very Orwellian in their truth. Take the UKBA – they announced that there was a 3% increase in University applications despite the crackdown imposed by the Government and this was trumpeted as proof that the policies are working.

However, it turns out that the real reason is that those who arrived before the changes and have completed their foundation programmes in the UK are entering a University programme, hence the artificial increase. It has also been stated that the NHS is being abused. An organisation called the Doctors of the World (Medecins du Monde) who run a clinic for vulnerable people found that this is not true. Fewer than 2% left their country for personal health reasons and almost half have no understanding of their right to care in the UK. Ian Duncan Smith has implied that the UK is a magnet for benefit scroungers yet the figures show that 7% of working

age migrants claim benefits compared to 17% of the local population. The evidence also shows that migrants as a whole put in 30% more in taxes than they take out through welfare or public services.

Full page articles regularly appear on the subject of people and politicians not talking about immigration whilst they then proceed to talk about it at great length. And the level of prejudice amongst the literati class is astounding.

Articles deriding the less skilled are fairly frequent these days. And this is by the same people who have their houses cleaned, who are served coffees, who take taxis so that they can drink themselves silly and who have their children looked after whilst they pontificate about the state of the country. As a recent columnist pointed out, those on benefits or low incomes spend their money in the UK. They cannot set up trusts or other vehicles to avoid paying their share. And in terms of charity they give more in proportion to their income than the rich do.

Stories about immigrants are usually about the poor ones. The rich can take care of themselves. If worse comes to worse they can move to their own private island, and I suppose they could take all the cleaners, coffee makers and child-minders with them.

Maria Fernandes has been in practice exclusively in immigration for the past 25 years. Fernandes Vaz is based at 87 Wembley Hill Road Wembley in Wembley and can be contacted by telephone on 02087330123, by email on info@fernandesvaz.com.

The worst may be over for the Indian economy with the December quarter likely the bottom of the economic cycle and a steady acceleration in growth is expected in the coming year; Moody's Analystics said, bringing much needed comfort battling perception of an acute slowdown.

Moody's Analytics, which is an arm of global ratings agency Moody's Investors Service forecast economic growth in 2013 to be 6.2% from 5.1% in 2012. After presenting his 2013-14 budget, finance minister P Chidambaram has forecast growth of over 6%. Higher growth will translate into higher revenues and be a positive factor in taming the stubborn fiscal deficit.

The agency was more optimistic about the growth prospects from next year onwards, which analysts say should also come as a morale-booster for the government which has been on the back foot over its handling of the economy.

"Our forecast from 2014 onwards is for economic growth of around

7%, which is India's new rate of trend growth. This well short of the rate near 10% from a couple of years back," Glenn Levine, senior economist at Moody's Analytics said in a report.

But he cautioned that policymakers should be careful while pushing for double-digit growth as this is wildly optimistic and without structural reform, a dangerous view to take.

He cited the case of Reserve Bank of India governor D Subbarao's push for double-digit growth.

Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has also said that the Indian economy can return to the 8% growth trajectory in the coming years on the back of favourable conditions.

"Headlong pursuit of double-digit GDP growth

Alpesh Patel, James Caan, Dr Richie Nanda who won the Entrepreneur of the Year in 2011

UK’s most coveted awards ceremonies, celebrating those demonstrating outstanding achievements within the fields of enterprise and business. Once

deficits, have begun to recede. Gains in financial markets reflect rising expectations around the economy as well as lower risk," the Moody's Analytics senior economist said in his report.

"Gains in financial markets reflect rising expectations around the economy as well as lower risk," he said. Levine said the 201314 budget delivered the easiest and smallest cuts in the deficit, enough to free up funds to help the government's 2014 electoral prospects without fanning the fiscal risk.

The government has announced plans to continue with rolling back fuel subsidies, taxes on income of high net worth individuals and on some luxury items as well as a modest asset sales programme.

"None of this is particularly prudent, and the budget does nothing to fortify India's long-term growth. But it does suggest that government consumption which slowed sharply in the fourth quarter, will accelerate in 2013, lifting GDP growth," Levine said.

India's exports rise by 4.25 per cent in Feb

India's exports increased by 4.25 per cent to $26.26 billion in February, registering positive growth for the second straight month, on the back of revival of demands in Europe, government data showed.

Exports has increased year-on-year just for the third time in the first 11 months of the current financial year. Exports had increased marginally by 0.82 per cent at $25.58 billion in January, after contracting in the previous eight months in a row.

Cumulative value of exports in April-February period of 2012-13 has dropped by 4 per cent at

$265.95 billion, Commerce Secretary S.R. Rao said.

India's imports in February increased by 2.6 per cent to $41.18 billion, leaving the monthly trade deficit of $14.9 billion. Rao said revival in exports and low increase in imports have helped bring down the trade gap. "The good news is that the trade deficit is

TiE to host awards to honour UK's leading entrepreneurial talents

The UK chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), the world’s largest non-profit organisation that is singularly focused on entrepreneurship in conjunction with international communications agency Sterling Media, will host the glittering TiE UK Awards 2013 to honour the UK’s leading Entrepreneurial talent on Monday, 18 March 2013.

It will take place at a distinguished Central London venue. The chief guest at the event will be Rt. Hon. Nick Clegg MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Democrats.

The TiE UK Awards are regarded as one of the

three years ago kept policy setting too loose for too long, causing the economy to overheat and contributing to the current problems of inflation and current account deficit," Levine said in his report.

"Policymakers should end any pretense that the economy can grow at 10% without fanning inflation it simply can't. Anything above 7% will lift inflation and result in a more painful future adjustment," the Moody's Analytics report said.

Levine said apart from the stability in the global environment, the biggest change is that the government is now on a steady path of fiscal and regulatory reform and better governance.

"The so-called big bang of economic reforms announced since August has helped to lift corporate confidence and should translate into better spending and capital expenditures from mid2013," Levine said.

"Risks around the economy, particularly the fiscal and current account

again the event will showcase the very best business talent in the UK; those in attendance will include FTSE 100 corporations, ultra high net worth indi-

viduals, socialites, other TiE UK Charter Members as well as renowned public figures and VIP’s.

The UK chapter of TiE was established over a decade ago and has grown to more than 100 charter members and 450 members. As the UK’s need for dynamic entrepreneurs has increased; over the past three years, charter members of TiE UK have mentored over 200 entrepreneurs at different stages of development across industry sectors.

These business figures along with a new generation of entrepreneurs today represent the lynchpins of global and national entrepreneurialism.

coming down," the commerce secretary said.

The trade deficit had widened to $20 billion in January, the second highest ever monthly trade gap. The highest ever trade deficit of $20.9 billion in October last year. Rao said demands for Indian goods have improved in Europe and some other parts of

the world showing a sign of recovery in the global demands.

"Sectors which have large weightage, especially engineering, has started performing better and refined oil too. There is also a marginal improvement in textiles exports," he said.

"Positive exports data from the last two months shows that gradually economy is showing positive sign. To keep the momentum going it is important that the government keeps availability of credit to industry at lower rate," said A Sakthivel, chairman, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC).

Cabinet may consider Voda issue soon

The government of India is likely to take a view on the Rs 112 billion Vodafone tax case soon, a top finance ministry official has said. “The issue (Vodafone tax dispute) may come before the Cabinet soon. A proposal to settle the row has gone to Law Ministry,” the official said.

At a customary postBudget interaction with business chambers, finance minister P Chidambaram had said: “We have decided the appropriate time to go to Parliament would be after we have been able to resolve the Vodafone case.”

“As far as Vodafone is concerned, they had writ-

ten to us proposing conciliation. We have written back saying that yes your request will be considered by the competent authority. So the matter will go to the Cabinet,” Chidambaram had said.

Vodafone is facing a tax liability of Rs 112 billion for purchase of Hutchison Whampoa's stake in its Indian telecom business Hutchison Essar in 2007.

The Vodafone tax liability arose due to amending of the Income Tax Act, 1961, with retrospective effect during the tenure of the then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee to undo the Supreme Court judgment that had ruled in favour of the company.

finAnciAl voice

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 16th March 2013

21

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

Hot bed for investor appetite The US dollar became a hot bed for investor appetite on Friday with the currency printing a new high against the pound following better than expected job figures.

Data from the US showed 236,000 new jobs were added in February, easily surpassing the 160,000 new jobs that were initially forecasted.

Unemployment in the US also edged lower to 7.7%, hitting a five year low. The improvement in the labour market is a sign that economic prospects are improving in the US when compared to other developed nations and could also give scope for the Federal Reserve to gradually taper off their current quantitative easing program.

GBP/USD traded to a 32 month low following the news, pushing the rate well below the all-important psychological level of 1.50 which has provided support for the pound historically.

With risks to the rate still on the downside, the next question is, how low can it go?

As widely expected, the Bank of England kept its main policy rate unchanged last week

at 0.5%, where it has been maintained for nearly four years. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) also decided to keep its amount of quantitative easing (QE) unchanged at ÂŁ375 billion.

However, given the closeness of the vote in last monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s policy meeting â&#x20AC;&#x201C; two MPC members joined Governor King in voting for an increase in the amount of QE while 6 members did not support an increase â&#x20AC;&#x201C; there were some analysts who had expected an increase in QE last week.

Supporting the case for further policy accommodation are signs of continued sluggish growth. For example, the manufacturing PMI slipped into contraction territory again in February, and the comparable index for the service sector continues to hover just above the demarcation line separating expansion from contraction. On the other hand, CPI inflation continues to run above the MPCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2% target. (The yearover-year rate of CPI inflation in

0 8 0 8

$ 0 4 5

January was 2.7%) The minutes of the policy meeting, which will be released in two weeks, will help investors determine how much support further easing commands on the MPC. Fitch Ratings decided to downgrade Italy's rating to 'BBB+' from 'A-', citing the inconclusive results of the Italian parliamentary elections and deeper recession as the main reasons.

Fitch also kept negative outlook on the country, meaning Italy could see another downgrade.

"The inconclusive results of the Italian parliamentary elections on 24-25 February make it unlikely that a stable new government can be formed in the next few weeks", said Fitch. "The increased political uncertainty and non-conducive backdrop for further structural reform measures constitute a further adverse shock to the real economy amidst the deep recession".

Fitch also said that the ongoing recession in Italy is one of the deepest in Europe as confirmed by fourth quarter 2012 data.

Weekly Currencies As of Tuesday 12th March 2013 @ 7.30pm GBP - INR = 80.73 USD - INR = 54.14 EUR - INR = 70.56 GBP - USD = 1.49 GBP - EUR = 1.14 EUR - USD = 1.30 GBP - AED = 5.47 GBP - CAD = 1.53 GBP - NZD = 1.81 GBP - AUD = 1.44 GBP - ZAR = 13.65 GBP - HUF = 350.21

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 areâ&#x20AC;&#x201A;the commercial foreign exchange rates provided by RationalFX. For a live quote or to find out more about how RationalFXâ&#x20AC;&#x201A;can help you, call us on 0207 220 8181.

PX XJ S F U S B OT G FS

G FFT

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Pakistan-Bangladesh-sri lanka

www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 16th March 2013

In Focus India to be a terror target: Pak militant leader

Islamabad: Asmatullah Muawiya, a former Jaish-e-Mohammed leader who serves as one of al-Qaeda's 'company' commanders, threatened that attacks in India would increase as jihadi groups would shift their focus from Afghanistan to Kashmir once the US withdraws its forces from the region. Muawiya's remarks hinted at the Inter-Services Intelligence agency's ties to jihadist groups.

Ex-envoy Haqqani refuses to return to Pakistan

Islamabad: Pakistan's former envoy to the US, Hussain Haqqani, implicated in the memogate scandal, has refused to return to Pakistan, saying that the government is incapable of providing him security.

The memo scandal had erupted after Haqqani was first named in the controversy

by US businessman Mansoor Ijaz who had said that it was the former ambassador who had asked Ijaz to deliver the memo to the then US military chief days after the May 2, 2011 US raid on former Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden's compound.

Mob in Pakistan attacks Christian colony

Lahore: A mob went on the rampage in a Christian-dominated neighbourhood in this eastern Pakistani city following reports that a Christian man had committed blasphemy, burning scores of houses and driving out about 150 families. The trouble began when over 2,000 enraged Muslims gathered around Joseph Colony at Noor Road and pelted stones at the homes of 150 Christian families. Muslim residents of Rights activists have said that Pakistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s blasphemy law is often misused to persecute minorities like Christians and to settle personal scores.

Taliban forces kill 18 Afghan soldiers

Kabul: At least 18 soldiers of the Afghan National Army were killed by Taliban insurgents in north-eastern Afghanistan. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fifteen soldiers were killed on the spot and one, who was seriously injured, died in the mujahedeen (freedom fighters) custody,â&#x20AC;? the insurgents spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said in a statement. He said that 11 captive soldiers were freed in an exchange with Taliban fighters.

Afghan actor killed in Nato air strike

Moscow: Prominent Afghan actor Nazar Mohammad Majnonyar Helmandi who starred in over a dozen films highlighting the struggle against drug trafficking and terrorism was killed in a Nato air strike in southern Afghanistan. Helmandi was killed along with three militants who had seized the movie star on suspicion of spying for the government in Helmand province, his brother Dilawar said. Helmandi had gone to the Khoskabi area to inquire about his ailing sister when he was captured by the armed rebels, Dilawar told Pajhwok Afghan News. The militants were interrogating Helmandi when the Nato air strike took place, killing the actor and the rebels, said Dilawar, who identified his brother's body mutilated beyond recognition.

Bangla president flown to Singapore for treatment

Dhaka: Bangladesh president Zillur Rahman was flown to a specialized hospital in Singapore by an air ambulance following respiratory complications. "He is now undergoing dialysis at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital," an official said. But the Daily Star newspaper reported the health condition of 85-year- old had deteriorated as he reached the hospital. "The President's heart is not functioning," the report said quoting Rahman's family sources. Doctors could not start treatment for his respiratory complexities, for what he was taken to Mount Elizabeth Hospital, due to heart dysfunction, the sources added.

Islamabad: Despite strong opposition from the US, Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinijad on Monday inaugurated construction work of a longdelayed $7.5 billion gas pipeline from Iran to Pakistan.

The inauguration ceremony of gas pipeline which will pass through Pakistan's restive Baluchistan province was held in the Iranian border city of Chabahar.

Presidents of both states came with delegations of ministers and top officials as well as representatives of several Arab states.

"The completion of the pipeline is in the interests of peace, security and progress of the two countries ... it will also consolidate the economic, political and security ties of the two nations," the two presidents said in a joint statement.

The work on the Iranian side is almost complete and Monday saw the construction work start on the Pakistani side. A total of 780 km of

Asif Ali Zardari

pipeline is to be built in Pakistan by December 2014.

Tehran has agreed to lend Islamabad $500 million, a third of the estimated $1.5 billion cost of the Pakistani section of the pipeline.

Ahmadinejad said that work on the new section of the pipeline was going ahead despite US sanctions against Iran's oil and gas sector. "This gas pipeline is a sign of show of resistance against domination," Ahmadinejad said.

"This pipeline has nothing to do with the nuclear issue, you cannot build a nuclear bomb with natural gas," he said, speaking alongside President Zardari which was broadcast live by Pakistani TV stations.

Dubbed the "peace

Backed by 1400,000 Indians, Amnesty seeks Sri Lanka probe New Delhi: Amnesty International gave a petition to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed by 1400,000 Indians seeking an independent probe into allegations of war crimes in Sri Lanka.

Amnesty India chief executive G Ananthapadmanabhan handed over the petition to V Narayanasamy, the minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office. "This petition represents the voices of 1400,000 ordinary Indian citizens asking India to play a stronger role in seeking justice in Sri Lanka," Ananthapadmanabhan said.

"This is a demand for an end to the impunity for past and present human rights violations in Sri Lanka," he added.

The petition, addressed to the prime minister, urges him to stand up for justice in Sri Lanka and to act to end the

climate of impunity perpetuated by Colombo, Amnesty said.

The petition asks the Indian government to support an independent international investigation into allegations of crimes under international law committed by the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers.

It also seeks a UN-led mechanism to monitor the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, and asks Colombo to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act and also end attacks and intimidation of critics.

Over the past eight months, Amnesty International has used integrated voice enabling and response mechanism and SMS to campaign for justice in Sri Lanka. The petition follows widespread allegations that the Sri Lankan military killed tens of thousands of innocent Tamils in the war that vanquished the Tamil Tigers in May 2009.

Mahmoud Ahmedinijad

pipeline", talks on the project which was initially intended to carry gas on to India began in 1994. New Delhi pulled out in 2009 just a year after it signed a nuclear deal with Washington.

The project prompted several warnings of sanctions from the US. Washington says the pipeline would enable Tehran to sell more gas, undermining efforts to step up pressure over its nuclear activities. "If this deal is finalized for a proposed IranPakistan pipeline, it would raise serious concerns under our Iran Sanctions Act. We've made that absolutely clear to our Pakistani counterparts," state department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told the media last week.

But blackouts and power shortages becoming a pressing issue in Pakistan, the outgoing government insists it will not bow to pressure.

Pakistani foreign office said earlier last week that the country is "not in a fix" due to US pressure on Pakistan because of the Iran sanctions.

"We are very clear about this project. It is in our national interest to go ahead with it," a foreign office spokesman said. Monday's ceremony came just days ahead of the five-year term of the ruling Pakistan Peoples party's government expiring with elections scheduled in May. Pakistan will trigger US sanctions: Meanwhile, a senior US official said that Pakistan would risk triggering US sanctions if it pursues its plans to go ahead with pipeline project.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the US has serious concerns, and if the project actually goes forward, the Iran Sanctions Act would be triggered, reports The News.

Lanka backsliding on fundamental democratic rights: US Colombo: As it prepares to table a resolution on Lankan Tamils at the UNHRC, the US expressed concern over Sri Lanka's lack of progress in rights accountability and other key areas of fundamental democratic rights. "The US is constructively working with international partners to support of these basic freedoms through the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution in Geneva," US Embassy here said in a statement.

"Since last year's UNHRC resolution, the US has grown increasingly concerned by the lack of progress on these issues, as well as backsliding on other important areas of fundamental democratic rights.

All Sri Lankans should enjoy the same rights and live in dignity, sharing a democratic, secure, and prosperous future," the statement said as Lankan police blocked hundreds of Tamil protesters from leaving northern Vavuniya town to

take part in a rally.

"These family members are calling for information about their missing loved ones. The Embassy calls upon Sri Lankan authorities to allow free movement of these citizens. The right to freely express opinions is universal and protected under Sri Lankan and international law," the statement said.

The US is set to move the new resolution against Sri Lanka at the current session of the UNHRC for its alleged war crimes, asking the country to promote reconciliation and accountability.

The resolution will ask Sri Lanka to follow through on its own commitments to its people, including implementing the constructive recommendations from the report by Sri Lanka's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission. At last year's UNHRC, the US sponsored anti-Sri Lanka resolution was carried with Indian support.

War-scarred Bangladesh torn by new tensions Dhaka: When Bangladesh set up a war crimes court in 2010, its stated aim was to heal the wounds from the nation's traumatic birth. Three years on, its first verdicts have plunged the country into one of its most turbulent chapters since it broke free from Pakistan four decades ago and threatens lasting damage to the world's eighth most populous country.

More than 80 people have been killed in protests, thousands of tourists have been forced to flee and a series of strikes have pummelled an economy which had enjoyed

annual growth rates of around six per cent over the last 10 years.

"The verdicts and the subsequent violence have set Bangladesh on the road to a protracted conflict, which may leave permanent damage to society," said Ataur Rahman, a Bangladesh expert based at the State University of New York.

The former East Pakistan declared independence from Islamabad in December 1971 at the end of a nine-month civil war in which the government says three million people were killed. Independent estimates

put the figure much lower.

The Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal, which was set up in March 2010, is trying around a dozen defendants over their role in the war and has so far convicted three Islamists, two of whom have been sentenced to death. But all the defendants are either members of the Jamaat-e-Islami party or of the main opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP), prompting accusations that the process is politically-driven.

After the first verdict was handed down on January 21,

thousands of Jamaat supporters took to the streets where many fought battles with the police. But in a sign of the fresh polarisation of a country which was born out of division, secular demonstrators responded with even bigger protests when the second defendant was sentenced to life in prison rather than ordered to hang.

Rahman said the divide between Bangladesh's Islamic and secular Bengali identities, which for decades had been "reconciled within the political process", was now growing rapidly.

world

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 16th March 2013

23

In Focus Egyptian court confirms death sentences for 21 soccer fans Cairo: An Egyptian court confirmed death sentences given to 21 soccer fans for their role in a stadium riot in Port Said last year, a case which has provoked deadly clashes in the Suez Canal city. The stadium deaths occurred in February 2012 at the end of a match between Cairo's Al-Ahly and AlMasry, the local side, and have been a flashpoint for protests in Port Said and Cairo. Spectators were crushed when panicked crowds tried to escape from the stadium.

Former Italian PM Berlusconi jailed

Rome: An Italian court sentenced former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi to a year in prison over the publication of leaked transcripts from a police wiretap in a newspaper that he owns. Berlusconi, who faces two more verdicts this month for tax fraud and having sex with an underage prostitute, can appeal the conviction which would suspend the sentence under Italian law.

Maldives ex-president freed, 81 others arrested

Male: Former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed was freed after his overnight detention sparked anti-government protests that led to the arrest of over 80 opposition activists, police said.

The release of Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected leader, came after he was taken before a magistrate on charges of abusing his authority when he was in power between 2008 and 2012.

Police detained Nasheed defying pressure from regional power India which had called for him to be free to campaign for the elections.

Nicolas Maduro sworn in as acting Venezuelan President

Caracas: Venezuelan Vice-President Nicolas Maduro was sworn-in as acting president despite the Opposition saying such a move was in violation of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s constitution. Late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez named Maduro as his successor before undergoing the latest surgery in December. Chavez died at the age of 58 after a two-year-long fight against cancer. "I swear in the name of absolute loyalty to Comandante Hugo Chavez that we will obey and defend this Bolivarian Constitution with the hard hand of the free people," Maduro said addressing the National Assembly while holding a copy of the Venezuelan constitution in his hand.

The Venezuelan Opposition earlier called Maduroâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inauguration "fraudulent" as it argued that under the constitution, the speaker of the National Assembly should be the one to take over as acting president.

Hardeep Singh Puri receives UN award

Washington: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has presented the Thomas Jefferson Eternal Vigilance award to former Permanent Representative of India to United Nations, Hardeep Singh Puri, for his exemplary service to humanity. At a function held in New York over the weekend, US Congresswoman Carolyn B Maloney also presented the same award to Pakistan's former envoy to the UN Abdullah Hussain Haroon. The two former ambassadors were selected for the award by the National Advisory Council on South Asian Affairs, which is made up of people of South Asia origin.

Sixty killed in Malaysian raid on Filipino militants

Felda Sahabat (Malaysia): Malaysia said clashes between intruding Filipino militants and its security forces had left 60 people dead, as it rejected a ceasefire offer from the fighters' leader. Police chief Ismail Omar said 32 followers of a self-proclaimed Philippine sultan had been killed in two confrontations near the scene of a three-week standoff in Sabah state, after a military assault to dislodge them.

Nairobi: Kenya's election commission announced that deputy PM Uhuru Kenyatta prevailed in the country's presidential elections by the slimmest of margins, winning 50.03 per cent of the vote.

That result is likely to bring controversy in Kenya and an almost certain legal challenge from Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Kenyatta needed to break the 50% barrier to avoid a run-off with Odinga, but he did so by only 4,099 votes out of more than 12.3 million cast.

This was the first since Kenya's 2007 election sparked two months of tribeon-tribe violence after a disputed election win was

Uhuru Kenyatta

claimed by President Mwai Kibaki. More than 1,000 people were killed in attacks that included machetes, bows and arrows and police firearms.

A win by Kenyatta could

greatly affect Kenya's relations with the West. Kenyatta faces charges at the International Criminal Court for his alleged role in directing some of Kenya's 2007 post-election violence. His running mate, William Ruto, faces similar charges.

The US has warned of "consequences" if Kenyatta, the son of Kenya's founding father, wins, as have several European countries. Britain, which ruled Kenya up until the early 1960s, has said they would have only essential contact with the Kenyan government if Kenyatta is president.

Odinga's camp has indicated legal challenges could

be filed. The presidential vote proceeded mostly peacefully, but the counting process has been stymied by a myriad of break-downs and errors.

That the winner was quietly revealed overnight, at about 2:35 am local time, came as somewhat of a surprise. Around midnight the electoral commission said it would give a formal announcement of the winner at 11 a.m. Kenya time (3 am EST). There was a belief among observers that the decision was made in part not to make a night-time announcement that could stir suspicions and put security forces at a disadvantage if rioting broke out.

US man faces jail for UN slaps sanctions on N Korea, Kim visits frontline laughing too loud in his home

United Nations/Seoul: The United Nations imposed new sanctions on North Korea aimed at curtailing its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and China, the isolated regime's only major ally, said it wanted the measures fully implemented.

The sanctions were approved just hours after North Korea threatened the United States with a pre-emptive nuclear strike, a largely empty warning since experts believe Pyongyang does not have the capability to hit the US mainland. With tensions high on the Korean peninsula, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited military units on the frontline of any potential clash with South Korea and the United States, which has 26,000 troops stationed in the South.

The new UN Security Council measures tighten financial restrictions on North Korea and crack down on its attempts to ship and receive banned cargo. They were agreed after three weeks

Kim Jong-un

of negotiations between the United States and China, which has a history of resisting tough penalties against its impoverished neighbour.

"When North Korea tries to move money to pay for its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, countries must now block those transfers even if the money is being carried in suitcases full of bulk cash," said the US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice.

China's UN ambassador, Li Baodong, said Beijing wanted "full implementation" of the new resolution. The success of the new measures, council diplomats said, would depend to a large extent on the willingness of China to enforce them more strictly than it has in the past.

New York: A US man is facing 30 days in jail or $500 fine for laughing too loud in his home. Forty-two-year old Robert Schiavelli of Rockville Centre, New York received the tickets for "disturbing the peace" on consecutive days in February after police responded to a neighbour's complaints that his laughter could be heard across the street.

Schiavelli, who suffers from neurological problems and seizures was recently slapped with two "absurd" summonses after his nextdoor neighbour complained, 'New York Post' reported.

"I did not know it was a crime to laugh out a window," said Schiavelli.

Schiavelli was chortling because he says his neighbor often taunts him due to his disability - and his best defense is to laugh him off.

However, a detective responded to the Rockville Centre neighbour's complaints and wrote up two

tickets for "disturbing the peace" at 6 pm on February 12 and 13. Each summons carried a $250 fine or 15 days in jail.

"It's absurd. My client faces 30 days in jail for laughing," Schiavelli's lawyer Andrew Campanelli said.

Schiavelli, who lives with his mother, was charged with acting "in such a manner as to annoy, disturb, interfere with, obstruct, or be offensive to others."

"The last time I checked, it was not a crime to laugh except in Rockville Centre," Campanelli said.

At Schiavelli's arraignment, local Judge William Croutier said he "was not so inclined" to dismiss the charges.

When the judge asked why police were called, Campanelli said, "My client is a bit of a gentle giant.

The way he responds (to his neighbour) is to laugh." "I will never let him take a plea on this," a fuming Campanelli added.

Suu Kyi losing lustre by courting her former jailers Yangon: She endured years of house arrest and was steadfast as her political movement was decimated and her colleagues tortured. But now, as the leader of Myanmar's opposition in Parliament, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace laureate, is courting her former jailers.

With Myanmar sloughing off the legacy of five decades of brutal military dictatorship, the country is witnessing a political understanding between the army and Suu Kyi, the human rights champion turned politician who is fighting to keep her disorganized and fractious political party relevant and her path to the presidency open.

To her critics, Suu Kyi's compromises are tarnishing her status as a near saint. She has been quiet about the military's bloody campaign against an armed ethnic minority group and recently went so far as to say she was

Aung San Suu Kyi

"very fond" of the military, rattling some of her extremely loyal party members.

The remarks were tied to the army's role in liberating the country from colonial rule, but the timing, coming as the military was pounding the rebels with airstrikes, rankled supporters who were under military rule for decades.

"To the outside world, nothing has really changed with her; she is Suu Kyi and all the beautiful things that go with it," said Josef Silverstein, an expert in Burmese politics and professor emeritus at

Rutgers. But "she is essentially making herself irrelevant.

We have not heard Suu Kyi talk as Suu Kyi." Making the transition from dissident to politician was never going to be easy in an impoverished country perennially divided by ethnic conflict. The path from icon to leader, successfully navigated by Nelson Mandela of South Africa and few others, is fraught in a country like Myanmar, which fought a civil war in 1948 that lives on in ethnic insurgencies and allowed the military an outsize role that still continues.

The reverence for Suu Kyi inside Myanmar is difficult to overstate. Her sacrifices for her country are legend: she chose to stay in Myanmar even as her husband was dying abroad, fearing the military leaders who kept her under arrest would not allow her to return to her struggling nation. Her grace under

duress helped win her the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, which she was only able to pick up last year after the generals decided to begin a shift to democracy.

But the adulation for her has set a particularly high standard, and her stature has intimidated members of her party from challenging her views. Even party members say their National League for Democracy is suffering from an array of problems including what one called a "leadership vacuum" in the middle ranks. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Nobody dares to speak out in front of Suu Kyi and that is a very bad thing," said Win Tin, a senior party member. "It's not out of fear; it's out of admiration."

Supporters note that Suu Kyi is making a careful calculation in allying with the former generals who run the country. The political reality is that the military still wields enormous power.

24

IndIa

www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 16th March 2013

South Bangalore Inc woos women

Tech companies are making a huge effort to retain women in their workforce by providing them the option of working from home, flexi-time and innovative solutions like special cabs to take would-be moms home.Technology and IT companies have perhaps been the earliest to push flexi work. At SAP, employees can work either for 50%, 60% or 80% of time. Flexi time or work-from-home as options increases employee productivity and retention

Crowded areas of Chennai to get pedestrian-only zones

Chennai may soon have its own Times Square or Covent Garden pedestrian areas in which motor vehicle movement is restricted. The corporation plans to introduce a bicycle-sharing programme this year like the ones in London and Paris. The cycles will be a feeder service for the mass rapid transport system. To make roads safer for cyclists, the corporation has proposed a cycle track.

Hyderabad blasts: Court warrants against Riyaz Bhatkal

A Delhi court issued non-bailable warrants against banned terror outfit Indian Mujahideen founder Riyaz Bhatkal and nine other alleged operatives in the Feb 21 Hyderabad twin blasts. A National Investigation Agency (NIA) issued the warrants against Riyaz Bhatkal, suspected to be based in Pakistan, and nine other terror group operatives. The NIA told the court that the conspiracy behind the Hyderabad blasts was hatched by IM modules and they also moved an application for issuing production warrant against alleged IM operative Obaid-ur-Rehman, currently lodged in a Bangalore jail.

Punjab Chandigarh is on a global expedition to Antarctica

With a message to save the planet, a crew of young Indians, Chandigarh is on a global expedition to Antarctica. Sonal Asgotraa, 25, an IT professional is the only one from Chandigarh who was selected for the expedition. The group has even raised the tricolour on the 'white continent', besides playing with Gentoo penguins and sighting leopard seals.

632 child sex abuse cases reported in UP

The Uttar Pradesh government informed that 632 cases of child sex abuse had been registered in Uttar Pradesh between April 2012 and January 31, 2013. To put a curb on such crimes, a juvenile officer of the rank of a sub-inspector has been appointed. Source also told the House that these juvenile officers were actively involved in efforts to curb crime against children. Even then to put a check on such crimes,

MP Deepender Hooda laments loss of breaking news's significance

Member Parliament of Rohtak, Deepender Singh Hooda said that he believed that media should not take sides even if it is working in the present commercial scenario and lamented the loss of significance of breaking news in the presence of omnipresent electronic devices and social networking sites. Hooda was speaking after releasing a book entitled as 'Media Dasha and Disha' authored by Dr. Joginder Singh.

President invited to PGI convocation

The 33rd convocation of the PGI will be graced by President Pranab Mukherjee, Union minister of information technology and communication Kapil Sibal and Union minister of health and family welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad. As many as 356 students, including MDs, DMs and paramedical graduates will be awarded degrees and medals. Security has been increased for the day. Convocation address will be delivered by the President.

Almost five years after the UPA government allocated the lion's share of its Rs 52,000 crore farm loan waiver scheme to Andhra Pradesh, reports are emerging from the state that distressed farmers are selling their organs to come out of the agricultural debt trap.

Three states - Andhra Pradesh, UP and Maharashtra - had got almost 57% of the Rs 52,000 crore package meant for all 35 states and Union Territories. Disbursal in Andhra Pradesh was Rs 11,000 crore while it was Rs 9,095 crore in UP and Rs 8,900 crore in Maharashtra.

The farm loan waiver has been cited as one of the main vote-catchers for the Congress in the 2009 LokSabha polls and this was vindicated in the party's

handsome performance in the three states with the largest allocations. While Congress bagged 31 seats in Andhra, it got 22 in UP and 16 in Maharashtra, a performance which facilitated formation of the second UPA government at the Centre.

In Andhra Pradesh, around 77 lakh farmers cornered more than Rs 11,000 crore, almost 21% of the total farm loan waiver package. But as the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report reveals, a huge number of ineligible farmers were allowed waiver while many marginal and small farmers were denied the benefit and they continued to remain in a debt trap.

CAG detected tampering with loan records, alteration in ledgers and changing

records where non-agricultural loans were converted into agricultural loans.

In one such instance, the auditor pointed out how the AP Grameen Bank in Ballikurava had altered land holdings of at least 17 loanees so as to alter their category and make them eligible for full waiver in the marginal farmer category.

These irregularities were noticed not just in Andhra Pradesh but across several states were sample study was carried out by the auditor.

The CAG's sample study was carried out over 715 bank branches in 92 districts of 25 states involving more than 80,000 farmers' loan accounts. The disbursement to these farmers amounted to Rs 330 crore.

Design flaw grounds Chennai’s new terminal opening plan

The new glass-and-steel domestic terminal at Chennai airport is a show piece—and it may remain just that for several months. A trial to check the readiness of the Rs 1,212-crore terminal found that it cannot be functional because of a faulty design that rendered a baggage ramp useless. Following this, the Airports Authority of India has decided to form a safety assessment review panel headed by the director general of civil aviation.

Media on November 4, 2012 reported that a baggage ramp built into the basement was too steep for the tractors with trolleys to negotiate.

Trial - the third one so far validated this. "The battery operated tractors kept skidding down the ramp and they had to make several attempts to climb the ramp from the basement onto the tarmac.

The AAI, after two trials earlier, had approached

12 injured as lawyers clash with police in Punjab Chandigarh police resorted to a lathicharge and used water cannons against advocates of Punjab and Haryana high court who tried to break barricades while protesting the registration of case against some of their fellow members for allegedly manhandling a cop recently. At least 12 lawyers were injured in the clashes with the police. The FIR was registered on Monday against former additional advocate general (AAG) Punjab Rupinder Singh Khosla and 19 other high court lawyers. The members of the Punjab and Haryana high court bar association assembled outside court premises and marched toward UT administrator and Punjab governor Shivraj V Patil's official residence. As they reached the residence of governor Shivraj V Patil, some of the advocates broke the barricades and demanded to go inside, police resorted to the use of water cannons against them.

experts at IIT-Madras and replaced the tiles on the ramp to ensure better grip. Airport director H S Suresh said the incline is not so much of a problem as the airlines refusing to use powerful batteryoperated tractors of ground handling agency Bhadra due to some conflict..

"It will be impossible to open the terminals without addressing these issues," said an official who was part of the trial.’

Airport director H S Suresh sought to downplay

the ramp design flaw, saying the problem had more to do with the unwillingness of airlines to use battery-operated tractors belonging to Bhadra.

Airlines complained that they were never told about the need for battery-run tractors. "Each costs not less than Rs40 lakh and takes more than six months to get it delivered from abroad. Even if we get these tractors, the problem remains because of the steep incline," said an airlines official.

Airlines are unwilling to take help from Bhadra because they have been against the entire ground handling operations being handed over to a single private agency.

The airport terminal had remained unused though vice president Hamid Ansari formally inaugurated it on January 31, after the Airports Authority of India missed several deadlines.

In Andhra Pradesh, scrutiny of 3,200 loan accounts revealed that in at least 132 cases, ineligible benefits were allowed, highest among all states bar J&K where the sample study found ineligible benefits were allowed to 153 farmers. In close to 100 cases in Andhra Pradesh, the CAG found benefits extended to farmers on loans which were not disbursed in the first place.

A play highlighting the plight of immigrants Highlighting the plight of immigrants, play "Plaayan" was staged by Rang VirasatTheatre Group at open air theatre of Punjab KalaBhawan, Sector 16, Chandigarh. Written and directed by Asif Ali, a national school of drama graduate, the play is based on the lives of immigrants. The music was given by Kajal Ghosh, special support and costumes were done by Vandana Vashishth.

The play is based on people who were displaced from their native lands due to various reasons. Bhikha, a villager from Bihar, moved to Fiji on a ship with hundreds of companions, for earning money. Power-packed performances by Dinesh, Rabzong, Gursimran, Nisha, Anil, Shweta, Savita, Ashwini, Jashan, Vishwaprapha, Vilas, Puran and Amrit, made the play come alive during performance.

Cop brutality in SC glare The Supreme Court moved on its own to take cognisance of alleged police brutality on a woman in Punjab and agitating contract teachers in Bihar, saying the gross violation of human rights had "shocked" the nation's conscience.

Justices G.S. Singhvi and R.P. Desai took suo motu cognisance of media reports, asked attorney-general G.E. Vahanvati and senior counsel Harish Salve and U.U. Lalit to assist the court and fixed March 11 for further hearing.

The judges said they felt it was "proper for this court to take cognisance" as the issues involved were "human rights" and "constitutional rights" of citizens.

The court's move came a day after Bihar police batoncharged contract teachers in Patna when they reportedly tried to enter the Assembly to press for their demand for pay parity with regular teachers.

One teacher alleged the police

didn't even spare women.

The police also used water cannons and fired teargas shells to disperse around 5,000 contract teachers. The police action triggered a fullblown clash that left several vehicles damaged.

On March 4, a young woman was allegedly kicked and punched by policemen in Tarn Taran, Punjab, after she had approached the police with her father to complain against some taxi drivers who had behaved with her.

Television cameras had filmed the alleged assault.

When the day's proceedings began this morning, Justices Singhvi and Desai cited the media reports. "The xerox copies of the newspapers are taken on record. The contents of the news items revealed that members of the Punjab police and Patna police have mercilessly beaten an unarmed woman and teachers. Both the incidents have shocked the conscience

of the entire nation," the bench said in a written order.

"Unfortunately, the administration of the governments of Punjab and Bihar have not taken adequate steps for protecting the people against the wholly unwarranted action taken by the police at Tarn Taran and Patna.

"These incidents raise important constitutional issues relating to Article 21 (right to liberty) of the Constitution and dignity of individual. We, therefore, feel that it is proper for this court to take cognisance of the gross violation of the human rights as well as the constitutional rights of the people. We request the learned attorneygeneral to assist the court.

We also request Shri Harish N. Salve and U.U. Lalit… to assist the court".

The bench directed the registry to "place the matter" before the Chief Justice and seek his direction for listing the case.

IndIA

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 16th March 2013

By AV Correspondent Riding on the Wharton episode and the US government’s continued ban on his entry to America, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi sought to expand his outreach among non-resident Indians, particularly in America, saying secularism for him meant “India first.”

And, in what seemed a reply to his critics on the Godhra riots of 2002, he said people would forgive the “mistakes” of a government if it served them well. In a live 50-minute address from India on Sunday morning, organized by the Overseas Friends of BJP, Modi talked of his achievements in Gujarat, spoke about the loss of India’s economic momentum in the last 67 years and pledged to propel the country to the front again in the race for 21st century leadership, although he did not specifically mention any national role for himself.

Modi did not refer to any of the hot issues that haunt his fans - the continued American ban on his entry to the US, the Wharton episode in which the business school rescinded an invitation for a keynote address, or indeed the riots in Gujarat that in the eyes of many has stained his stewardship of the state. Instead, he spoke at length of the economic advances made in Gujarat under his leadership and of the work that remains to be done.

“When we get a mandate of five years, we must work on that and serve people selflessly. If we do that then people will forgive our mistakes as well,” Modi said.

Gujarat, he maintained, continued to grow in the face of national and international recession and downturn, because of good governance and efficiency. When people discussed Gujarat, it was always with reference to its economic development,

he said, making light of the communal issues that are sought to be highlighted by his critics.

Secularism means India first: Modi “For me secularism means nothing but India first. My country is my pri-

ority,’’ announced Modi as he addressed the Diaspora of Edison, New Jersey, Chicago and Illinois. And sensing a global audience, Modi invoked mythology claiming that Lord Shiva had taught to `drink poison and digest it too’.

voters thinking that it will come back to power.

The trend is limited to urban India, but can result into a built-up in rural India too, the survey report said.

Modi’s partymen were understandably happy.

“The entire country is rooting for Narendra Modi and he is the ray of hope for change. His popularity will increase further in the coming days,” said Vijay Rupani, BJP spokesperson.

“People are already speaking their mind.

Leave aside the opinion polls. Surveys or no survey, Narendra Modi is a popular leader,” said Nitin Patel, govt spokesperson.

However, his detractors were not amused. “No survey has ever been done of any prime minister in India. Circumstances and time will determine who becomes PM,” said GPP General Secretary Goddhan Zadhaphia.

“The rank and file of BJP in Goa is in tandem with the party workers across the country who want Modi to be the prime minister. But we are waiting for the Delhi leadership to take decision on it,” state BJP unit spokesman Wilfred Mesquita said.

“Modi is the only leader among all the political parties who should take ahead the country at this juncture,” he said.

Mesquita's statement comes a day before the party's state executive committee is scheduled to meet to review the performance of the Manohar Parrikar-led government, which completes one year on March 9.

government’s recent budget, Modi said Gujarat was more focussed in its approach. “We have been working on skilled development in Gujarat. We are completely committed to it. Indian union budget has allocated 10 billion on skilled development and a small state like Gujarat has allocated 8 billion on skilled development. One can understand our commitment.’’

Hailing the NDA rule under Atal Behari Vajpayee, Modi remarked that during that rule the whole world was looking at the country. “The world expected us to be one of the leading economies in the world but unfortunately that didn't happen after NDA left,’’ he said.

Petition in support of Direct Flight between UK and Gujarat, organised by AV, GS and NCGO (UK) If you want a direct flight from London to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad; if you have a desire to get a permanent, easy connection with people of Gujarat, do sign and get others to sign this petition and send it to “Asian Voice” or “Gujarat Samachar” office by post or fax it to our office (Fax no: 020 7749 4081), at the earliest.

Modi voters’ choice for PM: Poll

Forty-three per cent of Indians back Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the choice for the next Prime Minister.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, backed by 36 per cent, is the second choice, accordingtoanopinionpollby market research agency, Ipsos.

Modi’s candidature has more support of men than women while the case is opposite with more women rooting for Rahul, the survey revealed.

Modi’s candidature was particularly strong in Lucknow (61%), Bangalore (57%) and Chennai (46%) while sentiment against him was high in Kolkata (78%), Delhi (64%) and Mumbai (62%). Overall, about 6 out of 10 respondents were either against or unsure of Modibecomingthenextpri me minister, “Ipsos Mood of the Nation” poll suggested.

Rahul found strong backing in Bangalore (49%) while sentiment against him candidature was particularly high in Kolkata (75%), Lucknow (71%),Mumbai(65%)and Delhi (60%). However, Ipsos Media Executive Director Rahul Varma admitted that the sample was not representative of India, it projects “some indications of coming times.”'

The poll predicted an uphill task for the Congress party in retaining power after the next general election as only 28 per cent of the respondents favoured it. The BJP was ahead of the Congress with 36 per cent eligible

“We may have flaws, some shortcomings but we have achieved growth through development and not indulged in divisive politics,’’ he said.

Claiming the Gujarat victory to be the victory of the people Modi remarked, “It’s a win for my mantra of development.

Development is the mantra that will rid us of all our problems and development will take our country forward.”

Invoking the legacy of Swami Vivekanda, Modi remarked, “can all of us pledge to take India to the first position in the whole world that Swami Vivekananda wanted. We can and we will. We can achieve this.’’

Taking a dig at the UPA

25

THE CAMPAIGN to facilitate direct flights between London Heathrow and Sardar Vallabhbhai International Airport Ahmedabad, Gujarat has generated much interest amongst Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar readers and the entire community.

All those wishing to add their names to the list of petitioners, which includes several prominent politicians, business people and community members are requested to complete the tear-off the form and send it to the offices of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar,

12 Hoxton Market, London N1 6HW. We will forward all petitions to the Honourable Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Narendra Modi. Who is renowned to be in the forefront of serving Gujarati people.

Please note: If you wish to register more than 10 names on your petition, then simply photocopy the tearoff form and add the extra names. All petitions must clearly state your full names, postal address and must be signed and dated.

REGISTER YOUR SUPPORT WE THE undersigned hereby support the direct Air India flights between London and Ahmedabad for the following reasons : l There are more Gujaratis living and travelling abroad than any other Indian community, and this figure is increasing. l About 40% of Air India passenger to the UK are Gujarati. Indeed on some flights, close to 80% to 90% are Gujarati. l India is the 2nd largest investor into United Kingdom, according to British Government figures. Many of these Indian companies are either owned, controlled, or significantly staffed by Gujaratis. l The UK is the Second Largest investor in India, and the largest cumulative investor in Gujarat. l Nearly 50% of all visas issued by British High

NAME 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Commission in India are to Gujaratis. l Currently, air passengers travelling between the UK and Gujarat are required to change planes either at Mumbai or Delhi. This inevitably leads to considerable inconvenience, delay and expense – particularly for families with young children, pregnent women, the elderly, and the increasing number of business travellers. l We believe that the introduction of direct flights will not only be of benefit to the Gujarati diaspora, but also prove commercially successfully for Air India.

Form also available online at www.abplgroup.com to download and Fax on 020 7749 4081 Email: support@abplgroup.com

ADDRESS

SIGNATURE

DATE

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IndIa

www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 16th March 2013

Italian marines won’t return to India to face trial Two Italian marines charged in India with killing two fishermen while on anti-piracy duty will not return there from a home visit granted to allow them to vote in last month's election, the Italian Foreign Ministry had said.

The ministry said India had not responded to Italian requests to seek a diplomatic solution to the case and there was now a formal dispute between the two countries over the terms of the U.N. Convention of the Law of the Sea. "Italy has informed the Indian government that, given the formal initiation of an international dispute between the two states, the marines Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone will not return to India at the end of their home leave," the ministry said in a statement.

Italy was ready to seek a settlement of the dispute through arbitration or an

international court decision, it said.

The two sailors, part of a military security team protecting the tanker Enrica Lexie from pirates, were accused of shooting the two fishermen after mistaking them for pirates off Kerala in February last year.

The incident has caused a serious diplomatic dispute between Italy and India, which have traditionally had good relations.

An Indian foreign ministry spokesman told

Reuters the government would study the message from Italy's ambassador in New Delhi before commenting.

"We have received a communication from Italy late. We will examine it carefully," he said.

India's Supreme Court said in a longawaited ruling in January that India had jurisdiction to try the marines but Italy has challenged that decision, arguing that the shooting took place in international waters.

The sailors arrived back in Italy on February 23, a day before the country's election, after the Supreme Court granted their request to exercise their right to vote. They were allowed to remain in Italy for four weeks.

They also spent Christmas in Italy, after a Kerala court allowed them to join their families for the holiday, on condition they returned to India by January 10, which they did.

Rahul Gandhi, arguably India’s most eligible bachelor, said he wasn’t interested in marriage. Nor was he in the race for the prime minister’s post — this despite his recent appointment as Congress vicepresident which was widely regarded as a precursor for him to be the party’s candidate for the top job in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.

In a rare free-wheeling conversation with Congress MPs and journalists in Parliament’s Central Hall, Rahul said he did not wish to tie the knot and start a family as doing so would lead him to develop a vested interest in the status quo at the expense of his mission to democratize the Congress and decentralize its decision-making.

“If I get married and have children, then I will

become a status quoist and will be concerned about bequeathing my position to my children,” he said. This was the firstever confirmation of Rahul’s much-speculated disinclination to marry and start a family. Rahul has so far fended off questions about his marriage by saying people would get to know about his plans at the appropriate time.

He also denied that he aspired to be PM and

Nirbhaya gang-rape accused commits suicide

Continued from page 1

An official statement of the jail authorities merely said Singh was "found hanging at 5:45 am".

"The matter is being inquired into by the Judicial Officer as per Sec 176 of CrPC. The exact cause of death could be known after receipt of inquiry officer report, which also includes post mortem examination and report by forensic experts," it said.

Meanwhile, a doctor who took part in the autopsy said on Tuesday that Ram Singh died due to hanging. There were no external injury marks on his body, the doctor told the media. He said his name should not be revealed as he was not authorized to speak to journalists. A panel of three doctors conducted Ram Singh's post-mortem at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) before the body was given to his family.

According to AIIMS, the final autopsy report will be given to police "within a couple of days."

Sources said the suicide might have taken place between 3:30 am and 5:30 am. During the change of guard at 3:30 am, everything was all right. But at the next change of guard two hours later, Singh was found dead, they said.

Meanwhile, security for the other four adult accused has been stepped up in the wake of development.

The news of death of Singh, a driver, immediately triggered demands from his lawyers and family for a CBI probe.

They alleged that he was murdered inside the jail and refused to accept that he had committed suicide.

Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, who was met by Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit earlier in the day, told a news confer-

ence that preliminary inquiry suggested that Singh committed suicide. He termed the incident as "grave" and a "major lapse" on the part of the prison department.

"Everything will come out in the inquiry by a magistrate," Shinde said when asked about allegations that Singh was murdered. Singh was under depression for the past couple of days, jail sources said, a claim contested by his lawyers.

Since it was a death under suspicious circumstances, Delhi government ordered an inquiry by a Metropolitan Magistrate.

"Singh was not alone in the cell when he committed suicide. Three inmates were present and a guard was also posted. But nobody came to know about it. Around 5 am, he was found hanging," a senior jail official said.

Prone to violent behaviour and mood swings, he had suicidal tendencies and was

under "suicide watch", which was later lifted as he started socialising a bit, he said.

Singh, who was to be produced before court for its daily hearing, was rushed to the jail hospital where he was declared brought dead. His body was taken to AIIMS for post mortem.

The girl was raped in the bus by him and his five associates, including a minor, in south Delhi after brutally beating her and also her male friend. The girl died in a Singapore hospital on December 29.

Singh, who was arrested a day after the incident, was the driver of the bus in which the girl was raped. His brother Mukesh was driving the bus when the girl was sexually assaulted allegedly by them.

All the adult accused, charged with murder and gangrape, face punishment up to death. The other four accused came to the Saket court where lawyers are on strike.

Salman Khurshid hosts lunch for Pak PM Ashraf Continued from page 1 After their over one-hour long luncheon meeting, Khurshid said: “This was a private visit. It was a pilgrimage (for Ashraf). This was not the occasion nor did I have the authority to discuss such matters.”

Khurshid said the lunch for Ashraf was hosted as a matter of courtesy and in keeping with the post he holds. “We agreed for his programme and everything was done in this backdrop,” he said.

When opposition parties, including the BJP, questioned the need to welcome the Pakistani prime minister, Khurshid said: “They just have to look at their own his-

tory and they will know why.”

The brief trip of 62-yearold Ashraf to the 13th century shrine hit a sour note following a boycott by the Dargah's spiritual head in protest against the recent brutal killing and beheading of Indian soldiers by the Pakistani Army.

Opposing the Pakistani premier's visit, local lawyers, some BJP activists and representatives of markets associations staged protests and shouted anti-Pakistan slogans. “...I wish for peace in the world and for peace and prosperity in Pakistan,” Ashraf wrote in Urdu in the visitors' book after spending 30 minutes at the shrine.

Ashraf's visit comes at a

time when there is a chill in bilateral ties over the ceasefire violations at the LoC. An Indian soldier was beheaded

by Pakistani troops while the mutilated body of another was found in January.

New Delhi had lodged a strong protest over the beheading of an Indian soldier and brutal killing of another.

According to official sources, Ashraf thanked the Indian leadership for facilitating his “journey of faith” to the Ajmer Sharif.

The Pak PM and Khurshid discussed each other's personal interest and also shared their experiences and views about other shrines, including Data

Durbar in Lahore.

Ashraf's visit was unlike his President Asif Ali Zardari's trip who came on a day-long visit last April and made a three-hour stopover in New Delhi before flying to Ajmer.

Ashraf has a close relationship with Bilal Chishti, the 'Pir' of the shrine at Ajmer.

Chishti met Ashraf twice in Islamabad last year, in December and August.

During the meeting in August, Chishti invited the premier to visit Ajmer. Ashraf accepted the invitation and said he would visit Ajmer at “the first available opportunity”.

The shrine in Ajmer is revered by many people in Pakistan, including top political leaders.

lamented that Congress as well as other parties had degenerated into oligarchies where a tiny elite call the shots. Asked about his interest in the PM’s job, he said, “Asking whether you want to be prime minister is to ask me a wrong question.”

The response defied the growing clamour from the ranks that he be declared the Congress’s candidate for PMO in the 2014 polls.

The disclaimer also comes at a time when the move to project Narendra Modi as BJP’s candidate for the top job has gathered momentum, and belies the assessment that Rahul’s agreeing to Congress vice-president suggested that he had finally come around to be projected as the party’s spearhead for the 2014 polls.

In Focus Karnataka civic polls: Congress makes big gains

In a morale-boosting performance ahead of assembly polls, the opposition Congress in Karnataka put up an impressive show in the elections to urban local bodies, leaving JD(S) and the ruling BJP way behind. With results in around 4,500 wards of a total of nearly 5000 announced this afternoon, the Congress, clearly benefiting from multi-cornered contests, bagged more than 1,800 wards, while JD(S) of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda came second with some 870. The ruling BJP finished third with 800-plus wards in it kitty.

CBI slaps murder charges on Raja Bhaiyya

The CBI named former Uttar Pradesh minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya as an accused in the murder of deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Ziaul-Haq, based on the complaint of his widow Parveen Azad, as it filed four FIRs in the case, officials said.This is in addition to the charges of criminal conspiracy, which the state police had slapped on Raja Bhaiyya last Sunday after Parveen alleged that the former minister, an Independent legislator from Kunda, had conspired to kill her husband.

Rape accused Bitty Mohanty arrested by Kerala police

Bitty Mohanty, accused of raping a German tourist in Alwar, Rajasthan, was arrested by the Kerala police, say media reports. The son of the former DGP of Odisha, BB Mohanty, Bitti was absconding since 2006. He was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment for the rape. The police is yet to confirm whether the arrested person is Bitti. The Kerala police said that the arrested person is a man named Raghav Rajan, whose actual identity could be Bitty.

Test fire of 'Nirbhay' missile fails partially India's first indigenously developed medium range sub-sonic cruise missile 'Nirbhay' partially failed in its trial test on Tuesday.

The missile deviated from its course midway. The trial had to thus be aborted for coastal safety.The device was fired from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur.

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27

Gujarat’s heritage pharmacy exported medicine to Mahatma Gandhi

By Nayan Dave

T

he Godal town, situated around 40 km from Rajkot is well known for beautiful palaces, its town planning and education initiatives taken by rulers of erstwhile princely state Gondal. However, very few people know about Bhuvneshwari Ayurveda Pharmacy- more than 100yearold traditional Indian medicine, which in fact contributed to Mahatma Gandhi’s good health. Besides, founder of

in the process of making Ayurvedic medicines.

Unlike other pharmacy, we have decided not to plunge into bulk manufacturing; rather most of the processes are still manual.

Perhaps this might be the reason, we are still falling in SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) category despite being one of the oldest Ayurveda medicines making unit in India,” he says.

Interestingly the doors of the pharmacy remain open for even unknown

Jivram Kalidas Shastri

a document that revealed how Gandhiji was referred to as Mahatma by the founder of Gondal Rasasala. The document was presented by Gandhian Manubhai Parekh describing about a public function organized much before Tagore calling Bapu as Mahatma. With the document ambiguity over who first called Gandhiji as Mahatma ended.

Ayurveda Tourism: The management of Bhuvneshwari pharmacy is also promoting

Mahatma Gandhi Dr Ravidarshan

this pharmacy Jivram Kalidas Shastri, royal physician (Raj Vaidya) of erstwhile Gondal state, first time coined the title ‘Mahatma’ for Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

On the 27th January 1915 Gondal Rasasala (Ayurveda Pharmacy) had a special guest. A grand reception was arranged for Gandhi and his wife Kasturba, who came back from South Africa in July 1914. No one knew that the function would become a milestone in the life of Gandhiji. In the welcome speech, Jivram Shastri, first time ever termed Gandhi as ‘Mahatma’ (The Great Soul) with reference to historic movement against apartheid in South Africa from 1908 to 1914. This epithet ‘Mahatma’ later became a universally accepted synonym for Gandhiji and he has been immortalized as ‘Mahatma Gandhi’ in the world history.

Mahatma also had great respect for the royal physician and said that he used to read Ayurveda literature published by Shastriji.

“Ayurveda is ancient Indian science to keep up the health of millions of Indians living in villages. I recommend shape and live his life on the basis of Ayurveda. May Rasasala be able to render more glorious services to Ayurveda,” said Gandhiji during the function. In fact, traditional Ayurveda medicines manufactured at Rasasala were exported to South Africa at Tolstoy Farm, around 35 km from Johannesburg, where Gandhi and his followers were staying for Satyagraha campaign during 1910 to 1913.

The founder of this heritage pharmacy dedicated his whole life for Ayurveda till he passed away at the age of 110 in 1978. His septuagenarian son Acharya Ghanshyamji has kept the essence of pharmacy alive. “We have hardly made any changes

visitors. When the unit was redesigned in 2003, Ghanshyamji’s son Dr Ravidarshan made it a point to design the unit in such a way that visitors can have a look at traditional manufacturing process without disturbing the men at work. Still waste woods and cow dung are being used as fuel for special processes. The pharmacy is manufacturing around 300 Ayurveda formulations to cure different diseases and OTC (Over the Counter) products.

When it comes of heritage sites in Saurashtra peninsula, Gondal town is having great importance.

Tourists would be enticed to visit Gondal to see superb town planning by its erstwhile ruler Maharaja Bhagwatsinhji, a vintage car museum, temples and fantastic palaces and buildings constructed by rulers of Jadeja dynasty. Along with these attractions, the century old pharmacy also generates great interest amongst them, especially foreign tourists. Even the National Geographic Channel took note of the heritage pharmacy.

On expansion of this pharmacy and modernization of manufacturing process to cater larger market, Dr Ravidarshan says, “We want to grow organically and want to keep traditional method of making Ayurveda medicines intact.

We have mechanized certain processes to cater to the increasing demand.

But we can’t take risk on specialized processes prescribed in age-old Ayurveda literature written after years of experience. If we do that just to produce medicine in bulk, the essence of Ayurveda will die.”

Common Belief: The common belief is that Rabindranath Tagore first called Gandhiji as Mahatma. It was just around seven years back that Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad came out with

Ayurveda tourism. Last year around 500 foreign tourists have visited the pharmacy to see traditional Ayurveda medicine manufacturing process.

Unlike heritage sites abroad, there has been no entry fee to visit the pharmacy. When asked about taking fee from tourists, Dr Ravidarshan said that taking fees from guests were against the Indian tradition and culture.

“Our intention is to keep ancient Ayurveda and its processes intact.”

T

The Story of Kartikeya – 4

he young Skandha lifted his bow and started raining arrows on the huge mountain called Swetagiri or White Mountain. Here we can take the ‘white mountain’ to symbolically mean our soul and the arrows are arrows of attention. Our attention is always other-oriented but this young boy’s attention was going inwards (and we shall see later that he destroys the negative samskaras which block his path).

Skandha then started shooting arrows on the son of the Himalayas, Krauncha. Birds who had made the mountain Krauncha their abode, took flight to the peak of the mountain called Meru.

Many of the arrows hit hordes of vultures and they fell to the ground with piercing screams. Skandha then threw a very powerful bolt of lightning on Swetagiri, which burst into pieces. Torn apart in many places with fire emitting out of her, the Earth (Prithvi) was in pain.

Together with the other mountains, Prithvi bowed before the young Skandha.

The minute Prithvi surrendered to Skandha, all the fires and eruptions

stopped. The mountains found their place on top of Prithvi and she was restored to her former glory. Since all this happened on the fifth day of the waxing moon, people pay homage to Skandha on this day.

The mountain on which Skandha was born was in the Chitraratha forest. With his birth, all sorts of strange things began happening there. Married couples who lived in the forest started fighting with one another.

The medicinal herbs which grew in Chitraratha began exhibiting properties opposite to their natural healing ones. The rishis were disturbed and they started doing a yagna for shanti.

The people of the forest started blaming the wives of the rishis for all that had happened. They blamed the god Agni for having intercourse with the wives of the rishis and producing this terrible warrior-like son.

Several people had seen the female eagle fly to the top of the mountain and they pleaded to her to do something. None of them

knew that it was actually Svaha who had taken the form of the rishi’s wives and had intercourse with Agni six times. They also did not know this she-eagle had been possessed by her.

The eagle believed the people and went to Skandha and told him she was the mother who gave birth to her. At the same time, the six rishis learnt that their wives had spent a night with Agni. Not aware that it was actually Svaha who had taken their form, all six rishis left their wives. Only Arundhati remained with Vishwamitra as Svaha had not been able to take her form.

Svaha tried to explain to the rishis that their wives were innocent but they would not listen to her.

Vishwamitra knew the real story as he had invisibly followed Svaha when she went to meet Agni. He had watched what had happened between Svaha and Agni, and immediately accepted the birth of the great Lord. He went to bow down before Skandha.

(To be continued…)

All past articles on the Mahabharata can be accessed from http://epaper.asianvoice.com or from http://www.3stepbreath.com/mahabharata.html

Physically-challenged Amdavadi drives into record book Born without the right forearm, Harish makes an all-India motor expedition record by driving 16,000 km in 29 days Purvi Apurva Shah “Your attitude determines your altitude.” That is exactly true in the case of 42-year-old Harish Kumar who was born with one hand only.

Despite being physically-challenged he zoomed into the Limca Book of Records for the fastest solo all-India motor expedition. Born without the right forearm, Harish drove 16,000 km across the Indian terrain in 29 days and created this record.

Harish has proved that disability does not mean inability. The lack of right hand never deters him from achieving what he wanted. His confidence and perseverance compensated for his shortcomings. “Since birth, I had a deformed right hand. I earlier felt bad about it but then I started exploring the possibilities and also later took on to activities such as driving," said the IIT-Delhi and IITRoorkee graduate. “I wanted to be independent and normal like everyone, so I took up driving and soon it became a passion for me,” he added.

“Ever since I laid my hands on my father's car in 1999 for the first time, I fell in love with cars and even participated in Himalayan car rally and other national competitions.

When I came across national records, I decided to challenge myself and went through the categories. One can take north-south or east-west ‘border to border’ journey or entire coastal highway and complete it in record time. However, one category attracted me and that was all-India driving expedition," said Harish.

“My full-time job as well as the heavy cost of driving expedition did not stop me from pursuing my inner

drive to go for the record breaking journey. I found the sponsorship and brushed on my will-power to go ahead.” There are lots of things that we do not have control over but we do have control over our response to those things. Mental attitude – the power we hold in our heads and get going attitude made him start the expedition.

Harish Kumar

Harish had started off from Gandhinagar on April 22 morning and completed the journey on May 21. He covered 15,963 km across 28 states and seven union territories in 29 days 6 hours and 20 minutes and returned to Ahmedabad on May 21.

The Ahmedabad -based telecom professional and driving aficionado, completed his journey across the nation in less than a month to set an Indian driving record for a disabled driver. What makes his initiative more challenging is that he drove in an unmodified vehicle. “I drove an unmodified sports utility vehicle (SUV) and set the record under a new category of the ‘Fastest All-India Expedition by differently-abled.’ I

had to face difficulties like bad roads and severe weather conditions,” said Harish who was accompanied only by a navigator. Passionate about travel and driving, Harish trained to drive normal vehicles. “I have been driving my car since 1999. I chose not to modify my car since it would restrict my driving capability. Because of the decision I can now drive any regular four-wheeler. We drove the entire day and covered long distances stopping only at nights for a break,” said Harish. “Driving across different terrain, passing through little villages which seemed like windows to the past and interacting with different people made the trip interesting. It gave me new insight into the varied culture of India. The trip is one of my most memorable experiences. I can now proudly say that I have seen almost every nook and corner of the country,” he said.

From snow storm in Jammu and Kashmir to rough riders on Kerala highways, Harish experienced true India. "People extended warm support without any connection," he said.

However, the journey was not a smooth one. Kumar and his companion had to spend some nights in their Tata Safari itself, eat whatever were available and brave rough roads. "I want to chronicle my experiences after some time and share it with public," said Harish.

His next dream is to drive all the way from Ahmedabad to London and set a record. But that needs big money and he has appealed for sponsorship. He is optimistic and hopeful of driving into uncharted land and to open a new doorway for the human spirit.

28

travel & women

he southern shores of India are the garden of Eden for Indian tourism. South T India offers beautiful beaches, magnificent

temples, picturesque wildlife sanctuaries and colourful festivals. The best time to travel to these states is between October and March and the best way to explore South India is on a Pride of the south tour onboard The Golden Chariot.

Your journey will start from Bangalore - the Indian Silicon Valley.

Check in to your coaches named after dynasties that once ruled Karnataka.

Visit the Chitrakala Parishad Art Gallery and enjoy the cultural shows. Experience an illustrated tour to organic farms and take pottery lessons, you will also encounter the simplicity of the games played in local villages. Dinner is served in the trains exquisite dining car as you travel towards Mysore.

On the way to Mysore stop by the world famous Rajiv Gandhi National Park, the hunting retreat of the Mysore Maharajas, the perfect destination for wildlife lovers and bird watchers, the park houses more than 300 species of birds. You will have the opportunity to spot wild animals in their natural habitat, elephants, gaur, sambar, chital, wild boars and more exclusive predators like tigers and leopards.

Eights kilometres from Mysore is Bandipur, once the Maharaja's private hunting ground, If you are lucky enough you might see a tiger prowling amidst the mix of deciduous, evergreen forest and scrubland vegetation. The reserve is a playground for wildlife, with elephants taking the lead role. Bandipur was brought under Project Tiger in 1973. This is one of the best sanctuaries in India to observe and photograph wildlife in close proximity. You can also visit the Mysore Zoo and Brindavan Gardens.

Mysore has always been associated with royal families and their patronage, it is a city known for its resplendent palaces and majestic buildings. This former state capital still retains its tradition in music and dance, art, literature and handicrafts and is well known the world over for its exotic sandalwood. While in Mysore, enjoy an evening at The Lalitha Mahal Palace with a cultural show and dinner.

At the island fortress of the legendary warrior king Tipu Sultan at Srirangapatnam you will get to experience the days of the Raj. The complex

www.abplgroup.com - asian voice 16th march 2013

accommodates Tipu's mosque with its twin minarets, the Wellesley Bridge and the dungeons where British officers were once imprisoned.

A tour on the The Golden Chariot – Pride Of The South offers visits to some of the ancient temple complexes of the Hoysala dynasty. The Hoysaleswara Temple, built on a star-shaped base

a symbol of religious integrity

By AV Correspondent he EME temple or "Dakshinamurty T Temple" is a Shiva Temple amidst lawns, is a sculptural extravaganza. Its walls are richly carved with an endless variety of Hindu deities, sages, stylized animals, birds and friezes depicting the life of the Hoysala Kings. The Chennakesava Temple is the major attraction here; the facade of the temple is filled with intricate sculptures with no portion left blank. It is the only Hoysala Temple still active in worship.

Visit the World Heritage Site of Hampi, the largest empire of the Moghul era. Hampi takes you to a sojourn of the past. The scattered ruins of this Royal city narrates the story of man's infinite talent and power of creativity together with his capacity for senseless destruction. Explore Hampi through Virupaksha Temple, elephant stables, local craft bazaars, Hazara Rama Temple and the most visited Vittala Temple. Vittala Temple is the most extravagant architectural showpiece of Hampi. The highlight of Vittala Temple is its impressive pillared halls and the Stone Chariot. Badami is situated between two rocky hills. One of the exquisite sculptures here is the 18 armed Nataraja, striking 81 dance poses.

A Holiday in India does not end without a Goan experience. Goa is rightly called the "Pearl of the Orient" and a "Tourist Paradise". It is the place to relax with an Ayurvedic massage and leisurely strolls on beautiful beaches. Visit the famous churches and Portuguese house of Sola Souto Maior for Tea/Coffee and cookies. To round of this amazing tour – watching the Sunset at Utorda beach is a mesmerizing experience.

For return flights, 7 nights full board, accommodation, and transfers, this package starts from just £2735 pp. Brightsun Travel offers a price match promise on worldwide flights and holidays so you will get the best deals. To book your dream holiday, call Brightsun Travel on 0208 819 0486 or visit

run by the Indian Army in the city of Vadodara. It is unique in concept & design, geodesic structure covered with aluminium sheets. This temple is a major attraction for both tourists and devotees. Of the South Indian pantheon of Hindu deities, the Dakshinamurthy reincarnation of Lord Shiva is of special significance to Shaivites. This image of the Lord Shiva symbolizes the deity as the master of learning and the preceptor of sciences, among which music is counted. Although nearly every Shiva temple bears an image of Dakshinamurthy, there is only one in South India where that aspect of the deity is worshipped as the principal figure – the EME temple of Vadodara. A major tourist attraction in Ingrediants: 3 large potatos 1 large onionmake a paste 1 large vine tomato- finely chopped 1 tbsp fresh ginger and garlic paste 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 large bay leaf 2 cinnamon sticks 2 large Cardamom pods 4 medium size potatoes ½ tsp green chilli paste 2small green chillies 2 tbsp milk cream ½ tsp garam masala 1 tsp coriander powder 1/2 a cup of milk ½ tsp turmeric ½ cup finely chopped coriander 2 tbsp cashew nut powder oil for cooking salt to taste Method: Peel the potatoes and cut them into large chunks. Deep fry them in hot oil until they are cooked properly. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan. add the cumin seeds, bay leaf, cardamom pods and cinnamon sticks. Cook for a few mins until the cumin seeds get brown.Now add onion paste, green chilli paste and ginger-garlic paste.

Cook until the mixture starts leaving oil.Add all the spices and stir for 2

the city of Vadodara, the EME temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. An outstanding modern structure, the temple was built in 1966.

Once the capital of the Gaekwad rulers, which was known as Baroda, the Vadodara of modern times is one of the prime hubs of industry in Gujarat.

However, even amid the new cityscape of bustling commerce and factories, there remain the footprints of the old times in the form of museums, palaces and several temples. The EME temple takes prominent position among these latter structures, partly because of its unique construction and partly for its heritage.

The excellence of its geodesic dimensions is as much of a curiosity as the fact that the entire structure is covered in aluminium sheeting, unlike any other temple in the whole of India.

Within is enshrined a statue of Lord

Dakshinamurthy, facing south as is traditional for the great teacher who is believed to impart his wisdom facing the world in that direction. This idol is also called Jagadguru by its devotees.

Also within the temple is found a collection of beautifully crafted idols that have been discovered during recent excavations. These sculptures, which archaeologists say date back to the 6th century, are arranged along the path that leads to the shrine. Another standout aspect of the temple is that all five major religions in India are represented by the symbols of this structure: the kalash atop the dome for Hinduism, the tower for Christianity, the golden symbol atop which stands for Buddhism and the temple entrance for Jainism. The EME temple is a site that feature at the top of a Vadodara sightseeing itinerary.

Punjabi Aloo Shahi Bahar

mins. Add chopped tomatoes to the pan and cook until they get soft. Mesh the mixture in the pan to make a thick paste.

Add some water to the mixture to get the consistency you prefer. Add the salt to taste.

Put the lid on the pan and cook it until the mixture leaves oil. When finish add the fried potatoes and cashew nut powder.

Turn the flame off and put the lid on. Leave this aside for 10 min for the potatoes to absorb all the flavours.

Garnish with coriander and serve.

Health benefits: A cooked new potato has

only 26 calories and is packed with nutrients. A key to lasting weight loss is eating foods that make you feel full for longer, 'You should eat complex carbohydrates such as potatoes, rather than simple carbohydrates like sugar or biscuits which give a short energy boost followed by hunger pangs,' she says. 'In this way, potatoes can help you reduce binge-eating.'

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High-protein diet: More harm than good?

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...

high-protein, low-carb diet is often recomA mended by fitness trainers

to people who want to lose weight. This is because when you have foods high in protein, or a protein shake, you feel full for several hours as the body takes longer to process it.

This results in intake of fewer calories and that in turn results in weight loss.

Nutritionist and diet consultant Shilpa Mittal says, “A person on highprotein diet goes into ketosis i.e. the body begins burning its own fat for fuel, so fat loss also occurs. Further, when a person cuts out carbohydrates, they lose weight quickly because of water loss. This makes dieting easier because you feel less hungry and fat loss and weight loss is happening actively. But ketosis can cause headaches, irritability, nausea, kidney trouble, and heart palpitations.”

Having a protein-high

diet can increase cholesterol levels which raises the risk of heart disease and stroke. By not eating vegetables and grains, you are robbing your body of fibre and essential nutrients.

Its other potential health risks include brittle bones and kidney disease.

According to Mittal, highprotein diets place a lot of stress on the kidneys while they work on eliminating urea, a by-product of protein synthesis, from the body and this can lead to possible kidney damage.

Also, if the body is under ketosis, there is increased excretion of calcium which can lead to kidney stones.

Therefore, it cannot be used as an alternative to following a healthy diet even though it is effective in losing weight. Urmi believes that it is important to have intakes of protein everyday but not in excess. Other nutrient groups should not be forgotten.

29

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‘Holiday binging could derail your internal food clock’

Any tips for new mommies?

If I can lose weight, anyone can. I would like to tell new mothers not to ignore themselves. It’s just about exercising for an hour every day for four-five days a week and eating right. Usually, mothers use the excuse of not having any time for exercising, as they are busy looking after the child. But that’s just being lazy. For the first nine months, a child sleeps a lot. Mothers should utilise that time to do some cardio and gymming. Remember you are doing it for yourself and to be fit.

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I lost 18 kilos: Shilpa ShettyKundra Shilpa Shetty-Kundra reveals how she regained her pre-baby body in just a few months.

Everybody is talking about how quickly you got back into shape so soon after your pregnancy...

I have always been known for my body, health and fitness.

However, for five months after Viaan was born I didn’t think of my weight. I was not able to do some things that I used to do earlier as I had put on 20 kilos. I realised this one day when I bent to pick up Viaan. More than about not being fat it was about being fit. Fortunately, I had a good trainer. After five-and-a-half months of exercise I had lost 18 kilos.

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The sinful excess of holiday eating could derail your food clock – a complex mechanism of interacting genes and molecules that keeps the metabolism in shape. The California team has shown that a protein called PKCI is critical in resetting the food clock if our eating habits change, the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports.

The study showed that normal lab mice given food only during their regular sleeping hours will adjust their food clock over time and begin to wake up from their slumber, and run around in anticipation of their new mealtime.But mice lacking the PKCI gene are not able to respond to changes in their meal time — instead sleeping right through it, according to a California statement. The work could shed light on the molecular basis of diabetes, obesity and other metabolic syndromes because a desynchronised food clock may serve as part of the pathology underlying these disorders.

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Are you undergoing unnecessary medical tests and procedures?

Popping antibiotics every time you have a sore throat, CT scan after even a minor head injury – if your doctor has been advising these and other procedures and tests very frequently, it’s time you ask him why.

According to research in the US, about 100 routine tests, treatments and procedures that medical professionals say are often unnecessary, costly and could cause more harm than good.

This year’s list, part of a campaign called “Choosing Wisely” organised by the ABIM Foundation, adds 90 overused medical treatments to 2012′s list. The doctors who worked on the report said the medical procedures are often overused due to doctors’ personal habits, while others come about when patients demand care they believe they need.

Another common practice, prescribing antibiotics for both sinus infections and conjunctivitis, was also found to be unnecessary in most cases. Those ailments, doctors said, are almost always caused by a virus, which antibiotics do not treat.

Approximately 50 percent of children who visit hospital emergency departments with head

injuries receive a CT scan, which increases exposure to radiation and could cause an escalated risk of cancer later in life.

Doctors also warned against using feeding tubes in patients with advanced dementia.

Instead they recommend assistance with oral feeding is a better, evidencebased approach.

“Recurrent headache is the most common pain problem, affecting up to 20 percent of people,” doctors with the American Academy of Neurology said in the report. Doctors found that performing an electroencephalography (EEG) on patients with recurrent headaches, a common practice in the US, had no advantage over clinical evaluation in diagnosing headaches, and can result in higher medical costs.

Do people look away when you talk because of that foul smell coming from your mouth? Don’t get embarrassed anymore as we bring to you easy ways to get rid of that stinky breath.

• Make sure that you rinse your mouth after each meal. One can also try a simple rinse remedy which is to dissolve about a quarter teaspoon or less of salt in lukewarm water and gargle.

• Chewing aromatic herbs and brushing the

teeth with twigs or using a mouth freshener can help a long way.

• Drink a lot of water timely, say about 7-8 glasses as a dry tongue can also be a cause of bad breath.

• Drink green tea as it is very helpful I killing the harmful bacteria in your mouth.

• Change your toothbrush timely say every month as bacteria build up on your brush and eventually lead to bad breath.

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 16th March 2013

Harrow Town CC set for Natwest cricket force makeover Harrow Town CC in Rayners Lane has been selected by the England & Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) as this year’s NatWest CricketForce showcase club, and will begin a renovation programme to improve a range of club facilities ahead of the new cricket season on Friday, 5th April 2013.

The club is calling for more volunteers and local

businesses to get involved in what promises to be a fantastic day for the club.

The event and project is supported by the ECB, NatWest, and Middlesex County Cricket Board, and people who are willing to lend a hand at the club will have the opportunity to meet England and Middlesex CCC cricket stars as well as former England captain Mike Gatting.

The ECB’s

Cricket Factory will also be there on the day to help keep youngsters entertained and cricket coaches will be on hand to give young cricketers some useful tips ahead of the new season.

NatWest CricketForce is now in its twelfth year, and it is expected that 2,000 cricket clubs all over the country will be holding an event to prepare for the season ahead over the

weekend of 5-7 April, with over 70,000 volunteers helping out nationally.

For more information on how you can get involved, please email: cricketforce2013@harrowtowncc.co.uk , and for more information on NatWest CricketForce and a full list of clubs taking part, visit: www.ecb.co.uk/natwestcricketforce

Panjab Radio Bids For Coventry FM Licence Panjab Radio announces on March 6th,announced that it has submitted an application for an FM radio licence to broadcast Panjab Radio Coventry to the Coventry area.

Panjab Radio currently broadcasts on DAB Digital Radio across the West Midlands as well as to London, the North East and West Yorkshire. This is the first time it has bid for an FM licence, or proposed a purely local version of the successful Punjabi-formatted radio station.

“With nearly 50,000 Asians in the Coventry area we’ve been asked time and again why there isn’t a radio station for this community. FM licences rarely become available, so we’ve spent the last six months working with the community to devise plans

for the perfect radio station. We’ve also commissioned independent research into the tastes and interests of Coventry residents and analysed the output of the existing local radio stations. If there was ever the time for a Punjabi radio station, this is it!” says Managing Director Surjit Singh Ghuman MBE. The 96.2 FM frequency is currently occupied by Touch FM who have just 18,000 listeners each week compared to Free Radio Coventry (previously Mercia FM)’s 101,000 and BBC Radio Coventry & Warwickshire’s 73,000.

Panjab Radio’s research shows that 90% of the artists and 82% of the songs played on Touch FM were also played on either Free, Free 80s, Heart, Smooth or Kerrang!

Surjit continues: “The 96.2 l Saturday 16 March, 6:30pm, An evening of Indian classical music by Jailal Academy and The Bhavan. licence whether as Amaan Ali Khan and Rajkumar Misra. Contact: 020 Kix 96 or Radio 7381 3086. Bhavan, 4a Castletown Road. West Harmony has historically been occuBromwich. London W14 9HE. l Bhuli Bisri Yaade, musical evening with pied by specialist Arpankumar &Mital, Contact: 020 7381 3086. radio stations, its Bhavan, 4a Castletown Road. West Bromwich. current incarnation as a mainstream London W14 9HE. l Sunday 17 March, 3-5:30pm, Bhajans by Shree station offers noth-

Coming Events

ing new to Coventry and clearly their current listening figures bear that out.

Panjab Radio Coventry is led by an impressive local team of Directors who bring with them a proven track record and extensive knowledge in business, marketing, accountancy and the Coventry community, together with experience with local radio broadcasting and advertising, which will provide excellent support as we build the radio station with integrity and commitment in delivering a high quality, consumer led service to our proposed FM listeners.

In a support letter received from Councillor Philip David Townshend Cabinet Member, Community Safety and Equalities, Cllr Townsend said “as the Cabinet Member responsible for Equalities in Coventry, there is quite clearly a demand from the city’s 50,000 strong and vibrant Asian communities for a Panjabi music radio station. Panjab Radio Coventry will broaden the media mix in Coventry so that certain communities are no longer disenfranchised from local radio. It will be good news for the city of Coventry should the Panjab Radio bid be successful, and I wish to lend my unequivocal support to their application for a license”.

Budhdevbhai. Adhya Shakti Mataji Temp l Asian Voice Youth Conference, 23 March, SOAS, University of London, Russell Square. 15-25 year olds or students only. Registration deadline: 17 March 2013.

Contact rupanjana.dutta@abplgroup.com l Saturday 6 April, 4pm, Nari Shakti, The Power of Women- Sutapa Bandopadhyay and Jojo, Contact: 020 7381 3086. Bhavan, 4a Castletown Road. West Bromwich. London W14 9HE. l Fundraiser in aid of Tenple Project, 16 March, Shree Laxmi Narayan Temple, Tyseley. Contact: Dineshbhai Chauhan 07748658502

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20 It's time when experience

will enable you to enrich your inner mind and personality. You are moving into a new phase of life which will bring wider scope for developing your unique qualities and talents. You are likely to move around more than usual. Life will become very lively and there will be a lot of social interactions.

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 You will be pleased to see

that your social life livens up during this week. It is as if a lucky twist of events and something unexpected that will provide you with a key to your heart's desire. There is a definite expansive trend where money is concerned, so do not be surprised if this turns out be a time of and lucky breaks.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 This is going to be a very

captivating and exciting time for Geminian natives. At last you can relax and enjoy the Success and the results of the hard work you had been doing for a long time. You are learning new ways of maintaining harmony in your individuality at work and around friends and family.

Your urge towards greater freedom and independence is very strongly accentuated. In intimate affairs, the prospect appears entirely favourable. In work matters you can expect a progressive phase. Efforts to bring about desirable changes in your working life are more likely to be positive.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22

Strengthen close ties of affection, sort out emotional differences and proffer the olive branch to your loved one.

You often sabotage your emotional interests by keeping too much inside. However, your inner pressure builds up and manifests as irrational moods that others find hard to understand.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

This week seems to be jam-packed with activity.

The powerful Venus in your solar 7th house and Mars factor not only encourages amorous attachment but will bring luck and recognition to those involved in artistic endeavours and entertainments - this is a great time of opportunity.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23

The prevailing cosmic pattern packs a powerful punch early this week. Having such potent energies, make you feel positive and confident in whatever you do.

This is not the time to hold back or underestimate your potential if you wish to further an important aim. Some of you will try to get away from the routine chores.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23

The pattern of significant relationships in your life will continue to favour you. It seems that a great deal of mutual benefit will accrue because of various interactions. The underlying trend indicates that deep creative energies are stirring within you and that seemingly insignificant events will play a vital role in the future enrichment of life.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22

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Your attitude to material interests is likely to undergo some deep change. On a material level the trend favours establishing greater financial stability. Focus on essentials and establish a solid foundation, so that you feel secure. The outlook remains optimistic and bring you a sense of real achievement.

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21

You can expect a lively and varied time ahead.

Communications will be free and easy, making this an excellent time to deal with important matters. Also, you'll find that people you meet, perhaps especially newcomers, will be a stimulating influence and may encourage you to dabble in new interests.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20

Don't get over- anxious if you feel that you're being kept in the dark. You will probably find that worries have been unfounded. Although you may be faced with a difficult decision concerning your career or employment, this is not the time to hide. Don't waste time if you can improve matters.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19

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.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20

Sport World

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 16th March 2013

31

Messi, Bolt and Phelps in the running for Laureus award

As expected, out of form opener Virender Sehwag failed to retain his place in the Indian Test team for the remaining two Tests against Australia. The squad was trimmed to 14 with the selectors deciding against picking a replacement for Sehwag, who has scored just 27 runs in his three innings during the ongoing series.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who has also been struggling to regain his peak form, was, however, retained in the squad announced by BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale.

Barring Sehwag's omission, there were no other changes in the squad for the two matches to be played in Mohali (from March 14) and Delhi (from March 22) respectively. India lead the four-match series 2-0 after

Nadal passes hard test, wins hard court match in nearly a year Rafael Nadal, playing on a hard court for the first time in almost a year, defeated Ryan Harrison 7-6 (3), 6-2 in a second-round match at the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday. Nadal, a two-time champion at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, had missed seven months because of a left knee injury and hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t played on a hard court since March 29, 2012.

The Spanish star returned to the ATP Tour a month ago and played three tournaments on clay, winning two of those and saying his knee felt better each week. But he said in a pre-match news conference that he had no idea how the knee would hold up under the stress of a harder surface and he had no expectations in terms of results.

thumping wins in Chennai and Hyderabad.

In the absence of Sehwag, Shikhar Dhawan could get a chance to open the innings with Murali Vijay, who cemented his place with a gritty hundred in the second Test in Hyderabad, which India won by an innings and 135 runs.

Even though India regis-

tered commanding victories in the first two Tests, the opening partnerships between Sehwag and Vijay could produce only 11, 16 and 17 runs.

Sehwag had failed to fire in five consecutive Tests after getting a hundred in the opening game of the home series against England at Ahmedabad in November-

December last year.

He was unable to score even a half-century in two home Tests against New Zealand. During India's last overseas tour, in Australia, Sehwag scored just 198 runs in eight innings. The rest of the line-up was expectedly retained on the basis of impressive performances.

Meanwhile, Sehwag said that he was not contemplating retirement from international cricket.

Indian squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt.), Sachin Tendulkar, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Dinda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Tine Baun becomes oldest winner at All England Tine Baun became the oldest All-England women's singles winner of the open era when she beat the youngest finalist Ratchanok Inthanon in an uniquely emotional final.

The 33-year-old's 21-14, 16-21, 21-10 win over the 18-year-old brought to an end the career of one of the outstanding players of the past ten years, and the only woman to threaten Chinese dominance.

The Dane only decided to compete this year as a "last adventure" but instead, as seventh seed, surprised herself by winning the AllEngland title back and taking it a third time.

Her young Thai opponent, the youngest world junior champion at the age of 14, was not far from spoiling the script with her wonderful movement and wide

range of strokes and looked a likely future champion.

Saina's time will come, says Tine Baun: Tine Baun said it was just a matter of time before India's Saina Nehwal adds the coveted title to her collection.

Nehwal crashed out in the semis to Inthanon. Tine Baun said Nehwal has age on her side and "is playing very well." Baun, who actually lost to Saina in the

London Olympics that helped the Indian world No. 3 reach the semifinal, said "Saina is a fast and upcoming shuttler and has a very good chance to win the All England Championship."

Baun added "She however, never looked good enough to reach the final this year. I watched her quarterfinal match against the 2011 winner from China, Wang Shixian. She won that match after a long drawnout battle with score ending at 23-21, 19-21, 21-16. But Saina didn't look her best."

According to Baun, Saina's semifinal effort against Ratchanok looked "like a tired effort." "You could tell that Saina was tired from the quarterfinal match. I know she was facing difficulty with her injured knees," Baun added.

Lionel Messi can pick up another accolade for last year's goal scoring exploits when he goes up against some of the top stars from the London Olympics for the Laureus sportsman of the year award. Messi, the four-time FIFA world player of the year, scored a record 91 goals last year to cement his status as the world's top footballer. He is one of six nominees at the Laureus World Sports Awards, where the other favorites include two-time winner and Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt, swimmer Michael Phelps and Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins. Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel and double Olympic champion Mo Farah are also nominated.

The winners of the annual awards, chosen by 46 members of the Laureus sports academy, will be announced in Rio de Janeiro in a televised ceremony hosted by actor Morgan Freeman.

Selected sports editors, writers and broadcasters around the world voted for shortlists of nominees in five categories - sportsman, sportswoman, team, breakthrough and comeback.

LeBron James is represented twice in the team category as both his Miami Heat and the US Olympic basketball team are nominated.

1st ODI: South Africa thrash Pakistan by 125 runs

Colin Ingram hit an unbeaten century to set up a comfortable 125-run win for South Africa in the first one-day international against Pakistan at Chevrolet Park on Sunday. The left-handed Ingram made 105 not out as South Africa piled up 315 for four after being sent in to bat.

Pakistan could only make 190 in reply.

Ingram made his runs off 103 balls with ten fours. It was his third one-day international century and his second against Pakistan. He shared partnerships of 120 for the third wicket with captain AB de Villiers (65), 62 for the fourth wicket with Faf du Plessis (26) and 50 off only 23 balls with Farhaan Behardien, who hammered 34 not out off 14 deliveries. Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla set an aggressive tone with an opening partnership of 72 after South Africa were sent in, with both batsmen going for their shots against Junaid Khan and Umar Gul despite the Pakistan new ball bowlers getting some early assistance from the pitch.

Dhoni turns himself from Captain Cool to Captain Committed The old order is giving way, and MS Dhoni doesn't want to be on the side of the fallen. The Captain Cool image seems to have run its course.

Enter Captain Committed, a visibly pro-active, attacking and more involved Test skipper who seems to be reinventing himself at every turn.

The ultra-defensive leader who hid behind the shades and let things drift, or dismayed at his lack of resources, has suddenly done a vanishing act. With only Sachin Tendulkar remaining from the old guard and a host of names having retired or lost form, circumstances have forced Dhoni to discover a more urgent, inspiring manner in which to lead this young and vulnerable Indian cricket team.

Having been extremely lucky to survive eight consecutive away Test defeats and a home series loss to England, Dhoni seems to have finally taken Michael Jordan's adage to heart:

"Earn your leadership every day."

The results appear to be going his way too, as the first two Tests against Australia have shown.

The awe-inspiring, game-changing double century in Chennai was another indication.

These days, Dhoni will berate a Murali Vijay for taking extra time to turn around and throw a ball from the outfield, instead of

flicking it to the fielder behind him and saving an extra run.

He will tell Ravindra Jadeja which line to bowl, and jump high in the air with uncharacteristic excitement if his plan comes off. He will openly express his displeasure at Harbhajan Singh for playing an indiscreet shot or being hesitant while taking a run. With the bat, he seems to

have taken a leaf out of the Michael Clarke book.

It's all a far cry from the Dhoni who copped criticism just months back from experts and the public. Dhoni appeared jaded and uninterested as Team India crumbled around him. His body language came across as too nonchalant, as Shane Warne said.

Dhoni's tactics were derided for being stale. His batting technique was dismissed as inadequate. His lack of ideas seemed to be hurting the team. It didn't help that the other big names in the team were in decline, injured or retired.

Always a defensive Test skipper, in April 2010 Dhoni had suggested he made a conscious effort to appear calm. "It doesn't help if I go and yell at the players," he had said, "So I try and keep my emotions under check."

Is he now making a conscious effort to appear animated, to project a more positive body

language?

Social scientist and cricket buff Shiv Visvanathan says, "Dhoni appears systematic only in hindsight. It's a fascinating study in leadership image. The only way Dhoni could survive in these changing times was by changing himself, or he would become a part of the old order. He appears a different man from the laidback skipper who led a team of stalwarts. 'Captain Cool' ended with India's World Cup triumph.

Now he is projecting a more committed self. He is a more proactive batsman and leader. The likes of Ashwin and Pujara are performing well for him too. It has helped that Australia aren't a good side in these conditions."

As Sunil Gavaskar recently pointed out, "Dhoni has changed positively as captain. Now, if a player is not attentive or up to the mark, he is letting him know.

Dhoni has recharged and is in great batting form."

32

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 16th March 2013

Yuvraj’s memoir to be auctioned

In a first-of-its-kind fundraising activity, Collectabillia along with Random House is offering an exclusive opportunity for sports fans to own first 20 and personally autographed copies of Yuvraj Singh's memoir, long before it's available on stands.

The first 20 leather-bound copies of the personal account 'The Test of My Life', which chronicles Yuvraj's trials and tribulations as he successfully battled cancer following the euphoria of the 2011 World Cup win, will go up for bid on Collectabillia.com's newly launched auction portal.

Even as the number of those who love the touch, feel, look and smell of a book is diminishing in this era of unprecedented access to the internet, kindle and ebooks, leather-bound, autographed copies of 'The Test of My Life' would be a highly prized possession for cricket fans, and those who appreciate the spirit it embodies. The bids open at a base price of Rs 5,000 and the 20 highest bidders will each win a copy of the book, personally dedicated and autographed by Yuvraj Singh. The limited edition books will also include a handwritten letter by Arjuna Awardee, Yuvraj, and all proceeds raised from the week-long auction will be donated to the YouWeCan Foundation.

Sharing an insight on the book, Yuvraj Singh said, "I have always believed in fighting hard, and not giving up and through this book, I hope to encourage the thousands of others, who are facing similar challenges, to not give up! I also want them to know they are not alone in their fight. All the money raised from this auction goes to YouWeCan, a small first step in meeting our aim of the foundation - which will start with the opening of more cancer detection centres, making them easily accessible to people, since early detection of the disease, is a battle half won."

United want to offer Wayne Rooney a new deal

Alex Ferguson has confirmed Manchester United want to offer Wayne Rooney an extension to his current contract after a torrid week for the England striker. Ferguson sparked speculation over Rooney's future by surprisingly dropping the star for Champions League defeat against Real Madrid. Reports claimed Ferguson’s relationship with Rooney had deteriorated over the former Everton forward's failure to look after his fitness. But the United manager insisted that Rooney, linked with Bayern Munich over the weekend, wouldn’t be allowed to leave and he has stressed the club see him in their long-term plans. Rooney, who is reported to earn £220,000-a-week, is tied to United until the end of the 2014-15 season, so there is no need to sit down for talks immediately, but Ferguson suggested the club were willing to discuss a new deal.

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Australian cricket would like to forget the current India tour as soon as possible. Not only have they lost the first two Tests by convincing margins, but it seems their troubles won't end any soon. With wicket keeper Matthew Wade doubtful after suffering a freak ankle injury while playing basketball, the Aussies needed their senior players to perform in the upcoming Mohali Test.

However, the Aussies are hell bent on digging their own grave. In an unprecedented move, the Australian team management axed vice-captain Shane Watson, pacers James Pattinson, Mitchell Johnson and batsman Usman Khawaja for failing to make a presentation on how to improve their personal as well as the team's performance after the innings and 135 runs defeat in the second Test in Hyderabad.

"That's a line-in-thesand moment. We have

given these guys absolute clarity," Australia coach Mickey Arthur said while making the announcement at a press conference.

"After Hyderabad the whole team was really hurting, we were discussing ways of getting back into the series. We were particularly aware of where we were as a team and how we were going to get back. I asked the players at the end of the game to give me an individual presentation. I wanted three points from each of them technically, mentally and as a team, how we were going to get back over the next couple of games, how we were going to get ourselves back into the series," said Arthur.

The Aussie coach made it clear that the dropped players failed to meet the deadline and it was important to maintain team discipline by punishing them. "Unfortunately four players didn't comply with that. We pride our-

selves on attitude. We have given the players a huge amount of latitude to get culture and attitude right," Arthur said. "We believe that those behaviours with what we want to do with this team, how we want to take this team to be the best in the world, teams that are the best in the world have best attitudes and best behaviour patterns and a good, hard, ruthless culture. I believe those four players unfortunately did not meet my requirements so those four are not available for selection for this Test match," he added.

According to coach Arthur even skipper Michael Clarke feels that it was time to crack the whip in what has been a thoroughly disappointing series for the team. "Myself and Pup (Clarke) came to the conclusion that we have been so focused on winning cricket games that maybe some people have been cutting corners.

Perhaps there have been some soft options taken.

We decided that we needed to really get that in line," Arthur said.

The stunning turn of events leaves Australia with just 13 players to choose from for the third Test, which starts here on Thursday. However, the coach made it clear that the four players would be available for the fourth Test in Delhi.

Infuriated Watson heads back home: Meanwhile, an angry Shane Watson left for home on Monday to be with his pregnant wife Lee Furlong.

At the team hotel, when the Australian team headed for the PCA stadium at Mohali for their scheduled practice session, an infuriated Watson, walked out of the team hotel. The Aussie allrounder's wife is expecting a baby by the end of the month.

His sudden departure raised speculation of a revolt within the team.

However, Cricket Australia (CA) denied that Watson's departure was a result of the axe that was wielded on him. "He has not left in a huff, his wife is expecting. And that is why he has left for Australia to be by her side.

The two things (returning to Australia and being dropped from the team) should not be linked," Australian team's media manager Matt Cenin said.

After first refusing to give his blood and hair samples to the police, Vijender Singh has reportedly provided the Haryana police with his blood samples for testing.

Earlier, reports suggested that the Olympian medalist had accepted to provide the samples on the condition of them being tested by an anti-doping agency and not the police.

However, according to a source the boxer has finally given his blood sample to the police. On Monday, Vijender was called by the Punjab police for questioning after his name cropped up in the Mohali drug haul wherein 1.30 billion worth of drugs were recovered.

His friend Ram Singh during investigations revealed that along with Vijender, he had mistakenly consumed drugs thinking them to be a food sup-

plement. His samples have already been sent for examinations.

The police earlier recovered the drugs from Canada-based drug dealer Anoop Singh Kahlon and arrested him. The drug haul was made from Kahlon’s flat in Chandigarh and from his car. The police also found an SUV, registered in the name of Vijender’s wife Archana, parked outside Kahlons’ flat. Kahlon reportedly told police that Vijender and fellow boxer Ram Singh were his “clients.”

Though police have so far refrained from directly linking Vijender with the drugs haul, Ram Singh's statements to the police have seen his name figuring in the controversy.

"Vijender was in touch with some Mumbai celebrities, who were regular in rave parties and took drugs. Therefore, we also

tried it. However, we did not pay anything to Kahlon for drugs," Ram Singh said.

Ram Singh and Vijender are very close friends and they were roommates at National Institute of Sports (NIS) for nearly six years.

Vijender had allegedly promoted Ram Singh in various platforms by using his influence. Vijender has denied any involvement in the drugs racket. He offered to undergo dope testing to prove himself.

Vijender's close friend and room-mate for nearly 15 years at NIS-Patiala, Jai Bhagwan, rubbished reports of the popular boxer's involvement in the drugs smuggling racket. He said that Vijender's name was being unnecessarily dragged into the issue.

Vijender to be punished if found guilty: Sports minister Jitendra Singh said Vijender would

be punished for his role in a drug scandal in Punjab, if found guilty.

"At this point of time, the Punjab police is investigating the matter. When a conclusion is reached and somebody is implicated or chargesheeted, we will definitely take action," Singh told reporters outside parliament.

"The guilty will be punished but that is a matter for the Punjab police.

Investigation is being done by them," he added.

Usman Khawaja

James Pattinson

Mitchell Johnson

Shane Watson

Drug case: Olympian boxer Vijender gives blood samples to police